The Daily Free Press
Year xlii. Volume lxxxiii. Issue LIII
KEEP ON TRUCKIN’ City Hall launches mobile services to residents, page 3.
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Monday, December 10, 2012 The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University
MAKE IT NEW
Conor Oberst brings back oldies to Orpheum, page 5.
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HOME SWEET HOME
WEATHER
M. hockey beats UMaine in last home game of 2012, page 8.
Today: Rain/High 58 Tonight: Rain/Low 41 Tomorrow: 42/28 Data Courtesy of weather.com
COM grad. student remembered for warmth, talent BU admin. halts GNH initiative, angers students
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDY WEIGL
Chris Weigl, a College of Communication graduate student who died Thursday morning after colliding with an 18-wheeler truck, is remembered as an outstanding photojournalist, friend and son. By Chris Lisinski Daily Free Press Staff
College of Communication first-year graduate student Christopher Weigl had immense talent and would have made a fantastic journalist, said COM professor Mitchell Zuckoff, who taught Weigl in a graduate student seminar. “Chris was an excellent student and a terrific young man,” Zuckoff said. “He was smart,
thoughtful, creative and inquisitive.” Weigl, 23, died Thursday morning in a collision with an 18-wheeler truck while riding his bicycle at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and St. Paul Street. He was studying photojournalism at Boston University and had aspirations of working for an international news organization.
“He had a passion for writing — he was an undergraduate English major — and photography,” said COM Dean Tom Fiedler in an email. “He believed that by combining those interests as a photojournalist he could positively affect the lives of many people, perhaps as a staffer for the Associated Press, Reuters or other international news agency as he loved to travel abroad.” Weigl’s father, Andy Weigl, remembers his son’s love for photography as something beyond an interest in visual aesthetics. “He’s had a passion for photography, which then got morphed into a bigger, people-oriented thing,” Andy Weigl said. “He didn’t start out wanting to take pictures of people, but he found out that people were interesting and his passion sharped.” Andy Weigl said his son always had a camera with him and his attention to detail made him see the world differently than other people. Fiedler said the entire BU community is grieving Weigl’s death. “The pain and heartbreak that this tragedy brings to his family and friends, as well as to the COM community, is incalculable,” he said. Weigl completed his undergraduate education at Skidmore College, according to his website. He graduated in May of 2011 cum laude with a degree in English. Andy Weigl said his son was always humble about his talents and remained reserved even when seeing exciting payoffs for his work. “He was very honest, would never brag
Obit, see page 4
Brown highest paid Mass. private college president, report suggests By Chris Lisinski Daily Free Press Staff
Boston University President Robert Brown was the highest-paid Massachusetts private college president in 2010, according to data from The Chronicle of Higher Education. In 2010, Brown received a total compensation of $1,141,330, about $70,000 more than Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun, the second highest-paid Massachusetts private college president, a data report released Sunday stated. The data shows compensation and base pay received in 2010 by 493 chief executives at 480 private, nonprofit colleges in the U.S, according to the report. Researchers compiled data from the Internal Revenue Service’s Form 990 from either colleges themselves or an online source. Brown’s base pay was listed as $734,349, which was also the highest among Massachusetts’s private college presidents. His base pay
increased 0.6 percent from 2009. Brown received the 24th highest total compensation nationally and the 16th highest base pay. The median compensation for private college presidents was $396,649, a 2.8-percent increase from 2009, according to the report. Brown, Aoun and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Susan Hockfield were the third highest-paid Massachusetts presidents and the only three in the Commonwealth to receive total compensations more than $1 million. J. Robert Kerrey, president of The New School in New York, received the greatest compensation nationally totaling $3,047,703 with a base pay of $602,593. Kerrey was succeeded by David Van Zandt in 2011. From 2009 to 2010, Brown’s total compensation decreased 0.1 percent, according to the report. Brown did not receive any bonus pay, ac-
Employers view recent college graduates as unprepared, unskilled, study suggests By Rachel Riley Daily Free Press Staff
A recent study by the McKinsey Center for Government suggests many employers tend to not find young applicants who possess proper skills for jobs, which might contribute to high levels of unemployment among young people. The study, released Wednesday, observed different approaches to skill training in 25 countries, including the U.S. The report estimated 75 million young people are out of work globally while about 40 percent of surveyed employers feel applicants lack the necessary skills to fill entry-level positions. “We have to work at closing the gap between what employers need and what universities provide,” said Boston University School of Education professor Joseph Cronin. Only 43 percent of employers surveyed said they can find enough skilled entry-level workers, according to the report. The estimate of unemployed young people
potentially triples when considering underemployment as well as unemployment, the study stated. The study found 72 percent of educators believe new graduates “are ready to work” and fewer than half of youth and employers believe that they are ready. “Employers, education providers and youth live in a parallel universe,” the report stated. Cronin said when graduates struggle to find jobs after graduation or see their peers underemployed, they might come to believe they are less qualified. About 40 percent of educators surveyed said students most often dropped out because of the difficulty level of coursework, but less than 10 percent of students surveyed said this was the case, according to the study. Many students attributed dropping out to financial reasons. More than half of underemployed college
Youth, see page 4
cording to the report. He received $278,744 in nontaxable benefits in 2010, an increase of 2.2 percent from 2009. The report classified nontaxable benefits as any health and medical benefits, life insurance, housing provided by the employer, personal legal and financial services, dependent care, adoption assistance, tuition assistance or cafeteria plans. BU spokesman Colin Riley said Brown is fairly compensated for his work. “He’s [Brown has] done an outstanding job,” he said. “We’re really fortunate and benefitting from his leadership during his work as president of this university. The university continues to make great strides under his leadership.” Riley said it is important to note that the IRS changed its policy in 2010 to require universities to report nontaxable benefits such as hous-
President, see page 2
By Margaret Waterman Daily Free Press Staff
Many Boston University students expressed frustration at BU administration for indefinitely shutting down Student Government’s genderneutral housing initiative. Administration officials told SG members that with a number of other pressing housing issues, gender-neutral housing is no longer a top priority and will not be implemented in 2012, said SG Advocacy Department Director Caitlin Seele at the last meeting of the semester Sunday night. After years of advocating for gender-neutral housing, SG announced in October that the initiative was passed and would be available as a housing option at an unspecified future date. Seele, a School of Management junior, said on Nov. 21, Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore called her to inform her the administration is putting a halt to the initiative. “He said it definitely wasn’t going to come this spring for sure because of a lot of reasons — for the revamp of the housing system,” she said. Administration officials decided that ensuring no freshmen live in Danielsen Hall and creating more on-campus housing for transfer students are the administration’s current points of focus, Seele said. SG received about 2,000 student responses in support of the initiative and about 700 student signatures, Seele said. “It’s important to note that we’ve really gone through the proper channels to get this done,” said Luke Rebecchi, SG associate director of social affairs and College of Arts and Sciences junior, during the meeting. “At the finish line for them to just stop the race, that’s just not okay.” Seele said the news was hard for SG to take as they had been working on the initiative over the summer and for the last year. “Communication has been a little hard, and I think that this just kind of took us by surprise,” she said. “He [Elmore] said he’d keep it in his list of things to keep on tabs with, but that by no means is a guarantee.” Elmore did not immediately respond to an email inquiry. BU spokesman Colin Riley said the initiative was under careful consideration by the administration. A number of students expressed disappoint-
Sg, see page 2
JOY TO THE WORLD
PHOTO BY MICHELLE KWOCK/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra perform at Boston Symphony Hall Friday afternoon.