WHERE’S MY TUITION?, 2
REIGNING ONION RING, 6
Delays at the VA’s office have kept some local students from receiving tuition money.
Our editors head to four restaurants to determine the superior onion ring.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018
FINAL WORD, 9
FreeP’s editor-in-chief says farewell to the newspaper that she says helped her grow.
DAVIS DOMINATES, 10 Tri-captain Sammy Davis is second in scoring despite missing last season.
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
YEAR XLVI. VOLUME XCIV. ISSUE XIII.
Seniors show confidence in post-grad plans BY ALEX LASALVIA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
An annual student engagement survey published Nov. 29 found that students are confident in their post-graduation plans and think what they’re learning is relevant to their career paths. The National Sur vey of Student Engagement (NSSE), conducted by researchers at Indiana University Bloomington’s School of Education, found that 93 percent of seniors believe what they are learning in college is relevant to their career paths. Most students are confident in their post-graduation plans, according to the survey’s findings. The confidence level changes slightly with the type of major, with arts and sciences majors being slightly less confident in their career plans than those majoring in professional fields. Boston University was one of the institutions surveyed, said Louis Gaglini, executive director of BU’s Center for Career Development. He said the survey’s findings — that students are confident and feel that their studies relate to their chosen career paths — are also ref lected in the First Destination survey that the CCD conducts every year. Gaglini said he has seen BU students develop a more positive outlook on their post-graduation plans in recent years — they see a direct correlation between taking advantage of experiential learning opportunities, such as intern-
BY JOEL LAU DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
wrote. “However once they engage with our office, services, and resources, they’re much more confident in executing their search.” The CCD provides many resources to help students explore their careers, Gaglini said, such as interviews with potential employers, networking opportunities and guides on building resumes and writing cover letters. These services are available to all BU students, not just seniors, he said. Esiri Madagwa is a senior in the College of Engineering who plans to work with a youth service
Boston has seen slightly more homicides in 2018 than in 2017, despite an overall decrease in recorded crime and gun violence across the city. BPD responded to 52 homicides as of Sunday, which is one more than Boston’s homicide rate this time last year, according to statistics released by the BPD. However, 2017’s statistics included two incidents that were ruled homicides last year but had actually been committed in years prior, bringing the number of homicides that occurred in 2017 down to 49. “ T he B o ston Pol ice Department has always said that one homicide is one too many but we are working every day in the communities we serve to make our city as safe as possible,” BPD officer Stephen McNulty said in a statement. While there has been an increase of homicides in Boston, there has also been an overall 4 percent drop in recorded crime and an approximate 17 percent decrease in shooting incidents, from 197 to 163, so far this year when compared to 2017, according to statistics from the BPD. Julian Lopez-Leyva, an organizer
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ALEXANDRA WIMLEY/ DFP FILE PHOTO
Boston University graduates celebrate at their commencement in May 2016. A recent report by the National Survey of Student Engagement found that a majority of college seniors are confident in their post-graduation plans.
ships, and having more success after graduation. He said more students are utilizing career resources, which also correlates positively with their post-graduation success. Liberal arts students have the opportunity to explore different fields easily, Gaglini said, while professional programs are often more focused. However, he added that core competencies developed in certain fields can be transferred to other industries. “I think the bottom line is that your academic work does not dictate what you will do,” Gaglini said. “Of course, there are some
programs that are more focused than others, but in most cases, students have the ability to translate and transfer over to different fields.” Patrick Nelson, director of career services at BU’s College of Communication, wrote in an email that COM also sees a connection between students using career resources and being more confident in post-graduation plans. “The students we meet with and work with are often anxious when faced with the prospect of pursuing their first full-time professional opportunity,” Nelson
Transition to BU aims to grow
Students get grants to research abroad
BY ZOE ALLEN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
BY DAMIAN WALSH DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Five Boston University undergraduate students will pursue research in the United States and abroad with the help of grants from the inaugural William R. Keylor Undergraduate Travel Fund. The fund is named in honor of Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies professor emeritus William Keylor, who taught international relations and history. Keylor had just retired when the creation of the fund was announced in May, he said. Students Raina Kadavil, Daniel Gonzalez, Hafzat Akanni, Ziling Cheng and Anna Ellis all received travel grants last week that will help them obtain vital CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Homicide rate in Boston up from last year’s stats
SOFIA KOYAMA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The recent stagnation in the prices of rental homes indicates a more affordable housing market may be emerging.
Local housing market cools BY NATALIE PATRICK DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Greater Boston housing market has shown signs of cooling down, based on a slowing of price increases for rentals, making the housing market less competitive than before. Affordable housing in Boston is still a work in progress — spe-
cifically Mayor Martin Walsh’s plan to increase the number of income-restricted units in Boston from 54,000 to 70,000 by the year 2030 — according to the Income Restricted Housing Report from the Mayor’s Department of Neighborhood Development. The majority of current income-restricted housing is CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Tra n sit ion to B oston University (TTBU), an undergraduate peer mentorship program for new transfer students, is wrapping up its first semester on the BU campus and looking to gain official status under the Dean of Students Office. The program is student-run and was founded this past summer by Roselynn Reyes, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. Reyes tra nsferred from Oregon State University to BU as a sophomore and said she decided to start the program to help ease the process for other transfer students. She first gauged interest over Facebook, and when she saw enough people supported the project, she decided to move forward. The program pairs up transfer students with returning BU students with whom they share a similar interest, major or background, Reyes said. TTBU has hosted events during the semester for
their transfer mentees and mentors ranging from study groups to a Thanksgiving dinner and will be hosting a holiday party Friday. Special Assistant to the Dean of Students Darcy Dubois serves as advisor to the program following her 10-year tenure at Wheelock College, which merged with BU in June. She said that after her transition from Wheelock, she wanted to put something in place to help the Wheelock students who were transitioning as well. The program garnered much interest with little marketing, she said, with 75 mentors and 75 mentees signing up in a short amount of time. The number of people joining the program made it difficult for Reyes to manage at first, as she had to match participants and plan events with little assistance, she said. “In a way it was kind of hard, because juggling all of these things became a lot, especially with the school year starting,” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2