4-26-2012

The Daily Free Press

Year xli. Volume lxxxii. Issue xci.

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MVP MEARS? Sociology prof. nominated “Most Valuable Professor,” page 3

Thursday, April 26, 2012 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University

CHEERS, LONDON Hamedy bids goodbye to London in her final column, page 6

]

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FRIED FRIARS

Softball sweeps doubleheader from PC, page 8

WEATHER

Today: Rain, High 62 Tonight: Rain, Low 45 Tomorrow: 58/37 Data Courtesy of weather.com

City launches annual Boston Shines cleanup Friday Bill aims to freeze

interest rate for fed. student loans

By Mitch Harkey Daily Free Press Staff

Although Boston Mayor Thomas Menino had a head start on the Boston Shines initiative by sweeping outside in City Hall Plaza, on Friday and Saturday residents throughout Boston can participate in the yearly neighborhood cleanup and volunteer program.

The city will provide volunteers with tools and materials to clean up their neighborhoods during the weekend, according to a press release from the mayor’s office.

“Boston Shines is a true community event as thousands of volunteers and residents gather each year to help clean up our city and show pride in their neighborhoods,” Menino said in the release.

The focus of the cleaning efforts is on neighborhood business districts and recreational areas, said Katie Ward, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office.

Now entering its 10th year, this community-wide effort normally receives a good turnout and is expecting to see about 6,000 people, said Chris English, the Dorchester neighborhood coordinator in the city’s Office of Neighborhood Services.

“The purpose of this event is to get people from across the city involved in cleaning up their neighborhood,” English said.

English said there are no real challenges to Boston Shines this year.

“We are pretty experienced in coordinating the whole thing,” he said. “It’s just a

By Meg DeMouth Daily Free Press Staff

ILLUSTRATION AUDREY FAIN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The annual Boston Shines initiative to clean up various neighborhoods in the city will take place this upcoming weekend.

matter of getting the volunteers the materials they need and organizing on the back end.”

Many neighborhood associations around Boston are joining in the effort. Groups such as the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council, the Chester Square Area Neighborhood Association and the Garden Club of the Back Bay are encouraging residents to participate in the initiative on their websites.

The Neighborhood Association of Back

Bay is also coordinating the annual Alley Rally with this year’s Boston Shines, according to the NABB website.

“NABB members are encouraged to join their neighbors, including groups from the fraternities of some of our Back Bay schools, in sweeping the alleys and side streets,” according to a statement emailed to The Daily

Shines, see page 2

BU students use dating websites whether serious or not

By Alex Falco Daily Free Press Staff

About 10 percent of Boston University students are on Datemyschool.com, a dating site aimed at college students, company officials said.

Gunita Singh, the marketing ambassador for Datemyschool.com at BU, said the dating site has created a presence on campus.

“Things are just a lot more fast-paced these days, and the relationships we form and maintain are often secondary,” Singh, a College of General Studies sophomore, said. “While technology is definitely a contributor to that, one can argue that the secondary relationships are the only relationships we’re going to have with things like Facebook, Twitter.”

BU falls behind other universities where students use Datemyschool. Thirty percent of students at Columbia University go on the site, as do 25 percent at New York University, she said.

College of Arts and Sciences freshman Christina Clay said her friends signed her up for an online dating website as a joke.

“It’s more of a joke than using it to actually get a date,” Clay said. “If people use [the sites] to actually find dates, then that’s good, but I don’t think that the interest is too high.”

Singh said, however, online dating isn’t always a joke.

“While I feel college is definitely the platform off of which you can form solid, perhaps lifelong relationships, it is also very difficult to form those close-knit relationships that you often hear about that our parents had back in their day,” Singh said.

However, Clay said dating websites form an insincere connection, much like social media websites do.

“It’s all dehumanized,” Clay said. “With busier and busier schedules, I could see people using it more than actual interaction, which I don’t think is a good thing.”

Datemyschool.com only allows students with a college ID to join, and since users can limit who sees their profiles, students can remain anonymous, Singh said.

“A lot of kids who are pre-med or in the School of Management or the School of Law, understandably, they’re very concerned with their appearance and what they’re affiliated with,” she said.

CAS senior Nelson Hernandez said the website might be better than a general dating website, as it is more targeted at a specific audience.

“It might be a little bit safer than regular dating sites because . . . only college students can use them or there is less fear that you might get kidnapped or something,” he said.

A CAS sophomore who wished to remain anonymous said she chose to use the college dating website because she felt safer using it and wanted to find potential dates who are edu-

SEE FULL STORY ONLINE

By July 1, interest rates on federal student loans could double, meaning students who take out new Federal Direct Stafford Loans will end up accruing interest at a 6.8 percent rate rather than the current 3.4 percent rate.

Congress is debating whether to pass a new bill that would extend the 3.4 percent rate indefinitely.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said he supports the bill, adding that an interest rate hike would come as a blow to middle- and working-class Americans.

“We’re underfunding [education]. We’re making a mistake,” he said. “We’re denying working people the chance to go to college.”

He said the debate has become divided along party lines, with many Democrats advocating for the bill’s passage and many Republicans claiming that keeping the deflated interest rate in place would put too much of an economic burden on the federal government.

Putting a freeze on the Federal Direct Stafford Loan interest rate for one year would cost the government about $6 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

However, Frank said the government could make up for that added cost.

“We could tax millionaires . . . cut back on military spending and excessive weaponry,” he said, adding that for this bill, “we don’t have to compromise.”

