Winter Edition 12/08/23

WBB’s first home loss, 62-47 page 3

Meet Boston’s merriest performer page 5

CE LE B RATIN G

FRIDAY, DEC 8, 2023

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Christmas presents: gifts or grifts? page 8

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I N DE PE N DE N T

STU D E NT

EIC Chloe signs off page 12

J O U R NA LI S M

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

YEAR LIV. VOLUME B. ISSUE VII.

‘Not sustainable anymore’: BU Children’s Center teachers’ union continues fight for contract

By ANJALI BYJU, MARA MELLITS AND EMILY WYRWA Contributing Writer, Business Associate, Senior Writer

The Boston University Children’s Center found a new home at 10 Lenox St. during the summer of 2020. So did Jessica Carangui.

Fresh out of the University of Connecticut, Carangui took the risk and the job for the great benefits the Center offered.

The new space tripled the Center’s capacity, allowing for care for infants. Carangui, now a lead preschool teacher at the Center, said the new space is beautiful, but some logistics of the building “just do not make sense.”

“You can tell even from the structure of the building that they didn’t collaborate with teachers,” Carangui said.

That was not Carangui’s — and her fellow teachers’ — only difficulty with the job.

“Understaffing, low pay and achieving a voice on the job” led to the BUCC teachers unionizing, according to a press release from the Service Employees International Union Local 888 sent out in August 2022.

Founded in 1978, the BUCC is an early childhood education program that serves the children of BU staff, faculty and graduate students, according to its website.

It has operated out of a historic home in Brookline since 2020, where teams of teachers work with infants, toddlers and preschool-aged students.

Wheeler DeAngelis, an infanttoddler mentor teacher at the BUCC, said a driving force in the unionization was the realization that other childcare centers operated by universities around Boston were paying their teachers a lot more.

ANDREW BURKE-STEVENSON | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Jessica Carangui, a lead preschool teacher at the Boston University Children’s Center. BUCC teachers unionized last August but are still negotiating contracts over a year later.

“We found out that one of our college students who we had trained at the Center got a job working at one of the Harvard [child care] centers and that she was making twice as much as the teacher who trained her,” DeAngelis said.

The trainer at BUCC was making $40,000, while the trainee was making $60,000 as a new college graduate, he said.

A year after unionizing, the teachers from the BUCC are still bargaining with the University for a contract, according to Judi Burgess, executive director of employee and labor relations at BU, and BU spokesperson Colin Riley.

Burgess and Riley declined to comment further, because BU does not comment on labor matters.

When the teachers first unionized, DeAngelis said BU was quiet. The union did not hear from BU until they seconded their petition for voluntary recognition.

The University then raised their salaries within the next few weeks.

The raises varied person to person, DeAngelis said, with no transparency as to how those different amounts were calculated.

Low pay All BUCC teachers interviewed for this story are

a part of BUCC teacher union bargaining committee, except for DeAngelis, who quit the bargaining committee eight months ago, after his daughter was born.

The price point of the BUCC’s services makes it inaccessible to much of the community, said Carangui. All tuition to BUCC is paid through University Payroll Reduction, according to their website. For the 2023-24 academic year, tuition per month was $2,770 per infant, $2,500 per toddler and $2,030 per preschool student.

Debra Noe, a lead preschool teacher at BUCC, said there is a standard in the field of early

the world as a representative of BU,” Wolf wrote in an email. “I leave with gratitude and thanks, I’ll miss a lot but I’m thrilled to see where what I’ve built goes.”

Wolf’s retirement was announced in an email sent out to her department on Oct. 17 from Dean of Students Jason CampbellFoster, BU spokesperson Colin Riley said.

“Lorre has done an outstanding job,” Riley said. “Seeing the demand for reasonable accommodations increase exponentially … during her tenure and then [being] able to facilitate that in and assist students with disabilities achieve their success in higher education.”

Wolf will leave effective Jan. 14, 2024, and DAS currently does not have a director that will take over for her in Spring 2024.

Steve Singer, associate dean of students, and Jon White, associate director of DAS, will “provide leadership to the unit” as BU searches for a new director, Riley said.

Wolf wrote that she started at

BU “in the wake of a noisy and very public lawsuit,” where the University was a named plaintiff in 1997.

In Guckenberger v. Boston University, six students claimed BU discriminates against students with disabilities by “establishing unreasonable, overly-burdensome eligibility criteria for qualifying as a disabled student.”

In a 1997 Daily Free Press article, Sidney Wolinsky, a disabilities lawyer in the case, called the ruling a “ringing condemnation of BU.” In her 26 years at BU, Wolf oversaw hundreds of students.

She said she is most proud of how her staff responded in the first full residential year post-pandemic when the caseload doubled and there were staff shortages.

“Students came back from pandemic not okay, we saw a huge increase in psychological distress among our existing students as well as students reaching out for the first time,” Wolf wrote.

If she could do it again, Wolf said she would have engaged more

with students.

“I wish we had more resources for reaching out to the student community to take their pulse,” she wrote. “It’s been changing but not quickly enough.”

Students shared this sentiment and hope the future director will work to better meet students’ needs.

Julia Cicchillo, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, spent a lot of time in the summer before her freshman year working to get the accommodations she needed for her type 1 Diabetes. She requested breaks of unlimited time during tests in case she was having issues with her blood sugar being too high or too low.

After several emails, many of which were never replied to, a Zoom call with Lorraine Norwich, assistant director at DAS, and an in-person meeting with Norwich, Cicchillo was still not granted her accommodations. When she returned to DAS to explain this, she was informed the problem would be fixed. It never was.

“I’ve just given up on using

childhood education at centers like the BUCC that ensures staff are able to send their own children at a significant discount.

However, with the current salaries and tuition, “people would be paying well over half of their salary” to send their children to the center, she said.

“My daughter … actually attends the BUCC and for the last two months, my last four paychecks have been zero dollars,” DeAngelis said.

The union also aims to address teachers’ salaries. Myra O’Neal, a lead infant-toddler teacher — who started working at the Center four years ago — said teachers are leaving the profession due to the lack of stability the salaries provide.

“It’s not just they’re leaving to work somewhere else,” O’Neal said. “They’re leaving early childhood because it’s not sustainable anymore. They can’t afford to live this way, economically and physically.”

According to a 2022 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, childcare workers earned $13.71 an hour, or $28,520 a year.

Understaffing Beyond seeking greater recognition from the BUCC administration, teachers said the Center has experienced staff fluctuations since the onset of the pandemic.

“Throughout the pandemic, early childhood educators across the country have been on the frontlines doing the essential work of caring for infants and young children,” according to the SEIU press release. “They have gone above and beyond while remaining underappreciated, understaffed, and underpaid.”

The remainder of this story can be found on The Daily Free Press’ website.

Disability and Access Services director retires

By CRYSTAL YORMICK Senior Writer

Effective in the Spring 2024 semester, Lorre Wolf, director of Boston University Disability and Access Services, is retiring from her position at the office, which students say is challenging to navigate.

“I’ve been fortunate to write, teach, travel and present all over

COURTESY OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Boston University Disability and Access Services director Lorre Wolf. Wolf is retiring from BU, in Spring 2024 without a determined replacement.

accommodations because it was such a process to get the correct thing that I need,” Cicchillo said.

“I’m dealing with it on my own now.”

Cicchillo said her blood sugar tends to drop low right before tests and that it’s better for her to test with high blood sugar. Because of this and her lack of accommodations, she has had to develop her own method for dealing with this issue.

“I just have to make my blood sugar go really high by eating a lot of food before my exam, which is not healthy,” Cicchillo said. “It’s not good for me, but that’s the only way to assure that it doesn’t go low because it drops when I’m anxious and about to take an exam.”

If given the opportunity to change DAS, Cicchillo said she would make the online process more “user friendly” and quicken their response times.

“They’re just not very good at doing the one thing that they’re supposed to do,” she said.

Continued on page 2

2 NEWS

After tense stalemate, multi-billion dollar state spending bill signed by Healey

By ANNA RUBENSTEIN City Associate

A $3.1 billion spending bill that will fund union contracts and the state’s strained shelter system was signed into law on Monday, ending a stalemate on Beacon Hill, during which Republican lawmakers utilized a parliamentary move to stall the bill’s passing.

Gov. Maura Healey signed the bill almost immediately after it landed on her desk, funding 95 collective bargaining agreements that allow wage increases for about 60,000 workers across the state. The bill also allocates $250 million toward the overwhelmed shelter system.

Democratic Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano said it was the “importance of the issue” that brought legislators to the chamber Monday to vote on the bill, despite it being an informal session during which a quorum is rarely reached.

“The importance of $250 million to homeless folks who are going to be out on the street if we don’t build a shelter for them, the raises in the contracts that are already negotiated,” Mariano said. “That’s what brought people back.”

Though Republicans were eager to fund public employee contracts, House minority leader Bradley Jones Jr. said he opposed the shelter funding because it lacked provisions to stem the flow of migrants into the system and ensure longtime residents are not denied housing assistance, according to the Associated Press.

In formal sessions, Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate would have been able to pass the bill despite Republican objection, but these sessions ended on Nov. 15.

Informal sessions were held to close out the fiscal year, allowing a single lawmaker to call for doubting the presence of a quorum and forcing the house to adjourn for the day, which happened last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, without holding a vote, according to the Boston Globe.

On Monday, House Republicans tried the tactic again but were met with Democratic opposition: simply showing up, with 116 of 159 lawmakers present, with 105 of them voted in support of the bill.

