The Daily Free Press
Year xlii. Volume lxxxiii. Issue VI
MURRAY UP Chinatown voices concerns to Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, page 3.
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Tuesday, September 11, 2012 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
ALL A-BUZZ
New technology will test efficacy of antimalarial drug, page 5.
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www.dailyfreepress.com
TIE IT UP
Men’s soccer ties with Providence, UConn, page 8.
WEATHER
Today: Sunny/High 72 Tomorrow: Clear/Low 49 Wednesday: 79/59 Data Courtesy of weather.com
Vigil remembers students lost in NZ car crash Despite criticism, job stats positive sign, experts say
By Nicole Leonard Daily Free Press Staff
Boston University College of Engineering senior Erik Frazier said was in shock when he received the news that his friend Austin Brashears had died in a car crash while abroad in New Zealand in May. Frazier was one of many who honored the life of Brashears and two other students who died in the car accident at a memorial service Monday evening. “I could fill a library of all the good times we had and only one journal line of the bad,” he said at a memorial service Monday evening. “He was the brother I never had.” BU President Robert Brown spoke to an almost full audience of BU students, officials, family and friends and said the community was “diminished by [the] loss” of ENG junior Brashears, School of Management junior Daniela Lekhno and College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Roch Jauberty. “Each had come here full of talent and rich in promise,” Brown said. “But they will always be young, enduring in our memories and in our hearts.” The three students died May 12 in a car crash in Taupo, New Zealand, while studying abroad. The crash also left five students injured. College of Communication junior Theresa Gombar, who became friends with Jauberty in her freshman year, said she was
By Amelia Pak-Harvey Daily Free Press Staff
“Those schools are not as accepting and they’re not as active in promoting gay rights,” Fleck said. She also said she felt that being in Massachusetts, a liberal state, gave BU a general advantage. “I think it’s a collaboration of the students and the faculty and the entire support network we have here that makes it so accepting,” Fleck said. “The relationships you can develop with the people at the resource center and your professors and TFs is what makes us so special. I have lots of gay and bi friends, and they never feel like they have to hide who they really are here.” Schretzenmayer said the fact that BU is part of a city like Boston, which is very adaptable when it comes to young ideas, is more welcoming. “It’s the point of view of people who choose to come to a school like BU,” he
Although the latest job numbers have sparked criticism nationwide, proving another obstacle for President Barack Obama, experts said August’s unemployment rate is a step in the right direction. The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent in August, with 960,000 new jobs nationwide, according to an employment summary the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday. Although the seasonally adjusted rate is a 1-percent decrease from last year, it puts the country back to where it was in April, as unemployment rates wavered between 8.2 and 8.3 percent from May to July. While Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign called the jobs report “a hangover” after the Democratic National Convention’s party, media outlets speculated whether the latest job numbers would hinder Obama’s reelection campaign. But some professionals said the numbers are not as disappointing considering changes since August 2011. “Although recovering jobs has been slow, slower than we would have liked, indeed there are improvements that are tangible,” said Claudia Olivetti, an associate professor of economics at Boston University. “Jobless recovery” is a feature of the past three recessions that people cannot simply blame on Obama’s policies, Olivetti said. “There is this hype that this is really bad, a little bit, but if you compare to what was going on and where we were one year ago, this is substantial improvement,” she said. Massachusetts, which has stayed below the national unemployment rate over the past year, has not been hurt as badly as other states in the recession, experts said. BLS statistics show the unemployment rate for the state increased slightly from 6.0 to 6.1 percent in July. “We have been under the national rate for so long now that I think that it’s not just a coincidence of monthly reporting,” said Greg Bialecki, secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Economic Development. Although the state’s job numbers will not be released until next week, Bialecki said, Massachusetts can expect for
LGBTQ, see page 4
Jobs, see page 2
ABIGAIL LIN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Tom Brashears, father of deceased College of Engineering student Austin Brashears, speaks at the service held Monday in the George Sherman Union’s Metcalf Hall for the victims of the crash.
impressed with the turnout at the service. There are times, Gombar said, when she still thinks about her time with Jauberty. “I couldn’t believe that someone so full of life could be so extinguished so quickly,” she said. Pip Stevens, a junior in COM, said she was home over the summer when she found out the news about Jauberty. She could not travel cross-country to attend the funeral
in the summer, so she said she appreciated being able to attend the memorial service upon returning. “I spent the whole summer grieving,” Stevens said. “Having this [service] is really nice. It’s a final moment of closure.” Marsh Chapel University Chaplain Br. Larry Whitney, who conducted most the
Vigil, see page 2
Student groups help LGBTQ students, decrease harassment By Margaret Waterman Daily Free Press Staff
Leaving a small, Republican town in Connecticut for Boston University was a big change for College of Communication junior Chris Schretzenmayer, who found most people to be more open-minded to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues. “A lot of people I know, myself included, didn’t come out about their sexuality until they went to college,” Schretzenmayer said. “Coming to a place like BU is a lot different [than my hometown] because you can walk around campus and find people like you. You don’t find opposition to it here.” Some members of the BU community said they have witnessed the results of a study from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education network, which found that schoolbased resources and support groups have reduced the number of LGBT youths harassed.
Deborah Belle, the director of BU’s Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, said student organizations have promoted a positive environment on campus. “I know the Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism has done excellent work,” she said. “I think we have made large strides in our society generally in acknowledging the perfect legitimacy of LGBTQ lifestyles.” The survey, which polled about 9,000 students ages 13 to 20, determined that while eight out of 10 LGBT youths have faced harassment, the amount of hateful language and harassment has decreased overall. Most students said they feel BU is a welcoming, friendly place that works hard to accept people of all sexual orientations, religions and ethnicities. Gretchen Fleck, a junior in the College of Engineering, said BU is a step ahead compared to her friends’ colleges, which are more conservative.
Student Government solicits input, suggestions from students at town hall meeting By Chris Lisinski Daily Free Press Staff
Boston University students voiced goals for and concerns about tuition transparency, gender-neutral facilities and other campus initiatives at Student Government’s Town Hall Meeting Monday night. About 20 students attended the meeting to inform SG of what they would like to see accomplished in the fall semester, including an end to tuition hikes and expand plans for gender-neutral housing. “I think it’s really important that we try to stop the tuition hikes, but in a way that [we avoid] freezing tuition for BU administration to go and fire workers and say it’s students’ fault,” said KC Mackey, a College of Arts and Sciences senior. SG said it is possible for there to be student input on tuition and financial matters. “We want to talk about adding student input from Student Government on how tuition is decided for the year,” said Executive Vice President Aditya Rudra, a School of Manage-
ment junior. “There are universities in the U.S. at which the budgets for the year go forward not just by the board of trustees, but also by their student government.” Rudra said that when the current SG executive board ran for election in the spring, they ran on an ideal that any student working a full-time job should be able to pay tuition. “What that means is that anyone at any level of this society, this economic playing field, would be able to afford a BU tuition,” he said. “We’re saying that this education is not purely restricted for those among the upper echelons of society.” Rudra later clarified this was an ideal and not a realistic short-term goal. Mackey said successful tuition freezes in Toronto and Montreal should serve as examples. Some students said transparency is important for matters involving tuition. “Would an average student at least be able
Town Hall, see page 2
JACKIE ROBERTSON/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Student Government receives input from the Boston University community in the George Sherman Union’s conference auditorium Monday.