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THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE NORTHEASTERN COMMUNITY
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For the students, by the students since 1926
October 15, 2015
Hubway opens Huntington station Hispanic heritage lacks visibility By Audrey Cooney News Staff
Photo by Scotty Schenck
Hubway, a bike-sharing company based in Boston, opened a new location on Huntington Avenue near the Wentworth Institute of Technology this week. By Sam Haas City Editor
Boston bike-share program Hubway’s recent expansion brings a
new docking station to Huntington Avenue, potentially increasing access to the program for Northeastern University (NU) and Wentworth Institute of Technology
NU entrepreneur presents app idea
(WIT) students. The expansion – Hubway’s first major growth in Boston since 2013 – was scheduled to add 11 new stations across the city by
Oct. 9, although Hubway’s online map only displayed 10 of the 11 at press time. The Huntington Avenue docks opened on Oct. 2, and two Bikes, Page 6
A nationwide appreciation of Hispanic history and culture ended today after four weeks of relatively scant celebration in Boston. Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, different groups across the city held events meant to highlight Hispanic culture, including a series of attractions set up by the Boston Public Library (BPL) and a breakfast put on by local Spanish-language newspaper El Mundo, featuring local politicians and Hispanic leaders. “As far as what Boston has done, I’d definitely say it’s not enough,” Alyson del Castillo, a member of Northeastern University’s Latin American Student Organization (LASO), said. “Of the mere five [events I heard of] two were actual events put on by the city... If that doesn’t show you how little the city does for Hispanic culture – I don’t know what will.” Hispanics in the United States compose 17 percent of the population, making them the nation’s second-largest racial or ethnic group, according to the Pew Research Center. Despite Representation, Page 5
Photo by Ethan Kaley
Photo by Scotty Schenck
Third-year mechanical engineering major Abigael Titcomb presents her campus safety app, Knightly, at the annual Beantown Throwdown. By Mack Hogan News Correspondent
On Friday, nine startups created by university students participated in a battle of ideas at the third annual Beantown Throwdown. Abigael Titcomb, a Northeastern University (NU) mechanical engineering third year and founder of Knightly, fought her way to a third-place finish against teams from eight nearby
universities. “I love being able to express my passion for this, but it’s terrifying to have to put it all out there,” Titcomb said about Knightly, an app that helps connect students to campus safety services. The Beantown Throwdown, part of HUBweek, is sponsored by a variety of businesses and venturecapital firms. One startup group Business, Page 2
Boston residents and families got in the pre-Halloween spirit this weekend as they carved jack-o’-lanterns and painted pumpkins at the Lawn on D’s second annual Punkin’ Fest.
Festival fuels fall creativity By Alejandro Serrano News Correspondent
Nearly 400 jack-o’-lanterns sat in the metal frame of the haunted Punkin’ Manor, waiting to light up the night as families carved their own pumpkins at the Lawn on D’s second annual Punkin’ Fest. Hundreds of people gathered at the Lawn on D on Saturday to par-
ticipate in free fall festivities. The main celebration centered around a musical light show featuring the Punkin’ Manor, a wall of jack-o’lanterns carved by festivalgoers. People from all across New England attended. “We had a very diverse group [this year],” Ed Slapik, organizer of Punkin’ Fest, said. “I met families from Buffalo, some people from
Philly, New Jersey and more, so we had a far reach.” At the “Big Kids Pumpkin Patch,” a long line of festivalgoers waited to get pumpkins and to test out their carving skills. For those who could not or did not want to carve their pumpkin, there were tables set up with paint and brushes to decorate. The pumpkins Carving, Page 8
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H u n t N e w s NU. c o m
T h u r s d ay , O c t o b e r 15, 2015
news
NU professors publish books across disciplines
ments in the US, explaining their legal and practical challenges. The book is intended to give students studying human rights law the background knowledge necessary for their own future legal practices, covering a host of precedents from immigration to counterterrorism. “Human rights awareness is growing in the US, and lawyers working within the US are increasingly using human rights tools in their advocacy,” Davis said. “This casebook will, I hope, help prepare new lawyers for this work and help stimulate more human rights teaching in law schools.”
By Vanessa Nason News Correspondent
For many professors, writing is a natural next step in their careers as academics, and those at Northeastern University are no exception. Gary Goshgarian, the author of eight thrillers, is a professor in the English department. Michael Patrick MacDonald, who wrote two memoirs about his life growing up in Boston and connecting with his Irish roots, is an author-in-residence with the Honors Program. Professors publish books on foreign policy, crowdsourcing, masculinity in British imperial culture – the list goes on and on. The News compiled a sampling of books released in the last year. “Raising Generation Rx: Mothering Kids with Invisible Disabilities in an Age of Inequality,” by Linda Blum “Raising Generation Rx” addresses invisible conditions ranging from attention deficit disorder to high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. These diseases, according to Associate Professor of Sociology Linda Blum, are frequently misunderstood. “In the 20th Century, mothers were quite directly blamed for children’s struggles,” Blum said. She cited so-called refrigerator mothers whose frigidity was believed to cause their children’s autism. Blum’s newly published book examines how mothers of different class and racial backgrounds deal with their children’s disabilities, how they advocate for their kids and how much blame they feel – all while grappling with decisions regarding psychoactive medication and different therapies. She sees the stigma of invisible disabilities as part of a much larger problem. “These actually represent large public questions about inclusion, diversity and whether we can become
Photos by Scotty Schenck
“Raising Generation Rx” by Linda Blum, “Life on Display” by Victoria Cain and “The Betrayal” by Charles Fountain are three of the many books published by Northeastern professors in the last year. a more caring society,” she said. “I said. “Unfortunately, we sometimes some of these topics.” hope readers will take away a larger have to approach these data with a The 20th Century saw museums sense of the significance of these is- whole shaker of salt.” defined by their exhibitions, and, as The newest edition of his book Cain explains in her book, exhibisues.” explains updated ways to craft such tions were not showcases of scien“Randomized Response and Re- surveys in order to accurately re- tific fact. Rather, they were resultant lated Methods: Surveying Sensi- ceive information without jeopar- of arguments and compromises. tive Data, Second Edition,” by dizing respondants’ privacy. “How could I resist the opportuniJames Alan Fox ty to read the letters of curators and “Life on Display: Revolutioniz- exhibit-makers, which were filled In this second edition of his ing U.S. Museums of Science and with juicy, personal details, harrowbook originally published in 1986, Natural History in the Twentieth ing anecdotes from expeditions and Criminology Professor James Fox Century,” by Karen A. Rader and descriptions of vicious arguments Victoria E. M. Cain expands his guide to conducting surwith their colleagues?” Cain said. veys which ask respondents to disVictoria Cain, an assistant his- “Human Rights Advocacy in the close sensitive information. Talking about what Fox calls so- tory professor at Northeastern, has United States,” by Martha Davis, cially undesirable topics, like un- always been fascinated by the way Johanna Kalb and Risa Kaufman popular beliefs or embarrassing or museums are used to teach. Her new illegal behavior, is often necessary, book analyzes the way museum As the faculty director of Northhe said. Much of what we learn displays have changed between the eastern’s Program on Human Rights about attitudes, opinions and behav- 19th and 20th Centuries, leading to and Global Economy, and the forior come from such surveys. Due to simultaneous practices in science, mer vice president and legal directhe sensitive nature of such ques- science education and museums as tor of the National Organization for tions, respondents often lie, skewing a whole. Women Legal Defense and Educa“I’m fascinated by how people tion Fund, law Professor Martha important data. “We often assume that surveys translate ideas into spatial and visual Davis is no stranger to human rights provide accurate information about forms, and also by the ways people advocacy. Now, she’s written the health conditions, political ideology have used visual culture to teach, book on it. or deviant behavior, even though re- persuade and sometimes coerce,” “Human Rights Advocacy in the spondents often have reason to lie or she said. “The history of museum United States” includes case studconceal sensitive information,” Fox display is a terrific way to explore ies that trace human rights advance-
“The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball,” by Charles Fountain The 1919 World Series is a game synonymous with corruption. Before the match between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds, gamblers working for notorious New York mobster Arnold Rothstein pledged $20,000 each to eight White Sox players, the team favored to win, if they threw the game. They did. In his newly published book, Northeastern journalism Professor Charles Fountain details the history of this infamous game, how such a scandal was virtually inevitable and recounts how it changed the way baseball has shifted thereafter, in both management and perception by fans. As someone who has always been interested in this story, Fountain said he noticed holes in “Eight Man Out,” a 1988 film on the same scandal. Fountain said he hopes readers take away a sense of the climate surrounding baseball at this time. “In a lot of ways, baseball at its height of popularity was a mess,” he said. “It suffered from ineffectual governance and something like this was almost inevitable… I hope [readers] mostly sense that this is a good story.”
Student bikes West Coast Entrepreneurs advise students By Danielle Wagner News Correspondent
Miranda Prasad, a third-year finance and management information systems student, biked more than 800 miles across the Pacific Northwest this summer as a participant in Bike & Build’s Drift West program. The organization works to create and provide access to affordable housing options across the country. The News asked Prasad about her experience biking from Portland to Bellingham, Wash., completing service projects along the way.
The Huntington News: How did you first hear about Bike & Build? Miranda Prasad: I was at a little party in my apartment and a mutual friend was telling me about what he did last summer. I was really interested. Every summer, I try to do something involving travel and volunteering, and I was really looking to get into biking more. When he told me about the coastal trip, I knew it was for me. I had never been to the Pacific Northwest, and this short three-week program in August was perfect and didn’t get in the way of classes. I was on co-op until July, but I still wanted to use my time before school started well. HN: What is the Bike & Build program? MP: Bike & Build is pedaling for affordable housing. They have eight cross-country trips and two coastal trips [each year]. I had to raise $3,000 for my program, which paid for my trip costs and went toward four different [areas of my choosing]. I had to train for biking because our trip was 16 days biking and five days helping build affordable housing units and doing administrative work or anything else needed. HN: How did you get involved? MP: After I heard about it, I signed
By Elise Harmon News Editor
Photo courtesy Miranda Prasad
Miranda Prasad rode her bike more than 800 miles across the Northwest.
up and applied. Once I was accepted, I had specific research I had to do about affordable housing in America. Every few weeks, we had to answer emails about our analysis on what we researched...On the trip, I also got to pick which projects I wanted to work on. HN: What were the projects that you worked on? MP: We stopped at five different places along the way, in five different towns. We worked on different projects for each one. One day in Aberdeen, Wash., we painted the entire outside of one of the affordable housing units. In another place, there was another unit that had to be completely refinished on the inside. HN: What were the hardest parts of the summer? MP: The terrain of the Pacific Northwest – lots of mountains. On our hardest day, we climbed Mt. Rainier, the largest mountain in Washington. Sixty miles uphill and only 24 miles on flat or descending terrain. We spent 12 hours biking, covered more than 9,000 feet in el-
evation and biked almost 100 miles. The view was amazing and absolutely beautiful – it was one of the best days of my life. HN: Have you continued your work with affordable housing in Boston? MP: I haven’t specifically reached out to an organization in Boston, although I have done research on affordable housing here. There’s a big campaign in the Mission Hill area because a lot of people are being displaced from the area. The housing prices have gone up with college kids moving in, and they are forced to move to Dorchester to find housing they can afford; that move is hurting a lot of people. HN: How are you bringing your experience back to school with you? MP: I bike everywhere I can – I love to bike. I’m trying to spread it to all my friends. When I go home to New Jersey, I continue to volunteer with my affordable housing connections, and I made some ties there. Read an extended interview with Prasad at www.HuntNews.com.
