Innovation Edition - 09/29/2023

Dorchester Bay City development project draws major concern from surrounding community

also, all different incomes, we’re supposed to be over there and look at it,” Moore said. “A lot of these new developments are not family friendly, because you know why, they don’t want the families of Boston there.”

Another concern among residents is the potential unforeseen environmental impact of the development.

Reardon also said there may be “potential unintended consequences” of a largescale development in an “environmentally fragile” part of the city.

By ADITHYA

The Boston Planning and Development Agency approved a 6.1 million square foot development project on Sept. 14, despite major socioeconomic and ecological concerns from organizations, residents and academics in the Dorchester area.

The Dorchester Bay City Planned Development Area Master Plan, a plan to build 21 buildings headed by Accordia Partners — a real estate development group — was approved to begin its 15- to 20-year-long construction project in Dorchester. Dorchester Bay City has been described by the BPDA as a project that will guarantee affordable housing, provide sustainable living and improve flood management.

However, some organizations and residents in Dorchester have concerns that DBC should be more equitable. An assessment such as the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing assessment, a test designed to “consider impacts on area residents historically discriminated against,” should have been conducted prior to its approval.

In 2020, then-Mayor Marty Walsh announced a commitment that Boston developers would be required to use the AFFH assessment tools to address “past histories of exclusion.” BPDA Interim Housing Manager Caitlin Coppinger told Boston.com that the master plan for DBC did not require the assessment to be completed in order to be approved initially but committed to doing so for individual buildings at a later date.

Faculty members at the University of Massachusetts Boston, advocacy groups around Dorchester and concerned residents have engaged in a fouryear-long dialogue to voice their concerns and provide suggestions to the developers for ways to make the development project more equitable.

A common concern among some residents is that DBC has overlooked the surrounding diverse population, the potential displacement of low-income residents and the reduction of available affordable housing. These concerns were outlined and voiced

to Accordia but many were left dissatisfied with the developers’ response.

Up until the proposal was accepted, concerned residents sent emails urging the BPDA not to accept the proposal until an AFFH assessment had been conducted and to ask the City to honor Walsh’s commitment.

Some faculty members at UMass Boston learned about the development in 2019 when the Board of Trustees leased a portion of land owned by the University to Accordia Partners. After meeting with the developers and thenInterim Chancellor of UMass Boston Katherine Newman just weeks after the announcement, the faculty drafted a letter to Newman detailing potential concerns.

Concerns

Kenneth Reardon, the chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Community Development at UMass Boston, and Paul Kirshen, professor of climate adaptation, outlined within the letter that the current legally required percentage of the development dedicated toward affordable housing may not be enough to properly mitigate the effects of displacement, especially because Dorchester residents and business owners were already facing intense displacement pressures.

“I think the amount of quoteunquote ‘affordable housing’ that this project features is woefully inadequate,” Reardon said. “We should have required a much more significant and substantial [amount] set aside for permanently affordable housing … it’s a really tragic missed opportunity.”

The BPDA requires 13% of units to be designated as affordable housing in large-scale development projects throughout Boston, and DBC will designate 20% of units as affordable.

However, Reardon said that because the specific neighborhoods surrounding the proposed site for DBC had lower household incomes compared to the rest of Boston, there should be around 40% of units designated as affordable housing for this specific project.

“That should be the standard we shoot for,” Reardon said. “I don’t think anybody who’s looked at the housing crisis facing the city believes we can resolve it with the kind of effort that this project reflects.”

In order to determine the full extent of what the consequences

could be, Reardon suggested in the letter to Newman that a housing consultant be hired to conduct a full analysis. Weeks later, at Newman’s request, Reardon provided a list of nine urban real estate consulting firms that Accordia could employ. To Reardon’s knowledge, no firm was ever hired.

Kevin Murray, an independent racial equity consultant and former interim chief of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development, said DBC “could have been developed in a way that prioritizes affordable housing for people living in the area.”

“To me, it’s not clear that it’s taking affordability into account enough to not have a negative impact,” Murray said. “Oftentimes,

Although Accordia conducted extensive research to determine the environmental impact of the development, a further examination regarding the extent of the impact to surrounding communities needed to be conducted, Reardon and Kirschen wrote in the letter. Surrounding Dorchester communities of the proposed development site are considered environmental justice communities, which Mass.gov defines as minority communities who are disproportionately affected by environmental hazards.

Hessann Farooqi, advocacy director at Boston Climate Action Network, said Dorchester communities are especially vulnerable to ecological hazards.

“Coastal flooding is a key concern from Dorchester and, of course, like any issue, the folks who have the least income are also going to have the least stability to recover from coastal flooding and related disasters,” Farooqi said.

Accordia has stated within

“We had an obligation to our own constituents as well as the community to make sure the public interest was being served so we followed up the letter with this resolution,” Reardon said.

The resolution, which raised similar concerns to those contained in the letter, was passed in December 2019 by the elected representatives of the UMass Boston faculty. Heike Schotten, a UMass Boston professor and faculty member involved in the draft, wrote in an email that Newman openly opposed the resolution during the December vote.

Moore said Accordia met with some civic organizations composed of homeowners, However, she did not think they were representative of those who may be negatively affected by the development project.

“People who are on the civic committee, they’re going to be less affected by it … they own their homes” Moore said. “I’m speaking for folks who are renters, because they don’t have the means to own their own homes and I want to make sure they have the means to stay in the city of Boston.”

Reardon said Accordia first contacted local homeowner associations for their community consultation meetings.

“The demographic is very different in terms of income and race,” Reardon said. “I went to two of the meetings and they were overwhelmingly white, very few people of color. That is not the demographic of the neighborhood that we live in.”

Despite concerns raised through the letter, resolution and meetings, Accordia filed its letter of intent to move forward with the proposal process on March 5, 2020.

In December 2020, UMass Boston faculty drafted solutions to the concerns they had been voicing, and organizations on campus that represented nearly 2,500 faculty and staff members and 16,000 students voted on the proposal.

The concerns were sent to the BPDA, the city and Accordia. Schotten wrote in an email that their concerns received “zero response.”

these large-scale development projects end up increasing housing prices in ways that hurt people that are already living in the neighborhood. There’s been a lot of that in Boston.”

Markeisha Moore, representative of Dorchester

Not for Sale, an activist group advocating for displaced residents, said she is concerned about the affordability of the neighborhood if the development were to occur.

“They build these developments in our neighborhoods, but we can’t afford to live there and then it raises the price of the things that we have been trying to afford,” Moore said. “Right now, Boston is super expensive, and people are struggling just to stay where they are, just to have housing.”

Moore, along with many residents, expressed fear that Dorchester will face the same fate of South Boston after the development of the Seaport district.

“We’re going to have a whole other Seaport … Seaport was supposed to be all inclusive

their development plan that they will raise the elevation of the part of the development to account for flooding. However, Reardon said, it is not the flooding that is concerning, but is instead the increase in elevation of the development that could result in water throughout Dorchester Bay moving at a faster rate.

“That could have a very deleterious effect and we think that [Accordia] initially focused most of their environmental assessment on the footprint of their development itself without looking in, I think, a reasonable way at the impact area surrounding the site,” Reardon said.

Response

After Reardon and Kirshen sent the first letter to Newman, there was no word on whether Newman sent the letter to Accordia or if there was any positive response from the developers to any of the concerns outlined. As a result, faculty members grew more concerned about the development.

The extent of the citizen opposition is reflected in the public comments for the development project that took place up until the day the proposal was approved by the BPDA.

Diana Pisciotta, president of Denterlein, a public relations firm working with Accordia, wrote in an email that there is an “extensive list of the positive benefits associated with the project on the site,” which include “new affordable housing, improved coastal resiliency, new public open space” and more.

“As a very large project, we do expect to move forward in implementing the master plan over a many year period,” Pisciotta wrote.

Around 255 individuals sent emails voicing their opposition to the development as of Sept. 29. The majority of these individuals are residents of Dorchester or know people who will be directly affected by this development.

“We’ll unfortunately put this project down in the urban planning history books as one of the greatest missed opportunities of contemporary Boston planning and development,” Reardon said.

IYER, City Co-Editor & ALEXANDRA RUANE, LARA HARTLE AND NICOLE ABRAMS, Contributing Writers

ANDREW BURKE-STEVENSON | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

A plane flies over the site of the Dorchester Bay City project. The development has received pushback from local organizations and UMass Boston faculty.

ANDREW BURKE-STEVENSON | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER Kenneth Reardon, the Department of Urban Planning and Community Development chair. Reardon has voiced concerns regarding the project.

