NEWS $100 million in loans allocated to replace lead service lines in Massachusetts p. 3
MUSE Review of finalists' films at the 36th Redstone Film Festival p. 5
SPORTS With its conference schedule looming, the softball team will host Sacred Heart and look to keep its impressive vein of form going. p. 12
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THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLV. VOLUME XC. ISSUE IX.
Adjuncts hold peaceful rally for awareness, better treatment Uber Boston
introduces new late-night flat fare
BY ALEX LI DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University adjunct professors rallied Wednesday in front of the Tsai Performance Center to raise awareness of their current working conditions before other members of the faculty headed inside Tsai for the Spring Faculty Assembly. At one point during the peaceful rally, Kush Ganatra, a member of the BU Student Curriculum Committee, stood up on the steps by the performance center’s entrance inside the College of Arts and Sciences. He called attention from passersby, gave his support to the adjunct professors and called upon President Robert Brown to respect and treat the adjuncts properly. “President Brown has been called ‘the engineer who built BU’ by BU Today, but they failed to mention just who BU was built for,” said Ganatra, a junior in CAS. “The administration refuses to think of its workers as anything other than statistics.” Ganatra said the university achieves success using the same methods as Walmart — doing anything to make more money and maximizing the bottom line. Approximately 30 adjunct professors and student supporters organized the protest. They passed out flyers to prospective students and families who passed through the building on their campus tours and to faculty members making their way into the performance center. Many of the tour participants and faculty members stopped and listened to what the protesters had to say. The organizers’ table was decorated with 260 scarlet and white balloons to symbolize the number of courses an adjunct professor would have to teach yearly to earn the equivalent of Brown’s $1.3 million salary. “We thought [the rally was] one way to get attention from full-time faculty to discuss about our negotiations,” said Tinker Ready, an adjunct journalism professor in the College of Communication and one of the organizers. “It is just a good opportunity to communicate them this way and communicate with others in the commu-
BY KYLER SUMTER DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
PHOTO BY BRIAN SONG/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
BU adjunct professors held a rally outside of the Tsai Performance Center. Their table was decorated with 260 balloons to symbolize the number of courses they would have to teach in a year to equate to President Brown’s $1.3 million salary.
nity — people who are walking by, walking in, [and we] have a presence.” This latest development comes at a time when BU adjunct professors are still in the process of reaching a fair contract with the university administration one year after they voted to unionize, The Daily Free Press reported Feb. 26. Ready said she and other adjunct professors want the university to recognize their hard work by offering better salaries, longer contracts and more opportunities for personal improvement. Ready argued that adjunct professors earn a quarter to one-third of what tenure-track professors receive. “[The university] never sent me to the to the Online News Association meeting,” Ready said. “As a journalist, I have to spend every break for catching up. I spent a lot of time learning how to do all the software with cameras. Of course, I learned them at my own will. It is just that the struggle we have to go through in order to give the best to the students [is too much].” Several people at the rally said they support adjunct professors’ efforts to advocate their rights, and the university
should devote most of its money to students and faculty. Susan Vik, a lecturer in the BU Center for English Language and Orientation Programs, said she participated in the protest because adjunct professors have different working conditions, compensation and opportunities than full-time faculty. “There's unequal contingency,” Vik said. “Our contracts go semester to semester, so we never know if we will get work. All BU students essentially have adjuncts as professors at some point, and they pay the same amount for a class taught by an adjunct as a full-time professor. So obviously, BU values us the same.” Kelsie Merrick, the chair of SCC, said she supported the protests because adjunct professors cannot fully devote themselves to their students if they have constant concerns about their job security. “We are here to prove to the faculty and to President Brown that it is not just adjuncts who want these benefits,” said Merrick, a sophomore in CAS. “Many adjunct professors do not have their own of-
Uber Boston introduced a new late-night, flat-rate fare of $5 for uberPOOL rides near Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority stations, according to a Friday press release. UberPOOL riders who request an Uber within one block of a T stop on the Red, Orange, Green or Blue lines to travel to another T stop from 12:30 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights will be eligible for the $5 rides, according to the release. According the release, the flat fares were announced in response to the MBTA’s decision to cancel Late-Night Service. “In an effort to continue connecting Bostonians to the places they love, we’re offering $5 uberPOOL rides along T subway lines during late night hours for four weekends,” the release stated. The flat-fare service will run on Fridays and Saturdays from March 20 to April 9, according to the release. Barbara Jacobson, programs director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, said the private market has reacted positively to the cancelation of the Late-Night T service. “Uber’s response is a really interesting way that the private market is reacting to the demand that the public sector isn’t able to maintain with getting rid of the Late-Night MBTA Service,” Jacobson said. “I think that this creates an opportunity for other private markets and service providers to expand upon this model.” Jacobson also said private markets have recognized what is important for residents, and she hopes to see more responses like this. “It’s interesting that the private market has reacted so quickly to this demand,” Jacobson said. “It showcases that these are important destinations for people, and we’re definitely going to see more of this.” Charlie Ticotsky, policy director at Transportation for Massachusetts, said Uber is using a smart marketing strategy, but it may not be
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VISUAL ARTICLE BY ALEENA QAZI/DFP STAFF
REPORTING BY DAVE SEBASTIAN/DFP STAFF
MEET THE CLASS OF 2020 29%
Admissions only admitted 29 percent of 57,416 applicants to the university this year. Last year, the admittance rate was 33 percent.
Admissions received 57,416 applications, all competing for 3,500 seats in the class.
Admissions looks at:
Recommendations from teachers and counselors that know students well as they can speak to a student’s strength Student activities and interests Students who are engaged in their school and home communities
Overall level of achievements, grades The extent to which a student has pushed him or herself academically This year BU admitted students from all 50 states.
24 percent of the enrolled students in the Class of 2020 is international students.
Of the students that applied for financial aid, the university met the need of 89 percent of them.
153 countries are represented in our applicant pool, while having admitted students from 117 countries. Admissions admitted 16 percent of the international students who applied for admission.
SOURCE: KELLY WALTER, ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS