ELECTION 2018 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
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Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker cheers on stage at his watch party after being re-elected for a second term Tuesday night.
YEAR XLVI. VOLUME XCIV. ISSUE X.
After winning a second term, Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks at the Massachusetts Democrats watch party Tuesday night.
Baker re-elected as governor Warren defeats Diehl BY JOEL LAU and KYLIE MCDANELD DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
I nc u m b ent Re publ ic a n Gov. Charlie Baker defeated Democratic opponent Jay Gonzalez in a landslide victory in Tuesday’s midterm election. Baker won 67 percent of the vote, more than doubling Gonzalez’s 33 percent, according to The New York Times at around 3:00 a.m.. In his victory speech at Hynes Convention Center Tuesday night, Baker said the voters chose him because of his continued commitment to “fiscal discipline” and his “reform-minded approach to governing.” He pledged to continue serving Massachusetts throughout his second term. “Today, the voters have spoken,” Baker said. “They like what we are doing, and they appreciate the way we work. So here’s the good news — that collaborative, purposeful and humble approach to governing is exactly what you are going to get from us and from our team for the next four years.” Baker also thanked the people
of Massachusetts for keeping him focused on solving the issues that matter the most, instead of the negativity that plagues modern politics. In his concession speech, Gonzalez acknowledged Baker’s bipartisanship. “In a time of divisiveness and incivility in our national politics,” Gonzalez said in his speech, “Governor Baker also deserves credit and thanks for the civil, respectful and collaborative approach he has taken to government.” Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Baker’s running mate, also addressed the crowd and promised that she and Baker will offer support every day over the next four years to communities in need. “We stand with each of you every day,” Polito said in her speech, “to work with you every day to make this Commonwealth even stronger, to make our future brighter.” Baker and Polito pledged to continue the work they have been pursuing in their last term and to work even harder for the benefit
of all Massachusetts residents. “If you like what you’ve been seeing over the last four years,” Polito said, “well, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” Although Polito said she believes the country has suffered from a harmful divide, she insisted that the divide has not affected Massachusetts. “We’re unified because of a common love of Massachusetts and a shared belief that working together, our opportunities are limitless,” she said. “We see unity.” Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, a Democrat, supported Baker and Polito’s re-election in his speech. “In a day and age where our country stood divided,” Rivera said in his speech, “I’m going to tell you that Massachusetts has stood apart because of leaders like Charlie and Karyn.” Canton resident Joe Paru, 28, said he was disappointed by the Republican party’s performance in other elections, but was pleased with the results of the gubernatorial race because of Baker’s commitment CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
BY ZOE ALLEN and NATALIE PATRICK DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Massachusetts incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Warren secured her seat in the U.S. Senate, beating Republican opponent Geoff Diehl with 60.5 percent of the vote, according to The New York Times at around 2:45 a.m. Warren, along with the Massachusetts Democratic Party, hosted an election party at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Tuesday night, beginning at 8 p.m., when the polls closed in the Commonwealth. The ballroom doors opened to the music of a live band, and within an hour and a half of the polls closing, Warren’s victory was solidified. Jill Kaner, 63, of Groveland, said she was confident Warren would win re-election before the ballroom doors opened. “If you look around the room now, you can tell that there’s all types of folks now supporting our party, supporting Elizabeth,” Kaner said. “I just think there’s a lot of energy.” Kaner said she thinks the senator will serve the people of
Massachusetts to the best of her ability. “I know that maybe the ‘P-word’ is in the future,” Kaner said, referring to speculation that Warren might run for president in 2020. “It doesn’t matter right now. She’s focused on what she can do for us as citizens of our commonwealth and ultimately of our world.” In his concession speech, Diehl thanked his “tireless” campaign staff and said he was honored to run on behalf of the Republican party. “While the outcome is not what we wanted, we’ve laid the foundation for taking Massachusetts back for the working people,” Diehl said in his speech. “I am a firm believer that when God shuts a door, he opens a window somewhere, so together we’re going to find that window.” David Lakeman, 30, of Cambridge, said he was excited about Warren’s victory because she represents values that he said are becoming increasingly rare. “She harkins back to a different tradition in the Democratic Party — taking on the trusts, taking on CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
2 NEWS
Baker triumphs over Gonzalez in landslide gubernatorial race
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Gov. Baker celebrates his re-election with his wife Lauren Baker and running mate Karyn Polito (far left).
GOVERNOR, FROM PAGE 1
to bipartisanship and protecting America’s veterans. “He’s done a lot for our veterans, especially our homeless veterans, and for too long, they have been overlooked,” Paru said. “He has provided housing
for veterans, helped them get off the streets, and his overall bipartisanship has been inspiring in such a climate that’s so divisive and hostile.” M a s s a c hu s et ts Te en a g e Republicans Vice Chairman Sam Garber said he was confident
Supporters of Gov. Baker celebrate his re-election victory at the Hynes Convention Center Tuesday night.
before the election results came in that Baker would win easily because of the approval ratings Baker earned throughout his first term. “This is the most energy that I could remember for a midterm election in a long time, and I’m
confident that the energy’s on our side,” Garber said. “Honestly, there’s no way that you can really improve a campaign like this.” Michaela Arguin, 20, of East Freetown, said she thinks Baker and Polito have been a “bipartisanship pair” and that they have
an attitude other politicians should aspire to. “[They are] definitely pushing Boston in the right direction,” Arguin said. “I think they’ll [continue] making it even stronger, and I definitely think that [voters] made the right choice.”
Youth, minorities rush to polls to support diverse candidates BY AUDREY MARTIN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Brandi Griffin, 22, pulled up the hood of her jacket and trudged through the Fenway area in the pouring rain Tuesday, not to catch a game and not to grab a coffee. Griffin was there to vote — an act she called her “civic duty.” “For me, it’s being an AfricanAmerican woman and seeing the way that Trump is marginalizing different minority groups,” Griffin, a Fenway resident and student at Northeastern University, said. The Georgia native said she has only been in Massachusetts for a month and a half but made time to learn about the state’s issues before casting her votes. “I think that we’re in a very stressful time in terms of politics because of the polarized way of the nation right now,” Griffin said, “and I think that different minorities will definitely be affected.” Griffin, along with other young individuals and members of minorities groups, is part of a group of people who have historically been the least likely to vote. During the 2014 midterms, only 19.9 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 turned out to vote, according to the Pew Research Center. Minorities, including black, hispanic and Asian voters, also all had lower turnouts in 2014 than white voters, according to Pew. However, Vox reported that a biannual poll released by the Harvard University Institute of Politics stated that 40 percent of 18- to 29-year-old individuals said they would “definitely vote” in the 2018 midterms. Vox called the percentage “a substantial
increase from the 2014 and 2010 midterms.” Rachael Va nessa Cobb, a professor and chair of the Department of Government at Suffolk University, said she thinks this trend has something to do with candidates paying attention to groups they have ignored in the past. “Some candidates have really gone big outside the box in trying to recruit non-traditional voters,” Cobb said. “Stacey Abrams is saying that her strategy is to really try to mobilize people who were not necessarily engaged in the political process. That is outside of the typical toolbox that a campaign manager uses.” Traditionally, Cobb said, campaign managers try to use their resources efficiently by going after people who are already consistent voters. With potential first-time voters who have to “get over the hurdle” of registering to vote and voting for the first time, Cobb said it is more of a risk for a campaign to spend time and money reaching out to them. Adam Silver, a professor of political science at Emmanuel College, said he expected to see a higher turnout in 2018 than in past years. “There’s a lot going on this election,” Silver said. “People are pretty energized. I think we’re a polarized country for better or for worse right now, and I think people are feeling the president has really made it about himself in many respects.” Like Cobb, Silver also said he believes that candidates reaching out to traditionally low-turnout minority groups will impact the voting patterns of those groups. “We know that Beto O’Rourke, the candidate from Texas who’s
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Boston University graduate student Naveed Ghani. Youth and minority voters took part in the 2018 midterms in greater numbers than in years prior.
challenging Ted Cruz, has made a key part of his campaign bringing in Latino voters,” Silver said. “We see it happen with the Abrams campaign down in Georgia, too, where she reached out to AfricanAmerican voters in communities that have not had high turnout historically.” Silver said young people are more likely to vote in this election because they have the opportunity to support a historic number of female, minority and LGBTQ candidates. Dina Yaghi, a 22-year-old Dorchester resident, said she was inspired to vote because of “every-
thing going on with Trump.” “I feel like a lot of women and minorities aren’t being protected,” Yaghi said, “and as a woman and minority, I feel like it’s very important to vote.” Fenway resident Anastasia Liebler, 29, said she thinks it is important for young people to make their voices heard at the polls so they can have a say in how their government operates. “If you don’t speak up, then what can you really say about what’s done or about what occurs?” Liebler said. “It’s written into our political process to make sure that we have the
opportunity to have our voices heard, and if we don’t speak up, then how do you expect to provoke change?” Alex Pomerantz, 23, said he has voted in every election and called voting his “civic duty.” “If you see things you don’t like in the nation, you have to be the voice to change it, and the only way to change it is voting,” the Fenway resident said. “Our country is facing a crisis with the current president. I think he is someone who engenders hate, and I think we, as young people, have to come to polls to say that that’s not OK.”