Study abroad applicants waitlisted after increased interest

choice did not work out.

“Students whose program got full would be put on a waitlist, which is something new but also not, I would say, unheard of,” Bodnar said. “A lot of students in COM do want to study abroad.”

Bodnar said many students opt against studying abroad during the fall semester since going in the spring allows them to go through the regular housing process and avoid being “last choice” for housing if they studied in the fall.

“I think as long as the student can arrange housing to where they will be able to go in the fall, they might get their first choice easier,” Bodnar said.

Bodnar said COM advisors must approve student applications and ensure they have met the right prerequisites for the program they have selected.

By AMELIA MCAVOY AND KIERA MCDONALD

Many students expressed frustration after being placed on the Boston University Study Abroad waitlist due to increasing interest for the Spring 2024 semester.

Gareth McFeely, the executive director of BU Study Abroad, estimated there will be about 2,400 applicants this year and advises students to apply as soon as they have made their decision to study abroad because some programs are on a first-come-first-serve basis.

“Most students go abroad their junior year and the number of students admitted to BU two years ago was large,” he said. “As a consequence, you’d expect to see more students

applying.”

McFeely said in addition to larger-than-average class sizes, “students and their families were more reluctant to do overseas travel.” Because of the recent recovery from COVID-19, there has been an upsurge of applicants.

At least four programs have waitlists as a result of their popularity, including the London internship programs for economics/finance, journalism and pre-law tracks and the pre-law track for the Sydney internship program.

Currently, the University offers over 75 different programs in more than 20 countries around the world. The majority of these programs can be accessed both by students at BU and students attending other institutions nationwide.

BU was the first university

to offer students internship opportunities abroad on multiple continents and one of the first to send students abroad.

McFeely said BU Study Abroad will try to “balance the level of interest” but are constrained by the lack of housing and internships.

“Overseas, we have about 450 students, but we will probably have at least twice that number abroad in the spring,” McFeely said. “That’s one of the reasons why we have waitlist situations or programs closing early because of the difference in popularity between the two semesters.”

Abby Bodnar, an academic advisor in the College of Communication, said she noticed the rise in demand for study abroad and encouraged students on the waitlist to find an alternate program if their first

Peri Bolognese, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she got a concussion last spring and was ultimately waitlisted because she was unable to submit an application to the Geneva, Switzerland program until two days before the deadline.

Bolognese said she reached out to her program manager about her incomplete grades and believed there would be no issues applying to the program.

“She was kind of implying that it was all going to be fine, there was enough room,” Bolognese said.

Bolognese has since made the decision to switch her application to the Sydney program, but she said she wished her experience had been different.

“This was a program I really was interested in, looking forward to,” Bolognese said. “I definitely wish I had

applied earlier. I just had some obstacles.”

Despite not getting accepted into his first choice program, Lorenzo Mendiola, a junior in COM, said he still enjoyed his experiences abroad.

Mendiola said the transition to the Sydney program was “pretty simple” after he applied in January to the London program and was waitlisted.

“Honestly, I loved it so much and I think things happen for a reason,” Mendiola said.

Mendiola said he got exactly what he wanted at an independent advertising agency in Australia, where the people and staff were very friendly. With fewer people, Mendiola felt students formed a closer bond and, specifically for the summer, there was less competition for internships.

“I think the return value of [the Sydney Program] is a little bit better,” Mendiola said. “Maybe I’m just biased, but it’s good so far. I think I really enjoyed it.”

Bridget Griffith, a junior in CAS, said she switched to the Dublin program after being waitlisted for the London program and was surprised by the waitlist decision after students and staff initially told her there would be no issues.

“It was kind of honestly a bit of a shock because I felt like every time I talked to someone about studying abroad and stuff, both in terms of other students, and then people who worked at the Study Abroad office, they were like, ‘pretty much everyone gets in,’” Griffith said.

Griffith said the decision helped her in the “long term.”

“I think, personally, it ended up for the better,” Griffith said. “I really loved doing the Dublin program and glad that I did that over the London program.”

White Stadium will host new women’s soccer team

By CRYSTAL YORMICK DFP Writer

The City of Boston announced plans to welcome the 15th team in the National Women’s Soccer League, along with renovations of what will be the team’s home stadium, on Sept. 19 at a press conference at City Hall Plaza.

The press conference was conducted by Mayor Michelle Wu and members of the Boston Unity Soccer Partners, which is an all-female core ownership group, according to the NWSL website.

“Thank you for believing in what is possible for the young people of our City and for bringing us all together to could go after this opportunity in a way that only Boston would, with full hearts and a lot of excitement,” Wu said at the press conference.

The ownership group, which has invested capital from 95% women and 40% investors of color, partnered with Wu and the City of Boston to make this new team possible, said Jennifer Epstein, controlling manager for Boston Unity Soccer Partners.

“In a complex world, sports can really be a connector of communities,” Epstein said. “I think that’s really fundamentally part of our ‘why’ as an ownership group.”

The team will start playing in 2026, giving Boston time to renovate and improve White Stadium. The stadium, located in Franklin Park, is currently used by Boston Public Schools for sporting events. The stadium

has also been home to concerts and world track championships in the past, Wu said.

Its location played a role in the selection process for a stadium.

“We wanted it to be in the heart of the city,” said Anna Palmer, a member of the ownership group. “It was really important that if you’re bringing women’s soccer back to Boston, it is for all of

For decades, the stadium has been “neglected” and not served its “full potential” for the student athletes who currently use it, Wu said. These renovations, though not specifically announced yet, aim to transform White Stadium, not only for the professional players, but also for student

“To be a part of this was the idea that they were really going to invest and renovate and make [White Stadium] world class, not only for the team and the games … but mostly for the kids at [Boston Public Schools],” said Brad Stevens, president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics and an investor in the new NWSL team.

In addition to his role as a Boston sports fan, Stevens also commented on his experience as a father.

“It’s really important for us in anything we’re doing to give our kids something to really aspire to and to look to,” Stevens said. “There’s no better feeling than to be a part of a group where our 14-year-old daughter can go and watch her idols on the pitch.”

Boston has had a professional women’s soccer team twice

before, under the name of the Breakers. The team played from 2001 to 2003 before falling apart after insufficient revenue. The team was started again in 2009 and played until 2018 before they were disbanded, according to the NWSL website.

Despite speculation surrounding both collapses of the team in prior years, Epstein said she believes the “landscape around women’s professional sports and women’s soccer has changed over the last five years.”

“The level of investment is exponentially larger, and the opportunities for revenue are

very different now,” Epstein said to the media after the press conference. “I think it’s the right moment, it’s the right city and we’re putting together all the right components to make this really successful now.”

Kristine Lilly, a player on the U.S. Women’s National Team for 23 years and an investor for the new team, moved to Boston in 2001 to play on the Boston Breakers when it first began. She said she looks forward to the impact the team is going to have on the city and on the young athletes in the city.

“When you have [soccer] right in your backyard, it’s something

that has a big, more impactful message to [young women athletes],” Lilly said. “It’s just a good time for women’s soccer.”

As plans for the team and renovations of White Stadium continue, the city hopes to see changes in women’s sports throughout Boston.

“Soccer is the world’s most popular game,” Wu said to the media after the press conference. “It brings together people from every culture, every background and for us, as Americans, as Bostonians, as huge sports fans, to really embrace that and ensure that we are bringing women’s professional sports into our City’s constellation of stars, is going to have a huge impact.”

Contributing Writer

Campus News Associate Editor

SYDNEY ROTH | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

The Boston University study abroad program office. Student interest in study abroad programs for the spring semester has reached an all-time high, leading to some students getting waitlisted.

SEAN YOUNG | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER Runners in front of White Stadium in Franklin Park. White Stadium will be renovated ahead of plans for a new Boston team in the National Women’s Soccer League for 2026.

Boston launches new program as part of push toward net zero emissions

By JENNY LAMBERT Contributing Writer

A new pilot program to expand Boston’s efforts toward a greener future will provide funding to decarbonize and electrify Boston’s smaller building stock, according to a press release from Mayor Michelle Wu on Sept. 21.

The program, called the Healthy and Green Retrofit Pilot Program, will select 10 building owners of two- to four-unit occupied building s from a lottery to receive funding. Applications for the lottery are open until Oct. 20 at 5 p.m.

Maintaining affordability and preventing tenant displacement is at the forefront of this effort, according to the City’s website. The City created eligibility requirements for income and financial assets to select candidates and mandated that tenants cannot be displaced from their units as a result of this work.

“Having affordable housing and also having net zero and reaching carbon neutrality don’t need to happen in vacuums, they can happen simultaneously,” said Kathleen Hart, communications manager for Boston’s Environment Department.

With this effort, the City continues to strive to achieve the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance, which was adopted in 2013 and further amended in 2021. BERDO requires that all large buildings reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

“A zero net energy building (ZNEB) is one that is optimally efficient, and over the course of a year, generates energy onsite, using clean renewable resources, in a quantity equal to or greater than the total amount of energy consumed onsite,” according to the state government’s website.

Hart emphasized the importance of BERDO in long-term environmental goals.

“A policy like BERDO … and targeting building stock is a great way for us to improve our air quality and shift toward renewable energy, but also reduce the impacts of climate change that we’re already seeing and anticipate in the future,” Hart said.

The Boston Climate Action Network is a grassroots organization that advocates for climate justice in Boston. The organization’s advocacy director, Hessann Farooqi, said they have long focused on the environmental issues of buildings and hope to implement BERDO.

“In the City of Boston, buildings are 70% of greenhouse gas emissions,” Farooqi said. “They are by far the most important focus that any of us should have in terms of emissions reductions.”

BCAN is a big advocate for the affordable housing aspect of the Healthy and Green Retrofit Pilot Program, Farooqi said.

“We hope to … [make] sure that we build homes that are green and healthy, but making sure that the costs don’t fall on the lowest income properties,” Farooqi said. “Most of the buildings that are here in Boston are not going anywhere, so we’ve really got to figure out how we can retrofit or renovate those buildings to bring down their emissions, and, of course, we’ve got to do this in a way that is affordable to everyone.”

The program announcement came after the Mayor’s office released details on a similar effort to reduce emissions: the Green

New Deal for Boston Public Schools, a plan to renovate over 14 of Boston’s school facilities with climate-conscious infrastructure and resources.

Aside from Boston, the City of Cambridge is also working toward environmental improvement through school building renovations.

Cambridge has their own version of BERDO, known as the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance, or BEUDO. Their ordinance requires large nonresidential buildings to reach net zero by 2035, and mid-size, nonresidential buildings to do so by 2050, regardless of whether they are new construction or not.

Brendon Roy, director of construction for the Capital Building Projects Department in Cambridge, is the construction project manager of the Tobin Montessori & Vassal Lane Upper Schools Project. Set to be completed in September 2025, the project is the third-largest net zero school Cambridge has recently constructed.

“There are no fossil fuels … associated with this building,” Roy said. “It is 100% all electric, we have no gas feed into the building whatsoever. The electricity that we’re using to power the building is about 50%, maybe 60% generated through our solar canopy … and the rest of the energy is from the grid but we’re purchasing green power through our utilities. So, the power we’re purchasing is confirmed to be from a sustainable

source.”

Cambridge was the first city in the nation to require non-residential buildings of a certain size to cut their fossil fuel emissions, according to a City of Cambridge press release.

“I think Cambridge is … ahead of the curve,” Roy said. “A lot of it has to do with the money. Cambridge is a very financiallysound municipality, and so we have the funds to do this, a lot of other places don’t.”

Roy said maintenance may need more careful attention in net zero school buildings, however.

“It’s not like your grandparents’ school or my grandparents’ school where it might’ve just been a nice easy fan or a boiler, they’re very much complex systems that require someone looking at them every day to make sure everything’s in the norm,” Roy said.

Roy explained that net zero buildings obtain a lot of their energy from geothermal wells, which are pipes drilled between 500 and 1,000 feet into the ground that use the internal temperature of the earth to turn cold water into warm water to help heat the building.

“It’s expensive to change the

temperature of water,” Roy said. “By putting it in the ground, it heats up the water … There’s a huge energy savings that’s exponentially greater than if we had to heat the water going from 40 degrees to 100 degrees.”

Farooqi highlighted the importance of efforts toward sustainability in the face of the climate crisis.

“We feel the effects of this crisis so deeply,” Farooqi said. “Even though this issue affects everyone, not everyone’s starting from the same place. The people who have the least social, political and economic power get hit by the effects of this crisis first and worst.”

Farooqi said he believes anyone can get involved in making a difference in climate change, no matter who you are.

“There is such a powerful role for every single one of us to be involved with this,” Farooqi said. “Everyone’s got to find some opening to push for sustainability, to push for climate justice in your own community and for the institutions that you’re a part of. Every skill set absolutely can lend itself to the climate jobs that we need to see.”

Boston University alumni weekend returns to campus for first time since COVID-19

By CRYSTAL YORMICK DFP Writer

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, Boston University’s colleges held 98 alumni weekend events with a turnout of over 2,700 graduated students this past weekend.

“We were more thoughtful with what we were offering to folks, giving them points of pride in their own school and college, but also opportunities to come together as one BU that really made a difference,” said Danielle Lueger, executive director of Development and Campaign Events for the University.

This year, there was a record turnout of alumni — the most the University has ever had for alumni weekend, Lueger said. The weekend kicked off on Thursday with a BU Marine Program Lab Tour Showcase and finished with a Class of ‘73 Black alumni worship service at St. Paul AME Church on Sunday.

Lueger said they held new events to build “Terrier pride,” including the Terrier Fun Run, a 5K held on the Charles River esplanade, and the Back to BU festival on the BU Beach which featured music and games for attendees.

“I’m just looking forward to taking the lessons we all learned this year of the first year back solely on campus, no hybrid events, and building towards next year,” Lueger said. “I think we have a lot to build for next year.”

Lueger said the weekend celebrated the College of Arts and Sciences’ 150th anniversary and honored the Class of ‘73, called the “Golden Terriers,” for their 50th year reunion.

Lueger said one of the biggest events of the weekend was the 75th Best of BU Alumni Awards held on Saturday night on the 17th floor of the Computer and Data Science building, where they awarded “the highest honor” an alum can receive from the Alumni Association.

“It was really exciting to be in the room and see the videos and

prepare for people and hear their acceptance speeches,” Lueger said. “It was definitely a capstone of the weekend for all of us.”

Mariette DiChristina, dean of the College of Communication, said COM ran a Black Media Symposium during the weekend, which highlighted the work of black media professionals across the communications industry.

Erica Hill, CNN anchor and national correspondent and BU alumna, moderated the fireside chats and said hearing stories from previous students like herself can be helpful for undergraduate

students.

“I think it’s always great for students to hear from alumni,” said Hill, who graduated in 1998 with a degree in journalism. “I think it’s great for [students] to get a sense of what your degree can become after you graduate.”

Hill said BU has been reaching out more about alumni events and in different cities around the world.

“BU has such a big international student population, which is what I loved about BU actually, and in turn has such a large international alumni population,” Hill said.

DiChristina also collaborated on a fireside chat with her advisory board which was held at COM on Thursday. A panel of alumni discussed their careers and fielded students’ questions.

“It is not a formal alumni weekend event, but it happened to contain alumni and it was a fantastic discussion,” DiChristina said. “I really felt so grateful and lucky to be in the room with our wonderful students and our wonderful alums.”

Hill said she is very proud to be a BU alum, which is a shared sentiment with BU alumni that work at CNN.

“There are a number of [BU journalists alumni] in the world, of this very small world of broadcast journalism,” Hill said. “There are a lot of us at CNN as well, which is a point of pride for all of us.”

Apurva Bhandari, a senior in COM, said she attended

the fireside chat and found the discussion insightful for her possible career in the news industry.

“Hearing about different people’s experience in news and how they initiated changes in the industry, how they initiated projects in the industry, that was really helpful to know how to do,” Bhandari said. “The different, diverse backgrounds all the speakers were from and how they each [reached] the very accomplished positions they had was really interesting.”

Sofia Harris, a sophomore in COM and the COM student government president, also attended the chat. The talk helped alleviate her doubts about finding a career in her field of study, film and television.

“To hear the alumni talk about how they were able to become successful in their field was super inspiring,” Harris said. “They kept reminding us to just work hard and that things will work out which brought me a sense of comfort.”

DiChristina emphasized students connecting with alumni and encouraged students to take advantage of these events throughout the academic year.

“There’s nothing like meeting somebody in person,” DiChristina said. “It’s a terrific opportunity to meet somebody really nice who might give you a good word of advice or at least encouragement, which we could all use a little more of that.”

ANDREW BURKE-STEVENSON | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER Boston mayor Michelle Wu speaks at a Green New Deal announcement in Allston on March 16. Wu announced a program to decarbonize and electrify Boston’s smaller buildings in a press release on Sept. 21.

ANDREW BURKE-STEVENSON | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Alumni weekend totes available at the welcome tent. This past weekend celebrated alumni for the first time since COVID-19.

First annual BlackBox Film Festival spotlights Boston’s Black student filmmakers

at the festival, and selected an overall winner.

Xzaviah Stone Sr.’s horror film, “Nalb Noum,” took first place at the festival. The 2D animation, which employs the classic gore and jumpscares of horror to condemn the real-life horrors of racism, depicts three Black teens’ quest to prove the existence of a melanin-sucking monster.

“I think the scariest place in the world is to be in a white man’s imagination,” Stone said.

Stone said the BlackBox Film Festival offered him the Black audience he had intended for the film. With “Nalb Noum,” Stone said he aimed for authenticity over recognition and that the film is an “acquired taste.”

BY MILENA FERNSLER

Writer

Pitching ideas for a film is a nerve-wracking process for anyone, but Lynn AsareBediako, a junior in the College of Communication, said the pressure is amplified when you’re the only Black person in the room.

This frustration, plus the observation that no organizations at BU exist solely to amplify Black student filmmakers, motivated Asare-Bediako to join forces with her friend Lydia Evans, a junior in COM, to form BlackBox, a Black student film club that hosted its first annual

film festival this past Friday.

The film festival contributes to the club’s mission to “bring together Black filmmakers and artists at BU but also across the Boston area, together in a safe space where their stories and ideas can be shared,” said Asare-Bediako in her opening speech at the festival.

BlackBox received 14 films from Black student filmmakers in the greater Boston area, Asare-Bediako said. A panel of esteemed filmmakers — including DeMane Davis, who directed episodes of 2016 drama series “Queen Sugar” — narrowed the submissions to six finalists, which were shown

Asare-Bediako reiterated Stone’s sentiment of expecting to be misunderstood or overlooked in the film world.

“You always have to prove yourself,” she said. “You can’t make a bad film. You can’t be caught slacking.”

Kendel Dawson, a junior at Emerson College, was one of six finalists at BlackBox, his first film festival. His musical comedy, “My Friend Cupid,” features a bitter old man who recounts the failed love of his youth to a young couple on Valentine’s Day.

“It means a lot to have something I created be recognized,” he said.

However, he said he wishes skin color was not perceived as the defining characteristic of the work of Black filmmakers.

He wants his film to stand out “because of how good it is, not because of the colors of the skins of the actors,” he said.

BlackBox, Dawson said, was something he definitely wanted to be a part of because it was welcoming for Black creators. The struggle for authentic diversity in other film festivals proves the need for spaces like BlackBox Film Festival.

“Seeing Black people in this space where they don’t typically see Black people is inspirational,” he said.

Christopher Hope, an adjunct professor in COM, said the film industry does not depend entirely on the art, but rather the “commerce of art,” which caters to predominantly white, heteronormative standards.

“If you’re not producing that, you really run the risk of being put on the back burner,” Hope said.

Expectations confine Black people to a box, said Cambridge resident Tashawn Taylor, whose documentary was a finalist at the festival.

“Black folks are always expected to make a certain type of story,” he said. “I feel like a lot of white audiences only have the capacity to hear about the

underdog story of being Black American or the Black person that has been suffering … Where’s the restitution?”

Stone said he noticed how Black characters are often misrepresented and, as a result, create only the illusion of diversity. There’s a palpable difference, he said, between Black stories written by Black writers and those written by non-Black writers.

The lack of diversity behind the camera is evident even in technical details, like the way many white filmmakers fail to properly light darker skin, said Asare-Bediako.

Hope said the BU community can do better to support its Black filmmakers. As of 2022, nearly 70% of BU’s faculty is white. Hope said he has been told by several students that he was one of few Black professors they have had at BU. The solution, he said, is to increase representation, not only among content creators, but also among educators.

In the meantime, AsareBediako said she hopes that BlackBox cultivates a sense of community and “continues to be a place for Black students to express themselves.”

Lydia Evans was the Editorin-Chief of The Daily Free Press in Spring 2023. She was not involved in the reporting or editing of this article.

Graduates, students grapple with writers strike aftermath

BY EMILY WYRWA Senior Writer

On Sept. 25, 148 days after the Writers Guild of America began striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, budding screenwriter Helena Bofise was playing a board game in her friend’s apartment.

She was utterly engrossed in the game — so much so that she wasn’t on her phone. From the couch, her roommate screamed at Bofise to check her notifications.

The WGA and AMPTP had reached a tentative agreement.

Bofise, a junior in the College of Communication and an international student, “literally couldn’t believe it.” She was shocked, optimistic and, most importantly, relieved that she would be better able to find work upon graduation and keep her visa.

“It’s been so clear that [the WGA was] not going to stop unless something good comes up,” she said.

The 148-day strike was one of the longest in the Guild’s history, and its impacts were felt on every level — including aspiring creatives like Bofise and recent graduates. Work in the industry, even at the entry level, has been extremely limited since May, just weeks before college graduations.

The WGA and AMPTP’s agreement included a viewershipbased streaming bonus, increased health and pension benefits and AI safeguards, among other provisions.

But before it was reached, Bofise was growing anxious.

Originally from Italy, she moved abroad due to the wealth of film opportunities the U.S. could offer her. Bofise was concerned she made a mistake,

as her visa’s time restrictions gave her a limited grace period after graduation to find full-time work.

Amid the strike, when faced with the “go big or go home” ultimatum, she was beginning to think she’d have to choose the latter.

“Finding the job, I think, is the hardest thing back home,” Bofise said. “But if finding a job here, right now, is just as hard, it almost feels like I could have stayed a lot closer to home and found myself in a similar situation anyway.”

For Felipe Torres Medina, a 2015 COM graduate who currently works as a staff writer on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the strike signaled a “mental switch.” Instead of going to work each day, he’d be going to the picket line.

At first he was scared, then frustrated at how few of the Guild’s demands the AMPTP had discussed — let alone accepted. When Torres Medina arrived on his first picket line, though, those feelings of “nervousness got replaced with infectious solidarity,” when he saw the community he had joined. It was a “heartwarming and truly beautiful” kind of support, he said.

On the West Coast, Ethan Dale, a junior at Emerson College studying comedic arts who is spending his fall semester in his hometown of Los Angeles, was uneasy about getting on the picket lines. Since he isn’t a Guild member, he wasn’t sure if it was his place to picket, but he was “welcomed with open arms.”

“I feel like in the last two years in college, everybody’s very itching to go, so it’s hard in that sense, but overall, I feel like if I can look at the bigger picture, I’m more confident going into

the industry,” Dale said.

Bofise finds the strike has managed to impact her studies. It diverted her focus for a few key reasons. The first: Working in the industry at the moment comes with “a lot of anxieties.”

“Psychologically, it’s a little hard to keep your mind fixed on this when you know that there’s a strike going on and all this crazy stuff happening,” Bofise said.

The second: seeing many of her peers, such as Alyssa Winn, who graduated from COM’s film program this past spring, enter the workforce at a difficult time.

“It’s definitely a difficult time to graduate from film school,” Winn said.

For now, Winn is focused on taking time to “be a human,” and take jobs that will introduce her to different kinds of people, allow her to travel and help avoid “twiddling [her] thumbs.”

“If you want to be a filmmaker or storyteller in any capacity … then the most important thing you can do is just live your life, which sounds really annoying and stupid, but it is true,” Winn said. “If you’re just going to be on set all the time, I don’t know what kind of stories you’re going to be writing.”

That humanity is essential to Torres Medina. In terms of the impact of AI on the industry, he said he believes only humans can

truly be creative.

“The genius of writing and the human experience is the empathy you feel when someone describes how you feel because they felt it,” he said.

With the new deal announced, Torres Medina has the same hope for the industry that he always has had: that it can tell “all kinds of stories written by all kinds of people.”

“If things had remained the way that they were, writing would become an increasingly more exclusionary career where you would need to have capital,” Torres Medina said. “It would be a side gig or hobby, not a career.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF PARIS VELASCO

People gather at the College of Communication for the first annual BlackBox film festival last Friday. The festival featured six films made by Black student filmmakers from the greater Boston area.

Contributing

MADI KOESLER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER Writers Guild of America members picket near Babcock Street station in response to David Zaslav’s 2023 commencement speech. Writers Guild of America reached a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after 148 days of striking.

