12-9-2021

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First case of Omicron variant in Massachusetts detected Dongfang Zhou Contributing Writer

ILLUSTRATION BY CONOR KELLEY | PHOTO EDITOR

Carlos Apostle pictured in a 2019 article from El Mundo Boston. Apostle “took on a role” in a Boston University Metropolitan College criminal law class during the 2018-2019 school year and allegedly sexually harassed, assaulted and battered a 21-year-old female undergraduate in the class.

BU named defendant in case of sexual assault, battery

Samuele Petruccelli City Associate The following article contains mentions of sexual misconduct and violence.

Just seconds after Carlos Apostle entered a Boston University classroom, she thought he was unfit for an academic setting.

In a criminal law course one year after becoming a licensed lawyer in Massachusetts, Apostle began one of the first classes teaching how to avoid tickets from police and boasting about his work as a defense attorney, according to a civil complaint filed November 2020. Eight months later, Apostle allegedly sexually harassed, assaulted and battered a 21-year-old female undergraduate.

After graduating, the student filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court against Trustees of Boston University on counts of breach of contract, negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention, and failure to fulfill Massachusetts General Law on the right to freedom from sexual harassment. BU filed to dismiss all claims against them, but the latter two motions were struck down by a judge.

The student also filed suit against Apostle on counts of negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery and assault.

A BU Title IX investigation concluded in November 2019 favoring her and was forwarded to the dean of Metropolitan College, where the course was taught. To the student’s knowledge and according to the complaint, the school never took disciplinary action against anyone.

Apostle denied nearly all of the plaintiff’s claims and BU denied they never disciplined him, though they did admit to not prohibiting contact between them.

Apostle’s current relationship with BU remains unclear. The student said she heard her professor for the course, Mark Miliotis, refer to Apostle as his “assistant.” BU disputed this title, calling him a “volunteer.”

The litigation is currently in discovery, a stage where all parties exchange evidence surrounding the events. The student, who filed under the pseudonym Jane Doe, alleges two semester’s worth of sexual misconduct by Apostle both inside and outside the classroom. As far as

she knows, Miliotis was informed of the behavior but did not report it, according to the complaint.

In court documents, BU lawyers issued a defense arguing the student’s “own conduct caused or contributed to the accident, injuries, and damages alleged.” They also argued her negligence was greater than BU’s alleged negligence, contributing to her damages.

Until late last month, Miliotis was listed online as part-time faculty of MET College. He did not respond to multiple email requests for comment.

BU spokesperson Colin Riley declined to comment on pending litigation and related topics.

MET College Dean Tanya Zlateva declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Apostle and his attorney Robert Sheketoff both did not respond to multiple email and phone call requests for comment.

On the condition of anonymity, the student agreed to an interview with The Daily Free Press.

Apostle’s Behavior The plaintiff knew this would be unlike any other experience she’d had at BU after Apostle allegedly addressed the class alone.

“He just walked in, put his stuff down and just immediately he was very cocky,” the plaintiff said.

“Mostly he talked about himself more than he talked about actually teaching us anything.”

Later that Spring, the plaintiff said she discovered Apostle was arrested and charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, impersonating a police officer and assault and battery on a senior, arrest records show. Local news covered him posing as law enforcement to enter the elderly woman’s home.

During that class, Apostle frequently asked the plaintiff questions and appeared to look at her chest rather than her face, according to court documents. At one point, he allegedly sat on her desk.

Struck by his behavior, she said in an interview that she called a friend after class and said, “‘Oh my God, one of my professors wants to sleep with me.’”

The plaintiff said she remembers instances in which Apostle brought papers Miliotis had forgotten.

Another time, she said he introduced a guest lecturer during a class Miliotis

was not present for.

“It was clear that there was some sort of professional relationship between them outside of the school world,” the plaintiff said. “It seemed that Mr. Miliotis was kind of a mentor, almost, to Carlos, and Carlos was his assistant.”

At a “mandatory networking event” for part two of the course the following Spring, the plaintiff attended with two other students, according to court documents. The complaint alleges Apostle met them there and stared at their chests as he talked.

According to the complaint, when she went to the restroom he followed her and said, “There’s a private after party; just you and me.”

When the event finished, she and her two friends left the restroom.

Apostle was waiting for them and insisted on spending the evening with them, according to the complaint.

While walking to a bar, he allegedly grabbed her rear.

At the bar, he allegedly hugged the plaintiff, attempted to massage her shoulders, boasted that he dealt drugs and encouraged her to take a shot of alcohol with him, to which she refused, according to the complaint.

The plaintiff alleged Apostle wanted to show his place of work, which “excited” her friend. There, he reached under the plaintiff’s skirt to massage her rear, according to the complaint. The complaint states they left after 2 a.m., and had little option but to accept a ride home from him.

Apostle dropped off her friend first, who was “heavily intoxicated” in the backseat.

He repeatedly reached for the plaintiff’s legs on the drive to her apartment, though she sat as far away as possible, according to the complaint. When they arrived, Apostle allegedly told her he had wanted to “f—” her since the first day of class, the complaint stated. He referred to her body and chest and said, “he just had to know.”

The plaintiff alleges Apostle repeatedly begged her to have sex.

He tried to grab her body and asked to see her breasts, the complaint states. He grabbed her face and tried to kiss her, until she pushed him away and reminded him her boyfriend was waiting for her. Apostle allegedly continued to beg for sex.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

The first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was detected in Massachusetts on Saturday.

The individual is a fully vaccinated female in her 20s and a resident of Middlesex County who traveled out-of-state, according to a Saturday press release from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. She experienced only mild disease and did not require hospitalization.

Many characteristics of Omicron are still unclear, as scientists continue to analyze it and compare it to the Delta variant.

Paul Beninger, associate professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University, said there are 50 or so mutations of Omicron, raising three types of concerns.

“One concern has to do with the speed at which it can replicate, get into cells, replicate and then break out of cells,” Beninger said, “So that’s what the Delta did. It was faster than all the other variants, and so it really just basically took over.”

The second concern is regarding the severity of the disease that can come from the variant, he said. But the severity of Omicron is unknown so far, including whether Omicron will cause different symptoms compared to earlier variants.

“In theory, it may be at risk of causing more serious disease, but there’s no real evidence yet of whether that’s happening,” he said.

Assistant professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University Laura Corlin, echoed Beninger, saying not much is known about the transmissibility or severity of the Omicron variant.

“There’s not a lot of evidence yet,” she said. “The researchers and public health officials and folks in South Africa and other places have been really great at the surveillance and they’ve been getting as much data as they possibly can as quickly as possible.”

Beninger said the third concern is the effectiveness of current vaccines toward Omicron.

“We have, really, no data at all with regards to how it’s affected by the vaccines that are out there,” he said. “So we’re very much in the discovery phase, the very beginning in discovering what the potential is of this particular variant.”

Even if there are many unknowns about the Omicron variant, it is recommended people get vaccinated as soon as possible, Beninger said.

People should still get boosters to protect themselves as well, he said.

“Any booster we give is going to enhance the natural immune system of the person and is going to help the person to be even more protected than before,” he said.

The effectiveness of vaccines toward the new variant remains to be tested, Corlin said, but it is likely still helpful to be vaccinated.

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YEAR LI. VOLUME C. ISSUE XV

WEATHER H: 39° L: 27° 30% chance of snow

Gov. Charlie Baker announces he will not run for reelection in 2022 Bella Ramirez Contributing Writer Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced Dec. 1 he will not run for re-election for a third term in the November 2022 gubernatorial election.

“It was, in fact, a very complicated and difficult decision for a number of reasons,” Baker said at a Dec. 1 press conference.

Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons said Baker’s announcement is likely influenced by former President Donald Trump endorsing gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl in October, according to a Dec. 1 press release from the MassGOP. “Our party remains committed to the America-First agenda advocated

by President Donald J. Trump, and it’s clear to me that Charlie Baker was shaken by President Trump’s endorsement of another Republican candidate in Geoff Diehl,” Lyons was quoted saying in the release.

The Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Gus Bickford was quoted saying Democrats are “ready to take back the corner office in 2022” in a Dec. 1 press release.

“Charlie Baker was pushed out of office by his own Party which has completely adopted the tactics and policies of Donald Trump,” Bickford was quoted saying in the release.

“Geoff Diehl and the Massachusetts Republican Party are offering chaos, division and policies that will drag our state back in time. We believe voters will choose progress in 2022.”

No additional candidates have announced a campaign since Baker’s address.

Currently, the race consists of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics Director Danielle Allen, State Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz and former State Sen. Ben Downing for the Mass. Democratic Party. MassGOP offers Diehl. Kimberly Duffy, Darius Mitchell, Luis Perez, Dianna Ploss, Scott Khourie and Orlando Silvo have each filed to run for office as well.

Current candidates see Baker stepping down as signaling a change of times.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

“I am leaving this paper with love in my heart and gratitude for what it gave me — a renewed love for student journalism.”

-Letter from the Editor, page 11

2 NEWS

Alum said she felt “forgotten about” during Title IX case Sexual assault from 1 The plaintiff planned how to exit the car, and, after another of Apostle’s advances, yelled, “I’m not going to sleep with you, leave me alone,” according to the complaint.

She claims she ran up the stairs of her building and that Apostle followed, asking to come upstairs. He would not leave, the complaint alleges, and she feared he would come inside and trap her.

In exchange for leaving, the plaintiff gave Apostle her phone number, which she could later block, according to the complaint. She entered her apartment, hyperventilated and spent the night crying.