NEWS 3
Massachusetts votes ‘no’ on Ballot Question 1, ‘yes’ on 2 and 3 Citizens United verdict, David Ropeik, chairman of the communications and outreach committee for People Govern, Not Money, the “Yes on 2” campaign, said the vote would be one of the first steps in reversing the ruling. Ropiek said the “Yes on 2” campaign gained cross-partisan support from prominent politicians in Massachusetts, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Charlie Baker. “It’s exciting for us here in Massachusetts to be the first state to create a formal commission to move this idea forward,” Ropeik said. “We hope that this model is something that other states choose to emulate as we build toward 38 states ratifying an amendment.” Nineteen states, including Massachusetts, have called on Congress to overturn Citizens United.
GRAPHIC BY SHAUN ROBINSON DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
BY JENNIFER SURYADJAJA, DAMIAN WALSH, JOE LAU, HALEY LERNER and SAMANTHA DAY DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Ma ssachuset ts residents voted on three ballot measures in Tuesday’s midterm election, rejecting a proposition to limit the ratio of nurses to patients and approving propositions having to do with limiting political spending and protecting the rights of transgender people in the Commonwealth. QUESTION 1 Massachusetts residents voted against Ballot Question 1, which would have placed an official limit on the number of patients that nurses could see at one time.
Since the proposition was voted down, Massachusetts will maintain its current healthcare system and allow hospitals to independently assign nurses to patients without imposing a limit. If the measure were to have passed, Massachusetts hospitals could have faced fines of up to $25,000 per incident for exceeding the proposed nurse-to-patient ratio. Patients might have also faced longer wait times. Supporters of Question 1 said the limit was designed to increase patient safety. By allowing nurses to spend more time with each patient, they hoped to reduce the number of medical errors made in hospitals. Donna Kelly-Williams, president of the Massachusetts Nurses
Association, said in a concession speech that the organization was disappointed by the results. “These frontline nurses have given everything to advocate for patient safety, fighting to make sure that our patients receive the highest quality care,” KellyWilliams said. “All patients deserve a safe standard of nursing care, and this advocacy, this fight, won’t be over until we achieve the equity that all patients deserve.” Organizations that supported the “No on 1” campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment. QUESTION 2 Ma ssachuset ts residents voted to enact Ballot Question
2, which officially establishes the Commonwealth’s support to begin the process of overturning a 2010 Supreme Court decision protecting political spending as a form of free speech. In a controversial case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Com m ission, the Supreme Court ruled to remove governmental restrictions on campaign donations to politicians and independent expenditures. Voting “no” would have left the law as it was under previous statute and Supreme Court precedent, allowing political action committees and unions to hold the sway given to them under Citizens United v. FEC. While the ballot question does not directly mention the
QUESTION 3 Massachusetts voted “yes” on Ballot Question 3, which affirmed a 2016 transgender rights bill allowing transgender people to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity. The “No on 3” campaign called for the repeal of the law on the grounds that it eliminates the right to privacy in public restrooms and “puts women’s safety at risk,” according to the campaign’s website. Kasey Suffredini, “Yes on 3” campaign co-chair and president of strategy at Freedom for All Americans, said in a press release that Tuesday’s vote in favor of the proposition proves that protecting the rights of transgender people does not put anyone outside of that community in danger. “Winning this popular vote is irrefutable proof that public support for transgender people is growing,” Suffredini said, “and tonight’s outcome will provide the necessar y momentum to change the landscape on transgender rights everywhere.” Natalie Patrick contributed to the reporting of this story.
Warren secures Senate seat, says she is ‘just getting started’ SENATOR, FROM PAGE 1
the corporations, actually fighting for the little person,” Lakeman said. “She’s always really kind, really loving, but then she also knows how to throw a punch when she needs to at the national level.” Malden resident Katherine Gibbons, 29, said she felt energized after hearing Warren’s speech because Warren placed special emphasis on women in politics. “I loved that she focused especially on women becoming involved in politics,” Gibbons said. “As a
woman myself, I’m just super honored to be here and watch her speak.” Warren took to the stage to give her victory speech at approximately 11:10 p.m., accepting raucous applause and chants of her name from the energized crowd. “When I first ran for the Senate six years ago, I asked you to take a chance on someone who had never even run for office before,” Warren said. “You took that chance. You sent me into the fight, and tonight, you told me to stay in the fight.” A record number of women
were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday night. Warren praised the efforts of these women, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Niki Tsongas and Rep. Katherine Clark in the midterm election. “Let’s make sure that nobody rewrites history,” Warren said. “This resistance began with women, and it is being led by women, too.” Warren spoke directly to firsttime and minority voters as she wrapped up her thoughts and told the crowd to continue fighting for what
they believe in. “Women, men, young and old, black and white, gay and straight, in cities big and small,” she said, “have built something extraordinary.” Warren also spoke to the challenges that the Democratic Party continues to face, following the results of Tuesday’s elections. “Our Supreme Court is still packed with right-wing activists who believe that the wealthy and the well-connected should get to call the shots,” Warren said in her speech. “And Donald Trump still practices the dark
art of ruling by fear — fear whipped up to turn hardworking Americans against hardworking Americans.” Warren concluded her speech with praise for Diehl, her constituents, her volunteers and her husband, and with the 2017 insult that had become her campaign slogan. “We have come so far together,” Warren said. “We have fought together, cried together, resisted together, and, sure as hell, persisted together. But tonight, we send a message to the world: we’re just getting started.”
Daily Free Press reporters Laura Al-Bast, Zoe Allen, Mia Cathell, Joel Lau, Audrey Martin, Kylie McDaneld, Natalie Patrick, Jennifer Suryadijaja and Damian Walsh and editors Samantha Day, Haley Lerner and Hannah Schoenbaum contributed to the reporting of election stories.
4
FEATURES
ARTS Tufts exhibit visualizes gerrymandering across US BY MARTHA MERROW DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Colorful maps adorn white walls at Tufts University’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts’ Well and Weems Atrium gallery. Vibrant hues of green, orange, pink and blue draw attention to the shapes. The bright colors and shapes, seeming randomly drawn, determine the future of United States politics. Introduced this fall semester, “Election” is an installation that addresses electoral politics and the complicated dynamic of gerrymandering across the United States. Through data graphing and electoral maps, Tufts math professor and artist Moon Duchin said she sought to visualize the nation’s political intricacies to help audiences reach a better understanding of gerr ymandering and its implications for voters. Gerrymandering is a political practice that manipulates district boundaries within a state to establish party dominance. It remains a significant issue, particularly within the House of Representatives and Senate races, and is a campaign issue particularly for Democrats, according to an NPR podcast. “Election,” in keeping with this year’s campaign season, was unveiled in early September at the SMFA gallery and will remain until Dec. 20. Duchin, a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow, has focused on voting rights and restrictions as her research focus for the past two years, she said, and in the spring was approached by her colleague Abigail Satinsky, curator of SMFA’s galleries. Satinsky asked her to create an installation for the gallery space. This summer, Duchin ran the Voting Rights Data Institute summer program held at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technolog y and Tufts. The program was a summer research effort involving 52 graduate and undergraduate students.
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The installation “Election.” The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (SMFA) features maps of gerrymandered districts across the nation.
Together, Duchin and her team stitched together voting data and maps to portray the “shapefile” of each state and its districts. “Election” was essentially born from the team’s efforts to create powerful visuals for their research, Duchin said. One prominent piece is a map of Ohio, often considered one of the most gerrymandered states, which was painstakingly stitched together by various partisan voting data provided by all 80 counties. The piece took over 400 hours to research and assemble, Duchin said. But the results were immediate: within one week of releasing the digital map, a legal team from the ACLU used it to sue Ohio over its gerrymandered districts, according to Duchin. “We’re on the front lines of
efforts to rein in gerrymandering around the country,” Duchin said. “I hope the piece helps show the complexity of the problem, the stakes and also demonstrates that we’re making progress in tackling it.” A not her pie ce , “ O ne Mississippi, Two Mississippi” highlights the many different ways states cut themselves up into districts. The piece presents 14 “alternative Mississippis” – or the different ways of dividing the state into its four congressional districts. Duchin and her team used random wa l k a lgorithms to generate millions of different Mississippi plans, she said. Duchin said that it’s fairly easy to create valid plans that would send a whole different delegation to Washington. Instead
of concent rati n g A f r ica nAmericans in one district, a different pla n could ensure that three out of four districts couldn’t elect any candidate without significant black support, she said. “The visual just looks like high school geometr y — cover the state with colored shapes,” Duchin said. “But the consequences are enormous: who gets to make policy and control the direction of the country.” Throughout the installation, Duchin said she relied on the design skills of SMFA professor and artist Floor van de Velde, who helped consult with Duchin on the project’s direction, layout and organization. Van de Velde had a limited understanding of gerrymandering before her work with Duchin,
she said. Now, however, she said she pays closer attention to state and local politics and their gravity within the larger nation. “Gerr ymandering is something everyone knows a little bit about, but not to its full extent and power,” van de Velde said. Using mathematics and geometry, the installation reshapes the concept and presents new modes of understanding. “Election” is just one moment within the ongoing Artists in Response exhibit, a revolving gallery space at SMFA that changes each semester, inviting new artists and creative leaders to respond to their own contemporary social movements and crises, Satinsky said. “Election” is partnered with For Freedoms, “a national platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists in the United States,” according to SMFA’s webpage. Satinsky, a writer and organizer of socially engaged art herself, said she is interested in furthering political discourse among artists who hold a critical and creative voice within the national dialogue. Duchin echoed Satinsky, saying that “art can be incisively political without being didactic. It can teach without lecturing.” On Oct. 4, Artist Response held an “Election” teach-in at SMFA. There, Duchin presented her work with the Voter Rights Data Institute, offered voter registration and discussed local and national political concerns. “Election” engages audiences in the history of the nation’s past and present, Satinsky said. Although the installation tries to clarify political abstractions, it makes no effort at providing solutions. It simply helps to understand how the nation got to its contemporar y moment, Satinsky said. “Gerrymandering is not a simple problem to solve,” Satinsky said. “It needs all different kinds of voices to contribute in order for progress to happen because it is about math, but it is also about representation.”
Patagonia, other businesses join campaign to promote voting BUSINESS, FROM PAGE 12
At the event, Patagonia’s Newbury location teamed with the HeadCount organization. HeadCount, a 15-year-old nonpartisan voter registration organization, set up shop with Patagonia where they helped shoppers register to vote, according to Emma Clayton, f loor leader at Patagonia’s Boston location. The initiatives taken to increase voter turnout by Patagonia stretch far beyond
registering to vote, she said, and Patagonia will close its doors on election day and give its employees a paid holiday. Clayton said that she hopes the initiative will increase participation by doing more than solely having employees vote. “We don’t come into work,” Clayton said. “We’re encouraged to go vote — even take it one step further and volunteer at a poll or do something to encourage people to vote.”
While other Boston businesses may not close shop or give their employees paid time off on Election Day, Max Clark, assistant bookstore manager at Trident Booksellers and Cafe on Newbury Street, said that the store will remain open, but he feels many of his employees would be out voting. “I would argue that most of our servers are fairly politically active,” Clark said. “I can only assume, although I don’t talk pol-
itics with most of our servers, … that they would make it a priority to go out and vote.” At Johnson Paint Co., also on Newbury Street, co-owner Robert Johnson said that the staff frequently talks about politics. “We talk about it all the time,” Johnson said. “You know, we’re pretty close … so we talk about the issues and all that kind of voting.” While Johnson didn’t designate time for his employees to leave work, he said that he would
have no problem with employees that live close by leaving to vote on the afternoon of Nov. 6. On Boston University’s campus, Tongyue Zhang, a sophomore in the College of General Studies, said that while she thinks people should go vote, she doesn’t believe that employees should have sanctioned time off. “The employers want their employees to work,” Zhang said. “They should not go during their working time.”
FEATURES
5
SCIENCE ‘I Voted’ stickers overwhelm social media, push voters to polls BY WILL SCHULMAN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Regardless of which party is in control of Congress after midterm elections Tuesday, one result is inevitable: the onslaught of selfies with the “I Voted” sticker that cover Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Within the last 24 hours, the likes of Zendaya, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and John Krasinski have posted on Instagram with “I voted” stickers, shirts and ballots. In the 2014 midterm elections, only 23 percent of voters ages 18 to 34 voted, according to the U.S. Census. Early and absentee voting has shown a significant uptick in young voters in contested races. Peter Blake, a professor in the Psychological and Brain Sciences Department at Boston University, said “I voted” sticker selfies that younger voters post online after heading to the polls may be done to appear a certain way. “We have reputations that we want to maintain, but in a way, if that gets you to the polls — OK,” Blake said. Blake said that he does not see the “I voted” selfie as entirely about boosting social capital, however. “Another more positive way to look at it is that you’re saying, in a genuine way, I’m the kind of person who votes,” he said. “Identifying yourself as a participant, as a member of civic society — that identification has been shown to elevate people’s willingness to register to vote.” The exact date the stickers were introduced to the polls is unknown, but according to Time
ILLUSTRATION BY SOFIA KOYAMA/ DAILY FREE PRESS
College of Arts and Sciences juniors Tatyana da Rosa (left) and Esther Clayton (right) take a selfie with their “I Voted” stickers. Studies have found these stickers to be helpful in encouraging people to vote.
Magazine, the earliest mention of them was in a Miami Herald article in 1982. Phoenix Realtors A ssociation a nd Nationa l Campaign Supply began distributing and selling the stickers in 1985 and 1986. Blake mentioned a study conducted in 2012 that involved 61 million Facebook users. One group of users was given a message that emphasized that many of their friends voted. Another group was given information about voting but was not told anything about whether their friends voted.
“There was a small effect of more people going to the polls, but it was only around 24,000 people out of the 61 million,” Blake said. Despite these ma rg i na l results, he said that he is still optimistic about social media’s ability to increase voter turnout because the study was only conducted on the day of voting. “You can try to establish a social norm by sending these signals through social media that you voted,” Blake said. “The benefit now is that in many states you can do early voting. It’s not just
the day of, it’s the week before that you start seeing all the people you know change their profile pics to ‘I voted.’” Jill Lepore, David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Har vard University, explained that times have changed from when voting was entirely open. She said that until the presidential election of 1896, individuals who voted in secret were considered cowardly. “Election day was a holiday, and it involved a lot of drinking and partying at the polls, and turnout was extremely high,”
Lepore said. The advent of the secret ballot not only made a person’s vote private, but it made the act itself private, since voting was then conducted indoors instead of outside, Lepore said. “Turnout has been falling ever since,” she said. Lepore said some have argued for online voting in an effort to increase turnout by making voting easier, but she feels dubious about this proposition. “History would suggest that fewer people will vote if there’s online voting,” Lepore said. “What’s left of the public nature is that you go to your neighborhood elementar y school and buy donuts and coffee from the fourth grade class, your hanging out and talking to people in line is some piece of civic experience … with online voting, this would be lost.” Blake emphasized the effect of strong civic norms on voter turnout. “It established that this is a common, positive norm, and that’s what I think will make more of a difference in encouraging people to vote,” Blake said. Hallie Kruh-Needleman, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she advocates for the sticker selfie and that she and her mom take those photos themselves. She said she sees the “I voted” selfie as a way to express civic participation and democratic pride. “People who post selfies with the ‘I voted’ sticker show that we live in a democracy, we have the right to vote, and people like to express that right and tell other people they have that right too,” she said.
Youth get involved in Boston activism prior to midterm election COMMUNITY, FROM PAGE 12
organized her peers on campus to spread the word and make signs for a rally. One of her favorite moments working with Yes on 3 so far took place right after a rally on Oct. 28, she said. Fonseca was on schedule to do data entry and was pleasantly surprised to see “three times as many volunteers as I had ever seen in the office before.” “It was really cool to see how people were responding to something truly awful from the Trump administration and seeing a con-
crete way they could be involved in fighting back,” Fonseca said. “I am all fired up now.” Daniela Reyes, a graduate student in SSW, began interning at the the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts chapter this September. Reyes said she helped organize phone banking for Yes on 3, helped finalize last-minute details, worked with the co-chairs and delegated work. “It’s been a challenge, but we are trying to do everything that we can to support these important
issues,” Reyes said. Reyes is the Legislative Education Advocacy Day coordinator at NASW. She said she was initially interested in the opportunity as a way to build a larger community and network. Reyes is also the second-year co-chair for Social Workers for Action at SSW. As a co-chair, Reyes said she plans to help students get involved in social justice issues, advocacy and activism. Without young people active in politics, Reyes said there will be “just rich white people with power.”
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“We would be stuck in a place with no progress,” she said. “Getting students engaged and active in any type of political or social movement is really important to make voices heard.” Drew Powell, a sophomore in the College of General Studies, is a public relations coordinator for the Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism at BU who focuses on outreach. “As a trans student, I think CGSA is a very important space for marginalized groups, such as trans people and queer people on such a
large campus,” Powell said. Powell said he has been volunteering at the Yes on 3 campaign by phone banking alongside the CGSA. He said he believes it is important for young people to be active in politics so their voices will be reflected in government. “In our society and our world, there is a lot of work to be done,” he said. “As a young person involved in activism, I am contributing to getting that work done so that the people that come after me don’t have to fight so hard for basic rights.”
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On-campus polling locations see high midterm turnout BY KIRAN GALANI DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University students and other Boston residents cast their votes at polling stations across campus for the midterm election Tuesday. The total ballot count at the end of the voting period included 598 ballots cast at 111 Cummington Mall by 299 voters, as well as 12 provisional ballots. Kilachand Hall, the second polling station on campus, saw 1826 ballots cast by 913 voters. Mark Trachtenberg, the precinct election supervisor at the 111 Cummington Mall polling station, said he was delighted by the high turnout rates. “It’s gratifying,” he said, “because this precinct has the reputation of being low turnout.” Trachtenberg, who has been an election supervisor for the past 15 years, said his past experiences have indicated that students are uninterested in voting, especially in local elections, but he has seen a recent surge in political activity among young people. “We had respectable turnout even last year for the mayoral race, the local elections and for the primary,” he said. “There are times when it’s been almost like a tsunami, so I’m pleased.” Sarah Paco, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she was excited to vote even though this wasn’t the first time she had voted in Massachusetts. “I voted my sophomore year in 2016, and that was really important, but I feel like, if anything, this election might be more important,” Paco said. “... So I’m really excited to take part in that.” She said the ballot questions being voted on were important to her, especially Question 3, which
SERENA YU/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University students like sophomore Emma Lincoln (above) cast their votes Tuesday on campus at Kilachand Hall.