Jones told reporters that Democrats lacked this urgency last week, and that same impotence got them there in the first place.

“Democrats … do your job, show up, get it done,” Jones said.

“You guys control the House, Senate and governor’s office, no excuses … If you want to see why this didn’t happen in a timely fashion, grab a mirror and look at it.”

Kelly Turley, the associate director of Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, was at the State House the night formal sessions ended last month.

“While we were there, we were hearing about families that were being kicked out of Logan Airport, who didn’t have an alternative place to go,” Turley said. “The urgency of the supplemental budget … didn’t seem to match the pace of the negotiations.”

On Monday morning, it seemed like it might be a similar story. The House was quiet when the gavel sounded, signaling the 10 a.m. start time, and then immediately adjourned for recess until 11:30 a.m.

When they returned, Mariano announced that a quorum was present, and after a brief vote, the bill moved to the Senate, while

YITONG LI | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

The Massachusetts State House. Gov. Maura Healey signed a $3.1 billion spending bill into law that will fund union contracts and the state’s strained shelter system.

public workers and desperate families hoped another day would not prolong the government money.

“We’ve seen procedural moves by a small group of Republicans in the House … delaying something over days here again when working people are anxiously waiting for those raises and all of this funding,” said Kevin Brousseau, secretary-treasurer of the Massachusetts American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.

In the Senate, the bill was passed on Monday with a swift 20-3 vote. A crucial precursor was a GOP motion that called for a formal session, a move that Republican Senate minority

leader Bruce Tarr said allowed for debate and demonstrated a collaborative spirit.

“We got this bill very late, and we shouldn’t have allowed that to preclude our options. And today, because of that unanimous vote on having a formal session, we didn’t,” Tarr said, adding later, “The main point about today is we didn’t let that difference of opinion paralyze the Massachusetts State Senate.”

Turley said she hopes the money allocated toward shelters creates the promised overflow sites that allow for “continuity of the placement and minimal disruption to families.”

On X, formerly Twitter, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO

Continued from page one Skylar Soares, a junior in CAS, said she had an okay experience with Stacey D’Onofrio, the former DAS manager of event communication access. Since D’Onofrio has left BU, Soares said her experience has gone downhill, saying she was “appalled” by how easily her accommodation requests were disregarded.

“I had professors that have given me more leeway than DAS ever has,” Soares said.

Soares’ biggest qualm with DAS is how they handled her housing situation after she came back from chemotherapy, and getting her accommodations were “nonnegotiable.”

Her condition requires her to live in a single-housing apartment with no roommates because it is a “health concern” if she does.

After taking a leave of absence in 2021 and returning to BU in Spring 2023, Soares was assigned a roommate, despite her making it “very clear” that she would need a single to attend BU, which she said was clearly documented several times by DAS. “As much as that might seem like a luxury … it is not,” Soares said. “I didn’t know how else I could have illustrated that to [DAS].”

Soares eventually was placed in a single after several conversations with both BU Housing and DAS. “Disabilities framed my accommodations as an option and not a need,” Soares said.

Although Soares thinks the DAS staff make the process of receiving accommodations difficult, she said she also believes the policies are detrimental.

The Accommodations and Documentation section of the

MOLLY POTTER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

The Disability Collective Instagram page. Members of the organization have spoken out about issues with accessibility on BU’s campus.

DAS website outlines: “Students with appropriately documented disabilities who are enrolled in Boston University courses or programs may be eligible for reasonable accommodations.”

Soares found the word “reasonable” to be insulting.

“Any accommodation for me is reasonable because it’s the reason that I can do school,” Soares said.

“The professor can change things.

The person with the disability cannot.”

Soares, who is also the treasurer of student group BU Disabilities Collective, thinks an improvement for these issues would be a student advisory board, an updated map for the accessibility ramps on campus and more involvement from DAS

at orientation.

Julia Band Orange, a sophomore in CAS and secretary for the BU Disability Collective, echoed Soares’ thoughts about more knowledge about ramps on campus and stated the club wants to create more community among people with disabilities at BU. “It’s a very small organization still, which is largely because there’s no real sense of community here because of the division and fear that DAS and all these disability services have caused in the institution,” Band Orange said.

Band Orange described her own experience dealing with DAS as “challenging” and found it problematic that even when a student was granted an

accommodation, their professors could still have authority to change or disagree with the accommodation.

“Basically, the authority of the patient is removed, which is something really problematic when you consider disability rights and the ability for people with disabilities and medical conditions to speak up and have their own independence and say over their lives,” Band Orange said.

Wolf said she wishes it was possible to “say yes to everything,” but that is not always possible.

“Unfortunately, we can’t always approve what students ask for which makes for a negative experience,” she wrote. “People may not realize that along with

celebrated the signing of their contract before the holiday season, of which Brousseau said “working people have waited long enough.”

But they were both frustrated with how long it took to get there, in both formal sessions where a Democratic-controlled legislature failed to reach an agreement and informal sessions ended by Republican procedural moves.

Jones, however, pinned the cumulation of the dramatic week squarely on the Democrats and their majority across the State government.

“This has … highlighted the shortcomings of a one party monopoly on Beacon Hill,” Jones said. supporting students we are also charged with upholding academic standards, being sensitive to the needs of the larger community and stewarding resources.”

Payton Harvill, a sophomore in CAS, said she had a simple process with DAS and was “pleased” with the accommodations she received.

However, she said her friends with more severe disabilities have not had the best experiences.

“I don’t know if it’s a policy issue, or if the people in the department is an issue, but I think in the sense of my friend there was just a lack of empathy,” Harvill said.

While Harvill’s DAS experience was “neutral,” she touched on the stigma she feels at BU toward people with accommodations due to the competitive nature of the school, which could be difficult to deal with on its own without DAS making things difficult as well.

“If you are working with people who are giving you the accommodations, and they lack that sort of empathy, it’s demeaning in a way,” Harvill said. “Like are they really here to help you?”

For the future, the BU Disability Collective hopes to establish a more supportive environment for disabled students, Band Orange said.

“I know there are people that would be really eager to help advance the awareness for disabilities at the school, so I just think it’s going to be a really hard road because of the boundaries that are set for us and the barriers with accessibility in general,” Band Orange said. “But I think it’s possible. It needs to be brought out of the shadows a bit more.”

Sydney Topf and Lindsay Shachnow contributed to the reporting of this article.

SPORTS 3

Women’s basketball suffers first loss at home to St. Joseph’s

By LAYLA PENN Contributing Writer

Boston University women’s basketball team fell short 62-47, marking their first home loss against Saint Joseph’s University, who remains undefeated.

Sophomore forward Anete Adler started the game off hot for the Terriers (5-3), scoring six points on two jumpers and a layup within the first four minutes. About 30 seconds later, she fell awkwardly, gripping her right knee. She did not return after being helped off the court.

A week prior, Adler struggled offensively against the University of Colorado in a blowout loss to the then-seventh-ranked team, only racking up seven points.

“She came out really dominant.

I had a conversation with her before the game just about getting her confidence back after Colorado,” head coach Melissa Graves said. “I think that she’s obviously disappointed that she didn’t get to finish the game, but

ILLUSTRATION BY LILA BALTAXE

I didn’t think we necessarily held our heads down.”

In Adler’s absence, junior guard Alex Giannaros tallied four points to complete the Terriers first-quarter scoring, cutting St. Joseph’s lead to just five points.

The Hawks (8-0) came out strong in the second quarter with an onslaught of shots from beyond the arc, though none landed until sophomore forward Laura Ziegler sank a jumper in the third minute.

Junior guard Mackenzie Smith created issues for the Terriers defense throughout the game alongside Ziegler. Smith totaled 22 points, going 9-16 from the field, while Ziegler led the team with 11 rebounds at the end of the game.

The Terriers were down 3725 at halftime after the Hawks scored 22 points in the second quarter.

“We really re-grouped at halftime,” Graves said. “Making those adjustments at halftime and honing in on what we needed to do, we got some really good stuff out of our press.”

BU committed three fouls within the first minute to open the third quarter, but they only surrendered one point to St. Joe’s.

Senior forward Caitlin Weimar made a run early in the quarter, making both free throws after a Hawks foul. She finished two layups to bring the score to 4131, with the Hawks still holding the lead.

Senior guard Sophie Beneventine displayed some smooth footwork on the Hawks before drilling a jumper with just over three minutes left in the quarter. Just 43 seconds later, senior guard Kelsi Mingo sank a three-pointer and stole the ball off

HUI-EN LIN | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Junior guard Alex Giannaros (10) fights for control of the ball against Saint Joseph’s University on Tuesday. The Terriers fell short 62-47 in their first home loss of the season.

the rebound immediately after.

Weimar finished the run with a layup from the paint, cutting the Hawks’ lead down to eight points, the tightest margin St. Joe’s allowed for the rest of the game.

Weimar scored 16 points by the end of the third quarter, ultimately leading the Terriers in points with 18 before she committed a fifth personal foul in the fourth and was subbed by Mingo.

Freshman guard Audrey Ericksen started the game, playing 29 minutes with no points

to show for it, but she collected four rebounds.

Sophomore forward Anastasiia Semenova played strong defense while putting up a layup in the fifth minute to cut down the Terriers’ disadvantage to nine points. Those would be her only two points of the game after she played 29 minutes, but she contributed with a block and a steal in an unfamiliar position.

“Audrey stepped up, had to play the four, and Ana had to play the five, which I don’t know that she’s ever really played the five,” Graves said. “We had some

good pieces there where people stepped up and got stops in the fourth quarter where we needed to get stops.”

