The Daily Free Press
Year xli. Volume lxxxii. Issue xciii.
TRUCK STOP Your guide to the tastiest meals on wheels, page 3
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
THE SCIENCE OF STRESS
Researchers examine causes, solutions to anxiety, page 5
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THROUGH THICK AND THIN
B.ball seniors stick out coaching carousel, page 8
WEATHER
Today: Rain, High 50 Tonight: Showers, Low 47 Tomorrow: 56/45 Data Courtesy of weather.com
MBTA underserves low-income areas, filmmaker says BU to create center for assault response, crisis prevention By Jasper Craven Daily Free Press Staff
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority may still be keeping low-income neighborhoods from having easy access to transportation even after building lines in the 1980s and 2000s, said filmmaker Kris Carter, who created a documentary on the history of the T. A self-described “geeky urban planner,” recent Tufts University graduate Carter recorded the story of the MBTA, writing a paper and directing a 45-minute long documentary about the topic entitled “Equal or Better: The Story of the Silver Line.” The documentary, created in 2011, focuses on socioeconomic inequality with respect to public transportation accessibility throughout Greater Boston. Carter’s piece, which screened at the Boston International Film Festival on April 21, is in the running for awards at the Roxbury International Film Festival, which will take place from June 14 to 17. The problem the film highlights originated when the city tore down the Orange Line’s predecessor, the Washington Street elevated train, in 1987 after it felt into disrepair, he wrote in his thesis. The loss of the line meant the loss of access to downtown Boston for Roxbury residents. When the Orange Line relocated from Dudley Square in Roxbury to Forest Hills, further southwest in Jamaica Plain, low-income residents from Roxbury suffered.
By Chris Lisinski Daily Free Press Staff
RACHEL PEARSON/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Silver Line brings Roxbury residents from Dudley Square to metropolitan Boston. A Tufts University graduate’s film weighs in on financial inequality and its ties to public transportation.
Stops on the Orange Line, such as Ruggles, Massachusetts Avenue and Back Bay, did not exist two decades ago, Carter said in an email interview. “Look at the economic development power the train has had in that corridor,” Carter said. “Jackson Square and Forest Hills are undergoing a transformation now, a few decades after the line started, so [the new Orange Line] con-
tinues to be an economic engine for Boston and a greatly improved service for residents in those communities.” In 2002, the MBTA created the Silver Line to reach Roxbury residents. Two Silver Line bus routes begin in Dudley Square and bring riders to metropolitan Boston, but the Silver Line bus route is technically only two-thirds completed.
MBTA, see page 4
Medical marijuana bill not likely to get approval from legislators By Eddie Donga Daily Free Press Staff
The Legislature is unlikely to take action to approve a pair of bills that would legalize medical marijuana in Massachusetts, lawmakers said Monday. Members of the State Senate and House of Representatives have until Wednesday to act on the proposed laws, which are currently awaiting approval in the Joint Committee on Public Health and would protect the prescription and use of marijuana by state residents whose doctors recommend it. Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, sponsored the original proposal along with Rep. Frank Smizik, D-Brookline. “At this point I am not optimistic that our bill will come out of committee favorably, either in the form Rep. Smizik and I submitted it or in the form proposed by citizens advancing the ballot question,” Rosenberg said in an email Monday.
The prospect of federal pressure, he said, is a main concern in the Statehouse as it examines the bills. “I think the Legislature is reluctant to advance big changes like this involving a substance that is illegal under federal law that can override state law,” he said. Medical marijuana legalization is becoming increasingly common on the state level, despite the federal government’s crackdown on dispensaries, which often make it easier for cannabis seekers to obtain marijuana regardless of medical status. Rosenberg said he would like to see Massachusetts adopt the reform as well. “I sponsored the bill because I think it is time for us to join the 16 other states and Washington D.C. in making it legal for people to access medical marijuana if prescribed by their doctors,” Rosenberg said. “I see no reason why people who can get relief from pain, nausea and other symptoms shouldn’t be able to have legal access to the substance.”