The bill’s 126 co-sponsors are all Democrats, and while several Republican representatives have spoken out against keeping the low interest rates, such Republicans as Mitt Romney and Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown have recently said they are in favor of the extension.

“I support extending the current interest rates,” Brown said in an emailed statement, “especially given the dreadful economy and the news that half of today’s college graduates either don’t have a job or are working in jobs beneath their skill level.”

Despite the Republican majority in the House, the bill has a high chance of passing, said U.S. Rep. John Olver, one of the five Massachusetts congressmen co-sponsoring the bill.

“Even Republicans agree that interest rates on student loans should not be allowed to rise,” he said in an emailed statement. “The momen-

Loans, see page 4

Menino commences You Have Rights campaign for tenants after violations

By Amelia Pak-Harvey Daily Free Press Staff

AUDREY FAIN/FILE PHOTO

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino recently launched a campaign to raise awareness for tenant rights.

After dangerous housing violations in Chinatown drove many residents out of their apartments, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino launched the You Have Rights campaign that aims to increase awareness of tenant rights.

The city’s campaign includes brochures and community posters that address specific problems for that community in different languages, said José Rios, the community outreach coordinator in the Office of New Bostonians.

“Whether people know them or not, or they believe that they have them or not,” Rios said, “it’s that they have rights and that they deserve a safe place to live because many of the tenants in Boston suffer from different violations of their rights.”

The campaign urges tenants with housing issues to call the mayor’s hotline for assistance, according to the press release. More than 70 community organizations and city departments will work in the campaign.

“The great thing about this campaign is that . . . a lot of these organizations, they do a lot of

workshops in the community, and they do fight already for tenants rights,” Rios said.

The city asked the Boston Tenant Coalition, which has been doing similar work for the past four years, for support in the campaign, said Magalis Troncoso, the BTC’s main organizer.

“With the city helping us, it’s going to be really, really helpful,” Troncoso said.

Although people call looking for attorneys to help them, the BTC has not had enough lawyers on staff because of a lack of funding, she said.

Troncoso said hopefully the city will provide more resources, and at some point the BTC can have more staff providing legal advice.

The campaign’s brochures, available in seven languages, list the “Top 10 Things New Bostonian Tenants Should Know,” including the legal fees charged upon move-in, proper eviction procedures and entitlement to a 30-day notice of rent increases.

The Office of New Bostonians, which will be coordinating and organizing the campaign’s resources, tries to meet the needs of the immigrant community and seeks to ensure people

know the process of city government and their rights, Rios said.

Rios said although it is difficult to create an initiative in seven languages, Menino pushed this aspect of the campaign and argued that the city cannot address tenant rights in just one or two languages.

Troncoso said many people do not know how to speak English, so they do not know how to confirm any housing conditions.

The BTC focuses on the Latino community, and all of their activities and outreach efforts are bilingual, she said.

The campaign follows the evacuation of a Chinatown building in February, according to the press release.

When firefighters responded to the call in Chinatown, they found that columns were missing from the building occupying 19-25 Harrison Ave. The tenants evacuated the building and moved to various living spaces throughout the city.

“I want people to know that there are resources available to help them,” Menino said in the release.

2

@dailyfreepress Thursday, April 26, 2012

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Crosswalk repainting added to Boston Shines initiative Shines: From Page 1

Free Press.

But the 2012 initiative will include more than cleaning – as a part of Boston Shines, the Boston Transportation Department is offering free towing of junk vehicles from private property, according to the release.

Residents can call Menino’s office for the removal of junk vehicles.

“I strongly encourage anyone who owns one of these vehicles, or has one of these vehicles abandoned on their property in Boston, to take advantage of this opportunity, contact us, and we will make

sure that the vehicle is towed out of the city, crushed and recycled as scrap metal,” Menino said.

English said this year the city is also starting a “major crosswalk repainting initiative” as part of Boston Shines.

Anybody can take part in Boston Shines by registering with the Office of Neighborhood Services, which has also taken to the Internet to get the word out.

“Our newest initiative this year is to involve social media,” English said. “We have new Twitter and Facebook campaigns and a social media outreach team that we have never had in the past.”

2 “…a frosty glass of sangria on a hot summer’s day.”

CLICK THRU

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The Daily Free Press Crossword

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62 Beyond the fringe 63 Columnist Buchwald 64 Alleviated 65 __ mix: hiker’s fare 66 Snake sound 67 Wipe out 68 Critter that can follow the ends of this puzzle’s five longest answers Down 1 NPR auto show 2 Hamlet’s love 3 Writer’s payment

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Campus & City City Crime Logs Lost GPS

By Jasper Craven Daily Free Press Staff

The following crime reports were taken from the AllstonBrighton District D-14 crime logs from April 18 to April 24.

On Thursday at about 7:45 a.m., an unknown person broke into a woman’s car parked in Brighton on Holton Street. The victim told police she parked her vehicle on Holton Street at about that time, and when she returned 15 minutes later, she observed that her front, driverside window was smashed. The victim noticed her Garmin GPS, valued at $150, was missing from the center console of the vehicle.

Not so ‘safe’ At about 6 p.m. on Thursday, officers responded to a call for larceny at Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton. The victim told police that sometime between last month and Wednesday, his safe had gone missing. The victim had been storing his safe in his desk cabinet and realized it was missing at around 11 p.m. on Wednesday. The safe contained credit cards and personal documents, and the victim told police that many people have stayed in the apartment, which he shares with a roommate.

