2-11-2022

COVID-19 TESTING, 2

OPINION, 4

LIFESTYLE, 5

BU’s positivity rate falls below 1% for the first time this year.

Read an opinion regarding young TikTokers in tabloids.

Hear all about the pro’s and con’s of sad boy playlists.

CE LE B RATIN G

FRIDAY, FEB. 11, 2022

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SPORTS, 6 Recap the BU vs. Harvard Beanpot opener with the DFP.

J O U R NA LI S M

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

YEAR LII. VOLUME A. ISSUE III

BU introduces 15-day sick leave policy for doctoral students following a year of activism Leila El Alam Contributing Reporter Boston University implemented a sick leave policy for its PhD student body Jan. 25, following years of campaigning by doctoral students.

The policy, about a year in the making, ensures PhD students have 15 consecutive or nonconsecutive sick days at their disposal and does not require students to make up days taken off due to illness.

The policy requires students to seek approval if they need additional time to fully recover. These requests are also “subject to funding agency restrictions,” the policy states.

BU had no formal guidelines surrounding sick leave for PhD students until last month. If unable to carry out regular responsibilities, such as teaching, due to illness or injury, students were expected to arrange a plan of action with their professors or potentially lose their apprenticeship role and five-year guaranteed stipend.

“It was completely up to the student to advocate for their case with their professor,” said Ian Campbell-Chandler, a sixth-year doctoral student in the School of Education.

“A student had to hope that they and the professor could come up with a reasonable accommodation.”

Daniel Kleinman, the associate provost for graduate affairs — who said he presented the policy to the

University Council — said it was urgent that it be approved due to the longstanding risk of losing a semester’s stipend if a student had to take a leave of absence.

“The only official University policy that was on the books was that students got some vacation time which should be separate from sick leave,” Campbell-Chandler said.

Campbell-Chandler, a member of the community task force that drafted the first version of the policy, said its main objective was to ensure doctoral students have the right to have a sick day without using a vacation day or taking a leave of absence, adding the policy’s implementation is “definitely a big win for the graduate student community.”

While mental health was considered in the first draft of the policy, Campbell-Chandler noted its final version does not mention any ailments besides “illness or injury.”

Kleiman said his involvement was spurred after receiving a letter from several graduate students concerning the absence of policies surrounding sick leave.

VISHVA VENKATESAN | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Boston University students walk down Commonwealth Avenue. Following years of activism by doctoral students, BU implemented a sick leave policy for PhD students on Jan. 25 which will allow each student up to 15 sick days with no make-up requirement.

“I met with the students and talked about the sick leave, or the absence of a sick leave policy,” Kleinman said.

“It was clear that we should do something about this.”

Kleinman said the new policy’s priority — similar, he noted, to the vacation policy passed in 2019 — is to protect students. It also prevents students from taking advantage of the sick days by allowing departments to request a doctor’s note.

“I support [the policy] quite strongly. I think it’s a reasonable start,” Kleinman said. “We will review it in a couple years to see how it’s working and whether there are ways that it needs to be altered.”

Ariel Kessel Akerman, a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said he sees the policy’s evolution from a vague set of expectations into a formal statement by the University as a significant improvement, adding the policy itself is flexible enough for circumstances in which students have to take more than 15 days off for serious illnesses.

“I felt that the new rules still have space for other sorts of arrangements,”Akerman said.

Campbell-Chandler said the policy will be reviewed in two years.

“Nothing’s perfect, but we’re very grateful to BU for finally considering this proposal and approving it,” Campbell-Chandler said. “It’s gonna do a lot of good.”

Senator Markey, Mayor Wu invest over $12M in digital equity efforts Bella Ramirez Staff Writer When Anna Litten’s ninth grade son needed a new Chromebook, he went to the library and checked one out for the day. Thanks to a new $12 million digital equity initiative, many other Boston Public Schools children are now also able to benefit from improved access to digital learning tools.

Mayor Michelle Wu and Senator Ed Markey signed the initiative Feb. 2, granting $2.2 million in Emergency Connectivity Funding to provide Chromebooks and Wi-Fi to 3,000 Boston Public Library patrons. The additional $10 million supports internet connectivity for 20,000 BPS families, according to a press release.

Boston’s efforts to improve digital equity began before Feb. 2, starting with computers and internet access for students and patrons of the library.

“Giving kids free and easy access to the internet is just vital for their education,” Litten, who is also the assistant director of libraries for the Arlington Libraries Foundation, said.

“There’s no way kids can access their educational tools without internet access.”

Mike Lynch, the City’s director of broadband and cable, described the initiative as “a bold new advance.”

Although the initiative focuses

on BPS students, the city of Boston plans to lend Wi-Fi devices and Chromebooks to veterans, seniors, new immigrants and more through the Boston Housing Authority.

“The internet is vital infrastructure that every resident needs to be able to access, especially now,” BHA Administrator Kate Bennett said in the press release. “We use it to pay bills.

