December 7, 2017

The Huntington News Vol. XI No. 6

The independent student newspaper of the Northeastern community

Dec. 7, 2017

Dance show fundraises for Puerto Rico

By Sumya Mohiuddin News Staff

T

he night was filled with high energy and cheers erupting from the balcony of Blackman Auditorium as 15 dance groups performed at the annual Dance 4 Me competition Sunday to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Proceeds from the show went to Americares, an organization that helps those affected by poverty and disaster by providing health-focused relief.

A fusion between the “Cha-Cha Slide” and “Jump on It” blared on the speakers as Northeastern’s Filipino/Filipino-American group, Barkada, took the stage.

Coconut shell halves covered some of the dancers’ torsos

and thighs as the group performed an indigenous dance called maglalatik.

The performance, which combined modern music with Filipino culture, won the Crowd Favorite award. “[The win] was really unexpected. In the end, we realized all the hard work we did. [Our] mindset was in a different space, and we were not in the mindset to win,” said Martin Narciso, NU Barkada’s co-performance coordinator and fourth-year criminal justice major.

UTSAV, on Page 7

Photo by Patrick Leung The dance group NU Nakhraas performed at Dance 4 Me Sunday. The event raised money for the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Proceeds from the show went to Americares, an organization working to rebuild the island.

Governor hopefuls visit NU campus

By Morgan Lloyd

Photo by Alex Melagrano J.J. Barea, NBA player and Northeastern alumnus, returned to NU to support a Puerto Rico fundraiser.

NBA star leads relief effort

By Charlie Wolfson Deputy City Editor J.J. Barea is a busy man. The Northeastern basketball alumnus and current Dallas Maverick has had his hands full scoring 12.2 points per game in the NBA this year. He played a game in Dallas (a win over Denver) Monday and flew

to Boston for a quick turnaround and a matchup with the Celtics Wednesday.

Barea is busy, but something more important than basketball required his attention Tuesday night. He spent the evening at the NU men’s basketball game against Bucknell at Matthews Arena, where his former team staged a fundraiser — which

raised almost $4,000 — benefitting his native Puerto Rico, a place desperately in need of assistance after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in September.

“Like a bomb exploded,” Barea said was his impression after a recent trip to deliver supplies and offer support to the island he fondly MARIA, on Page 10

Campus Editor Two Democratic candidates for Massachusetts governor harshly criticized the state’s politics while discussing new solutions to fix economic inequality and social issues in an event held by Northeastern University College Democrats Saturday night.

Both candidates, 47-year-old former Newton Mayor Setti Warren and 61-year-old progressive activist and Somerville resident Bob Massie, agreed with each other on many issues, and united in their dislike of current Gov. Charlie Baker’s administra-

tion.

“I think some of you may have noticed that as Setti was talking, I was nodding, and you’re not supposed to do that in politics.

You’re supposed to look sternly at your opponent and shake your head,” Massie said. “I think the important thing is that we do agree, as Democrats, on many things.”

Although Massie and Warren have similar political platforms, their backgrounds are different.

Warren served for nine years as an intelligence specialist in Iraq before coming back and running a grassroots campaign for mayor CAMPAIGN, on Page 2

Inside:

Photo by Riley Robinson BPD Commissioner Evans.

Three people were shot at the intersection of Tremont Street and Parker Street Wednesday night, killing one person, leaving one in critical condition and one in serious condition, Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans said. Evans briefed the press at 9:47 p.m. at the scene of the shooting.

Story on Page 6

CAMPUS

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December 7, 2017

Professor’s new software gives voices to voiceless

By Corey Dockser News Correspondent Text-to-speech technology has become widely available in modern society, granting verbal communication to millions. But, with a limited set of voices available, users are unable to identify themselves by sound. It was this problem that led to the creation of VocaliD. VocaliD was founded in 2014 after six years of development by Rupal Patel, a professor of communication sciences and disorders and computer and information sciences at Northeastern University. Patel began her work with synthetic voices in 2007. At the time, her focus was on creating unique voices without distorting the speech to the point of unintelligibility.

The program is capable of combining a brief vocalization from someone with impaired speech with thousands of lines read by a single volunteer donor, recorded in Patel’s lab.

Media outlets began to pick up Patel’s work following an article published by the Northeastern College of Computer and Information Science. An interview with NPR pushed Patel to think beyond research.

“We were just doing studies about how to make these voices and hadn’t really necessarily played the custom voices for any of the people that could potentially use it,” Patel said. The NPR reporter pressed her multiple times on if she could use her work to more directly help people in need.

Soon, Patel began to consult with some of the people who could benefit from her research. This convinced her to move away from theory and toward practical implementation. In 2013 she gave a TED talk, which gave her the idea of crowdsourcing voices.

As she was practicing her talk, the

people she was working with kept asking her what the average person could do after seeing her presentation. She decided to ask people to donate their voices.

Since the launch of VocaliD, 28,000 people from 110 countries ranging from 6 to 91 years old have contributed to VocaliD’s proprietary voice database, the Human Voice Bank.

Contributing to the bank is a largely automated process requiring only a computer, a microphone and an internet connection. Donors complete an audition to see if their recordings are of high enough quality for the Bank. Geoff Meltzner, vice president of and director of research and technology at VocaliD, said the remaining work is simple.

“Once you’ve passed the audition, you then enter the Voice Bank and you get presented with what kind of material you want to read, whether it’s children’s stories or news stories or science articles or fiction, and you’re prompted with a set of sentences for you to record,” Meltzner said.

These stored voices have different roles depending on which of VocaliD’s two products recipients choose.

The Vocal Legacy is for people who are able to speak clearly now, but are concerned about losing their speech in the future. After five to seven hours of recording, the website will turn those recordings into a downloadable file.

The BeSpoke voice, on the other hand, is more complex. Designed for those able to generate a vocalization but not speech, recipients need only submit a 2 to 3 second clip to the website to initiate the process.

This clip is then run through the database to find a matching donor, and then the donor’s samples are combined with the recipients to form a new, unique voice. Requests can be made for certain desirable traits, like accents. Like the Legacy, this voice

is stored on the website and available for download at any time.

For recipients who don’t want the same voice forever, either because they’ve aged or they simply want to try on something else, Patel and her team are developing aging methods, too.

“One of the patents we have right now is to be able to grow the voice algorithmically,” she said. “In the child age band we have ways to modify the voice slowly and gradually. But as you jump from child to teenager there’s actually a pretty huge jump, and at that point it just isn’t going to sound good enough — it’s going to distort the speech signal too much so our preference is to find a new voice.”

Improvements to VocaliD are ongoing. For example, the Human Voicebank 2.0 was launched Nov. 13 and expanded recording options by allowing donors to pick from a wide variety of texts to suit their preferences, rather than the limited collection of sentences previously offered. Looking farther ahead, the team would like to expand beyond English to include Spanish, Hebrew, Chinese and various Indian dialects, Meltzner said.

Both of VocaliD’s products have the same price tag: $1,500. Getting a voice is a one-time purchase. As insurance won’t yet cover the cost of a prosthetic voice, potential users are encouraged to crowdfund the expense. While sticker shock could be a deterrent to potential users, the sheer uniqueness of the technology is enough to win over some, at least for the moment.

“I think it’s definitely a worthwhile investment, especially if you start young,” said Rohith Parvathaneni, a second-year data science major.

“The price can be a bit high right now but that may just be due to the fact that it’s new software so with time it’s probably going to go down as it’s optimised.”

Courtesy of VocaliD Through the recording interface for the Human Voice Bank, users are able to record their voice for people suffering from speech impairments.

Photo by Albert Tamura Setti Warren, one of three Democratic candidates for governor, speaks to the Northeastern College Democrats.

Candidates speak to College Dems CAMPAIGN, from front of Newton.

“A lot of smart political people told me, ‘Don’t run, you can’t win.’ I’d never been in elected office before,” Warren said. “So I knocked on 11,000 doors in that first campaign: good old-fashioned grassroots politics. I won that election by 469 votes.”

Massie, meanwhile, has extensive experience as an activist, fighting apartheid in South Africa and working to create greater corporate accountability with regards to climate policy. He has also struggled with hemophilia, a disease that prevents the normal clotting of blood, and HIV throughout his life, which he credits with jumpstarting his passion for social justice work.

“I discovered at an early age that people tend to be afraid of those who are different,” Massie said.

“What I learned from that is just how important it us for us to uphold the principles of inclusion and equality and justice to be a welcoming community, because I’ve been on the negative side of that. And I realized very early, by the time I was in high school, that I was certainly not the only person who had been subjected to that kind of judgment and discrimination and exclusion.”

Currently, Baker has a large lead over both candidates in the polls.

A poll published on Nov. 15 found Baker leading Warren 58-24 percent and Massie 60-21 percent.

A third Democratic candidate, former Secretary of Administration and Finance for Massachusetts 46-year-old Needham resident Jay Gonzales, was scheduled to speak but had to cancel as a result of an unforeseen health emergency.

“It was very last minute,” said College Democrats vice president and second-year political science and economics combined major Chris Mirabella. “The Northeastern Dems, we really wish him well. We don’t want him to be out of commis-

sion, because there are three great candidates in this race.”