A number of Boston University students said an Arizona immigration law created in 2010 and taken to the Supreme Court for under claims of unconstitutionality Wednesday, is unfair.

“I can see aspects of it that might be beneficial to kind of lowering crime rates,” said College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Vlad Solomon, “but at the same time it doesn’t justify pulling over people that may or may not look like they may be illegal immigrants.”

On Wednesday, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr., representing the federal government, urged the court to strike down part of Arizona’s 2010 immigration law, according to a Wednesday New York Times article. The provision allows law enforcement officials to look into the immigration status of people they stop and suspect to be illegal immigrants.

More than two-thirds of registered voters, about 68 percent, approved of the law, according to a Quinnipiac University poll that was published April 20.

“The Constitution vests exclusive authority over immigration matters with the national government,” Verrilli Jr. said to the Times.

The multi-part law includes a provision that deems it a crime for illegal immigrants to work, according to the Times. The court’s ruling is expected by June and may be a split decision upholding parts of the law and striking down others.

The bill was intended to work with federal immigration laws to

3

Sociology prof. nominated ‘most valuable professor’ by student

By Emily Overholt Daily Free Press Staff

Boston University Professor of sociology Ashley Mears said the night before she began her career – as a graduate student teaching at New York University – she wasn’t able to sleep.

“I remember very well being completely out of sorts because I was so nervous and having those nightmares where you’re missing your notes and standing before the classroom and chaos is breaking out,” she said.

Mears was nominated for the Questia’s Most Valuable Professor award, voting for which ends Sunday. The winning professor will have three $2,500 scholarships created in his or her name.

Shauna Ward, a College of Arts and Sciences and College of Communication sophomore, nominated Mears for the award. The professor, she said, influenced her decision to acquire a degree in sociology.

“Professor Mears takes the time to know every single student’s name and engage them all in discussion,” Ward said. “She isn’t afraid to bring up controversial topics in sociology, but she covers them with care.”

Since coming to BU in 2008, Mears has taught six classes, with more than 100 students in the introlevel course for sociology to fewer than 20 students in courses such as “Culture, Market and Inequality.”

Regardless of the size of the class, she said she tries to memorize her students’ names.

“[In a large classroom] it’s very easy for students to just feel like they show up and there’s this professor who just pontificates from a distance,” Mears said. “It’s a very distant relationship from the material that we learn, and sociology is a very personal kind of science.”

While Mears specializes in the sociology of popular culture, she has only taught a seminar on it once. Instead, she regularly teaches the introductory course.

“I got into the introduction because I like to give lectures,” she said. “I want to make the seminars good, but we have [about 20 students] in a seminar, and that’s a lot of people to include in a conversa-

Prof, see page 4

PABLO DIZEO/COURTESY

Ashley Mears, a Boston University professor of sociology, has been nominated by a student for Questia’s “Most Valuable Professor” award.

Students predict little difference between tapping, swiping into dining halls

By Gina Curreri & Amanda Dowd Daily Free Press Staff

As of next fall, Boston University Terrier ID cards will be tapped instead of swiped at dining halls and vending machines, officials said.

“It has to do with the efficiency,” said BU spokesman Colin Riley. “It should be a little quicker.”

Though student residences will not change over to tapping systems, Riley said it could happen in the future.

“If they are able, they will move forward with additional efficiencies and convenience,” he said.

Until then, security will continue to have students swipe and show their IDs. Jack Kanarek, a College of Arts

BU students weigh in on Arizona immigration law, see it as unfair

By Gina Curreri & Amelia Pak-Harvey Daily Free Press Staff

Thursday, April 26, 2012

further stem the flow of illigal immigrants grossing into Arizona, according to a legislative anaylisis published by the Federation for American Immigration Reform published April 27, 2010, four days after Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the bill into law.

Solomon, a Romanian immigrant, said he thinks the Supreme Court will vote against it, and he personally would not feel comfortable if pulled over and asked to show papers based upon his look or the way he dressed.

School of Hospitality and Administration freshman Kathryn Ong said the law’s approval depends on who is in the Supreme Court.

“I definitely think that there are a lot of illegal immigrants in the United States, and I guess that it’s important that people look into that,” Ong said.

However, Ong said the law raises a lot of racial prejudice issues.

“I hope that they will understand that this will raise a lot of issues between the states and between people in general. It’ll cause a big rift between cultures,” she said. “It might bring back a lot of that segregation between people because people really would feel attacked.”

CAS freshman Joe Filippone said it is not right that police can go up to anybody and request identification.

“I think it’s not really fair to the citizens of Arizona,” he said.

“I understand why they did it because they want to keep our country safe, but I don’t think it’s a big enough threat for some rights to be overlooked.”

and Sciences sophomore, said the switch from swiping to tapping in dining halls “seems irrelevant.”

“If we’re still giving it to the cashier, if they swipe or tap it, it seems the same to me,” Kanarek said.

“They still have to do the stuff on the screen.”

Kanarek said the time saved by tapping instead of swiping would amount to about a second.

College of Communication freshman Yujin Choi said the lines in the dining hall move quickly as at is, and the money it would cost to change over the devices could be spent elsewhere.