considered repealing a 2016 state law passed to protect transgender people from discrimination in public places. Several other BU students at campus polling locations said voting on Question 3 was one of the most important aspects of casting a ballot for them. CAS sophomore and Los Angeles resident Jared Flippen said he chose to register in Boston because he wanted to vote “yes” on Question 3, which he has campaigned and canvassed for. “I think that Yes on 3 has major ramifications for the rest of the country,” Flippen said, “and so I thought that voting in Massachusetts could potentially have more of an impact than voting in L.A.” Flippen said he is registered as
an independent voter, but he voted for all the Democratic candidates on the ballot. He said the issues most important to him include climate change and poverty, and that he thinks the Democrats have better solutions for these problems than Republicans. “I researched every candidate, even Republicans,” Flippen said. “So I did research on everyone. I was doubtful that I would vote for a Republican, but I wanted to give them a fair shot.” CAS senior and Easton resident Eleni Constantinou said she registered to vote in Boston because she thought it would be easier and she prefers to vote in person. “It makes me feel more important,” Constantinou said, “It would be easier to send a ballot and just
mail it, but I don’t know, I like getting my sticker and feeling like I voted.” She said voting makes her feel like she is part of a community: because the United States does not mandate voting, she said she feels it is a civic duty. “[Voting] makes you a citizen of America,” Constantinou said. “It makes you part of the American community, part of the populus.” Constantinou said she leans left and had voted entirely for Democratic candidates in the election. “With all the democratic values, transgender rights, LGBT rights in general, women having the right over their own bodies with abortion, with all these immigration policies, I definitely lean left,” she
said. “Just the fact that Democrats are more for equality, for the people, and Republicans are still believing in the confederacy for the most part.” Morgan Lee, a junior in the College of Communication, said she was excited to vote for the first time this year. Lee is registered with the Democratic party, she said, and voted along party lines because she thinks the party supports rights for all people, something she does not see reflected in the Republican party. “I believe in a mixture of opinions in the House,” Lee said. “But I do think right now we need a stronger Democratic voice.” CAS sophomore Leeya Pressburger, who is a resident of Chicago, Illinois, said this was her first time voting. She said she registered to vote in Massachusetts instead of Illinois because she felt her vote mattered more here. ““The Chicago Democrats pretty much have the vote,” Pressburger said, “so I figured here, where it could go either way, and there are some candidates that could swing one way or another, it was more important to vote here.” Pressburger said she is a registered Democrat and voted with her party even though she did look up each candidate on either side before casting her vote. “Especially with recently everyone pushing for the millennials to go out and vote, I feel like I’m doing my part.” Pressburger said. “I’m excited. It feels very official with the ballots, and I’m feeling like I’m actually make a difference in the political state of our nation.” Kylie McDaneld, Audrey Martin and Damian Walsh contributed to the reporting of this story.
Maura Healey wins re-election for Mass. attorney general BY ELISE TAKAHAMA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Democrat Maura Healey was re-elected as the Massachusetts attorney general Tuesday night, positioning her to lead the state as the top law enforcement agent for the next four years. Healey, who bills herself as “the people’s lawyer,” trounced Republican Jay McMahon, a trial attorney from Bourne, in one of the state’s more decisive midterm races. She joined the rest of the Massachusetts Democratic candidates — including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins and gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez — at the Fairmont Copley Plaza on election night to celebrate her win. “In this second term, I will wake up every morning ready to fight as hard as I can,” Healey said to the crowd of supporters. “This was a test of our values, our democracy … and we have work to do.” Healey defeated McMahon 69.8 to 30.2 percent, according to The New York Times (at around 2:30 a.m.), and the crowd erupted into cheers as she took the stage. “Maura Healey is in the exact right place to do things for us,” said
Valerie Gumes, 66, of Roxbury. “If you call her office, you get an answer. Maybe she can be the second woman president, right after Elizabeth Warren.” McMahon, Healey’s opponent, who has a law degree from Suffolk University and served in the Army National Guard, spent the last several months advocating against gun control. He also supported more comprehensive treatment plans for opioid addicts, maximum sentencing for drug dealers and President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which prevented people from several predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.
Meanwhile, Healey, a New Hampshire native, spent her first term as attorney general pushing for more gun restrictions — including a ban on copycat assault weapons earlier this year — and battling against businesses and for-profit schools to recover money for taxpayers and students. In the last four years, she has sued or taken legal action against the president more than 30 times. Lily Garber, a junior in Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences, said she was proud
to stand behind strong female candidates. “We’re so excited that women like Warren and Healey are strong, and they’re not backing down,” Garber said. “That’s really important right now — staying persistent.” In an October debate against McMahon, Healey also declared that addressing the state’s opioid epidemic was her top priority, though her opponent vehemently disagreed, accusing her of being soft on crime. Healey was first elected as the state’s top legal advisor in 2014, making history as the first openly gay attorney general in the United States. Prior to her run for political office, she worked in the Massachusetts attorney general’s office for seven years, according to her campaign website.
Hea ley graduated from Harvard College in 1992 and spent two years playing professional basketball in Austria before returning to Massachusetts to receive her law degree from Northeastern University. By the end of the night, attendees at the Massachusetts Democrats’ celebration, including Kassie Seavy, a senior at Boston College who volunteered for
OLIVIA FALCIGNO/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Democratic Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey speaks at the Democrats’ watch party after winning another term Tuesday.
Healey’s campaign this past weekend, said they were ready to continue fighting. “I’m so exhausted, but so excited at the same time,” Seavy said. “It was so inspiring to see all the different women on stage tonight.” Victor Guillen, 50, of Mission
Hill, also said he was happy to see the majority of the state’s female candidates go home with victories. “If Massachusetts wants to be a real Democratic force, we need to elect all women running the show,” Guillen said. “You’ll notice the difference immediately.”
NEWS 7
BU students monitor midterm results across campus BY ALEX LASALVIA and CONOR KELLEY DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University students gathered in the Warren Towers multipurpose room and in the student atrium in Student Village 1 Tuesday night to watch the 2018 midterm elections. The Warren Towers election night party, sponsored by faculty-in-residence, the Residence Hall Association and Warren Towers, was organized because of the success of BU’s 2016 election watch party, said Warren Liu, event coordinator for Warren Towers RHA. At its peak, about 150 students watched the results roll in on the projector screen while enjoying free nachos, cookies and drinks. Organizers showed live coverage from CNN and MSNBC. Sarah Ferris, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she hadn’t participated in politics much, but she had heard many people discussing the 2018 election on campus and on the news. “This is kind of new for me,” Ferris said. “Everybody knows this is a really important election, and I thought that this would be a good place for me to go and be surrounded by peers and see the results.” CAS freshman Abi Akinsete said that as a student from outside the
United States, the elections were fun to watch. “American politics is entertaining to me, because it doesn’t affect me personally because I don’t live here,” Akinsete said, “but it’s fun. It’s kind of like TV but with real-life consequences.” The audience closely followed the Senate race in Texas. Most of the room seemed to be rooting for Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke, with cheers and boos ringing out throughout the night as O’Rourke and incumbent Ted Cruz traded places in the lead. Rudy Meyer, a freshman in the College of Communication, said he gets invested in politics, and this year was no exception. “I thought it would be pretty fun to watch everything unfold,” Meyer said. “I really get into politics, I like to keep up with it, and I knew that tonight was going to be really contested between a lot of different races, so I wanted to see how it would play out.” Meyer was one of many in the room who had been following O’Rourke’s run for senate, and when MSNBC projected Cruz as the winner, he said he was disappointed. At around 11 p.m., the room grew quiet to hear Democrat Andrew Gillum’s concession speech after he lost the Florida gubernatorial race to Republican Ron DeSantis. Shortly
after, the organizers announced that the watch party was over, and people began to file out. Before she left, CAS freshman Carolyn Bean, who was wearing a blue “March for our Lives” T-shirt, shared her final thoughts about the evening. “I care a lot about the election,” Bean said. “I figured I would rather watch it with a room full of people who also care a lot about the election than in my dorm room alone, screaming at the television.” Bean said she was was lukewarm about the results of the night. “It’s more or less how I expected it to turn out, not really great, not really bad,” Bean said. “I’m glad the Democrats got control of the House, but I would’ve liked to see some races go the other way, but all things considered, I feel better about this than I did 2016.” On the 18th floor student atrium of StuVi 1, about 30 BU students trickled in between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. to attend a watch party sponsored by faculty-in-residence and organized by professors Dino Christenson and John Mackey. Twin TV monitors broadcasted CNN’s live coverage of the midterms results while students moved to and from the communal snack table set up by the faculty-in-residence. Many students worked on homework
assignments or conversed with each other as the results came in. Mackey, a master lecturer of social sciences in the College of General Studies, said he was pleased with the night’s turnout, especially following several voter registration and engagement activities with students throughout the week. “My anecdotal impression is that the campus seems more energized about voting and politics than I really ever remember,” Mackey said. Many students, like CAS senior Gowtham Asokan, expressed their excitement about watching the election results live and with company. “It’s nice to watch the midterms with a group of people where you can talk about it and give live commentary,” Asokan said. The impact of social media on voter turnout has been a noticeable shift in this midterm season, as many students were apt to point out. COM freshman Zak Schneider said the social pressures and bandwagoning effects resulting from social media have in turn produced more enthused young voters. “It’s a little bit of peer pressure among younger people to post on social media that they voted,” Schneider said. “It’s sort of like a ripple effect that a lot of people feel the need that they want to vote.