Title IX Investigation After receiving her grade in the course, the plaintiff ’s father told Miliotis about Apostle’s behavior, according to the complaint. To her knowledge, Miliotis did not report Apostle to BU. Miliotis ignored all her messages when she contacted him separately, the plaintiff said, and did not attempt to reach her.

The plaintiff said she then disclosed Apostle’s behavior to another professor, who reported it to BU’s Title IX Office. Title IX investigators told her they had trouble contacting Miliotis, she said, and the complaint alleges he was uncooperative, going weeks without responding to inquiries.

BU denied Miliotis was uncooperative with investigators, but admitted to him “going weeks without responding to inquiries.”

The outcome of the seven month investigation concluded in her favor.

A report from the Title IX office was forwarded to the dean of MET. Discipline would be determined from there, but to her knowledge, BU never made moves against anyone.

“I never heard anything else from the Title IX Office after they sent me that report,” the plaintiff said. “It is my knowledge that they never did anything.”

The plaintiff said she felt forgotten about, recalling long periods of time where she received no contact from any University resource and fearing Apostle was still on campus the remainder of her time at BU. She described the Title IX investigation as “extremely indifferent,” offering her minimal protection.

“During the investigation, I remember thinking that I almost wished that I didn’t say anything, because it really just felt like they didn’t care,” the plaintiff said. “A university should care about their students and what happens to them.”

Pending Litigation The plaintiff filed a lawsuit against BU and Apostle in November 2020.

Discovery and depositions are scheduled to end by mid-March 2022, and key facts, including Apostle’s official title, must still be settled.

Sara Burns, the plaintiff ’s attorney, predicted this will be cleared up.

BU’s lawyers unsuccessfully moved to dismiss a claim of failure to secure freedom from sexual harassment and negligence as defined in state general law c. 214 § 1C, and another of negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention. A motion dismissing a third claim for breach of contract was allowed.

The University issued eight affirmative defenses, most of which place greater onus on the plaintiff.

“When it comes to affirmative

defenses in response to complaints, defendants put in the kitchen sink,” Burns said in an interview.

“Especially at this stage, we’re not terribly worried about them. We’re looking to what does the evidence show.”

Press inquiries to BU attorneys were referred to Riley, who declined to comment on pending litigation.

“Depending on how this case plays out, it could mean that a university suddenly needs to be much more careful about who they allow into their classroom,” Burns said. ERIN BILLINGS | DFP FILE “They say they couldn’t Boston University’s Metropolitan College. have known. We say they while the investigation was going on.” did know, or they should’ve known.”

BU Title IX officers did not In hindsight, the plaintiff said she respond to multiple email and phone still would have reported the alleged call requests for comment. assault for BU to be aware of the BU offers a confidential, free-ofconduct. charge resource for students who have “I think that it’s extremely experienced any instance of sexual important that these things get misconduct called Sexual Assault reported even if the University Response and Prevention. Counselors doesn’t necessarily handle it the way aid students in filing a report, among that it should be,” the plaintiff said. “I other actions, according to its website. would understand why other people The plaintiff claims $275,000 in wouldn’t want to report it if they had medical expenses, according to court heard the way that it was handled.” filings. Attached exhibits show her To students intending on reporting diagnosis with panic disorder, general misconduct to the Title IX Office, the anxiety disorder and depressive plaintiff said prepare for a long, cold disorder. process, and try to find support from “Something that I really struggled outside the Title IX Office. For her, with, and I still struggle with, is that talking to friends and family helped.

I’m terrified of male professors,” the “As far as I remember, they didn’t plaintiff said. “I still have not been give me any other resources,” the able to go to my male professors’ plaintiff said. “They didn’t tell me office hours by myself.” about any other support services or The plaintiff said she came what the University was going to do forward because the issue of sexual

misconduct is often minimized, worsening the problem itself.

“Sexual assault and sexual harassment has kind of been swept under the rug,” the plaintiff said. “The more that stuff like this gets talked about and reported and people are held accountable for their actions, then the less scared other people will be to talk about their own experiences.”

Until there are improvements in the U.S. Department of Education and until students and parents intensify pressure, Burns said she does not expect schools to change.

This case, she said, could offer a learning opportunity to universities.

“Certainly, any university who isn’t actively working hard to prevent sexual harassment and assault on their campuses right now needs to open their eyes,” Burns said. “I’ll leave it to BU to say what ways they’ve maybe changed.”

Wheelock changes curriculum, license requirements Tanisha Bhat Campus Associate Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development announced it will now continue its subject-specialized teaching programs for the freshmen class during a mandatory Zoom call Nov. 12, two days before freshmen were scheduled to register for classes for the Spring semester.

Before this year, students had the option to choose from a variety of specialized majors. However, Wheelock eliminated most of these specialized majors this Fall and only offered undergraduates the education and human development major.

Several freshmen reported being unaware of the changes to the program requirements and teacher licensing, some until the Nov. 12 meeting. In response to the miscommunication, the college announced it will offer only current freshmen the option to choose between the re-opened specialized majors or continue with the education and human development major.

The education and human development is a two-year program focused on learning about different teaching professions and fields of study. For the third and fourth year, students can choose from five specialized pathways — Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Deaf Studies, Educational Design for Transformative Futures, Teaching & Learning and Youth Development and Justice.

The college ultimately plans to create a combined five-year bachelor’s and master’s degree program. The fifth year would consist of three semesters, with students obtaining their teaching license during this time. Previously, students could receive their

license during their undergraduate censure. And that’s one of the things the education and human develop- cation program that would allow me study, but in the new undergraduate that we’re in the process of creating in ment major to his original intended to study education without necessarimajor they cannot. early childhood education,” she said. major, social studies education, after ly leading to becoming a teacher,” she Wheelock Dean David Chard said Friedland added that pursuing li- the college opened up the previously said. the new program was not initially censure while completing coursework offered programs.

Molly French, a freshman in communicated to students who were as an undergrad can be very difficult. “[The new major] would have also Wheelock, said information about the at first enrolled for Fall 2020 due to “To do a licensure program un- been a lot less history, which is what new program was on the homepage of miscommunication on the Wheelock dergraduate is really difficult,” she I came for, a primary emphasis on the Wheelock Bulletin and explained Bulletin, a website updated annu- said. “You also have to take a bunch history education … rather than what thoroughly during orientation. ally with information about Whee- of MTEL’s [which are] exams for the they’re offering, which is essentially “I thought I wanted to be a teachlock-specific programs, policies and state licensure and students were try- education with a tiny bit of course- er and I applied to BU but then I courses. ing to do all that before they gradu- work,” he said.“I didn’t feel like I’d be changed my mind over the summer,” “There is one group of students ated undergrad, and it was very, very qualified enough to teach history if I she said. “I was not sure. So I was rewho I believe may have a valid con- onerous.” didn’t take more courses.” ally, really excited to get to explore a cern and that was students who deWheelock freshman Joel Hostetler He added that in the Zoom meet- bunch of other options but still work ferred for a year because of COVID,” said when enrolled for Fall of 2021 ing he felt “pressure” to continue with with kids.” he said. “They were admitted for Fall the Wheelock Bulletin was not updat- the new program.

French said she liked the idea of a of [2020]. They did not start their first ed with information on the new maRenata Feinstein, a freshman in combined master’s program since it year until Fall of [2021] because of jor, nor did the school advertise the Wheelock, said she applied to BU be- would reduce overlap in material. the pandemic. They applied to a dif- program. cause of the new major after hearing “I really like the idea of cutting out ferent program than the one that was “In other words, as far as I can tell, about it from a friend who attended the overlap and building off of what offered starting this Fall.” none of us knew this new program an informational session. we’ve already learned and being able The college helped students meet existed until we got here,” he said.

“I actually wasn’t looking for a to get the master’s in one year,” she with advisors to make informed deHostetler said he switched from teaching licensure. I wanted an edu- said. cisions about which program they wanted to continue with, Chard said.

Chard added that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts encouraged the University to eliminate almost all of the current undergraduate teaching programs.

“Many school districts now require a master’s degree before they will hire people to be teachers,” he said. “So what we’re attempting to do is to create pathways that will then result in a plus one graduate program or a combined degree program, undergrad and graduate, that will prepare them to step into a professional position.”

Ellie Friedland, a clinical associate professor of early childhood education at Wheelock, said the new major will provide students with a “viable” career path.

BAILEY SHEN | DFP FILE “What it is opening the door Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Students who had enrolled in the college in Fall 2020 for is five-year programs for li- but deferred a year were unaware that it had changed its degree program requirements and teacher licensing.

NEWS 3

State officials react to Omicron variant arrival in Massachusetts Omicron from 1 “If people are eligible for boosters and have not yet had their booster shot, they should get the booster as soon as possible,” Corlin wrote in an email. “It is fine to mix-and-match vaccine types.”

Current vaccines still serve well to protect people, said Jarone Lee, medical director of the Blake 12 Intensive Care Unit and an emergency physician at Mass General Hospital.

“There’s a lot that we don’t know about this variant, but it is still the same virus,” he said. “Our vaccines work very well against all the variants of COVID previously, there’s no reason to believe that it will not protect you.”

Previous COVID-19 precautions still apply to the new variant.

The Boston Public Health

Commission urges residents to continue to wear masks indoors, practice social distancing, monitor for symptoms and get tested for COVID-19 if experiencing symptoms to stop the spread of the variant, wrote Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of BPHC, adding that the Commission is “doubling-down” on its recommendation that people get the vaccine and booster shot.

“Our top priority is to keep the people of Boston safe and healthy and to ensure our schools and businesses can stay open,” she wrote. “That requires getting as many people vaccinated as possible.”

Pfizer, Moderna and other vaccine manufacturers are most likely getting ready to make new vaccines, but the public should quickly get their booster shots under the presumption that it’ll help with the Omicron variant, said Philip Landrigan, Doctor and Global Public Health program director at Boston College.

Landrigan added the public

should protect themselves the same way as last year, by “masking, handwashing, social distancing and avoid[ing] large gather-

ings.”

Nationally, cases of the Omicron variant have been reported in 18 states. According to the

CDC, while the focus has been on the Omicron variant, the Delta variant remains the most circulated strain in the United States.

A CVS pharmacy offering COVID-19 vaccines. The first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was detected in Massachusetts on Saturday.

ANH NGUYEN | DFP STAFF

Massachusetts citizens look forward to change in leadership Governor from 1

MIKE DESOCIO​​| DFP FILE

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker in 2014. Baker announced last Wednesday he will not run for re-election for a third term in the November 2022 gubernatorial election.

“It splits the race wide open,” said Christina Gregg, deputy campaign manager and policy advisor for Downing. “Anytime you have an incumbent deciding actively to not run again, it marks a real opportunity to get a new era ushered in for urgent, empathetic leadership that both recognizes what the status quo on Beacon Hill has been for so long because of both Democrats and Republicans, and knows tactically how to do something about it.”

Chang-Díaz said she is hopeful for a change in authority.

“The people of Massachusetts are ready for a new chapter with new leadership,” Chang-Díaz is quoted saying in a press statement following Baker’s announcement.

Since Allen entered the gubernatorial contest ahead of Baker’s decision to drop out, she said his announcement did not change the race for her “at all.”

“I’ve been working on this for a year because I was convinced that status quo is not an option,” Allen said. “So I’m delighted that Gov. Baker and Lieutenant Gov. Polito agree, they agree that status quo is not an option. So onward, we’re making the case for the future we deserve, which is a green and healthy next generation democracy.”

Downing will commit to limiting himself to two terms if elected as Governor to encourage new faces and leadership on Beacon Hill, Gregg said.

“Governor Baker’s decision to not run for re-election marks an opportunity to both upend the culture of complacency on Beacon Hill and elect leadership committed to delivering much-needed change to all 351 communities in Massachusetts,” Downing is quoted saying in a press release following Baker’s

announcement.

Baker stepping down ultimately provides a clean slate for new candidates to win the Governor’s seat.

“We’re going to have a really strong primary debate in the Democratic field, which is really great for civic engagement in Massachusetts,” Gregg said.

Candidates like Allen view the campaign trail ahead with pride.

“Let me say I’m really proud to be a part of a diverse field of candidates,” Allen said. “It’s exciting.”

Gregg emphasized the impact of young voters in deciding who will be the next governor.

“In this campaign, it’s not that they should be heard in this race, they will be heard in this race,” Gregg said. “It’s really up to candidates to center youth and young people in their campaigns and make sure that their policies and their agendas reflect the needs and desires of those people.”

Diehl could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.

Amid surge, Wu forms new COVID-19 Advisory Committee Cici Yu Staff Writer Mayor Michelle Wu announced the formation of the new 17-member COVID-19 Advisory Committee in response to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases during a press conference Monday.

The committee — made up of public health professionals and community, business and cultural leaders — will help make City decisions on public health policies, such as how to tackle new COVID-19 variants, to work toward ending the pandemic in Boston, according to a press release from the Mayor’s Office.

“I’m so grateful that everyone is willing to share their time because we are in a window of time to act, and look forward to receiving the wisdom and expertise of this group,” Wu said at the press conference.

COVID-19 has disproportionately affected certain minority groups, especially communities of color, said Jarone Lee, medical director of the Blake 12 Intensive Care Unit and an emergency physician at Mass General Hospital, in an interview.

“This task force, with the right composition and all the folks on it,

COURTESY OF CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

An illustration of the SARS-CoV-virus. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced a 17-member advisory committee Monday in response to the winter surge in COVID-19 cases and the first known case of the Omicron variant in Massachusetts.

and the list, as you can see, is pretty broad and has a lot of community groups,” Lee said. “I do think that Mayor Wu and her team will be able to hopefully get to these communities that have lower vaccination rates and also higher risk of having complications with COVID.” Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission and chair of the committee, said during the press conference COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise, but

vaccination among some of our most vulnerable populations is lagging.

While 67% of the overall population in Boston is fully vaccinated, only about one-quarter of all children in Boston aged 5 through 11 received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Almost 60% of white non-Hispanic children have been vaccinated and only 35% of Asian, 10% of Latinx and 7% of Black children have received their first dose of vaccine, Ojikutu said.

“I urge Bostonians to get tested,

to get vaccinated, to get boosted and to work with us to close these gaps so that every person has easy access to the public health tools they need,” Wu said.

Boston focused on four key strategies — increasing access to vaccination and boosters, increasing testing, enhancing health communication and doubling down on prevention — to end the pandemic, Ojikutu said at the conference.

“We have recently purchased and will be providing 20,000 free rapid antigen home tests to communities with the highest rates of COVID-19 and high barriers to purchasing test kits on their own,” she said. “We will be distributing these free test kits as well as masks prior to the holidays.”

Ojikutu said the City will make vaccine clinics more accessible throughout Boston to increase city-wide vaccination. New higher capacity clinics will open Dec. 11, Dec. 18 and two Saturdays in January, adding to the current walkin clinics in the city.

Wu said Boston is in an “urgent situation” and the goal of the advisory committee is to move quickly in response to the first Omicron variant case in Massachusetts.

While more evidence is needed to answer any questions conclusively, Ojikutu said there is some evidence

to suggest the Omicron variant may be able to evade immunity to prior infections, increasing the risk of reinfection.

“In this time of uncertainty, it’s important to remain vigilant but also to be calm,” Ojikutu said. “And most importantly, get your vaccine if you haven’t and receive your booster shot.”

Julia Koehler, a member of the committee, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, said in an interview the emergence of the Omicron variant requires non-pharmaceutical interventions including masks, air filtration, ventilation, distancing and hand hygiene.

“Even with the Delta variant, we know that the vaccines are not a magic shield,” Koehler said. “What this variant illustrates [is] the literal truth of this saying none are protected if all are not protected.”

The City is anticipating a jump in cases over the holidays, Wu said.

“All the inevitable exposures that people have during travel is concerning,” Koehler said. “I would just call on everyone to use maximal caution, be thoughtful about our actions, use the tools that we have available.”

4 FEATURES

ARTS ‘Aurora Borealis’ dazzles with lights and dance

Emily Pauls Senior Writer

The Boston University Dance Theater was filled with dance, lights, smiles and great energy Monday night as the College of Fine Arts School of Theatre and the Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance put on the 20th annual “Aurora Borealis: A Festival of Light and Dance” shows. There were eight separate performances ranging from hip-hop to jazz with lights that complemented the tone of the dances.

“It’s a celebration of creativity, collaboration, curiosity and conversation between two forms, in this case between lighting and dance,” said Yo-EL Cassell, the artistic codirector of the show and assistant professor of movement in SoT. “It’s always a joy and a great gift.”

Qian Chengyuan, a third-year grad student in CFA and a lighting designer for six of the performances, worked with choreographers to find the best lights to match each dance.

“Discussing my reaction, my feeling and my idea with them is really important,” Chengyuan wrote in an email. “I will make decisions like color, gobo, or light base[d] on our conversation.”

Micki Taylor-Pinney, director of dance and the other artistic codirector of “Aurora Borealis,” has been a part of the annual program

since the very beginning 20 years ago. The idea came to her and a colleague when they were having a discussion about collaborating with CFA lighting designers.

“We used both students as well as faculty and professional dancers to create a program with the specific goal that lighting designers would have a chance to have conversations and discussions,” she said. “It was an opportunity for the lighting designers to create this visual scape.”

For this year’s show, the lighting designers worked with material from their classes, Taylor-Pinney said. This included independent studies performances, directed studies in composition and a 10-minute finale piece titled “Class Work” from BU dance instructor Jossie Coleman that blends jazz, funk, hip-hop and Afro-fusion.

The performance titled “Blemish” was choreographed by CFA sophomores Christine Dvorak and Hampton Richards, with lighting design by Chengyuan. The piece opened with a vibrant pink backdrop that silhouetted the first of three dancers. “[‘Blemish’] was really about the perception of ourselves versus the perception of what other people perceive us to be, essentially,” Richards said. “It was so fun to see that come to life, which is amazing. I was like, ‘This is the vision exactly.’”

“Just Passing Through” was performed and choreographed by Ivan Walks, a senior in CFA. His first original choreography “was an exploration of finding balance spiritually, physically, mainly in the container of external chaos,” he said.

“Movement is very important to me, and it was beautiful to explore that in front of a live audience,” Walks

COURTESY OF ANDREW BRILLIANT

Two dancers perform in “Aurora Borealis: A Festival of Light and Dance.” The Boston University School of Theatre and the Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance put on the 20th annual production Monday, comprising eight separate performances ranging from hip-hop to jazz.

said. “The audience was great, all the other performers were amazing, it was a great environment. I loved it.”

Alan Kuang, a sophomore in CFA, was in three of the performances, including “towards You,” a duet with Emma Weller, “Paean for Ted,” a four-man performance from the play “Colossal” that SoT performed recently, and the large group dance “Class Work.”

“Our piece is about love, and it’s about the relationship, and all the highs and lows of a romance,” Kuang said about “towards You.” “I think we just really wanted to tell a story through movement.”

During the last performance, he said there was high energy from the audience, and the dancers “really feed off of that energy.”

Audience members Ethan Strauther and Samara Fair, both seniors in the College of Engineering, came to support their friends who were in the show. Strauther said there was “a lot of variety” in the dances, and everyone was “very talented.”

“I connected with the end just because it gave energy, and I give a lot of energy,” Strauther said. “I was popping in my seat.”

Fair said she liked the performance of the “Paean for Ted” from the

“Colossal,” performed earlier this semester at the Fringe Festival.

“I just loved the energy that was given,” she said. “You’re really brought into the story.”

Taylor-Pinney said the choreographers and lighting designers came together to create a “dramatic universe,” and the show was a “celebration.”

“We call it ‘Aurora Borealis,’ and it’s just the wonder that you can see, that you can feel when you put together movement, dance, lighting and sound,” Taylor-Pinney said. “Each piece will feel specific and may touch [the audience] in some way.”

Chinese, Chinese American designers ‘return’ home in exhibit Claire Zhang Staff Writer Radical Return — an exhibition that features work from 36 Chinese and Chinese-American graphic designers and artists around the world — is on display at the Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery at Boston University and at IS A GALLERY in Shanghai, China until Dec. 12.

The theme of the exhibition is the Chinese character 回 — pronounced ‘hui’ — which means “return,” cocurators Kai Li and Mary Yang said.

The grid-like character inspired the artists both conceptually and visually, Li said.

“We’re really just using that Chinese character, or ‘hui,’ as a starting point of inquiry,” said Yang, assistant professor of art and graphic design in the College of Fine Arts.

“We actually did a call for submissions for this exhibition … we gave them a 24-by-24 grid file.”

Radical Return is the first project created by “Radical Characters” — a study group initiated by Yang and Li earlier this year dedicated to connecting the design and culture of Chinese and Chinese-American designers.

Danielle Chang, a junior in CFA and the exhibition and design assistant, said the designers responded to the theme of “returning” by playing on the geometric shape of the character’s “square within a square.”

Not only is each work in Radical

Return based on ‘hui,’ but the exhibition space itself is as well, Chang said. Hanging on the four walls are the submissions, and at the center of the square-shaped room is a low table filled with books on Chinese typography and graphic design.

One designer featured in the exhibition, Daedalus Guoning Li, said they thought about the meaning of “returning” in refamiliarizing themselves with their cultural identity after changing in a fundamental way.

Daedalus Li, a multimedia designer from China, now in the MFA program for graphic design at Yale University, described a “misalignment” between their Chinese cultural identity and identity as a non-binary queer person of color in the United States.

“I see these two as two parallel trajectories, but sometimes they overlap, they collide,” Daedalus Li said. “Sometimes it’s not really [a] harmonious or enjoyable collide, rather than maybe a slightly stressful one.”

They added that sometimes, others may see a change in their identity as a “mutation,” but they choose to embrace it to bridge their two identities together.

“I’ve essentially changed or fundamentally changed, so that’s why I talked about embracing mutations,” they said. “In a way, the mutation is more like an outside gaze towards my change, it seems more like a mutation towards my own cultural heritage or cultural identity.”

They said they illustrated this in their Radical Return submission by conceptualizing how the mutation would affect the “normal” way of

writing in calligraphy, which traditionally follows strict rules on how the brush should move. Instead, in the work, they “really exaggerate each turn and deform it, giving quite a dramatic effect to each turn,” they said.

Another designer featured, Gene Hua, an interaction designer at the Whitney Museum of American Art, interpreted “return” as returning to a pre-digital age when every character was handwritten instead of electronically typed, allowing for the spontaneous creation of new characters.

“For example, there are movements in Chinese culture to create a genderneutral pronoun, and in PERRY SOSI | DFP STAFF languages that use Latin or A poster introducing the Radical Return exhibition. The exhibition will be on display at Boston University Art Galleries until Dec. 20. alphabet-based characters …

“Graphic design is so much about “radical” in the name of the it’s relatively easier,” Hua said.

“In Chinese, it’s really hard to create a picking at cultural cues and working exhibition is a double entendre, whole new pronoun because you just with how people understand the referring to both Chinese radicals, world already,” Hua said. “To me, this the base components of Chinese can’t type it.”

Hua’s work in the exhibition is was kind of pushing myself out of characters, and radical as an adjective centered around one of 12 “ghost those boundaries and making myself — the unique idea of basing graphic characters” — Chinese characters a little uncomfortable engaging with designs on the geometry of Chinese that were accidentally created when this cross-country, cross-continent characters.

As the exhibition at Stone Gallery the Japanese government was trying dialogue.”

Yichen Ma, a senior in the College nears closing hours each day, its to encode every single ‘kanji’ in of Arts and Sciences, said the usage partner exhibition in Shanghai existence, Hua said.

His piece features a “ghost of Chinese characters is a strong way prepares to open, creating a constant character” faded in the background of connecting Chinese people with exhibition.

“We wanted the conversation to in an ethereal, ghost-like way, Chinese-Americans.

“The concept of return means a not die out but be preserved even referencing the name of this lot to Chinese international students if it was going to be in a different collection of characters, Hua said.

Hua, who is Chinese-American, because a lot of us are eager to return location,” Chang said. “This said Radical Return helped him feel to our home,” Ma, who is from conversation should always be in motion and always be in the light more comfortable engaging with the Shanghai, China, said.

Yang said the use of the word [even] when it’s dark.”

Chinese language through design.

FEATURES 5

COMMUNITY Wellbeing showcase features student ventures Ava Berger Staff Writer The COVID-19 pandemic was taxing on mental health, with more than 80% of college students reporting increases in anxiety, depression and loneliness, according to a study from BMC Psychology. Boston University’s BUild Lab’s Wellbeing: Reimagined, Renewed, Revitalized Challenge encouraged student innovation focused on improving social, emotional and physical wellbeing.

A collaboration between Innovate@BU, the Wellbeing Project and BU Undergraduate Student Government, this competition awarded $500 grants to 11 studentled projects.

The challenge followed the theme “Wellbeing: Reimagined, Renewed, Revitalized,” which was Innovate@ BU’s second annual Community Impact Challenge. The finalists participated in a showcase on Nov. 18.

Innovate@BU’s Program Director of Social Innovation Blake Sims-St. Louis said she designed this program to raise awareness about mental health and social isolation after speaking to students last August.

“My hope is that by helping them make those ideas happen, we are having ripple effects and creating a more inclusive, supportive, connected community on campus,” Sims-St. Louis said.

Along with the seven teams below mentioned, four other teams — deeper, Taboo, TGNC Advocacy Committee and BIPOC Mental Health Collective — who could not be reached by the time of publication also received a $500 grant for their initiatives.

Amor Plantae Amor Plantae is an initiative to

establish a center that treats mental health patients through plant-based psychedelics, adaptogenic mycelium and non-THC minor cannabinoids.

They were selected as the audience favorite, earning an additional $500.

In an interview, co-founder L. George Sulak, an MBA student in the Questrom School of Business, said that he hopes this center increases access to treatment for veterans.

“I want to use these plant-based medicines to provide discounts or free services to veterans,” Sulak said, “because when you look at PTSD, or other problems that almost every single veteran faces, these plant-based medicines are essentially miracle cures.”

Fellow co-founder and MBA candidate Chris Sanchez said that they plan to use their awarded funds to attend conferences, conduct research and begin purchasing nonpsychoactive mushrooms.

Professional Clothing Closet Located in BU’s Center for Career Development, the Professional Clothing Closet aims to give BU students access to free professional clothing for job interviews and internships.

Tima Dasouki, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, launched this initiative after experiencing issues with costs of professional clothing as a first-generation, low-income student.

“The cost of a professional experience can become overwhelming,” Dasouki said. “I started conducting face-to-face interviews with students from all educational and professional backgrounds … and really understood that this is an issue for many other students.”

The clothing will be sourced from clothing and monetary donations from non-profits and the BU community.

Moving with Maya Mariana Mezzacappa, a freshman

in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, founded Moving with Maya, an online website and in-person initiative aimed at promoting physical, mental and nutritional health while making the fitness environment more inclusive for people with disabilities.

Mezzacappa’s personal experiences with hereditary multiple exostosis inspired her to found the initiative in 2017, she said.

“I wanted to help the disabled, help the community that I’m in,” Mezzacappa said. “Throughout the years, I started having a passion towards fitness, but I also found that getting myself into fitness being a disabled individual, it was really hard.”

With the grant, Mezzacappa plans to partner with more gyms, such as BU’s Fitness and Recreation Center, to offer more accessible equipment for the disabled population.

The Healing Creative The Healing Creative offers free resources to remote student survivors unable to receive care from BU’s Sexual Assault Response & Prevention Center.

Caylin Yorba-Ruiz, a master’s student in the School of Social Work, said that as a survivor, she’s filling a need for out-of-state students who cannot seek care from SARP. “My goal is to create materials … like coloring sheets and informational videos and things like that that will be housed on SARP’s website,” YorbaRuiz said.

Wonderland: A Global Village Wheelock master’s student Sutikshna Veeravalli and College of Communication master’s student Manasvee Muralikumaar founded Wonderland: A Global Village, which offers students an avenue to apply their multiple intelligences through art-based activities, mindfulness meditations and outdoor exposure while creating a climate of inclusion.

Having worked with students on the autism spectrum and being “differently-abled” herself, Veeravalli said she noticed that “inclusion is something that has to be deliberately done.”

The team will use their grant for further logistical planning of renting spaces and supplies for passive activities.

Grad Students Who Hike For graduate students who need a break from their rigorous academic life, Grad Students Who Hike offers an escape.

“I realized that a lot of people … just don’t have the resources to do much outside of their schoolwork,” co-founder and School of Public Health master’s student Alaina Tabani said. “I asked people if they would be interested in going for a hike if it was paid for, and a lot of people did show interest.”

With the $500 grant money, the

team will take 15 to 30 graduate students in SPH on a hike in Massachusetts in the spring of 2022.

“I want this to be something that people are like ‘Oh my God, it was so nice to get out of BU and just do something that I like, and I feel good and I feel refreshed and I feel recharged and now I can go back to doing my schoolwork,’” Tabani said.

HappyPack Master’s student in the School of Social Work Lauryn Bryant founded HappyPack to provide remote students with a platform to participate in challenges and learn about wellbeing strategies, bringing them belonging and connection.

“Universities are really struggling to support their students’ mental health,” Bryant said. “I’m really hoping to fill that gap where people can have ongoing access to a minisupport group … all the while, learning about their wellbeing.”

COURTESY OF GEENA GRANT

Amor Plantae, whose initiative aims to treat mental health patients through plant-based medicines, was selected as the audience favorite in the Boston University BUild Lab’s Wellbeing: Reimagined, Renewed, Revitalized Challenge.

BU’s poker team bets on strategy, statistics Seamus Webster Senior Writer In most circumstances, the game of poker is not typically considered to be an intellectual pursuit. In fact, its general connotation might be closer to unproductive.

But an eight-person poker team at Boston University — and the organization through which they compete — may be highlighting a social, and perhaps even professional, side of the game that many people are unaware of.

The team, which isn’t directly associated with BU, is one of 42 teams competing within the Intercollegiate Poker Association, an organization whose mission is to bring attention to the skill-based nature of the game of poker and create a global, competition-based network between colleges and universities, according to the organization’s website.

The BU team’s next match, which takes place Jan. 8 online, is the third match of five before the IPA wildcard and playoffs. The match can be streamed live on Twitch through the IPA website.

Schools with teams include Oxford University, Princeton University, McGill University and other local schools such as Harvard University and Northeastern University. All the tournament matches take place over

COURTESY OF MICHAŁ PARZUCHOWSKI VIA UNSPLASH

Playing cards and poker chips. The Boston University Poker Team is one of 42 teams competing within the Intercollegiate Poker Association, whose mission is to bring attention to the game’s skill-based nature and create a global competitive network between universities.

the streaming service Twitch.

Sahir Doshi, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he found out about the Poker Team through their Instagram page. At the start of the semester, he went to the team tryout — around 19 students vying for two open spots — and played well enough to secure a spot on the roster.

“I was playing poker for about three hours straight, just trying to maintain my stack,” he said. “I was pretty fortunate because there was some good players there as well.”

Doshi said that the team currently holds practices every two weeks at the team captain’s house. The sessions normally start with a practice game, which gives them an opportunity to

learn new theories and concepts, and then transitions into a cash game.

The team — and the IPA — play the Texas Hold ‘em poker variation.

“People there aren’t out there to get your money,” he said. “It’s more about playing to adapt and learn. But without money, it’s also very hard to implement those changes because there’s nothing at stake actually.”

Nathan Josephs, currently a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University, helped BU win the inaugural IPA championship when he was a PhD student there back in 2019 — the inaugural year of the tournament.

“My interest has always been that I think it’s a very fun game,” Josephs said. “I study statistics, and so it’s a

very statistical game as well.”

After he completed his doctoral program, Josephs said the president of the IPA reached out to him and asked if he would be interested in a leadership position with the association. Since then, he has served as head of data and education at the IPA. Josephs also said that his role with the IPA is “still evolving.” In his first year, he helped expand the tournament to its current 42 teams — BU was one of only six teams in the association’s inaugural year.

Currently, he said that the IPA is working to expand the group into educational programs and seminars.

“There’s a lot of great teaching possibilities through poker,” he said.

“In most intro stats or intro probability classes, we learn about probability through games of chance . . . so it’s a real opportunity for teaching.”

The IPA tournament operates on a non-gambling basis. Each player starts with the same amount of chips, but those chips can’t be cashed out for money — their value is strictly in relation to the point structure of the tournament.

However, the IPA has ensured that there is some financial incentive to the tournament. Susquehanna International Group, Citadel, Jane Street Capital and IMC Trading — investment and trading firms — have partnered with the IPA as sponsors and invested a small amount of equity that goes to the tournament.

Josephs said that the financial orientation of the IPA’s sponsors was

mainly due to the types of students who join collegiate poker teams.

In general, the player pool for the tournament is “skewed towards STEM majors because it’s such a quantitative game,” Josephs said.

Many companies affiliated with the IPA use the group as a recruiting tool for interns and job applicants.

The winning team takes home a $15,000 prize, and the winner of the IPA’s Intercollegiate Poker League tournament — a one-day event for individual players that will be held later this year — has a $10,000 pot that will be divided among the top five finishers.

At the moment, the BU team has some catching up to do. The team is in last place in their seven-team bracket, with 35 points — 14 points behind the group leader, Georgia Institute of Technology. However, Doshi said while he wants the team to do well, the cash prize is more of a peripheral goal.

Through the team, Doshi has invested serious time learning about the history of the game, reading up on its theories and strategies, watching online games and improving his play.

Doshi said the team has also given him a place to connect with other students who care about the game.

“Sometimes you feel like there might be people at the table who are better than you,” he said, “but that’s the beauty of playing poker with so many different types of people, right?

You keep learning. You don’t want to be the smartest person at the table.

You want to be learning a lot.”

6 PHOTOS

GALLERY

80th annual Boston Holiday Tree Lighting Shannon Damiano Associate Photo Editor

Cheers erupted in the Boston Common as a nearly 60-year-old, 48-foot tree was lit for the 80th annual Boston Holiday Tree Lighting. Bostonians were excited to be back to Boston Common after last year’s virtual celebration.

Attendees exit the Boston Common toward Boylston Street under strung-up holiday lights.

Multicolored lights illuminate the nearly 50-foot tree at the 80th annual Boston Holiday Tree Lighting.

A child sits on their parent’s shoulders during the tree lighting.

A person stands illuminated by a merchant’s stand at the Boston Common.

A balloon merchant smiles as he moves his cart across the Boston Common.

EDITORIAL 7

ILLUSTRATION BY SOPHIA FLISSLER

EDITORIAL No revolution in BU’s updated Work from Home policies A glossy piece by BU Today published a few weeks ago professed how BU’s remote work policy was “Changing Lives.”

The article covered how many staff members enjoyed their new ability to work remotely two days out of the week — implemented last June.

Below it were multiple comments, many from those who identified themselves as BU staff members, employees and students, commiserating on how little regard the University had for the people that populate it.

BU Today published this article at a time when most of the BU population does not have the option to work remotely, much less have a livable wage or job security.

To be clear, it should not be a luxury to work remotely. The pandemic has shown us that remote work, whenever possible, can help people spend more time with their families and not waste unpaid time on the commute to work.

It is great that some BU employees

have the opportunity to spend time with their families. But granting remote work for a select portion of the BU population is nowhere near the solution to BU’s mounting egregious labor and academic conditions.

BU Today published this PR-driven article during a time when adjunct and fulltime non-tenure faculty are fighting for job security. Negotiations have been going on for months and are now at a standstill, with little promise on the horizon.

Last January, former BU lecturer Samuel Shupe published a scathing open letter to BU about how the University fails to pay their lecturers a livable wage. In the letter, he pointed out how BU pays members of their faculty as little as $6,000 per semester-long course, while the University paid $13,000 in security fees to host Ben Shapiro’s speaking event on campus.

BU Today also published this article at a time when student employees are woefully under-protected. The recently exposed

Shiney James scandal — in which student Orientation workers faced verbal abuse and were egregiously overworked — is merely the tip of the iceberg. Student employees alleged their breaks were withheld and their timesheets were forged or modified so the administration could pay them less.

Student employees could perhaps benefit the most from the remote work outlined in the BU Today article, yet are not under this protection.

Lastly, this BU Today article comes out at a time when sick BU students have no reliable way to keep up with coursework during a pandemic. We as students cannot work from home if sick.

Over the last few days, positive COVID-19 cases at Boston University have spiked to the 30s. As much as we hate to acknowledge its presence, the Omicron variant is steadily becoming a concern.

Does BU have any plans in case we go into another lockdown? Or can they currently only plan for constructing

new buildings partially funded by health insurance companies? It is hard to parse which would be a higher priority on the University’s plate.

Perhaps this editorial sounds overwhelmingly bitter. But this recent BU Today article, and the resigned comments below it, show how BU’s labor protection strategy is more so focused on optics than the health of its workers.

Throughout the pandemic, it has become increasingly clear how out of touch the administration is. Not only in age, but in shared values.

Remote work is something everyone should have access to. But instead of focusing all their efforts on writing emphatically bullheaded attempts to spin their lackluster remote work option into a life-changing strategy, BU should focus on protecting their employees and students.

If not for our sake, then at least for the sake of the BU Today reporters. It must be hard to write so much about so little.

EDITORIAL BOARD Lily Kepner, Editor-in-Chief

Madhri Yehiya, Campus Editor

Emma Sánchez, Managing Editor

Isabella Abraham City Editor

Sonja Chen, Sports Editor

Yvonne Tang, Layout & Graphics Editor

Conor Kelley, Photo Editor

Katrina Liu, Lifestyle Editor

Bini Ollivier-Yamin, Opinion Editor

Veronica Thompson, Podcast Editor

Molly Farrar, Features Editor

KK Feuerman, Multimedia Editor

8 COLUMNS

OPINION Highway to Health:

U.S. healthcare system perpetuates inequality surance agency told me to cross my fingers and hope they covered my urgent health needs at this particular location. The entire time I asked myself, “Can I afford this out-of-pocket, and if not, is it worth it?”

Sadly, my story is all too similar to millions of others in medical crises. “Will my insurance cover my life-threatening emergency?” or

Bailey Salimes Columnist

‘Can I afford this out-of-pocket, and if not, is it worth it?’

ILLUSTRATION BY YVONNE TANG

Last week, I stood outside an emergency room, hoping I took enough Benadryl quick enough to avoid a severe allergic reaction from the walnuts I unknowingly consumed in a sweet potato casserole half an hour earlier. I paced around outside, on hold with an East Coast-based health insurance agency, wondering if I was covered in a random Minnesota emergency room.

Eventually, my symptoms gave way to the antihistamine and subsided — only after my in-

“Can I afford this medical care without insurance and still pay for other basic needs?” are questions too many people in the U.S. have to ask themselves.

In particular, undocumented immigrants and low-income residents are negatively impacted by the deductibles and tightly-wound U.S. healthcare system.

Undocumented immigrants rarely have access to health insurance, and if they do, the options are costly. Thus, many are forced to go to emergency rooms — and end up with thousands of dollars in medical bills — for conditions that may have been preventable if they had access to

general care facilities.

Undocumented immigrants are forced to suffer through diseases and disorders because of our country’s ineffient way of delivering affordable healthcare services. Community and free clinics are available to this population, but they rely on non-medical volunteers, donors and volunteers who are healthcare professionals to serve people who do not have access to healthcare.

A U.S. News article from 2016 covered the story of Morena, a Salvadoran trans woman who immigrated to the states in 2014. She was able to receive treatment for her HIV infection at a community health clinic in the District of Columbia.

This was the only option she had after fleeing from gang violence in El Salvador.

She was not able to afford the insanely high costs of a private or federally-funded hospital.

They likely would not have treated her anyway, unless it was an emergency.

Now imagine the hundreds of thousands of people — whose stories are much like Morena’s — and the healthcare they need. Only a small portion of undocumented immigrants will have their healthcare needs met by community and free clinics. There are over 1,400 free healthcare clinics nationwide — and millions of undocumented immigrants.

The U.S. health and immigration policies give little agency to undocumented immigrants — restricting ease of access to health insurance and health resources, making it hard for immigrants to act independently — so immigrants have a much more difficult time finding healthcare support in the first place.

The cost of healthcare also significantly impacts low-income people. A recent NPR story profiled DeeAnn Dean, a woman who started a new business with her husband in rural Tennessee.

In August 2021, a medical professional instructed Dean to go to the ER for her serious

illness, but she was terrified of the price tag that would follow. Months prior, her husband was slapped with a medical bill that crippled their finances. Eventually, as her symptoms worsened, she had to seek emergency care and search all over for cheaper treatment before choosing an ER. Her diagnosis? Rocky Mountain spotted fever. And she likely would have died in a few days if she had not received treatment. The result? A round of antibiotics and another hefty medical bill.

People with some form of health insurance, like Dean, still suffer from the anxiety that comes along with an unexpected ER visit. Dean had to extensively search for an affordable ER because of her rural location and her concerns about a potential bill..

Low-income individuals are much more likely to avoid emergency care and delay getting new prescription medications because it is much more challenging for them to address the high costs of healthcare.

Some outrageous co-pays prevent people from seeking immediate ER care. In a 2017 NBC news story on insurance companies, one ER doctor interviewed stated one of her patients “missed an important window for treating her stroke” because the patient was worried about affording the ER copay.

While Medicaid has begun to address and continues to bring to light the issue of inequitable access to healthcare services, the United States has a long way to go in caring for its undocumented and low-income populations.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health equity is established when every person can reach their full health potential and no population is disadvantaged.

Focusing on health equity will bring higher quality care and more opportunities to sustain healthy lives for our undocumented immigrants, low-income communities and all others who are burdened by the costs of the U.S. healthcare system.

Don’t Be a Hypocrite:

Award shows should not be blind to social issues

Viktoria Popovska Columnist Content warning: This piece discusses sexual assault.

As 2021 draws to a close, the entertainment industry prepares itself for the 2022 award season, and with that, nomination announcements are making the news. Recently, The Grammys announced its 2022 nominations on Nov. 23.

Chart-toppers like Olivia Rodrigo and Justin Bieber found their names among the nominees, but it’s not them I have problems with. I’m not here to talk about who I think was snubbed or excitedly surprised by. Instead, I want to talk about how some of the nominees this Grammy Awards season are rigidly entangled with the events of 2017.

Remember the #MeToo Movement? In October 2017, Alyssa Milano reignited the hashtag created by Tarana Burke to provide people space to share their experiences with sexual assault online. The #MeToo movement was broadly defined by The New York Times’ expose on film producer Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexually harassing and assaulting employees and actresses.

From that point on, the rest of 2017 was marked by the impact of the #MeToo Movement, especially in Hollywood, and it continued into the 2018 awards season. This is where the Grammys come back into the picture.

On Jan. 28, 2018, the Grammys held their 60th annual show. In response to the #MeToo movement, guests of the show were encouraged to wear white roses in solidarity with the many people who had spoken out about sexual assault in the industry.

During this time, many actors and performers who had been accused of sexual misconduct or assault disappeared from the limelight due to protests and internet backlash. Now, about four years later, one of these performers is being considered for awards like 2017 never even happened.

Who exactly am I talking about? Well, the 2022 Grammy nominations included Louis CK for the Grammy for a Comedy Album. Louis C.K. was one of those individuals who faced sexual assault allegations in 2017 and then actually admitted to the allegations.

CK’s nomination is for his first comedy special since 2017 called “Sincerely Louis CK,” which he released through his website in April 2020. The special discusses his sexual misconduct issues in a way, but it’s not really an apology or taking responsibility for his actions.

In the special, CK vaguely references the 2017 allegations in a joking manner, asking the audience, “How was your last couple of years?”

Later on in the set, he tells the audience that he asked the women he assaulted for consent but then indirectly — through a joke about slavery — acknowledges that he may not have done enough to ensure his victims were comfortable.

So here we have Louis CK, who admitted to sexual misconduct and made a comedy special, brushing aside and making jokes about his actions. And we have the Grammys, one of if not

the most prestigious award programs for music and audio performances, basically saying, ‘Hey, this show that was a gross excuse for an apology was so funny and here is a nomination for a comedy award.’

You could tell me that the Grammys are based on the art, not the person, and then we can go into this whole conversation about separating the art from the artist, but I don’t care.

Here is the thing — when one is discussing the fate of a comedian, a profession in which the comedian speaks about their own life and their opinions of the world, the argument that you can separate the art from the artist is nearly impossible. Comedians are their art — they are the person on stage and the writer of the words they speak.

It is Louis CK’s words that are spoken in his special by him telling his story and his view of the situation and making jokes about his sexual misconduct. That comedy special is intrinsically Louis CK, and he is his comedy special. You can’t separate the two because there is no version of the special where it’s someone else performing or someone else who wrote the jokes.

And now you’ll want to argue that award shows should stay

blind to social issues, but no, they should absolutely not.

Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s CEO, said in a November interview with The Wrap that the Grammys “won’t look at people’s history, we won’t look at their criminal record.”

He went on to state that just because someone is nominated doesn’t mean they are invited to attend the show or perform, but that the Academy won’t restrict their access to being awarded.

People love to say that politics, sensitivity and social issues don’t belong everywhere, but they are wrong.

If music stans can cry and take to Twitter blasting the Grammys for their favorite artists getting snubbed, survivors of sexual assault and allies should have the same right without being called controlling or restricting. These issues should be at the forefront of our discussions.

They should always be considered when deciding who an industry wants to award because an award is personal, but it is also representative of the organization that gave it.

So, here we are in a world where people will tell you that cancel culture is toxic and horrible, but let me tell you that cancel culture isn’t real and if you want proof, just look at the people that your favorite award shows are nominating. Tell me, what do you see?

ILLUSTRATION BY YVONNE TANG

LIFESTYLE 9

LIFESTYLE

A letter to former high school athletes Grace Knoop Senior Writer College life is filled with unexpected turns, and figuring out life on your own. For me, high school was the busiest time of my life.

From waking up at 6 a.m. for skating practice before school and then finally getting home past dinner time, just in time to get in some homework before bed — life meant always being on the move and being highly focused all day.

For me, my transition to college was also a transition out of my sport — figure skating. I was used to training as much as six hours a day, focused on being the best skater that I could be. But then it came time to move on to college and life outside of the rink.

The transition into college isn’t easy for everyone, but former high school athletes can become even more lost with the busy life that they are used to becoming dramatically changed.

Going to college means being in charge of your schedule. That meant no more 6 a.m. wake-up calls and late-night practices. I suddenly had more time on my hands, and I didn’t know what to do with it.

I was left with so many questions: Do I join a club or get a job outside of school? Should I continue skating in college? Do I even like competing and skating enough to continue?