Five members of Northeastern University’s Entrepreneurs Club and local startup founder Josh Trautwein gathered in a private room at South End restaurant Tremont 647 on Monday to discuss everything from building a small business to devising an idea for a startup. Dining on salad, a variety of entrees and banana pudding, students asked Trautwein, founder of Fresh Truck and a Northeastern alumnus, about his experiences and insights. The event was one of six dinners with founders, CEOs and innovators that the Entrepreneurs Club organized this semester. Up to six students can attend each event. “For our weekly meetings, a lot of times people don’t have the opportunity to have their questions answered because of time restraints,” Zac Glover, a senior business major and the program’s director, said. “We thought that with the dinners, we’d be able to provide our members with the opportunity to have a more intimate conversation with our entrepreneurs.” Previously, the club has offered dinners with Ben Kneppers, the cofounder and COO of Bureo Skateboards, and Sarah Gaines, founder and CEO of Fit University. Both are Northeastern graduates. According to Glover, the leaders of the club wanted to invite Northeastern alumni who’ve recently founded companies. “Our members can see somebody who’s not too much further along who they can relate to,” he said. “A lot of the entrepreneurs that we bring in are also Northeastern [alumni], so they can talk about Northeastern and the resources available here.”
Trautwein graduated from Northeastern in 2010 with a degree in sociology. He started Fresh Truck in 2013 after a Kickstarter campaign raised over $30,000 for the venture. The truck sells fresh produce straight from a refurbished school bus with the aim to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables to communities where people may not be used to eating healthy. “My interest as an entrepreneur is in social entrepreneurship,” he said. “I’m not breaking the bank selling fruit from a bus in low-income neighborhoods where people don’t necessarily know how to eat well yet.” He offered students advice on how to start a business while in college and how to make the most of Northeastern’s resources. He advised students to learn how to “walk into a room and act like you’re supposed to be there,” a skill he said he didn’t have until recently. “I’m basically blown away by the amount of resources there are to help you with your ideas,” Nick Passaro, a sophomore entrepreneurship major who attended the dinner, said of IDEA, a venture accelerator housed at Northeastern. Senior communications major Courtney Byer said she appreciated that Trautwein started Fresh Truck after college. “I feel like there are a lot of people out there that say college is the best time to start a business,” Byer said. “It’s good to hear that [Trautwein] was able to start something afterward.” There will be three more dinners at Tremont 647 with John Vaskis from Indiegogo on Oct. 26, a to-bedetermined speaker on Nov. 9 and Desmond Lim, founder of Quickforce, on Nov. 28.
H u n t N e w s NU. c o m
T h u r s d ay , O c t o b e r 15, 2015
news
crime log
Compiled by Stephanie Eisemann, news staff
ENTRY OF THE WEEK
NU PD NU PD NU PD NU PD NU PD NU PD NU PD NU PD NU PD NU PD NU PD NU PD NU PD
Saturday, Oct. 10 @ 5:45 p.m. Northeastern University Public Safety Division A Northeastern University (NU) student reported that a male tried to steal her backpack at the computer bar in Shillman Hall. The student and a friend chased the subject and caught up with him at Lake Hall. The Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD) responded and spoke to the male, who was unaffiliated with Northeastern. He was arrested for larceny and a warrant at 5:47 p.m. Police later found that subject had given them his twin brother’s information, and his real identity was revealed during fingerprinting. He had eight outstanding warrants and was in possession of counterfeit money. Northeastern University Public Safety Division Monday, Oct. 5 @ 12:45 p.m. An NUPD officer was approached by a university staff member reporting that his iPhone 6+ and Samsung Galaxy cell phones were stolen from West Village H. The victim saw a man in his 30s leaving the area with what he believed to be his property. The devices were last tracked to the Parker and Ruggles Streets area. Officers were unable to find a man fitting the staff member’s description. A report was filed.
Northeastern University Public Safety Division Monday, Oct. 5 @ 11:26 p.m. A Resident Adviser (RA) in Speare Hall reported a phallic symbol drawn on a door on the fourth floor of the building. A sexual harassment report was filed.
Northeastern University Public Safety Division Tuesday, Oct. 6 @ 1:30 p.m. An NU alumna reported that, while she was a student, she attempted to get Comcast and was informed she could not because she already had the service in her name at a different residence. She had never lived in the residence in question. A report was filed.
Northeastern University Public Safety Division Tuesday, Oct. 6 @ 2:14 p.m. An NU student reported that his diamond earrings were stolen while in Cabot Gym. A report was filed.
Northeastern University Public Safety Division Wednesday, Oct. 7 @ 9:25 a.m. The manager of the Wollaston’s Market in the Marino Center notified NUPD that he noticed a theft take place while reviewing surveillance footage. He saw a female hide a yogurt and drink under her hoodie while paying for bananas. The subject paid for the bananas with her Husky Card. A report was filed. Northeastern University Public Safety Division Wednesday, Oct. 7 @ 5:34 p.m. NUPD checked the Fenway area for illegal activity and reported stopping four Wentworth Institute of Technology students on suspicion of marijuana use. They ran background checks on the four students with negative results and confiscated over two ounces of marijuana and a scale. Wentworth police were notified but declined jurisdiction. The students will be summonsed at a later date. A report was filed.
Wednesday, Oct. 7 @ 8:38 p.m. Northeastern University Public Safety Division An NU student reported losing her wallet in Snell Library and finding it at 8:30 p.m. It was missing her Husky Card, $160, a $50 gift card and a Charlie Card with $30 of credit. A report was filed.
Northeastern University Public Safety Division Thursday, Oct. 8 @ 2:45 p.m. NUPD reported speaking with an NU student who reported her former roommate slashed her car tires in December while the vehicle was parked in the Renaissance Parking Garage. A report was filed.
Friday, Oct. 9 @ 10:12 a.m. Northeastern University Public Safety Division The manager of the Wollaston’s Market in the Marino Center notified NUPD that while viewing surveillance footage, he noticed a shoplifter stealing from the store at 1:52 p.m. on Thursday. A report was filed.
Northeastern University Public Safety Division Friday, Oct. 9 @ 10:25 a.m. NUPD checked on a male who was about to engage in drug activity near the playground in Carter Park. Additional officers responded and collected the information of the man, who was unaffiliated with NU. He was found to have an active warrant from Worcester District Court and was arrested at 10:38 a.m.
Northeastern University Public Safety Division Friday, Oct. 9 @ 11:38 a.m. NUPD responded to a general fire alarm at Davenport A and noticed alcohol containers in plain view in a room. The three resident students poured out the contents and a report was filed.
Northeastern University Public Safety Division Sunday, Oct.11 @ 12:46 a.m. NUPD reported hearing Boston Police Department (BPD) report a female who was shocked in the head with a stun gun. NUPD responded and spoke to the NU student, who was conscious and alert. She informed police a group of three or four juveniles had shocked her and fled as she was walking on Columbus Avenue in front of the Renaissance Parking Garage. BPD checked the area with negative results. EMS transported the victim to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and the Residence Director (RD) on call was notified.
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App places third Business, From Page 1 from each participating university is given three minutes to pitch to the audience and answer any questions. After the pitch session, the representatives of the startups have 20 minutes to mingle with and sway investors. All attendees are given $1,750 to “invest” in the startup they like the most and winners are selected based on who gets the most investment. “I’m always interested in the innovation culture at these events,” Dileep Monie, an audience member from Harvard University, said. The first-, second- and thirdplace teams received legal services, shared office space from Coalition/ DTX and memberships to the MIT Enterprise Forum for a year. Students from Babson College, Berklee College of Music, Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NU, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) all pitched their ideas for startups, products and apps. The event is also a networking opportunity, with time before and after the competition for participants to talk with potential investors. Before the pitches, a four-person panel took the stage to give advice on growing small businesses. “We’re super passionate about student entrepreneurship because that’s where we started,” Tom Coburn, CEO of Jebbit and a member of the panel, said. Coburn, who dropped out of Boston College to pursue Jebbit – a marketing venture – appeared alongside Scott Kirsner of The Boston Globe’s Innovation Economy column; Dip Patel of Ecovent, the first winner of the Beantown Throwdown; and Katie Rae, managing director of the venture capitalist company Project 11. While all of them offered different advice, the most important thing for competitors, according to the panel, is accepting feedback and showing investors a working prototype. “You’re going to have to listen to a lot of criticism to make it work, even if it’s a good idea,” Patel said. “But even LeBron gets coached.” PICCPerfect, founded by students from Babson College, took home the grand prize. PICCPerfect offers functional and stylish medical accessories, Emily Levy, founder and CEO, said.
The Babson junior suffered from Lyme disease, which requires treatment through a peripherally inserted central catheter, or PICC line. Most patients currently cover up the treatment site with a cut-up sock, but Levy’s company aims to provide sleeves with stylish designs and direct access to the PICC line. “There are a lot of products out there for people with PICC lines, which are either functional or stylish, not both,” Levy said. BARS, a project created by students from WIT, took second place. Designed to rehabilitate those who experience muscle loss or other ailments which reduce mobility, BARS uses a flotation device that is calibrated by a built-in computer. The computer adjusts buoyancy to give users assistance while still developing muscle groups. “BARS is 100 percent free to patients, as it’s covered by Medicare,” Jace P. Valls, co-founder of BARS and pre-med student at WIT, said. Knightly, Northeastern’s contribution to the competition, is a campus safety tool that helps students to access emergency services by flipping a switch on a small fob or by using an app. Universities can customize the fobs to carry the school’s logo or colors and the device is designed to be attached to student IDs. “This works when your phone is dead, which is different than competing systems,” Titcomb said. Harvard student Scott Jacobson also showed off his project, DoneGood. The app is a buyer’s guide to food, telling consumers whether merchants source materials locally, use organic ingredients and pay fair wages to employees. This functionality exists alongside the ability to review restaurants, leading Jacobson to bill the app as “Yelp with a conscience.” “We aggregate information from reliable sources, and you get all of the reviews of Yelp or Foursquare on top of information about where the food is sourced and how they treat employees,” Jacobson said. Many venture capitalists were in attendance, looking for their next projects. Like many startup events, the main goal of the Beantown Throwdown is exposure. Sponsors like Rough Draft Ventures and Coalition use the event to find future investments. “The quality of startups presented was great,” Kirsner said. “This event is becoming the March Madness of college startups.”