We use it to work. We increasingly use it to buy groceries and meet essential needs at home.”

Lynch said he recognized seniors as the demographic not “taking advantage” of the technological resources provided for them.

“The first challenge is getting them the piece of equipment — tablet, Chromebook, whatever to get online — and the connectivity to get online. The easiest way to do that is with a hotspot or a home router,” Lynch said. “So that’s where we’re starting.”

Lynch said Boston will continue investing in a nonprofit — Tech Goes Home — which uses volunteers to teach seniors how to work technology.

“Most of these people who do the training are volunteers,” he said.

“They’re teachers, they’re compassionate individuals. They work with an agency and then they say ‘I’d like to help people get online.’”

Litten said she noticed a man entering the library asking for a computer to fill out a rental assistance

MOHAN GE | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. Wu announced on Feb. 2 that the city plans to invest $12 million into a digital equity initiative, with the goal of providing better internet access to nearly 23,000 Boston public housing residents.

application.

“Lives were really disrupted and he did not have internet access at home and the rental assistance program he was trying to access had an online portal,” Litten said. “If he was not able to access those tools, he

would have not been able to fill out that rental assistance program.”

In addition to the provision of laptops and Wi-Fi devices, the federal government is also helping fund internet for families in need through the Affordable Connectivity Program

— offering $30 worth of broadband services per month and a one-time discount of up to $100 toward a technology device.

“It’s kind of like a lifeline service set up by the federal government inside the Federal Communications Commission, which if you can figure out how to apply, you can get service for free,” Lynch said.

Lynch said he views the program as an “infusion of new money into the city from the federal government.”

“If you get a whole bunch of people to sign up for that, that’s new money that’s coming into our city economy being spent,” Lynch said.

“That’s not a bad thing because it’s not coming out of poor families’ pocketbooks.”

Lynch added it is a “challenge” when each household needs to file an eight-page application form without getting help from the government, community and nonprofit organizations.

“The idea here is we’re going to hold their hand and help them sign up this program,” he said. “We already have over 17,000 Bostonians signed up. But I think we could double that cover.”

Aside from access to assistance programs, Litten said integrated technology is important in regular life.

“Finding ways to make sure we are providing real and helpful access to technology is crucial for communities,” Litten said.

2 NEWS

BU’s positivity rate drops below one percent for first time this year Fiona Broadie Contributing Writer Tanisha Bhat Campus Associate Boston University’s COVID-19 positivity rate fell below 1% for the first time since Dec. 16 last Monday.

The drop in cases comes one week after the University transitioned to unobserved testing.

Judy Platt, director of Student Health Services and BU’s chief health officer, wrote in an email that the decrease in positive cases is consistent with case counts both locally and nationally.

“We anticipate that we will still have cases regularly given our asymptomatic testing program,” Platt wrote.

Boston registered a 14-day positivity rate of 3.77% between Jan. 23 and Feb. 5. Meanwhile, Massachusetts had a seven-day positivity rate of 3.80% for the week of Feb. 9.

Nationally, case counts have been on a downward trend since Jan. 9.

The shift to unobserved testing Feb. 3 caused some concern among BU’s student body, with some noting how easy it may be to tamper with the kit to achieve a desirable negative result. However, other students noted the convenience and efficiency of this approach.

Charlotte Carr, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the University is putting a lot of trust in students with the “honor code” unobserved testing system.

“I hope everyone sticks to it and actually does the test correctly,” she said. “But how can you possibly be sure of that in a school that’s so huge?”

Platt acknowledged concerns

MOHAN GE | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Boston University students wearing masks. One week after transitioning to unobserved testing, BU’s positivity rate has dropped under 1%. The new policy went into full effect Feb. 10.

about the truthfulness of collection methods, but wrote that BU believes the “community has shown a commitment to our protocols.”

CAS freshman Kate Bernstein said the ease with which students can fabricate negative test results is “a big concern” to her.

“If someone really didn’t want to submit a valid test, they could get

away with it pretty easily,” she said.

BU spokesperson Colin Riley said unobserved testing might encourage more students to comply with the University’s testing rules, adding the University is “pleased” to see its positivity rate drop under 1%.

“We don’t think it’s going to impact positivity rates,” Riley said. “We think it’s possible it will increase

compliance.”

Under the new policy, students must now schedule an appointment on Patient Connect to drop off their tests at either 808 Gallery, 700 Beacon St in the Charles River Campus, or 72 East Concord St on the Medical Campus.

Kevin Gonzales, the director of collection site operations, wrote in an

email that there were around 4,000 drop-off appointments booked for Feb. 10 as of 12 p.m., noting its the first day all test results were from take-home kits.

“Today’s my first time trying it out. I feel like it’s convenient and safe,” said Sidney Chen, a sophomore in Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

Wu appoints executive director for newly formed Office for Black Male Advancement Walker Armstrong Contributing Writer Frank Farrow, who formerly served as the family organizing director at School Facts Boston, will

now serve as executive director for the newly formed Mayor’s Office for Black Male Advancement.

