4-2-2015

NEWS Homeless shelters saved from possible closure. pg. 2

CATALYST Open Humans, the first opt-in database for medical researchers, will let patients share their data with scientists nationwide. Will they want to? pg. 7

30º / 51º LIGHT RAIN

SPORTS Terriers Favorite Son - Freshman attack Jack Wilson has arrived on campus and claimed the Terrier lead in points and goals. pg. 12

DAILYFREEPRESS.COM @DAILYFREEPRESS

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THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLIV. VOLUME LXXXVIII. ISSUE XI.

Federal aid requested for snow removal, infrastructure repairs

BY ANUSH SWAMINATHAN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

on Oct. 24, 2014. The university shares the goal with the City as part of Boston’s Climate Action Plan.

In response to the unprecedented weather that blasted Massachusetts this past winter, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito submitted a request Friday to U.S. President Barack Obama for a Major Disaster Declaration.

The declaration, according to a Friday press release from Baker’s office, would make federal aid available to 10 Massachusetts counties through the Federal Emergency Management Agency Public Assistance Program.

Baker and Polito are requesting that the federal government provide 75 percent reimbursement for eligible snow removal costs, costs to repair damage to public infrastructure such as roads, bridges, piers and seawalls and storm-related overtime costs for first responders, the request stated.

The 10 Massachusetts counties that Baker and Polito are requesting federal assistance for include Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk and Worcester.

On its website, FEMA has outlined procedures that allow states to gain federal aid for emergency responses.

“As part of the request, the Governor must take appropriate action under State law and direct execution of the State’s emergency plan,” the website states.

“Based on the Governor’s request, the President may declare that a major disaster or emergency exists, thus activating an array of Federal programs to assist in the response and recovery effort.”

The site also states that not all programs are activated for every disaster, and the determination of which programs are activated is based on the needs found assessment.

As of March 3, the state had faced 110.6 inches of snow in the 2014-15 season, costing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority around $36 million in expenses and revenue lost, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Standing Committee on Finance and Audit’s MBTA Winter Storm Response and Recovery presentation.

“Facing historic snow accumulations, the transit system faced challenges that would take significant time (too long) to overcome without sizable additional resources,” the presentation stated. “Many organizations came to the aid of the MBTA to support this recovery effort including: The Office of the Governor, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency [and] The Executive Office of Administration and Finance.”

Other offices that helped the MBTA included the Massachusetts Executive

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

PHOTO BY BETSEY GOLDWASSER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Brooke Washabaugh (CGS ‘18) and Aidan Donohue (CGS ‘18) vote for BU’s next Student Government leaders Monday in the George Sherman Union. Students will vote for or against fossil fuel divestment on the student link ballot.

Students vote in fossil fuel divestment referendum

BY OLIVIA QUINTANA DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

As a piece of the Student Government election ballot, Boston University students have the opportunity to vote in a referendum about whether the university should divest from fossil fuel investments.

The referendum, which opened with the rest of the SG ballot this past Monday and will run through this coming Monday, will gauge voters’ opinions about stopping investment in the fossil fuel industry, but it will not have any legislative or immediate effect, the ballot question stated.

Students For a Just and Sustainable Future, a BU student group dedicated to addressing climate change and other environmental concerns, brought the idea of a referendum to the SG Senate in February. Senate passed the proposal to put the question on the ballot with 23 votes in support, seven against and two abstentions, The Daily Free Press reported on Feb. 17.

Rachel Eckles, vice president of SFJSF, said voting in support of divestment is just another way for students to be able to truly make a difference in such a big issue.

“What students tend to think is that these issues are way too big for them to do something about. Being a part of a larger institution that does have a lot of power in society is a very useful

medium to make these changes happen,” Eckles, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said. “BU can make a serious change by divesting.”

Stephen Chang, the chair of the Senate, said multiple groups on campus helped prepare the referendum.

“The Senators decided to send the proposal to our Elections Oversight Committee to refine the wording and work on the mechanics,” Chang, a CAS junior, wrote in an email. “The Chair of the Committee worked with the SEC and the divestment group on the details.”

Opposing and supporting information about the divestment and the referendum are available on the Student Election Commission’s

Sustainability movements harm schools, study finds

BY KERI MCALPINE DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Although a recent study suggests that university sustainability movements may harm a school’s finances and stif les conversation, several officials at Boston University agree that their sustainability efforts are positive rather than negative.

The report, released by the National Association of Scholars, said colleges and universities often trick students with promotional materials or programs designed to “‘nudge’ into new patterns of behavior” that are in line with sustainability goals, a March 25 press release from the association stated.

Lisa Tornatore, the outreach coordinator at Sustainability@BU, said the study fails to account for green improvements that programs like BU have made.

“I absolutely think BU sustainability is helping us,” she said. “If I didn’t, I don’t think I would be in this job. Sustainability at BU has really helped the university, specifically reduce operating costs as well as reduce our greenhouse

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN SONG/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A survey published March 25 found that campus movements for sustainability hinder debate and hurt university finances.

gas emissions.”

BU reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent since 2006, which is six years ahead of the goal benchmark for 2020, The Daily Free Press reported

2

NEWS

Mass. shelters to remain open, allotted funding

CRIME LOGS

BY CHRIS FERGUS DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

A $363 million spending bill was passed Tuesday by the Massachusetts Legislature and signed by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, which included $51.5 million for emergency assistance programs that serve the homeless.

While Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, said homeless shelters ran out of funding on Saturday, Daniel Tomanelli, spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, said service to the families was not disrupted.

“There was no break in service for the families in the shelter service, and we are grateful the legislature addressed the issue in a timely manner,” Tomanelli wrote in an email.

An additional $3 million was approved for the HomeBASE program, a diversion program to help families from needing shelter, in addition to an exit strategy to help families move out of a shelter, Frost said.

Additionally, $50 million was allocated to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and $7.6 million to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

The funding has gotten homeless shelters out of trouble for now, but the money will only last so long, Frost said.

“It’ll be enough for the rest of the fiscal year. The shelters will be okay through June 30th,” Frost said.

As of March 3, the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless reported approximately 4,500 families “with children and pregnant women” being sheltered through the Massachusetts’ Emergency Assistance shelter program.

Baker’s midyear budget bill, passed by the House on March 11, included $44.2 million in funding for the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development that would go toward supporting emergency shelters, Statehouse News reported.

A week later, when working with this bill, the Senate approved $51.5 million for

CAMPUS

BY ANUSH SWAMINATHAN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The following reports were taken from the Boston University Police Department from March 26 to April 1.

Female student sexually assaulted

PHOTO BY DANIEL GUAN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Massachusetts homeless shelters such as the St. Francis House in Boston were at risk of shutting down after running out of money until additional funding was approved by the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives Tuesday.

the Department of Housing and Community Development.

The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, which organizes residents to speak out on issues such as the supplemental budget and keeping shelters open, has been speaking to leaders at the state house to monitor the situation, Frost said.

Prior to the bill’s passage, Frost said she was confident legislators would ensure funding for the shelters.

“I’m positive it is going to get through, so I think the state legislators time after time have recognized the fact of the crucial reality that these families have nowhere to go. There is no contingency plan on our part,” she said. “They have always picked up the gauntlet and ensured that happened.”

Several residents said passing the funding to keep homeless shelters improves the chances of employment and health for the homeless.

Eric Ferreiro, 27, of Brighton, said keeping homeless shelters open helps improve the employment rate in Boston.

“In Brighton and Allston, I know that they have ... housing that’s new, so I’m not surprised that they actually do take a lot of big steps towards at the very least sub-

sidized housing and homeless housing,” he said. “Having a home definitely helps employment. If you have a place to hang your hat and shower, it’s better to find a job.”

Victoria Gemme, 24, of Allston, said having more shelters in the city can help homeless veterans with mental disorders.

“The homeless problem is really severe especially when you get into downtown Boston, and it’s something that a lot of people don’t realize, especially with homeless veterans which I notice there are quite a few with psychological disorders and disabilities,” she said. “I would be very happy if they were actually able to fix it so that more people had available housing.”

Emily Kelliher, 25, of Brighton, said funds should be focused on giving the homeless a place to sleep.

“We have the money, and we should be putting it somewhere we need it,” she said. “It’s people’s lives at stake. It’s not just something like roads or anything. It’s lives, so we should be taking care of that.

The City of Boston is obviously complaining that there is an influx of homeless people, and we should be caring about what we are doing with them and how we can help them and get them to a place they need to be.”

A 20-year-old female student reported on March 26 that an unknown male party grabbed her buttocks area while she was walking down Buick Street at approximately 2:20 p.m. The suspect fled from the area, heading southbound on Buick Street onto Commonwealth Avenue and then into an unknown direction. Officers did not find the man. The victim said he was wearing a black shirt with red and white writing on it.

Disorderly conduct reported on Babcock Street A 19-year-old female student reported a case of disorderly conduct at approximately 11 p.m. on March 26. The student said her boyfriend was loud and caused a disturbance at Rich Hall at 277 Babcock St. Other people living on the floor escorted the male out of the building. There was no physical contact reported during the exchange. The non-affiliated male then left the area.

Shoplifter arrested at Barnes & Noble Officers arrested and charged a 28-year-old male not affiliated with the university Sunday for shoplifting and trespassing. The man took several items from the Barnes & Noble Bookstore at 660 Beacon St. The stolen items were not reported.

Sustainability efforts do not harm the university, students say SUSTAINABILITY, FROM PAGE 1

The ultimate goal of sustainability, Tornatore said, is to reduce the university’s environmental footprint. With over 18 student organizations that represent different facets of sustainability, BU offers many opportunities for students to get involved and create a community through the lens of sustainability, she said.

Peter Wood, co-author of the study and president of the NAS, said he hopes BU will not be one of the many institutions that censor and criticize those who disagree with sustainability.

“The sustainability doctrine is something that sounds very good to people who only have the superficial acquaintance with it,” he said. “But once you begin to look more closely at sustainability, you find out that it is an anti free-speech doctrine, that it is a ‘we know the answers, and we are not going to allow you to ask any further questions,’ doctrine. Those things undercut good education.”

Henrik Selin, the associate director of the division of international studies at BU and an associate professor of international relations, teaches policymaking on environment and sustainable

development. Selin said the study is likely skewed based on NAS’s history, mission and ideological leanings.

“The report is incredibly biased and does not add to the very important debate about campus sustainability in any productive or meaningful way,” he wrote in an email. “The report also gravely misrepresents what campus sustainability programs, such as the one at BU, actually seek to achieve.”

The NAS report stated that 695 institutions have signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, requiring signatories to reduce their carbon footprint to zero and incorporate sustainability into everything they do, Wood said. BU has not signed the commitment. “[BU] appears to be a kind of passive recipient of this doctrine. It has a number of faculty members who are nationally recognized leaders in the sustainability movement, but it has none that are critics of that movement,” Wood said. “Why doesn’t BU show some leadership in presenting to the world both sides of an important debate?”

Tornotore said BU is working to educate students on issues such as climate change and fossil fuel divestment. “[Divesting from fossil fuels] is a se-

rious decision the university is considering,” she said. “Regardless of which side of the argument you’re on, and especially if you’re on the fence … there are two educational events the committee has scheduled in April.”

Wood said universities will not affect fossil fuel companies by divesting, so institutions should keep their stocks from those companies.

The question of divestment from fossil fuels is currently on the Student Government ballot and available for students to vote on through the BU Student Link. The referendum vote does not hold any legislative power.

Several students said they do not view BU’s sustainability efforts as unhelpful or harmful to the university.

Alex Heubeck, a senior in the College of Engineering, said he does not agree with the report’s proposals.

“If anything, even if [divesting from fossil fuels] doesn’t have an effect, talking about it makes people more conscious and responsible for what they’re doing,” he said. “Even if it doesn’t have an effect on the bigger case, it has an effect on them personally, which matters … They [BU] definitely make an effort to make people conscious about sustainability.”

Patrick Johnson, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said while Sustainability@BU has some good aspects, it ultimately misses the big picture.

“In general, sustainability programs are pretty mute,” he said. “In reality, the majority of contribution to climate change doesn’t come from individuals.

It comes these very large social institutions. We can all overnight stop showering and stop using light bulbs, but it won’t really change much. BU’s sustainability program is not focusing on the core issues. It’s making a collective issue into an individual one.”

Caroline Birsner, a senior in CAS studying environmental analysis and policy, is involved in several sustainability initiatives at BU, including Divest BU. Birsner said she has read the NAS study and feels the report unfairly criticizes university sustainability programs.

“I definitely disagree with what the authors said,” she said. “Their fundamental argument is that universities are being too academic and making sustainability too much a part of our curriculum. They are criticizing universities for being too academic, which is just bizarre to me … Academic initiatives in sustainability are what we should be doing.

NEWS

3

BRA seeks to extend 14 expiring Urban Renewal project areas

BY KYLIE AYAL DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Boston Redevelopment Authority is seeking 10-year extensions for 14 of the 16 Urban Renewal plans that are expiring in areas around the city. Community meetings will be held in the coming weeks to introduce the public to urban renewal tools that are being used currently, according to a March 24 press release.

In January, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development approved a one-year extension to the active plans, meaning the majority of the plans in Boston are set to expire in April 2016. The request for the longer extension is to continue the goals set by the BRA. The extension process is expected to last until the end of 2015, as public feedback synthesizes through the public meetings that are scheduled for this summer and fall, the release stated.

Urban Renewal is a federal government-funding program that began with the passing of the Housing Act of 1949 by former U.S. President Harry Truman. The program promotes economic development and creates housing in deteriorating inner cities.

Currently, 18 Urban Renewal plans are active around the city, the release stated. The BRA plans to allow the plans in Allston and a

portion of Downtown to expire because the redevelopment objectives have been met.

“Urban Renewal was intended to be a program federally to respond to the need for cities to address plight and shrinking populations and crumbling infrastructure,” said Nick Martin, director of communications for the BRA. Earlier this month, the BRA’s Board of Directors approved five development proposals that represent $131 million of investment for Boston’s economy. The projects, which are taking place across the city’s neighborhoods, are expected to bring in nearly 500 construction jobs, according to a March 13 press release from the BRA. “We still think Urban Renewal is a valuable tool in redevelopment of the city and creating vibrancy and accomplishing the goals that not only we and the administrative committee for the development of the city want to bring, but also what the community wants,” Martin said.

With Urban Renewal, the BRA has been able to help with development in zoning controls, housing affordability restrictions and enhancing neighborhoods throughout the city. The goals have been revised to reflect the changing urban environment, including climate change, so the tools used now are more nuanced than they were in the 1950s, Martin said.

The BRA has been able to help the community and major businesses, including Liberty

Mutual, through Urban Renewal.

“During the recession, Liberty Mutual was considering moving their headquarters out of Boston, and we were able to use the tools of urban renewal to assemble land in Back Bay, where they could expand their headquarters in the city, and without urban renewal as a tool and power, we wouldn’t have been able to effectuate that development,” Martin said.

There will be three community meetings to present the content to the public and provide residents with an understanding of the goals of the BRA to allow for community engagement.

“There is a real lack of affordable housing in the area, and I know [Boston Mayor Martin Walsh] has been working hard to create more affordable housing in the Boston area,” said Rhonda Siciliano, the New England public affairs officer of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Community participation and awareness is an integral part of the BRA’s urban renewal plan, said Martin. A series of kickoff meetings will start to occur to integrate community awareness and involvement. This is an ongoing plan that will include a series of goals to improve the redevelopment of the city, he said.

“We look forward to facilitating a robust conversation with residents across the city about the future of urban renewal in Boston,” said BRA Director Brian Golden in the release.

Several residents said the Urban Renew-

ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF THE BOSTON REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

The Boston Redevelopment Authority announced March 24 that it will seek 10-year extensions for 14 of the 16 urban renewal plan areas that are expiring this year.

al program could only have positive effects for Boston across several platforms including the economy, housing and sustainability.

Megan Wagstaffe, 24, of the South End, said the Urban Renewal initiative can strengthen the economy of the city.

“It will bring more business to the city and make more money and long-term sustainability for the city,” she said.

Mary Petit-Frere, 45, of South Boston, said revitalizing certain areas could help the generally high price of housing in Boston.

“The housing in Boston is expensive,” she said, “and some people can’t afford it, making it a problem for the city.”

Speech-language pathology program undergoes accreditation

BY MIKE DESOCIO DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Efforts to review curriculum for the Master of Science degree in speech-language pathology at Boston University’s Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences were underway Monday and Tuesday through a visit from the Council on Academic Accreditation.

Michelle Mentis, the director of the program, said the master’s program is reviewed every eight years to ensure it meets the proper standards set by the CAA. The accreditation process involves a self-study report written by the program director and a campus visit to ensure standards match up to the report.

“One of the reasons why we’re an accred-

ited program is that the accreditation body basically says that we meet the requirements that allows us to be certified as speech language pathologists,” she said.

During the site visit, the CAA held a public meeting open to anyone with a connection to the department. Alumni of the program, clients of Sargent’s clinical programs and members of community were invited.

Lisa Scott, the academic accreditation site visitor for the CAA who led the meeting, asked alumni about their experiences interacting with faculty.

“In terms of program staff, I know there’s a lot of alums in the room, what were your experiences like in terms of your ability to access faculty … interact with clients and their fami-

PHOTO BY DANIEL GUAN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech evaluated Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences’ speech language pathology program Monday.

lies?” That’s one thing that’s a big emphasis in our program is family involvement,” she said.

Jordyn Sims, a 2014 graduate from the Master of Science program in speech-language pathology, spoke highly about how accessible her professors were.

“I know I emailed professors sometimes at 11-o-clock at night and they got back to me that same night,” she said. “Whether it was about a client that I need to talk to or a research issue that I had a question about, the faculty absolutely are always available for whatever you need.”

When students graduate from the twoyear program, they transition to a nine-month clinical fellowship working under the direction of a speech language pathologist, Mentis said.

From there, students are eligible to seek permanent employment in the field.

“Part of their time here, they meet with all the faculty in the department,” she said. “They meet with administration… They meet with our dean [and] they meet with the provost.”

Mentis said the review covers all aspects of the program, including academic, clinical, and research, which is why the entire faculty is involved in making sure the program meets the standards.

“It’s a very good process in many ways,” she said. “It holds us to high standards, which is a good thing.”

Several students in the master’s speech-language pathology program said they are confident that their program will be reaccredited.

Brittany Armstrong, a second-year, is also confident in the reaccreditation because of the caliber of the program.

“It’s an incredibly rigorous program with excellent professors who are extremely knowledgeable and well-credentialed and respected in the field,” she said. “[There are] lots of clinical opportunities in some of the best hospitals in the world and excellent school systems.”

Aly Young, also a second-year student in the program, said she has not noticed the accreditation taking place, but she recognizes its importance.

“I’m moving to New York and if want to get job in New York, I have to have gone to an accredited program. If this program doesn’t get reaccredited, than I don’t have a job,” she said.

“BU’s known for its speech program and like it’s been known for a long time for its speech program so I don’t really have any concerns about that.”

Marissa Weigel, a second-year student, said it is great that the program is being accredited, but the process may be stressful.

“I mean it would be terrible if they didn’t get reaccredited, but there’s no doubt in my mind because they’ve been preparing for it for a while, so I don’t think it will be an issue,” she said. “It seems like it’s a lot of work for the professors, particularly the director of the program.

You can almost feel the stress around the school with regards to that whole process.”

Several students in favor of unversity divestment from fossil fuels DIVESTMENT, FROM PAGE 1

website. Students can vote through the student link on the same page where candidates for the SG elections are chosen.

Claire Richer, the president of SFJSF, said she is hopeful that students will vote yes to show their support for divestment.

“The divestment campaign is happening across a range of universities, and many universities who have done a referendum like this one have seen success in students voting yes,” said Richer, a senior in CAS. “Most people don’t know what divestment is, so we’re trying to spread the word a little more this week.”

Eckles said the referendum comes at a crucial time, with the Board of Trustees Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing currently discussing the issue of fossil fuel divest-

ment.

“Two years ago, the Board of Trustees formed a committee called ACSRI that discusses divestment and other investment issues,” she said. “They are currently discussing fossil fuels in an official capacity, so if this referendum results in a student opinion that yes, the school should divest, then it could really encourage the committee.”

While some may think that divestment could damage the university’s endowment, Eckles said, in the long run, such a decision should not financially hurt the university.

“I have been doing a lot of personal research recently, and I have found out that rarely does divestment hurt endowment in the future,” she said. “You want endowment to be diverse, and divesting would make it less diverse, but I

personally think divesting now would be better for our endowment. We don’t know where these companies are going in the future.”

Several students said they support the idea of the university divesting from fossil fuels.

Nahar Chowdhury, a junior in the Questrom School of Business, said divesting and not supporting fossil fuel companies would be a better move in the long run for the environment.

“It’s definitely better to no longer invest in fossil fuels,” she said. “It’s definitely more sustainable and definitely better for the environment to encourage use of alternative energy, instead of fossil fuels.”

Jimmy Scheckowitz, a sophomore in CAS, said his initial response to divesting was a positive one, though he cannot foresee what exactly it would do in the long-term.

“I guess it could be some kind of commitment to support some other source. Reliance on fossil fuels is pretty striking so yeah, it could be a good thing,” he said. “I just wonder where it’s going to lead to necessarily. I can’t really imagine what’s going to happen that far in the future, but it certainly doesn’t seem like a bad thing.”

Michaela Spannaus, a senior in the College of Communication, said divesting from fossil fuels would be in accordance with BU’s recent efforts to be more environmentally friendly.

“BU is a pretty sustainable campus, and they pride themselves on how far they’ve come in that respect,” she said. “Even if you look around, you can see all of the steps we’ve made to become a more sustainable campus. That would just be one more step in us becoming that much more green in our efforts to save the environment.”

4

NEWS

Storm preparedness emphasized, avoids weather disasters AID, FROM PAGE 1

Office of Labor and Workforce Development, MassDOT, Massachusetts Department of Corrections, National Guard, Peter Pan Bus Lines, the New York City Transit System and area contractors, according to the presentation.

Laurie Goldman, lecturer at the Tufts University urban and environmental policy and planning department, said the effects of the winter weather raise many questions about the division of resources in tiers of government.

“What is important here is to think about that given what is happening with climate change, that is affecting flooding, that is affecting large quantities of snow, that is affecting drought in various parts of the country,” Goldman said. “How do we, as a society, think about the allocation of responsibility for contending with the aftermath of that?”

Goldman said it is difficult to discern which tiers of government should incur the financial burden of the storm recovery.

“What part of that is the federal government? What part of that is the state government?

What part of that is the local government? What part of that is the private sector?” she said.

Goldman also said this question will continue to present itself following future natural disasters.

“This [the unprecedented weather conditions] raises important questions for what will be the allocation of responsibility for the costs of climate change as they impact cities and regions in our country moving forward,” she said.

Jessica Emond, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts branch of the American Red Cross, said the responsibility and mission of the Red Cross as a non-profit volunteer organization, as far as disaster response is concerned, conists of two main points: preparedness and volunteer re-

sponse.

“Our main focus really is preparedness before the storm: helping people understand how to repair their homes, if people are using non-traditional heating sources that they are using that in the best way, so that during these times they feel safe in their homes so there are not any accidents,” she said. “But we also have hundreds of volunteers across the state on call who are ready to assist with shelters if they need to be opened.”

Emond said the Red Cross was actively assisting both residents and work crews during the unprecedented winter storms.

“During the blizzard, there were 16 shelters around the state that our volunteers were staffing and helping operationalize for people if they did need to leave their homes,” she said. “We also supply food and snacks to the crews that were doing snow removal, such as people from the National Guard, and a lot of other teams doing work, so we were providing them with hot chocolate and other things while they were doing that.”

As for the impact federal aid may have on the American Red Cross and its programs, Emond said the Red Cross can apply for FEMA grants, but the money will be counted as donations to help carry out the efforts of the organization.

“The Red Cross might apply for grants that are available through any funds that come from FEMA, to help support our efforts of preparedness,” she said.

“We often rely on grants and donations from corporations and individuals.”

Several residents said though Massachusetts should be granted the additional funding, it won’t necessarily fix the problems brought forth by the winter storms.

Joe Harrington, 44, of Allston, said additional funding from the federal government

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA WIMLEY/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito submitted a request Friday to U.S. President Barack Obama for a Major Disaster Declaration due to the effects of unprecedented winter weather.

won’t help the problems with the MBTA. “The MBTA was broken before the storm. It wasn’t operating correctly,” he said. “So, the problem needed to be fixed even before the snow. The snow just enlarged it and made it known what the problems were. The problem is not that they need money but that they need better management.”

James Shea, 60, of Back Bay, said the extreme nature of the damage warrants additional funding.

“The state is going to run out of money because it can’t pay the bills,” he said. “They just did not budget for those extraordinary events. And the state is entitled to the money just as New York City was entitled to it after the hurricane.”

Robert Kodiuga, 56, of Allston, said prior planning could have avoided the financial problems Massachusetts is now facing.

“Boston has around 44 inches, average, of snow every year,” he said. “If you have an outlier year like this one, when you have 107 inches of snow, that means it

is almost triple the average. You should put it in a fund. You have

to make a plan, and you have to go through with it.”

Peace Corps

At Boston University

Meet One-on One with a Recruiter Choose where you want to go. Apply in one hour. Make a difference overseas as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Thursday, April 9 |10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Center for Career Development - 5th Floor Please schedule an appointment through BU Career Link, or by calling 617-353-3590.

peacecorps.gov - 855.855.1961

FEATURES

5

INBUSINESS THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015

In Cove, brings home away from home away from home

BY CONNER REED DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The workspace can be an underappreciated player when it comes to productivity.

Often times, productivity lapses are blamed on internal motivational levels and an inability to silence psychological distractions, but according to a paper published by the International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, approximately 86 percent of productivity problems relate to a poor work environment.

Everything from a lack of window space to using an area for something other than work can hurt productivity. This leaves open demand for an area that satisfies environmental criteria while also existing solely as a productive space. Enter Cove, a Boston-bound service developed by recent Harvard University graduate Adam Segal, which allows its users to rent an optimized private workspace on demand through the Cove app or online.

“Cove is the ultimate productive alternative to working from home, from a coffee shop or even from your traditional office,” Segal said. “We brand ourselves as your neighborhood productive space.”

Cove provides patrons with coffee, soda or other (legal) agents of focus and fuel.

Users access all of these features through a membership that begins at $32 per month.

That fee grants members eight hours of use, which is tracked through the Cove app.

When entering a Cove, a user will scan his or her smartphone, and this will log the number of hours spent working in a Cove space. Plans offering more monthly use decrease hourly rates on a sliding scale.

Segal developed the idea for Cove from his own experiences in trying to find workspace as a student and an employee who was working from home. He found that

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH SILBIGER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Cove, a start-up based in Washington, D.C. will open in Boston this year, offering customers a paid subscription to rooms used as productivity spaces.

there was nothing that satisfied his need for a space separate from his overly familiar home.

“I hoped that my lack of productivity was about my environment and not necessarily about me,” Segal said.

A catch-term Segal uses to refer to Cove is “And Cove,” meaning that, as a service, it is not meant to stand alone. Rather than hope for his customers to utterly abandon their peripheral productivity habits, Segal presents Cove as an extra item on a productivity checklist, meaning that someone on the run can spend the morning, the afternoon and the evening in the coffee shop, office “and Cove” on the way home.

The goal is seamlessness.

“It’s a good basis for a business if you’ve directly experienced the need [for your service],” said Ashley Stevens, an innovation and entrepreneurship lecturer at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.

Stevens said a key to Cove’s success will be its ability to supply a supportive environment that employees and students can’t find in something like a coffee shop, where individuals are very inwardly focused and aren’t likely to provide any significant motivation.

Discussion and an assurance that your peers are also making progress, Stevens said, can serve as a powerful motivating factor.

As of now, Cove is open in nine locations across the Washington D.C./Virginia area, where Segal himself is currently based.

He is a Massachusetts native, though, having grown up in Wellesley, getting a bachelor’s at Amherst College before his graduate studies at Harvard — hence the plans to expand Cove to the Boston/Cambridge area this summer. He said the neighborhood-centric structure of the city also had a lot to do with the expansion decision.

“We definitely gravitate towards neighborhoods,” Segal said. “A large portion of

our population will go to multiple locations, which that structure facilitates.”

However, the reaction from undergrads — perhaps Segal’s most important constituency in his expansion to Boston — is for the most part mixed.

Brent Heineman, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, finds himself generally preferring private workspaces to public places such as coffee shops or libraries to maximize his productivity. He said Cove could find success in targeting students with his preferences who may not have as much private-space access as he does.

“I think it could do well. I think people might want to access some kind of space where they could work privately without the cramped spaces of BU,” Heineman said.

Leyla Tonak, a freshman painting major in the College of Fine Arts, said she could definitely see a need for Segal’s service in the undergraduate population, especially among her artist peers who are forced to make due with BU’s limited studio space.

Still, both Heineman and Tonak expressed concern that something like Cove is not a financially feasible option for college students who have free access to a wide range of workspaces, even though these areas may be less-than-ideal.

“It’s beneficial to isolate your work from your personal life, which is something that a lot of people in university struggle with. Sometimes, the dorm environment can be the opposite of conducive to studying,” Tonak said. “The only problem I see is with kids trying to spend extra money on a workspace.”

Heineman agreed that college students may not make the purchase of an app like Cove a priority.

“I think the typical college student,” he said, “would prefer the public space.”

MUSE THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015

LGBT Film Festival follows tradition of inclusion, engagement

BY CONNER REED DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Peter Jackson, director of 2005’s “King Kong” and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, once said, “The most honest form of filmmaking is to make a film for yourself.”

The organizers of the Boston LGBT Film Festival have been heeding that advice for 31 years now, compiling short and feature-length films that showcase stories for an LGBT audience.

“I think there’s something really interesting and magical about sitting in a room full of gay people watching a gay film,” said James Nadeau, executive director of the Boston LGBT Film Festival. “I remember seeing ‘Hedwig [and the Angry Inch]’ for the first time in a theater in Berlin, in a room full of gay people, and it’s an odd experience because you realize that you’re not the only one getting the joke.”

Nadeau has been with the festival since 2000, when he was still an undergraduate, and now as executive director finds himself responsible for picking most of its feature films.

This year’s festival kicks off on Thursday at the Museum of Fine Arts and wraps

PHOTO BY DANIEL GUAN/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Boston LGBT Film Festival begins Thursday and continues until April 12 at Brattle Theatre as well as other venues throughout the city.

up April 12 at Emerson College. The festival will also play across two other screens at the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Brattle Theater in Cambridge.

The Boston LGBT Film Festival sells tickets to each film individually. Those interested may also purchase memberships,

and members are given passes to a set number of screenings throughout the week alongside other benefits, such as early admission. The festival used to operate on a conventional pass system, but Nadeau said the membership approach allows people to contribute directly to an organization they

wish to support.

“It’s more of a sense of belonging. If you buy a pass, it’s almost more like it’s an obligation, but if you’re a member, you’re actually donating to support the organization,” Nadeau said. “Whether you use them or not, you’re still helping us out.”

For a third year, the festival is using an app to supplement the experience for festivalgoers. Nadeau said because the festival doesn’t give out physical programs, the app acts in a similar way: users can see trailers for the films, in addition to viewing a screening schedule and the cast and plot details for each film. Tickets can also be purchased through the app.

As far as content goes, Nadeau said this year’s programming continues to strengthen the festival’s volume of trans films and filmmakers, who have been gaining steady momentum in recent years as more and more visible projects such as Amazon’s “Transparent” have broadcast trans voices.

Nadeau and his colleagues are particularly excited to be showing “Xenia” this year, a seriocomic Greek film about brothers — one gay, one straight — searching for their CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

FEATURES

6

SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015

Law Panel promotes fairer future for “Freedom Feminism”

BY ANDREA KAUFMAN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

In light of outspoken feminist Christina Hoff Sommers’ recent book, “Freedom Feminism: Its Surprising History and Why It Matters Today,” Boston University’s Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies and Women’s Law Association co-hosted a panel Monday that explored the future of feminism.

It featured Sommers, known for her published works on feminist theory, and BU Law Professor Linda McClain as they both gave their views on present-day feminism and how it should move forward in a gendered society.

“I’m here to argue that it is time to reform feminism,” Sommers said in her opening. “If you ask Americans if [they] are feminist, you’re lucky to get 25 percent to agree. There’s this new school called ‘freedom feminism’ that provides a path in today’s iced gender wars, leading to a far more just and happier world.”

Sommers defined her Freedom Feminism as “the moral, social, legal equality” between men and women. It is composed of two movements within feminist theory: egalitarian and maternal.

Egalitarian feminism sees women as independent agents, while maternal feminism focuses on expanding and strengthening the traditional roles of women.

Feminism as a whole, Sommers argued, has largely been misunderstood. Many assume feminism is synonymous with the hatred of men, rather than the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.

“One point is that feminist theory, for the most part, believes

PHOTO BY MAE DAVIS/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

American Enterprise Institute Scholar Christina Hoff Sommers speaks at “Freedom Feminism: The Best Way Forward in the Gender Wars” Monday at the Boston University School of Law.

that men have a say in feminism,” McClain said during the panel.

“You have Emma Watson’s ‘He for She’ campaign. But, for the most part, [it is] because gender stereotypes hold men back and constrain them as well.”

Additionally, McClain said, this as well as the stigma associated with feminism possibly discourages many people from calling themselves feminists.

“I think that more and more young women need to inform themselves about what feminism is and what it says,” said Carrie Preston, an English professor in the College of Arts and Sciences and director of BU’s women’s, gender and sexuality studies program. “In fact, not just young women. I think our entire cul-

ture and society needs to inform themselves about what feminism is and what it actually claims.”

Jess Klein, a junior in CAS and president of BU’s feminist organization, FemCo, also said there’s a stigma that surrounds the present-day concept of feminism.

“I think that there’s that phrase, ‘I’m not a feminist, I believe in equality for everyone,’” she said. “It’s just so silly because that’s what feminism is at its most basic level.”

During the panel, Sommers addressed one of the most common examples illustrating gender equality issues in society — the wage gap between men and women in the workplace. However, she offered a different approach

Film festival “unflinchingly” humanizes LGBT, FROM PAGE 6

absent father.

Mixed in with more experimental, independent fare like “Xenia” are two major 2014 releases that dealt rather unflinchingly with gay issues — Morten Tyldum’s “The Imitation Game” and Matthew Warchus’s “Pride.”

Both will be playing for free at Emerson, one of the venues that distributors chose to pre-screen the films before their releases late

“

last year.

“What makes planning the festival so exciting for me is the storytelling,” said Shawn Cotter, the festival’s operations manager and shorts programmer. “I love hearing and sharing stories that are unexpected, make us laugh, turn us on and speak to the diversity and strength of characters in all facets of the LGBT community.”

Several BU students said they look favorably upon the festival,

I love hearing and sharing stories that are unexpected, make us laugh, turn us on and speak to the diversity and strength of characters...”

even if they don’t plan to attend themselves.

Julianne Leber, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said festivals like the LGBT Film Festival are important because they can humanize LGBT people in the eyes of those who are otherwise quick to discriminate.

“I feel like it could be very eye opening and informative,” she said.

That’s something, it seems, everyone can get behind.

“I’m not a big one for film festivals in general, but I think it’s important that everyone is able to express what they believe in and not be pushed down for it,” said Clare Chiodini, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“When they can do so creatively, it adds to the fun for everybody.”

The Boston LGBT Film Festival runs from Thursday to April 12. Tickets and more information can be found at bostonlgbtfilmfest.net.

to addressing this issue.

“A way undergraduate women can change the wage gap is to change their major,” Sommers said. “Of the college majors, naval architecture is 97 percent male. Early childhood education is 98 percent female, social work 88 percent female. There is a big difference in what they major in.”

If more women were to change their majors from lower-paying jobs such as childhood education to higher-paying jobs like petroleum engineering, the wage gap would not be such an issue, Sommers said.

McClain, however, pointed out a counterargument.

“Maternal feminists might say to [Sommers], instead of majoring in meteorological sciences,

why is early childhood education so devalued in society?” she asked. “They would question society’s values.”

One of the recent issues brought forward during the panel deals with those who identify on the LGBTQA spectrum — outside of the gender binary — and their place in feminism.

“Historically, they left out a lot of people who fall underneath feminism,” Klein said. “I think that feminism should take a broader approach to thinking about the world in terms of specifically looking at communities that have been ignored by the larger movement — queer and trans individuals, as well as women of color. I would like to see feminism broaden a lot more and reach a lot more people that way.”

As for the future of feminism, it’s complicated. Preston said the diversity of feminism makes it hard to see its future.

“It is remarkably diverse.”

Preston said. “I believe there’s room for many perspectives and many goals in feminism.”

Klein said feminism, as it is, excludes people.

“I would like to see feminism broaden a lot more and reach a lot more people that way,” she said.

“So that’s what I hope feminism takes on.”

On the other hand, Sommers maintains that feminism is in need of reform in the way of freedom feminism.

“Freedom feminism distinguishes itself from other forms that are dominant today in its commitment to fairness to both genders,” Sommers said. “Anyone who cares will create a women’s movement that resonates with both men and women.”

FEATURES

7

CATALYST THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015

New research initiative lets patients give Big Data their digits

BY DAGNY CREPEAU DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Sharing information is commonly associated with posting to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Now, thanks to researchers from the Harvard Personal Genome Project, people can also share their personal health information online through Open Humans, a platform for open source medical data.

Open Humans, formally launched March 24, is an online platform where people can publicly share their biological data to be used in medical research studies. The project was founded by Jason Bobe, director of community for the Personal Genome Project and Madeleine Price Ball, director of research for the Personal Genome Project. Part of the intent behind the Open Humans project is to encourage more people to participate in research studies, Bobe said, for the benefit of society as a whole.

“We have really exciting and interesting questions that we hope people will find engaging,” Bobe said. “We hope this project will help people understand that even healthy people have a role to play in advancing medical research.”

Currently, members of the Open Humans community have the choice of participating in three different research studies: the Personal Genome Project at Harvard, which investigates genetic variations and their effects on health, American Gut at the University of California, San Diego, which focuses on bacterial microbiomes in the human digestive tract and GoViral at New York University, which tracks the spread of viruses across U.S. cities.

What makes the project unique is its policy of equitable data sharing, Bobe said. While many research studies do not follow up with participants and maintain a shield of anonymity and secrecy, Open Humans aims to facilitate the open exchange of information between people willing to share their health data and researchers who can use that data for studies. Members are provided copies of their results, which they can then donate so that other researchers may use them in the future.

“You have a federally protected right to access your own medical records, but no such right exists in the research community,” Bobe said. “We really feel that when people have the ability to access

The Open Humans platform will allow users to share their medical data with a number of research studies.

Three studies are currently open, including the Personal Genome Project at Harvard University.

The project emphasizes an informed consent process to ensure patients know where their data will go.

GRAPHIC BY KATELYN PILLEY/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

and share their health data, beyond the limit of a single research study, they can really get involved and help advance medical research.”

The Open Humans project is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Knight Foundation. John Bracken, vice president of media innovation for the Knight Foundation, commended the Open Humans network for its use of the Internet to connect researchers and their subjects.

“Think about the opportunities that this project presents for Americans to come together and learn and be informed,” Bracken said. “When more people participate, when they have access to and pool their data, it accelerates research and generates more knowledge about health.”

Despite its potential benefits, though, the extremely public nature of the data being shared raises serious questions about members’ privacy. In order to address this problem, the founders devised an informed consent process for the site, which includes a quiz, to ensure that people understand the risks involved before signing up.

“Your DNA is basically a 6 billion digit social security number,” Bobe said.

“That’s really important for people to understand, particularly when we’re making publishing decisions. We’ve really advocated for informed consent documents where sharing is an explicit goal of providing this data.”

The website offers several different privacy options. Members can choose to share their information only with the studies they sign up for, or to make their data a public resource that anyone can access. Bobe said he also acknowledges that different people have varying levels of comfort when it comes to sharing medical data, but that those most open stand to make the greatest impact.

“I think it will have an impact, because that’s how the Human Genome Project was. Because they made everything publicly available, that’s how the field moved forward,” said Rekha Raghunathan, a second-year grad student in molecular and translational medicine in BU’s School of Medicine. “So, similarly, if you can access the specific data people share on this site, you can use that information for your research and move it forward.”

In Bobe’s eyes, though, the Open Humans network is about more than just sharing medical information — it is also about changing public attitudes toward research. Bobe said he hopes to transform medical research from an austere topic to a cultural activity that can engage the public.

“We want to make participating in research a cultural activity that people just do, the same way they go to sports games, or go to concerts, or go to the library,” Bobe said. “I hope that this platform will help raise awareness about the social and personal value of participating in medical research and get more people involved.”

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY L.E. CHARLES/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Harvard program Open Humans, a research database that allows users to share their health data with various studies, launched March 24.

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OPINION

8

THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015

Felicia Gans, Editor-in-Chief Jacklyn Bamberger, 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

44th year | Volume 87 | Issue XI The Free Press (ISSN 1094-7337) is published Thursdays during the academic year except during vacation and exam periods by Back Bay Publishing Co.,Inc., a nonprofit corporation operated by Boston University students. No content can be reproduced without the permission of Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. Copyright © 2015 Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

Mike DeSocio , Multimedia Editor

Judy Cohen, Sports Editor

Alexandra Wimley, Photo Editor

Mina Corpuz, Campus Editor

Casey Mintz, Editorial Page Editor

Samantha Gross, Layout Editor

Alexandra David, City Editor

Joe Incollingo, Features Editor

Shakti Rovner, Office Manager

The Daily Free Press endorses True BU for student government When sitting down and thinking about what matters most to us when it comes to the next Student Government executive board, a few things kept coming to mind: transparency, reliability, dedication, diversity and concern for our safety as Boston University students. And honestly, after hearing from each slate about their ideas and goals, we feel that all three slates running for positions within student government — BUtiful Dreamers, True BU and TeamBU — represent all of those values.

But when it comes down to voting, students must determine who will be best at delivering upon these values and turning words into actions. And while all three slates had strong ideas for the student body and a clear passion for SG, The Daily Free Press found the True BU slate to be the most practical and hands-on in addressing its plans.

The slate is made up of Andrew Cho, a College of Arts and Sciences junior running for president; Melesilika Finau, a CAS sophomore running for executive vice president; Marwa Sayed, a CAS sophomore running for vice president of internal affairs; and Kimberly Barzola, a CAS sophomore running for vice president of finance.

Three of the four True BU slate members have past SG experience. Cho has been involved with SG since his freshman year and was president of the Warren Towers Residence Hall Association for two years.

He represented the dorm in the Senate and is currently serving as the president of the

Overarching Executive Council.

Sayed is part of Kilachand Hall’s RHA, Finau is senator for the RHA for Danielsen Hall and Cluster and Barzola is an active member of BU’s Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism.

This sparkling resume and the fact that these people already have close connections to SG and therefore know how the system works, makes for an impressively stocked slate. It’s these things, coupled with the diversity in their extracurricular activities that makes us confident that True BU is the best slate for the job. But above all else, it’s True BU’s sense of relatability that really makes them stand out.

We have to note before we go on that our endorsement of True BU has nothing to do with last year’s FreeP endorsement of the True BU slate. In fact, the concept of slate recognition and a carry-over from one year to the next is one of the only pieces of True BU’s campaign that makes us uncomfortable. As always, we choose our endorsed slate based on the goals of the slate’s individuals. While we feel True BU’s campaign could have been strong without the True BU name continuation, we also can’t ignore the strength it possesses and the slate’s clear ability to change BU for the better.

This isn’t to say the other two slates didn’t also have their distinct advantages.

BUtiful Dreamers also did a great job with relating to students. We appreciate the fact that they’re not already part of SG. Their slate bridges the gap between the

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represent student groups within the SG system, but also on those who have never (and may never) step foot in a Senate meeting. It’s clear that all three slates would be strong leaders for the student body voice if elected, but True BU instead wants to help students find their own voice, a plan that makes their slate stand out among the rest.

Transparency has not only been a problem between SG and the student body, but also between students and the BU administration. True BU came to the table with a plan to alleviate this distance: add a seat at the table for a student ambassador at Board of Trustees meetings. This concept is not something unique to True BU. Countless other schools, including Cornell University and every school within the University of Massachusetts system, have a student represented on the Board of Trustees. It’s just never been implemented at BU, causing a divide between administrative actions and student involvement.

True BU acknowledged that other SG slates have tried and failed to enact this in the past, but when asked how they will turn these words into actions, they told us simply, “We’re not going to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

This is a big theme in True BU’s slate: they’re not taking “no” for an answer. They are committed to getting things done and have a serious stake in ensuring that all 16,000 students are well represented, not just because it’s their job, but because they really care.

This week’s crossword puzzle is brought to you by AnnaMarie Lee-Kirkpatrick

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long-time SG students and the rest of the student body.

BUtiful Dreamers is also clearly dedicated to the four principal initiatives on their slate, with several plans already in the works and a dedication to not making large-scale empty promises upon running their campaign. Their initiatives make their slate realistic. Despite their lack of SG experience, they have an understanding of the difficulties that come with passing substantial legislation. They seem to get it.

However, we’re not sure if the four initiatives they chose are the most hard-hitting topics at BU. BUtiful Dreamers without a doubt had the clearest plan of action, but they didn’t necessarily line up with what students need most.

TeamBU had broader goals for the student body, many of which were similar to True BU’s, such as safety for those who live off-campus and better transportation.

However, True BU had a stronger grasp on where to begin when attempting to fix those problems, whereas TeamBU had big ideas, but a lack of detailed plans.

When it came to transparency, TeamBU dominated in the way they spoke about the Allocations Board and their plans for getting students involved. With a plan to increase diversity among the student representatives, TeamBU made their plans clear: listen to the student body and fight for their needs.

However, True BU had a different kind of passion for including students in SG, focusing not only on those who will

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OPINION

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THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015

In education, quality comes first Maybe not exactly ready for Hillary

BY ANDREW KEULER COLUMNIST

When faced with the breadth and depth of issues confronting our education system — which can broadly be split into the categories of access, cost and quality — it may seem inappropriate to discuss one category without fully considering the others. For example, it may seem improper to discuss how we can improve the quality of education while cost remains a significant barrier to access for many.

Nonetheless, this week, I’ve decided to use my column to discuss an area in which our modern education system seems sorely lacking in quality. Perhaps considering it may yield unforeseen benefits in the area of cost and access.