One of the biggest issues for both candidates was addressing economic issues in Massachusetts. Warren listed a number of improvements he wanted to see implemented, such as greater G.I. Bill benefits, a singlepayer health care system and free public college. Massie focused on environmental issues, advocating for building the state’s economy based on sustainability.

Both candidates agreed, however, that neither of their planned visions are likely to be executed under current Gov. Baker and the current administration, whose financial strategy they see as ruinous.

“Every single one of the budgets coming out of Beacon Hill here need to be based in outcomes for the people, the people of the Commonwealth, and we can’t be afraid to raise revenue at the state level,” Warren said. “As I started to move around the Commonwealth, it became very clear to me that people and communities are falling behind.”

Both candidates criticized Baker for his deference to the current administration and its policies.

“He’s a nice guy, but he’s a rightwing Republican,” Warren said.

“There are plenty of nice guys that I know who I would not want to be governor.”

Even though Baker has a 75 percent approval rating, Massie felt confident about the race against him, provided that Democrats got engaged in the campaign.

“If people were to realize we have the votes to beat him, we’d beat him,” Massie said.

Both candidates passed around clipboards, encouraging the students who attended to sign up for their campaign.

“Please get involved. It doesn’t matter who it’s with,” said Mirabella. “It’s really important during this time.”

Professor receives prestigious fellowship

By Emily Sandstrom News Correspondent The American Mathematical Society has honored Northeastern University professor Ivan Losev with a fellowship for his research, which uses algebra to understand quantum mechanics, and his contribution to geometric representation theory and the theory of categorification.

The American Mathematical Society, or AMS, is an organization that seeks to further the interests of mathematical research and unite the national and international community through publications, meetings and advocacy, according to the AMS

official website.

The AMS fellowships are prestigious, with only 60 mathematicians recognized annually.

“The annual fellows are recognized by previous fellowship holders. The nominations are sent to them, and they deliberate for a period of about three to four months,” said Diane Boumenot, an AMS representative.

“The amount of nominees each year are not announced, but trust me, it’s competitive.”

Losev received his doctorate from Moscow State University in 2007 and taught at MIT before joining the Northeastern faculty.

His research that won the AMS fellowship focused on representation

theory, which studies concrete ways to realize abstract algebraic objects from a mathematical perspective.

From a physics perspective, it seeks to understand the motion of elementary particles by using symmetry, Losev said.

“I definitely was very pleased,” Losev said. “I am still in a relatively early stage of my career, and it’s great to earn this recognition relatively early.”

Losev’s extensive research in his field has had a significant impact on Northeastern’s mathematics community. His research has been largely influential to his students, said second-year Northeastern mathematics doctoral student Dmytro

Matvieievskyi, who has worked alongside Losev.

“Ivan is very helpful and is always available for questions,” Matvieievskyi said. “In addition to that, he organizes many seminars and teaches courses on my topics of interest that help me to develop as a mathematician.”

Matvieievskyi is studying a geometric approach to questions inspired by Ivan’s work.

“I find it to be a very beautiful piece of mathematics and enjoy working with him on it,” he said.

“His immense knowledge of the subject helps me to understand the topic and guides me through the research.”

Losev is eager to share his knowledge with the Northeastern mathematics community.

“I’m organizing a few seminars: the colloquium, our research and training group seminar called ‘Geometry, Physics and Representation theory’, and also a learning seminar for graduate students on recent developments in my field.”

But Losev said there is more to come. He is already working on his next project.

“I am currently working on a couple of fundamental questions in my field that I hope will be of major importance in representation theory and related fields of mathematics,” he said.

December 7, 2017

CAMPUS

NUPD CRIME LOG

Page 3

Data expert warns of fake visuals

Compiled by Jill Sojourner, News Staff

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

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Monday, Nov. 27 @ 5:10 p.m.

Staff at the Nahant Marine Science Center reported a burglary in the building. A report was filed.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Monday, Nov. 27 @ 9:18 p.m.

An individual reported a man loitering on the couches in the lobby of International Village. The Northeastern University Police Department responded and reported banning the man, who was affiliated with Northeastern University, from all NU property. A report was filed.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Wednesday, Nov. 29 @ 7:15 p.m.

A confidential domestic dispute occurred off campus. A report was filed.

Photo by Lauren Scornavacca Data journalist and textbook author Alberto Cairo speaks to dozens of students about spotting misleading visualizations.

By Paxtyn Merten

Northeastern University Public Safety Division Wednesday, Nov. 29 @ 8:47 p.m.

A confidential rape case occurred off campus. A report was filed.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Wednesday, Nov. 29 @ 9:03 p.m.

The Boston Police Department, or BPD, reported sending officers to Ruggles Street by Annunciation Road for shots fired. BPD reported speaking with a witness, who observed two men fire shots close to Albert Street and Prentiss Street and flee the area on foot toward Ruggles Street and Parker Street. NUPD reported checking the area with negative results. BPD further reported locating ballistic evidence in a vehicle on Annunciation Road, but that there were no victims.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Thursday, Nov. 30 @ 8:29 p.m.

An NUPD officer reported an NU student admitted to stealing a jacket earlier in the semester. The officer further reported confiscating the jacket from the student’s room in Speare Hall. A report was filed.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Friday, Dec. 1 @ 1:21 a.m.

An individual reported an NU student passed out in the lobby of 115 St. Stephen St. NUPD responded and reported the student was highly intoxicated and believed he was in Switzerland.

NUPD requested EMS, who transported the student to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for further evaluation. The RD was notified. A report was filed.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Friday, Dec. 1 @ 11:43 a.m.

The Wentworth Institute of Technology Public Safety Department reported receiving a call from an NU student who said he was robbed on Parker Street. NUPD responded to the area and reported meeting with the student, who said the subject was last seen running from Parker Street at Ruggles Street toward Annunciation Road. BPD was notified. A report was filed.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Saturday, Dec. 2 @ 1:15 a.m.

A proctor at White Hall reported an intoxicated man, who was unaffiliated with NU, in the lobby.

NUPD responded and reported requesting EMS for the man, who arrived and cleared him.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division Saturday, Dec. 2 @ 8:35 a.m.

NUPD received a phone call from an individual stating his friend, an NU student, threatened to place bombs at Shillman Hall where students were taking the Law School Admission Test.

NUPD responded, evacuated and secured Shillman. BPD arrived with a K-9 unit. EMS also arrived.

At 9:33 a.m. NUPD officers and two BPD bomb squad officers swept of Shillman, which came up negative for any bombs or explosives. Students were allowed back into the building. NUPD conducted additional sweeps of other buildings on campus with negative results. A report was filed.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Sunday, Dec. 3 @ 12:53 a.m.

An RA reported an intoxicated female unconscious in her room. Her friends stated to the RA that she fell out of bed but they were unsure if she hit her head. NUPD responded, and requested EMS, who transported the student to the Boston Medical Center for further evaluation. The RD was notified. A report was filed.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Sunday, Dec. 3 @ 2:13 a.m.

An NU student reported his unattended bag containing his passport, $800 and his prescription for methylphenidate was stolen from Wally’s Café. NUPD responded and reported the bag was outside of the building, but all its contents were missing. A report was filed.

Northeastern University Public Safety Division

Sunday, Dec. 3 @ 4:00 p.m.

An NU student reported seeing a man pushing a wheelchair loitering in front of the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex. NUPD responded and reported stopping the man, who was unaffiliated with NU, on Huntington Avenue. He was found to have a criminal history, and was banned from all NU property. A report was filed.

Editor-in-Chief As the data visualization community pushes forward with new technologies, it is leaving a part of the general public behind, a prominent data journalist and visualization expert told the Northeastern community Thursday.

At the “Visual Trumpery” talk in West Village F, Alberto Cairo, who authored data visualization textbooks used in many Northeastern courses, said the purpose of his year-long talk tour is to help people become better readers of data visualization.

“Visualizations are everywhere right now, so we need to learn how to read them,” Cairo said.

“Visualizations are never intuitive, visualizations have a grammar, visualizations have a vocabulary, visualizations have a symbolization system, and people need to learn how to read them correctly.”

Cairo named his talk series after the Middle English word “trumpery,” which he explained means something that deceives the eye. He came up with the idea for the name after the 2016 election when someone he followed on Twitter tweeted the word’s definition.

“First of all, it will help me attract more people because people will feel provoked by the title; they will come to the talk, expecting to hear something that the talk is not about,” Cairo said. “It would also help me make the first point as to how we can become better readers of visualizations. We must always read beyond the title because if you do not read beyond the title you will be misled.”

Cairo outlined five principles for readers to follow when reading data visualizations: Readers should check the data’s source, avoid adding extra meaning to graphs, ensure data is represented accurately, make sure enough data is presented and question whether or not the graphic considers uncertainty.

He said the second of these points is a bit obscure. When people look at visualizations, they tend to read too much into them. These connections happen just in the mind, not within the graphic.

“We tend to infer too much on the data that is presented,” he said.

“Sometimes we do this for political reasons. We are very ideological.

Whenever we see a graphic that confirms what we already believe, we tend to use it as an argument to defend our own positions.”

As an example, he showed a graph that liberal-leaning people shared on Twitter to defend the idea that the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was great for the job market. The graph embedded the date the act was passed on a timeline showing the number of people employed in the United States from 2007 to 2017.

Cairo said this graph could not be used to say Obamacare is good for the economy.

“The graphic is just showing two unconnected phenomena,” he said.