REVIEW: boygenius sells out second night at MGM Music Hall

BY SANA MUNEER Contributing Writer

A trio dressed in identical white button-ups and sleek black ties electrified MGM Music Hall in Fenway as they took the stage on Tuesday night.

Indie rock group boygenius — consisting of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — captivated the sold-out venue on the second night of the fall tour for their latest album “the record,” which came out March 31. The ‘fall tour’ is a continuation of the U.S. leg of their tour, simply called ‘the tour.’

Each member of the trio boasts a distinctive solo career, but they flourish together. Bridgers’s haunting indie-folk music earned her four Grammy nominations for her sophomore album, “Punisher.” Baker’s raw, cathartic ballads tell stories of self-doubt and heartache. Dacus’s three indie-rock albums are rich and nostalgic, lifting her to the forefront of the genre.

After boygenius’s self-titled debut EP — released on Oct. 26, 2018 — fans were unsure if the trio would reunite to create another album, but the band marked their return in January with the announcement of “the record,” along with three singles.

The show on Tuesday, boygenius’ second night at MGM, did not disappoint. Though the concert doors officially opened at 7:00 p.m., fans had been waiting outside the venue since 6:00 a.m. and were dressed to impress: Skeleton outfits paid homage to Bridgers’ solo career, blue paint-stained clothing honored boygenius’ song “True Blue” and

white button-ups and black ties matched the trio’s stage outfits.

Though the crowd buzzed in anticipation of boygenius, the opening performance, alternative indie band Palehound, spurred excitement as well. Palehound captivated the scene immediately as its members joked with the crowd and played a mix of slow, heartfelt ballads and upbeat, electric anthems.

After Palehound’s exit, the venue rippled with energy at the opening notes of a familiar song:

“The Boys Are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy, which plays at every show before boygenius.

“The boys,” as they are lovingly referred to by their growing fanbase, then entered the stage. As the tune echoed through MGM, the upbeat buzz of conversation and laughter quickly turned to screams of ecstasy and hysteria.

At the song’s final notes, a live camera showed “the boys”

backstage, harmonizing on the short opening track of their album, “Without You Without Them.” Dacus’s rich alto voice complemented Baker’s and Bridgers’s soft sopranos as they sang a capella to the audience, “I want to hear your story and be a part of it.”

After the sentimental ballad, “the boys” rushed to grab their guitars and plunged into one of their most popular songs, “$20.” This hit was one of the first singles released from “the record” and became an immediate fan-favorite. The audience held up $20 bills during the outro, screaming with the singers, “I know you have twenty dollars.”

Keeping up the thrill of “$20,” boygenius jumped into “Satanist,” a riveting rock song marked by Baker’s phenomenal guitar riffs. “Satanist” captivated the audience with flashing red lights and Bridgers and Dacus

yelling into their microphones for the intense outro.

The trio then talked about their previous group and solo endeavors in Boston. Lovingly referring to each other as “the boys” and sharing memories from Boston, the band’s deep friendship was clear.

Continuing the sentimental vibe was “Emily I’m Sorry,” accompanied by Bridgers’ recollection of how this song brought boygenius back together.

A familiar guitar riff and blue spotlight marked the start of “True Blue,” another fan-favorite. Audience members swayed with their friends and sang along to the tune about friendship and loyalty.

boygenius followed with heartfelt songs “Cool About It” and “Souvenir.” During “Souvenir,” fans held up a sea of hundreds of pride flags, a coordinated project that caused the band to stop mid-song and ask

BUSINESS

the audience why they chose this track as the “gay” song.

Diverting from their collective work, each member performed a song from each of their solo careers: Bridgers played “Graceland Too,” Dacus sang “Please Stay” and Baker performed “Favor.” Hearing the other members sing backing vocals or chiming in on specific lines during each song was beautiful and unique.

Afterward, the band performed a mix of songs from their first EP and recent album. Bridgers introduced fan-favorite “Me & My Dog” by asking audience members to hold up a photo of their dog during “that one specific line.”

To close the show, the trio played “Not Strong Enough,” an upbeat song that left the audience jumping up and down as the band ran off the stage.

They returned for an encore with “Salt In The Wound,” a guttural song about being taken advantage of in a relationship. However, “the boys” managed to turn the intense number into a thrilling experience that fans will remember most from the night.

As Baker performed the ending guitar solo, Bridgers and Dacus jumped into the audience and crowd-surfed. The audience screamed, determined to hold them up for as long as possible, and successfully carried the two around the pit and back to the stage.

Overall a thrilling experience that fostered a safe space for all its attendees, the boygenius concert left every attendee singing and laughing as they exited the venue, treasuring the unreal experience.

Independent bookstores find new revenue streams in community-building

BY BRETT ABRAMS Opinion Co-Editor

When you walk into Trident Booksellers & Cafe on Newbury Street, you are bound to encounter a buzzing atmosphere with aromas of fresh food and coffee, lively chatter and furious typing. New and old books fill the shelves — worlds waiting to be discovered.

In the modern digital age, with online retailers becoming cheaper and more accessible, independent bookstores are turning toward building community as a successful business model in a competitive industry.

While larger chains provide a simple transaction and delivery process, independent bookstores are looking to provide customers with a meaningful shopping experience.

Courtney Flynn, a co-owner of Trident, said customers enjoy

spending their time in the store for precisely that reason.

“People feel like they can be themselves,” Flynn said. “They can be alone, or they can be with others … It’s an open and non-judgemental space.”

Flynn described the store as “eclectic,” with something for everyone who chooses to walk through its doors, regardless of their reason for doing so.

“Some people come in for food, some come in for books,” Flynn said. “You don’t have to be one thing or another to be walking into the store and I think that’s why people connect with us.”

For Flynn, connecting with the community and maintaining authenticity are some of the most important traits of a store.

“We don’t try to combat anything,” Flynn said. “We

Lisa Gozashti, a co-owner of Brookline Booksmith, an independent bookstore located in Coolidge Corner, echoed Flynn’s emphasis on staying true to a store’s identity.

“We’ve battled technology and the ease of a place like Amazon by doing what we do the best,” Gozashti said. “Having unique, singular experiences with our customers and each other.”

Rachel Cass, the general manager of the independent Harvard Book Store, said the support of the community is what keeps their business alive.

“We have many regular customers who know us and trust our booksellers and trust our recommendations,” Cass said.

Gozashti said the

in the Brookline community is the most important facet of the business.

“We are speaking to the most human aspects of our community,” Gozashti said. “What we found is that people want that now more than ever, they want it as an antidote to technology.”

Indeed, Brookline Booksmith is the perfect example of a store that transcends technology. Though the store may not look the same as it did when it first opened in 1961, its creaky hardwood floors, tightly packed shelves and warm lighting speak to its character.

“It’s a celebration of civilization,” Gozashti said. “All of the best aspects of community are represented on our shelves.”

Gozashti said she and the Brookline Booksmith staff work hard to ensure that they showcase as many human perspectives as possible with the books on their shelves to uphold the “integrity in the world of arts and letters.”

That aspect of community is what makes Brookline Booksmith so unique, Gozashti said. It allows the customer to feel a personal connection to the store rather than a simple transactional experience.

“They know their value,” Gozashti said. “They know that they have a say in who we are and that we actually respect them in our community.”

Flynn and the Trident staff similarly focus on connecting with

the community by offering unique experiences unavailable through the likes of Amazon and other large corporations.

From themed trivia nights to poetry readings and speed dating, Trident offers a variety of social events on a near-daily basis. They also aim to promote the voice of historically-marginalized groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community, by hosting themed events.

Gozashti said Brookline Booksmith is involved in philanthropic endeavors to help better the community. The store regularly donates money to Brookline Food Pantry and the Brookline Center for Community Mental Health as well as other humanitarian efforts that align with their “mission and values,” Gozashti said.

For these bookstores and many like them, ownership’s primary focus is not on how much money can be made, but rather how much of a positive impact their establishment can have on the local community.

“We don’t need a purchase,” Gozashti said. “What we want to do is know that we’re meeting the minds of our audience.”

As for Cass, the simple act of browsing through the shelves is itself an appeal of bookstores.

“The browsing experience is really important to us,” Cass said. “There’s nothing like the serendipity of finding something on the shelf at a bookstore.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF RAPH_PH VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Indie rock group boygenius performs in the United Kingdom in August. The trio performed two sold out shows at MGM Music Hall in Fenway this week.