First, let us consider the purpose of postsecondary education in the United States.

America’s first colleges, Harvard University and Yale University, were founded as training grounds for religious ministers. Not until John Hopkins University, styled after the German research universities of the day, was founded in 1876, did the modern research university take shape. Since then, the research university has proven to be the most enduring conception of what postsecondary education is, and for good reason.

Despite its many benefits, the research university is not without its fault. It is an institution that thrives on specialization.

On the one hand, this specialization has vastly improved our quality of life, creating countless scientific and medical advances including the polio vaccine, the MRI, the CAT scan and the computer. In addition, the modern research university has been the breeding ground for ideas in economics, sociology, history and political science that have revolutionized how we think about our world and our place in it. As a result, our universities have produced generations of leaders well versed in their chosen disciplines.

Despite its obvious benefits, the specialization that is part and parcel of the modern university often supports a more explicitly utilitarian conception of the purpose of a university. In other words, specialization can reinforce the idea that education is only worth what you get out of it or what is pro-

duced by it.

Now, I certainly am not one to assert that a postsecondary education should be some lofty ideal pursued without concern for what you get out of it. As someone studying economics and finance, I fully intend to make use of my education to support myself.

But that certainly is not all my Boston University education will be useful for. We must all be wary about thinking of our education in a narrow manner, as just something that will serve a purpose to us. Instead, we should also consider what kind of a person our education forces us to become.

One of the best ways to become the kind of person our society needs is to engage with a diversity of ideas, in addition to specializing in a specific discipline. Indeed, many universities have policies encouraging this: most universities require students to take classes in a variety of disciplines, Boston University included, but it is often simple to circumvent these requirements. In short, one of the more salient and regrettable trends in education seems to be the decline in the role that the broad critical thinking plays in our system.

Perhaps what we need is a reemphasis on the classical education that was the mainstay of college learning for the majority of our country’s history. Although some may consider the Western canon of philosophy, history, literature and art to be an archive of the works of dead white men, the ideas with which these works engage are timeless and necessary. Various Boston University institutions, such as the Kilachand Honors College and Core Curriculum, encourage this kind of broad thinking and engagement with these ideas that have formed the cultural milieu we experience now in 2015.

One of the benefits I believe I have acquired from studying history, philosophy and literature is an enhanced ability for self-criticism. As an economics major, I have to admit that my field of study has a tendency to attempt to quantify everything, to measure in dollars and cents what really cannot be value in monetary terms. Although the value of studying the Western canon cannot necessarily be quantified, that does not mean it is not valuable.

Although it may not stand out in the minds of most students, our university education system was founded at least partially to form good citizens. If — and this is a big if — this is something we as a society care about, we should reemphasize the works that have formed us, not just at the college level but at all levels of education. Ultimately, in order to understand where we are headed as a society, it behooves us to understand where we came from and how we arrived at where we are now.

BY SARA RYAN COLUMNIST

Hillary Clinton is the 2012 Mitt Romney of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The parallels are uncanny. Both have previously run for president on strong political backgrounds. Both are Ivy League-educated lawyers who clear more than $1 million each year. Both have crafted moderate platforms that appeal to independents. Clinton is as inevitable in 2016 as Romney was in 2012. Does this mean the results in November will be the same?

Obviously there are a few key differences between Clinton and Romney. Clinton has more foreign policy experience and the most charismatic spouse in history. Romney alienated female voters, while Clinton could make history as the first female president. Romney faced more than a dozen primary competitors while Clinton is currently standing alone. However, the similarities may prove fatal for the Clinton camp.

On Sunday, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (unofficially) let everybody know he’s running for president when he said, “The presidency … is not some crown to be passed between two families.” Shots fired, guys. O’Malley has long been seen as a potential Democratic contender for 2016. Along with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, O’Malley is the only remarkable competition for Clinton in the 2016 primary season.

There is a clear undercurrent of dissatisfaction with Clinton’s inevitability among the more liberal and progressive arms of the Democratic Party. In Boston, we’re probably more aware of it than the rest of the country. Last week, The Boston Globe’s Editorial Board called for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren to challenge Clinton in the Democratic primary season. This was the latest and most prominent attempt to draft Warren into the 2016 race. Groups such as “Ready for Warren,” “Run Warren Run” and MoveOn.org have all put together early grassroots campaigns on behalf of Warren. Unfortunately for everyone, myself included, Warren has repeatedly stated that she will not run.

Warren, who, along with Liz Lemon and Olivia Pope, is one of my role models, is a symptom of a larger problem within the Democratic Party. Very few people are excited about Hillary Clinton. She’s not new to the political stage, and I think most people know what they’re going to

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get with her. She has already run for president once. The challenge for Clinton will be to create an evolved persona that addresses the fatal flaws in 2008 Clinton.

Conversely, Warren is exciting. She’s new and outspoken. She’s pissing off the big banks and not pulling any punches. She’s the populist underdog the left wing has been begging for. She has made a name for herself nationally by crafting a resonating message. She brands herself as a champion of the middle class and has lived up to expectations. Naturally, tension would arise between the liberal darling and the inevitable nominee. Maybe we’re only noticing this unresolved tension because it’s in our backyards.

Warren may have a national presence, but she isn’t nearly as recognizable as Clinton.

While O’Malley and Biden are sizeable opponents, they’re nothing compared to the Mitt Romney-esque Clinton. If you remember the 2012 presidential election, there was a clown car’s worth of Republican candidates. It felt like there was a new frontrunner every week. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, former U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann all stepped onto center stage, if only for a moment. These candidates took some of the heat off Romney, until the GOP eventually settled on the former Massachusetts governor.

One of Hillary’s problems is the definitive lack of competition. Warren isn’t running.

O’Malley and Biden aren’t viable options to challenge her or even gain short-term momentum. While the GOP had time to mull over all the candidates before finally supporting the inevitable, the Democratic Party doesn’t have this opportunity. Most people are just expecting Clinton to breeze through the primary season like an incumbent president. This is almost worse than Romney in 2012. The Republicans will have the opportunity to take shots at the Democratic frontrunner while her own party doesn’t challenge her.

Clinton will declare in the next few weeks, and her campaign will likely be more coronation than competition. With few viable alternatives, Dems will support the former secretary of state through the primary season and onto the general. However, if she fails to energize the liberal base, she’ll likely end up like Romney three years ago.

Hillary Clinton is her own woman, and I’m excited to watch her vie for the presidency. She is an experienced leader with a proven track record. However, she also can’t be the candidate we settle for. She needs viable challengers that force her to fight for the nomination. She has spent eight years preparing for this battle. Just because she is inevitable does not mean she should coast through the fight. Romney had an easy primary season that led to his defeat in November. Without serious primary competition, Clinton could face the same results.

At Liberty University, students who did not attend a March 23 speech given by presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz were charged a $10 fine. We here at the ol’ Free Press were wondering what things BU people would be willing to pay to get out of?

CGS: Capstone.

ENG: Social interaction.

COM: COM 101.

BU Athletics: Classes.

Questrom: Actually calling themselves “Questrom” students.

President Brown: Literally anything.

BU Facilties: Shoveling snow.

FreeP: Resident quotes.

10

SPORTS

Softball unable to gain traction against high-powered Lehigh

BY MICHAEL JOSCELYN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

In its first action since March 15, the Boston University softball team lost both games of a back-toback double header against Lehigh University by a combined score of 20-2 on Wednesday.

The Terriers (6-18, 0-2 Patriot League) dropped the first game to the Mountain Hawks (21-3, 5-0 Patriot League) by a score of 9-1 after six innings of action.

“I don’t think the layoff affected us, obviously seeing live pitching for the first time in 17 days,” said BU coach Kathryn Gleason. “I don’t think it was the layoff, I just think it was our execution of just picking up ground balls, staying in front of them. I think seeing live pitching was something we needed to do.”

In Lehigh’s first inning at the plate, junior pitcher Lauren Hynes could not get it going. The San Diego native lasted just one-third of an inning, letting up four runs on three hits and two walks. One of those three hits was a grand slam hit by right fielder Jessica Calvini.

After that, Hynes was replaced by sophomore Makinna Akers, who limited the damage. Hynes has had a less than stellar start to the 2015 season, she is the Terriers’ workhouse on the mound. Posting a 4.82 ERA over 61 innings pitched,

Hynes has also fallen victim to the Terriers’ poor defense. Coming into Wednesday’s games, only 42 of Hynes’ 61 runs were earned.

Akers finished the remaining five-and-one-third innings in the game, and although she let up an additional five runs, there were no walks issued by the Roseburg, Oregon native.

Meanwhile, BU could get no offensive traction whatsoever. It left one runner on base every inning, the lone run coming on a single by freshman right fielder Emma Wong that scored sophomore centerfielder Moriah Connolly.

“We’ll look at changing up the lineup, but I thought even in the first game, we were getting good looks, and we did get some base runners on,” Gleason said. “We just didn’t get an RBI hit when we needed to, or a squeeze bunt when we needed to.”

The second game got even worse for BU as it dropped the decision 11-1, mustering just two hits over five innings against pitcher Christine Campbell, who picked up her ninth win of the season.

In the first inning, the Mountain Hawks scored all 11 of their runs for the game. Designated player Vicky Lattanzio had three RBI in the first inning on two at bats.

“We had some good energy going into the game. I was just disappointed by our execution of the

Amaro only hurting Phillies BENEDYKCIUK, FROM PAGE 12

pitcher Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros. The Phillies boasted the MLB’s best record heading into the 2010 postseason, but endured an early elimination at the hand of the eventual World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.