Maybe more so than in other years, definitely.” As the night progressed, so too did election results, and it became clear that the Senate was projected to maintain its Republican majority, while the Democrats became projected to claim a majority in the House of Representatives. CAS senior Isabella Medrano, a political science major, said she was unsurprised by the Republican grasp on the Senate. “I’m not surprised by the Senate — was not really holding out much hope for them to turn blue,” Medrano said. “But I think that one of the two bodies being Democratic is going to be a good thing.” As the night wound down and results projections finalized, several students stuck around to the end. CAS senior Nora Stolzman, also a political science student, expressed her optimism in light of both perceived positive and negative results. “I am really pleased that, though some of the big races were lost, they were lost by a really close margin,” Stolzman said. “It’s so close we can taste it, but I think that if things continue in this way, it speaks really well to the future of the country, honestly.” DISCLAIMER: Warren Liu is a features writer for The Daily Free Press.
‘Year of Women’: Massachusetts stands behind female candidates BY DAMIAN WALSH and ANDY VO DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
A record number of women were elected into the U.S. House of Representatives during Tuesday’s historic midterm elections, which led many Americans to deem 2018 the “Year of Women.” Massachusetts voted in three women: Ayanna Pressley, Niki Tsongas and Katherine Clark. In Boston, several female politicians ran for re-election or challenged incumbents at the state or local level, including the new Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins and State Treasurer Deb Goldberg. The 2017 viral #MeToo movement and increased political engagement in the wake of recent controversies led the way for what has been called a “pink wave” — a high number of female candidates and female voters — in federal, state and local elections. In this election cycle, 184 non-incumbent women ran for national offices or gubernatorial seats, and a record number of women won their primaries. Rollins beat four other hopefuls in a crowded primary race before ultimately facing independent candidate Michael Maloney in the general election. Rollins, who has a record as a general counsel and a chief legal counsel, said in a statement that she sought that position because she wanted to have an impact on the criminal justice system. “For too long our criminal justice system has not worked fairly for everyone, especially for the poor, people of color, and women,” she said, “and I’m looking forward to working together to change that.” Both Rollins and her opponent supported positions on helping end the opioid epidemic. Rollins also noted that she was excited to run as a
woman during this election cycle. “It is exciting to see so many women running for office this year and winning elections based on their qualifications and experience,” she said. In her victory speech, Rollins thanked the people of Suffolk County for their support. “You, the people of Suffolk County, have said you value people and families, fairness and equity,” Rollins said in her speech, “and said it’s time for change, for a smarter, more compassionate criminal justice system that works for everyone.” Republican candidate Keiko Orrall challenged Democratic incumbent Goldberg for state treasurer. Orrall was the first Asian-American woman to seek a constitutional office in Massachusetts, after serving as a state representative for four terms. Orrall’s campaign message originated from her working-class upbringing. She often referenced her desire to bridge the partisan gap for the greater good and received the endorsement of newly re-elected Gov. Charlie Baker. However, it was incumbent Goldberg who won the election. Goldberg’s campaign centered around economic opportunity and stability for the residents of Massachusetts. In her victory speech Tuesday night, she spoke of the Democratic ideals of equality and fairness. “Because at the end of the day, we know what it’s about,” Goldberg said in her speech. “It’s about every small child. It’s about every senior citizen … It’s about everyone having a fair chance in life.” Pressley made a show of support for her fellow Democratic female candidates at the Massachusetts Democratic election party Tuesday night. Pressley ran unopposed for the Massachusetts 7th Congressional
District after unseating Michael Capuano, a 10-term incumbent, in September’s primaries. She is Massachusetts’ first African American member elected to the House of Representatives. In her victory speech, Pressley recognized this accomplishment. “When it comes to women of color candidates,” Pressley said in her speech, “it’s not just a glass ceiling, but a concrete one.” Several Massachusetts voters rushed to the polls Tuesday to support the many female candidates on the ballot. Philip Low, 36, said Tuesday morning at a Fenway polling location that he was optimistic about the results of the election. “They’re 50 percent of the population,” the Fenway resident said of women, “so it seems like they should be close to that for representation.” Ashley Weaver, 32, of Fenway, said, as a woman, she wanted to see Democrats take back seats in the Senate, but is more concerned about changing the way immigration is handled. “I think it’s important that we regain Democrats and just ethics in general,” Weaver said. “Personally, as a woman, I’m interested in that, but also, immigration is tugging at me right now. We are, as a nation, hurting ourselves. We are hurting a lot of people. We are hurting families.” First-time voter Paula Hernandez, a Fenway resident and recent Boston University graduate, said she felt it was her duty to vote in this election. “I’m from Puerto Rico, so I’ve never voted in the U.S. before, so I was really excited to finally have a say in who sits in Congress,” the 22-year-old said. “[The election is] definitely going to impact us, big time, just because Congress determines a lot of what happens in this country.”
OLIVIA FALCIGNO/ DAILY FREE PRESS
Newly elected Rep. Ayanna Pressley celebrates her historic victory with supporters.
OLIVIA FALCIGNO/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The niece of newly elected Suffolk County DA Rachael Rollins wears a sticker.
8 OPINION
EDITORIAL Voting is a human right, not privilege, for minorities Americans have been implored for the past month on every platform imaginable to go to the polls and vote, and that rhetoric came to a pitch Tuesday. “thank u, vote” Twitter tweeted, riffing on Ariana Grande’s new song. Even Tinder told users that “Every. Single. Vote. Counts. #everysinglevote.” But a good number of people actually can’t walk into a polling station, cast an absentee ballot or contribute at all to the outcome of this midterm election. These people have been disenfranchised by efforts across the nation to limit and suppress minority votes. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a lawsuit last month alleging that Texas’ Waller County, home to Prairie View A&M University, has been purposefully disenfranchising students for decades. Recently, they’ve been limiting early voting on campus — restricting polling stations to three days, compared to stations that are open for two weeks at a largely white university nearby. This is intentional. At a primarily black university, students are more likely to vote Democratic, and they’re more likely to pose a threat to the status quo in a predominantly white area. This isn’t happening because the county doesn’t have the resources to provide longer periods of early voting — it’s happening because county officials are afraid that if they give these students a full chance to exercise their civic duty, students will take it and run with it. They’re afraid that the midterm might not result how they want it to.
What should be a fundamental constitutional right is instead being used as a
political tool.
Voter disenfranchisement runs in the veins of American history, beginning with the very way the Constitution was written, only allowing white, male property-owners to participate in elections. Our country is based off of certain people having more political power than others. It might as well still be written in the Constitution that certain demographics are not entitled to political participation. There’s
I
This may explain why college students are less likely to vote than older demographics. Only 17 percent of 18–24 year olds voted in the 2014 elections. Georgia’s policies have come under fire this election. Georgia has enacted “use it or lose it” laws, which would prevent people from voting in the midterm if they didn’t vote in previous elections and didn’t respond to notices from the state. It’s hard to be limited to a slim window
cannot vote due to a felony record that prevents them from voting for life. These felonies are usually imposed for low-level drug crimes. Convicted felons often return to prison for the same types of crime they committed in the past. The same people who don’t want felons to vote are the people who don’t do anything in terms of trying to address this cycle. They’ll still be in power, and they are enabled to continue ignoring the problem — to continue enacting voter suppression. It’s not political to state the obvious: one party has systematically, through various tactics over the years, tried to oppress the vote of another. These policies are almost always imposed in places with minorities, who overwhelmingly vote blue. We don’t see this kind of suppression in white or affluent areas. Elections will always be fights over who can garner the most votes, but they shouldn’t be fights over which party allows the most people to vote. A win that comes from suppressing opposition isn’t a democratic win, and while it for early voting, but it’s worse to show up to may be in line with the Constitution America a polling location expecting to be able to vote was founded upon, it certainly shouldn’t still and be turned away at the last minute. be that way. It’s nonsensical to remove a person’s voter People who are investing their effort in ralregistration for no reason other than the fact lying others — posting on social media remindthat they didn’t show up the year before. But ing friends to vote, campaigning for measures furthermore, Georgia’s policies of flagging — are doing important work. Fighting for peovoter registration applications that don’t ple to utilize their ability to vote is one thing, exactly mirror government databases dispro- but if we’re not fighting for everyone to have portionately impact people of color. that ability, that work is futile. We need to recMore than not, these efforts to suppress the ognize that low voter turnout is not entirely due Democratic vote come back to race. Kentucky to laziness or a lack of motivation. To say that has America’s highest rate of disenfranchise- it is is to ignore the ways that minority voices ment of black people — one in three black men are suppressed.
t might as well still be written in the Constitution that certain demographics are not entitled to political participation. hardly a difference between putting those words into legislation outright and enacting under-the-radar policies designed to indirectly silence people. College students are also generally unfamiliar with the logistically confusing process of voting. Students can have a particularly difficult time figuring out how to navigate roadblocks that arise when their county or state makes voting unusually difficult. Students have busy lives. They need to fit voting around their schedules, rather than fitting their schedules around voting — and if they aren’t given this option, they may not vote.