Mayor Michelle Wu announced the decision at a press conference on Feb. 3.

“I’m excited for Frank’s leadership in ensuring that our City’s policies and

programs are truly connected with and supporting Black men and boys across each of our neighborhoods,” Wu said.

The new office will fall under the umbrella of the Wu’s Equity and Inclusion Cabinet, according to a press release.

HUI-EN LIN | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Boston City Hall. Mayor Michelle Wu appointed on Feb. 3 the former family organizing director at School Facts Boston, Frank Farrow, as the executive director of the recently founded Office for Black Male Advancement.

“The office will work with the Equity Department and other city agencies to ensure that the policy program and resources from within city government has a racial equity lens,” Farrow said. “We are uplifting and improving the outcomes for Black men and boys in the city of Boston.”

The Mayor’s Office for Black Male Advancement will work hand in hand with the Commission on Black Men and Boys — established in Oct. 2021 under then-acting Mayor Kim Janey — to identify issues and provide resources to the Black community on the City level.

“That ordinance [to establish the commission] was originally pushed by former Councilor Tito Jackson back in 2014,” Farrow said. “And then last year, it was reintroduced by Councilor Julia Mejia, and passed into law by Mayor Kim Janey.”

Boston City Councilor At-Large, Julia Mejia, explained some of the commission’s responsibilities.

“The Commission is tasked with holding community conversations and making space for topics such as education, mental, physical and sexual health, sexual orientation, economic empowerment, and more,” Mejia wrote in an email.

She added the office and commission will make sure Black men and boys are represented in important decisions.

“Our vision for the Office is to help support the Commission on Black Men and Boys with budgetary and staffing needs so that they can get to work on advising city agencies and

departments on how to best provide services and care for Black men and boys across the city,” Mejia wrote.

Tito Jackson, former District 7 City Councilor and current CEO of Verdant Medical Inc., showed support for Farrow’s nomination, calling him “a really dedicated leader.”

He also said those in Boston who have been “left behind the most” are Black men and that the office, working in accordance with the commission, will examine policies that could effectively create job and vocational training opportunities for Black men and boys.

“The real underlying objective is that the city of Boston, as well as the country, has not had good outcomes for Black men when it comes to any host of metrics,” Jackson said.

Farrow added the office will aim to address disparities in incarceration, homicide and education on the federal and state levels.

Director of Political Advocacy for Black Boston, Alexandria Onuoha, said the office is a good start to combating racial inequities in the city.

“I think this is a great office … especially if it includes Black men who are born and raised in Roxbury and other cities in Boston,” Onuoha said.

But she added that there is still more to be done to ensure Black men and boys are prospering in Boston.

“This is one of many things that need to be in place,” she said.

“Obviously, we can’t fix every single thing. I think this is an excellent start.”

FEATURES 3

COMMUNITY BU students start sustainable garden initiative to teach environmentalism to elementary school children Stella Tannenbaum Contributing Writer The Urban Garden Initiative, an international nonprofit organization aimed at encouraging sustainability through gardening, is working with three local Boston elementary schools to teach six to eight-week long programs that are designed for the kids through the Boston chapter.

Halle Cooper, TUGI’s Boston chapter director and current senior in the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston University, applied to start the chapter last spring.

“There’s so many different ways that you can go about environmentalism,” Cooper said.

“I think just creating another outlet for that is always a good thing, especially on a college campus where we have the energy and the resources and the time.”

One effort that will begin after spring break is the creation of a garden at The Josiah Quincy Elementary School, according to the TUGI Boston’s website.

“The idea is for it to be as hands-on and engaging and curiosity-seeking as possible,” Cooper said. “We don’t want it to feel as much like school and more like something that’s going to get the kids having fun and being engaged in the content.”

Sophia Tigges, a first year PhD student in the Department

SYDNEY ROTH | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Fenway Victory Gardens, a public garden in Boston. The Boston chapter of The Urban Garden Initiative will be working with three local elementary schools on an initiative which will include the creation of a garden at the Josiah Quincy Elementary School.

of Earth and Environment, is the garden director/coordinator for TUGI. Tiggers got involved with TUGI because of an urban farm associated with their school district growing up, which they described as a “formative experience.”

“I know it was important for

me when I was a student, so I hope to be able to facilitate that experience for others,” Tigges said.

Tigges said they look forward to reemersing themselves into a “garden space” which they haven’t been a part of for a while.

“I’m just excited to plant some

plants and see them grow,” Tigges said. “It sounds really cheesy, but being able to just do that together with a lot of people as a collective effort is very beautiful.”

Annika Chun, social media director of TUGI and a junior in CAS, focused on the opportunity to “go into the classroom.” Chun,

who has considered a career as a teacher, described it as the “perfect merger” of her passion for education and her interest in environmental science.