“On one hand, it is showing you employment: The number of the people in the job market going up and going down. And on the other hand, it is showing you the moment at which one particular law was passed, Obamacare was passed …

It could be that they are connected but we don’t know. The chart alone is not enough to make that connection.”

Irene de la Torre, a 2016 alumna of Northeastern’s CAMD graduate school who studied information design and visualization, said Cairo was very familiar to her and all of her classmates. She said the event was powerful because it showed her how visualizations can be impacted by the creator’s biases.

“Right now I’m doing visualizations but I’m also a journalist,” said Torres, who currently works in the MIT Senseable City Lab. “The first time that I worked doing infographics for a newspaper I thought that they were the truth and then you start realizing that you can kind of guide the opinion of the reader.”

Simon Gusev, a second-year journalism major at Emerson College, attended the event on a recommendation from his digital journalism professor. He said he may use information from the talk to incorporate data more in his reporting.

“I just learned some important facts about data in that sometimes people just speculate about it,” he said, “and as a journalists we need to be concrete and true to ourselves to make something that’s going to be beneficial for people, not only for us.”

Cairo followed his initial discussion with a conversation on the ethical standards individuals should use when creating or sharing data visualizations. He said it is important that people become aware of their own biases, remind themselves it is more important to be truthful than to win an argument and ensure graphics are legitimate before sharing them.

Conceptual tools like data visualizations, Cairo explained, can be compared to physical tools, such as a hammer.

“Visualization extends our perception and extends our cognition,” Cairo said. “A hammer extends our own arm and makes us stronger when we need to build something.”

Both tools, he said, can be used to build — just like a hammer can be used to build a house, a data visualization can be used to build understanding.

“But exactly the same tool that you know how to use really well, either a hammer or a visualization, can also be used to destroy,” he continued.

“To destroy houses with a hammer, or to destroy understanding with unreliable or badly designed visualization. And it is our responsibility to choose how we read, how we use and how we spread data visualization.”

Page 4

The Huntington News

OPINION

December 7, 2017

Editorial Board

Editor-in-ChiEf Managing Editor

Paxtyn Merten Hannah Bernstein

CaMpus Editor opinion Editor City Editor LifEstyLE Editor sports Editor photo Editor dEsign Editor

Morgan Lloyd Ysabelle Kempe Katie McCreedy Kiana Jones Calli Remillard Riley Robinson Michelle Lee

dEputy CaMpus Editor dEputy City Editor dEputy LifEstyLE Editor dEputy sports Editor dEputy photo Editor assistant photo Editor

Patrick Burgard Charlie Wolfson Samuel Kim John Hagerty Alex Melagrano Albert Tamura

BusinEss ManagEr MuLtiMEdia ManagEr

Shaina Richards Glenn Billman

Staff Writers Alejandro Serrano, Alex Bensley, Brian Fields, Caroline Ingram, Gianna Barberia, Irvin Zhang, Janette Ebbers, Jasmine Heyward, Jill Sojourner, Julia Preszler, Kaitlyn Budion, Noah Greany, Sophie Cannon, and Tim Foley

Staff Photographers

Brian Bae and Lauren Scornavacca

Copy Editors

Alyssa Lukpat, Caroline Panchelli, Erika Knox, Jade Okanlawon, Jasmine Heyward, Kaitlyn Budion and Lily Rupert

Opinions expressed in The Huntington News by letters, 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.

Column: Partisan politics go too far

Strong political parties have been a constant in American government since the conception of the country. As a principle, there is nothing inherently wrong with partisanship. It allows for firm political identities and can make politics more accessible to voters, informing citizens on certain politician’s stances on issues.

What we have today, however, is barely partisanship. It’s partisanship pushed to its absolute extreme. Behavior from both Democrats and Republicans more closely resembles blind tribalism than anything.

The clearest and most shocking example of this is the Roy Moore senatorial Alex Frandsen campaign.

Moore has been accused by multiple women of pursuing them while they were underage. It was also discovered that his predatory and downright creepy tendencies were a known fact among workers at his local mall, where he tended to hit on high school cashiers and attendants on weekend nights.

You would like to think the emergence of such revelations would be a death knell for Moore’s Senate hopes. After all, there is no way Republicans could tolerate electing a pedophile to their ranks, especially when family values are such a core part of their platform. Right?

Wrong. Sadly and incredibly, it appears as if Moore has the support of the Republican party machine. Despite calls for him to drop out from the likes of Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Republican National Committee has resumed support for his campaign and majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said that he will let the people of Alabama decide whether Moore should serve in Congress. All because they simply can’t bear the thought of a Democrat stealing a seat away from Republicans.

This, clearly, is a party system run amok, and is further confirmation of what we already knew: Partisanship has turned toxic in this country. At this point, it’s affecting the lives of civilians. Look to the recent tax bill that passed through the House and Senate last week, for instance. It has been nearly universally panned by economists as a poor bill and there’s very little popular support behind it. Yet it passed, simply because it was a Republican bill introduced during a time when Republicans control the majority in Congress. Not one Democrat voted for it. Now, barring a miracle stopping it from becoming law, the people of the United States will pay the price.

This isn’t to say that Democrats don’t have a role in the whole debacle, too.

Despite supposedly being the party of progressive America, liberal leadership failed to take a hard line on the sexual harassment accusations levied against Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). When asked on “Meet the Press” whether she believed Conyers’ accusers, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said this: “I don’t know who they are. Do you? They have not really come forward.”

If Conyers was a Republican, there is almost no chance Pelosi would have answered that question the same way. While Pelosi did later call on Conyers to step down, the message was already sent: Democrats stick by Democrats.

In a way, this partisanship reflects a chicken or the egg situation. Did the two parties become so polarized due to the country becoming polarized as a whole? Or did the country become polarized just by following the example of our country’s supposed leaders? It’s hard to say, but if we want to unify a deeply divided country, it must start with cooperation and teamwork across party lines on Capitol Hill. The two parties shouldn’t be enemies. They’re part of the same team, working to make this country a better place.

News illustration by Victoria Barranco

Editorial: NEU Too warrants response by administration “A university spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.”

It is not unfamiliar for this phrase to appear in student publications regarding the university’s response to student activism. It occurred when DivestNU protested against Northeastern’s ties with ExxonMobil and it has just happened again after the NEU Too campaign, a student movement that wants to raise awareness of sexual harassment and assault and push for greater administrative responsibility regarding the issue.

Northeastern University Police Department officers took down the posters that campaign members put up at midnight Nov. 30 long before classes began that day, so very few students got the chance to see them.

The university neither commented to student publications regarding the campaign nor sent out an acknowledgement to any students. The dismissive attitude of the university toward student activism sends a clear, albeit implicit, message that the topic is not worth their time.

Sexual harassment and assault continues to have an insidious presence on college campuses.

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in five women and one in 16 men will be sexually assaulted while in college. At Columbia University, professor William V. Harris recently stepped down after accusations of kissing and groping a female doctoral student. In an infamous and chilling case, Stanford student Brock Turner raped an unconscious ,intoxicated woman after a fraternity party and served only three months in prison.

The NEU Too campaign strives to exhibit that our campus is not immune to the plight of sexual harassment. At press time, 80 stories

of sexual assault were shared by students over the past week on the NEU Too website and many involve criticism of the university’s mishandling of the abuse. Students would think the university would want to make sure they know their stories are being heard.

Although a university should, in general, acknowledge issues that students have proven they care about, it is especially important in the case of sexual violence. There has historically been a culture of shame around sexual harassment and assault that urges victims to keep quiet or let it go. A slew of sexual assault stories in the media show this spell may be starting to break, but this does not mean that there are not more still victims suffering in silence. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 90 percent of sexual assault victims on campus do not report the incident.

In 2015, 21 percent of undergraduate and graduate students at the time participated in a sexual violence survey conducted by Northeastern University Student Affairs. According to the results, there were 145 reported rapes in the group of participants. Yet, in the three-year period before the survey was conducted, only 43 officially reported rape cases were recorded.

Victims on the Northeastern campus are clearly not coming forward.

Northeastern has some resources and policies concerning sexual harassment, such as freshmen orientation seminars on Title IX and a webpage dedicated to sexual assault and rape resources. However, a large portion of the NEU Too movement protests Northeastern’s poor handling of past sexual assault cases, such as the cases of Katie Rizzo and Morgan Helfman. This

movement is not only about policy: It’s about creating a safe and understanding campus culture.

The point of NEU Too is to create solidarity not only between sexual harassment survivors, but with the community around them. Northeastern has not expressly given their support to students coming forward, perpetuating the stigma and shame associated with sexual harassment.

What the university should have done, at the very least, is express support for those who shared their stories. Administration should have sent out an announcement acknowledging the campaign with an an outline of resources available to students who have faced sexual assault.

The issue isn’t only Northeastern’s refusal to give comment to student publications concerning the issue, but their disregard of the campaign as a whole. News at Northeastern, Northeastern’s public relations site, gives the appearance of portraying the campus accurately, yet doesn’t reflect the student body’s thoughts. The campus section of the site this week has articles that shed the school in a positive light, reporting on topics such as a prominent alumnus and the new myNortheastern portal. Yet, they chose not to report on NEU Too, a significant campaign run by current students, because it points out flaws in Northeastern’s handling of sexual harassment cases.