CROSSWORD
This week’s crossword puzzle is brought to you by Theresa Geist COURTESY OF MIRROREYES.COM / CROSSWORD ANSWERS AVAILABLE ON https://dfpress.co/2AR6oDA
ACROSS 1. Concerns 6. Children 10. Crones 14. Discrimination against the elderly 15. River of Spain 16. Bucolic 17. Lariat 18. Casket 19. Minute opening 20. Sponge 22. Goad 23. Anagram of “Bid” 24. Double-reed instruments 26. Bivalve mollusk 30. Fondled 32. Amend 33. Cable 37. Marsh plant 38. Forward 39. Chocolate cookie 40. Talkative 42. Errant 43. Thigh armor 44. Bring into
DOWN existence 45. Shorthand 47. Petrol 48. At what time 49. Compensate 56. Sharpen 57. Not false 58. Appointed 59. God of love 60. Hens make them 61. Cake frosting 62. Cravings 63. Sleep in a convenient place 64. Stop
1. Young cow 2. Food thickener 3. Ascend 4. Anagram of “Sees” 5. Burn slowly 6. Souvlaki 7. Footnote note 8. To endure (archaic) 9. Grieved 10. Horse stadium 11. Glorify 12. Greek sandwiches 13. Toboggan 21. Petroleum 25. Implore 26. Filly’s mother 27. Gorse 28. Stair 29. Solemnity 30. Annoy 31. Wings 33. Not that 34. Diva’s solo 35. Annoyance
36. A flexible pipe 38. Sundry 41. Indian bread 42. Insecticide 44. Tin 45. Beach 46. Mortise and _____ 47. Estimate 48. Watery part of milk 50. Therefore 51. Coffee cups 52. Dash 53. Dogfish 54. Anagram of “Nest” 55. Border
Breanne Kovatch, Editor-in-Chief Mike Reddy, Managing Editor t h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t u d e n t n e w s pa p e r a t b o s t o n u n i v e r s i t y
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46th year | Volume 95 | Issue 10
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OPINION 9
COLUMNS Femitwist:
Burke’s Bully Pulpit:
Warren should focus on policy Yes on 3, no to bigotry
BY PATRICK BURKE COLUMNIST
For months, there has been a war of words between President Donald Trump and Sen. Elizabeth Warren over her Native American heritage. Warren has recently proved through a DNA test that somewhere down the line, someone in her family was Native American. Warren and her supporters incorrectly assumed that she had won the argument, while Trump and his supporters continue to use an outdated racial slur to make fun of the current Massachusetts senator. For Warren, one has to ask: why continue to play into Trump’s hands? Before diving into why Warren would continue to poke such a controversial bear, one must realize what she’s up against. Trump, before taking office, was touted as a successful billionaire who built his riches off of “a small loan of a million dollars” from his father, as he once said at a 2015 New Hampshire town hall. He has also filed for bankruptcy six times in his career. While we may know these things, it is a lesser-known fact that from 1995 to 2005, Warren worked to block a bill that would increase a consumer’s ability to file for bankruptcy with less repercussions. It is logical to assume that Warren does not look favorably at Trump’s ability to file for bankruptcy so many times, something she worked for over 10 years to prevent from happening. Trump has stated that he was just taking advantage of the current laws in place, which is a fair and smart business move. However, these moves are something that Warren worked so hard to prevent, but she ultimately failed when the bill was passed in 2005. It becomes clear why she does not agree with the president and his financial situation. Warren can be seen as someone who is against the deregulation of big banks because she knows where this may lead us. Warren was appointed to lead the Congressional oversight panel that checked and balanced how $700 billion in bank bailout money was being used in the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Instead of taking aim at Trump with these victories, she chose to make him look stupid by taking a
DNA test. Anyone who has been alive and concampaigning talked about his four daughters scious for the past few years knows that trying whose safety he would be concerned for if a to make Trump look stupid is a waste of time. man would be allowed to enter the women’s This is someone who has mocked a disabled restroom. Despite this analysis being a gross person and a person who was a victim of sexual misrepresentation of gender identity, it also assault with little to no repercussions. reflects a self-centric mindset that pervades With that being said, this is not the first the conservative school of thought. For a party time that Warren has been accused of lying that focuses heavily on individual rights, the about her Native American heritage. After she Republican party justifies discriminative polwon her Senate seat in 2012 over incumbent icies by framing them as protective measures Scott Brown, The Boston Globe and their for public safety. reporters asserted that there was no tangible S.B. 2407 does not promise gender-neutral BY MICHAL SHVIMER evidence to back that Warren has any trace of bathroom everywhere, nor gender-neutral pubCOLUMNIST Native American ancestry. She responded, saylic spaces. We are a long ways away from that. ing, “I never sought nor gained personal benefit But it does promise that transgender folk are Sometimes, progressivism feels like a in school or job applications based on my herit- bargaining game with convenience. Political protected by the law if they were to experience age.” The statement is clear and concise — she issues often come with their own set of politics. discrimination based on their gender identity, and the campaign team should have apologized Socioeconomic consequences, legal logistics meaning if a transgender man were to go to the for the confusion long ago. and partisan ploys convolute the basic founda- men’s restroom in a public place, he may do so It would have been much easier for Warren tion of any political issue: empathy. without being harassed or asked to leave. That to say that what she heard as a child may have same idea exists for transwomen and non-biThe third question on the Massachusetts been something that was now being blown way ballot this election cycle is no exception. nary people, and this protection expands to out of proportion. There is no point to claiming Question 3 asks if the state of Massachusetts every public space. Native American heritage when you are not an should uphold the current protections in place Cisgender people are not threatened by active part of that community which has long for transgender people. transpeople. They are threatened by other cisbeen oppressed. Instead, Warren and her team As of now, discrimination against trans- gender people taking advantage of transgender have led a six-year train of keeping this tale gender people in public spaces is illegal due protections, and transpeople are paying the alive, and it has ultimately gone off the tracks. to a bipartisan bill backed by Republican Gov. price. A few weeks ago, the Cherokee Nation, Charlie Baker that was passed into law in 2016 All it took was 32,000 signatures out of the group that Warren claimed her family — a bill that the transgender community and its Massachusetts’ 4.5 million person voting popsaid she was from, issued a statement on the allies fought to pass for years. ulation to get Question 3 onto the ballot, highordeal. Cherokee Nation Secretary of State As of now, these protections are also being lighting a blatant truth about today’s political Chuck Hoskin Jr. said, “A DNA test is use- threatened. climate: the country is moving backward rather less to determine tribal citizenship … Senator As I was phone-banking for the Yes on 3 than forward. Warren is undermining tribal interests with her campaign, I spoke to active Massachusetts votTransgender folk in Massachusetts are continued claims of tribal heritage.” ers to encourage them to vote “yes” on Question also not the only transfolk whose rights are For Warren, who many suspect is mulling 3. Many of the voters I spoke to were older folk, being threatened. In 2017, the Trump admina 2020 presidential race against Trump, this many of whom had not heard of the question at istration signed a military ban into law that is a massive loss. Not only does she have the all, and many of whom were somewhat unsure prohibited transgender people from serving. President of the United States against her, she of what transgender rights entailed. What I More recently, the Department of Health and now has the tribe that she claimed her family mostly noticed while speaking to them was a Human Services is leading an effort to legally was once a part of against her. For whatever focus on the use of bathrooms and how the law define gender as a permanent and biological reason, it is much easier for Trump to move (which has already been in place) would affect condition determined at birth, essentially on from scandals than it is for his opponents. public restrooms. eradicating the distinction between gender Warren is stuck between a rock and a hard and sex, invalidating the gender identity of an S.B. 2407 prohibits discrimination in all place. She may have proved that someone in public spaces, like restaurants, transit, the air- estimated 1.4 million Americans who identify her family was Native American, but as Hoskin port, literally anywhere that isn’t home or work as transgender. Jr. points out, “Current DNA tests do not even — expanded from a 2011 law that prohibits disTransgender people have been fighting distinguish whether a person’s ancestors were crimination based on gender identity in areas for protections for far too long for them to be indigenous to North or South America.” of housing, employment, and post-secondary stripped away. Moreover, the right for an indiWhile Hillary Clinton ran on a platform education. vidual’s identity to be acknowledged by their of, “When they go low, we go high,” Warren is country should be a right afforded to everyone. Essentially, transphobic discrimination is in the mud trying to battle it out with Trump prohibited in private sectors, but Question 3 Now, transpeople are fighting not only for the in the trenches. We have seen this time and suggests that public spaces should be fair game. right to exist safe from harassment, but the time again, with virtually every opponent failQuestion 3 frames transgender expression right to exist at all. It’s fair time this country ing. This is not to say that Warren should not to be an issue of public safety rather than gender starts honoring progressive policies and buildaddress when the president does or says some- identity. This violently transphobic perspective ing onto them rather than breaking them down. thing racist or misogynist, it is to say that this arose from the aforementioned foundation of This election cycle, I hope you voted with is not the platform to run on to become the any political issue: empathy, or the lack thereof. empathy, voted with compassion and voted next president. One man who I spoke to on the phone while “yes” on 3.
INTERROBANG
Massachusetts residents voted on three ballot questions this midterm election. We here at the ol’ Free Press want to know — if the BU community could put any measure on the ballot, what would it be?