The Terriers had four turnovers in the last five minutes that cost the team offensive opportunities and widened the score gap as time ran out.

“As disappointing as this is, we did some really good things, and there’s some positive things to take away from it,” Graves said.

The Terriers will play Harvard University on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in Case Gym.

Men’s basketball falls 74-65 to resurgent UMaine

By JASON ASVESTOPOULOS DFP Writer

The Boston University men’s basketball team went toe-totoe with a red-hot University of Maine squad having its best start in 19 years, but the Terriers fell short in the final minutes to lose 74-65 on Wednesday.

Despite the loss, BU showed tenacity and refused to let the game get out of reach in front of their home crowd. Maine went on a few runs throughout the game, but every time head coach Joe Jones’ squad fell behind, they fought back to keep it close. However, with a little over four minutes left in the game and the score knotted at 60, the Black Bears closed the game out with a 12-4 run to get the best of the Terriers.

“I was proud of our guys tonight,” Jones said. “The second half, we were grinding and working to put ourselves in a position to win it. Then Maine, you got to give them a lot of credit, they made some big plays.”

The Terriers had every reason to believe they could win this game, as they stayed close in nearly every statistical category that they did not outright beat the Black Bears in. The two that sank them, however, were freethrow percentage and turnovers.

They shot just 10-19 from the charity stripe whereas Maine converted 15 of their 20 freethrow attempts. BU also turned the ball over 16 times, and the combination of those two factors were what ultimately lost them the game, Jones said.

“Honestly, I don’t even think we played horribly,” senior guard and team captain Miles

SEAN YOUNG | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Junior guard Malcolm Chimezie (3) jumps to block a shot in a game against the University of Maine on Wednesday. The Terriers suffered 74-65 loss after falling behind in the final minutes of the game.

Brewster said. “We just have to execute and not turn the ball over.”

Brewster is being asked to take on a bigger role this year than in seasons prior. After seeing their top-six scorers last year depart BU in the offseason, the team has relied on him to be a go-to scorer despite being better known for his relentless defensive effort.

There was a moment in the first half where, after attacking the rim hard and getting fouled, Brewster called for a huddle

with a voice that echoed throughout the entire arena. As the oldest and most experienced player, Brewster’s leadership ability is something that both players and Jones appreciate.

“He’s our guy,” Jones said.

“I really trust Miles. He’s been a great example of what a BU basketball player’s supposed to be, whether it’s on campus or off campus, in the classroom … and the guys listen to him and they follow him because they know he’s got their best interests at heart.”

Brewster and the rest of the Terrier squad attacked the rim early in the game by cutting hard to the basket and posting up their bigs. Sophomore forward Otto Landrum had five of the team’s first seven points, but got into foul trouble and had to check out with 17:06 left in the first half.

In his fifth game coming off the bench, BU once again got a nice offensive contribution from junior forward Malcolm Chimezie, who had eight points on 4-5 shooting.

While the Terriers looked to play through Chimezie and the rest of their forwards, the Black Bears’ game plan included constant pick-and-roll. This led to high-percentage looks, whether it was finding a rolling forward or a kick out for a shot when the Terriers collapsed their defense.

Maine ended the half on a 12-7 run, with nearly half of those points being accounted for by junior guard Kellen Tynes.

Maine took a 34-28 lead into the locker room.

“I wasn’t really happy in the first half,” Jones said. “They were just moving us around.

You got to give them credit, the pace of their offense is really good … We had a hard time keeping up.”

In the second half, the teams went back and forth until the last five minutes, where Tynes took matters into his own hands.

He scored six crucial points, including two really tough fadeaway shots with the defense draped all over him.

The Terriers were only down two points with just over two minutes to go, but in consecutive plays, Black Bear sophomore guard Jaden Clayton drew in the defense and kicked the ball out to teammate senior forward Peter Filipovity, who hit a pair of open threes to seal the game for the Black Bears.

“Six losses and three wins doesn’t look great on paper, but I think we’re all going to start settling down a little bit and figuring this whole thing out together,” Landrum said.

The Terriers hit the road once again for a date with Wagner College on Dec. 10.

4 FEATURES

BUSINESS

Nud Pob reopens after construction, students celebrate

BY YOKO ZHU DFP Writer

Festive balloons and a “NOW OPEN” banner decorate the entrance of Nud Pob. Students pack this campus hot spot, as scents of Thai spices and chatter fill the room. On Boston University’s campus, across the street from Marsh Chapel, sits this casual Thai eatery.

After much anticipation, Nud Pob re-opened its businesses to eager customers after threemonth-long construction repairs.

Nud Pob’s next-door neighbor, Pavement Coffeehouse, is expected to re-opened in earlyto mid-January, according to Pavement’s CEO. Eddie Chen, Nud Pob owner, said the business faced difficulties after the closure during the fall semester.

“I mean, the entire freshmanyear students probably don’t know about this,” Chen said.

“So it’s going to take some time for me to pick up.”

Pavement and Nud Pob closed for water leakage and cracks in the concrete from heavy rains over the summer.

The construction project began in August and the timeline was stretched due to the building’s structural issues.

BU spokesperson Colin Riley said the construction project was “unusual” because of the parking garage and deck above the businesses. “[BU] wanted to make sure that it was safe and minimize the impact to the time frame on their business,” Riley said.

MOLLY POTTER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Patrons crowd Nud Pob on Monday night. The popular Thai restaurant reopened its doors on Friday after months of construction.

“So this was done as quickly as possible.”

Unlike Nud Pob, Pavement’s construction is still ongoing.

The roof is being reinforced by support columns to ensure structural integrity.

An updated store facade needs to be completed as well, said Pavement CEO Andy LoPilato.

“We are a local independent, family-owned business, and losing one of our locations has been a real challenge,” LoPilato said.

Jennifer Liu, a junior in the College of Communication, expressed that the atmosphere of a cafe study space is convenient during midterms and finals

season.

“I’ve only really heard about Pavement after it was closed, but I heard a lot of good things from a lot of classmates and my friends,” Liu said. “I’m definitely interested in looking at the menu and actually going into the store and trying some things.”

Caden Honda, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said they have noticed how “expensive” and “crowded” Pavement can get.

“If somebody asked me to go and they were feeling impassioned about it, I would go with, but I don’t think on my own volition,” she said.

Chen said the closure impacted his business because business picks up in September when students return to campus, after the “low season” of summer.

“They shut us down in the month of August, so there’s no income,” Chen said.

Throughout the construction, Chen was responsible for paying the restaurant’s electric and gas bills. BU covered the cost of rent and construction.

Riley said the University worked to “get them back in business.”

“We wish them well and appreciate their understanding, of course, as this project went on in close cooperation with the University,” Riley said.

During the closure, Chen kept his workers, like Wanna W., on the payroll with vacation pay.

Wanna W., who has been working at Nud Pob for 11 years, has a second job on top of her full-time cashier role at Nud Pob. In the months Nud Pob was closed, Wanna was working at her second job to earn extra income.

She described the Nud Pob work environment as like a family.

“We have fun each day at work, and you can see how busy we are, so we cannot have drama,” Wanna said. “So we just like doing our job.”

Nud Pob gave out complimentary iced teas with any purchase in honor of their reopening day. Around dinner time, the restaurant was packed,

consisting of full tables and many customers in line to order food. The interior appears more spacious and newly renovated.

Nud Pob cashier Arisa T. expressed there was anticipation surrounding the restaurant’s reopening and that business was going to pick up.

Aman Shahzad, a junior in the College of Communication, said they enjoyed the service and the food, which they described as part of the appeal of supporting small businesses.

“I feel like there’s a completely different vibe, it feels more at home,” Shahzad said.

Jason Jiang, a sophomore in the College of Engineering, said Nud Pob “has a loyal customer base,” and that he’d definitely consider himself as part of it. “[Nud Pob is] in a central location on campus. We’d be open to coming … maybe like every other week, but regularly coming back is definitely the plan,” Jiang said.

Before the restaurant was closed for construction, Jiang used to eat there once a week with his friend Benson Cao, ordering his typical dish, the Indonesian fried rice.

Sitting next to Jiang was Cao, a sophomore in ENG, who expressed that the prices were pretty fair for a home cooked meal in Boston.

“It proves a lot about how good of a business they’re running, and how good the food is,” Jiang said. “People are coming back, even after such a long period of waiting.”

ARTS

REVIEW: Boston Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ through a dancer’s eyes

BY CAITLIN BEAL Community Associate

Visions of sugarplum fairies will surely be dancing, twirling and leaping through my head for days following Boston Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker.”

While I have seen the scenes of the show unfold countless times from the wings of the stage, it was truly magical to finally watch through the eyes of the audience.

Since the age of 8, I have performed in “The Nutcracker” countless times, but I had never seen the show performed by a professional cast of dancers. The anticipation of finally seeing it at the Citizens Bank Opera House by the Boston Ballet did not disappoint.

Even though I was seated in the last row and the furthest seat on the right, I can adamantly say that there is no bad seat in the theater.

The sounds of the live orchestra and movements of the dancers will be heard and seen, regardless if you spend hundreds of dollars to sit in the front or a measly $25 like I did for the back.

My biggest takeaway from

the show was that it is truly a production — and one worth every penny to see. From the sets, lights, costumes and even fake snow, the story comes to life and transports you into the Kingdom of the Sweets.

Going into the show, I was expecting the Boston Ballet’s adaptation to stay very true to the original story, but was pleasantly surprised by some whimsical aspects they added in. One notable addition was a huge yellow bear gift from Drosselmeyer to Clara and Fritz in the opening party scene.