Nonetheless, she said, taping cards at the residence halls, if implemented, would be much better than

@ D A I L Y F R E E P R E S S

the current system. examining our workers and tim“At least in Warren, all the secu- ing them for how fast they take per rity guards make you swipe your card swipe, per tap, the difference is going at least five times to get in, and it’s to be negligible,” Sun said. “Unless just a hassle,” she said. we’re actually doing some serious Tianqi Sun, a CAS sophomore, scientific, industrial engineering, it said redoing all the systems to ac- doesn’t really matter.” commodate tapping would be a waste Cameron Berry, a CAS freshman, of money. said it would be better for him be“Even if it’s just dining halls cause he does not like waiting in line. and vending machines, they’re es“I know people who have their sentially trying to implement a new IDs get all messed up, so I guess tapsystem that has no sort of measurable ping would be better,” he said. improvement on the old system of ID CAS freshman Isaiah Dicker said card swiping,” Sun said. swiping into residences would imSun said the difference between prove the current system if the uniswiping and tapping will prove to be versity eventually implements it, but trivial. it still would not be a huge change.

“Unless we are 18th-century oil tycoons that are sitting there and SEE FULL STORY ONLINE

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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Mears well-known for modeling thesis Prof: From Page 3

tion. The lectures are my forte.”

Nancy Ammerman, chair of the sociology department, said Mears has been a great addition to the classroom. Her ability to incorporate media and current events to help students grasp sociological concepts makes her a “remarkable classroom teacher.”

“We have been delighted to have such a gifted teacher introducing BU students to sociology,” Ammerman said in an email interview.

Mears is known in the academic community for her doctoral thesis turned book, “Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model,” in which she studied modeling from a sociological standpoint.

Mears modeled when she was

studying for her undergraduate degree at the University of Georgia.

While pursuing her graduate degree at NYU, she was scouted by a modeling agency and decided to turn the opportunity into research.

“I was a part of [the modeling] but also an outsider,” Mears said.

“When I signed up the second time around I was very much thinking about myself as a researcher, and I was doing it for myself.”

Mears said although some have suggested she teach the book in her Introduction to Sociology class for personal financial gains, she has yet to do so.

“In the end,” she said, “[the money] would probably only be enough for like a pizza party for the class.”

Possible loan rate increase ‘absurd’ Loans: From Page 1

tum is building and I think that we will get there. . . . At the very least it deserves to be brought to the floor for a vote.”

The debate has gained national attention, with President Barack Obama calling for Congress to prevent a spike in student loan interest rates in a weekly address. He called attention to the bill while visiting several colleges this week.

This drive to keep interest rates low should be treated with urgency, Olver said.

“We ought to be helping [students] become all that they can be, not burying them in a lifetime of debt,” he said. “Given the high unemployment rate among young people and the incredible debt burden many are already struggling to work

off, the prospect of adding on an extra $1,000 a year in repayment costs seems callous and absurd.”

Boston University students said a doubled interest rate for the loans could prevent some kids from going to college and put undue financial burdens on students who do graduate. The current system “is already killing me with my loans,” said Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences junior Cathy Baeza.

“We just have no extra money, no extra means of getting it,” she said.

The United States’ job climate is already intimidating, said School of Education freshman Aurora Case.

“I’m already terrified of what I’m going to do when I graduate,” she said. “There are few jobs; there are few ways to pay off the student loans anyway.”

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6T

hursday, April

Opinion

26, 2012

The Daily Free Press

The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University

A letter to my new home away from home

42nd year F Volume 82 F Issue 104

Steph Solis, Editor-in-Chief Tim Healey, Managing Editor Emily Overholt, Campus Editor

Sydney L. Shea, City Editor

Meredith Perri, Sports Editor

Sofiya Mahdi, Opinion Page Editor

Kira Cole, Features Editor

Audrey Fain, Ricky Wilson, Photo Editors

Praise Hong, Advertising Manager Kaylee Hill, Layout Editor Valerie Morgan, Office Manager The Daily Free Press (ISSN 1094-7337) is published Monday through Thursday during the academic year except during vacation and exam periods by Back Bay Publishing Co.,Inc., a nonprofit corporation operated by Boston University students. No content can be reproduced without the permission of Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. Copyright © 2010 Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

Stopping sanitizer Despite police presence and the law dictating that minors cannot consume alcohol, teenagers are often guilty of breaking this law. One usually hears anecdotes of minors being supplied by adults or people taking advantage of fake identification. As young adults, many students feel compelled to rebel against authority; underage drinking is definitely one way they do so. Nevertheless, in desperation, these brushes with the law can become incredibly dangerous. Conventional alcohol is no longer the substance of choice; teenagers turn to cough syrup as well as a variety of other medications to alter their mental states. The latest substance that is now being abused is reportedly hand sanitizer.

According to an article published by The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, six teenagers were rushed to emergency rooms in San Fernando Valley after they contracted alcohol poisoning. Some of the teenagers allegedly used salt to separate the alcohol from the sanitizer, creating an incredibly strong alcoholic shot.

These cases, while somewhat rare for now, are a troubling indicator of underage drinking spiralling out of control.

The article explains that liquid hand sanitizer is comprised of 62 percent ethyl alcohol, and consequent effects of ingesting this can be slurred speech and a burning sensation in one’s stomach.

There is no denying that individuals who fall below the drinking age are going to indulge in alcohol. However, in search of a quick high, these teenagers are reverting to substances that are often abused by alcoholics or people with heavy dependence on alcohol. This level of desperation is unhealthy; you veer away from harmless experimentation to potentially harmful addictions. The fact that young adults are starting their drinking habits in this way is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed.