After joining random club

miles run in the week and all of the hours on the ice. Make sure to block out some time dedicated to the gym. It will clear your head and give you that comfort that you need.

After spending some time in the gym alone, I started to miss all of my training friends and our workouts together. I started losing motivation to go to the gym because I was bored doing the same workouts over and over again.

But then I found a BU fitness group: CHAARG. It’s a fitness group on many campuses around the country and focuses on bringing girls together to build a fitness community.

Through the club, I was able to meet some of my best friends who were also looking for a fitness community. I was feeling lost without my skating friends from home, but COURTESY OF KELLI MCCLINTOCK VIA UNSPLASH CHAARG brought me A pair of figure skates. Since coming to Boston University, Lifestyle writer Grace has found her ideal exercise outlet between campus that comfort again. club sports, like figure skating, and fitness groups.

My sport defined me in high school with so after club, I realized that I am not Figure Skating Team, I was able to continue in college. There are so quite ready to give up skating and get the best of both worlds: college many different avenues outside of many hours spent at the rink and being an athlete. The only thing I life and skating. I have been able what I have found in club sports the gym. Because of that, working out has become an outlet for me knew for sure was I couldn’t keep to continue skating with a group in college too.

The first place to begin is at where I can just focus on one thing up with the hours of training that of people who share the same love your college gym. In high school, and give my brain a break from came with being an elite figure of the sport.

Just because your life as an my days were filled with exercise. all that comes with life at college. skater.

Then came club sports. After athlete in high school has ended By the end of the week I was Through club sports and different joining the Boston University doesn’t mean that you can’t crawling home because of all the fitness groups on campus, I have found the perfect balance.

TikTok: A friend or foe?

Annie Sheehan Staff Writer Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I created a TikTok account. When it comes to cultural trends, I am usually late to the game. I still have not read the Harry Potter series. I have resisted making a TikTok profile for so long mainly because I knew I would succumb to the infinite scrolling of cat videos and dance clips, and that all of a sudden, time would evade me.

But ever since Frances Haugen blew the whistle on Facebook earlier this fall, I keep wondering if TikTok — the social media platform with a mission to “inspire creativity and bring joy” — is going to follow in Facebook’s footsteps of spreading misinformation and hate.

I remain cautiously optimistic, but it seems inevitable. I remember the golden years of pre-2010, where my Facebook feed was solely made up of people I knew and cared about, instead of micro-targeted advertisements and adrenalized political campaigns.

Cambridge Analytica and Facebook’s downstream meaningful social interactions algorithm are partially to blame for the platform’s downfall. Just as history has shown us, when one empire falls, another rises up — so it only makes sense that TikTok would emerge from Facebook’s decline.

With three billion downloads and one billion active users as of 2021, TikTok has, indeed, penetrated the global market.

When the app first came out in 2016, teenagers primarily used TikTok to post lip-sync and dance videos. Now, the app has become so much more than that.

Thanks to TikTok, Lil Nas X was able to rise to his well-deserved fame. Also thanks to TikTok, careers have been launched, and social justice campaigns have been spread.

It is hard to not see the parallels between TikTok and early 2000s Facebook. Both platforms promise to be an engine of opportunity and connection. And especially with TikTok, the app is designed to entertain.

When I created my TikTok account, the content was nonsensical but funny. The first video was a montage of teens dousing receipt paper with hand sanitizer. Why? I don’t know. Still, it got my mind off of my everyday worries.

Another clip showed two people — one dressed as the Grinch and the other as Santa Claus — dancing down a sunsoaked street while wearing sombreros. Another one featured a voluptuous turkey twerking.

And the list goes on and on.

After watching 30 minutes of goofy videos, I felt strangely at peace. I had always heard that TikTok’s “For You” algorithm is its secret sauce. Unlike Facebook’s algorithm that serves up doom and gloom, I am glad that TikTok’s “For You” compiles content to uplift users — even if most videos are mindless and absurd.

But not everyone sees TikTok this way.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said at a tech conference last

year, “I look at that app as so fundamentally parasitic, that it’s always listening, the fingerprinting technology they use is truly terrifying.” He later added, “Don’t install that spyware on your phone.”

Huffman’s words may seem harsh, but he is not the only person with concerns about TikTok’s security. Last January, former President Donald Trump tried to enact a ban on TikTok, claiming that the Chinese government could harvest private data of Americans through the app.

Even though TikTok was created by a Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Yiming, it is a privately owned company that has no connections to the Chinese government. Regardless,

Trump wanted an American tech company, like Microsoft, to buy out TikTok to mitigate security fears.

This caused a frenzy. Many fans questioned whether the TikTok user experience would change with an American company at the reins, and if the “For You” algorithm would be dismantled and altered into something unrecognizable.

Although Trump’s TikTok embargo was ultimately not enacted, Congress did vote to have the app banned on government devices as part of a defense policy bill, according to a Politico report.

For me, this decision raises questions as to whether officials are doing this out of an abundance of caution, or if there is something to be said about

the app’s vulnerability to data breaches.

Seeing how a large number of TikTok users are under the age of 14, security precautions should not be taken lightly.

TikTok put out a statement last summer assuring that they have hired hundreds of engineers to address potential risks. They also have a “transparency” section on their website to have an open dialogue about privacy and safety measures.

It is hard to say how TikTok will evolve in the next five to 10 years, but company executives must ask themselves — how can we make TikTok safer? How can we ensure it does not turn into Facebook? How can we stay true to our mission of spreading joy and creativity?

COURTESY OF SOLEN FEYISSA VIA UNSPLASH

An iPhone displaying the TikTok app. Despite admitting to enjoying the app’s nonsensical content, Annie comments on TikTok’s security and questions how the app can stick to its mission of inspiring creativity and spreading joy.

10 JUST FOR FUN

ILLUSTRATION BY ELYSE GENRICH

ILLUSTRATION BY NAREK SAHAKIAN ILLUSTRATION BY IRENE CHUNG

ANSWER KEY: 1. water bottle 2. newspaper stacks 3. Lily’s hat! 4. notebook 5. phone color 6. pocket 7. bathroom door 8. an extra editor 9. laptop 10. pumpkin

Can you find 10 differences in these illustrations of the FreeP newsroom?

ILLUSTRATIONS BY YVONNE TANG

FAREWELL 11 CONOR KELLEY | PHOTO EDITOR

If we haven’t met, I’m Lily, and I am — soon-to-be was — the Editor-in-Chief of the Fall 2021 Editorial board. It is a job I have loved. But when I first got it, it was a job that terrified me.

When I got the position, I called my friend screaming gleefully, walking through the maze-y hallways of Danielsen Hall on FaceTime as I slowly let the reality of the title and responsibilities of the position sink in. “Woah” my friend had said, “This is kind of a big deal.”

And it felt that way. As absolutely gratifying as the position was, I knew it would mean a lot of sleepless nights and a near-constant state of stress. But I also knew why I wanted to be there.

I went into this experience determined that the editorial board and I would do something great — to report the news with rigor and care — and to make sure that we highlight student voices throughout our campus.

Now looking back on that moment, I can say with certainty it was worth it. Not only in the stories we were able to tell, but in the relationships our eboard was able to grow throughout all those nights.

When the escalation violence was happening in Israel and Palestine last May, Campus Editor Madhri Yehiya, the article’s writer and I spent four days editing a story on the perspectives of students with ties to the area to make sure it was factual, balanced and fair. To this day, it is one of the stories I am most proud to have published.

This summer — our off-publishing time, barring breaking news — we published this paper’s first digital print issue giving voice to LGBTQ+ voices to commemorate Pride month, with our editorial board and writers

A FINAL WORD Letter from the Editor volunteering work on top of summer jobs.

Once we began the semester, however, I saw firsthand that this paper was something we could use not just to tell the news but to affect change. This semester, I believe The Daily Free Press made itself seen as a paper that could really help students — a paper where people felt like they saw themselves, and wanted to read.

The last EIC, Colbi Edmonds, ended her letter, writing, “I hope this paper continues to trailblaze.”

And I think we did just that.

We’ve been there for all the big moments on campus. We were there for the in-person return to campus, dedicating our first printed issue to welcoming students home. We covered student sexual harassment allegations against Professor Eric Ruske, making sure to protect survivors while maintaning the truth of the situation. We covered Student Government’s protest of Kappa Sigma Mu fraternity following sexual misconduct allegations, and their suspension.

We were there when BU divested from fossil fuels, when Mayor Michelle Wu won the historic election, and for the primary, and when fans returned to BU stadiums. We brought back comics, welcomed a crossword artist to the team and started a new podcast, “Unmasked,” asking students questions about their life anonymously.

We began to get into more in-

vestigative stories, taking our time and care to tell stories right.

Colbi and Cammy — Spring 2021 editor-in-chief and managing editor — led extensive investigations into Orientation Director Shiney James’s behavior and Orientation’s alleged violation of labor laws that inspired both Boston University to remove her from a position where she oversees students, and hundreds of students to share their experiences.

It led to people seeing us as a paper that could affect change through our reporting, and was the pivot in our coverage — looking into Student Health Services, Boston University Police Department and more — I could not be more proud of.

We were also the first eboard to work back in-person since March 2020, and also the first to codify wellness rules into our core values. This semester, the executive board worked with the board of directors to create these rules to increase the sustainability of work at the paper and ensure everyone’s mental wellbeing.

Our editorial board was also led under a new Code of Ethics I drafted with Colbi, now the DEI chair, and received extensive training centered on TGNC inclusivity, disability and accessibility, and more.