GALLERY Extinction Rebellion stages “die-in” on Newbury Street

BY TAYLOR COESTER, MADI KOESLER AND SYDNEY ROTH

Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion organized a “die-in” protest and march on Newbury Street on Wednesday. The “die-in” was a part of the “Week of Rebellion,” a series of events from Sept. 18-27.

their website, are a “performance artivist

on climate and environmental

Extinction Rebellion members march down Newbury Street in protest of the Massachusetts government’s relationship with fossil fuel companies.

A “Red Rebel” stands over other protesters. TAYLOR COESTER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

A “Red Rebel” protester among other protesters pretending to be dead. MADI KOESLER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

“Red Rebels” at the protest. The “Red Rebels,” according to

troupe” who dress in red robes with white face paint, focusing

issues. TAYLOR COESTER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Protesters march down Newbury Street. SYDNEY ROTH | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Protester Katherine Stevenson lies on the ground. MADI KOESLER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

TAYLOR COESTER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Protesters pretend to be dead to represent victims of climate change. SYDNEY ROTH | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

A “Red Rebel” and protesters seen through one of Copley station’s windows. This demonstration follows a group of arrests of Extinction Rebellion activists for obstructing rush hour traffic on Sept. 21. TAYLOR COESTER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

“Red Rebels” at the protest. MADI KOESLER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Protester Jim Jacobs walks with a sign down Newbury Street. SYDNEY ROTH | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Protester Grant Rockett speaks over a megaphone at the event. TAYLOR COESTER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

COLUMNS

Tough Love:

Beauty is now in the AI of the beholder

BY ANALISE BRUNO COLUMNIST

Within the realm of science and invention, inspiration can come from just about anywhere. The world is everchanging, and in order to keep with the times, we must persistently advance as a society.

Although there is no doubt that some of the newer creations seen in society are meant for greater convenience and opportunity, I wonder if some of these new innovations cause more problems than they solve.

I often notice the things we produce and construct to improve our quality of life actually do the opposite. They compromise our security, risk our safety and detract from some of the features that make us distinctly human.

One such detrimental innovation is one you can’t really notice at all — well, that is, until it goes away.

AI filters go as far back as the infamous dog, flower crown and barfing rainbow Snapchat days. But, as we continue to toy with the limits of technology, the more realistic they become.

And by “realistic” I mean scary-realistic. No, I’m not talking about the “Bold Glamour” filter on TikTok — although that’s creepy for other reasons. What I’m referring to is the beauty filter.

When users go to film a video, they have the option to select the “retouch” button which does exactly what it says — it revamps your entire profile to appear, in

effect, perfect.

Unlike the traditional ways of Snapchat filters, which are removed if you move, or your face becomes obstructed, these ones remain exceptionally intact. Instances

like these make the innovation even more creepy as the line between what’s real and what has been falsely constructed becomes blurred.

With one tap of a button, your acne, dark circles, wrinkles and any other imperfections can seemingly disappear — but that’s just your little secret. Although TikTok makes it so that the filter the user is employing is visible on the screen for others to view, there is no disclaimer for users who have on the retouch setting.

Now this is certainly not the first time AI filters have made waves, as face-editing and beauty filter apps have been around since the advent of the first iPhone. The app store has always been full of programs that allow people to add makeup to a preexisting portrait, or, with softwares like FaceTune, reshape and enhance them.

But it seems that we have very quickly gone from being able to add a few details to the face to completely reshaping our bodily compositions. Recent innovations in this technology could now have us questioning what sort of reality we are living in.

The main concern with the latest filter advances is that they are narrowing the beauty standard to only include features like clear skin, bright eyes and smooth features. And it makes sense — we only know what we are exposed to. If we keep mindlessly scrolling on TikTok or Instagram to only see people who are both perfect and realistic-looking, then it can definitely start to play mind games with us.

Now you’re probably thinking: I’m

smart enough to know the difference between AI and what’s real — but are you really?

The proliferation of AI tools and labs whose main goal is to make realisticlooking filters is so profound that there is literally no escaping it. You think you know better? You probably just can’t tell — and that’s why these innovations have persisted at being so successful.

Still, the true dark side to this innovation is the impact it has on our self-esteem. A study conducted by Dove found that at least 80% of girls used filters or modified their photo to change their appearance online starting at the age of 13. And this isn’t even for fun, the objective is beautification.

I’m not saying this innovation is all bad. In fact, I think it has its perks. There have been times where even I felt the need to use a filter to cover some blemishes from a recent breakout. But, I didn’t feel like I lost myself within the picture. I was the same old me, just with a little more confidence.

My primary concern lies in what is to become of this innovation. I mean, TikTok already has a feature that can generate an AI portrait of you in under 30 seconds. What’s to stop it from taking it a step further? Will we all come to be represented by a false image?

Being part of a generation that grew up on the internet, many of us have become experts at deciphering between truths and fallacies when it comes to the media. But perhaps we are on our way to becoming so advanced that we can no longer remember what we truly look like without filters.

The year 2023 will be an AI inflection point

This year has already been one of the most innovative for artificial intelligence in the history of the field. It becomes more evident every day that AI will be the most disruptive technology of the upcoming decade if not century or millennia.

AI has the potential to massively increase productivity, make life more convenient and eliminate the need for menial labor unbecoming for citizens of the modern world.

Go to the comment section of almost any video or article showcasing the latest AI breakthrough, however, and you are bound to find countless comments bemoaning how - uncanny it all seems, and some even more conspiratorially minded people questioning whether AI could be the beginning of the end for humanity.

Being assimilated into SkyNet is still probably a long way off, but more and more experts in the field are warning that corporations and governments need to take more serious steps to ensure AI advances in a prosocial manner.

Why so much hesitation toward the steady march of scientific progress from laymen and experts alike?

Decades of apocalyptic sci-fi about vengeful AI overthrowing their human masters primed the general public for skepticism rather than rogue AI. Many experts seem more afraid that AI of exponentially increasing intelligence will continue unthinkingly carrying out whatever the person behind the keyboard tells them to — with economic and political ramifications on society even more dystopian.

The most immediate threat AI poses to the average person is the loss of jobs. Automation has hollowed out countless industries of predominantly low-skilled labor jobs for decades.

With the advent of “General Artificial Intelligence” represented by ChatGPT and

the like, more creatively-minded professions and even STEM and other white-collar jobs have come under threat.

If AI does squeeze the labor market, underemployment and unemployment could rise precipitously unless more jobs are created, forcing more into poverty, which correlates with countless social ills such as crime, addiction, mental illness and political polarization.

A permanent increase in the number of people the economy couldn’t find employment for would exacerbate the already extreme inequality that characterizes our society. CEOs and board members of the companies deploying AI will have to divert even less of their profits into wages, making the rich richer and the poor poorer.

It’s been empirically proven increasing inequality is bad for democracy. A lack of social mobility and a declining standard of living cause a loss of legitimacy in democratic institutions and inspire radical political ideologies. The more concentrated wealth becomes, the tighter its grip on politics.

Furthermore, AI could be harnessed for authoritarian ambitions to surveil populations and punish dissent at an unprecedented scale. The ability to fabricate images and videos wholesale will make misinformation all the more pernicious, accelerating the demise of a shared consensus about objective reality so crucial to enable an electorate to make informed decisions.

These problems are not without potential solutions. The increase in both productivity and unemployment engendered by AI would make a universal basic income scheme more feasible or some other expansion of the welfare state to meet the basic needs of the masses of the newly unemployed.

A few years ago, UBI was on the political fringe, but the looming possibility of AI-induced layoffs has brought it to the forefront of discussions about welfare. Such is an example of the radicality of the adaptations that could be necessitated by AI’s profound restructuring of our society.

But we shouldn’t be all doom and gloom. In 2023, AI’s still taking its baby steps, and it’s anyone’s guess what AI’s effect could be on history. But one thing has become inevitable: It’s no longer a matter of whether AI will revolutionize society, only when. Companies could prioritize people over profits and prevent AI from decimating the labor market to the maximum extent. Governments could stand up to corporations and demand innovation only continue in a way that benefits all. Unfortunately, the historical record makes both of these possibilities seem unlikely.

In a different world, under a different system, perhaps the rapid advancement of AI technology would have been a much more optimistic occasion. In reality, however, it’s clear that unless something is done before it’s too late, AI’s advancement could exacerbate our economy and society’s existing contradictions toward reaching their breaking points.

Will AI ascend humanity to the level of godhood, or are we playing out a modern rendition of the myth of Icarus? Only time will tell, but in the meantime, maybe ask ChatGPT.