“It’s going to be really fun for the students and also for us to learn what it’s like to work with them and teach them about the garden,” Chun said.

Chun said she plans to stay involved with TUGI next year and looks forward to growth of the club’s “capacities” and new membership.

“There’s a lot of people who have really brilliant ideas who come to our meetings and there’s so much possibility,” Chun said.

So far, Cooper has focused most of her outreach efforts at BU, but she is very open to partnership with other local universities and organizations as the Boston chapter grows.

“There’s just so many outlets that you can go through, whether it’s art or writing or working with kids or science, ” Cooper said. “There’s something for everybody.”

Chun said she was looking forward to being part of a group that teaches young children.

“I really encourage people to continue to look out for ways that they can educate youth about the environment,” Chun said. “I feel like it’s something that can be nurtured at a really young age, and it’s really exciting to be a part of that.”

BUSINESS

Questrom Associate Dean features on ‘Thinkers50 Radar’ for innovative research Carly Breland Contributing Writer Products. Revenue. Economy.

When most people think of business, the first thing that comes to mind is probably not connectivity.

However, Paul Carlile, professor of management and information systems and the senior associate dean for innovation at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, views industries through a lens of anthropology as his research examines the behavioral differences driving and dividing the world of business.

Carlile was recently named to the “Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2022 ” — a London-based rank system for management ideas which highlights researchers from around the world whose innovative ideas could positively change the way business is conducted.

His research focuses on “knowledge boundaries” that

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Boston University Questrom Associate Dean Paul Carlile. Carlile was recently recognized by Thinkers50 as part of its Radar Class of 2022 – a list that highlights researchers to watch in the coming year.

hinder decision making, addressing its importance in the realm of multiple industries.

“The reason why that work has been so influential is [because] it’s gone into engineering. It’s gone into political science,” Carlile said. “It’s gone into sociology, it’s gone into business, because these problems are everywhere.”

N. Venkat Venkatraman, a David J. McGrath Jr. professor in management and information systems, was one of the people who first brought Carlile into BU’s orbit.

“Paul Carlile … is a scholar who understands the breadth, complexities and intricacies of innovation in ways so refreshingly different from other innovation researchers,” Venkatraman said. “I am proud to have been the Chair of the IS Department that hired him at Questrom.”

While Carlile said he was grateful to be included in Thinkers50’s honorable list, he was also surprised that his “deeply philosophical” work gained such international acclaim for his anthropological approach to business.

Carlile said he spent a lot of time understanding the construction of cross-functional knowledge in an organization.

“That’s the beauty of business, right? Not one person can do it all,” Carlile said.

Carlile was also responsible for creating the hands-on Master of

Science in Management Studies degree at Questrom. Instead of learning in the classroom, students solve real-world problems alongside industry professionals.

“He brings [a] creative lens to Questrom as we developed the Online MBA program to integrate across functional disciplines and develop a learner-centered curriculum,” Venkatraman said.

Yusra Alshawwa, who graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in 2017, went on to complete the nine-month MSMS program pioneered by Carlile. The unique approach of the program helped Alshawwa get concrete experience in the business world.

“Everything we learned about business was directly through actual application,” Alshawwa said. “So working directly with a range of different companies across Boston and working on actual real life issues, and that for me was absolutely incredible.”

Alshawwa said working alongside Carlile as a research assistant allowed her to be “creative” on her own.

Despite his achievements in his research on the world of business, Carlile believes that perseverance and humility is key to innovation.

“One thing I highly preach when you’re moving into a novel space is you have to get comfortable with failure,” Carlile said. “I’d rather experiment than be right, and that’s an adage I live by.”

4 OPINION

COLUMNS Don’t be a hypocrite: Teen drama isn’t newsworthy Viktoria Popovska Columnist What side of TikTok are you on? Are you on the side of TikTok that thinks it’s funny to waste food? The one that makes fun of women? Or are you on the side of TikTok that involves 40-yearolds talking about teenage drama?

Last semester in my History and Principles of Journalism class, we talked about what Professor McKeen calls “Polyester Journalism.”

Essentially, it’s our modern era of journalism, which includes tabloids, sensationalization and celebrity obsession.

I’ve written about the problems with the media’s obsession with celebrities before. Still, there is no better example of the ugliness of celebrity obsession than that mediated by the rise of TikTok. I’m not just talking about how big TikTok is and how a lot of people became famous influencers because of the app. Instead, I want to focus on something else that just doesn’t sit right with me.

TikTok opened up many opportunities for young people — especially children under the age of 18 — to create videos and potentially gain fame from them. We have some pretty prominent examples of this with the overnight rise to fame of Charli D’Amelio, Avani Gregg and Chase Hudson.

These influencers — many of whom were minors during the rise of their fame — have had to face a lot of media scrutiny. A good portion of it comes from media personalities and culture

news shows trying to capitalize off of these young influencers’ teenage drama, with two prominent examples of this being Perez Hilton and DramaAlert.