President Brown: Require wheels on backpacks
Soccer teams: Enforce mandatory attendance
BUPD: Reinstate prohibition
Danielsen: Build a T stop near them
BU Shuttle: Less students
GLB: Mandatory like, comment and subscribe
Tour guides: Introduce rearview mirrors
SG: A proposal to make a proposal
FreeP: Color ads every week
10 SPORTS
Season opener against NEU ends 77-74 for men’s basketball BY DYLAN WOODS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Boston University men’s basketball team took the short ride to Matthews Arena, home of rival Northeastern University, Tuesday night for its first game of the season, where the Terriers (1-0) claimed a 77-74 victory. Coming in, Northeastern (0-1), which was selected to win its conference, had won seven of its last nine head-to-head matches against BU. However, within the first four minutes of play, the Terriers jumped out to a 12-8 lead behind junior forwards Max Mahoney and Tyler Scanlon, and after losing the lead in the second half, made a late-game rebound. BU head coach Joe Jones said he was most proud of the fight his team showed. “These are early games,” Jones said. “You don’t get too high or too low, but … the thing I loved about our team is that we just fought. Even if we would have lost the game, I would have felt great about the way we battled.” Freshman guard Fletcher Tynen stood out in his first career collegiate game. Coming off the bench, Tynen played 11 minutes in the first half and played solid defense to go along with his two points and two rebounds. Behind standout redshirt senior guard Vasa Pusica, Northeastern withheld the BU run and battled back. Pusica scored 12 of the team’s first 14 points. Then, after switching
to a full court press midway through like freshman,” Jones said. “I’m as the first half, the Huskies clamped demanding on those guys as I am on down on defense. anybody else.” The Terriers were forced into The Huskies missed two close multiple turnovers in the latter part shots in the paint that seemed to of the half, and Northeastern took roll around the rim forever. On the advantage. next possession, freshman forward Senior center Anthony Green Jordan Guest made his only three of scored on several fastbreak dunks, the game to cut the lead to 70-68. energizing the crowd and swinging Mahoney was also fouled when the momentum. going for the rebound. He made one At the end of the first half, of two free throws to make it a oneNortheastern led 36-33. Pusica was point game, the closest the Terriers the leading scorer with 16 points had been since the start of the half. to go with three of the Huskies’ BU would take the lead on their four assists while Mahoney led the next possession. Scanlon found a Terriers with nine points. driving McCoy for the layup, causing To start the second half, the Terriers bench to erupt. Northeastern seemed to maintain After trailing for the entire secthe ferocity that it ended the first ond half, they had the lead 71-70 with half with. By the time the under-12 47.9 seconds left. timeout arrived, the Huskies had Northeastern struggled to find extended their lead to 57-48. points on the other end, leaning It was then that BU started to heavily on Pusica, who finished with claw its way back. Scanlon started to 31 points. take over, scoring a few buckets and Pusica would make a layup to taking over as the team’s main ball give the Huskies a brief lead, but handler in the front court. Scanlon responded right away with a He would finish with a balanced mid-range jumper that turned out to stat line of 16 points, eight rebounds be the game-winning score. and three assists. Pusica got two more chances for Redshirt freshman guard Alex Northeastern, but a missed layup, a Vilarino and sophomore guard missed free throw and a missed three Javante McCoy would combine for at the buzzer clinched a 77-74 win for 16 points through the second half to the Terriers. help make the score 70-65 with about Scanlon, who ended the night two minutes to play. leading the Terriers with 16 points, Jones said he has high expecta- also served as a vocal leader to spark tions for his new group of players, the team in the second half. including Vilarino and Tynen. “They’re playing like veterans, “We are not going to treat [them] and we’re playing like underclass-
MAISIE MANSFIELD-GREENWALD/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Junior forward Max Mahoney produced 12 points in a 77-74 win Tuesday against Northeastern University.
men,” Scanlon said in his message to his teammates. “If we’re going to do that all season, it’s not going to work
very well. They answered the bell, and that’s all you can ask.” Answer the bell they did.
Field hockey wins Patriot League, moves to NCAA tournament
MAISIE MANSFIELD-GREENWALD/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Senior fullback Ally Hammel recorded two shots during the Patriot League Tournament last weekend.
BY JAYDEN MA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The No. 22 Boston University field hockey team won the Patriot League conference title, capping off an undefeated season by defeating Lafayette College Friday afternoon and American University Sunday afternoon in the championship game. This is the Terriers’ (12-7, 6-0 Patriot League) fourth Patriot League conference title in program history, having won the league tournament in a ll but t wo years since they
joined the Patriot League, and will move the team onto its 14th NCAA Tournament appearance. In the opening round, they will face Miami University Nov. 7 on New Balance Field at noon. “[M ia m i is] a n outsta nd i n g team,” BU head coach Sally Starr said. “[They have] great team speed, compete hard, play with great energy and pace and will challenge us to be our best to succeed.” When the Terriers last faced Miami (15-6) Sept. 8, they pulled off
a 2-1 win during a weekend series in Evanston, Illinois. T he Re d H a w k s w i l l enter the game off of a five-game winning streak, with their last two w ins ea rn ing them the M idAtlantic Conference Tournament Championship. The team’s 15 wins throughout the season tied the NCAA record for single-season wins since its establishment in 1981. Miami’s roster has an award-winning midfield. The MAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, seniors Paula Portugal and Mariona Heras, respectively, both spend time in the position, while three other midfielders were named to the AllMac First or Second Teams. Opponents have been limited to 1.10 goals per game on average, while the RedHawks have scored 3.19. Likewise, they have averaged over 10 more shots per game than the opposing team. When BU faced Miami, it outshot the RedHawks 13-5 and dominated penalty corners 10-4. To get to the NCAA tournament, the Terriers first earned its automatic bid by earning the Patriot League Tournament Championship. BU first beat Lafayette College (8-11, 4-2 Patriot League) 2-1 in the semifinals after its last regular season conference win left the team with a perfect regular season. Despite outshooting the Leopards 13-8 in the game, Starr said Lafayette’s efforts bettered the Terriers. “It was a hard-fought competitive game that made us play our best hockey,” Starr said.
Particularly in the first half, both sides pushed hard, with BU leading the shots 9-6 after 35 minutes. The first goal was by sophomore forward Petra Hall, who scored off a rebound from a corner, sending the ball into the upper right corner past the goalkeeper. Her seventh goal of the season, she was assisted by redshirt senior fullback Jordyn Beesmer and sophomore forward Ailsa Connolly. Just over five minutes later, the Leopards answered through junior forward Caroline Turnbull. The equaliser also a rebounded in off of a corner. An opportunity to gain the lead before the end of the first half was missed when senior fullback Ally Hammel’s penalty stroke was saved by Lafayette goalkeeper Hailey Abbott. In the second half, the Terriers and Leopards continued to trade opportunities until the Terriers finally broke the deadlock due to Hall’s second goal of the game. Starr called a timeout midway through the game, saying she “felt like we just needed to stay calm and take better care of the ball.” Lafayette answered with its own timeout not long after, and Starr noted, “They pushed up some higher strikers and went much more direct [with] their passes.” Hall came in from the left side with yet another goal to make her eighth of the season and give BU the lead — one which they would hold onto — to advance to the finals. Starr praised Hall’s performance and said, “She has gotten better and better all season as her confidence
has grown.” By upping its defense and outplaying the clock, narrowing the Leopard’s shooting opportunities to two, the team moved on to the finals to compete with the semifinal winner for the conference title. Two days later, the Terriers would meet American (9-9, 4-2 Patriot League) in the conference finals and win 2-1. BU played with aggressive offense, especially in the first half where they outshot the Eagles 6-2. “I thought we came out on our front foot and played exceptionally well,” Starr said. “[We] moved the ball well and created a lot of attack.” After an initial attempt by Hall was blocked, senior fullback Maika Akroyd knocked in a rebound off of a corner to start off the game with her second goal of the season. To tie up the game, American m idf ielder Ra faela Rubas was assisted by senior defender Annaka Groschinski off a corner. Sophomore midfielder Maggie New ultimately landed the winning goal for her team — and her second of the season — when she gave BU the lead just over a minute after the tying goal was scored. With the lead, the Terriers committed to a fortified defense, fending off the Eagles’ last-ditch efforts to push for goals. The final stop in BU’s defense has been senior goalkeeper Kathleen Keegan, who Starr commended for her ability to prepare for games. “[Keegan] really mentally prepares well and as a result has come up big in the big games,” she said.
SPORTS 11
UConn match a return to play for women’s hockey BY LILY BETTS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
After an 11-day break from play, the Boston University women’s ice hockey team will return to the ice Friday night against the University of Connecticut in the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum. It will be the second time the two Hockey East rivals will face off this season after the Terriers (1-3-3, 1-3-3 Hockey East) held UConn (5-4-1, 2-3-1 Hockey East) to a 1-1 tie Oct. 19 in front of a home crowd. BU head coach Brian Durocher said that he anticipates a well-structured team under Husky head coach Chris MacKenzie, who became the program’s second-ever head coach in 2013. “They’re always a really wellcoached team,” Durocher said. “Since Chris MacKenzie’s been there, he’s done a real good job structuring the team. This is a little more talented team offensively than they’ve had in the past.” Last season, the Terriers went 1-0-2 against UConn, including a 6-2 win in their first match-up where then-senior forward and captain Rebecca Leslie scored her second career hat trick. The Huskies sat at the bottom of Hockey East rankings by late January. In March, the team upset the topseeded Boston College 4-2 in the Hockey East semifinals to make its first championship appearance since 2009-10. Currently, UConn, BU and the University of Vermont are tied for sixth in the conference with five points apiece. Since last facing the Terriers, the Huskies have gone 1-3 including two Hockey East losses against Merrimack College and Boston College. The Oct. 20 1-3 loss against Merrimack (7-1-2, 4-1-1 Hockey East) was UConn’s most recent home game, preceding a three-game road series that ended with a 0-3 loss against No.