This editorial was written by Opinion Co-Editor Nathan Metcalf

ILLUSTRATION BY LILA BALTAXE

ILLUSTRATION BY LILA BALTAXE

Editorial Board

CROSSWORD BY GRACIE ROHDE

ACROSS

1. Messages on FB

4. Scene direction for CFA students

8. Shrek or Fiona

12. _ Lo Green, "Forget You" singer

13. Agganis

14. Witchy kind of woman

16. Amenity outside Mugar Library, for short

17. Landmark on BU's Central Campus

19. Do-_, syllables for BU

A capella singers

21. __ the pot (start a new fight)

22. Pixar or Verne protagonist

23. Jason Campbell-_, BU's newly appointed (but not new!) Dean of students

25. 'There's here!"comment about an empty lecture hall

27. Targeted muscles in FitRec, informally

28. Has mommy issues

31. Newfound treasure in a lode

32. Scully in the "X-Files"

33. Conde_, Vanity Fair, Vogue and The New Yorker publisher (ask a COM student!)

36. Word before diem or capita

37. New __, geographical region that includes Massachusetts

40. Dream job of many a OST student

42. _movie, "random humor" animated YouTube series

44. Slews

45. With COVID-19 & the Flu, created a 'Tripledemic" last winter

46. First lady of a Bostonbased couple, familiarly

49. bu.edu, for example

50. Platforms in lecture halls, or dolphins' noses

52. Superhero whose franchise received a new reboot with Robert Pattinson

54._-Ra, Egyptian sun god

55. Outdated opposite of ''new••

58. "How yummy!"

59. BU BS degree now housed in a new building

62. _ Lingus, Irish carrier

64.Naomi_, Japanese tennis player

65.i Pod __, now-bygone Apple products

66. New's homophone

67.Suffix for trick- or road-

68. Secluded and narrow valley

69. Alf and Groot, e.g

DOWN

1. Boston Seaport museum

2. Like Boston with its surrounding communities

3. New ones at BU begin after Labor Day and MLK

Jr. Day

4. With 23-Down, a period of failure

5. Forty-somethings

6. The "I" of BU's neighbor across the river

7. Sesame paste

8. Scottish or Irish "Crikey"

9. Offering in the Dining Halls, next to the cereal

10. Lured (in)

11. Foe

13. French friend

15. "Mr. Blue Sky" band, for short

18. Cranberries are Massachusetts' top

20. Like The Berkshires, for short

23. Totally misfire

24. Hybrid-color horse

26. Retail bookseller with a location on campus, for short

29. Maj. for students in the Metcalf Center

30. Lama, Spiritual leader who is reincarnated into a new body

32. Process from whole to skim, maybe

34. Going-on between BU's intramural teams, say

35. New_ (Second half of Christian biblical canon)

38. Went to Marciano Commons, maybe

39. New person in gaming, slangily

41. Pizza in the dining hall is made in a wood-fired

43. French producer behind 'Turn Down for What" and 'Taki Taki"

47. Shoe with holes, with a store in Fanueil Hall

48. Mindy with an eponymous TV show

49. Adv. degree for students in the Sch. of Theology

50. Abbr. that follows no Bay State congressperson

51. A Red Sox player might get tagged_ second, third, or home

53. Home of Iowa State

54. "MuchAbout Nothing"

56. New_, FDR's government works projects

57. Suffix similar to "-trix"

60. Sch. for Public Health majors

61. Not pro

63. Toys-_, shop for new playthings for kids

Syncing hearts and beats: using Spotify Blends to enhance friendships

By ISABELLA LAPRIORE DFP Writer

Spotify introduced the “Blend” feature to its users back in 2021, and after revamping it in 2022, the feature now allows up to 10 listeners to join a playlist that automatically picks songs users have in common, as well as others that are unique to individuals.

Utilizing insights and data about your listening habits allows the app to uniquely shape each “Blend” — Spotify updates it daily to give you new recommendations and the most accurate listening experience. But perhaps the most interesting feature of “Blend” is its ability to see numerically how you match up with other members.

In a two-person “Blend”, the “Taste Match Scores” feature is a percentage assigned based on the similarity of listening habits between you and the other user. Alongside the number, Spotify gives you a song that “brings you two together,” a track of which both users share a similar listening history. This song updates similarly to the tracks that make up the “Blend” playlist, but not as frequently. As someone who uses Spotify multiple times throughout the day, I’m always on the hunt for new songs to play during walks to class, studying in the library or even to share when hanging out with friends. Spotify’s many curated playlists are a great

place to start, but I always find myself going back to my various “Blends” to see what my friends are listening to.

Sharing music with people is undoubtedly one of the best ways to bond, whether your taste is

similar or completely different. Finding common ground through song can connect people in unlikely ways. It may surprise you to find out what your friends are listening to and what recommendations they have.

Using a tool like Spotify “Blend” to elevate a friendship can be incredibly special in many different ways: You may find out things about your friend you wouldn’t have otherwise known, or get surprised by

some of the songs or artists you have in common. There is this neverending potential to be introduced to someone’s favorites and do the same for them. Find overlaps in both of your tastes and let the “Blend” do the rest.

Music inevitably brings people together and in an everchanging world, technological innovations like “Blend” can be a tool utilized to do a simple thing like sharing music with someone in an efficient and organized way. “Blends” can be saved to your Spotify library in the form of playlists to save the list of songs curated on a particular day in order to come back and listen and reminisce on the memory that spurred their creation.

Additionally, the “Friends Mix” becomes available to users when they are part of three or more two-person “Blends.” In this playlist, Spotify collects data to collaborate playlists of all members of your “Blend” to curate a huge playlist based on the listening preferences and habits of all your friends. Each song has an icon to the right of it connecting it to one or more users included in your “Blend.”

Sharing music is one of the most vulnerable aspects of any friendship and has the unique potential to deepen our connections with others. Bonding through music can be

I love ‘girl math’ and ‘girl dinner’: Here’s why

By ANALISE BRUNO Lifestyle Editor

If you don’t know the phrase “girl dinner,” you’re either living under a rock, not Gen Z or just don’t have TikTok.

And no, I’m not talking about a snack, a treat or a meal — I mean it’s just “girl dinner”!

Over the past several months, “girl” trends have developed on TikTok to display some of the silly and illogical innovations and insights girls have on certain things.

One of the most well-known creative facets of this trend is “girl dinner.”

For some girls this is a special dish, for others it’s a random collection of food items, but at its core, girl dinner is really just an elaborate and personally innovative dish that can appease every craving.

Now to clarify, because the trend has taken a few dark twists and turns that imply “girl dinner” only includes low-calorie, low-fat snacks (I’d say meal, but the lack of sustenance does not warrant that title), this trend is not to spotlight habitualized under-eating, but rather highlight a bunch of random food and snack combos that equate to a whole meal.

For instance, when I don’t feel like leaving my dorm, my goto “girl dinner” is usually pretty creative in terms of options and set up. It normally includes some microwaved edamame, sliced apple with peanut butter, dry cereal, carrots and roasted red pepper hummus, various berries, etc. I mostly opt for a charcuterie board type setup, but the combinations always vary — and a sample of each is a must!

Other variances in what I can go out and scavenge include a “make your own crepe” from the

Paris Creperie in Brookline, a HoneyGrow salad or some muesli from Tatte.

Why has the internet decided to call this sensational invention of snack plates “girl dinner”? No one can exactly say, but I know I personally use it to describe foods that I uniquely customize or are my staple favorites.

There’s an interesting sense of bonding around it too. I know that as a picky eater, I’ve found a greater love and variety for foods that my roommates introduce to me as part of their “girl dinner” — take for instance avocado rolls, tofu, savory crepes, miso soup — things I never tried before coming to college, but I now love.

A take similar to “girl dinner” is “girl math”, which has its fair share of appreciation and controversy too. By one measure, I know a lot of people talk about how “girl math” is just a big patriarchal stereotype about how women don’t know how to spend money correctly. But to that I say, it’s merely an avantgarde approach to personal finance (that some of you just aren’t ready to hear us out on!), especially because women are statistically better investors when it comes to money.

Perhaps the reason we are so good with where we spend our bucks is because of things like “girl math,” which, to me, constitutes a shared universal experience among many women about what they view as profit and loss when it comes to spending and earning money.

I say this because the foundations of “girl math” centers around improving the quality of life through strategic purchasing. For example, I justify spending $57 on my Gisou hair mask once a month because it will make my hair less frizzy and damaged, which means I’ll have to wash it less, which then in turn means I spend overall

less money on hair care supplies because I don’t need to buy as much shampoo and conditioner. Boom. “Girl math.”