Perez Hilton is a celebrity gossip blogger, known for his tabloid news site, who was banned from TikTok. Why exactly was he banned? Part of it was his behavior toward Charli D’Amelio on the app.

He criticized her for dancing to a “sexual” song with “gyrating” dance moves while in a bathing suit, and described Charli’s TikTok as “inappropriate.” He also speculated about her relationship with Chase Hudson. A petition went around to get him banned from the app, and in December 2020, Hilton was kicked off TikTok. For me, it’s not about whether or not the criticism of a 15-year-old Charli dancing to the song was right. Instead, the problem is that a 40-year-old man took it upon himself to talk about it.

Charli is a child and so are many other social media influencers. You would think there would be laws to protect how the media portrays them.

If not laws, then I would imagine 40-year-olds could find better things to write and talk about than the relationship status of adolescents.

Look at DramaAlert, a YouTube and TikTok drama page run by Daniel M. Keem — also known as Keemstar. Although Keem describes his work as news, it really is more gossip than anything else, much like Hilton. And just like Hilton, Keem has made a variety of videos on Charli D’Amelio drama.

These middle-aged men use children’s drama for clicks, and it’s disgusting.

It doesn’t just end with social media celebrities. My impetus for writing this article was actually a video I watched from the E! News show, “Daily Pop.” The show hosts — Justin Sylvester and Morgan Stewart — are both in their thirties. In one episode, they spend excessive time criticizing 20-year-old actress Rachel Zegler for doing a dramatic reading of a Britney Spears Instagram post.

I’ve talked about significant age gaps in celebrity relationships before, but now it’s time we talk about age gaps in coverage. I may not

know specifically how to work around this issue, but I do know the obvious — adults should not be exploiting children for their own success.

I love pop culture and the entertainment industry, but none of these gossip shows or blogs seem to add any valuable news or information. Especially not when headlines demean teenagers and capitalize off their personal lives.

So, if there is any way to fix this issue, please let’s get on it.

ILLUSTRATION BY SMARAN RAMIDI

EDITORIAL

Spider-Man: No Way … to An Oscar Nomination The nominations for this year’s Oscars were released on Tuesday — and like every year, cinephiles and the average moviegoer alike were up in arms over “snubs” by the Academy.

None greater than the “snub” of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” — a “will they, won’t they” that dominated the discourse in the runup to the release of the nominations. The end result was obvious — Spider-Man will not be in contention for Best Picture. And why would it have been?

Including a film like Spider-Man, the antithesis of the standard Oscar-bait fare, would have run counter to 90 years of Oscar history.

Still, the question over whether it would be nominated ignited a debate as to what an “Oscars movie” should be.

The fact is that the Oscars have never really awarded what the general public would call the best movie. More specifically, to win an Oscar, one must not simply make the “best movie.”

If the best movie were rewarded at the 2018 Oscars, we would probably have seen a “Get Out” Best Picture. It was the rare film that checked both boxes, it was critically acclaimed and accepted by audiences. Instead, the Best Picture was awarded to “The Shape of Water,” a film about a woman’s romantic relationship with a fish-man.

While it’s unclear why “The Shape of Water”

won an Oscar, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who would call that their favorite movie of 2017 or someone who would call that the most entertaining movie of that year.

A movie like “Get Out” is rare to find — one which is eligible for an Oscar and is popular with moviegoing audiences. In the 70s and 80s, many films nominated for Oscars were critically acclaimed and commercially successful.

The standard box office metrics are rewarding big event movies like Spider-Man that bring people away from Netflix and into the movie theaters. People don’t want to leave the comforts of their home for a movie musical like “West Side Story,” which bombed at the box office.

Unless you have a giant robot or superhero or mutant creature destroying a city, then you probably won’t get folks off their couches.

This brings us back to the Oscars. Should they fall in line with the economic trends of the film industry and reward the comic book films at their award shows?

The idea of the Academy Awards recognizing something that’s designed to be commercially successful, above all else, is against their ideals.

This isn’t to say that a large amount of creative thinking doesn’t go into producing a Marvel movie. It’s just that the reason why Marvel greenlit Spider-Man 3 probably wasn’t for

artistic reasons.

But if the Oscars don’t recognize films that try their hardest to be commercial, they also shouldn’t recognize films that try their hardest to win Oscars. For a while now, the Academy has rewarded the equivalent of pick-me-girls in their show. If we’re barring something like Spider-Man, we should also bar “The Artist,” which won the Best Picture in 2011. “The Artist,” a film that throughout its runtime tried so nauseating to win an Oscar that the only

message it ended up conveying was a “please give me an award.”

The Oscars should represent movies that are truly good and show us something we’ve never seen on screen before. Films like “Moonlight,” “Get Out,” and “Parasite” broke new ground while also entertaining audiences. That’s what the Oscars should be about.