The reality is parents should not have to monitor liquid hand sanitizer the way they monitor liquor or medicinal drugs in the house. In the United States, you are considered an adult and free to do as you please when you are 21 years old. However, a fix to the alcohol abuse might be to not treat teenagers like protected children, because doing so will only prompt them to act like children for a much longer period of time.

?!

I N T E R RO B A N G This week, Boston University students are getting ready for finals. So we here at the ol’ Free Press wondered how students at BU plan to cope with the stress of finals week.

•

CAS students would go on “#whatshouldwecallbu.”

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COM students would constantly tweet their emotions while eating their weight in fro-yo.

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CGS students have no finals. Capstone is not a thing.

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ENG students wouldn’t notice that it was finals week; they work this hard all the time.

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CFA students would chain smoke.

•

SHA would stress-bake cakes.

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The FreeP would break into SHA’s wine cellar.

Winning London

D

SABA HAMEDY

ear London, Please excuse the tear drops that are falling on the keyboard as I write this letter to you – I’ve been listening to Adele, packing, being nostalgic and thinking about our time together in these last four months. Like many who feel depressed as a real relationship is about to end, I feel distraught by our situation.

It may sound silly but “Someone Like You” really fits our situation. In a few days, I will leave you. I know: It’s a shock, my departure crept up on me too. And now, just one final, one paper, one “end of semester party” and one full day left here.

Before coming here, I was reluctant – I had just left my ex-boyfriend The Daily Free Press (we couldn’t do the whole long-distance thing). But I didn’t just leave The FreeP behind – I left everything familiar: America, the warmth of my own bed in Los Angeles, the company of BU friends, my usual college routine (class, FreeP, FitRec, GSU, fun, repeat). I

left it all for you, all in hopes that life here would work out.

It started out as just a casual friendship.

Upon arrival, I did some touristy activities with my mom, got pretty sick and ended up sleeping off jetlag and a cold for three days while my mom toured the city solo. I liked you – don’t get me wrong – but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be here. Especially when I was still feeling sick and already exhausted from exploring.

But as the days went by, we got to know each other – through rain and shine (yes, the occasional sunshine). And the more time that flew, the more places I saw, the more fun nights I had, the more friends I met – the more I fell in love. Deep, deep love.

I recognized the feeling – I feel it every time I land at LAX and know I’m about to chomp down on an In-N-Out burger and hang out with my family and high school friends. I feel it when I walk into The FreeP office and see the stacks of papers, old beer cans and hard working journalism babies. I feel it when I catch a view of the Charles from the StuVi II study lounge and remember why I chose BU. And now, I feel it when I think of anything and anyone British (including my lovely FreeP Opinion Page Editor).

There were times where I missed home more than I thought I would – like when everyone in California posted pictures of Coachella, when everyone at BU got ready for Marathon Monday, when my family celebrated the Persian New Year and when The FreeP celebrated the middle-of-the-semester “humpfest.”

Sometimes, I even missed the little things – driving my car, City Co. coffee, going to see a movie and it not costing the equivalent of $17.

But there were ways to get over the longing for familiarity via exploration. For example, spending Super Bowl Sunday at Imperial College among Brits who apparently love and follow American football, going to the Victoria &

Albert Museum for a Persian New Year night and getting on a broom at the Harry Potter Studio tour (that’s like driving – right?).

There will be things, people and places I will forever associate with my life here – and it will be both joyous and sad to look back on them. Here’s to the walks in Hyde

Park, Imperial Wednesdays, each and every historic site, living out all my Jane Austen/“Harry Potter”/“The Only Way is Essex”/royal family fantasies. Here’s to “You alright?”, “Cheers,” “Minding the gap,” figuring out British politics, being British not European, figuring out how to handle Tube traffic, falling in love with One Direction (is it not socially acceptable to obsess over a tween sensation?), making friends everywhere and anywhere. The list could go on for pages.

You just get me, London. And I get you. Or try to. And this is why we work. You surprise me all the time by taking me places I’d never usually go. You introduce me to the most interesting types of people. You show me a different culture – one that has a history far richer than that of the United States.

I wrote in my first column that being here is like living in a dream, and four months later, I stand by this statement. Being able to travel around Europe, making a new friend just because of my American accent, working in an international office environment, getting well acquainted with a different city, having the luxury of living in a South Kensington apartment-style dorm – this is what dreams are made of.

I’ve taken way too many photos and checked off almost everything on my bucket list (It was a really long list - you should be proud, London). But I feel like there is still more to do; more hidden London gems to encounter.

While I’m ready for my two-week Euroadventure with one of my best friends and of course my return to home, sweet America, a part of me remains here. The second I board the plane from Heathrow, I will be hoping for our reunion in the near future. Hoping to once again parade the streets of Piccadilly Circus in hopes of finding somewhere fun. Hoping to once again eat fish and chips, sip on cider and sit among friends in a pub – or several. Hoping to re-fall in love with you.

I will work really hard to find my way back here – whether that means teaching myself how to apparate without splitting myself in half or job hunting until I find a place that will get me a visa, I plan on coming back to this home away from home.

But I’ll end this letter now – I think it’s safe to say, I, like Mary Kate and Ashley, won you, London.

Saba Hamedy is a College of Communication and College of Arts and Sciences junior, Fall 2011 editor-in-chief of The Daily Free Press and now a weekly columnist. She can be reached at sbhamedy@bu.edu.

Terriers Talk Reflections

The Daily Free Press asked what students would take away from this past year.