5 BC (8-3, 5-1 Hockey East). A 7-0 win against Union College highlighted the trip. Five Huskies produced multiple points throughout the match, led by a hat trick from sophomore forward Savannah Bouzide. UConn’s sophomore class also holds defenseman Taylor Wabick, forward Morgan Wabick and forward Natalie Snodgrass,who all rank within the team’s top five in points. Snodgrass leads the pack with 11 points, nine of which have come off of assists. In her freshman year, the native of Eagan, Minnesota, led the Huskies in shots on goal, goals and points. The last time a first-year player led UConn in points was in the 2011-2012 season, when Natalie’s sister Emily Snodgrass first joined the team. “One kid you got to pay special attention to is probably Natalie Snodgrass,” Durocher said. “She’s a very good player, a kid who was an All Rookie-type player last year. She’s a kid we got to know when she’s on the ice.” Durocher said the Huskies’ goalkeepers were a strong suit for the team. Last season, UConn was backed by then-senior goaltender Annie Belanger, who was named the Hockey East Goaltender of the Year and a First Team All-Star after taking her place at the top of the Huskies’ career save percentage leaderboard. In her final year of NCAA competition, Belanger led Hockey East with a .938 save percentage and 1.84 goals against average. UConn has since turned to junior goalkeeper Morgan Fisher as its main starter. Over the course of her first two years as a Husky, Fisher made 14 starts for a record of 6-5-3. Nine of these starts came in her sophomore season, where she put up a .933 save percentage and 1.86 goals against average. In her eight starts this season, Fisher has allowed 16 goals against
wh i le ma inta in ing a .930 save percentage. Fisher was in net for the Oct. 19 tie against BU, during which she held off 40 shots on net. “This year, [Fisher] has potential,” Durocher said, “but she’s a little bit younger, and there’s been a whisper of erratic play. But without a doubt, this is a solid, well-coached team.” Durocher said the Terrier team has been focusing on its special teams
in practice over the break. At the bottom of both categories While Durocher said he believes is the College of the Holy Cross, a that the team is performing well program that is in its first season of in regular play, it has been lagging Hockey East play. offensively in part due to its inability “I feel like the kids have been playto convert while playing a with an ing well five-on-five, they’ve been extra skater on the ice. competing fairly well,” Durocher said. Currently, BU is ranked third “We haven’t been scoring goals, but worst on the power play having con- part of that is the power play. If we verted on one of 21 opportunities, and get three or four or five more goals second worst on the penalty kill after on the power play, that wouldn’t be allowing 18 goals while shorthanded. asking a lot and we’d be looking at
MADDIE MALHOTRA/ DFP FILE PHOTO
Former forward and captain Rebecca Leslie in a game against Merrimack College in September 2017. Last season, the Terriers went 1-0-2 against the University of Connecticut, including a 6-2 win in their first matchup where then-senior Leslie scored her second career hat trick.
Living in Fantasy: Low-buy Chubb, high-sell Cooper people, but as time goes on he should garner RB1 status in the latter weeks. If you are like me, you probably And if you are someone who have had some awful fantasy luck in likes to plan ahead, Chubb and the the past few weeks. Because of this, horrendous Cleveland Browns get you also probably have a pretty good matchups of Denver Broncos and record but are struggling to make Cincinnati Bengals in the fantasy leeway in the standings. Yes, I know semifinals and finals. This is the it is not fair, but this is simply how same Broncos team that allowed 215 fantasy football works. yards to Isaiah Crowell. So, as we continue in our approach But Chubb is just an example of a to the playoffs, we now need to deci- larger picture. There are few situations pher whether or not to buy or sell and where it truly makes sense to trade who is really the perfect buy low and big this late in the season, and though sell high candidates. Chubb has potential RB1 value, his The guys who have been largely floor is fairly capped even though discussed across my three leagues it is high. As a bubble playoff team, are Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper. these are the types of guys I would Both possess upsides but are far from be targeting, not clear superstars. As proven in 2018. seen in the past, high-ranked teams Now, I know that Chubb does not are willing to put together pretty seem like a buy low candidate due to hefty packages for top-level talent. his 22-carry, 85-yard and one touchBefore we get into the Dallas down performance Sunday. However, Cowboys’ new wide receiver, it must he is doing exactly what Carlos Hyde be noted that I do believe he will be a did before he was traded, and without middle WR2 for the remainder of the the presence of any threat in the season with low WR1 upside and high backfield other than the pass-catching WR3 downside. I detailed the former Duke Johnson, there are very few Oakland Raider, who continue to pile people who have the same floor the up a 2018 dumpster-fire reputation. rookie running back possesses. He is The above classification for the being treated as a viable RB2 by most talented, yet previously stone-handed BY TYLER ORINGER COLUMNIST
COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb scored a touchdown and recorded 85 yards in 22 carries during Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
receiver may actually be generous, but that is exactly why he is a prime sell high candidate. Cooper performed quite nicely against a staunch Tennessee Titans defense and has exposable matchups as the NFL season comes to a close. But please, do not keep this boomor-bust candidate despite the positive trends just discussed. His head coach is Jason Garrett, truly incapable of coaching without a run game. While Ezekiel Elliott will still be a RB1 for the rest of the season, the Cowboys as a whole have struggled, leading to questionable playcalls as evidenced by the Monday Night Football game against the Titans. The former Crimson Tide’s five catch, 58 yards and one touchdown performance was nice to see, but it is surely not going to be the norm — even if Jerry Jones traded a first-round pick for Cooper. And like Chubb, I must say before I sign off that the new Cowboy is going to put up good weeks to close out the year, but his worth is higher than it may ever be at this point in the season, and if you are someone desperate to make a change, Cooper is the type of guy to let go.
12
FEATURES
ELECTION 2018 BUSINESS Companies across city, country encourage employees to vote BY MARY KATHERINE MOORE DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Bostonians hanging out on Newbury Street Tuesday walked past a closed Patagonia store. Amid the typical bustle of the popular street, the store laid vacant with a sign on the door that read, “When the polls open, we close.” Employees were given time off to vote and use the time to help in the voting process, if so desired. The “Time To Vote” campaign has partnered with large corporations including Patagonia, Walmart and Nordstrom. In this partnership, CEOs encouraged their employees through various measures such as offering paid time off and meeting-free workdays. The campaign cites a low voter participation rate as the inspiration behind the movement. About 58 percent of the population of eligible voters in the United States voted in the 2016 general election, and the 2014 midterm election was the lowest turnout since 1942. Four years ago, only 36.4 percent of voters cast ballots in the midterm elections. Time to Vote, which describes itself as nonpartisan, looks to change that — the companies in the coalition are working together to do this by lessening the pressures of work
on people so they can take time to vote. The campaign works with ElectionDay.org, a site which guides CEOs and business owners through the process of encouraging employees to vote. More than 350 companies have pledged to give their employees paid vacation time through the site. Time to Vote has also partnered with the TurboVote Challenge. The coalition includes both executive and corporate partners from Facebook, Amazon and Google. In partnering with these corporations, the TurboVote Challenge seeks to raise voter turnout to 80 percent by the 2024 election, according to its website. In recent months, tech giants such as Facebook have hosted the TurboVote Challenge on their platforms to encourage voter registration. The site, which has 214 million users in the United States alone, according to Statista, launched a “Vote Now” button feature for the 2016 election that directed users who clicked on it to vote.USA.gov, where they would be guided through registration for their state. Early polling turnout suggests that the voter turnout for the 2018 midterms may break midterm participation records. As of Friday, the number of early
SOPHIE PARK/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Patagonia, the sports outerwear giant, shut its doors Tuesday so its employees could vote.
votes casted has already exceeded that of the 2014 midterm’s total number of early voters in 27 states.
In Boston, Patagonia worked to boost voter registration at Open Newbury, where Newbury Street is
closed off to cars so that shoppers could experience a “car-free” Newbury. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
COMMUNITY
Young voters advocate for local issues before heading to polls BY MICHELLE BRANDABUR DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Students from across the city filled Boston Common less than eight months ago as they protested gun violence by pushing for stronger gun control at March for Our Lives. Young voters then turned to the polls in the days and weeks leading up to and on Tuesday. Early voting numbers suggested that young voters would participate at significantly higher rates than in the 2014 midterm election. Leading up to the election, young activists prepared for the election by aiding in local campaigns, such as Yes on 3. Q u e st ion 3 on t he Massachusetts ballot proposed to uphold legislation SB 2407, which prohibits discrimination based on gender in public spaces, which includes stores and restaurants. Yes on 3 is a bipartisan movement
SOFIA KOYAMA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University students phonebank for the Yes on 3 campaign at the Student Government office Monday night.
to encourage voters to vote yes to uphold this legislation. Carmen Fonseca, a graduate
student in Boston University’s School of Social Work, said she began volunteering at Yes on 3
after learning about the movement at an office open house. “I was originally interested
in Yes on 3 because I have folks who identify as transgender in my life who I care about,” Fonseca said. “I don’t really want our state to be the first state to take away people’s civil rights in this way. Those two reasons were enough to get me to the office to volunteer.” Fonseca said her role within Yes on 3 has been focused on data entry and organization. She volunteered two-to-three hours at a time to record information volunteers received while canvassing. “For me, it was the opportunity that fit best into my schedule,” Fonseca said. When a leaked memo from the Trump administration was released by The New York Times concerning the need for a legal definition of sex “on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable,” Fonseca said she CONTINUED ON PAGE 5