And if a Spider-Man movie comes along that does those things at some point, the snooty Academy should give it an award.

ILLUSTRATION BY SMARAN RAMIDI

EDITORIAL BOARD Jean Paul Azzopardi, Editor-in-Chief Emily Stevenson, Co-Managing Editor Ashley Soebroto, Co-Managing Editor Jesús Marrero Suárez, Campus Editor Nellie Maloney, Co-Podcast Editor

Cici Yu, City Editor

Taylor Hawthorne, Co-Podcast Editor

Smaran Ramidi, Layout & Graphics Editor

Emily Pauls, Features Editor

Taylor Coester, Photo Editor

Michelle Tian, Lifestyle Editor

Mary Geena Prestia, Multimedia Editor

Mitch Fink, Sports Editor

Brian Foisy, Co-Opinion Editor

Sujena Soumyanath, Co-Opinion Editor GRAPHIC BY ALEXIA NIZHNY

LIFESTYLE 5

LIFESTYLE The dark side of “mood” playlists Kendall O’Brien Staff Writer Whether you have Apple Music, Soundcloud or Spotify, listening to music can be a cathartic experience for everyone and every emotion.

No matter what, the power a song holds is undeniable. It can be the lyrics that hit a nerve, the melody even, perhaps the artist’s voice, but one thing is for certain — every song can cultivate a feeling that is personal to an individual when they listen to it.

This is why humans crave a specific song, because it emphasizes a specific emotion.

The typical thing to do is to categorize a cluster of songs into playlists based on the feelings they may elicit. Some people refer to these as “mood” playlists, since those collections of songs reflect your mood of the moment. An example of this can be a playlist titled “sad” for when you’re feeling down.

Some people might even get creative and add some zing to their playlist’s name like “therapy session,” “tired teardrops,” “clouded,” “drowning,” etc.

There is nothing wrong with listening to music for the sole purpose of enjoying a song, but there are caveats to listening to music that intensifies a negative feeling, such as being sad or angry — relying on music to regulate your emotions has the potential to affect your mental health in a harmful way.

If you think about a time when you had a heavy heart and felt hopeless, all you wanted to do was break away from that mindset and feel better.

Nobody enjoys stagnant sadness.

So, when you pop on a few songs that have a dark tone or remind you of a bad memory, all you’re doing is strengthening that negative feeling.

Even if you’re in a good headspace,

ILLUSTRATION BY KACPER BAZAN

listening to your “sad” playlist has the ability to reignite those feelings of self-destruction. Due to your association of a specific song with a negative emotion, that song — which might even be a traditionally happy song — can automatically hurt you since you’ve already labeled it with a depressive tag.

The dark side of playlists is they come with predetermined feelings.

Each playlist is like a piece of tupperware, and when you lift the lid, the previous emotions you felt are now telling you what emotion to embody. That isn’t fair to you. No one should be tricked into feeling some type of way, even if it was you who created the playlist in the first place.

Modern day culture can seemingly romanticize this habit of being

To sleep or not to sleep Lynn Chu Staff Writer Every morning that I’ve woken up for class since I started college, I think about how hard high school was.

More specifically, my high school schedule. I wonder how I did it — my daily pattern for years had started with waking up at 6:30 a.m. — a feat that seems impossible to me now.

ILLUSTRATION BY SOPHIA FLISSLER

As someone who could quite literally sleep through an earthquake, sleep has always been the answer to all my problems. Whether I was sick or stressed, sleep was constantly my solution when I was younger.

This habit didn’t change when I arrived at college.

In an environment where I feel constantly immersed in my academics, at many times, I feel as though sleep is my only escape. With no one to tell me when to wake up or stick to a routine, I fell into crazy

sleep schedules — always sleeping too much or too little. Late nights of homework kept me up, while movie marathons were to blame for other sleepless nights. Early morning alarms led to falling asleep before dinner and on some days, I woke up as the sun made its descent. My sleeping habits became so erratic that I began to ask myself — “Is this okay?”

I’ve always had a complicated relationship with sleep. While I needed it badly, I hated how much

aesthetically sad, as if it is a style choice we can make to look cool.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be contemporarily cool for this generation. It’s okay to be emotional and sit with your sad or angry feelings, but if you can prevent yourself from reliving a negative experience and intensifying a horrible feeling, you should do it.

Too much of anything can be

dangerous, even the normal act of listening to music. If you routinely listen to those playlists that encapsulate a harmful mindset you were once in, or are currently in, chances are you are bruising yourself from the inside out. Try and reflect on how a song truly makes you feel, and if that feeling is good for your psyche or not. The dangers of a “mood” playlist should not be taken lightly.

of it was necessary to become the version of myself I liked best.

Lacking it made me feel drained and irritable. My social battery was basically nonexistent on days I had early mornings. But on the other hand, getting more than eight hours made me feel lazy, guilty and sometimes even worse than the days when I didn’t get enough sleep.