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T h u r s d ay , O c t o b e r 15, 2015
H u n t N e ws NU. c o m
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Staff Directory Staff Writers: Jose Castillo, Audrey Cooney, Stephanie Eisemann, Giovanni Gray, Matthew MacCormack, Alexandra Malloy, Jodie Ng, Ethan Schroeder, Madelyn Stone Staff Photographers: William Bryan, Ethan Kaley, Arzu Martinez, Justine Newman Staff Copy Editors: Miharu Sugie, Sara Tucker Columnists: Ross Beroff, Gavin Davis, Alana Dore, James Duffy, Alastair Pike, Angelica Recierdo, Gwen Schanker, Kyle Taylor Opinions expressed in The Huntington News by editorial writers, All Hail writers, cartoonists and columnists are not necessarily those of The News staff or of the Northeastern administration. Northeastern University undergraduate students conduct all operations involved in the production of this publication. THE NEWS WELCOMES LETTERS TO THE EDITOR & COMMENTARIES
Opinion pieces must include the writer’s full name, year, major and position at the university. Letters should be sent in the body of an email, not as attachments. Letters may not run and may be edited due to space constraints. Poems and anonymous letters are not printed. Please keep entries under 500 words. Email letters to Comments@HuntNewsNU.com. Vol. VIII No. 17
Column: Standing up to Jewish hate Since I started my study abroad adventure in Europe, I have constantly needed to hide who I am. This is because I am a Jew. It took less than a day for me to see a swastikaas a centerpiece in a g r a ff i t i e d i m a g e . Wherever I walk, I Ross Beroff must keep my tzitzit (ritual fringes) tucked in, and I must wear a hat covering the kippah I wear on my head. Even so, I get dirty looks when I walk down the street because I can’t hide my “stereotypical look of a Jew.” I find myself being momentarily struck with fear whenever I accidentally show the Star of David I wear around my neck. A symbol I wear by choice, the Star of David is a symbol that just over 70 years ago, on some of these same European streets, my people were forced to wear as a yellow marker on their arms. Whenever I take the new friends I’ve made to visit the Grand Synagogue in various European communities that now have just a fraction of the Jewish population they used to, they are surprised at the presence of heavily armed soldiers or police officers guarding the building. They seemed even more surprised when they hear the threat level against Jews is at one of the highest levels possible due to constant threats and recent attacks. I found myself surprised not at the soldiers, but instead at the reactions that others have to them. This is a reality that I have come to expect but must not allow myself to accept. I do not simply hide who I am out of paranoia, but instead out of
realism and awareness of the attacks that occur far too often. I have this awareness despite the fact that the world media chooses to ignore what occurs and refuses to admit the true reasons behind the threats and attacks: pure hatred and antiSemitism. In just a couple of weeks, I will be visiting Israel, the Jewish homeland and a place where I should feel incredibly comfortable to be open about my Judaism. When I am there, I will not hide who I am, but this does not mean there is no danger. There have been an increasing number of attacks against Jews, just because they are Jews. These attacks have nothing to do with politics, but still, the world media ignores them. Instead, they blame the victim and mourn the attacker. Organizations like CNN and the BBC have reported the death of the attacker above that of the victim, inciting more violence. They are not alone in this, but are joined by hate groups like Students for Justice in Palestine, which hypocritically promotes the self-determination of one group while denying that right to another. These groups, much like the leaders of terrorist group Hamas, have continued to ignore reality and have incited violence by calling for another intifada – the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip that occurred in 1987. There is deafening silence by the world community when it comes to attacks on Jews, a silence that is continued through lies, hypocrisy and inaccurate reporting. When I go to Israel, I will not fear, I will not falter, I will not hide who I am. I was born a Jew and live my life as one. If those that wish to destroy my people ever get their way, then I will die as a Jew. In the words of former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin: “I am not a Jew with trembling knees.”
News illustration by David London
Minimum wage unpractical
The US minimum wage has been abysmally low for a long time and public opinion is increasingly in favor of a raise. The truth is, the current minimum wage in most of the country is insufficient to lead a comfortable life, especially for families. We know this from countless statistics; the difference between a yearly income from minimum wage and the cost of living in most places throughout the US is striking. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) estimated in 2014 that the minimum cost of living for a single person in Boston to be a little less than $24,000 per year after taxes. Working 40 hours per week on Boston’s minimum wage of $9 per hour creates a yearly income of about $18,720. That’s a discrepancy of over $5,000. A large percent of this cost is housing, so by finding a roommate the average minimumwage worker might be able to get by, but it certainly isn’t a comfortable situation. There are several arguments as to why people in certain lines of work don’t deserve better pay. One is that these people are somehow not
working hard enough to deserve it. In reality, the types of jobs looked down upon are often extremely labor-intensive. Jobs in areas like retail and fast food often involve long days doing physical work and interacting with customers who expect to be treated with complete respect no matter how unreasonable they may be. Another argument is that the possibility of getting a wage increase is an incentive for people to work harder and move up the career ladder. Having higher wages in unskilled labor, they argue, will encourage more people to have these types of jobs and erase ambition for advancement. However, people don’t end up in low-wage jobs from lack of ambition; more often, it’s due to a lack of access to education and a low availability of better work. This argument also ignores the fact that these low-paying jobs are necessary to our economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2012, 10.2 percent of US employees worked in the retail industry where many jobs are considered unskilled lines of work. Telling people to “get a better job”
is ignoring the fact that, if everyone managed to find better jobs, a major section of our economy would collapse. Every human has a right to a comfortable existence, no matter their line of work. People working in high-stress jobs that are essential to our economy are earning wages they can barely survive on. To give all Americans the chance to succeed, the minimum must be increased. The Fight for $15 has become a massive movement to increase the minimum wage to a living wage. In June 2014, Seattle became the first major US city to establish a $15 minimum wage and, a year later, in June 2015, Los Angeles followed suit. Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has made the institution of a $15 minimum wage a major part of his campaign platform. Vice President Joe Biden has also announced his support for the increased wage. Demands for increased minimum wage are gaining traction throughout the country, and it doesn’t seem like the momentum behind this movement will decrease anytime soon.
Bernie Sanders has become an increasingly prominent figure in American politics as of late, with his presidential campaign garnering a huge amount of grassroots support, particularly from young people. Of course, if you don’t know much about Sanders, this may puzzle you, as Sanders is an old, admittedly somewhat crotchety-looking career politician who isn’t particularly charismatic or enthralling in his speech. What is it about Sanders that attracts so much support? In my humble opinion, the reason for this support is clearly the substance behind Sanders’s politics. He may not seem particularly presidential or employ attractive rhetoric, but the positions he holds politically and the frank honesty with which he speaks are a breath of fresh air when compared to other politicians, be they left- or right-wing. Sanders is one of the few modern left-wing politicians who advocates for working- and middle-class families. One of his main goals is to broaden and strengthen our middle class, which is the core of our economy. However, the middle class is rapidly disappearing in our current economic climate, which breeds a great wealth divide. Beyond his position on the American economy, Sanders supports classical liberal standards like universal health care, gay rights and a rather passive foreign policy, all of which I agree with to a considerable extent. Sanders even holds a rather
controversial pro-Palestinian view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is rare in American politics. Most American politicians, like Obama and Clinton, are too blindly diplomatic to question Israel’s right to exist and expand. On these points, I must digress. Sanders’s youthful support and energy was never more present than at his rally in Boston on Saturday, Oct. 3. Sanders made history— breaking records for attendance of a political rally. The convention center exceeded its 26,000 person capacity, leaving thousands of other supports unable to enter. Sanders’s speech was introduced by several speakers, including representatives of the nursing union and Bill McKibben, a prominent climate change advocate. Following these speakers, Sanders began speaking about the grassroots nature of his campaign, which has been funded by the small donations of many different middle- and lower-class supporters. Despite this, however, Sanders is only just behind Hillary Clinton in terms of funding. I would contend that Sanders is an infinitely better candidate than Clinton, who is corporatist, pro-establishment and really wouldn’t be much different than Obama- who has been a mediocre president at best (and subpar in terms of foreign policy). In addition to being adept politically, Sanders is simply more frank
and honest than any other politician running for president. At a different rally, Sanders came out and admitted that he wouldn’t be able to do as much as he would want to do as president, simply because of the inherent bureaucracy and purposeful sluggishness that comes with the position. For this honesty, I respect Sanders greatly, as most candidates make themselves out to be arbitrary enactors of change, ignoring the realities of the position. Obama is a good example of this; he made many promises he did not and could not keep. Of course, if we’re being entirely honest with ourselves, we can’t expect Sanders to win. I predict that Bernie Sanders will have a grand old run, and that he’ll give Clinton and the establishment quite the scare with his campaign. However, I can’t say that I’m certain Sanders will win. Clinton simply has much more money and many more connections to utilize. Sanders is the underdog here, and, despite his support, he could succumb to Clinton in the primary. However, even if Sanders doesn’t win, he will have changed things for the better. He has influenced the hearts and minds of our generation to care for the oppressed, and his spirit and ideals will live on — even if Sanders fails in his ultimate goal.
Letter: Bernie Sanders is our best choice for 2016
-Calvin Gil is a freshman journalism and political science double major.
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Hispanic Heritage Month disappoints in Boston Representation, From Page 1 this, Hispanic heritage is often less represented than that of other groups, according to del Castillo, and that is reflected in city-sponsored support of Hispanic Heritage Month in contrast to other cultural celebrations. The BPL made a concerted effort to engage Boston residents in regards to Hispanic heritage, according to spokeswoman Melina Schuler. Several different branches of the library held events, including concerts put on in English and Spanish, a Latino Life booklist and appearances by Hispanic authors. “The Latino Life booklist is a tool to educate the public about books recently published about the Latino community that they can check out for free at the BPL,” Schuler said. “[It’s meant] to celebrate the diversity of Boston residents and communities and to engage the public in such celebrations.” The BPL also released a book list for Black History Month this February and hosted events like a film series and panel discussion on African American poetry of the 19th century. In contrast to Hispanic Heritage Month, however, Boston’s City
Photo by Scotty Schenck
A painting by Juan Vicente Rodríguez Bonachea is displayed at the BPL.
Hall also hosted a gallery of art created by African-American city residents in honor of Black History Month. John Crowley, the curator and events coordinator for City Hall, told The News in February he estimated the city has been doing so for the past 20 years. Understanding and celebrating
the heritage of residents is important to the city, according to An Le, the Community and Policy Affairs Advocacy Coordinator for Boston’s Office for New Bostonians. “We are a city of immigrants,” Le said. “Knowing where our families come from and the history and the heritage is part of our identity.”
list of things to do around the city.
the form of 271 acres of biodiverse land, open and free to the public from sunrise to sunset. It’s accessible from the Orange Line, located right off the Forest Hills stop. “Particularly during the month of October, we have a lot of free tour opportunities for people to see seasonal changes in our plants and nuts,” Jon Hetman, director of external relations at the Arboretum, said. “Just in general, it makes
When asked to describe how Boston recognizes Hispanic Heritage Month, Le cited an event featuring food and performances at City Hall that, while open to the public, is more an internal affair for city staff. Not everyone agrees that Hispanic Heritage Month is an important observation, however. Jorge Blanco, a third-year mechanical engineer and member of LASO, said that the month – at least as it recently played out – has little impact on Hispanic members of society. “I feel as though Hispanic Heritage Month is bigger for those people who are not Hispanic or who do not truly feel a connection with their Hispanic heritage,” Blanco said. “While, in theory, it seems like a good idea to have a time for all Hispanics to come together, given the vast differences among people from these different countries and the lack of attachment to the celebration of the month, it is not an effective way of actually unifying the Hispanic communities.” The dates for the observance, Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, were chosen because Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua all celebrate their independence days on Sept. 15. The anniversaries
of Mexican and Chilean independence also fall within the month. The dates highlight the perils of viewing Hispanic culture as monolithic, Blanco said: people from the Caribbean or most of South America attach little significance to them. Del Castillo believes that while keeping such distinctions in mind, people should do more to explore the impact that Hispanic and Latino culture has made in the US. She says it’s an often-overlooked subject. “I think Hispanic heritage month is very important to our society,” del Castillo said. “If you want to learn about Hispanic heritage – even in upper-level education – you have to fit in specific classes about those countries because, otherwise, you will get next to no exposure.” In the future, Boston should do more to acknowledge its Hispanic residents, del Castillo continued. “We can have an entire festival surrounding marijuana,” del Castillo said in reference to the Boston Freedom Rally, a festival advocating for legalized marijuana that is unaffiliated with the City of Boston. “You’d think we could have one event larger than [showing] some movies at the BPL for the myriads of Hispanics living in this city.”
a great place to come to see the seasonal color changes in the city. You don’t have to go up to Vermont; you can see some very vibrant colors right here in Boston.” The Arboretum offers art exhibits as well as guided tours in an effort to appeal to a wide range of patrons. The visitor’s center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April through October, and noon to 4 p.m. November through March, except on Wednesdays. Directions are listed on the Arboretum website.
building before showcasing Materials Matter, an exhibit centered on how artists transform mundane, everyday materials into works of art. Free Thursdays coincide with a new ICA exhibit about Black Mountain College (BMC), an experimental liberal arts school founded in 1933 and closed down in 1957. In those 25 years, the college spawned diverse works of art, poetry, literature, music and dance, according to the ICA website. The exhibit showcases art from more than 90 artists influenced by BMC and archived video footage and sound recordings. The ICA is located on 100 Northern Ave., right on the waterfront, giving visitors the option of a harbor walk before or after viewing exhibits. The ICA’s Water Cafe also gives patrons the option of an open-air dining experience. Free Thursdays run with extended hours from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. between Oct. 10 and Jan. 24.