Northeastern has a responsibility as a university to condemn sexual assault. Although they clearly do not support sexual harassment, the administration’s silence in the face of the NEU Too campaign is concerning. Sexual harassment on campus is a real problem, and the first step in solving any problem is acknowledging that it exists.

Op-ed: A thank-you note to sexual violence survivors

TRIGGER WARNING: This story contains material which may be upsetting or harmful to survivors of sexual violence.

Thank you for your courage.

Thank you for getting up each day and stepping into the world. Thank you for setting an example for the rest of us. Thank you for facing your fears, for overcoming your fears and for conquering your fears. Would that the rest of us had a fraction of your courage.

Thank you for sharing your stories.

Our culture and our institutions will not change unless we acknowledge what is happening behind closed doors and inside locked rooms.

Thank you to those survivors who have picked themselves up, brushed themselves off and have taken on billion-dollar institutions, famous celebrities and powerful politicians.

Thank you to those survivors who

have posted experiences to neutoo. com. And thank you to all of the survivors who have confided in friends and family.

As hard as it is for you to talk about these moments, know that the world is changing because you have had the courage to speak and to take back the full measure of your personhood.

We are sorry. We know the statistics: About one in five college women and one in 20 college men will be victims of these assaults.

The statistics reassure us that we are on the right side of this issue.

We don’t assault people. In fact, we don’t do anything. And that is the problem.

By saying nothing, by doing nothing, we have sided with sexual predators. We are sorry that we didn’t listen or act before.

It is only when we are confronted

by the pervasiveness, by the magnitude and by the horror of these countless stories, that we are made to know that we must speak and act to support you.

You are citizens. You have power.

You have a voice. You have billions of allies who believe the stories you tell. We care about you and we want you to be successful and happy.

Thank you for not retreating, for not disengaging, for not allowing yourself to be silenced. That would be easy and, frankly, understandable. But because you have spoken, you are why the world is becoming a safer and kinder place.

Thank you. We are listening. And, inspired by you, we are ready to act.

Greg Goodale is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies.

CITY

December 7, 2017

Page 5

Small businesses succeed at Boston Winter

Photo by Cheyenne Tang Skaters enjoys the skating path at Boston Winter Nov. 25. Many of the 85 businesses running kiosks in the holiday market were small and local.

By Katie McCreedy City Editor Lisa Inglese chatted with customers in her hut decorated with Christmas lights and adorned with intricate holiday cooking items and oils. She offered free samples to customers as they filtered into the kiosk.

Inglese is the chief financial officer at Cucina Aurora, a kitchen store and winery in southern New Hampshire.

Cucina Aurora is one of 85 businesses at Boston Winter, a Christmas market in City Hall Plaza. Inglese said the event is an exciting opportunity to get foot traffic into their store.

“Normally, at open market events

like these, people have to pay to get in,” she said. “But here, people can come two, three times, bring their aunt or friend back with them, and maybe they buy something on one of those many trips.”

Boston Winter turns City Hall Plaza into a shopping market akin to a German Christmas market, complete with holiday wreaths, lights and small businesses selling everything from holiday ornaments to chocolate candies. Businesses packed huts with their merchandise for shoppers to browse.

Boston Winter, which contains a popular ice skating path, makes a major push in support of small

businesses every season by actively including them in the free, open-tothe-public market. Both Berkshire Bank and Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s office are sponsoring the market, which lasts until Dec. 31.

Walsh won a second term this November and he often discusses his support for small businesses.

“Four years ago, we transformed Boston’s economic development strategy,” Walsh said in a speech on election night after winning reelection. “Today, the same team that pitches global giants like Amazon is in all of our communities helping our 40,000 small businesses thrive.”

Many small businesses in the event

say they feel welcome. Inglese said the application process was fair and they have had a good experience with the event staff so far.

“This is a huge event for so many small businesses,” Inglese said.

Esmeralda is a jewelry store in Cambridge owned by Esmeralda Lambert, who runs a kiosk for the store in the Boston Winter market.

“You could never do an event like this in New York,” Lambert said.

“You couldn’t even take that kind of risk because it’s so expensive. They just charge so much.”

Lambert said the event’s co-producer, Lena Romanova, is a major advocate for small businesses and

actively reached out to Lambert to help accommodate her business.

Lambert, a Babson College graduate, said Romanova is also a Babson alumna and that her experience in the Boston area makes her more passionate about local businesses.

Martha Everson is a photographer who showcases her nature-themed photography at events throughout the East Coast. This is Everson’s first year with a kiosk at Boston Winter.

“They put so much effort into making the event feel magical, they really decorate well,” Everson said.

She noted since the event has brought a good amount of foot traffic inside, she hopes to return.

Elsewhere, visitors crowded around the ice skating path lit in bright purple with a large Christmas tree at the center. A Santa’s Workshop and a glass-covered indoor bar are located at the back of the plaza, so visitors must walk through the entire shopping market to access them. This is one of the many strategies the event employs to encourage visitors to shop small.

Lovepop, known for its appearance on the reality show “Shark Tank” two years ago, has a kiosk in Boston Winter as well. The company sells cards with pop-up, cut-out designs in kiosks and online, and have rapidly expanded since their appearance on the show.

Sofia da Silveira, a second-year psychology major at Northeastern, works at the Lovepop kiosk. She said that the event is busy on weekends.

“I met someone through Northeastern who told me about Lovepop and then I found out they were opening a shop here,” da Silveira said.

Boston Winter’s ice skating path will remain operational for longer than the shopping plaza, and will be open for public skating until Feb. 25.

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Economics ECON.2010-001 Economics I (Microeconomics) Mon.-Sat., 9:00am-12:00pm

Philosophy PHIL.2030-001 Introduction to Ethics Mon.-Sat., 9:00am-12:00pm

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CITY

Page 6

December 7, 2017

Walsh, Council, students take climate action

Photo by Patrick Leung Bostonians gathered for November’s climate change time capsule project on Boston Common. Sunrise Movement is one of many groups pushing for environmental regulations.

By Charlie Wolfson Deputy City Editor One day after Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced the launch of Carbon Free Boston, a plan for the city to be carbon neutral by 2050, the Boston City Council voted unanimously to ban the use of plastic bags in stores Nov. 29. These two measures come as Northeastern students continue environmental activism years in progress.

“These things have long been in the works on campus because of advocacy and strong pushing from HEAT [Husky Environmental Action Team],” Paulina Ruiz, executive vice president of the Student Government Association, or SGA, said.

The first step in the city’s Carbon Free initiative, according to a Nov. 28 release from the mayor’s office, is a report analyzing the costs and benefits of various policies and technologies that could allow the city to reach its goal.

The city is partnering with a group of business, institutional and civic leaders called the Green Ribbon

Commission, the Boston University Institute for Sustainable Energy and their Department of Earth and Environment to produce the report. “[Carbon neutrality] is no small feat, and we have to be smart about how we get there,” Walsh said in the release. “Carbon Free Boston will start by ensuring that we understand all of our options before we decide on the right near and long-term solutions.”

Lauren Zingarelli, the communications director of the city’s environmental department, said the report is a continuation of one of Walsh’s long-term objectives.

“This is a long-standing goal for the mayor,” Zingarelli said. “He’s clearly stated the goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, and this study will help us achieve that.”

Boston has already invested in climate change preparedness. In 2016, the city published a report called Climate Ready Boston, which includes data and projections on the damage climate change could cause in Boston, as well as concepts and ideas to increase the city’s climate

readiness.

“We’re proud of our steadfast commitment to combatting and preparing for climate change and the partnership we have with cities and towns across the commonwealth who are working to reduce emissions and build resiliency at the local level,” said Matthew Beaton, the Massachusetts secretary of energy and environmental affairs in the same release.

Another potential step toward sustainability came Nov. 29, when the City Council voted 12-0 to ban the use of plastic bags in Boston stores.

City Councilor Matt O’Malley was the lead proponent of the measure, which would ban the use of thin, single-use plastic bags, and businesses would charge five cents for thicker, compostable bags or paper bags.

Walsh has yet to sign off on the ordinance. A spokesperson said the mayor is still reviewing it and has not made a decision. David Gordon, a second-year bioengineering major at Northeastern and the student senator representing HEAT in the

SGA Student Senate, hopes Walsh signs off on the bill, which was unanimously approved by City Council and could be susceptible to a veto override.

“I think it’s so important that Boston joins the fray on this issue,” Gordon said. “Cambridge already has a ban like this, as well as Brookline. Even my hometown in Cape Cod has one. Right now it’s important for Boston and Massachusetts to be strong on these issues and be together on these issues.”

Walsh opposed a similar measure last year, but Will Poff-Webster, a spokesperson for O’Malley, said City Council members are hopeful Walsh will green-light the measure this time.

“There’s been a lot of work and discussion since last year,” PoffWebster said. “A lot of concerns have been addressed.”

The measure parallels an SGA referendum passed last spring and several ongoing HEAT initiatives.

The SGA referendum would ban the sale of plastic bottles on campus and was approved in the student

body direct election, but has yet to be enacted by Northeastern administration.

HEAT members are working on several similar initiatives on campus, such as banning plastic bags and promoting composting, creating a program to teach children about recycling and replacing paper towels on campus with hand dryers, said Max Wagner, the vice president of HEAT and a third-year finance major.

