The Daily Free Press
Year xliv. Volume lxxxvi. Issue XLII
A LITTLE HELP Prof. salaries increase slower than nat’l average, page 3.
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Wednesday, April 9, 2014 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
B. HYNZ YOU
Student drag queen to shake dust off heels, maybe perform again, page 5.
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WHO’S HOME?
Men’s lax stumbles against Harvard, page 8.
WEATHER
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Student Government candidates speak out on complaints, violations By Drew Schwartz Daily Free Press Staff
Eighteen complaints of violations of the Boston University Elections Code have been directed at both TrueBU and BU’s Push to Start, two slates competing in the Student Government executive board elections. The complaints filed with the Student Elections Commission leave TrueBU with 551 violation points, which will discount 1.5 days of voting for the slate when election results are announced Wednesday, according to the SEC. BU’s Push to Start has not accrued any violation points, the SEC said. The SEC will divide the total number of votes cast in the election by 14 — the number of days voting has been open to eligible students — and again by the number of slates competing in the election plus one to account for independent candidates to quantify one day’s worth of voting. “It was hard for us to see things that could have made the election an uneven playing field,” said BU’s Push To Start Presidential Candidate Richa Kaul, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore. “It’s very frustrating to have purposefully run a completely clean campaign and to see violations from the other side.” CAS junior Salma Yehia, running as TrueBU’s vice president of finance, said complaints upheld by the SEC were a “huge setback” for her slate. “I personally don’t think it is fair for us to take votes away from students,” she said. “The student body, who voted for us, we’re going to tell them no, your votes do not count, because
of these accusations?” Of the 13 complaints directed at TrueBU and the five targeting BU’s Push To Start, the most damaging upheld by the SEC concerned TrueBU presidential candidate Alexander Golob, a College of Fine Arts sophomore. Golob was allegedly wearing a pin in support of TrueBU and advocating the slate at a CFA Student Government event. As a result, TrueBU originally incurred 200 violation points. TrueBU later appealed the SEC’s decision, stating “no one on the slate was talking to anyone about the campaign or voting” and that the TrueBU pin was not intended to promote the slate, but was worn inadvertently. The SEC later reduced the the infraction to 150 violation points. Golob currently serves as the student body president of CFA. “That’s obviously advantageous,” Kaul said. “You’re at a college government function, you’re campaigning and you’re associated with the administration of the college government function.” College of General Studies sophomore Austin Kruger, currently serving as CGS student government president, was accused of actively campaigning for BU’s Push to Start. Both he GRAPHIC BY MAYA DEVEREAUX/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF and members of BU’s Push to Start, which he Both Student Government slates, BU’s Push to Start and TrueBU, have filed a total of said he does endorse, denied Kruger’s official 18 complaints to the Student Elections Commission since Tuesday. TrueBU has been affiliation with the slate, and the SEC dismissed charged with a total 551 violation points. In a witness testimony later redacted by the SEC rules,” Kruger said. “It’s a little insulting to the allegation against Kruger Tuesday. SEC, Kruger, who said he originally intended to these student leaders across campus assuming “He was actively campaigning for Push to Start,” Yehia said. “We have multiple witness- run for SG executive board on a separate slate, that they’re following me as some sort of leader. es. However, they did not get a chance to listen was accused of guaranteeing endorsements to They can make decisions for themselves, and I Kaul in exchange for a position among her staff. to our witnesses, which I don’t find very fair.” Election, see page 2 “I haven’t, to my knowledge, broken any
Local political, safety figures offer leadership panel for Boston Marathon preparedness By Sarah Capungan Daily Free Press Staff
Leading up to the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings, the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative and the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region presented a leadership program Tuesday to help individuals in security and emergencyrelated fields improve their leadership abilities. An estimated 250 people attended the forum at Hynes Convention Center , titled “Whole Community Resistance: It’s Not an Accident,” which brought together professionals from all areas of expertise to improve their actions and management in times of crisis. The full-day program included plenary sessions, leadership insight breakout sessions and a networking lunch.
“You have to anticipate ownership of a crisis and then bring everyone together,” said Democratic gubernatorial candidate Juliette Kayyem, one of the plenary session speakers. Other speakers included, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Boston Police Department Commissioner William Evans, and former BPD Commissioner Ed Davis. Dr. Leonard Marcus served as the moderator for the panel. Focusing the discussion on the lessons learned from the Boston Marathon bombing, the panelists used the term “swarm intelligence” to refer to the ways agencies in the public and private sector can improve communication and build relationships to better work together in times of trouble. Kayyem said security and emergency professionals must keep the public calm during
times of trauma, which is something government agencies accomplished during the 2013 Boston Marathon by focusing on the reunion of families. “The focus on family reunification got us 90 percent there in terms of calmness,” she said. “If people can go home and be with their families, it’s trauma, but it’s a different trauma.” Evans, who was involved in the search for marathon bombing suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the days following the Marathon, said it is important that the law enforcement approaches all affected individuals with kindness. “We were just nice to people,” he said. “We didn’t come in like storm troopers … we continually stressed to treat people with kindness.”
Following the panel, the attendees split into four leadership insight breakout sessions for their individual areas of specialty. After lunch, another round of leadership insight sessions congregated, which were intended to give the attendees insight outside of their fields. The symposium concluded with a final panel called “Looking Forward: Leadership Lessons Applied on July 4, 2013,” presented by Walsh. Several professionals who attended the event said the event fostered an environment for people from various fields of expertise to come together and plan for the future. April Edrington, managing director of institutional partnerships at the Harvard School of Public Health, said the NLIP has a record of organizing valuable events that bring a
Marathon, see page 2
Boston’s bike-share program, Hubway, expands due to high ridership By Kelsey Newell Daily Free Press Staff
Despite recent reports that many bikeshare companies are going out of business, Hubway, Boston’s bike-share program is prospering with high ridership. Hubway, now four years old, opened this season on April 2 with 140 stations and 1,300 bicycles. Ten more stations will be added in 2014 and will be spread out throughout Boston, Cambridge, Brookline and Somerville. Reports that similar companies like Citi Bike in New York were shutting down were met with retaliation from those in the bikeshare business. Eric Bourassa, transportation director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council for the greater Boston area, said these claims are exaggerated. “My understanding is that many similar programs are actually doing very well, they’ve had a few little issues here and there but not many are shutting down,” he said. “We have very good ridership and usage of
the system, as [do many other cities].” But Bourassa and Citi Bike both acknowledge that bike-share companies are fairly new businesses that face an array of challenges, even though bike-share programs are becoming more integrated in city life. One of these challenges is Hubway shutting down every winter to spare operation costs when ridership is too low. Bourassa said a big difference between Hubway and New York’s bike-share program is their form of funding, which has caused New York some difficulties. “The model that they’re using is having a huge corporate sponsor give them a lot of front money [which is] subsidizing the infrastructure of the program and some of the operation costs,” he said. “But the sponsor isn’t covering all the operation costs and I don’t think New York has put any local money into it.” On the other hand, many local businesses and institutions have come together to help
Hubway, see page 2
KYRA LOUIE/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
After being closed for the winter, Boston-based bike sharing system Hubway opened for its fourth season Wednesday and is expected to reel in a steady profit this season.