Fall attractions offer free fun for students By Mayeesha Galiba News Correspondent
While cool temperatures and early nights begin to take hold on the city after a summer of frequent public events, Bostonians have several free attractions to attend in the fall. For those wondering where to find their next dose of complementary fun – indoors or out – The News has compiled a
The Arnold Arboretum Living in Boston, it can be easy to forget that the city is centered in an area with beautiful foliage. However, getting out to nature can be tricky with only public transportation as a means of travel. The Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University offers an antidote to nature withdrawal in
The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo
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Comic enthusiasts can join more than 150 independent graphic novelists at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo. The event offers opportunities to interact with artists and creators as well as engage in workshops and panel discussions to understand the art of comics. “It ranges from self-published art comics to some graphic novelists who are well known, like Jean Yang and the creators of the Adventure Time series,” Dan Mazur, codirector of the expo, said. “It’s an independent comics show – not a superhero comics show – but it runs a real range of stuff for all tastes and a chance to meet a lot of the artists or authors who make stuff.” The event is family-friendly and focuses not only on the graphic part of comics but on writing and conceptualization as well. It will also feature work from dozens of college art students, who often approach comics and graphic novels with a different frame of mind than casual fans or professionals, according to Mazur. “It’s presented by Lesley [University], which has an art school so our art students come presenting their stuff. It’s a very fun show with lots of panel discussions,” Mazur said. The expo will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 17 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 18 in University Hall at Lesley University. 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Free Thursdays at the Institute of Contemporary Art Each week, the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) hosts free tours of the building’s architecture at 6 p.m. Guides take patrons through the unique aspects of the
Astronomy After Hours Friday nights mean free stargazing at the Museum of Science’s rooftop Gilliand Observatory for the rest of fall. Clear autumn nights promise views of planets, the moon, stars and other astral phenomena. On cloudier evenings, when consellations are not visible, the museum offers tours of the observatory and a host of other indoor evening activities geared toward astronomy fans. “I went to the Open Night at the Observatory at [Boston University], and that was great because I got to learn about some star clusters,” Katie Soldau, a Northeastern University senior computer science and interactive media major, said. “I’d love to check out Astronomy After Hours now and hopefully get a closer look at some planets and the moon this time around.” A museum hotline, 617-5890267, is updated on Fridays at 5:30 p.m. to inform potential attendees what the plans for that evening will be. The program’s website features monthly sky charts previewing what will be visible in the sky on specific days. Astronomy After Hours runs every Friday through mid-November between the hours of 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. The Museum of Science is located at 1 Science Park and is accessible by the MBTA.
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A year later, displaced homeless seek change By Jose Castillo News Staff
A year after the closure of the Long Island Bridge forced 700 people out of the island’s homeless shelter and drug treatment facilities, protesters gathered at City Hall to demand more support for Boston’s homeless population. “[First], we want the city to train workers better, making them more aware of the trauma experienced by these people,” Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee (BHSC) member and former Long Island resident Cleve Rea said. “Secondly, we were following up on the loss of 260 recovery beds from Long Island. There are probably still a hundred beds short of the number we had.” The Long Island Bridge’s closing on Oct. 8 of last year shuttered the largest homeless shelter in the city, along with several addiction treatment programs. Last week’s protest, organized by the BHSC on the anniversary of the bridge’s closure, focused on the inadequate replacement of such services. “At the time, at the shelter, there were 450 people [plus 260 in recovery programs] who were evacuated immediately, all in one afternoon,” Rea said. Boston now finds itself in the center of a homelessness crisi as 22 percent of emergency shelter requests went unmet in 2014, according to a report released by the US Conference of Mayors. Homelessness has risen within the state by 40 percent since 2007, and family homelessness has risen by 25 percent in the past year despite a two percent decrease nationwide, according to the Boston Public Health Commission’s (BPHC) annual homelessness census. In June, the city unveiled a shelter for homeless men at Southampton Street with nearly 500 emergency beds, intended in part to replace Long Island’s facilities. But the new shelter is not enough to meet the needs of those displaced, homeless community organizer Lenny Higginbotham
Photo by Scotty Schenck
Protesters including Brian Shea, 58, of Somerville, called on the city to better serve people lacking homes.
said in a BHSC press release. “Southampton Street already turns away people every night, and winter’s not even here yet,” Higginbotham said. In addition, the Southampton Street Shelter has raised issues with the surrounding community. A preliminary police report given to The Boston Globe on Oct. 9 indicated that violent crimes rose 30 percent in the past year in the surrounding Newmarket area, along with a 55 percent jump in drug violations and a 47 percent rise in aggravated assaults. Rea said Bostonians experiencing homelessness are frustrated by what they feel is a lack of communication from city officials about the path they will take to house more people. “Some people say we should go back to rent control, some people say we should spend more money on vouchers and some say that there are enough buildings in Boston that the city could renovate for low income people,” Rea said. Advocates also focused on a
burgeoning opioid abuse problem, which he said severely impacts people experiencing homelessness. “We had brought out 1,400plus cardboard cut-outs [to the protest],” Rea said. “Each one represents a person who had died from overdose in 2014.” The latest count by state officials put the toll at 1,256 deaths from opioid overdose in 2014, an increase of more than 300 since 2012. The city should actively work to raise funds for treatment programs, according to John Ulrich, constituent services coordinator for South Boston under City Councilor Bill Linehan. “What we have to do, which I believe is the right approach, would be working on putting a two percent tax on alcohol in order to fund recovery programs,” Ulrich said. “We can put people in shelters; however, if we do not address their underlying issue, be it mental illness or substance abuse, we are not going to solve the problem.” Amidst these issues, politicians on both the city and state level
have worked to provide breathing room to those without homes. Massachusetts is the only state in the nation that has a right-toshelter law in place, a mandate that holds the state responsible for finding shelter for those who are able to show they are homeless due to situations out of their control. Governor Charlie Baker has stated he doesn’t want families to stay in hotels and motels when shelters are full. Since the beginning of his term, Baker has reduced the number of such families from 1,500 to 1,259, according to the homeless census conducted by BPHC. However, part of the decrease is due to Baker’s push to narrow eligibility requirements, according to some advocates who fear problems facing homeless families will worsen as a result. “The governor’s proposal is thoughtless and cruel,” James Shearer, co-founder of the homeless newspaper Spare Change News, said in the BHSC press release. “We ask the governor to increase funding for state rental vouch-
ers to provide permanent housing for homeless families instead.” Boston, meanwhile, has recently seen a reduction in homeless veterans: more than 400 have been housed in the past year. Mayor Martin J. Walsh has pledged to end chronic homelessness by 2018, a task he has promised to complete by introducing a housing-first model and a centralized online database of those experiencing homelessness. “We must do more as a community to better connect Boston’s homeless individuals with the resources available throughout the city,” Walsh said in a statement on Oct. 7. “By using technology to create a more efficient and streamlined process, we are continuing to use innovation to tackle some of our city’s most complicated challenges.” One factor complicating Walsh’s efforts is the arrival of homeless people seeking help from nearby communities, according to Ulrich. “When they count the number of homeless people in Boston, many, many of those people are not from Boston,” Ulrich said. “They come here because we have services.” Students at Northeastern University say another problem is a lack of awareness of homeless people’s needs. Understanding those needs must come first in order for services to be implemented successfully, according to Resident Student Association (RSA) Co-Vice President for Programming and Collaboration Jessica Goodman. RSA organized a Homelessness Awareness Week from Oct. 4 to Oct. 8. “It’s really important for awareness to come before the help,” Goodman said. “You don’t want to go into community and say, ‘Oh, I know you need this’ and then help them with something that they don’t need; a community knows what they need best.” For now, homeless advocates said one of their biggest needs is to be taken seriously by local officials. “If we are not out there fighting for the rights of the homeless, then there will never be progress made for the homeless, much less limiting the problems,” Rea said.
Hubway bike program expands footprint
Bikes, From Page 1
other locations were unveiled the same day. The new bike docks benefit people seeking quick routes to specific places, according to Max Johnson, 32, of Boston. On Sunday, Johnson rode a bike from State Street to the WIT location to visit the Museum of Fine Arts. “Before, I would have gone further away [to stations near] Brigham Circle or the Fens,” Johnson said. “It could be a hassle.” In addition to the bike docks on Huntington Avenue, NU students have quick access to ones previously installed outside Ruggles Station and near the campus’s North Lot. The other new locations are spread across Brighton, Dorchester, Roxbury, Fenway, Charlestown and South Boston, in an attempt to broaden and strengthen Hubway’s base in the city. “We are thrilled to be able to expand Hubway to provide even more residents, commuters and visitors with the opportunity to take advantage of bike share,” Boston Transportation Department Commissioner Gina Fiandaca said in a press release on Oct. 6. Hubway launched in 2011 with 60 stations and 600 bikes. After the expansions are completed, Hubway will have 108 stations and nearly 1,100 bikes in Boston. The bike-share program of-
fers users several usage options: annual memberships, monthly passes, and 72- or 24-hour access. Riders can rent and return bikes at any station, which means Hubway’s usefulness is dependent on stations with open spaces near a rider’s destination, Maria Davis, 25, of Boston, said. “I like the new station because it’s right by my apartment,” Davis said. “But it can fill up at night.” Davis found the Wentworth docks already full of bikes on Wednesday evening, forcing her to search for an open spot at a nearby station in the Fens. Balancing growth in new areas with availability in existing ones is a key concern for bike-sharing programs everywhere, according to Peter Furth, a Northeastern University professor of civil and environmental engineering who is part of an advisory group for Bike Boston. “There are two main issues, and there’s tension between them,” Furth said. “One is providing the needed density... When you try to return your bike and the station’s full, you don’t want to next one to be too far away. On the other hand, you want to expand. Neighborhoods in the city are saying, ‘Hey, we want Hubway to come to us.’” Hubway and Bike Boston officials hope their new stations will mark progress toward both goals, according to Benjy Kantor, a marketing manager with Motivate, the
Photo by Scotty Schenck
The Hubway station on Huntington Avenue is one of several new locations opened recently in Boston.
company that operates Hubway. “The idea is to grow a little bit organically, deliberately and, hopefully, sustainability,” Kantor said. While expanded bike share is a step in the right direction for Boston, the city has a ways to go to become truly good for cyclists, according to Furth. “One of the things that frustrates me is our city government wants to have an image of be-
ing bike-friendly,” Furth said. “That’s what they use Hubway for – and that’s a good thing that they’re doing it – but they’re really failing on the bike network.” According to Davis, however, Hubway is a safe way to navigate the city. “During the day, it’s perfectly safe,” Davis said. “At night I don’t like it as much, but you get used to it. You just have to be aware
and know what you’re doing.” Ultimately, Hubway is largely a separate question from bike safety, Furth said. While Hubway’s expansion is a good thing for Bostonians, safety problems need to be addressed, too. “It will need a fundamentally different commitment from the city,” Furth said. “There has to be a priority to creating and completing a bicycling network.”
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HONK! Festival combines music and activism By Megan O’Brien & Liam Hofmeister News Staff
Costumed musicians gathered outside of Primark in Downtown Crossing with protest signs bobbing above the mob as the din of brass instruments rang through the roads. The street-band activist revolution was in full swing. The 10th annual HONK! Festival, a grassroots brass-band festival that uses music to promote social awareness, kicked off on Oct. 9 with the Day of Action in central Boston. Twenty-seven bands and over 600 musicians played in the streets for the weekend. Causes represented at the festival included
those of Fight for $15, Black Lives Matter, the United Food and Commercial Workers and various other groups standing for environmental and peace organizations. “We bring fun to the fight,” Ken Field, a member of HONK!’s organizing committee, said. According to Field, the festival originated in Somerville with the blasts of a couple of brass bands to advocate for social causes. Now ,the festival has expanded to Chicago, New York City, areas of California and other parts of the US. HONK!’s Day of Action was the first of a three-day event that brought together activist marching bands from around the globe. The main event march, HONK! Against
Corporate Greed, championed increasing the minimum wage and decreasing wage theft. Festivities began on a drizzly Friday afternoon as bands congregated at various corners of the Boston Common. When the march began, each ensemble split off in different directions, grouped by the causes they supported. Dead Music Capital Band, whose members’ outfits ranged from ripped and faux blood-stained shirts to gold lamé leggings, marched by City Hall and through another festival in Faneuil Hall until it reached a corner outside McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood and Steaks. “McCormick & Schmick’s, you
can’t hide. We can see your greedy side,” the protesters chanted as they marched. At the end of the march, bands reconvened outside of Primark and ended their protest parade. Street musicians in Downtown Crossing played together, ending the day on a lighter musical note. “I think it’s really great to celebrate activist marching bands,” Enid Williams, a clarinet player with Forward! Marching Band from Madison, Wisc., said. “I don’t think there’s any other festival that does anything like this.” On Saturday, the street bands took hour-long shifts playing in numerous locations throughout Somerville. Dirty Water Brass
Photos by Brian Bae
Left: A man plays his multicolored sousaphone at the HONK! Festival Day of Action on Friday, Oct. 9. Top right: A brass band walks in the parade while playing a street beat. Bottom right: A woman holds a banner alluding to her and HONK!’s support for the Fight for $15 movement.
Band, a band out of Somerville, played a show in Davis Square. The boom of the bass drum set the beat as the band played a soul and R&B set for a crowd of 300 in support of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Children climbed light poles just to catch a glimpse of the performers in their gaudy black uniforms emblazoned with gold thread. Around the perimeter of the show, volunteers handed out fliers in support of Bernie Sanders while members of other bands enjoyed the show and spoke about their causes with locals. “Not all music is infused with politics, but this stuff is,” Tim Plenck, a host for musicians from Cambridge, said. Plenck said he felt the sociallyminded tinge helped connect the community to some pressing issues. “Our community needs stuff like this,” he said. “We want the artists to be among the people.” On Sunday, HONK! bands and community organizations walked in a parade from Davis Square to Harvard Square, but the real action came from New York City-based Rude Mechanical Orchestra. The band played on Sunday at 7:45 p.m. outside the South Bay Detention Center in a “noise demonstration” to show its support of undocumented immigrants, according to Field. “It’s a simple action,” Field said. “They stand outside the gates and play music for the [detainees]. The band is saying ‘We know that you’re there, and we are in solidarity with you.’ The detainees flick the lights of their room on and off to show that they know they are not forgotten.” Looking forward, Field emphasized HONK! as a precedent for other small-scale street festivals to pop up around the country. “We don’t think growing makes sense,” Field said. “If it gets too big, it can’t be grassroots anymore, and that’s the essence of HONK! A lot of musicians have been inspired to form their own bands and their own festivals, and that’s what we really hoped for.”
For more photos, visit huntnewsnu.com
Photographer finds artistic hub in Fort Point By Mary Whitfill Editor-In-Chief
Through the lens of her Nikon D5000, Lindsay Baer uses her photography and video-making skills to portray women’s and mental health issues, using powerful images to display how these topics have affected her own life. This weekend, the former College of Arts, Media and Design (CAMD) student will display her work as part of the 36th Fort Point Open Studios. The Baltimore native recently moved into a space above Midway Studios. She works full time for filmmaker Raber Umphenour. Residents of the building, which is part of the Fort Point Community, are almost exclusively collaborative artists “There’s a high density of artists in the neighborhood compared to other places in Boston,” Baer said. “I’ve met a lot of really incredible people – they’re all, or I guess mostly, older than me, so they have experiences and a way of looking at the world that I just don’t have and wasn’t really getting in school.” Fort Point consists of various studio spaces and galleries where artists can both live and work. Twice a year, the Open Studios program gives them a chance to open their doors to the public and display their pieces. “Part of our mission is to promote the work of our artists and to really engage with the public,” Emily O’Neil, executive director of the
Fort Point Arts Community, said. “Open Studios is really the cornerstone of our mission in terms of allowing the public to see what happens inside our studios. This year, the work of over 150 artists will be displayed at Midway Studios, Factory 63, 249 A Street Cooperative, 315 on A Street, Boston Button Factory, The Artists Building, FP3. Gallery, Atlantic Wharf, 25 Channel Center St., Grand Circle Gallery and the Boston Children’s Museum. Baer’s gallery, full mental nudity, will be on display on the second floor of Midway Studios at 15 Channel St. “Everyone is showing out of their home, there is a group space in the the lobby and there is art up, but I’m just hanging out in my apartment,” Baer said. “I put up some work that I really like and really want to share with people – the things I feel most strongly about.” Baer’s photography and editing style lends itself to a variety of photographic works, but she focuses specifically on self-portraits in full mental nudity. “I picked up a camera in 10th grade and I didn’t really have friends at the time, so I just used myself as a model and that’s kind of how I got into self-portraiture,” Baer said. “It was a way for me to express myself without using words and to document myself and my existence... and also expressing things that I didn’t feel comfortable speaking out loud.” While at Northeastern University,
Photo courtesy Lindsay Baer
Lindsay Baer works in a Fort Point studio to create self-portraits belonging to her full mental nudity gallery. Baer, now 21, studied studio art, a from 10 until 7. When we are on a go to bed around 2 a.m.” joint degree program with CAMD shoot, it can be anywhere from an It is this kind of dedication that and the School of the Museum of 8-hour shoot to a 14-hour shoot, it makes public appreciation imporFine Arts, before leaving to pursue really just depends,” she said. “A tant, O’Neil said. art full time. Since then, Baer has lot of the time is spent in the studio “Fort Port has an unbelievably worked from sun-up to sun-down to processing footage and editing. Af- strong artist community,” she said. pursue her career as an artist. ter that, I go home and try to start The artists advocate very strongly to “I usually work with my boss focusing on my own work. I usually keep Fort Point culturally relevant.”
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NU graduate advances on NBC’s “The Voice” By Mary Whitfill Editor-In-Chief
It took music industry professionals months of poking and prodding at Dustin Christensen, a Northeastern University (NU) alumnus, before he decided to test his luck and vocal chords by auditioning for “The Voice,” NBC’s singing competition series. This Monday, Christensen made it past the first round of eliminations and will compete for another week after a dramatic coaching change. “At all the gigs I was playing, [it] seemed like it was a constant theme that somebody would come up to me and say, ‘You know, you should go try out for ‘The Voice,’” Christensen said. “When I finally got the offer to audition, I just was like ‘You know what, I’m going to show up and see what happens.’” Christensen graduated from Northeastern with an MBA in 2012 after earning an undergraduate business degree from Utah Valley University. Despite his business-oriented education, the 35-year-old always knew he wanted to pursue music as a career. “I’ve kind of always done performance, you know. I started [playing piano] when I was three, and I started writing songs when I was in junior high. I had my first band when I was in ninth grade,” Christensen said. “After I got my MBA degree, I started writing songs primarily.” In January, the Utah native signed a publishing deal with Carnival Music in Nashville and has been writing songs for the company ever since. Christensen’s family expressed no
surprise at his growing success in the music world. “It’s exciting to see him pursue it on that level. We never had any doubt that one day we were going to see him on TV or at some big award show,” Blayne Christensen, Dustin’s father, said in an email to The News. “He’s had so many incredible people tell him he needs to be doing this like Miranda Lambert, Bob Ezrin, etc. It’s something we knew was coming at some point whether it was ‘The Voice’ or something else.” Each season of “The Voice” begins with a round of blind auditions, wherein each contestant performs for the set of four celebrity judges who have their backs turned. The judges, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani, can turn their chairs at any point during the performance, indicating they want that musician on their team. All four judges turned their chairs for Christensen, giving him his choice of coaches. For the aspiring musician, Shelton, a nine-time Country Music Award winner, was the obvious choice. “I think Blake and I get along on a personality level the best,” Christensen said. “I got the sense from Blake that he just got what I wanted to do as an artist.” After the blind auditions, each judge coaches his or her team members and the competitors move on to the battle rounds, going head-to head-with another member of the same team. After the vocal battle, the coach must choose which of their artists will advance, while the losing artist can be stolen by another
coach. “The battle rounds are so intense,” Shelton said at the start of the show. “It may be the toughest part of the competition because [the singers] are so good – and they always bring it.” On Monday, Christensen competed in his battle against Barrett Baber, a singer-songwriter from Arkansas. The former roommates dubbed themselves the “#Bronado” and smiled at each other while performing a lively rendition of Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis.” Christensen lost the battle to Baber and was stolen by Maroon 5 frontman Levine. He will compete next week as a member of Team Adam. “I’m a weird animal, I guess, in that I grew up doing rock bands, and now that I write songs and stuff when I’m in [Los Angeles], I’m doing electronic and pop and rock songs, and then when I’m in Nashville, I’m writing country songs,” Christensen said. “It’s this weird melting pot for me, and I think Blake was the country side of that melting pot and I think Adam is the rock n’ roll side.” After five eliminations in the first week of battles, the top 40 contestants on “The Voice” will return to NBC on Monday for another round of cuts. When it comes to what song Christensen will sing next, his parents have a few requests. “Pat [his mom] would say ‘New York, New York’ by Frank Sinatra since it’s her favorite, and I’d probably say ‘The 59th Street Bridge Song’ by Simon and Garfunkel,” Blayne Christensen said. Follow Christensen on Twitter @Dustinonline.
Photo courtesy Tyler Golden, NBC
Northeastern alumnus Dustin Christensen sings on NBC’s “The Voice.”
Students perform in “Body Maps” By Liam Hofmeister Inside Editor
Photo courtesy Thomas Vannatter, Northeastern University Center for the Arts
Grant Terzakis, a Northeastern Univserity senior theater major, is restrained by performers at “Body Maps.”
Two performers wrestled Dario Sanchez, a third-year communications major, to the ground and stripped him of his clothes. His skin was covered with words written in marker. The words were the labels that others have put on him about his race. “I’m passing as brown, and I’m passing as white,” Sanchez said, undressed of his layers and standing in his purple underwear before an audience of nearly 100 people. Sanchez’s presentation was just one of 17 pieces presented on Oct. 10 at Northeastern University’s Fenway Center in “Body Maps,” a collection of student-written and performed stories about personal histories, passions and identities. For one week, students from Northeastern and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts spent their evenings working with Tim Miller, a Northeastern artist-
in-residence, performance artist and activist. “The room was exploding with real risk-taking… funny, sexy performance,” Miller said. “It [was] five workshops for an hour-long performance. I know it’s not supposed to be possible, but I knew that it was.” “Body Maps” began at the doors of the Fenway Center. Performers guided audience members in pairs of two and showed them their body maps, personally designed images representing how the performers view their bodies. “I imagine that our bodies carry emotions and stories,” Miller said. Some body maps looked like cubist reconstructions of a body as noses, arms and legs were magnified and shifted in the pictures. Other maps were simply torn to shreds. The audience was then guided to sit in a circle, framing a new stage for the performers. The actors sat Stories, Page 9
Jack-o’-lanterns illuminate night at Lawn on D
Carving, From Page 1 were provided for free by Wilson Farm in Lexington. Those pumpkins were then added to the Punkin’ Manor – a 24-foottall and 50-foot-long jack-o’-lantern shelving unit rigged with lighting equipment for a light show. The centerpiece of the the Manor was Somerville artist Ecco Pierce’s pumpkin, which was nearly 30 inches in diameter, according to Slapik. A large crowd gathered to watch Pierce gut the pumpkin. “I’ve been part of a studio in Somerville called Artisan’s Asylum for three years, and we tend to participate in fall fests and do live pumpkin carvings,” Pierce said. “Normally, I carve 200-pound pumpkins, but this was 500 pounds, so it was a bit different. I usually just show up and hope that lightning strikes me with inspiration.” After the pumpkin was carved into a jack-o’-lantern with a menacing grin during the day, it was lit
at dusk as a centerpiece for the first musical show at the Punkin’ Manor. At around 7 p.m., a light show began, featuring synchronized flash effects to recorded music, illuminating the crooked faces of the jack-o’lanterns. Fog machines laid a thick mist over the lawn to add a haunting effect. Shows ran through the night, each about five minutes long, and continued for Sunday and Monday nights. “I really liked the lit pumpkins and a lot of the pumpkins were very cool, but the whole show I felt like I was waiting for something to happen,” Rachel Allen, a festival attendee, said, feeling that the Punkin’ Manor light show lacked a true climax. Other activities at Punkin’ Fest included pumpkin bowling — alleys were laid on the lawn with hay sacks acting as gutters and pumpkins serving as bowling balls — pingpong on pumpkin-shaped tables and pumpkin-shaped swings.
Photo by Ethan Kelly.
Festival workers prepare the Punkin’ Manor for a light show which illuminates the evil faces of the pumpkins. Festivalgoers, including Bill Lin were looking for something to do,” Since its first year, Slapik has seen of Malden, found Punkin’ Fest to Lin said. “It’s really cool. It’s free. the festival expand. “I believe we had 16,000 people be the perfect event to round out a To have interactive, old-fashioned say they were going to attend [this weekend for the family family activities is great. It’s simple “It’s my niece’s birthday and we fun.” year]” Slapik said,
H u n t N e w s NU. c o m
T h u r s d ay , O c t o b e r 15, 2015
calendar Entry of the Week
Taqueria anniversary celebrated with discounts Tuesday, Oct. 20 Anna’s Taqueria commemorates 20 years of serving Boston with a Fan Appreciation Day this Tuesday. Tacos are buy one get one free. Guests can enjoy complimentary chips and salsa and sip on samples of hibiscus tea and horchata. For every burrito sold, $ 1 will go to ReVision Urban Farm, a community-based urban agriculture project that grows produce and provides other foods to ReVision Family Home, a shelter for young mothers and children. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., local student a cappella groups will perform at various locations. All Anna’s Taqueria locations; 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.; free.
Photo courtesy jeffreyw, Creative Commons
Calendar by Megan O’Brien, Deputy Inside Editor
Thursday, Oct. 15
Friday, Oct. 16
Saturday, Oct. 17
Scents of Gouda, cheddar and Gruyère will fill the air of Downtown Crossing when the New England Cheese Festival takes over Roche Bros. The supermarket chain is spotlighting over 100 cheeses from 40 local cheese makers by making them available for sale through the month of October at select stores. Cheese makers include Pineland Farms and Silvery Moon from Maine, Vermont Farmstead, Narragansett of Rhode Island, Vermont Nut Free and Massachusetts’ Great Hill Creamery. Attendants have the opportunity to meet some of the cheese makers and participate in a wine and cheese pairing. Ten cheeses will be available for tasting at Thursday’s event. 8 Sumner St.; 4 - 8 p.m.; free.
For the next 10 days, the ninth annual Boston Palestine Film Festival (BPFF) will feature work from directors around the world that offer views of Palestine and its history, culture and geographically dispersed society. Starting off the screenings is “Eyes of a Thief” by Palestinian-Jordanian filmmaker Najwa Najjar at the Museum of Fine Arts, the festival’s partner. Najjar will be in attendance and hosting a post-film discussion. New to BPFF this year is a cabaret-style show entitled “Palestinians, Live!” Set to instrumental Middle Eastern music, it recounts personal stories shared by local Palestinians. To find specific film locations and times, visit www.bostonpalestinefilmfest.org. $5 - $15.
If it feels like Halloween just can’t come fast enough, expel some of that anticipation at Boston’s Pumpkin Festival this weekend. Illuminated floating pumpkins, a costume parade, magic tricks and scary stories will give this festival its spooky theme. Attendees can decorate luminary bags and set them along the perimeter of the Boston Common Frog Pond. Drop a jack-o’-lantern of less than 8 inches in diameter off at a station in the park and watch it be lit and sent across the water. Post-float, pumpkins will be composted by the Boston Natural Areas Network. The rain date for the Pumpkin Festival is Sunday, Oct. 18. 38 Beacon St.; 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.; free.
Sunday, Oct. 18
Monday, Oct. 19
Wednesday, Oct. 21
This Sunday, join in a run along the Charles River hosted by the City Sports’ Harvard Square store. Prepare for a fall marathon and experience the benefits of group fitness. Runners of all paces and abilities are welcome, with options to shorten the 20-mile route. The run is led by pacers, who, along with City Sports staff, can provide tips about marathon training before the run. There are water stops along the way and post-run refreshments are provided, . City Sports Insiders who participate will receive $1 in rewards for every mile they complete. 44 Brattle St., Cambridge; 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.; free.
Every Monday afternoon, members of the public are welcome to attend a “Flash Drawing” session at Faneuil Hall Marketplace’s Open Air Art Studio, part of the center’s new outdoor area. The quick and informal lessons will cover a variety of different art styles including perspective, still life, portraits and more. All art supplies are provided by Faneuil Hall. Those who are unable to attend an afternoon Flash Drawing session can stop by the art studio any day between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. to create their own artwork for free. The Lounge at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, 1 Faneuil Hall Square; noon - 1 p.m.; free.
Get creative at GrubStreet Wednesday afternoon during its monthly Brown Bag Lunch Writing Series. Bring food in a lunch bag, mingle with fellow wordsmiths and take part in writing exercises at the Boston-based creative writing center. No RSVP is required. This session is led by Dariel Suarez, a Cubanborn writer who has taught creative writing at the Boston Arts Academy and Boston University. His writing has appeared in numerous journals and magazines, including the Michigan Quarterly Review. He has published a short-story collection and is currently finishing revisions on a novel. 162 Boylston St.; 12:30 - 1:15 p.m.; free.
Stories, From Page 8 among the audience and entered the stage when it was time to tell their story. Sam Mulcahy, a sophomore theater major and “Body Maps” performer, laid himself in the center of the stage. “Scalpel,” he said as he pantomimed slicing his chest open to remove the pieces left behind by his ex-girlfriend. Another actor, sophomore theater major Jamez Anderson, began her piece as if she were jumping, singing and dancing at a party. The scene quickly shifted, however, to an allout bashing of objectification in college hookup culture. “A body, is that all that we are?” she said. “For you to do what you want?” “Body Maps” ended with all of the actors standing together on stage, inhaling and exhaling in unison. “In rehearsal, we would sit in a
circle, hold each other’s hands and just breathe,” Anderson said, a gesture to show that each participant supported one another. Performers tackled topics ranging from sexuality to mental illness and body-image insecurity. “You really are out on a limb doing your own solo-devised piece,” Jesse Hinson, assistant teaching professor in the Northeastern Theatre Department and one of Miller’s former students, said. “And the fact that he was only here for a week, it kind of puts the top on a pot of boiling water. It makes [performances] have to boil.” On Oct. 8, Miller put on a performance of his own at the Studio Theatre in Ell Hall to preface “Body Maps.” The piece, titled “Sex/Body/ Self,” was a collection of anecdotes from Miller’s life as a gay adolescent. Miller detailed how, when he was 9 years old, he told another
little boy he would marry him. In another story, he spoke about a belligerent group of men from Montana throwing a bottle of Colt 45 liquor at him for being gay. Miller finally recounted how he felt after being legally married in his city’s clerk’s office, a place he had historically been brought to be arrested for his activism efforts. Miller believes that the stories from life’s hardships are the ones worth telling to bring change. “We value and encourage [deeply personal] work more and more in our theaters,” Miller said. “If we want specific work, it’s going to be [up to] us to make it happen.” In her overall experience, Anderson felt that “Body Maps” brought her a new appreciation for the work an individual can make. “The work we made with Tim was very emotional,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever have another storytelling experience like this in my life.”
Miller inspires original work
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Acting experience inspires bravery When you reach your senior year in college, you either want to do everything or nothing. I’ve found that I’m the former as I go to any and every event that piques my interest and don’t really consider how it will fit into the flow of my school and work week. When I stumbled upon the opportunity to participate in a student-led performance with activist performer Tim Miller, I jumped at the chance. Why not? Before “Body Maps,” the only times I had been in Ryder Hall were for a required advanced writing class and once to eat at Subway. Now, my third time was in the actors’ studio in a room full of mostly-younger theater majors, and I was definitely the only one not majoring in a creative art. Our breathing exercises at the beginning of the first day’s workshop were the loudest I’ve ever had to be in any of my classes. I almost walked out the moment one of our warm-up exercises prompted us to split into two groups and walk toward one another acting out orgasms in a shoulder-to-shoulder line. I stuck around because something told me that if I’m bothered by the important and fearless work coming out of that room, then that’s probably a good thing. In a circle of 16 other 20-somethings, the whole world was unpacked. Everything from heartbreak to body image, race to sexuality was thrown into this pile of stories, and no one flinched. Over the course of a week, I witnessed some of the strongest and most raw people I’ve ever come across bare their truths before a group of strangers. On sheets of paper bigger than me, we mapped our bodies like they were lands we governed and knew shortcuts around. I labeled my bell-pepper nose, my first and only sunburn on my shoulder from the Dominican Republic, the anemic blood that runs through my veins and my writing as the fire in my belAngelica Recierdo ly. Looking back, I’d add my hands that have The Annotated Muse cared for people at in the first and last minutes of their lives. In my performance, I brought a comatose patient back to life by treating her as more than a human being. She starts to stir when I talk about her life outside of the hospital as a mother, wife, etc. By the end of the piece, I am out of my scrubs and holding her face as I look into her eyes and see her for all that she is. At the beginning of the show, we completed this statement: “These are the shoes of a…” and ended with a different completion of the same statement. I began with “nurse who is not just a nurse” and ended with “creative healer.” The space between those two statements contains every internal battle I’ve had thus far about my life’s purpose. The tribe we formed will never be replicated – the people in it will grow and change, and so will the work we created. I’ll always look back on this week in awe that 18 strangers sacrificed every night one week to come together and expose the deepest secrets about themselves in the name of art. We need to keep having these conversations and carving out the time in our lives to create. The space outside our comfort zone should be visited more often, because that is where honesty lives. I’ve promised myself to keep doing the things that surprise me and scare me, even if I’m doing it alone. I’ve promised to live every day like I have a bucket list to follow or a New Year’s resolution to uphold. I’ve always been mesmerized by story slams. I went to a competition in the beautiful Coolidge Corner Theatre last year and was struck by the performers’ resonating strength and truth. I went to a workshop and attended smaller slams, and I think I’m ready now to do my own. I’ll look out at the audience and imagine my “Body Maps” group sitting out there, patiently listening to my story, never rushing or judging or prompting. The same respect and validity given to every single one of us is my permanent reminder to cherish my stories and those of others. -Angelica Recierdo can be reached at Inside@HuntNewsNU.com.
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sports
Field hockey earns first win in conference, falls to JMU By James Duffy News Correspondent
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
Freshman forward Abbey MacLellan, 2, scored a goal against JMU.