“I’d like to think that the [City Council] bill will encourage everyone to reconsider how wasteful they’ve been in the past,” Wagner said.

Ruiz said she thinks the administration has generally been receptive to climate initiatives put forth by HEAT and SGA. “They’ve already been pretty receptive to removing bags, especially from off-campus dining locations, which is the primary source of bags on campus,” Ruiz said. “I supposed there could be even more incentive now [in light of the City Council vote].”

One dead, two hospitalized after shooting

Photo by Maggie Dolan Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans spoke to the press at the corner of Gurney Street and Parket Street Wednesday night.

By Charlie Wolfson Deputy City Editor Three people were shot at the intersection of Tremont Street and Parker Street Wednesday night, killing one person, leaving one in critical condition and one in serious condition, Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans said. Evans briefed the media at 9:47 p.m. at the scene of the shooting. At that time, police did not know the identity of

the shooter.

At 7:47 p.m., police officers arrived outside the Tobin Community Center in Roxbury Crossing after receiving a disturbance call. As police responded, Evans said they heard multiple shots fired nearby.

They discovered three victims, who Evans said “looked to be in their late teens.”

One victim was found on Parker Street and was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he died

before Evans spoke to the media.

Another victim was found on Tremont Street outside the community center and a third was found on Sewall Street.

“We’re hoping and praying the other two individuals make it, but right now we need the public’s help,” Evans said. “Probably about 200 kids poured out of the community center after it happened and while it was going on, so there very well could have been a lot of witnesses.”

Evans said they worry about the potential for retaliation in these types of situations, so they need witnesses to step forward. He said police were working with staff from the community center, viewing camera footage and using search dogs to figure out what happened.

He said he, along with Mayor Martin J. Walsh, is very concerned about gun violence in the city. He noted that today’s youth “aren’t fighting with their hands,” and that too many of them have weapons that escalate the consequences.

“Everyone should be outraged when something like this happens to these young kids,” Evans said.

“I think it goes back to what we’ve been saying all along, that there’s way too many guns out there.”

Evans and Walsh are even further concerned in light of a bill passed Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives, which would loosen bans on the concealed carry of weapons nationwide. H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, passed the House 238-198 to advance to the Senate.

The bill would allow citizens who are licensed to carry a concealed weapon in their home state to concealed-carry in all 50 states, regardless of each state’s concealed carry law. No state currently has a law explicitly banning concealed carry, but such a law would supercede this bill, according to the text of the bill available on the House website.

“We shouldn’t be looking to loosen our gun laws in Washington, we should be looking to toughen,” Evans said. “And when we have young kids like this shot we should all be outraged, and the last thing we need is more guns on the streets.

Loosening up the gun laws right now is the most ridiculous thing we can

do.”

Mark V. Scott, the program director of trauma response and recovery at the Boston Public Health Commission, stood with Evans at the press briefing and said he would be working with students present at the community center, offering support in the aftermath of the shooting.

“It’s a traumatic event, it’s an upsetting event,” Scott said. “So the work that we’ll be working on is reaching out to those young people, to have conversations with them, to help them have conversations with each other, with their family, so they can be on the road to recovery and healing.”

Evans said the location of the shooting, so close to a community center packed with children enjoying a basketball game, was particularly troubling.

“You know, the reason Mayor Walsh keeps all these community centers open is to prevent incidents like this,” Evans said. “And it’s always troubling when something like this happens. Three is way too many people shot, but we’re fortunate that we didn’t have many more people injured.”

LIFESTYLE

December 7, 2017

Page 7

NUDANCO to host winter showcase Saturday

Photo courtesy NUDANCO NUDANCO dancers and choreographers perform in last semester’s spring showcase called #blessed. Their fall showcase will take place Saturday in Blackman Auditorium.

By Samuel Kim Deputy Lifestyle Editor Northeastern University Dance Company, a student-run dance company known as NUDANCO, will host their 15th Annual Winter Showcase Saturday in Blackman Auditorium.

NUDANCO, founded in 2002, holds a showcase each semester to perform pieces that student choreographers and dancers have been working on for months.

“Our main genres are ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz and hip-hop, but we also have tap and Irish step,” said Sarah Sidd, copresident of NUDANCO and a fourth-year chemical engineering major.

Sidd said new dancers and choreographers are chosen each semester.

Choreographers, including returning ones, audition in September for the winter showcase and in January for the spring showcase. They perform their pieces in front of the executive board, who then selects approximately a dozen pieces.

After that, choreographers hold their own auditions. They pitch their pieces to prospective dancers and give the dancers a short preview of their piece. Dancers can audition for as many pieces as they want, but can only perform in three for the showcase.

Anya Losik, a second-year combined political science and environmental studies major, has been both a choreographer and dancer.

“It’s a great experience getting to both choreograph and perform in pieces that you and your peers worked an entire semester to perfect,” Losik said.

Losik also said among the NUDANCO choreographers and dancers, who number around 65 in total, nearly everyone comes in with years of competitive dancing experience.

“Because almost everyone has danced at the competitive level for most of their lives, choreographers and dancers can trust in each other to put together an amazing show,” Losik said. “Dancers can trust the choreographers to put together a great routine, while choreographers can trust the dancers to follow through with all the right move-

ments, facial expressions, and so on.

It’s a great feeling.”

Amber Lo, a fifth-year communication studies major, is another NUDANCO member who has been both a choreographer and dancer. Lo said one piece she is choreographing for the showcase involves 20,000 rose petals.

“The piece is about embracing the baggage that weighs heaviest on our shoulders, the memories of people that have come and gone,” Lo said.

“It is about growing from all our immature experiences, and evolving into the best version of ourselves, remembering that the callow experiences made us who we are.”

Although showcases happen once a semester, NUDANCO still remains very active on campus. Losik said

NUDANCO performs at events such as Relay for Life, HuskyFest and other various fundraisers and charity events. Though this keeps members very busy, they don’t seem to mind.

“Being a part of NUDANCO definitely keeps us busy, but coming together with so many of my peers after a draining week of classes or co-op to do what we love makes it all worth it,” Sidd said. “And when the showcase happens, all our hard work is paid off as we pour our hearts into each movement.”

The showcase will be performed at both 3 and 7 p.m. It is estimated to run for an hour and will include 12 pieces including a finale piece with all the dancers and choreographers.

Tickets are available for free through the myNortheastern portal.

Cultural dance groups perform for Americares

Photo by Patrick Leung Rangila Rhythms, one of the 15 groups present at Dance 4 Me, performs onstage at Blackman Auditorium to raise funds for Hurricane Maria relief efforts.

UTSAV, from front The dance also included songs such as “Question” by Chris Brown and “Kill the Light” by Jess Glynne.

Barkada’s other performance coordinator, Kat Gunara, said the group had an energetic opening and a strong finale. Their interaction with the other performers echoed sentiments of the event’s purpose to bring different people together.

“Half of the audience were performers, and being a part of it, I saw a space where we can all come together and show support for each other, not as competing groups but as people,” said Gunara, a secondyear business management major.

The New England Bhangra Club, founded in January 2013, is the only competitive and co-ed team that rep-

resents the Boston area. A co-captain of the club, Riya Malrani, shared the same thoughts about community at the event.

“People were cheering so loud. The groups were so happy for everyone else on stage. It was good to see a community bond where everyone was cheering for each other,” said Malrani, a fourth-year health science major. “They were not worried about their own performance, and it was good to see everyone appreciate each other. There was no negative vibe.”

The Bhangra Club used saaps, accordian-looking props and khundas, hooked sticks, during their performance to showcase the history of the dance, which is historically performed by men. Their

fluid movements and vibrant outfits ,which they designed themselves, gave audience members a taste of what Bhangra dancing entails.

Their culturally-driven performance earned the group the Best Competing Team award. The event allowed Malrani and her team to showcase their cultural pride.

“Dance, for our team personally, is a way to express our culture. Living here, you may not be exposed to much Indian stuff. However, it is a really cool thing to see the exposure [during the event],” Malrani said.

“Dance is a form of art, a form of expressing yourself. Other people can do it by plays and art shows, so it was really cool to see other people’s cultures through dance.”

Second-year finance major Sameer

Sheik and third-year communication studies major Amber Delotsang hosted Sunday’s event. Sheik, who is also the treasurer for UTSAV, a word meaning “festival” in Sanskrit, is a South-Asian club on campus. The club succeeded at bringing various organizations together for the event.

In the end, eight student organizations and seven dance teams performed. They were judged not only by the audience, but also by Mitali Biswas, a classically-trained Bharatanatyam dancer; Junior Cius, leader of the dance crew CrewNex; and Reia Connor, the director and choreographer for the Boston Celtics Junior Dance Team, Lilphunk.

After the winners were determined, Delotsang, also the liaison for Kappa Phi Lambda, an Asian-

interest sorority, presented the award for Best Student Group to her own sorority. The group showcased their connectivity on stage, which landed them their award.

According to third-year computer science major Melanie Chan, the event raised $2,800 for Americares.

Three additional fundraisers were held at Double Chin in Chinatown, Blaze Pizza in Fenway and Kung Fu Tea near Symphony, but the final total has not yet been calculated.

“Northeastern has a variety of cultural groups on campus. There is a great sense of diversity, Narciso said. “You don’t need to be a part of any particular culture to be a part of a group. [This event] is a great way to showcase what students are doing creatively.”