Here’s what some of them said.

INTERVIEWS AND PHOTOS BY AUDREY FAIN.

MICHELLE SOFIA

“Through thick and thin you have to stick beside your school. . . . You need to see the good through the bad.”

- CAS sophomore

PARKER NEIMAN “Thank god I made it!”

- SMG freshman

BRENDON COOPER “Don’t be afraid to try. Take a class in a different school or a different major.”

- SAR junior

TINNA ZHANG “Learn everything you want.

Your major isn’t probabaly what you will do in the future, so take whatever you want.”

- CAS freshman

Thursday, April 26, 2012

7

MARASCO: Fans cannot rip Parker for bad players, forget class acts Marasco: From page 8

going by that logic, the coach who has won three of five national titles should be fired on July 25th due to instant-onset-coaching-abilities-loss.

Another one lost. . . . When are we going to find a cure for that damn disease?

Tom Coughlin is 65. Jim Calhoun will be 70 in less than a month. Those guys still do OK. How quickly we forget Parker coached the Terriers to the national championship in 2009.

So, a few early season losses, and everyone decides that he’s senile and can’t coach. Then, he takes all the heat for two players getting into legal trouble, and that becomes the

new reason to leave him in a roadside ditch.

Everyone understands that those allegations are terrible. The players were dismissed – and they needed to be – but to say that the man doesn’t have control of the team just doesn’t make sense.

What about all his players who have gone on to become class acts in the NHL? What about the ones who have captained Olympic teams?

What about a guy like Chris Connolly? You can’t rip him for the bad kids and take the good ones for granted.

Are we forgetting that he won the Lester Patrick award a year and a half ago?

I’m not in the locker room. I don’t

know what goes on in there. None of us really do. But hasn’t Coach Parker earned a little bit of the benefit of the doubt? We can’t even entertain the idea of this being an anomaly?

Criminals who are not frequent offenders are given lesser penalties.

Employees who are usually on time are not fired for being late once or twice. Doctors don’t lose their license if they’re wrong about one diagnosis.

So why should a coach who has had a solid track record over the last 40 years not be given the benefit of the doubt and get fired for one blemish?

The BC Interruption compared Jack Parker’s scenario to that of Joe Paterno’s at Penn State.

So, I should be made to believe there is any similarity between a coach who knew the facts of a criminal scenario and allowed the perpetrators to remain on campus, to one in which the coach dismissed the players involved immediately upon his knowledge of the events taking place?

We’re also talking about a 20-year age gap between Parker and Paterno, so the “they’re both old guys” thing doesn’t play.

I’m not disputing that the off-ice issues of last season need to be addressed and heavily monitored, but let’s not be irrational about it.

Still, some call for his head because of what happened on the ice

this season.

Huh? I could argue that this season was one of Parker’s best coaching jobs.

He lost his two best offensive players and another solid blueliner and still had the Terriers ranked No. 2 in the nation in mid-February.

And he’s suddenly lost the ability to reach these kids? I don’t buy it.

Consider this a prime case study on how to avoid being a prisoner of the moment. The world is not flat.

There is no Boogie-Man. Jack Parker is not a bad guy, and he didn’t forget how to coach.

Sports are just a small microcosm of life, and life is all about perspective.

Productive outs aid softball during wins BU grabs lead in fourth inning, Offense: From page 8

mediately advanced to third base by a Casacci ground out. Volpano snagged another RBI and her first hit of the day when she singled Clendenny home.

After the Terriers gained another run in the fourth, the top three batters replicated the first inning nearly verbatim. Clendenny led off with a double, Casacci laid down a successful sacrifice bunt, and Volpano hit a grounder that allowed her to reach first safely, as the fielder’s choice throw home in an attempt to stop Clendenny from scoring failed.

Rychcik said he was fully aware of the flow that was developing in the first win over Providence.

“What happened is we just gained a little confidence that ‘okay, somebody moved a runner over,’” Rychcik said, emulating the thoughts of his batters.

“It’s nice that Megan got into a rhythm: ‘Hey, Brit [Clendenny]’s on, she’s over, I’ll get her in. Oh, I did it, I’ll do it again and I’ll do it again.’”

Volpano drove in Clendenny two more times during BU’s second win – this time by a 3-1 tally – over Providence, giving her five RBIs on the day. Clendenny doubled prior to scoring in both of these cases as well. Volpano now leads the Terriers in RBIs with 30 while Clendenny leads the squad in doubles with 13.

“It makes it a lot easier when we are able to do the same thing,

you know, two, three, four times in a row,” Rychcik said. “The game had a real nice flow to it early. We were putting across good at-bats.”

As Rychcik said, what was equally important as driving in runs was putting the runner into scoring position – specifically third base. Casacci handled this oft-sacrificial role with selfless poise, finishing the day with zero hits, yet only three official at-bats in six plate appearances.

“When we get those productive outs like that, we’re going to have some easier at-bats,” Rychcik said. “For the people that are driving them in, it might just be a base-hit, a sacrifice fly or – in a lot of cases – even a ground out is enough.”

solidify two-game sweep of Friars Providence: From page 8

against them.” The Terriers’ pitcher only allowed a single hit through the fifth inning, and when she allowed two runners to reach base in the sixth the BU defense stepped up to stop Providence from scoring.

Clendenny got the Terriers off to a good start when she doubled to left field from the leadoff spot in the bottom of the first. A ground out to the pitcher by senior left fielder Erica Casacci advanced Clendenny to third, and Volpano, with her first of three RBIs in the game, brought Clendenny home with a sacrifice fly.