This dancer in a huge, fluffy costume complete with a full bear mask was a crowd favorite — drawing a cacophony of laughter as they crawled on all fours around the stage.

The rats from Nutcracker performances around the world have gone extremely viral in recent years, and I highly recommend you look them up to fully grasp how detailed and realistic these costumes are.

The resemblance is uncanny between them and the rats that have scurried past many students’ feet in Boston University’s West Campus.

Laughter roared during the rat scenes, with the children’s voices carrying above all others.

Small moments of comic relief, such as a rat eating a life-sized gingerbread person and a red carpet rolling out for Clara made the production that much better.

Arguably the most iconic dance in the show is the “Waltz of the Snowflakes,” in which they help to transport Clara into the Kingdom of the Sweets and conclude the first act. This was always my favorite part of the show and performing in it — on

a much smaller scale, however — was the highlight of my dance career.

From this point on, the sets and effects deeply elevate the sense of magic and transport you into the scenes. The wings change with the background to appear as a snowy forest while snow sprinkles down for over six minutes.

The fact that the Snow Queen, after fake snow had been piling on stage for minutes, still performed a flawless solo en pointe was insanely impressive.

Usually, the curtains close on Act One with Clara and the Nutcracker riding off in a sleigh to the Kingdom of the Sweets, but this was a moment where the Boston Ballet triumphed over other productions. The pair of them enter a cloud that actually flies off above the stage and out of sight.

I physically dropped my jaw when I saw this.

I didn’t think it was possible to be more impressed by the sets until the curtains reopened for the second act. The stage appeared to be never-ending, with multiple layers and a raised platform in the back where Clara, the Nutcracker and a group of guards sat to watch the group dances.

My only complaint was how short the dances were in Act Two, though that is not uncommon with Nutcracker performances.

This is where they showcased other dance styles, such as contemporary dance and ribbon twirling — giving me rhythmic gymnastics vibes — but I wished I could have seen more.

One aspect I was skeptical about at first was the inclusion of young children in such a professional performance. I was worried they would take away

from or distract from the serious ballet.

However, there was a good balance between the seriousness of the dancers and the silliness of the children that I enjoyed.

They added an extra layer to the group performances, especially when they wore fluffy sheep (or lamb?) costumes and skipped in circles around the principal dancers, an element I had never seen before.

Now it wouldn’t truly be a Nutcracker review without mentioning the Sugar Plum Fairy. This character truly embodies the epitome of what you imagine a ballerina to be: effortless dancing, a sparkling tutu, extended lines and endless amounts of leaps and pirouettes.

The Nutcracker pas de deux is a four-part dance performed by the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker Prince at first as a duet, followed by a solo of each until finally they come back together again.

This was possibly some of the best ballet I have ever seen.

Both the dancers were extremely talented and performed lifts that left the audience oohing and aahing.

All in all, I would see Boston Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” again in a heartbeat. With a different cast of performers for each show, the experience will be slightly different every time, meaning you’ll never get bored.

It is the perfect show to get into the holiday spirit and feel the magic of the season.

Don’t believe me? Spend just a few minutes with the groups of children in their holiday attire dancing among the seats during intermission and I’m sure you will change your mind.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY LILA BALTAXE

FEATURES 5

COMMUNITY Meet the jolly man behind the designer beard

MARGARET CORONA | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Boston’s official Santa Claus Jim Manning paints his eyebrows white to prepare for his 12th annual performance at the 2023 Boston Common Tree Lighting.

By MARGARET CORONA DFP Writer

Show time is in one hour and 20 minutes, and Jim Manning is meticulously rehearsing his lines in the cramped quarters of his trailer. All the blinds are drawn, preventing wandering eyes from peeking in.

His attire for the evening hangs in the back of the trailer in a room so confined, only a chunky black pair of boots, a designer beard crafted from yak hair and a red velvet suit can fit inside comfortably.

Manning had returned, jollier than a kid on Christmas morning, for his 12th performance at the Boston Common Tree Lighting as the city’s official Santa Claus.

Not a minute passed that evening without an expression of gratitude, a burst of laughter or a dry-humored joke. These are, undoubtedly, only a handful of the prominent characteristics Manning brings to his role of Santa.

“I take being Santa Claus very

seriously without taking myself too seriously,” Manning said, chuckling as he awkwardly settled into a chair attempting not to tear the suit’s delicate stitching.

Manning is the epitome of North Pole vitality at the uncharacteristic age of 47 — 19 years younger than the average Father Christmas, according to the 2023 Red Suit Survey. Prior to becoming a professional Santa Claus 19 years ago, Manning held 53 jobs, including a Charlestonbased AmeriCorps volunteer, an English teacher to children in South Korea and a dexterous balloon artist.

Manning was born and raised in New Rochelle, New York, in an Irish-Catholic family. The license plate of his sleigh — a white Honda SUV teeming with a conglomerate of back-up costume parts, charging cords and mints — reads “Happiness is being Irish.”

“I have such an Irish dry sense of humor that, on a given basis, people around me don’t know whether I’m joking or not,” Manning said. “I convinced a

server a couple of months ago that I was allergic to water.”

When he’s not granting Christmas wishes, delivering presents and avoiding overheating in his suit — he wears a vest of ice packs underneath to keep him cool — Manning works as a magician, motivational speaker and soon-tobe author.

This year, Manning will have climbed down 67 chimneys between Nov. 24 and Dec. 24, totaling 81 hours of work. And on the 25th, he and his wife Sonya will depart for a tropical vacation to recharge from a long month’s work.

“It’s just become part of our lives and part of the tradition,” said Sonya of Manning’s role as Santa.

“He’s the person that everyone wants to talk to. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 5-year-old or if you’re a 75-year-old.”

Though Sonya — who is a professional hair stylist and owner of Cambridge’s Revela Salon — often helps “Santa Jim” style his hair and do his makeup, she’s hesitant to don the Mrs. Claus costume.

“Maybe one of these years when we’re old and gray,” she joked. “If he’s still doing it, maybe I’ll do it.”

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Manning mothballed his sleigh and connected with clients via Zoom. He spent almost 12 hours a day at his desk, greeting children from his virtual workshop.

One day, after Manning developed a serious leg cramp from continuous sitting, Sonya noticed a large bump on his leg and encouraged him to visit a doctor.

In 2021, Manning was diagnosed with a sarcoma. Three months later, Sonya was diagnosed with breast cancer. They caught their diagnoses early, and the two went through treatment and recovery together between 2021 and 2022.

“It’s okay to take a silver lining out of a cloud,” Manning said.

Last month, Santa Jim and Sonya received their two-and-ahalf-year and two-year remission clearance scans, respectively.

With clear skies for flying his sleigh and his health better than ever, Manning is full speed ahead this winter. Visits he’s made so far this year include a Christmas singalong with award-winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, a pet meet-and-greet at the Colonnade Hotel and a trip to surprise local firefighters’ children.

“I’m only with them for a short amount of time, but when I interact with people, they’re left better for it,” Manning said. “That makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing, and that makes me grateful to have this job.”

Santa Jim has visited families and children well over a thousand times — both in-person and from the North Pole via Zoom — and has built a profound, loyal clientele.

Lisa Noe, a clinical social worker and a client of Manning’s for nearly a decade, described his work as invaluable to her family’s Christmas Eve gatherings.

Manning reached out several weeks before his appearances to learn the names of all the children and ask if there was anything personalized he should include during his visit, Noe said.

“And he memorized it. He memorized, every year, everything that we gave him to say about each child and he was always dead on,” she said.

Though she has no more “believers” in the household, Christmas “would not have been the same without him,” Noe said.

In addition to making each child feel like they’re number one on the “Nice List,” Manning said he values “allowing the children to be their pure selves in front of their parents and in front of their loved ones.”

When Manning read “‘Twas

The Night Before Christmas” to firefighters’ children during his visit, dozens raised their hands to voice their most pressing Santarelated inquiries, including “How does Santa travel all over the world in one night?”

Manning paused each time to acknowledge every question and carefully respond.

He said he uses the “space-time continuum” to “bend space” and make Christmas wishes come true.

The room filled with oohs and ahhs from awe-stricken children and discreet laughter from parents at the “Back to the Future” reference.

“You asked a lot of great questions,” Manning told one boy, who asked nearly 10. “And I want you to remember how important it is that you keep always asking questions, because that’s how you learn.”

But perhaps the most important of all his Santa qualities is Manning’s commitment to spreading love and empathizing with others, regardless of their religious identity.

“Santa is Santa Claus for everybody. He doesn’t offer judgment,” Manning said. “He is the bringer of peace and joy and love, and I like embodying that.”

MARGARET CORONA | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Sitting in a position as to not rip his pants, Manning hydrates in his trailer before being called to stage for the tree lighting ceremony.

SCIENCE

Center for Systems Neuroscience fosters interdisciplinary collaboration

BY SARA CREATO DFP Writer

With electrodes implanted into its brain, a rat scurries around a pen no more than 20 centimeters in diameter. Seemingly unbothered by the hardware, the rat scours its confined environment in search of its sustenance: crushed Froot Loops.

A group of researchers observe the rat from above. Rather than search for Froot Loops, these scientists watch closely for red dots, an indication of neural activity.

This is a typical scene from Michael Hasselmo’s laboratory at Boston University’s Center for Systems Neuroscience.

Hasselmo, a professor in the department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and the director of CSN, established the center in 2014 after a suggestion from then Vice President of research Gloria Waters.