Now, if you’ve seen Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of “Barbie,” you’ll better understand what I mean when I say that generally speaking, the world of finance caters to men because it was created for men by other men. Remember that scene where Barbie tells Ken all her money is in her savings, to which he replies, “That’s totally wrong. You need treasury bonds, corporate bonds, CDs… CD stands for certificate of deposit.”? Yeah. That’s pretty much the crux of how the world of finance is built on an air of exclusivity that is primarily

accessible to men.

Women are already financially disadvantaged when it comes to pay, so I think the function of “girl math” can be a very original take on money and dare I say, empowering when you look at it from this standpoint. But at the end of the day, the trend was merely started as a joke to open a discussion about the very inventive ways girls justify and plan their spending.

I, of course, would be remiss to not mention some good ones I have heard from friends — if you don’t buy something, you’ve made a profit. If you pay for something with cash, it’s free. You lose money if you don’t buy something while it’s on sale. If you need to spend an

of sense. But as a funny innovation started by girls FOR girls, take it for what it is: a beautiful, silly and even smart new way of using the media to share some funny thoughts and perspectives.

ILLUSTRATION BY HALEY ALVEREZ-LAUTO

Sports gambling prevalent on college campuses, even among students under 21

By BRENDAN GALVIN Senior Writer

The rise of online sports gambling has been impossible to ignore. Massachusetts legalized the practice for those over 21 years old last March and is now counted among the 30 states and territories that allow for betting via mobile platforms. This has contributed to an eye-catching statistic: according to a survey conducted by the NCAA, 67% of 18- to 22-year-olds on college campuses are regular bettors.

Gambling has taken the sports world by storm, and it is especially clear when watching broadcasts of major sporting events. Advertisements from companies like DraftKings are rife with colorful, slick animations announcing promotions for new users — and they are working.

According to that same NCAA survey, 58% of students who recall seeing a betting ad said they were more likely to bet after seeing those ads. DraftKings did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

When asked about their motivations, however, many college students do not cite monetary gain. Zachary Mathews, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he gambles on sports simply “because it’s fun.”

“I kind of expect to lose [money], but it definitely adds some entertainment value,” Mathews said.

Eli Chamblee, a junior in CAS, said he bets on sports to make watching them more enjoyable.

“Most of the time when I bet on sports, I’m watching a game that I don’t really care about, and I’m bored,” Chamblee said. “I would bet on a game so that I have the same rooting interests as a lot of the people around me because that makes it a lot more fun to watch games.”

While Chamblee and Mathews are of age to gamble in Massachusetts, their attitudes are shared by those not of age, and underage gambling remains a pressing issue on college campuses. In the same month that saw Massachusetts legalize online sports betting, the American Gaming Association created new rules to protect college-aged

audiences. These new rules included prohibiting college partnerships with sports wagering companies and outlawing sponsorship deals with sportsbooks for college athletes.

The AGA also changed the regulations regarding language allowed in sportsbook ads. Ads now must change the phrase “legal age of wagering” to “21plus” and remove the use of the phrase “risk-free.” However, this may not be enough to keep underage college students from gambling on sports.

Chamblee said that the combination of a brain that is not fully developed, the new freedom that college brings and even peer pressure can cause college students to place big sports bets.

Jack Dougherty, a senior in CAS, added that the feeling of getting close to a win but losing is what keeps college students hooked on sports betting.

“Most college students just don’t think about the fact that they’re about to lose money,” Dougherty said. “The thought of winning money takes over and drives them to continue to do it, regardless of previous outcomes.”

Sherrod Blakely, a lecturer in the College of Communication, was worried about the consequences of the generally unregulated nature of sports gambling, especially on college campuses.

“The problems start when we have these different set[s] of norms that we embrace, but we don’t have any rules or

regulations on how to navigate [them] in the present or going forward,” Blakely said.

Blakely added that more needs to be done to limit the prevalence of underage gambling. He called disclaimers on betting websites a “band-aid approach” to a problem that has yet to find a concrete solution.

“As educators, we need to figure out how to take that increased attention and galvanize that in a way where it becomes an educational tool,” Blakely said.

Whether legally or not, students will continue to lose lots of money from sports gambling. However, some students still may not see that as a deterrent strong enough to make them stop.

“We all think that we’re a little smarter than we are in terms of betting, and at the end of the day, it’s just fun,” Mathews said.

While Mathews, Chamblee and Dougherty are all of age to legally bet, underage sports gambling is an issue colleges and sportsbooks seemingly must be regulated into addressing. Until this problem becomes more severe, change will likely come in fits and starts. Whether that iterative approach will actually curb this epidemic is yet to be seen.

ILLUSTRATION BY LILA BALTAXE

“It’s not going anywhere, because there are too many stakeholders that have invested in it,” Blakely said. “Not only from a consumption standpoint, but also from a creation standpoint as well.”

Men’s soccer dominates Holy Cross, starts Patriot League competition 3-0

BY SAM ROBB O’HAGAN DFP Writer

Boston University men’s soccer dismantled the College of the Holy Cross at Nickerson Field on Wednesday night, scoring early and often on their way to a statement 3-0 victory. It was the first time in 22 months that the Terriers (6-2-1, 3-00 Patriot League) have scored three goals in a game, and they did it in just over 20 minutes.

If graduate student midfielder Colin Innes and senior forward Eitan Rosen were the only two talking about a Patriot League championship after the game, they might not be alone anymore. BU leads the league as its only team with three in-conference wins and, with six wins overall, they’ve already matched last season’s win total.

“We’re having a lot of fun,” Rosen said.

He’s scored seven goals in his four years with the Terriers, with three of them coming in the team’s last two games.

“Everyone’s playing well,” Rosen said. “We’re just clicking, and I’m happy that I can be on the [receiving] end of that.”

Rosen shined throughout the night, making consistent runs in behind and asking questions of the Crusader (3-5-2, 1-1-1 PL) defense. Senior midfielder Andrew Rent was lively alongside him. His hold-up play and relentless pressing produced chances in both halves.

No one, however, shined brighter than Innes, who scored once and assisted twice in his most productive performance of

the season. “I haven’t contributed to as many goals as I would have liked so far this season,” Innes said.

“My coaches and teammates have really reiterated ‘stay the course, keep playing well, keep working hard,’ and today it all came to fruition.”

Positioned on the left side of a midfield diamond, Innes was a creative force all game. He split defensive lines with passes to the forwards ahead of him, which led to Rosen’s opener. He was a nightmare with the ball at

his feet, skillfully stepping past defenders to put the cross in for the Terriers’ second. In the open field, he glided past defenders to score BU’s third himself.

“It feels good to help the team and contribute to a win,” Innes said.

Innes joined Rosen, Rent and graduate student midfielder Quinn Matulis to form an attacking quartet that have each spent at least three seasons with the program. Together, they bring over 11,000 minutes of experience under head coach

Kevin Nylen.

“They’ve now continued to settle in with what we’ve asked them to do,” Nylen said. “They like to play with one another, they like to identify spaces, they work off of one another pretty well.”

Rosen and Rent led the line with Matulis behind. Innes roamed the center of the field, picking up the ball just about everywhere. Together, they disassembled a Holy Cross team that was unbeaten in their last three in just 20 minutes.

“When you’re playing with your best friends, it makes everything easy,” Innes said. BU’s attack left little work for its defense, but Nylen’s back four was stout throughout the 90 minutes. Holy Cross failed to record a shot on goal, and a Terrier defense that rotated players throughout the second half supported forward moves.

Senior defender Ryan Lee was particularly bright, making a box-to-box run in the 62nd minute that nearly became BU’s fourth goal. Despite being comfortably three goals ahead, the Terriers remained eager.

“We’ve struggled this year. We score early and we let teams back into it,” Innes said. “When we went into [the] half [up] 3-0, we said this is going to be our first 90-minute game, we’re going to play a complete game.”

With three straight PL wins to open a nine game inconference slate, the Terriers have established themselves as an early Patriot League favorite. BU continues a three-game homestand on Saturday when they host Colgate University at 1 p.m.

“My job is to keep them humble,” Nylen said. “Now we have to come back and prepare for a really good side in Colgate, who took it to us last year.”

Nylen may be looking no further than Colgate — who dominated BU to the tune of a 3-0 shutout last season — but Innes and Rosen are looking further.

“We want to win the league,” Innes said. “It’s a ring or nothing for us.”

HALEY ALVAREZ-LAUTO | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Freshman midfielder Jason Zacarias (26) dribbles down the field during a match against The College of the Holy Cross on

Wednesday. The Boston University Terriers beat Holy Cross 3-0.