LIFESTYLE

Page 8

December 7, 2017

Madrigal Singers prepare for future concert

By Ysabelle Kempe Opinion Editor Although the concert will be sprinkled with Christmas carols, the majority of the music performed at Northeastern’s Madrigal Singers’ Winter Concert Saturday will be complex choral pieces that the group has been rehearsing all semester.

Traditional madrigals are a form of vocal chamber music that was created in Italy and became popular

in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The group will be singing traditional madrigals, a salsa piece, a tango piece and a piece adapted from a song called “The Light We Cast” from the video game “Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture.” Elijah Botkin, director of the Madrigal Singers, said he tried to curate a medley of both fast and slow songs.

“Two of the songs I picked have no words, just sounds,” Botkin said.

“The tango was originally written

for classical guitar, but has been adapted for vocals.”

Botkin mentioned that understanding the translations behind the more traditional pieces is an interesting part of understanding madrigals.

“The translations aren’t necessarily politically correct today. The songs are a little raunchy in translation sometimes,” Botkin said. “Some were created as rebellion against the church.”

Photo courtesy NU Madrigal Singers The Northeastern Madrigal Singers will host their winter concert this weekend.

Cameron Bates, the president of the group and a fourth-year computer engineering major explained that singing madrigals requires a lot of historical knowledge and context to best perform the pieces. He said his favorite song this semester is “Vecchie Letrose,” which is an upbeat piece from the 16th century composed by Adrian Willaert.

“We looked up the translation for the piece, and it turns out that it’s about old women with their canes beating other people,” he said, laughing. “We totally didn’t realize that that was the meaning of the song.”

Bates said the group is very closeknit. They explained that the style of music the group performs sets them apart from the many other a cappella groups on campus.

“We all get together twice a week to sing, and we all really love music.

It’s given me a group of great friends and an outlet for my love for music,” Bates said. “There aren’t any other madrigal choirs on campus. Most of the time, the groups are all accompanied. We are a lot smaller; we are a really intimate group and really friendly with each other.”

Botkin, a 2015 Northeastern alumnus, founded the NU Madrigal Singers when he was a student studying mathematics.

“I started studying with the director of choral societies [at NU] and learned that there used to be a madrigal group. It just kind of went away,” Botkin said. “I did madrigals all through high school, and it’s what got me into music. I got 10 of my friends together over the summer, and in the fall we decided to become an official student group.”

Botkin said the relationships between the group members

improves their performances.

“The group itself turned into more of a friend group my senior year, and now we have a cohesive family unit which makes the music that much better,” he said.

With input from other students in the group, Botkin selected the pieces for the winter concert. He said there isn’t a specific theme for the concert, which will feature a medley of different genres.

With only one more rehearsal left until the show, NU Madrigal Singers are putting the final touches on their performance pieces. Olivia Bogan, an external affairs coordinator for the group and a second-year psychology major, said preparing for the concert has been both rewarding and taxing.

“Rehearsals have been going very well this semester, but they have been tough. We are all constantly striving to become better musicians, and as a result we have chosen music that is not only challenging, but also meaningful,” Bogan said. “I am very excited for our concert, as we have put a lot of effort into our set this semester, and I am confident that we are going to have a great performance.”

The concert will end with an arrangement of “Silent Night,” which Botkin expanded for a fuller choral sound.

“I’ve tended to end all of our concerts lately with not a prayer necessarily, but a prayer for humanity.

I think in today’s world there’s a lot of hate, so it tries to pull people together,” Botkin said. “The only way we can make good music is to come together … to be in conspiracy, to breathe together and to sing together.”

The will take place at 7 p.m. in 318 Curry Student Center.

Student nominated for Boston Music Award

By Riley Robinson Photo Editor In her song “Vaudeville,” Sidney Gish sings lyrics familiar to many college students: “I was gonna write, but instead I read all of Vice.” In other tracks she mentions her broken phone screen and scrolling through clickbait late at night.

If she sounds like a relatable college student, it’s because she is one: Gish is a third-year music industry major at Northeastern.

She is also one of 10 artists nominated for the Boston Music Awards’ New Artist of the Year. Gish will be performing as part of the awards show at the Boston House of Blues Dec. 7.

Her latest album, titled “Ed Buys Houses,” was released this year and was entirely self-produced — Gish did all vocals, instrumentation and mixing. She edited it with GarageBand on her computer.

“I’ll bring my mic to campus and record vocals if there’s an empty classroom,” she said. “In Ryder [Hall], it’s dead empty after 8 p.m., so you can just go in there if you need silence to record.”

Allston Pudding, a popular Boston music blog, has applauded her for “hyper-observational lyricism,” and friends praise her artistic honesty, but her overall style was more difficult for them to pinpoint with words.

Kaera Wyse, a senior at Lesley University in Cambridge, befriended Gish after booking her for shows and describes her by what she is not.

“My favorite is when I’ve seen her on a bill with a bunch of sad boy, sludgy basement bands, in somebody’s sludgy sad boy basement, and she comes in and does something completely different,” Wyse said.

“She’s a very engaging performer, and every time I go to a show, I look around and watch people just get spellbound.”

Gish says her sound was first influ-

enced by Regina Spektor, who she discovered on Pandora in middle school. Lately, her favorite artists are other young, independent musicians she finds on the internet.

“There’s a bunch of SoundCloudbased musicians that are all basically the same age as us, and they’re all producing their own music on their laptops,” Gish said. “Even if it leans more electronic, the fact that being they’re being their own producer and not having to go to a studio is pretty inspiring.”

Those who know Gish are quick to mention her non-musical talents as well. She does small line drawings, which she occasionally sells on campus in pin form. Gish also created her own collaged album art for “Ed Buys Houses” using Adobe Photoshop.

“She has a really popular meme page,” said her close friend Sanjukta Dutta, a fourth-year cell and molecular biology major. “She likes to cook a lot. She had a phase where she was vegan for 12 days and baked a lot of vegan brownies.”

Music industry professor Jim Anderson has taught Gish for several years as she works toward a minor in recording.

“She’s not just about singer-songwriter and doing unusual stuff,” he said, while comparing her to Joni Mitchell. “She’s got a lot of different irons in the fire.”

Anderson had warm words about her music as well.

“She’s super tuned in to life, as a general thing. It’s not just ‘my heart is broken’ and ‘oh, I miss my boyfriend’ and all that stuff,” he said.

“She’s not limited by what most songwriters are limited by.”

Gish said she’s happy she chose a university music program that focuses more on business than strict conservatory training.

“I was going to major in songwriting, but then I’d just be going around trying to get approval from

all of my songwriting professors,” Gish said. “I’d probably still be doing that if I had gone to Berklee [College of Music].”

Her current balance of academics

and music offers her a unique independence.

“I think it’s really cool working in the studio with other people,” Gish said. “But I like at the core of it, just

being able to go open my laptop and make whatever I want.”

Gish has been working on new songs and plans to release another album online over winter break.

Photo by Brian Bae Music industry student Sidney Gish will perform on the Boston House of Blues stage Thursday.

LIFESTYLE

December 7, 2017

EVENT CALENDAR Calendar compiled by Elissa Taublib, News Staff

EVENT OF THE WEEK WALKIN’ IN A WINTER WONDERLAND Thursday, Dec. 7

Photo courtesy Creative Commons

Beacon Hill is considered one of Boston’s most charming neighborhoods.

Its Victorian brick houses and Massachusetts State House overlook the Boston Common. Beacon Hill Holiday Stroll 2017 shows how this area becomes even more magical during the holiday season. You can go to the Hill House to take pictures with Santa, journey down Charles Street to admire its shops and restaurants and, finally, go to Mount Vernon to appreciate some Christmas caroling and a tree lighting. After the lighting, you can enjoy a free horse and buggy ride on Charles Street. 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.; Beacon Hill; free

Friday, Dec. 8

Saturday, Dec. 9

Sunday, Dec. 10

Support Northeastern’s students, enjoy some great music to warm your hearts and ears, and help chime in the upcoming winter. At the NU Chamber Music Concert, you can see for yourself how different instruments like violins, flutes, pianos and trumpets can create something beautiful and unique together. These instruments are commonly used in chamber music, which is a form of classical music composed for a small group of instruments. Organized by Northeastern University Department of Music and directed by professor Evan Bennett, the concert will feature some of the world’s best music for small ensembles. 8 p.m.

– 10 p.m.; Fenway Center - 77 St. Stephen Street; free

This quarterly indoor marketplace brings local artisans and tasty pop-ups to Boston’s Seaport district.