Since I’ve gotten to college, many of those feelings have been magnified. There’s a suffocating guilt that comes with waking up to a quiet

room while my roommate’s bed is clean and made and her backpack is gone. I felt pressured to live as efficiently and busily as my other peers and got frustrated when my body wouldn’t allow it. I wondered what the difference was between myself and others, and feared that it could be a matter of motivation.

Was it something I could do but just wasn’t doing? Did I lack a certain strength that my peers had? Why was it that I could never keep the promises I made before I went to bed when I woke up in the morning? The feeling of getting my life together at night always dissipated when I woke up, and I hated that the reason could just be me not trying hard enough.

It took my entire freshman year to realize that it was a more complicated question than that. Prioritizing my health, both physical and mental, was most important, no matter what.

I liked who I was on days I got the sleep I needed. I felt more productive, more rested throughout the week. I liked that I could divide my energy toward multiple things, and I liked that I didn’t get headaches at the end of the day. I stopped comparing myself to peers because we were incomparable and different — both in terms of our needs and our capabilities. For example, I wake up later than my roommate but I don’t take naps like she does.

Sometimes the guilt lingers, especially when I go to bed early yet still wake up late. I remind myself that I’m not behind because of it — and if I am, it’s not impossible to change.

The goal is to avoid procrastinating on assignments or skipping class, and instead focus on getting the rest that makes me feel refreshed and like myself.

6 SPORTS

SPORTS BU holds off Harvard in tense Beanpot opener Belle Fraser Daily Free Press Staff The Boston University men’s hockey team (15-10-3, 10-6-3 HE) kicked off the 69th annual Beanpot tonight at TD Garden with a 4-3 victory over Harvard University (12-8-2, 9-5-2 ECAC).

With scarlet flooding the stands, history on BU’s backs and a buzz in the building, the Terriers pieced together a gutty win –– a culmination of the first-class hockey the team has been producing of late.

After settling into the moment, BU began to play its game. The team produced some quality chances, was aggressive on the backcheck, and hit a Harvard jersey whenever possible.

Sophomore forward Dylan Peterson reentered the lineup for his first game since Jan. 21, taking his place on the fourth line with Jamie Armstrong and Sam Stevens. Sophomore forward Nick Zabaneh slotted in with Peterson at times.

Following his shutout performance on Friday, sophomore goaltender Vinny Duplessis started in the crease for BU. The Quebec City native played comfortably between the pipes, giving up far less rebounds with good puck control. Duplessis garnered 22 stops and stood tall under the brightest lights he has played in.

“He gave us an opportunity to win the game, and that’s all you can ask for,” BU head coach Albie O’Connell said.

Senior forward and captain Logan Cockerill opened up the scoring for BU for the second game in a row.

Picking up a pass from junior defenseman Case McCarthy, Cockerill blasted down the left side leaving two Crimson in his dust. Pulling junior goaltender Mitchell Gibson out to the left, the BU leader tucked the puck behind his opposite pad to give

the Terriers a 1-0 lead with 13:52 left in the first period.

“This guy here played one of his better games at BU — he was dynamite tonight. He led by example and kind of led the way to the victory,” O’Connell said, while pointing to Cockerill beside him.

Harvard was quick to respond, finding the equalizer less than a minute later with a top-shelf goal from senior forward Casey Dornbach. BU left Dornbach open in front, but that was their only lapse in coverage for the period.

The Terriers had their first power play with just under four minutes remaining in the opening period after Harvard sophomore defenseman John Fusco was assessed two minutes for holding. Junior forward Jay

O’Brien capitalized on the man-advantage with a snipe from the right faceoff circle, regaining a 2-1 lead.

BU put together a largely cohesive opening period, leaving the frame up 14-8 in shots on goal and with momentum on their side.

Senior forward Ty Amonte suffered a big hit in the first period and didn’t return for the remainder of the night. Stevens took his place on the third line –– a relatively seamless transition after losing a veteran player.

The Scarlet and White got back on the power play four minutes into the middle frame and set up junior forward Matt Brown on a wrist shot scoring play which meant far more than just a Beanpot tally. Pointing up to the sky following the goal, Brown honored his mother who passed away

last week and emotionally secured the 3-1 lead at 4:10 of the second period.

“He really handled himself well,” O’Connell said. “He’s a passionate guy. He probably has a heavy heart right now, but I think he’s probably looking up thinking about his mother when he’s scoring the goal. I was really happy for him.”

Junior forward Ethan Phillips, along with his upperclassmen counterparts, played with great tenacity in the contest. Fighting up until –– and sometimes past –– the whistle, Phillips was finally rewarded midway through the second period.

A strong blast from the point off the stick of freshman defenseman Ty Gallagher made one more stop before finding the back of the net. Phillips deflected the puck mid-air to make it

MOHAN GE | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

4-1 on his sixth of the season.