At the start of the 2011 season, the Phillies were heralded to have one of the best starting rotations in league history. Consisting of 2010 NL Cy Young award winner Roy Halladay, Hamels, Lee and Oswalt (one of — if not the greatest — fourth starters of all time). Fans waited patiently for the Phillies to get back to the Fall Classic, but it simply was not meant to be. The Phils won over 100 regular season games that year, but were eliminated in the NL Divisional Series by the St. Louis Cardinals, who would eventually win the NL Pennant.

The Phillies organization saw an overabundance of raw talent from 2011 dissipate into a hodgepodge of failure in a matter of just two seasons. Between 2008 and 2011, each Phillies team had a better regular season than the year before. In 2012, however, the Phillies dropped off the face of the earth. They went 81-81 en route to a third place finish in the NL East and missed the postseason by a sizeable seven-game margin. The year before, they won 102 games, and held the best regular season record in baseball for the second year in a row.

Toward the middle of last season, Philly.com conducted a “Stay or Go” poll, predicting a fire sale that Amaro has opted not to conduct, and the results were extraordinary.

Over 88 percent of fans agreed that Howard, a former National

League MVP, two-time home runs leader and five-time All-Star, should go. Howard’s low acceptance rate is obviously in part due to his dwindling productivity, even though he did drive in 95 runs last year. More importantly, though, he is no longer wanted because of his exorbitant $125-million contract through 2016.

Unsurprisingly, the same “Stay or Go” poll found that 93.6 percent of fans want Amaro out of Philadelphia. His reckless trading of prospects, combined with his even more reckless spending on contracts, has left the Phillies’ current roster aging and injured and their minor league rosters desolate.

Some of his trades — specifically Halladay — have been incredibly successful. Halladay threw a perfect game against the Florida Marlins in 2010. He also threw a no-hitter in his first career postseason game against the Cincinnati Reds that same season.

Others, such as the Hunter Pence trade in 2011, in which he shipped four promising prospects — Jarred Cosart, Josh Zeid, Jonathan Singleton and Domingo Santana — to the Houston Astros, have not been so successful. Pence only stayed with the team for the remainder of the 2011 season, before he was shipped off to the San Francisco Giants in July 2012. This past 2014 season, he would propel the Giants to their World Series title in three years with a prolific postseason effort.

Though his aggressive style arguably paid off in the short term, it has set up Philadelphia for a decade of misery in the basement of the NL East.

PHOTO BY FALON MORAN/DFP FILE PHOTO

Junior pitcher Lauren Hynes saw action in both games for BU on Wednesday and had four earned runs in three innings of work.

fundamentals,” Gleason said. “Lehigh’s a good team. They just put the ball in play, and we didn’t pick it up. I don’t think we pitched well leading off, and we were not aggressive enough at the plate.”

Again, BU failed to score more than one run. This time, the run came courtesy of an RBI double from second baseman Emily Fel-

baum in the 4th inning.

That RBI put Felbaum in a tie for the team lead with sophomore catcher Gabi Martinez, as they both have 12 for the year.

Going forward, Gleason said the message is clear for the Terriers.

“Just executing when you’re asked to do your job,” Gleason

said. “Doing something different than you’ve already done. The good thing is that we know that, well weather permitting, that we’re going to be playing this weekend. We haven’t had the chance to make that quick turnaround in awhile, so we’ll practice Friday and look to bounce back on Saturday when we play [College of the] Holy Cross.”

SPORTS

11

Relief pitching shines, softball drops first conference games

BY JOE CALABRESE DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

With the brutal New England winter seemingly over, the Boston University softball team was finally able to begin Patriot League play on Wednesday afternoon against Lehigh University.

After nearly three weeks without a game under their belts, the Terriers (6-18, 0-2 Patriot League) showed signs of rust in their double header against the Mountain Hawks (21-3, 5-0 Patriot League) as Lehigh came away with the sweep on the day, winning 9-1 and 11-1 in six and five innings, respectively. Wednesday was rough for both starting pitching and fielding, but relief pitching proved to be a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster showing from BU. In both games, the Mountain Hawks’ offense took off as early as the first inning. In game one, they put runs on the board in the first with authority. After allowing a single and two walks, junior pitcher Lauren Hynes let up a grand slam to junior Jessica Calvini and was replaced after the next batter by junior pitcher Makinna Akers. Coming into Wednesday, Akers’ 4.78 ERA in 48.1 innings was second on

the team, behind only freshman pitcher Sydni Overly, but by the end of the day, she would improve on that figure.

Upon taking the circle, Akers got the first batter she faced to hit into the double play, stopping the bleeding in the first. She would then go on for another five innings, during which she allowed only one extra base hit and one earned run — off the bat of Mountain Hawk first baseman Casey Waggy — which didn’t come until the sixth.

BU coach Kathryn Gleason said she was pleased with Akers’ relief stint.

“Makinna came in and did a great job in the first inning of shutting them down,” she said. “She did a good job of getting ground balls, even later in the game.”

By the time she had struck out designated player Vicky Lattanzio to start the final frame, Akers had retired 11 straight batters. Three more runs were scored off Akers in the sixth, all of them unearned, and she would drop her ERA 30 points — from 4.78 to 4.47 — in a relatively effective relief appearance.

The Terriers’ two games on Wednesday weren’t even close. Lehigh’s offense put on a clinic, but defensive miscues piled up for the

Terriers throughout the day and cost BU more embarrassment than was necessary. Altogether, eight of the 20 runs the Mountain Hawks plated — nearly half — were unearned.

Gleason was not happy with her team after its poor defensive outing.

“It’s concerning,” she said. “Especially since we didn’t have to make extraordinary plays to make them.”

While Gleason emphasized the team’s inability to make some routine plays, she did make note of some times when the defense shined.

“I think some of the [plays] were routine, and then in some aspects, we made some great plays,” she said. “[Sophomore outfielder] Mandy [Fernandez] had some great plays in the outfield, and [sophomore centerfielder] Moriah [Connolly] and [freshman outfielder] Emma [Wong] as well. I just don’t think we’re making the standard, routine plays.”

It started early for the Terriers, too. In the second inning of game one, an error by freshman shortstop Jilee Schanda allowed Mountain Hawk left fielder Nicole Yozzo to reach second base and eventually reach home. In the sixth inning, errors literally cost the Terriers

the game. Four errors from four different Terriers — Schanda, Akers, Connolly and senior first baseman Kendra Meadows — resulted in three unearned runs, triggering the scoring limit, which cut the contest short.

In game two, the Terriers got off to an appropriate start. Yozzo, the Mountain Hawks’ very first batter, reached base on a fielding error from junior pitcher Melanie Russell.

She, along with 10 other runners, would come around to score in the bottom of the first inning. Additional errors from Schanda and Connolly would not help the Terriers’ cause.

Schanda was actually benched in the fourth inning after her third error of the day.

Despite Gleason’s frustration, she expressed hope in her team moving forward.

“I don’t think I’m worried about it,” she said. “I’m just frustrated about it, and I know they are as well. I have confidence in all of them each and every game and each and every play. It’s a matter of them having to trust themselves and trust their teammates. That’s something we’ve talked about all year, and today just wasn’t the day to pick up the ball.”

Women’s golf strong at Middleburg Bank Intercollegiate

BY JARETT LEONARD DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Boston University women’s golf team finished in sixth place in the Middleburg Bank Intercollegiate tournament this week. The Terriers recorded a team total of 959 over three rounds and were the highest finishing Patriot League team.

The tournament took place at the

5962 yard, par-72 Plantation Course at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia, with 36 holes played on Monday and 18 holes played on Tuesday.

BU started the tournament strong on the opening day. Sophomore Adela Cejnarova fired two rounds of six-over 78 and sat in a tie for 15th individually. Junior Emily Tillo shot rounds of 82 and 76 while freshman Phyllis Tang recorded an 80 and 81 in the first two rounds. Senior

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Kristyna Pavlickova (83-83) and senior Flor Canedo (91-100) rounded out the day one scoring for the Terriers. As a team, BU shot a two-round total of 641 and was tied for sixth place after the first day of competition.

“After the first round, I wasn’t very pleased with my game,” Tillo said. “I knew I left a lot of shots out there, and my short game was not where it needed to be.

I just took a step back and asked myself how badly I wanted to play well and how bad I wanted it” On day two, the Terriers continued their strong play. Tillo made the biggest jump up the leaderboard out of any player in the tournament with a final-round best even-par 72, which earned a tie for 10th place overall. Cejnarova continued her consistent play with a third-straight 78 and finished in a tie for 18th. Tang, Pavlickova, Silverman and Canedo also contributed rounds in the 80s, as BU broke out of a tie with the United States Naval Academy to capture sixth place alone in the tournament.

“I think [Tuesday] really turns the corner for us emotionally for us heading into the spring,” said BU coach Bruce Chalas. “Emily [Tillo] continued her tremendous play all year and all spring. She’s been playing great. I was happy to see Adela [Cejnarova] play three good, consistent rounds. She’s worked hard on her game this year and the last week-and-ahalf in particular. Her ball striking the last three rounds was great. Phyllis [Tang] continues to be real consistent for us.”

BU started the season with a win at the Dartmouth Invitational in New Hampshire. A team-total of 595 was the best 36-hole score in program history, including a program-record 291 in the first round that gave the Terriers a 17-shot lead. All five Terriers shot under 80 in both rounds and all finished in the top-18 individually.