I have so much pride for

all of the work we were able to achieve. But mostly, I have pride in the people who make this paper what it is.

Even on my worst days this semester, I would walk to the office and in an hour, I’d be smiling and laughing. Every time I left the office, no matter how late, I felt fulfilled — fulfilled by the purpose of what I was doing, but also filled by the people surrounding me just as excited to be there as I was.

To Sonja, Madhri, Katrina, Conor, Isabella, Molly, KK, Bini, Rani, Yvonne — thank you for making this paper the best it could be. I can’t express how much I loved teaching, and learning, with you. To Emma, the other “top two,” thank you. I loved nothing more than sitting next to you every night and walking home with you. I loved leading with you.

Thank you to the board of directors. To my board buddy, Vic, who always listened when I needed a trusted ear. And Colbi, who never hesitated to indulge even the tiniest of questions. And to Ananya and Alex, who were always there when I needed them.

And I’d like to thank the two bunnies who

always seemed to be waiting to usher me home outside, and even the rats, whose consequential jump scares reminded me I was never quite as tired as I thought I was. And, last but not least, my lovely roommates, who always left a light on when I came home.

This job is a lot of work, but people stick around for a reason.

Because knowledge is power, and important. Because BU students’ stories are meant to be heard.

Because, for writers and interviewers and readers alike, this is a home.

What’s next for me? First, a big nap. Then, who knows.

But what I do know, is that I am leaving this paper with love in my heart and gratitude for what it gave me — a renewed love for student journalism.

To the BU community — thank you for letting us into your lives.

Thank you for trusting us to hold the administration accountable, and trusting us with your stories, letting us tell them for you, and for reading.

To the Fall 2021 eboard — thank you for becoming a family this Fall. Thank you for making this paper better, making me better. Thank you for making this place a home.

Thank you, all of you, for making this a place I will miss.

Lily Kepner

Fall 2021 Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Free Press

ILLUSTRATION BY YVONNE TANG

12 SPORTS

SPORTS

PREVIEW: Green Line rivalry returns in front of fans university, the people who came before you,” former Terrier captain Matt Gilroy said in an Oct. 4 interview with The Daily Free Press. “When you get to skate every Friday or Saturday night at Agganis, and then you get to play in Beanpots and national championships, it’s just so special.”

When BU and BC last met on Feb. 6, the Eagles had sat at the top of the USCHO D1 Men’s Poll for four weeks with the Terriers inching closer to the top in the 15th slot. In a year that was anything but normal, the Eagles relied on star goaltender Spencer Knight in their net, along with then-sophomore forward sensations Matt Boldy, Mike Hardman and Alex Newhook.

After falling to St. Cloud State University in the second round of the Northeast Regional last March, all of the aforementioned stars turned in their Eagle jerseys for professional ones, heading to the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks and Colorado Avalanche, respectively.

Without Knight in net, the Eagles have turned to graduate student Eric Dop to take over the crease. Originally from Lewis Center, Ohio, the transfer student has a 6-4-2 record so far, with a 2.56 goals against average and a .90 save percentage, just slightly worse than Knight’s 2.17 GAA and .932 SV%. Leading the Eagle’s offense right now is senior forward Jack McBain with 19 points on nine goals and 10 assists in 14 games. The assistant captain scored a hat trick on Nov. 18.

Despite impressive numbers from graduate student forward Brandon Kruse, senior defenseman Jack St. Ivany and captain and senior forward Marc McLaughlin — each with

Caroline Fernandez Daily Free Press Staff For the first time since Feb. 29, 2020, the Boston University men’s hockey team will lace up their skates to take on the crosstown rival Boston College Eagles Friday in front of a packed Agganis Arena crowd at home.

The last time the two teams met, the Terriers took down the thenNo. 1 Eagles 3-1 at Walter Brown Arena in front of a fanless crowd, after falling in overtime the night before.

The Green Line Rivalry dates back over 100 years to the teams’ first meeting in February 1918, when the Eagles beat the brandnew Division I hockey team down the road at Boston Arena.

Since then, the Battle of Comm.

Ave. has seen 284 puck drops and plenty of tournament play.

As both teams celebrate their respective 100th seasons, this home matchup is one to set the tone heading into the mid-year break. The programs are nearly identical, with 100 years of conference play, five national championships and three Hobey Baker Award winners each.

The only areas in which BU has an edge are in NCAA tournament appearances with BU cracking into the bracket 37 times to BC’s 36, and NHLers, with BU having 89 former players turn professional to BC’s 82.

Despite the similarities, the rivalry is undoubtedly one of the highlights of any Terrier’s BU hockey career, whether it be a regular-season game, a Beanpot game or an NCAA national championship game.

“You have a big responsibility to represent yourself, your

Dec. 29 Women’s Basketball @ Bucknell

MADDIE MALHOTRA | DFP FILE

Defenseman Dante Fabbro in a 2017 BU vs. BC matchup. Both celebrating their respective 100th seasons, rivals BU and BC face off for the first time this Friday.

13 points — the Eagles have struggled compared to last season. In their first 14 games last year, BC went 11-2-1 versus their current overall record of 7-5-2, in a struggling Hockey East league.

Things aren’t necessarily brighter on the other side of Comm. Ave., however, as the Terriers had their worst start to a season this year since 2000-01.

Despite going four straight weeks without a regulation win, BU seems to have turned its game around, most recently sweeping the University of New Hampshire Wildcats with 3-1 and 2-1 wins this weekend, thanks to goals from veteran players.

“We’ve had better systems today than we’ve had in the past,” captain and senior forward Logan Cockerill said after scoring in the Friday night victory on Dec. 3. “I just think us realizing as a group what winning hockey looks like and how we can start to

Dec. 31 Men’s Hockey @ Brown

implement it consistently, that’s gonna be big for us.”

Protecting the BU crease is sophomore starter Drew Commesso. After giving up six goals to the Cornell Big Red two weeks ago, Commesso came into the UNH series poised, making 55 saves and only allowing two goals all weekend. Despite having better stats last season, Commesso’s 2.82 GAA and .90 SV% is still something the Terriers can always rely on.

“I thought he [Commesso] stood tall when he needed to,” head coach Albie O’Connell said after a Dec. 3 game. “He closed the door in the third and made a couple of key saves, and managed the game.”

The Terriers continue to lean on their junior class for the majority of their offensive production. Wilmer Skoog and Domenick Fensore lead the way with 13 points each, thanks to

Jan. 1 Men’s Basketball vs. Bucknell

six goals and seven assists from the forward and two goals and 11 assists from the defenseman.

Also worth noting is defenseman Case McCarthy, who is having his best season to date. McCarthy was recently named Hockey East Defenseman of the Month for November and has 11 points to show for it.

Heading into a rivalry weekend, the Terriers will aim to play the way they did in the UNH series.

“That was a taste of winning hockey, even though it wasn’t a 6-1 game,” Cockerill said. “It’s winning hockey.”

BU and BC will drop the puck at Agganis Arena on Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

For complete BU hockey coverage, check out the Boston Hockey Blog and follow along with @BOShockeyblog on Twitter and @boston.hockey.blog on Instagram for live updates.

Jan. 1-2 Women’s Hockey @ “Battle at the Burgh” in Pittsburgh

Men’s basketball keeps rolling with win vs. Lowell Mark Fraenkel Daily Free Press Staff With 1:03 to play in regulation, senior guard Jonas Harper hit a 3-pointer to give Boston University a 10-point lead and subsequently a win over the University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks. As light snow descended in Boston on Wednesday night, the Terriers (83) defeated the River Hawks (64), 72-62.

Coming off of a 68-63 win over the Binghamton Bearcats Saturday, the Terriers began their first possession of the game with a shot clock violation.

“We’re just turning the ball over way too much to be a team that we want to be,” head coach Joe Jones said postgame. “We’ve got to make some improvements in that area.”

Jones said he was impressed

Lowell junior guard Kalil Thomas made two 3-pointers with five minutes left to play in the second half that cut the Terriers’ lead down to six. Then, with about 2:30 to play, Thomas made two free throws to cut the BU lead down to five.

However, BU grad student forward Sukhmail Mathon made two free throws on the other end of the floor, and the Terriers would not look back.

“I was just trying JEFF TEDI | DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF to stay composed, Graduate student forward Sukhmail Mathon holds the ball in a basketball match against the just knock down University of Massachusetts Lowell Wednesday night. The Terriers secured a 72-62 victory over the River Hawks. my free throws,” Mathon said with the bench’s performance and +10, Anthony [Morales] was +14, pointed to their plus/minuses.

Garrett [Pascoe] was +11, so our postgame, “and then just worry “I think they did a great job,” bench really impacted the game about the defensive end on the way back.”

Jones said. “[Caelan Jones] was tonight.”

Three River Hawks contributed most of the team’s scoring on Wednesday night, as both senior guard Everette Hammond and Thomas each scored 16 points, and grad student guard Justin Faison added 11 in the loss.

Harper led the way for the Terriers with 17 points, with grad student guard Javante McCoy and Mathon each adding 14. Jones said that he thought McCoy could have played better.

“I thought Javante [McCoy]’s decision-making needed to be better for a player of his caliber,” Jones said. “He needs to be better.

They did a good job on him, made it hard for him, but I thought he was able to get to spots on the floor when he needed to. I thought he had a pretty strong first half, and I thought in the second half he got worn down.”

The Terriers will head to Hanover, New Hampshire, to face Dartmouth on Saturday, Dec. 11, before hosting Marist on Saturday, Dec. 18, at Case Gym.