CSN spans the Charles River and Medical Campuses and houses more than 70 laboratories.

At these labs, more than 80 BU faculty members conduct research in varying disciplines, from biomedical engineering to speech and hearing sciences to anatomy. Unlike some research centers within the Kilachand Center, CSN has no participation restrictions and is open to all university faculty.

KATE KOTLYAR | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering, where the Center for Systems Neuroscience is located. CSN is open to multidisciplinary faculty research on a wide range of topics such as Alzheimer’s disease, the brain’s role in memory function and the connection between animal and robotic navigation.

“[New faculty] aren’t just coming into one department,” Hasselmo said. “They’re coming into a community of researchers.”

CSN organizes a myriad of events to foster this sense of community. The Center hosts seminars for guest speakers and symposiums where faculty members showcase their research, typically followed by lunch where the conversation continues. CSN regularly posts about upcoming events and faculty achievements on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Hasselmo’s lab researches the brain’s role in memory function and spatial navigation. One of

his current projects conducts trials related to delayed nonmatch position. In this experimental design, mice and rats navigate a T-shaped maze, and the shape of the maze changes with each trial.

The objective of the experiment is to test the animal’s memory of life events, known as episodic memory.

“It seems like a really simple task, but if the animal is doing it 20 or 30 times in a row … that actually puts demands on the episodic memory,” Hasselmo said. “It’s challenging the abilities of the animal to distinguish ‘what did I do 10 seconds ago?’ versus

‘what did I do two minutes ago?’”

Hasselmo’s research has implications for Alzheimer’s disease, since its early symptoms typically occur in memory.

“When you have the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, the first things that happen are often that you forget where you left your car keys and where you parked your car,” Hasselmo said. “That is directly related to the damage to the internal cortex and … the hippocampus.”

Hasselmo’s lab also studies the connection between animal and robotic navigation, which has implications for the navigational abilities of autonomous vehicles, like self-driving cars. Recently, CSN received The Office of Naval Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative Grant to fund this investigation.

“There’s a lot of interest in understanding how [navigation is] done in the brain in order to make the robotic implementations more robust and more adaptable to changing circumstances,” Hasselmo said.

Mark Kramer, the associate director of CSN and a mathematics and statistics professor, sees CSN as a way to foster collaboration among BU faculty conducting neuroscience projects.

“We didn’t have a central place for all of us to interact,” Kramer said. “[CSN] was, for me, an exciting spot to interact with

other colleagues with different perspectives in neuroscience.”

Kramer researches the detection of pathological brain rhythms associated with epilepsy in order to correct them. These corrections are auditory and electrical simulation that aims to improve brain function through the enhancement of memory and reduction of epileptic brain activity.

“We’d like to understand … the [underlying mechanisms] that produce that voltage,” Kramer said. “The way we try to do that is by developing these mathematical models that can tie in the thing we observe, to the things we don’t observe.”

For Michael Economo, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering, CSN provides an opportunity to venture outside of his department.

“The center really serves as a hub among that community of people spread across different departments that allows people to interact, to collaborate [and] for people to learn about things that labs outside of the department might be doing,” Economo said.

Hasselmo views the work of CSN as bigger than the field of neuroscience.

“To understand the brain,” Hasselmo said, “is to understand every aspect of human experience.”

6 PHOTO

GALLERY

Boston bundles up for winter

By Daily Free Press Photographers

As Fall slips away and the days get shorter, the trees go bare and Bostonians prepare. The Frog pond freezes over and decorations adorn doorways— it can only mean one thing: Winter is coming to Boston.

The Make Way for Ducklings statue in Boston Common decorated with Santa costumes in November.

MATTHEW EADIE | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

A spectator takes photos of the tree lighting in Boston Common on Nov. 30.

KELLY BRODER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Elizabeth Hart, assistant director of student activities at BU, pours chocolate syrup on hot chocolate at a wellbeing event on Wednesday. MAGDALENA LAZOWSKI | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Boston’s signature Santa Claus Jim Manning at a pet Meet-and-Greet with Santa at the Colonnade in Boston. MARGARET CORONA | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

PHOTO 7

Wreaths hang from the windows of a building in Back Bay. SARAH CRUZ | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

A Berklee College of Music student takes the stage to sing a Christmas tune.

KELLY BRODER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

Ice skaters fly around the Frog Pond on Boston Common.

ISABELLE MEGOSH | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

The 52nd tree annually gifted by Nova Scotia to Boston lights up in Boston Common, honoring more than a century of friendship.

KELLY BRODER | DFP PHOTOGRAPHER

8 OPINION

EDITORIAL

COLUMNS On the Record:

The commercialization of Christmas exploits our love From Ebenezer Scrooge and the Grinch to Squidward and Dr. Doofenshmirtz, disliking Christmas in popular culture is synonymous with being a greedy, grumpy curmudgeon — or just downright evil.

Here’s how the trope usually goes: The character’s cartoonishly evil opposition to Christmas is either because a.) no one loved them as a child, or b.) they’re so self-centered that they have no time or energy for giving to others.

This is emotional blackmail.

Don’t let big Christmas gaslight you for realizing that “the spirit of giving” is history’s most successful marketing scheme.

Over the past 20 years the amount Americans spend on Christmas annually has more than doubled, ballooning to a $936 billion industry in 2022 and growing year after year, according to Exploding Topics.

A study conducted by Harvard Medical School found that 62% of respondents reported they’re stress levels being “very, or somewhat” elevated during the holiday season. Only 10% of respondents reported that the holidays caused no additional stress.

Harvard, unfortunately, did not ask for the respondents’ incomes. However, based on one of the biggest contributors to stress being “financial demands,” it’s easy to infer which class of people were being spared.

Christmas is an annual humiliation ritual for the poor.

Plain and simple.

Think about it: stressing for months over saving up money, buying more than you can and still feeling like it’s not enough, dreading for your children to go back to school or on social media to see how much more their wealthier peers have been gifted.

Even though no one explicitly says so on Christmas Day, these rituals create a dynamic whereby money spent serves as a proxy for love given, of which many feelings of neglect and resentment become caught in the crossfire.

This unspoken tension completely undermines the supposed spirit of Christmas, which is about bringing people together once a year to express their love for one another through gift giving.

We’re not miserly Scrooges who hate the idea of giving — quite the contrary. Our problem is that capitalism has perverted Christmas to such an extent for the holiday to become an affront to the values it represents.

The split second after — and even sometimes before — Thanksgiving ends, an onslaught of corporate Christmas music, product placements thinly veiled by holiday movies and advertisements for department store sales on toys that will never get used, bombarded our airwaves. It is paid for by middle men corporations trying to stand in the way of you expressing your love.

It isn’t inherently wrong to spend money on gifts, not even to spend a lot of money on a gift someone will truly love and cherish. However, when

children become conditioned to gauge their parents’ love based on how many presents are underneath a tree: That’s when we’re getting scammed.

How did we get to the point of spending more money on Christmas than the military budget per year? Because the people profiting off it want us to, of course.

This is nothing new. In fact, if one looks backthrough history, almost every aspect of a “traditional” American Christmas began as a bygone ad campaign.

Both Christmas trees and ornaments were traditions brought over from Germany by immigrants and entrepreneurs and popularized by being sold for profit in the late 1800s.

Christmas tree lights were invented by a wealthy colleague of Thomas Edison, named Edward Johnson, and popularized by being sold by General Electric starting in 1903.

Even Santa Claus — although based on the centuries-old Dutch Sinterklaas, who was in turn inspired by the millenia old St. Nicholas — was only codified in his standard American fat and jolly appearance clad in red and white by Coca Cola advertisements beginning in 1931.

The exploitation of the religion, culture and values Christmas represents has a deep-rooted precedent. These traditions don’t necessarily deserve to be scrapped, just pointing out that so much of Christmas thought of as timeless, isn’t, and doesn’t have to be.

Americans who celebrate Christmas, if almost all traditions and nearly $1 trillion a year isn’t enough, how far will the commercialization of Christmas go? How much rampant consumerism will finally be enough to show family and friends that they are loved?

Some families place limits either in quantity or price on presents that they will buy.

Others prefer to exchange gifts that have been made instead of bought, such as drawings, letters and limitless other options. Handmade gifts are usually much less expensive and much more meaningful anyway because they require greater effort and intentionality — but that is still time and effort that must be spent.

Christmas is a beautiful holiday, whether you are Christian or not, the values it represents have become universal.

However, the commercialization of Christmas and the commodification of our love makes the holiday a source of undo stress for hundreds of millions every year. For the sake of subordinating those hallowed values to corporate interests.

The way we celebrate holidays, however, is up to us, our families and our friends. We can forge new traditions, and by redefining the way we express our love without relying so much on money, truly embrace the Christmas spirit.

Written by Opinion CoEditor Nathan Metcalf

To give or what to give?

The latter is the question worth asking

BY ADDISON SCHMIDT Columnist

It’s an undeniable fact: The easiest, simplest, most versatile gift in the world is the Amazon gift card.

A staple of any good American office party, “Secret Santa” exchange or “White Elephant” swap, the gift card — particularly those which hail to materialistic stores like Amazon, with literally millions of products — has stood the test of both time and awkward gift exchanges because of its blandness and ease.

In other words, the gift card is the plain, frostingless sugar cookie of gifts — sure, it tastes okay, but it’s no one’s first pick.

Although the first gift card was sold in 1994

by Neiman Marcus, a luxury department store, the practice of giving gift cards as presents has only become more popular.

Revenue of the United States gift card market continues to grow 8.2% annually and is currently valued at $899.3 billion.