At ICA Winter Harbor Market, you can sample treats from Union Square donuts, Aeronaut Brewing and Bon Me. If you are still not sold on this popular event, what about a hot cocoa bar to warm yourself up, some wintry art-making and pop-up caroling from the Boston City Singer Children’s Chorus to get you into the holiday spirit? You can also shop for soy candles and body oils from FEMMEVIOLET, handmade jewelry from Sculpture to Wear and many other vendors. What’s more, you can even see Santa at Seaport from 11 a.m to 3 p.m. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.; The Institute of Contemporary Art - 25 Harbor Shore Drive; free

What is the true meaning of gender equality? At Berklee Women in Action’s Gender Equality Showcase, you can hear some impactful stories to reflect on that question. The event will feature strong women such as singer Gabby Michelle, singer Jenni Rudolph, Berklee student Olivia Krent, singer Makele Clemmons, actress Mandy Kessler and many others. During the showcase, they will also be hosting a bake sale to raise money for War Child USA, a nonprofit that works to protect children and their families in conflict zones. The event is organized by BWA, a student-run activist club that seeks to promote and empower women in college and in music industry. 8 p.m. – 10 p.m.; Berklee College of Music; free

Monday, Dec. 11

Tuesday, Dec. 12

Wednesday, Dec. 13

This event is the cosiest and comfiest way to kick off the most wonderful time of the year. Break out your ugliest sweater and attend Student Night: Ugly Sweater Contest at Newsfeed Café. In addition to the contest, the café, which opened in the summer of 2016 as part of Boston’s Central Library’s renovation of the Johnson building, will be also serving traditional eggnog and playing popular Christmas songs. Students (of a legal age) can purchase dinner and a beer for only $10 with the student night special. So, what are you waiting for? Bring along some friends for what should definitely be an entertaining night. 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.; Newsfeed Café - 700 Boylston St; free

Known as the Festival of Lights, Chanukah is a Jewish holiday that celebrates an eight-day miracle.

Organized by Chabad Boston, Lighting the Boston Menorah is an annual event that commemorates this holiday by the kindling of lights in a nine-branched candelabrum called a Chanukiah. This celebration lights the largest Chanukiah in New England, and Governor Charlie Baker, City Councilor Josh Zakim and State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg will all be there to celebrate. The event is on the first Night of Chanukah, and besides the live performances by the Berklee Music Ensemble, there will be menorah kits, dreidels, chocolate Gelt and donuts. 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.; Copley Square; free

Organized by Boston Public Library, Bullets into Bells: Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence is a discussion of the book that is a compilation of poems by some of the country`s most renowned poets, such as Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Rita Dove, Martín Espada, Naomi Shihab Nye, Ocean Vuong and Juan Felipe Herrera. In the event, editors Brian Clements, Alexandra Teague and Dean Rader discuss the poems, which focus on the crisis of gun violence in the United States and the need for gun control. Each poem on the book is followed by a response from a gun violence prevention activist, including Senator Chris Murphy, or gun violence survivors.

6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.; Boston Public Library; free

Page 9

New film is far from a disaster Those who know me know that I’m a huge fan of “The Room.” The 2003 film written, produced and directed by Tommy Wiseau is an enigma. It’s one of the only films I can think of that is so bad it’s actually good. Since its release in 2003, “The Room” has become a cult classic with screenings all around the world. On Dec. 1, James Franco and Seth Rogen released a new film about the making of “The Room,” called “The Disaster Artist.” The film is also based Mohit Puvvala on Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell’s book by the same name.

“The Room” is commonly regarded as the best worst movie ever made. It is about a man named Johnny whose future wife is cheating on him with his best friend. The film is interesting because the individuals involved actually thought they were making a great film. This innocence sets it apart from other “so bad it’s good” movies such as “Sharknado,” which are self-aware.

Just like Wiseau did for “The Room,” James Franco directed and starred in “The Disaster Artist.” Knowing Franco and Rogen’s other films, I was concerned that they were going to make a joke out of “The Room.” The book is quite emotional, so I was hoping that the production team would do it justice.

I’m happy to say that “The Disaster Artist” exceeded my expectations. This movie is incredible from start to finish. Everyone involved clearly put so much passion into creating this project, which is ironic considering the team that created “The Room” didn’t put much effort into it after its first few days of shooting.

Tommy Wiseau spent a reported $6 million on “The Room.” No one knows his actual name, where he’s from or how he even got the money to finance such a big production. There is so much mystery surrounding this man that he became the kind of complex role that actors dream about. Franco stars in “The Disaster Artist” as Wiseau. I believe this role allowed Franco to pull off his best performance yet. He could have easily made Wiseau a joke because of the accent and the mystery surrounding Wiseau’s origin, but Franco dives deeper than most actors would. He humanizes Wiseau on such a level that viewers easily connect to him, despite Wiseau’s eccentric personality. Moreover, he owns the multifaceted nature of Wiseau, and respects him in all aspects. Franco is hilarious, malevolent, heartbreaking and electric throughout. If he doesn’t get nominated (and win) Best Actor at the Oscars, I won’t know what to think.

The rest of the cast also gives 110 percent. Dave Franco plays Sestero, Wiseau’s co-star and friend. The film is centered around their friendship, and the two brothers have a clear chemistry. All aspects of their friendship are explored, and it’s not always a happy relationship. However, at the core of their friendship lies the ambition to be successful. Early on in the film, Wiseau and Sestero make a pact to push each other to reach greatness. In a series of twists and turns, there really is a light at the end of the tunnel, and the two finally make their mark on Hollywood in an interesting way.

Seth Rogen plays Sandy Schklair, the film’s script supervisor. Rogen pretty much plays the role of the audience — the fourth wall. He reads through the script and states what we’re all thinking: that how none of it makes any sense. Moreover, he has to deal with Wiseau’s volatile personality.

Alison Brie is in the film as Amber, Greg Sestero’s girlfriend at the time.

The relationship between Sestero and Amber ultimately becomes tied to the film, and its repercussions extend into the final cut we see in “The Room.”

The film also sees small but powerful performances from Josh Hutcherson as actor Philip Haldiman and Zac Efron as actor Dan Janjigian.

“The Disaster Artist” is a testament to filmmakers who have the passion to create no matter what people think about them or what is thrown their way.

Regardless of the final product, this man had a vision and created a phenomenon. How many people can say they’ve done that?

I was inspired by how relatable the film’s characters are. Making art is a daunting task, but at the end of the day, even ordinary people can make something extraordinary.

At the end of the film, they show some side by side comparisons of “The Room” and “The Disaster Artist,” and it’s priceless. The timing of every shot is nearly perfect, the recreation of the cheesy production design and bad acting is amazing. Also, I highly recommend you stay until after the credits — you’ll thank me later.

On a scale from 1 to 10, I’m giving “The Disaster Artist” a 9.5. Even after thinking about “The Disaster Artist” constantly for a day, I really couldn’t think of many flaws. This film is getting some serious Oscar buzz, and it’s produced by A24, which won Best Picture for “Moonlight” last year. If this gets nominated for Best Picture at next year’s Academy Awards, it would be one of the most ironic things to happen in Hollywood. A movie about the making of the “worst” film ever was truly a masterpiece.

NU Stage’s fall show mixes murder and angst

By Laura Rodriguez News Correspondent Teen angst in the 80s and the struggle to latch onto popularity –– not to mention the saying, “you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry” –– took on new dimensions in NU Stage’s fall mainstage performance of “Heathers: the Musical.”

The show’s opening night Friday filled Blackman Auditorium with a roaring 500-person turnout, and Saturday night’s showing was just as successful.

Director Matt Browne, who worked with one of the original composers of “Heathers: The Musical,” says in his director’s note that Heathers is a show in which “people should remember that [the

characters] are just people as simple and complex as that.”

The show opened with a live pit band, playing an overture of hits from the musical and popular 80s hits like Toto’s “Africa,” riling up the audience and setting the stage for the satirical and dark-humored musical adaptation of the 1988 film.

The plot centers around Veronica Sawyer, a clever 17-year-old girl narrating the nuances of surviving the jungle that is high school through her candid diary entries.

She befriends the most popular clique in school, the ‘Heathers,’ and juxtaposes this relationship with her troubled love interest, Jason “J.D.” Dean, whose twisted take on high school survival spirals out of control.

The satirical undertones and

comedic breaks of the crudehumored musical — particularly one noteworthy, racy and fervent sex scene –– captivate and engage the audience from beginning to end and highlight the artistic talents of the cast and crew.

The musical’s key to success was that it centered around caricaturization of jocks, popular cliques, pseudo-psychotic guys who pass for ‘mysterious’ and educational institutions mishandling serious issues, namely depression and suicide.

Gates Schneider boldly embodies Sawyer, a genuine heroine protagonist with perspective, and impresses with her strong vocal performance and artistic dynamism. Schneider hooked the audience every time she broke the fourth wall with her frank

asides and successfully executed numbers.

Nick D’Apice, who plays antagonist J.D., also delivers a strong performance –– complete with slow motion cafeteria fight scenes and convincing psychotic and obsessive episodes –– and skillfully acts alongside Schneider and other talented co-stars like Kaylee Spano, who plays Heather Chandler.

Smart technical choices in lighting — which seemed to be personalized to fit and establish an atmosphere for each character — and special effects used to dramatize or spotlight expressive moments, helped make certain scenes come to life.

Standout scenes included J.D. revealing his plan to blow up the high school gym, where a harsh,

glaring red light falls on him, complemented by the change in music that adds an exhilarating rush to the atmosphere of the culminating scene.

The success of the show climaxed at the curtain call, where the tightlyknit cast and crew received a standing ovation as they danced to the melodic tunes of the pit-band and celebrated each other’s performances after months of rehearsal put into the perfection of the production.

A production like “Heathers: The Musical” is bound to be a creative risk in terms of subject matter execution and interpretation, but NU Stage certainly executed savage grace under pressure. Their sweat and time resulted in yet another successful fall mainstage production.