Harvard didn’t leave the period without a fight, though. Propelled by a Peterson roughing penalty, freshman forward Zakary Karpa and senior forward Jack Donato brought the Crimson within one, scoring goals 21 seconds apart at 18:16 and 18:37.

The late burst from the opposition set up for a high-pressure third period. The Terriers handled the moment with poise and determination, working as a unit to fend off a desperate Crimson side.

BU dove through passing lanes and threw themselves in front of Harvard shots to support Duplessis as the final frame winded down –– you could feel from the very highest press box how much this Terrier team wanted to win.

“The third period I thought we kind of locked it down, not a lot happened for either side,” O’Connell said. “It was a really good third and I thought we closed out really well.”

BU players poured out from the bench onto the ice, and an elated Dog Pound cheered as the final buzzer sounded.

“This was one of the main reasons I came back to BU,” Cockerill said in the post game press conference.

“I wanted to win a Beanpot and I’m happy I get a chance to compete for it next Monday.”

BU is now headed to the finals next Monday to face off against Northeastern University, which defeated Boston College 3-1 in the other semifinal matchup. First, the Terriers will travel to Providence College to battle with the Friars this Thursday at 7 p.m. before they fight for the Beanpot title.

For complete BU hockey coverage, check out the Boston Hockey Blog and follow along with @ BOShockeyblog on Twitter and @ boston.hockey.blog on Instagram for updates.

Boston University men’s hockey team celebrates a goal during the Beanpot semifinal against Harvard University. The Terriers claimed victory over Harvard 4-3 Monday in the first game of the 69th annual Beanpot at TD Garden.

Men’s basketball stages late comeback, beats Army Chloe Patel Sports Associate The Case Gym crowd fell silent as the ball swished through the net.

With just over two minutes left in Boston University’s matchup against the United States Military Academy, the Terrier bench sat in frustration as they watched Army sophomore guard Jalen Rucker drill a step-back three-pointer, and their chances of winning dwindled.

But BU sophomore guard Daman Tate knocked back a three-pointer to cut the Terriers’ deficit to two points, and the tides began to turn for BU. “I’ve been in so many games with these guys…you never feel like you’re going to lose,” head coach Joe Jones said postgame.

When BU regained possession with eight seconds on the clock, the ball ended up in the hands of graduate student forward Sukhmail Mathon. Mathon absorbed contact from two defenders, and sunk the ball into the net for a game-tying “and-one” as the Case Gym crowd erupted. Mathon drained the free-throw to give BU the lead.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Terriers (17-9, 8-5 Patriot League) had come away with a 75-74 win over the Black Knights (13-12, 7-6 PL) on Wednesday night.

“I was missing my free throws, but I know my team needed me and I was just trying to stay there for them,” Mathon said postgame. “Javante

[McCoy] did a great job just passing me the ball. I was wide open. They came. I just shot-faked, finished the play.”

The Terriers, who were able to rack up a nine-point lead during the beginning of the second half, watched the visitors crawl their way out of the deficit and turn the tables on BU before the Terriers pulled out the victory. The game is the 12th for BU which has been decided by five points or less.

Senior guard and forward Walter Whyte led the Terriers in scoring with 21 points, shooting five-for-eight on three-point attempts. Whyte missed all of December with an injury but has made a resurgence as a key player for BU in 2022. Jones said he told his staff after BU’s win over Lehigh last week that, “Walt’s back.”

Off the bench, Tate shot five-forseven from the field and hit two of his three three-point attempts. In the Terriers’ matchup with Lehigh, Tate was five-for-five on field-goal attempts and three-of-three from long-range.

Jones praised Tate’s recent success postgame.

“His attitude has been awesome, like awesome, and he’s worked his tail off and he was playing really well in practice,” Jones said. “When you’re talented enough and you’re doing the right things, it always comes your way…without him in the last two games, I don’t know if we win. He’s been freaking terrific.”

Against Army, the Terriers committed 13 turnovers and the Black Knights were able to gather 13 offensive rebounds.

“If we could have rebound the ball

better and not turned it over, I think it would have given us a chance to kind of extend that lead or keep that lead that we had in the second half,” Jones said.

BU has five more regular-season games before the Patriot League Tournament begins on March 1.

When asked about the upcoming Patriot League competition, Mathon

said the team will work to “get better each and every day.”

“The team, at the end, the one that continues to improve is going to win it all,” Mathon said. “And right now we’re going to tackle it day by day, and try to get the next win Saturday.”

The Terriers will welcome American University (6-17, 2-9 PL) to Case

Gym on Saturday afternoon for their second-to-last home game of the regular season.

“It was one of those games, I think a lot of good things happened. And a lot of things I think that we need to work on and get better happened too,” Jones said. “I think it’s a great game to win and learn from.”

COLIN BOYD | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Boston University men’s basketball team. The Terriers came away with a 75-74 victory over the Army Black Knights in a game on Feb. 9.