It’s not entirely the gift card’s fault — gift giving, on a grand scale, has become far more impersonal, emboldened

by COVID-era storefront shutdowns and the online shopping boom.

As more and more retail storefronts close — more than 2,800 retail stores closed across the U.S. in 2023 alone — the process of finding, purchasing and packaging a gift has become an increasingly antiquated practice.

Gift giving has become more impersonal because we’ve made being impersonal so easy.

Particularly in the case of the gift card and other store vouchers, the act of the exchange no longer has to be done in person.

It doesn’t even have to be sent through the mail — gift cards can now be exchanged through emails and URLs, erasing the need for physical cards and handwritten notes of thanks.

While the intent behind these gifts might be the same — to show appreciation for the person on the receiving end — the act of giving this kind of gift, even with a decent intention, seems like a cop out. At the very least, it presents itself as a

ILLUSTRATION BY AUGIE OPPENHEIMER

certain antithesis to what I consider to be the entire purpose of giving a gift: putting time and effort into making another person happy.

If an expression of affection is the true point of a present — or, at the very least, gratitude — these virtual gifts at the worst remove that sense of appreciation, and at best place a wall between the giver and the receiver that makes it difficult for that gratitude to seem real.

My question, then, is this: If the act of giving has ceased, what’s the point in giving gifts at all?

Our collective answer appears to lean more toward the empty, dejected answer, one which posits that it’s better to use an easy solution to a problem that we’ve made overly complex.

Instead of viewing gifts for what they could be — opportunities to demonstrate the affection we have for people in our lives — we have turned them into obligations, open boxes on the evergrowing holiday to-do list begging to please, please, please, just be crossed off already.

Perhaps this ritual of e-gifts and gift cards is more an act of selfprotection — a way of showing affection that is expressive but limited, one that saves both parties from the emotional exhaustion of exchanging a more meaningful present and running the risk of the present being “wrong.”

But fear of doing the wrong thing — being too forward or too emotional or too generous — is the kind of misplaced fear that holds us back from doing the right thing.

And while giving gifts as a whole might seem silly and superfluous to many, as with most mundane things in life, it’s also an opportunity.

By putting more care into the way we celebrate others, we’re inherently celebrating ourselves.

Good, real gifts are not a question of price or size or convenience, and the allure of a price tag or a quick purchase shouldn’t be the defining factors in what we give. At the risk of sounding commercial, it’s the thought that counts — not the gift itself.

GAMES 9 Chloe Patel, Editor-in-Chief Emilia Wisniewski, Managing Co-Editor Stella Tannenbaum, Managing Co-Editor Sydney Topf, Campus Co-Editor Daisy Levine, Features Co-Editor

Editorial Board

Analise Bruno, Lifestyle Editor

Lindsay Shachnow, Campus Co-Editor Annika Morris, Sports Co-Editor Molly Potter, Photo Co-Editor Matthew Eadie, City Co-Editor Austin Chen, Sports Co-Editor Andrew Burke-Stevenson, Photo Co-Editor

T HE I N D EPEN D EN T STUDE NT NEWSPAPE R AT B O STON U N IVER SI TY

The Daily Free Press is published Monday through Friday during the academic year except during vacation and exam periods by Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc., a nonprofit corporation operated by Boston University students. Copyright © 2023 Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

Adithya Iyer, City Co-Editor Nathan Metcalf, Opinion Co-Editor

Lila Baltaxe, Layout & Graphics Co-Editor

Brett Abrams, Opinion Co-Editor

Clare McMillan, Layout & Graphics Co-Editor

Eden Mor, Features Co-Editor

Andrew DiBiasio, Multimedia Editor

CLASSIFIED If there are times where you would like a minute to decompress there’s an app for that it’s called Relax For A Minute and it’s available now for iOS in the App Store.

CROSSWORD

Winter Time ACROSS 1. Body parts usually covered by sweaters and coats in the winter 5. "Neither snow rain...

8. British bottom 12. You might turn this up in the winter 13. Area inMass Gen. or St. Elizabeth's 14. " For sure!" Or your reaction when someone invites you ice-skating 15. The " A" of A.O. 16. United States of America: NPR, Ireland: 17. Gloves, face masks, hazmat suits, etc.

18. "Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean_," 2023LanaDel Rey album 21. August and July star sign 22. With energy 23. Cake decorator 25. Eggs in a lab 28. Tree creature in the "Lord of the Rings" 29. __ Expression (not used anymore) 31. __ Whales, animals that migrate south for the winter 33. __ Cuomo, Weezer frontman 34. Prefix for -mural, in theBU sports world 35. Stitch with needle and thread 36. Quick plane 37. State of Sens.

Blackburn and Hagherty 38. "_ Was," 2022 Harry Styles single •

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40. Big_ 6. One-eighth portion 41. Pedantic, maybe (Ask aMathMajor!)

46. Black and white 7. One who regrets 8. Singular swiss cookie summit, or a 48. Gun rights org. wintertime vacation 49. Voiceless 50. Sonic parent destination 9. Fills something that company has been emptied 51. 14-Across, more 10. Guiding ones, such nonchalantly 52. Instrument for some as the eight reindeer CFA students on Santa's sleigh 53. Winter's stereotypical 11. Canadian gas company one is pine or vanilla 19. Refined and classy, 54. Suffix for lime- or 20. " What are my cherryresults?"

55. Has a siesta 24. Cleveland hooper, for short DOWN 25. _-Wan Kenobi 1. Searcher of the 26. Guessed White Whale 27. Like Spaceman Spiff 2. Nevada's "Biggest vis-a-vis Calvin Little City" 30. Clock change hrs.

3. Hindu god that usher away 4. Thefted clothing? winter 5. 90s grunge band

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32. Container of cinders, or coffee 33. Change something's form 35. Holy 39. "TheLion King" meerkat 40. "Meh," or aNew Englanders' reaction to a few flurries 42. The "Queen ofNew Age" 43. Country which Obama was the first President to visit since Coolidge 44. On, like a star decoration in relation to a ChristmasTree 45. Alternative toLevi's 47. Athletic equipment that cuts through the Charles River (Albeit rarely during the winter)

10 LIFESTYLE

LIFESTYLE

Merry Christmas from your favorite Jew

By AMANDA BRECHER DFP Writer

As the climate gets a little colder, and the rosey noses and puffer parkas emerge, there’s one thought that floods the minds of more people than just Buddy the Elf –– Christmas is coming! Oh, and Hanukkah, too.

I was raised by two Jewish parents. Every holiday season, we gather around a menorah and say the Hanukkah prayers as the candles flicker before us.

Don’t get me wrong, these are some of my fondest memories — our extended family holiday dinners, the game of White Elephant that truly has no winner — but it’s very different from Christmas.

It’s much more understated and holistically more intimate, hence why I love the holiday so much. But if we are being completely realistic, the holiday season isn’t centered around Jewish tradition — it’s centered around Christmas.

And that’s just fine with me, because I love Christmas.

It’s a holiday of cheer and rejoice and, amidst a plethora of chaos, the whole world lights up for a month. Everything is doused in red and green, and everywhere smells of fresh evergreen trees. Holiday menus are sacred and long-awaited, and everyone is just happier.

Christmas lights shield the darkness of daily burdens more than my menorah ever could.

Perhaps Hanukkah would assume this bright role had

ILLUSTRATION BY ANNIKA MORRIS

my family given in to the idea of a Hanukkah bush –– a concept created by ABC’s “The Goldbergs,” and a show any Jewish family has seen and resonated with. But alas, our miracle of light remains much dimmer in the shadow of the vastness of Christmas.

Christmas traditions have brought about their own Jewish

tradition counterparts, and it’s in part for these Jewish traditions which makes me love the Christmas season even more.

Everyone knows that Jewish people flock to their favorite Chinese restaurant on Christmas –– I’m not sure I’d be a true member of my Jewish community if I hadn’t done that at least once in my life. But what

not everyone knows is that this is a long-standing tradition.

The tradition dates back to 1899, when the American Hebrew journal criticized Jews for eating at a non-kosher restaurant when they needed somewhere to dine on Christmas day, according to an interview between NPR’s Robert Siegel and Rabbi Joshua Plaut.

Plaut said something in the interview which spoke to my personal internal conflict during the holiday season: I feel almost guilty about my love for Christmas, as if it’s some sort of betrayal of my own culture.

Plaut grew up with eyes as wide as mine for the holiday of Christmas –– he was the son of a prominent community Rabbi who would spend every Christmas as a child on Santa’s lap. He asked his mother why she’d willingly take him to partake in this tradition, and she responded: “Why not? All Americans did it, and you were as comfortable in your Jewish identity. So why not enjoy the holiday season?”

Internalizing Plaut’s mother’s words, I can understand and recognize my own faith in my Jewish identity while still partaking in the practices of another culture.

The food, the festivals and the Christmas fun is something I look forward to year-round, just as any other Christmas-fanatic would.

Christmas-themed parties and everywhere decked in ornaments tend to top the year’s events.

Even at home, my favorite time of year has always been when Kenny’s Christmas Trees set up shop outside of our local grocery store.

This year, my do-good Mensch on a Bench will sit pretty alongside an Elf on the Shelf as I celebrate the holiday season, no matter if it’s meant for me.

MAIA’S INNER MONOLOGUE:

Zodiac signs as winter activities: Which one are you?

By MAIA PENZER Senior Writer

After Thanksgiving, it’s time to dive headfirst into the holidays.

You know the unspoken rule — the day after Thanksgiving marks the unofficial start of Christmas or, in my case, Hanukkah!