On a crucial road trip to Virginia, the Northeastern University (NU) field hockey team (4-10) took down the College of William & Mary on Friday, notching its first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) victory. However, the women could not overcome No. 18 James Madison University (JMU) and lost 3-1 on Sunday. Against the Tribe of William & Mary on Friday afternoon, NU came away with a 2-1 win with goals from sophomore forwards Mia Martin and Kristin Abreu. Martin’s goal was the first of her collegiate career. Abreu scored the gamewinner with 10 seconds left off of a penalty stroke. “It was nerve-wracking,” Abreu said in an email to The News. “With 10 seconds left, the power was in my hands to dictate the final outcome of
a very competitive match… it was terrifying. Nothing could take away the joy I felt the moment I knew we had achieved our first CAA win.” The Huskies only managed six shots on net but were able to make the most of their limited offensive opportunities. Freshman forwards June Curry-Lindahl and Abbey MacLellan each had a pair of shots on goal in the contest. Junior goalkeeper Becky Garner had another strong game, stopping nine of the 10 shots that came her way. “It was a relief, a confidence boost and a statement we needed for ourselves and for our competitors,” Abreu said. Against a strong JMU team on Sunday, the Huskies were unable to overcome an early deficit. The Dukes scored three goals in the first half and Northeastern only managed to score once. The lone Husky goal came from MacLellan, who, like Martin,
scored the first goal of her career. Garner made eight stops in the game, bringing her season total to 100 saves. The Huskies now have a 1-2 record in the CAA, placing them sixth in the conference with four games remaining in the regular season. To make the CAA tournament, Northeastern will need to fight its way to a top-four spot. The four remaining games are against CAA opponents. Head Coach Cheryl Murtagh is confident in the team’s chances to rise in the standings. “Based on their attitudes and the way we’ve been improving, I really like our odds to get into the tournament,” she said. “We have players stepping up, and our young forwards are playing well.” Next weekend will feature just one game for the Huskies when they host the University of Louisville at Dedham Field on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Volleyball loses to conference foes By Tim Foley News Staff
The league season is nearing its halfway point, and the Northeastern University (NU) women’s volleyball team continued its road trip over the weekend, losing in four sets to both James Madison University (JMU) and Towson University. “We’ve played a robust and difficult out-of-conference strength of schedule,” Head Coach Ken Nichols said. “I think we scheduled so that we’d be prepared for matches like these two. And for two sets in each match, the preparation was worthwhile, and in the other two sets, we struggled.” In both matches, the Huskies fought back to win the third set and came within two points of winning a second frame, but the women were unable to perform like that for the entire match. “It doesn’t take a lot to lose 2519,” Nichols said. “In a set that goes 25-19, if three other points go your way… you played 44 points, if three go your way, you’re tied.” On Friday against JMU, the Huskies lost two sets 25-19. This season, the Huskies have had a hard time getting the score to swing in their favor. The team lost its last four games, bringing its overall record to 4-17 and Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) record to 1-5. Northeastern got off to a rough start against the Dukes (16-3, 6-0 CAA). Trailing 5-0, the Huskies had to climb out of an early hole. A kill from junior setter Jamie Bredahl brought the score within two, but JMU scored the next five points to take control. “We tend to get into slumps where we let the opposing team run points on us, and then we end up having to battle back just to dig ourselves out of the hole we just put ourselves in,” senior outside hitter Cherylain Dizon said in an email to The News. The Huskies looked better in the second, erasing a five-point deficit to take a 21-19 lead, but JMU’s junior right side Janey Goodman landed three kills and the Dukes won the set 25-23. Nichols called Goodman “one of the best in the conference.” She had 20 kills against the Huskies on Friday. Northeastern played its strongest set of the match in the third, battling to win 27-25. The Huskies displayed a balanced attack, drawing at least three kills each from outside hitters Dizon and Brigitte Burcescu, middle blocker Carmen Costa and
middle hitter Caterina Rosander. “At times we can play with anybody in conference, there’s no doubt about it,” Nichols said. Unfortunately for the Huskies, they were unable to bring that momentum into the fourth set. Despite five kills from Dizon, Northeastern lost the set 2519 to finish the match. Dizon led the team along with Burcescu, both with 12 kills against JMU. “The best part of the weekend, I think, was Cheri really coming out of her shell and making a name for herself against the likes of James Madison,” Nichols said. “These are two robust, substantial blockers and Cheri just had a day. And so this is what we want from our lone senior.” Dizon went on to lead the team in kills again on Sunday, and she did it while still battling a lower-body injury from last week. Having played the last three games on the road, the entire team was dealing with fatigue. “There was a phrase I used to use all the time – ‘get off the bus,’” Nichols said. “Where you’re on the road and travel is wearing on you and aches and pains – it’s like, ‘Okay now it’s time to go to work.’ And so that’s not atypical for a team on the road.” The Huskies had a tough time “getting off the bus” at Towson on Sunday. The Tigers (18-2, 5-1 CAA) won eight of the last nine points to take the first set 25-17 and rolled into the second, winning 2516 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Once again, Northeastern looked crisp in the third. Dizon landed six kills, and Bredahl ended the set with back-toback points – a kill and a service ace – to lift the Huskies 26-24. The Northeastern women fought hard in the fifth and had a set point opportunity, but Towson tied the score and registered two straight service aces to win the set 28-26. “We are so close to winning each time, which is frustrating, but we are able to turn the frustration into fuel for the next match,” Dizon said. “At each practice, we have at least one improvement or goal that we work toward. I have noticed that our serve-receive has improved and because of that, our hitting has become more terminal.” The Huskies will take on the University of Delaware on Sunday at 1 p.m. and will make up their match against the College of Charleston at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. The game was originally planned for Oct. 4 before weather forced it to be pushed back.
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
Senior outside hitter Cherylain Dizon, 4, had a standout performance against James Madison on Friday.
CAA honors Maritim, O’Dea By PJ Wright News Correspondent
With the championship portion of the schedule in full swing, the Northeastern University (NU) men’s and women’s cross country teams trekked to Franklin Park for the second time in three weeks on Saturday to compete in the 2015 New England Championships, hosted by Boston University (BU). The men’s varsity squad pulled off a seventh-place finish out of 38 teams in the 8,000-meter run with a score of 241 points and an average time of 25:33. Boston University took home the New England title with just 143 points, their three best finishers all ending up in the top 20. Senior Nephat Maritim, a transfer student from Harvard University,
continued his hot surge on Saturday, leading the Huskies in the 8,000-meter run with a 25:06.6 finish. That time was good enough for 14th place, earning him the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Runner of the Week award – his second in a row. Junior Paul Duffey and freshman Michael Potter finished in 48th and 49th place, respectively, coming in at 25:35.4 and 25:35.7. The race was Duffey’s first of the season. “It was great to see Paul contribute in the varsity race. He makes our team stronger,” Head Coach Cathrine Erickson said in an email to The News. “Paul is a hard worker. He believes in what the coaching staff is asking of him, and it shows in his performance.” On the women’s side, Northeastern finished 18th overall out of 39 teams in the 5,000-meter
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
The men’s cross country team placed seventh in last week’s meet.
run with an average time of 18:55. Boston College (BC) won the New England title handily, as the first, second and fourthplace runners to cross the finish line all wore maroon and gold. The third-place runner stuck in the middle of the BC swarm was Northeastern junior Jordan O’Dea. O’Dea dazzled for the Huskies, coming in at 17:44.3 – an average mile-split of 5:42.5. This season, she has cemented herself as one of the top 5K runners in the region. Like her male counterpart, Maritim, she also earned CAA Runner of the Week honors. O’Dea ranks fifth all-time in the outdoor 5,000-meter run at Northeastern, and according to Erickson, as a junior, she is beginning to get comfortable leading this young women’s squad. “Jordan is really settling into leading the pack,” Erickson said. “It is nice to see her do so well.” Sophomore Brooke Wojeski came in 78th place at 18:53.3, followed by freshman Elizabeth Harrington in 98th, crossing the finish line at 19:09.7. Erickson said that the team’s focus over the next couple of weeks will primarily be to stay healthy. “Getting recovered is the most important thing at this point,” she said. The Huskies’ next challenge will be a mini-meet on Oct. 23 at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn. The race will take place at 4 p.m. at the Stanley Quarter Park.
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T h u r s d ay , O c t o b e r 15, 2015
sports
P a g e 11
Mpofu, Pierrot score in win Student-athletes may be missing out By Ethan Schroeder News Staff Nine games into the season, the struggling Northeastern University (NU) men’s soccer team’s aspirations of postseason play were fading. Nonetheless, Head Coach Brian Ainscough maintained the belief that with conference play, the playoffs were always in sight. His words rang true for the Huskies this week, as NU won its first game of the season in an exciting home finish against the College of William & Mary. Four days later, the team followed up with an impressive fight in a loss to Hofstra University. The record now stands at 1-8-2. Northeastern took to the pitch against the Tribe of William & Mary having lost all three of its previous Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) games this season. With a late surge, however, the Huskies were able to leave Parsons Field with a 2-1 victory. The Huskies had only three shots in the first half and were held without a shot on goal until the 82nd minute. Luckily, Northeastern sophomore goalkeeper Jonathan Thuresson maintained his midseason form. His six saves on the night matched a career high. As the game approached its waning moments, the Huskies made their move. A give-and-go between freshman midfielder Kevin Carvalho and sophomore midfielder Ackim Mpofu in the 86th minute resulted in a goal by Mpofu, his first of the season. “Ackim has the ability to score big goals for us,” Ainscough told GoNU.com in a postgame interview. “He scored four last year from playing fullback, and he was full fullback again today. That goal there, he’s going to remember that for a while.” Those worried about a comeback from the Tribe were soon put to peace by a second Husky goal. Sophomore forward Frantzdy Pierrot made it three straight games with a goal, scoring in the 88th minute with a chip shot. The two-goal cushion allowed the team to withstand a 90th minute tally from William & Mary freshman midfielder Marcel Perry
and walk away with its first win. “It looked like we figured we won the CAA the way the reaction was after the game,” Ainscough said. “It’s just ultimate relief when our season has taken this long to get our first win.” Pierrot’s performance on the night, along with his goals against Elon University and James Madison University, helped earn him the honor of CAA Player of the Week. On Wednesday, the team rode a wave of confidence into Hempstead, N.Y. to take on Hofstra. Ranked No. 22 in the country by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Hofstra needed all but three minutes of double overtime to take down the surging Huskies, 2-1. In terms of opportunities, the Huskies held the upper hand in the matchup but that did not translate into goals. Despite eight shots on net compared to Hofstra’s six, it was the Pride who earned the win. They struck first in the 34th minute with a header from junior midfielder Lerthon Theuma. NU did not allow its opponent to stay content for long, however. Eight minutes into the second half, junior forward Christian McKenna finished on a ball from sophomore forward Khesanio Hall
By James Duffy News Correspondent
fortable on the ice and has given me a confidence that I was maybe lacking as a freshman,” Herrington said in an email to The News. “I think this, in addition to having a team around me that is more experienced, has helped us out so far this year.” Sophomore forward Taytum Clairmont added the fifth goal in the third period, the eventual gamewinner, when she tipped a shot from sophomore defenseman Lauren Kelly into the back of the net. Kelly and senior defenseman Jordan Krause each had two assists in the game. Special teams also played a huge role as both teams had a pair of power-play goals. The next afternoon, the Huskies laced up their skates to face a Lindenwood squad that had been struggling in the early part of the year. The Lady Lions had managed just one win in their first five contests, but fought hard to beat NU, 4-2. The Huskies dominated in shots on goal and in the faceoff circle, but struggled to score. NU found itself hurt by penalties as Lindenwood was able to maintain offensive pressure through its power plays. Coyne and Herrington scored the two goals for Northeastern. Lindenwood was carried by senior forward Shara Jasper, who notched a hat trick, and freshman goalie Jolene deBruyn. DeBruyn made her first career start on the collegiate level with 38 saves against a high-octane Husky offense. For Coyne, the goal brought her career total to 98, putting her two markers away from becom-
to even things up at one. The goal was McKenna’s first of the season. From then until overtime, the game was highlighted by shutout play from Thuresson and Hofstra senior goalkeeper Patric Pray. Pray stopped four shots from the Huskies in the second half to keep his team at level pegging, while Thuresson stopped the one shot that came his direction. The two overtime periods were fairly uneventful, with only three total shots on goal between the two teams in 17 minutes. Unfortunately for the Huskies, the third goal made the difference. In the 107th minute, Hofstra junior midfielder Joseph Holland sent a pass from sophomore defender Jon Fraser past Thuresson and into the top left corner of the net for the victory. Northeastern is now 0-2-2 in overtime games. Northeastern will travel back home to play the University of Delaware this Saturday. Following that game, the Huskies will take a one-game break from CAA play to take on the College of the Holy Cross next Wednesday. Ainscough hopes this week’s results signal a successful end to the season. “September was a long, long month,” Ainscough said. “Hopefully in October and early November, we can turn the tide.”
