TERRIERS THRIVE, 4
GALLERY, 6
EDITORIAL, 7
Mental health services and students provide resources at event.
Photographer records ambience of lanterns in New Hampshire.
The Daily Free Press endorses Michelle Wu for Mayor of Boston.
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CROSSWORD, 10 As it nears the end of October, test your Halloween trivia. J O U R NA LI S M
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Students upset by blocked view of Citgo sign Madhri Yehiya Campus News Editor The iconic Citgo sign on Boston University’s East Campus has slowly become obstructed by the construction of an adjacent commercial and retail building in Kenmore Square which began Fall 2019. The University sold 660 Beacon Street — the building on which the oil company sign has sat since 1940 — to real estate developer Related Beal in 2016 along with eight nearby properties. It originally housed Barnes and Noble at BU, the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders and other University offices. Several students have expressed their disappointment at the gradual covering up of the 60-foot-by-60 foot LED-lit sign, noting its connection to campus. Sebastian Young, a sophomore in the Questrom School of Business, said the sign is most useful when navigating Boston. “I feel like I can always find the Citgo sign,” he said. “It’s more of just a landmark, I feel like if I get lost I could find my way back.” He added the University should have considered the opinion of students when selling the East Campus properties, knowing the presence of the notable sign could be affected. “Talk to students about it … and [don’t] just do it,” he said. “We paid for the tuition, so might as well ask, right?” A 2016 BU Today article published shortly after the agreement between BU and Related Beal reported that the University has tried to improve the appeal and safety of Kenmore for decades. The piece quoted Gary Nicksa, BU’s former senior vice president of operations, as calling Related Beal “a very high-quality firm with extensive experience in Boston” whose involvement should ease local concerns about the area. Derek Howe, the current senior vice president of operations, did not
respond to request for comment. BU spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in an email the construction approval procedure was a long one and took several elements into consideration. “Related Beal went through an extensive public approvals process with the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) where every factor of the development is presented and considered,” he wrote. “I’ve only heard positive comments about the beautiful new building.” Related Beal’s design plans have previously been criticized by the community for their departure from traditional Kenmore architecture. The Square has been around since the early 1900s. Bright white neon letters spelling out the word “WHOOP” recently appeared near the top of the glasspane covered building next door to 660 Beacon Street. The Citgo sign is no longer fully visible when walking from the direction of Central Campus. Some students brought up the possibility of moving the Citgo sign upward to afford passers-by up and down Commonwealth Ave. an unobstructed view of the sign once more. Olivia LaRosa, a Metropolitan
College master’s student and 2020 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, said she wondered whether or not the developers will consider shifting the sign sooner rather than later. “At least they’re not destroying it [or] taking it down, so maybe it will just be moved,” she said. “I’m just hoping it’s not going to be obscured for very much longer.” LaRosa noted that in light of the sign’s gradual obstruction, the local community’s attachment to it seems to have been ignored. “[Related Beal] probably didn’t ask any students or faculty or people that live in the area and want to look at it,” she added. “It’s the one Boston landmark that’s on campus.” She added she was not previously aware the construction on East Campus would affect the Citgo sign’s visibility to any degree. Former City of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced in March 2017 that Related Beal and Citgo had agreed the sign would remain in Kenmore Square for at least the next several decades. Previous efforts to remove the sign in the early 1980s were met with intense backlash from members of the community, who demanded it be granted landmark status.
Local baseball fans, in particular, have a deep attachment to the Citgo sign, given its view from Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. The developer’s website noted the Kenmore Square construction is meant to “define visibility of the Citgo sign for everyone, including neighbors, students, businesses, visitors, marathon runners and baseball fans.” Related Beal did not respond to multiple phone requests for comment, and the press inquiry email address on their website was returned to the sender as a nonexistent inbox. Juhi Nath, a second year graduate student in the School of Social Work, agreed that the ability to see the sign from different angles across the Charles River helps prevent students from losing their way in the large city. “It helps me remember where I am, I’m new to Boston,” she said. “I know a lot of undergrads use it as a way to get around.” She added if the sign were to become completely obscured, it would feel like “something missing” from the city skyline. LaRosa echoed a similar sentiment. “It’s such a piece of all of us here,” she said. “I have to go down there now to see what’s going on.”