TURN UP THE HEAT
AUDREY FAIN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Residents of Warren Towers evacuated the dorm Monday afternoon when the fire alarm sounded. Residence Life later posted a notification that said the alarm was activated on the 13th floor of Shields “C” Tower.
Rosenberg said his legislation was based off recent laws in Rhode Island and Maine that had a reliable regulatory approach and did not compromise public safety. However, he was not alone in his assessment of the bills as a prohibitively delicate issue. “The Legislature is afraid to touch the issue,” Boston University political science professor Christine Rossell said in an email. Although polls have indicated widespread support for the change, Rossell said those polls most likely were not broken down by legislative constituencies, leaving individual senators and representatives in a state of uncertainty about their constituencies’ preferences. “I think most legislators would rather have the public decide in a referendum if a referendum is an option,” Rossell said, referring to the second piece of legislation Rosenberg mentioned. Advocacy organizations such as the Massa-
Marijuana, see page4
Boston University President Robert Brown announced the creation of a sexual assault response center Monday in an email sent to the BU community. “I am writing to announce that we are establishing a center that will be specifically dedicated to preventing sexual assault through training and outreach, and to providing support to victims of sexual assault as well as other forms of abuse, such as hazing,” the letter said. The center is expected to open on campus by the start of the 2012-13 school year, according to the email. Student Health Services will direct the center, though the facility will be housed in a separate location. “We are already working on initial plans for staffing the center and determining an appropriate campus location,“ Brown said in the letter. Brown cited the incidents of alleged sexual assault and alleged hazing that have occurred at BU over the past four months. These include the arrests of two hockey players, Corey Trivino and Max Nicastro, and separate alleged hazing incidents involving the sorority Sigma Delta Tau and the unaffiliated and now-closed fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi. “[We are committed to ensuring] that we have the appropriate means in place both to reduce the likelihood of such events and to provide strong support to those affected when, despite our best efforts, such events occur,” Brown said in the email. There have been a number of demands from the BU community that such a center be created on campus. The Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism circulated an online petition in March to establish a crisis center to prevent sexual assault, provide support for victims and raise awareness about sex-related issues. “A rape crisis center would help Boston University to better serve its students by providing them with tools to prevent and cope with sexual assault crises and to lead the way in providing a safe and healthy environment for all members of the Boston University community,” the petition stated. More than 1,000 people signed the petition, which was sent to BU administration. Student Union unanimously voted to support a proposal from the CGSA for a crisis cen-
Center, see page 4
Tax records ineffective in long run, prof says By Samantha Tatro Daily Free Press Staff
Tax returns released last week for Sen. Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren showed that the Massachusetts Senate candidates rank in the highest percentiles of the nation’s earners. But Boston University students and professors said they did not expect the new information would alter the public’s perceptions about the candidates. Warren, the presumptive Democratic challenger for Republican Brown’s seat, released four years’ worth of tax returns while Brown released six years’ worth on Friday after a request from The Boston Globe. Their incomes in the most recent tax year placed Brown in the top two percent and Warren in the top one percent of earners. “The main effect of these releases is that it may make it harder for Sen. Brown to paint himself as a pickup truck-driving common man in contrast to the Harvard elite challenger,” said Boston University Political Science professor Douglas Kriner in an email interview. The returns show Warren earning about $1 million combined over the past four years –
most recently, $616,181 in 2011. Brown earned less by comparison -- $510,856 for 2011, a dip after his income briefly skyrocketed after his election in 2010 due to an advance on his autobiography. “I doubt that [the tax releases] will have much of an effect,” Kriner said. “Brown has been quick to note that while his campaign may paint Warren as an elitist – it has not criticized her personal wealth.” Warren’s campaign hinges on the mantra that she’s a blue collar champion who came up the hard way, “out of a hard-working middle class family in an America that created opportunities for kids like me,” her campaign website states. Kriner said the unveiling of Brown’s own wealth could lead him to back off from his focus on Warren’s elite status. But Brown’s campaign has already said Warren’s tax returns contradict her claims about her closeness to the middle class. “Professor Warren is extremely hypocritical for saying she isn’t wealthy and calling on
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