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
Men’s soccer held off the College of William & Mary for its first win.
Herrington tallies three goals for NU The Northeastern University (NU) women’s ice hockey team defeated Syracuse University on Friday by a score of 5-4 but struggled against Lindenwood University the next night, falling 4-2. The Lindenwood game marked the first loss of the season for the Huskies, who are now 2-1-1. Senior forward Kendall Coyne and sophomore forward Shelby Herrington led NU over the Orange on Friday afternoon with a pair of goals each. Although the Huskies maintained the lead for the whole game, Syracuse made it a nail-biter in the last few minutes. The Orange scored with three minutes left and put heavy pressure on junior goaltender Sarah Foss in the closing minutes, but Foss was up to the task and locked in the victory. Foss made her season debut in net, turning away 33 of the 37 shots that came her way en route to the win. The 33 saves set a career-high for Foss, beating the 28 saves she made against Boston College last year. Coyne’s two goals came within the first five minutes of the game, and the star player nearly completed the hat trick later in the period. She was stopped on a breakaway, however, by Syracuse senior goalie Jenn Gilligan. Herrington scored a firstperiod power-play goal followed by another goal with just a few minutes left in the second period. “Having a year of experience to draw from has made me more com-
Do college athletes get shortchanged? Are the sacrifices they make for their sport worth it, or even consistent with what college is really all about? Richard Sherman, Stanford University graduate and cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks, was questioned earlier this year about whether or not he feels that athletes get the short end of the stick when it comes to constraints on time in college. Sherman makes a lot of points as to why the life of a student athlete is not as luxurious as the common student may think. He spoke on issues like scheduling classes around practice times and managing a workload just as large as that of their fellow students under tighter time constraints. He also pointed to how scholarships raise the importance of sports over education in the athletes’ eyes, which can paint a pretty depressing picture. Even though he’s speaking from his own experience, I believe he only scratched the surface. Sherman says that colleges see recruited athletes as players first and students second. As he put it, “You’re not on scholarship for school.” If you are one of the very few top-tier athletes with prospects to go on to a professional level, the time you put in could result in a successful payoff in the end. However, what is the saving grace that you cling to as the “little guy” in a D1 program with the same practice obligations and same time constraints as the professional prospect? Without the potential to “go pro,” participating in a sport has to become its own reward. Kyle Taylor Not that the rewards aren’t there, they just come at a very high price. At smaller, D3 schools it may be feasible to be a “student-athlete,” but even these students often identify as athletes first. I wasn’t sure that I would be willing to pay this price as I weighed the pros and cons of trying to walk onto the Northeastern track team. I believed I had a chance to make it in the 400-meter run – I was a league champion in high school and had been training all summer. However, track probably has the harshest impact on a student-athlete’s schedule, next to rowing. Track, unlike the vast majority of other collegiate sports, is a two-season commitment. With preseason practices in the fall - or cross country if you are a distance runner - and competition seasons in the winter and spring, will there be time left for anything else? Northeastern offers hundreds of clubs, trips around the world and our crowning jewel: the co-op program. Taking advantage of all the extracurricular activities or seeking leadership positions in various clubs can become impossible with a sports commitment. Most students already feel overwhelmed with maintaining their workload, social life and sanity without the added stress of competing for D1 programs. For these reasons, I pursued other opportunities my first semester of college instead of trying to walk on. But, who knows, maybe there is still a place for running in my future. I miss the competition and camaraderie that you get from school sports, so I don’t think college athletes get shortchanged. I bet Richard Sherman wouldn’t trade his college experience for anything. I believe the point Sherman wanted to make was that the college experience for student-athletes is a big tradeoff and that it is important for non-athletes to understand the hard work and sacrifice that comes with competing at the collegiate level. – Kyle Taylor can be reached at Sports@HuntNewsNU.com.
Photo courtesy Northeastern Athletics
Sophomores Shelby Herrington and Christina Zalewski celebrate one of Herrington’s goals against Syracuse.
ing the 17th woman to score 100 goals in college hockey history. Herrington’s goal was her fourth on the season in as many games, giving her more goals and as many points as she had all of last season. Northeastern Head Coach Dave Flint praised Herrington after the loss to Lindenwood. “She was one of the few bright spots,” he said.
On the weekend as a whole, Flint was critical of his team, specifically of how it played on defense. “We had a lot of good things going on offense, but you win games in your own zone,” he said. Looking ahead, Flint said that the defense would have to be better against a strong team like Mercyhurst, the Huskies’ opponent for the weekend. Herrington
added that the team needs to put emphasis on fewer penalties. “We have to focus on taking less penalties as this hurt us not only on the scoreboard but also in the energy swing of the game,” she said. Both of this weekend’s games will be at Matthews Arena. Northeastern will host the Mercyhurst University Lakers on Friday at 1 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.
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sports
T h u r s d ay , O c t o b e r 15, 2015
H u n t N e w s NU. c o m
Soccer survives double OT By Giovanni Gray News Staff
Led by sophomore midfielder Hannah Lopiccolo, Northeastern University (NU) women’s soccer earned a pair of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) wins against James Madison University (JMU) and Towson University this weekend. The Huskies faced off against the Dukes on Friday night. They headed into the matchup with a 2-1-1 CAA record, having swept the College of Charleston and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington the weekend before. NU struck early with sophomore midfielder Hannah Lopiccolo netting the game’s first and only goal just under eight minutes into the contest. From there, freshman goalkeeper Nathalie Nidetch finished the first full-game shutout of her career. The 1-0 victory was the Huskies’ fifth shutout of the season. Junior midfielder Breeana Koemans opened up Sunday’s scoring against Towson in the 10th minute with an assist by sophomore forward Kayla Cappuzzo. Koemans went on to assist the Huskies’ second goal of the game - a strike by junior defender Mackenzie Dowd which came with just over six minutes left in the first half. The goal was Dowd’s sixth of the season. The Huskies managed to hold the Tigers scoreless until the 79th minute, when junior forward Natalia Pinkney scored her first of two goals. Her second goal followed just a few minutes later, evening the game at 2-2. After a scoreless first overtime, Lopiccolo sealed the win with her second gamewinning goal of the weekend in the 100th minute, just 59 seconds into the second overtime period. “We were up 2-0 at the second half, and they managed to come back. We went into overtime and we just finished it off,” Lopic-
colo said. “Kayla [Cappuzzo] was taking it down the sideline and got it up to me, so I just dribbled around and placed it in the net.” The game marks the Huskies’ fourth-straight win. It was also their sixth overtime match of the season, five of which resulted in Northeastern wins and one in a tie. “Every time we go into overtime, we tell each other there’s no way we’re going to lose this game,” Lopiccolo said. “We buckle down and we play for each other.” Lopiccolo added that the extra minutes haven’t been taking a toll on the team. “Our team is a very, very fit team, especially because of all
the fitness tests we had to do coming to preseason,” she said. Lopiccolo was awarded CAA Co-Player of the Week honors for her strong performances. The Huskies, with 13 points and a 4-1-1 record in the CAA standings, have three home games before the CAA tournament, which starts on Nov. 1. The first is against Hofstra University, which is tied for No. 1 with Northeastern in the CAA, on Friday at 6 p.m. “It’s always great to play at Parsons,” Lopiccolo said. “Our fan base has been really great this year, so we’re excited and we’re going to hold down the fort… We’re going to be ready, and we’re going to beat them.”
Photo by Ethan Kaley
Sophomore forward Dylan Sikura, 9, chases down the puck on Friday.
Stevens brothers score in NU victory By Bailey Putnam Deputy Sports Editor
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
Midfielder Hannah Lopiccolo, 5, scored two game-winners this weekend.
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The Northeastern University (NU) men’s hockey team accomplished in its opening weekend what it failed to do for eight straight games last year: earn its first win. The Huskies surged past No. 20 Colgate University in the season-opener at Matthews Arena on Saturday night. Brothers Nolan and John Stevens were the heroes of the night, notching a goal apiece, including younger brother Nolan’s highlight reel game-winner midway through the third period. Going into the game, the Huskies held the memory of two mid-October shutout losses to the Raiders looming in their minds. This time around, NU was relentless offensively, peppering Colgate junior goalie Charlie Finn with 43 shots while the defense held the visitors to just 17. After a scoreless first frame, the Huskies were the first to strike with 7:51 remaining in the second period. Freshman defenseman Eric Williams took a pass from senior Dpartner Jarrett Fennell and blasted a slapshot from the point. The shot was tipped past Finn by a waiting John Stevens in front of the crease. The formidable Raider offense was quick to return with a score of its own just two minutes later. Senior Tyson Spink proved to be the only one able to beat redshirt junior goalie Derick Roy when he netted one from the slot off a feed from his twin brother Tylor. With the score knotted at 1-1 to start the third period, the tiebreaking and eventual game-winning goal did not come until almost 12 minutes into the frame. Nolan Stevens took a feed from senior defenseman Colton Saucerman near center ice and proceeded to undress three Raider players before tucking it underneath Finn’s left leg. “I got some speed and had a lot of room so, [Saucerman] passed it
to me,” Stevens said as he described the play. “It was a great pass and the defenseman’s gap was close to me, so I thought I could make a move. I ended up getting by one guy and reacted to the next guy and luckily got by him and poked it in.” Although he noted some areas worth improving for the Huskies, Head Coach Jim Madigan was pleased with his team’s performance after the 2-1 win. “I liked the way we played for the first game of the year,” he said. “Certainly there are areas where we’re going to have to get a lot better, but I thought we pressured the puck. I thought the puck pursuit was pretty good.” Madigan also gave a shoutout to the Husky faithfuls who made it to Matthews for support. “It’s great, obviously, to start the season off with a real good win like that,” he said. “We had a real good crowd. Hats off to our Doghouse and students. On a long weekend, they mobilized really well and were loud and got us going and created some momentum for our team.” Madigan also discussed the freshmen on the roster, several of whom were thrown into penalty killing rolls in their first outing. “They’re part of the 20-man roster that we dress, and we have confidence in all of our players,” he said. “If we put them on the ice, we expect them to do a job and when they’re out there they’re not freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors. They’re Northeastern hockey players, so the expectation is just as high for them as it is for the upperclassmen.” The Huskies take on Bentley University in a home-and-home series for Parent’s Weekend, with a 7 p.m. matchup at Matthews Arena on Friday night and a 7:05 p.m. game on Saturday in Waltham.
For more photos, visit huntnewsnu.com
Photo by Ethan Kaley
Senior forward Mike McMurtry, 7, takes the faceoff against Colgate.