To welcome in the holiday season, I have a ritual: I cozy up in PJs, indulge in Trader Joe’s hot cocoa and settle in to watch “Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!” while the fire warmly crackles beside me.

There are many different types of winter activities to enjoy, and my suspicion is that they correspond with your zodiac sign. Maybe my winter ritual has a Leo-inspired connection. Who knows? But I’m telling you, our signs tell a lot about who we are as people.

Together, we’ll explore which Zodiac sign-based winter activity you should try.

Sagittarius Happy Sagittarius season indeed!

Generous and philosophical, Sagittarians have a great sense of humor. They love being free, exploring new places and clowning around.

So, building a snowman — think adding goofy faces, scarves and crafting various shapes and sizes — is absolutely perfect for them. These fire signs are all about imaginatively painting the world in their own colors.

Sagittarians are always looking to have fun!

Capricorn Defined by responsibility, perseverance and dedication, Capricorns are known as independent practicalists who are typically hardworking and grounded. So, what can suit them

better than sledding?

It’s thrilling, but, let’s be real, it’s tough work! A Capricorn’s perseverance would shine through here — they’re committed to climbing that hill, descending down the slope and doing it all over again.

Aquarius The Aquarius values innovation and creativity but has difficulty expressing emotions. Because of their brutal honesty, they may appear distant, and small talk isn’t their thing. Nonetheless, they are the most innovative and humanitarian of the zodiac signs.

Ice skating would be the ideal winter activity for them, because it’s a sport in which you can express yourself without the use of words.

Pisces Pisces, a gregarious water sign, is known for their boundless creativity and altruistic nature, as well as their willingness to help others.

Visiting Christmas light displays could be the ideal winter activity for Pisces. It creates an environment in which they can connect with their creativity and draw inspiration from the allure of the season while surrounded by enchanting lights and festive decor.

Aries This fire sign represents all things adventurous, brave and passionate.

Skiing and other winter sports would be their playground.

Racing downhill matches their daring, competitive nature perfectly. When an Aries is around, you know something exciting is about to happen. They are always looking for fast-paced activities, competitive thrills and

exciting experiences.

Taurus Tauruses are recognized for their dedication, valuing dependability and consistency.

Yet, their stubbornness might steer them away from activities like snowball fights or sledding.

Truth be told, Tauruses are my favorite sign — both my sister and best friend fall under this sign.

They crave tranquil spaces to unwind and relax. On their ideal winter days, you’ll likely find a Taurus cozied up by the fire with a good book.

Gemini Geminis are the zodiac’s ultimate social butterflies, enjoying variety and interpersonal engagement. They are inquisitive and adaptable. Geminis freely express their emotions and wear their hearts on their sleeves. They are always willing to try new things.

A Gemini might enjoy visiting a winter market or festival where they can get the chance to interact with others while taking in new sights and activities.

Cancer Ah, the sentimental Cancers.

Although they may be sensitive and emotional, this only emphasizes how dedicated they are to their family and community.

Making gingerbread cookies with family and friends is the ideal winter activity for a Cancer.

It’s the perfect way for them to welcome winter and appreciate the comforts of home and community.

Leo Next up is my personal favorite (I admit, I’m a little biased). As a proud Leo, I can attest that we thrive in the spotlight and enjoy

ILLUSTRATION BY LILA BALTAXE

attending social gatherings.

Give us the opportunity to host a grand winter-themed party, and we’ll make sure every detail reflects our distinct style. Leos are all about passion and creativity, making memories that will last long after the holiday season has passed.

Virgo Virgos, an Earth sign, are practical and detail-oriented individuals. They have a keen attention to detail as well as a strong sense of humanity.

They may favor organizing winter charity events or volunteering in communitydriven projects in the colder months. Finding significance in meaningful contributions, Virgos frequently seek ways to make an impact.

Libra Cooperative, social and oh-sofair-minded. In the winter season,

Libras will embody their innate traits of harmony and sociability in nature.

Imagine getting together for a laid-back winter picnic in a snowy setting, engaging in friendly conversation and forming bonds in the calm of the outdoors. It’s the ideal wintertime pastime for a Libra since it emphasizes sharing the warmth with others.

Scorpio Resourcefulness, bravery and unwavering passion are traits of the Scorpio. Scorpios are distinguished by their assertiveness, which exceeds that of other signs. This water sign is steadfast in their pursuit of their goals. So, is there anything more suiting than a heated snowball fight?

Scorpios are fearless when faced with a challenge. A snowball fight with a Scorpio would make me nervous!

LIFESTYLE 11

Traditions: The history of personal Home Alone: From solo cups to going solo this holiday season connection ILLUSTRATION BY LILA BALTAXE

By ISABELLA PANICHI Contributing Writer

For me, the holidays have always been about celebrating the unity and love of my family. There is an intense closeness between us –– a closeness that has never wavered or felt conditional.

Each year, there is an extraordinary celebration for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. There are extravagant meals, intentional presents, cookies for Santa and my perfect younger cousins who always seem to be dressed more fabulous than I ever could.

These moments are enclosed in a beautiful, ethereal bubble of contentment –– shielded from anxieties and mundanity of everyday life.

December as a whole always felt like it had special energy to it, an energy that existed solely within the bounds of a 31-day span.

My mother would buy my siblings and me advent calendars with little chocolates that we were eager to eat –– even though they always tasted a bit funny. My sister and I argued over who got to place the Dorothy of “The Wizard of Oz” ornament on the Christmas tree –– though that qualm became more of an inside joke as we got older.

There was also the Elf on the Shelf who moved all around the house, which I was always determined to find first. And a highly desired fish salad that my grandfather brings to Christmas Eve is as much a reminder of Christmas as Saint Nick himself.

Traditions anchor emotions in the arbitrary nature of time. They keep us connected and serve as a comfortable continuity across years, changes

and age. My grandmother was something of an anchor herself within my family. She was always a centric presence during my childhood and, truthfully, a centric presence to almost everyone she encountered.

When I was young, she would come to our school’s Christmas fair and help my siblings and me pick out presents for our family members –– especially our mother.

Each year, I knew I could count on her to help me pick the most perfect items out for those I loved the most. She always knew what people needed to feel safe or loved — a trait that did not end with the holidays.

My grandmother’s spirit was synonymous with generosity and a thoughtfulness that seemed angelic. Her attributes are something I try to emulate now, even in the midst of finals and college demands that always seem so important in the moment.

She died in 2019, and since then, Christmas and the holidays have always felt just a little bit different. It is difficult to conceive a holiday spirit when a person so essential to that feeling has passed away.

I found myself a bit lost that year and felt an anxiety about how incomplete everything would feel without her. My grandmother was a woman who placed her family above all else, and as such, we felt the incentive to enjoy our time together during the holiday season with the notion that it is exactly what she would have wanted.

Watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” will of course feel different without her distinct and wonderful laughter, but nevertheless, my sister and I still watch it. Still, when I see those limited edition chocolate coated star cookies, I am reminded of her.

My grandmother’s birthday falls on New Year’s Eve, so it is fitting that each year everyone around the world celebrates. Secretly, I feel as though it is all for her, as it seems to be the only commensurate display that matches the splendor that was her character.

Our New Year’s Eve tradition of playing “Left, Center, Right” –– a game involving three dice and some luck –– never fails to bring to life memories of her sitting at the table beside us.

It feels fitting that my family and I celebrate the New Year with the memory of my grandmother at the center of it all. It reminds me that the people we love stick around for as long as we do –– they can never be truly gone. By continuing to enjoy the traditions of the past, and keep those we love present in our lives, the holidays can still be a truly special time.

ILLUSTRATION BY LILA BALTAXE

By ANNA WELSH Contributing Writer

One of my favorite holiday movies to this day remains “Home Alone.”

There is something about having no one else in the house, putting up all the holiday decorations that are stuffed in the attic, walking around town donning scarves and mittens and, of course, dancing to blasted music in the bathroom.

This year, we need to learn to embrace this a bit more. While family, friends and teachers prepared us for the high school to college transition, no one “warns” of the college to home transition –– moving from a fast-paced eventful lifestyle to a slower, more independent dayto-day at home.

On campus, one spends the entire day surrounded by people. From waking up next to a roommate, showering in a communal space, eating in a packed dining hall and taking the trek on Commonwealth Avenue alongside fellow Terriers.

There is never an absence of people.

Now, as I transition to the suburbs, I get excited by the slower world that awaits me, yet also realize that after a few weeks, I may be craving the energy of the city. Not having your friends on your dorm floor 24/7, a full dining hall or a whole city to explore can come as an understandable shock.

This holiday season, I challenge you to embrace being alone –– a winter ONEderland, if you will.

Now this is not to say that the cute couple trends on Instagram and the plans with your home best friends cannot take place. Rather, simply set aside a little time to be still and find peace in the slow life.

There is an art to slow living: appreciating the little moments, the intentional habits and the moments you have to yourself.

This holiday season, that can look like making a cup of tea, taking a walk around your neighborhood, reading a book (for fun), making homemade holiday presents, or cooking up your

favorite meal –– trading in the dining hall for a home-cooked platter.

Instagram feeds and TikTok pages are filled to the brim with winter bucket lists and seasonal activities, including, but not limited to, ice skating at a local rink, grabbing a cup of hot cocoa and watching Elf. You could even try baking gingerbread cookies while dancing to Mariah Carey!

The entire month that we have off campus is a perfect time to take this necessary reset. Find strength in feeling grounded and be comfortable when not in big groups or constantly with another person. These are the moments that offer you the chance to learn more about yourself –– introspective “thinking” time, if you will.