In the bottom of the third Clendenny and Volpano worked together once again to bring a run across the plate for the Terriers. After Clendenny hit another double, Volpano’s single up the middle let her score.

Volpano sent Clendenny home once more in the bottom of the fifth, putting the Terriers up 4-0.

BU tacked on one more run in the bottom of the sixth when junior second baseman Emily Roesch hit a solo home run.

The top of the seventh proved troublesome when the previously smooth sailing Floetker ran into some trouble. Despite two errors, the Terriers held Providence to three runs in the inning and claim victory.

“We had a tough seventh inning . . . but we were able to get out of it,” Rychcik said. “I’m real happy about the way we ended up in that second game.”

Junior pitcher Whitney Tuthill got the win in the Terriers’ second victory of the day, a 3-1 contest in which she allowed six hits and

struck out six batters.

“Whitney kind of found her rhythm at the end,” Rychcik said.

“In probably the last five, six innings she really got good grooves.”

Providence scored its only run of the game early on in the top of the first but the Terriers quickly tied the score up in the bottom of the inning. Clendenny once again led off with a leadoff double before Casacci advanced her to third. A sacrifice fly by Volpano allowed Clendenny to score and put the Terriers on the board.

“When you get those productive outs like that you’re going to have some easier at bats,” Rychcik said.

“The people that are driving them in, it might just be a base hit or a sacrifice fly.”

Neither team scored again until the bottom of the fourth when the Terriers took the lead for the first time. With one out, sophomore center fielder Chelsea O’Connor hit a home run to center field, bringing BU’s lead up to 2-1.

Clendenny scored again for the Terriers in the bottom of the fifth.

After hitting another double down the right field line, she advanced to third after a wild pitch before a single to left field by Volpano brought her home.

Tuthill held off the Friars’ offense for the remainder of the game as the Terriers picked up their second win of the day.

“Every team, every game is different,” Rychcik said. “Some days you feel like you can swing for eight or 10 runs, and some days you go out. Maybe we’ve just got to grind out one an inning.”

Injured BU squad will need to ‘gut it out a bit’ Softball preview: From page 8

“This is what it’s going to take – if it takes a diving catch, a bunt, or a sacrifice, or a fly ball, or a three-hitter, one-hitter or shutout.

Whatever it takes we just got to have everybody pulling, and that’s what I think [Thursday’s] going to be like too.”

The Eagles will enter the contest having recently snapped a six-game losing streak with a twogame sweep of Dartmouth College

on Wednesday. BC held off Dartmouth in the first game to win 3-2, and then had an offensive barrage in the second game, winning 7-0.

“We’re a pretty good club right now, so it’s nice,” Rychcik said. “I like the fact that we’re winning. . . . I’ll tell the kids though, Boston College, they don’t care what happened on [Wednesday]. We’re going to start all over. [BC’s] going to look at things and say, ‘Hey it’s our turn to beat them.’”

@DFPsports

They’re going to want revenge.

“

“

Quotable

-BU softball coach Shawn Rychcik on the Terriers’ game against Boston College

Page 8

The Empty Net

Sports The Daily Free Press

Double ‘Denny Sophomore shortstop Brittany Clendenny had five doubles during BU’s two-game sweep of Providence on Wednesday, p. 8.

[ www.dailyfreepress.com ]

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Terriers sweep doubleheader from Providence

A Little Perspective Goes BU takes fifth straight game in a Long Way

Frank Marasco Perhaps one of the greatest assets one can possess in life is the ability to keep his head, take a step back and have the emotional control to put things in perspective.

Taking the immediate emotion out of business can save a company billions. Having perspective can save relationships – even lives, for that matter.

In society we value those who have the ability to keep a cool head, sift through jungles of dramatic emotions and come to rational decisions. These people become our judges, our leaders.

So why in sports does it seem that the art of the cool head – the ability to have perspective – is so unimportant to so many who follow and care about them?

Too often those in the sports world lose their head, fly off the handle and become prisoners of the moment.

You see it everywhere in sports.

Many in the U.S. sports media would have you believe that Tim Tebow – who completes 47 percent of his passes - is an elite quarterback, or that LeBron James – who has a player efficiency rating of 30.8 this season - isn’t an MVP candidate.

Red Sox and Cubs fans blamed ghosts, goats and some guy named Bartman for a century of poor organizational decisions.

When we really take the emotion out of scenarios such as those, the truth stares us right in the face.

Still, so many choose to shove powers of reason under the rug and succumb to the uglier side of sports – unchecked emotional irrationality.

The articles, the posts in the fan blogs, the cheap shots, such as those in the BC Interruption earlier this week, attacking Jack Parker – some calling for his job and others questioning his character – all paint the same ugly picture of a world where overreaction rules the day and has no patience for reason.

The reasons are all more painfully rooted in lunacy than the next.

“He’s too old!”

He’s 67. You know who will be turning 67 this July? Jerry York. So,

Marasco, see page 7

bout with Friars

Top of softball’s lineup aids Terriers in wins

By Sam Simmons Daily Free Press Staff

By Tyler Lay Daily Free Press Staff

The Boston University softball team claimed its fourth and fifth consecutive victories when it swept Providence College in a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at the BU softball field.

The Terriers picked up their first victory of the afternoon, 5-3, before completing the day with a 3-1 victory.