The Citgo sign in Kenmore Square, obstructed by a newly constructed building by real estate developer Related Beal. Several Boston University students have expressed disappointment in the gradual covering up of the iconic campus landmark. MOHAN GE | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Divest BU protests BU to act faster post divestment Phoebe Chen Contributing Writer Divest BU — an organization of Boston University students, faculty and staff united against fossil fuel divestment — held a protest at Marsh Plaza Oct. 15 in response to BU President Robert Brown’s Sept. 23 email announcing the University will “end the investment of our endowment in fossil fuels.” At the protest, the club asked the University to increase transparency on the process and funding, expedite the timeline and create a social impact fund. Close to a dozen people attended. In the email, President Brown wrote the University Investment Office will use its discretion to determine how soon BU can completely remove fossil fuel investment and should be allowed to invest in technology with minimal connection to fossil fuels during the transition period. “We did not think that this was an adequate answer to our demands so basically we were protesting for three things,” said Cora Funke, vice president of Divest BU and a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. Funke noted the club has been pushing for divestment for the past nine years and believes BU can expedite the divestment timeline to be complete in “no more than five years.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Halloween creeps back into Boston Jit Ping Lee Staff Writer
Head of the Charles Regatta to resume in-person competition Taylor Brokesh Senior Writer
YEAR LI. VOLUME C. ISSUE IX
The Head of the Charles Regatta will welcome nearly 11,000 rowers and 150,000 spectators back to the
MIKE DESOCIO | DFP FILE
The Boston University rowing team in the 2016 Head of the Charles Regatta. After being held as a global virtual event in 2020, the Regatta will welcome 11,000 rowers and nearly 150,000 spectators back to the Charles River this weekend.
Charles River this weekend. The race — the largest rowing event of its kind in the world — was changed to a global virtual event in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That move marked one of the only two times in history the in-person race was canceled. Executive director of the HOCR Fred Schoch said the Regatta is a significant part of Bostonian culture, with as much importance as the Boston Marathon and the city’s most famous sports teams. “The rowers call it ‘Christmas for rowers’,” Schoch said. “It’s sort of a mix between Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl.” The Head of the Charles is a three-mile head racing tournament — boats leave the starting line in intervals, and the goal is to pass as many other boats as possible. There will be more than 60
rowing events taking place featuring more than 800 universities, colleges, clubs and high schools competing, according to Schoch. Boat configuration varies with the different events. There are singles, doubles, fours and eights, where each number corresponds to how many people are rowing in addition to the coxswain, who steers the boat and coordinates the rhythm among the rowers. There will also be several additional hours of events on Friday beginning at 8 a.m., a departure from previous years’ events spanning only Saturday and Sunday. Lizzy Houston, one of the assistant women’s rowing coaches at Boston College, spoke about the weight of the Regatta for Olympic hopefuls. “If you have a strong showing at the Charles, it can be a promising spring,” she said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
As we approach Halloween on Oct. 31, the City of Boston is preparing to celebrate the holiday. While Halloween originated from the Celts — present-day Ireland and Scotland — the tradition was brought into the United States by Irish immigrants who arrived in the 1840s and 1850s. The first recorded celebration of Halloween in Massachusetts was in 1884, as chronicled by an article in the Boston Daily Globe that year. The Irish brought with them the practice of making Jack-O’-Lanterns, although that evolved over time — pumpkins replaced the Irish’s turnips as the choice for carving. They also brought the tradition of trick-ortreating. “In Ireland, if you went door to door wearing a costume, they would give you food,” Stephen Kenney, museum director of the Commonwealth Museum, said. “So when people came especially from Ireland to Massachusetts, that custom began to take hold.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 3