BU later finished sixth in the Yale Fall Classic, seventh in the Diane Thomason Invitational and seventh in the Courtyard Classic to round out the fall.

Cejnarova was named Patriot League Golfer of the Month in October 2014 and recorded a team-best scoring average of 77.83 in the fall. She tied her own program-record low round of three-under 69 in the first round of the Courtyard Classic. Tillo took home the same award in September after winning the Dartmouth Invitational with an even-par total of 144

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE TURESKI

Junior Emily Tillo earned a tie for 10th place overall with her final-round best even-par 72.

(70-74).

“I love that course,” Tillo said of Hanover Country Club, site of the Dartmouth Invitational. “I seem to always have positive memories from that course, so that was great to not only win individually but win as a team. That keeps you going the rest of the season, and it keeps you motivated. That’s why you practice, that’s why you play your hardest, because you want to win and you love the thrill of competition.”

The Terriers started the spring strong as well, finishing 15th out of 40 teams at the Kiawah Island Classic. Tillo made a hole-in-one en route to a final-round 73 in South Carolina. She also tied for sixth individually at the North Florida Intercollegiate, held in her hometown of Jacksonville, with rounds of 74, 77 and 71.

BU will now take on Brown University on April 11 before completing its regular season in the Battle at the Bay tournament the next two days at Metacomet Country Club in Providence, Rhode Island. The Patriot League Championship is scheduled for April 18 and 19 in Annapolis, Maryland, where a win will earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Regionals in early May. “We’re really excited about that opportunity,” Chalas said. “We’ve been talking about it all year and it’s definitely high priority. We’re taking a short trip to Pinehurst to practice this weekend and I think that’s going to get us in good shape for Brown and then the Patriot League tournament.”

Sports

Quotable

“Just executing when you’re asked to do you’re job. Doing something different than you’ve already done,” said Kathryn Gleason after the softball team lost a doubleheader. p. 10

The Blue Line How does Rubén Amaro Jr. Have a Job?

100 Akers Wood In its first game in 17 days, softball is downed by a combined 20-2 score, but relief pitching provides a bright spot. p. 10

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Red-hot Jack Wilson emphasizes team over self

BY MIKE BENEDYKCIUK DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in Game 5 of the World Series. Picture the pandemonium in the streets — the Phillies had not won a title since 1980, when they were led by Hall-of-Famers Steve Carlton and Michael Jack Schmidt.

The city of Philadelphia had not experienced a championship team since 1983, when the 76ers swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Fast forward to October 2012. Imagine that the Phillies — winners of 473 games and five National League East titles from 2007 through 2011 — are seven games removed from the playoffs and have absolutely no signs of a promising future. How does that make any sense?

The answer is simple: Rubén Amaro, Jr. Amaro took over as Phillies General Manager on Nov. 1, 2008, the day after a parade celebrating the city’s beloved baseball heroes marched up and down Broad Street. Since Amaro took control as GM, the franchise has gone downhill faster than a speeding bullet.

Amaro’s regime did not start out poorly.

In the offseason following the 2008 World Series Championship, the Phillies signed stud-starting pitcher Cliff Lee to bolster their rotation. Despite the fact that Lee would miss much of the regular season due to injury, the 2009 Phillies (93-69) were arguably much better than the 2008 Phillies (92-70).

Although the Phils were ultimately unable to defend their ’08 World Series Championship in 2009, when they lost to the New York Yankees in six games, the future was still bright on Broad Street. The Phillies were teeming with talent they had drafted and developed themselves, including Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. They had a smart coach in Charlie Manuel. They had a potent lineup and a field draped with Gold-Glovers. And, as if that weren’t enough, they would go on to acquire an abundance of other talent by a debatable series of trades.

On Dec. 15, 2009, the Phillies acquired Roy Halladay — arguably the best starting pitcher of the new millennium — from the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Phils weren’t done yet, though. Later in the 2010 season, Philadelphia acquired

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA WIMLEY/DFP FILE PHOTO

Freshman attack Jack Wilson averages 3.11 points per game and is sixth in the nation in rookie scoring.

BY JONATHAN SIGAL DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Jack Wilson wasn’t supposed to come to Boston University. In fact, the Manlius, New York native was originally committed to play lacrosse at a school just over an hour west of his hometown — Hobart College.

Everything had fallen into place, and the freshman attack had found the seemingly perfect spot to spend four years earning his degree and playing lacrosse, a game that has become a crucial part of his identity.

“I walked around [Hobart], and it was awesome,” Wilson said. “I originally thought I wanted a small school by the water, and I fell in love with it and committed there.”

But then his recruiting process encountered an unexpected twist when Hobart’s coach departed for another job and Wilson was left to explore outside opportunities. Talks developed with several schools, the least of which came by way of BU coach Ryan Polley. After having his college plans turned on their head, Wilson committed to BU (6-3, 3-2 Patriot League) finally finding a program in a vivacious city.

“A lot of [my decision] had to do with the coaching staff,” Wilson said. “They always remind us that they recruited us to come here and that they wouldn’t trade us away for any other players. I really value that in them. Also Boston is a great city with so many connections and so many things to do. You can never get bored here.”

Come the fall 2014 semester, Wilson was officially part of the second-year program, enrolled in the Questrom School of Business and trying to make the most of

his experiences on and off the field. He brought with him an impressive resume, too, as he scored a staggering 67 goals during his senior season in high school, led Fayetteville-Manlius High School to its first state title game in 21 years and earned a place on the U.S. Lacrosse Academic All-American team.

With a background of that caliber, it would be entirely understandable if Wilson felt as though he would become a staple of BU’s patient and powerful offense when he arrived on campus. However, he was keenly aware that playing time was not guaranteed by any means and that past successes meant little in college. If Wilson wanted to help write the history of his new team, he knew he would have to earn the right to.

“There was no expectation from me when I came in,” Wilson said. “I was actually really nervous and didn’t know a lot of the guys. It’s been a long road though, and I am excited to see where it all goes.”

As BU is now past the midpoint of its season, it is abundantly clear that all the anxiety was for naught. The freshman attack has exploded around the net, as he has posted a team-leading 28 points on 19 goals and nine assists. He has also been awarded the Patriot League Rookie of the Week award three times and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Despite all of Wilson’s personal success though, he is quick to quell any of the attention or spotlight that comes his way.

He is far more comfortable taking solace in what his team is trying to accomplish.

“I try not to think of the awards or numbers too much,” he said. “Lacrosse is a team sport, and I have a lot of fun playing lacrosse, and my teammates do too.”

Hearing Wilson with such a level head

may come to the surprise of many, especially considering that he has the keys to BU’s offense. With Wilson at the helm and showing spectacular grace with the ball in his stick, the team’s offense is currently scoring 12.33 goals per game and has managed to score 17 goals or more on three occasions.

This is largely because Wilson, who Polley regards as his “quarterback,” is as likely to fire a shot into the far corner as he is to pick out a teammate streaking toward the goal with a better shot angle. Yet, as impressive as the statistical measures are, Wilson provides his team with many intangibles that often go unnoticed and are just as important.

“He really helps us because he does so many things for us,” Polley said. “He can carry the ball for us, he can shoot the ball well, he’s a great feeder, he’s great on the ride and is good on ground balls. He does so many things for us and is just a super kid.”

Redshirt sophomore attack Sam Tenney, who often accompanies Wilson during man-up opportunities, echoed Polley’s sentiments about the freshman and said he is a special player with the ability to make spectacular individual and team plays.

“Jack is an incredible player and is only going to get better,” he said. “He helps make everyone around him better, and he’s fun to play with. A great player on the field and an even better kid off the field.”

While many other Terriers liberally offer compliments about Wilson’s red-hot start to college lacrosse, he is far more hesitant to accept the heaps of praise. With that type of attitude, Wilson is able to remain grounded and make plays like he did in BU’s 11-9 win over Bucknell University on March 21.

With the game tied up at four apiece, Wilson collected a feed from above the restraining line and had a prime opportunity to let loose his blazing right-handed shot.

Instead, he disoriented the Bucknell goalkeeper with a fake shot and quickly dished a smooth pass down to sophomore and fellow attack Adam Schaal for an easy finish.

In the blink of an eye, BU had grabbed the lead, all due to Wilson’s heads-up play.

Instead of opting for a selfish decision, Wilson found his teammate in a more promising spot and altogether illustrated his tendency to look out for others first and foremost. Although he is a freshman with physical gifts and loads of lacrosse talent, he would much rather not focus on that.

After all, if you bring up his personal successes, he’ll quickly cast them to the side and reiterate that what truly matters is his team adding to the win column every time they take the field.

“It all comes down to taking it one game at a time,” Wilson said. “It’s been our motto all year. You have to take it one play at a time, and it will all show on Saturdays.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

BOTTOM LI NE THURSDAY, APRIL 2

FRIDAY, APRIL 3

SATURDAY, APRIL 4

Cleveland Cavaliers coach David

“Next thing you’re going to tell me is

Softball @ Holy Cross 12 & 2 p.m.

Blatt does not think it’s unusual

that letting my 12-year-old son drive

that LeBron James is calling some

to his friends house across town is

plays for the team.

unusual too,” Blatt said.

Men’s Lacrosse @ Army 12 p.m.

SUNDAY, APRIL 5

MONDAY, APRIL 6

Softball @ Holy Cross 12 p.m.

Blatt then got a panicked look on his face and ran out of the room.

Women’s Lacrosse @ Lehigh 1 p.m.