Sophomore shortstop Brittany Clendenny led the offense, going 5-for-6 on the day as she filled in for leadoff hitter Jayme Mask.

“We’ve got a lot of people hurting right now,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik. “Jayme Mask was out of the lineup today, and I can probably name five or six other people that have injuries.”

In the first game of the doubleheader, sophomore pitcher Holli Floetker picked up her teamleading 16th win of the season as classmates Clendenny and third baseman Megan Volpano led the Terriers (29-13, 8-3 America East) offense in BU’s win over the Friars (15-31).

Floetker pitched a complete game, striking out five and only allowed five hits and one earned run against Providence despite an injury. Two errors by the Terriers in the top of the seventh allowed the Friars to score two of their three.

“She’s not even anywhere near where she’s been,” Rychcik said. “She was probably [throwing] about three, four miles an hour less. And they’ve seen good pitching, so it’s not going to get 10 strikeouts

When a player hits five doubles in a single day, that player typically garners at least one or two RBIs as a result. However, when sophomore Brittany Clendenny accomplished the feat as the Boston University softball team swept Providence College in a doubleheader Wednesday, the shortstop contributed to the Terriers’ run count by scoring rather than driving her teammates in.

With sophomore right fielder Jayme Mask out due to injury, Clendenny was chosen as the leadoff substitute for the team’s leader in steals. With the help of senior left fielder Erica Casacci and sophomore third basemen Megan Volpano, Clendenny scored three BU (29-13, 8-3 America East) runs in its initial 5-3 victory over the Friars (15-31). The runs were scored in nearly identical fashion.

In the first inning, Clendenny started hot with her first double to left field. Casacci then moved her shortstop to third with a sacrifice bunt back to the pitcher. Volpano cleaned up the leftovers with a sacrifice of her own - a pop-fly to center that brought Clendenny home and put the Terriers up by one.

“Getting over to third base was important today,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik.

Clendenny repeated the feat two innings later. In the third, after senior first baseman Melanie Delgado popped out to second, Clendenny returned to the plate.

She whacked another double, this time to right field, and was im-

Softball @ Boston College, 4 p.m.

Track @ Penn Relays, All Day

Offense, see page 7

Softball aims to conquer vengeful Eagles squad in road duel

By Meredith Perri Daily Free Press Staff

Just over a month ago, sophomore pitcher Holli Floetker took to the pitcher’s circle in the Boston University softball team’s first game against Boston College of the season. Riding a fivegame winning streak, the Terriers found success in a pitchers’ duel that Floetker ultimately won 1-0.

Now, once again having won five straight, the Terriers (29-13, 8-3 America East) will take on the Eagles (22-22), but this time they must travel down Comm. Ave. to face a BC squad that is hungry to avenge its loss from earlier this year.

“They’re going to want to play us,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik. “They’re going to want revenge. We beat them 1-0 [at the

The Bottom Line

Thursday, April 26

AUDREY FAIN/DAILY FREE PRESS PHOTO

Sophomore shortstop Brittany Clendenny had five doubles Providence, see page 7 during BU’s doubleheader against Providence on Wednesday.

Friday, April 27 Tennis @ America East Championships, All Day Track @ Penn Relays, All Day

BU Softball Field], and Holly threw a great game that day.”

During the game, BU scored early with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore right fielder Jayme Mask walked to lead off the game and moved to second on a fielder’s choice. After Mask advanced to third, junior second baseman Emily Roesch notched a single down the right field line to bring in the Terriers’ speedy leadoff hitter.

Floetker took care of the rest, as she limited the Eagles to four hits during the course of her completegame shutout. Floetker struck out five during the game, which was her third shutout and ninth complete game of the season.

While Floetker had a dominating performance over the Eagles in March and led the Terriers to

victory on Wednesday with her 5-3 win over Providence College, Rychcik said that he was still unsure of who would take the mound during Thursday’s game.

Floetker gave up five hits during her seven-inning effort, striking out five Wednesday afternoon.

“I’ve got to see how [Floetker and junior Whitney Tuthill] feel tomorrow,” Rychcik said. “I think it’ll be probably about three o’clock that I make that decision . . . when I see both of them.”

Tuthill also had a solid start against Providence during the second half of the Terriers’ doubleheader with the Friars. Tuthill gave up only one run during her complete-game outing. She gave up six hits and struck out six.

“Off the top of my head, I don’t think either of them is really feel-

ing up to going seven innings [on Thursday],” Rychcik said of Floetker and Tuthill. “I don’t know that, but sometimes you know you get in that groove and it kind of starts working a bit.

While the Terriers have experienced success as of late, they will have to deal with a slightly depleted lineup, as several members of BU’s squad are injured or hurting, including Mask, who did not play on Wednesday.

“I hope the team that showed up [on Wednesday] show’s up [on Thursday] and we kind of gut it out a bit,” Rychcik said. “I told the girls, we’re going to have to do this for two weeks because in the huddle, I named about seven or eight kids who are hurt, and everybody knows it.

Saturday, April 28

Sunday, April 29

Monday, April 30

W. Lacrosse @ Binghamton, 12 p.m.

Softball vs. Hartford, 1,3 p.m.

Track @ Penn Relays, All Day M. Crew @ Wisconsin, All Day

Softball vs. Hartford, 12 p.m.

Tennis @ America East Championships, TBA

Softball preview, see page 7

No Games Scheduled Calvin Johnson on the Madden 13 cover is going to make everyone think they are buying a Transformers 3 DVD.