The beginning months of college can feel overwhelming as a lot of time and energy is spent on academics, adjusting to a new routine and building social circles. We don’t prioritize time for ourselves.

Many students have shared that thoughts pile up from September, ones that are shoved to the back of their mind to allow them headspace to focus on the present moment. It is a natural thing to avoid the unpleasant thoughts or the tough questions we quietly ask ourselves.

This winter break, bring a few of them to the surface.

So yes, a month at home, or wherever you may be headed, can seem like a big transition. It is. But embrace the slow life that awaits you. Take it as an opportunity to get a few things checked off your winter bucket list and a few thoughts off your mind.

THINGS I’VE LEARNED FROM STRANGERS:

Drink some eggnog, get fat, have a ball

By LILI CULHANE DFP Writer

It’s that time of year again –– muahahahaha –– sorry for the maniacal laugh. I just love Christmas time so much that it makes me crazy. Crazy in a good way. Crazy in a Holiday Cheer way.

Boston is a great place to be during the holidays. Strings of lights get thrown on buildings and there’s that dinky little tree in Kenmore –– it almost looks like the one in Rockefeller Center if you squint.

But I wish there was more caroling. You don’t hear about carolers much anymore. I’m sure they’re not dead or anything, maybe they just chose a different career path.

Like me, for example: I used to carol in high school, but now I am a college student and part-time baker (I make lots of cookies for my roommates).

When December comes around, I get hit with a pang of nostalgia and start to miss caroling. Some of my most fond memories of holiday joy stem from moments roaming suburban streets, a hot chocolate in the hand and a song in the heart.

What song? Oh, there were quite a few.

There was “Oh Holy Night.”

Classic. There was “Rudolph the Red-Nosed

Reindeer,” which had a portion that required a single clap and sometimes people did it at the wrong part.

People. Definitely not me.

Muahaha. Okay, that one was maniacal because I just lied to you.

Anyway, my most favorite song by far was “Winter Wonderland.” There are a few reasons for this. One is that I got to sing the melody –– great news because I didn’t learn my notes for any of the other songs and had been doing that on every song anyways.

But more importantly, it was my favorite because it was a sweet song that everyone could use to get in the holiday spirit.

Except, maybe, people in hotter climates.

Honestly, looking back on it, we got most people in the holiday spirit. There would be little old couples, smiling as they opened their door to hear us sing, warm by the light of their burning fireplace. There would be kids, dancing around and singing along –– not always on pitch, but I’m told that’s beside the point.

ILLUSTRATION BY LILA BALTAXE

Actually, in hindsight, the kids being really good would’ve been bad for business. What? Why would I want them to upstage us?

I should also mention that there were sometimes people who shut their lights off and locked their door as they saw us approaching their house.

Did I take offense to this, you ask? No. Well, maybe a little –– I mean, why would they lock their door? It’s not like we’re going to barge in, tie them up and make them listen to us butcher “Frosty the Snowman.”

But, I get it. I probably wouldn’t want to stand awkwardly in my doorway listening to a bunch of 16-year-olds sing either. And yet I did want to be one of the 16-year-olds singing –– we all have our place in this world.

You know, realistically, it should’ve been me –– the “Caroler Extraordinaire” –– that was bringing others joy. But I found it often resulted in the opposite.

The little old couples made me smile. The kids made me want to dance. The people turning their lights off made me want to bang on their door and beg them to let us sing for them because we’d been practicing an awful lot (not really, I didn’t know my notes).

I’m not bitter. And that last one isn’t relevant. Scratch it from the record so it’s just the stuff about happy elderly people and children.

ILLUSTRATION BY LILA BALTAXE

I could write something about coming together with your community being powerful, which is true. I could write something about spreading holiday cheer, which is great. But, honestly, I just think the holidays are about doing something that brings you joy.

Maybe that’s going caroling.

Maybe that’s turning off your lights so the carolers stay the hell away. Maybe it’s being with family. Maybe it’s hiding in your room and enjoying the peace and quiet of not hearing your cousin talk about the boat he’s building in one of the Carolinas.

Do what you will this holiday season.

Drink some eggnog.

Get fat.

Have a ball.

Boy, I know I will –– muahahaha.

Sorry. Remember: revved up with Holiday Cheer laughs.

Nothing maniacal about it.

12 LETTER

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

By CHLOE PATEL Editor-in-Chief

The Fall 2023 semester was nothing short of eventful. The semester that has already slipped away into a moment in time, was a few months jam-packed with — simply put — history.

Firstly though, the content that The Daily Free Press published would have been nothing without managing editors Stella Tannenbaum and Emilia Wisniewski. Stella and Emilia have been my rocks, and our daily time in the office was filled with silly moments, sips of iced coffees and Polar seltzers, singalongs at all hours of the night and, now, our new matching puffer jackets! With their experience in features and city news, they balanced me out in a way that no other conceivable pair could have done with such grace. Alongside their managing editor duties, they resurrected the investigative section, which produced some of my favorite — and some of the FreeP’s most viewed — pieces from the semester. I am excited about the introduction of the investigative section and that it will continue to grow, starting with the appointment of an investigative section editor, who in Spring 2024 will be current features business associate editor Mara Mellits.

We kicked off the semester with the Orientation Edition, including stories about BU appearances in movies, the expansion of Open Newbury and an editorial about the controversial 2023 Commencement speaker.

In what I thought at that time would be the defining moment of

1. Stella Tannenbaum 2. Chloe Patel 3. Emilia Wisniewski 4. Lila Baltaxe 5. Daisy Levine 6. Lindsay Shachnow 7. Annika Morris 8. Sydney Topf 9. Clare McMillan 10. Analise Bruno 11. Brett Abrams 12. Eden Mor 13. Molly Potter 14. Andrew BurkeStevenson 15. Austin Chen 16. Andrew DiBiasio 17. Matthew Eadie 18. Nathan Metcalf 19. Adithya Iyer

the semester, former editors-inchief Molly Farrar (Fall 2022) and Lydia Evans (Spring 2023) came to us with an investigative piece about the Center for Antiracist Research, related to mass layoffs that occurred in September.

Within days of publication, the story amassed over 130,000 views, an all-time high for any

FreeP story, ever.

Less than two weeks later, BU announced the next president, Melissa Gilliam. We held a print edition in our hands within 48 hours of the announcement. It is a historic appointment for BU and a historic moment for The Daily Free Press. It was awesome.

As we wrapped up the final

touches on the President Edition early Friday morning, our office’s ceiling leaked so badly that an entire wall had to be demolished and repaired from water damage, cutting us off from the office for two weeks during construction. We adapted to continue publishing during some of the more bizarre weeks of the semester. Fortunately, we made it back to our home base underneath Insomnia Cookies by our next print edition.

It doesn’t stop. The next week, I was diagnosed with a concussion. Feeling helpless, I watched stories come through the email, unable to look at a screen for enough time to edit a story.

The FreeP carried on.

One of my favorite traditions, the Hockey Edition, came during a busy October. Nothing beats holding a beautiful print all about hockey, making this former sports editor’s heart so happy. Even though I still couldn’t edit, the edition was stellar.

We published so many amazing articles — and a total of seven generally monthly print editions — all while continuing to learn the balance of wellness and production, something I wanted to emphasize in particular when I took on this role. We balanced silliness with hard work, finding community during late nights that bled into early mornings.

I was honored with the opportunity to lead this publication, and so grateful to (I hope!) leave it better than I found it. I trust that incoming editor-inchief and current photo co-editor, Andrew Burke-Stevenson, will continue to raise the standards and produce work that we can all be proud of, alongside incoming managing editors, current features co-editor Daisy Levine and city news associate editor Jenny Lambert.

In what will be half of my college experience by the time I graduate in August 2024, I will have been on the editorial board for three semesters, as sports coeditor in Fall 2022 and as layout and graphics editor in Spring 2023. Each semester, I have joined a new e-board team, a new dynamic in the office and a new love for independent student journalism. Not to have recency bias, but this e-board might be my favorite one.

Thank you Analise for publishing literally 150 lifestyle articles this semester with an

unprecedented output of stories, each one original.

Thank you Sydney and Lindsay for meeting the goals we set before the semester, renewing a focus on in-depth pieces, while maintaining a positive relationship with BU administration.

Thank you Matthew and Adi for your hard work covering areas in Boston that have not in the past been covered.

Thank you Brett and Nathan for your passionate opinions each week in editorial meetings.

Thank you Andrew B-S and Molly for raising the standards of the photo section and decreasing photos of buildings.

Thank you Andrew DB for your early morning daily newsletters and Instagram posts, and for your introduction of new TikTok segments.

Thank you Austin and Annika for your hard work covering BU athletics and for your work on the Hockey Edition.

Thank you Daisy and Eden for your passion for true features and the writer’s voice and for amplifying human interest.

Thank you Clare and Lila for making the print editions happen.

There is something so special about seeing the layout and graphics team work so hard with so much synergy.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, e-board for all your hard work this semester and for brightening our office up with your laughter and personalities, even when the office walls are leaking at 3 a.m. I cannot put into words how appreciative I am of every single one of you.

While there are always things we wish we had done differently, I could not be prouder of us. The tenacity of every single editor was remarkable to watch every night.

They believed in their sections, believed in their content and believed in The Daily Free Press.

And thank you! For sticking with us during this rollercoaster of a semester, subscribing to our newsletter, liking our Instagram posts and for reading our stories.

All my best, Chloe