SPORTS

Page 10

December 7, 2017

Column: Sports holiday wishlist This is the last sports column for The News before the holidays, and in the holiday spirit, we humbly present our sports holiday wishlist.

This list is presented without bias toward any team; these are things we feel the sporting world as a whole would be enriched by, regardless of whose colors you wear or what holiday(s) you celebrate.

Save Connor

Photo by Alex Melagrano NBA star and ex-Husky J.J. Barea and fifth-year guard Claudia Ortiz lead the Paws for Puerto Rico fundraiser.

Barea returns to Matthews

MARIA, from front calls home.

“When I go back, I look out the window and it’s beautiful,” he said of his usual flights home. “The water’s blue, there’s green, there’s traffic, it’s awesome. This time, this was the first time in my life I’ve seen it like this. You look out the window and it’s destroyed. The water’s ugly, there’s no green, no traffic. It’s pretty nerve-wracking to see. To see the faces on the people was tough.”

When NU men’s basketball head coach Bill Coen reached out to Barea to offer to put on the fundraiser — dubbed “Paws for Puerto Rico” — he was moved by the care shown by his alma mater.

“It’s amazing, how special Northeastern is for me and my family,” he said. “When I got the text from coach Coen it was awesome. He’s a great coach, I would have loved to play for him. When I was here in this school, they helped me out, I helped them out. They noticed that, and for them to be able to help my Puerto Rico is amazing.”

Coen was quick to deflect any

credit for the event, saying, “J.J. just jumped in with both feet.”

Claudia Ortiz, a fifth-year guard on the NU women’s hoop team, also hails from Puerto Rico. She was thankful for the chance to use the relatively prominent Northeastern Athletics platform to help raise funds for her home.

“It means everything,” Ortiz said.

“It’s not about me. It’s way bigger than me, the fact that J.J. and I are here. We need to use these resources to help as much as we can. It just means a lot that there’s so many people here today.”

Unlike Barea, she hasn’t had a chance to return home since Maria hit the island. Her family still resides there.

“I won’t be back, probably, until the summer,” she said. “It breaks my heart. My heart is there with my family. It’s slowly getting better.”

She said the fact that Barea carved an evening out of his NBA schedule is an indicator of just how dire Puerto Rico’s situation is.

“You have to put a stop to everything when things like this happen,”

she said. “This is not something common. It doesn’t matter how busy your schedule is, when something like this happens you do whatever you can. He knows that.”

Barea touched on recent public relief efforts led by celebrities — some Puerto Rican, some not — such as NFL star J.J. Watt. Watt raised millions for relief in Houston after Hurricane Harvey flooded the city in August.

“I think it’s huge,” Barea said.

“What J.J. Watt did was a great example. For Puerto Rico, we’ve had a bunch of baseball players that did a great job. We got a bunch of singers, you name it. Everybody helps. If you can help where you’re from, you’ve got to do it.”

Coen, who started coaching Northeastern men’s basketball one year after Barea graduated and never got the chance to coach him, marveled at his compassion and desire to help people less fortunate than him.

“As good a basketball player as J.J. is, I think his concern for his fellow man is even greater,” Coen said.

“We’re proud of him.”

Stella-r Clark: First-year guard electrifying CAA

By John Hagerty Deputy Sports Editor Stella Clark is no stranger to the big moment.

In the second game of their season against Providence College, the women’s basketball team found themselves in a tough spot. Having given up a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, they had lost their lead along with all traces of momentum.

Down three points with only a few seconds remaining, the Huskies needed someone to step up and shoot the clutch three-pointer to tie the game and give the team a chance in overtime.

In only her second collegiate game, first-year guard Clark buried a deep, contested three pointer at the buzzer to extend the game.

“For me that was nothing new,” Clark said. “The overtimes and the hectic close games have happened so many times in my life. I feel like no matter where I go it follows me.”

Clark burst onto the scene right away, averaging 13.1 points per game and already collecting a record three CAA Rookie of the Week honors.

Based on her stellar performance thus far, she will be a mainstay in the team’s backcourt rotation for years.

She seems to fit in perfectly with head coach Kelly Cole’s vision for the program.

“She brings that competitive nature,” Cole said. “On the court it shows, but by choices that she

makes off the floor, it shows she’s serious about basketball, she’s serious about winning, and serious about getting better. I think that adds to the culture that we are trying to build.”

Clark’s teammates have also taken note of her poise and confidence relative to her experience at the college level.

“Stella has been phenomenal,” third-year forward Gabby Giacone said. “She comes into games with the confidence of an upperclassman.”

Her biography is stuffed with that of a high school basketball legend, including First Team All-State in New Jersey, All-Shore Conference First Team and a Central New Jersey state championship, to name a few.

However, despite her basketball accomplishments, her identity isn’t confined to the court.

Like most students at NU, she likes to explore Boston.

She enjoys it all — the diverse neighborhoods, coffee shops and especially the live music.

“I love going to concerts, I’ve already gone to three or four,” Clark said. “There’s a lot of great venues here.”

Her hometown is Sea Girt, New Jersey, a beach town adjacent to the Jersey Shore.

“I live a 10-minute bike ride away from the beach,” Clark said. “I go there all the time.”

She also competed on her school’s championship-winning surfing team.

Surfing, while uncommon across the country, is a big part of her town’s culture and her family’s tradition.

“My younger brother is huge into surfing. It’s really common in my family to pick up a board and go surfing,” Clark said. “Surfing is a great hobby for me and I was really lucky to be on the state championship team.”

Her fearless nature does not end on the court or on the water.

“I love going on adventures, like hikes and stuff,” Clark said. “I love going cliff jumping.”

For Clark, the shift from beach town life to city life has been quite the adjustment.

“Being in the city now has made me appreciate [home] a lot more,” she said. “I definitely miss it.”

While reflecting on how she ended up a Husky, Clark described a pickup game she played at an NU basketball camp.

During the game, she was able to witness the friendship and camaraderie among the women’s basketball team.

“Seeing the positive genuine relationships that everyone had was comforting,” Clark said. “Being able to experience their relationships was a key factor in my decision.”

Despite the early success, Clark tries to stay in the moment in regards to her goals for her later college years.

“I don’t really have any overall goals yet,” Clark said. “I just want to take one step at a time.”

Is there a bigger travesty in hockey right now than the offensive unit put together to compliment Connor McDavid in Edmonton? The Oilers drafted McDavid, known from the start Charlie Wolfson as a superstar and a potential heir to Sidney Crosby’s throne, in 2015 and have now had over two years to build around one of the best players in the game. What has general manager Peter Chiarelli done? He’s ruined the offense, just like he did during his time in Boston.

Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall were shipped out for pennies on the dollar, and now McDavid is skating alongside the likes of noted slow-moving goon Milan Lucic and Patrick Maroon. And, I know what you’re thinking, but they’re not good at defense either. The Oil are 29th in preventing goals this year. It’s a tremendous waste of McDavid’s time and greatness, and the hockey world is being robbed of Connor doing cool things in exciting moments for a good team.

Wish: Connor McDavid goes to a contender so we can see him and Crosby really duke it out for supremacy.

Anyone but New England

This may seem like a partisan bashing of the New England Patriots, but there is rationale here, so bear with me. If the Pats make it to the AFC Championship game yet again, the slow death of the NFL that we are witnessing will only be accelerated. The league has many, many problems. The most pressing one is that hits to the head — which happen approximately three times on every play, give or take — are probably causing CTE in virtually every player.

That doesn’t mean that we should ignore the fact that the same teams seem to come out of each division more often than not. I’ve written about this before. The NFL has a parity problem, and it makes the league pretty boring for anyone not a fan of New England, Pittsburgh, Denver, Green Bay and maybe a couple others. Case in point: The Patriots, given all due credit for winning five Super Bowls since 2000 and winning their division 15 of the last 17 years, have played in a division with incredibly little competition.

The Boston Globe’s veteran sports columnist, Dan Shaughnessy, frequently likens the Patriots’ cruises through the AFC East to “kicking the tomato can down the road.”

The Bills haven’t made the playoffs since 1999 — they haven’t even topped nine wins since then. The Dolphins have made the playoffs just three times since Tom Brady’s first title in 2001, and they were blown out in the Wild Card round in all three appearances. The Jets are the best of the three — a whopping six playoff appearances since 2001. They’ve been putrid in the other 11 years, including each of the last seven.

Take no credit away from Brady, Belichick and the rest. They earned all of their rings (well, at least one or two of them). But think of this from a bipartisan, outsider perspective: Would you want to watch a league in which one team gets to pummel the same trio of hapless victims every year, winning games and division titles in the very same fashion every single time? It’s horrible entertainment, as is the Patriots’ no-celebration policy. This isn’t about hatred for Brady or Belichick. It’s just no fun.

Wish: The AFC playoffs are interesting this year, and every year.

Jaromir Jagr to the Penguins

Who would mind seeing this, really? The legendary, no-brainer Hall of Famer looks to be finally pulling into the last stop of his career. After having several more productive seasons than anyone thought possible, Jagr has managed to appear in just 16 games this year for Calgary, scoring one goal and six assists.

This story needs a more ceremonious end than playing out the string in Calgary. Let him finish this thing where it all started, please. Many of today’s youngsters may not even realize that he began his career way back in 1991 with Pittsburgh, balancing lighting up the NHL and being homesick for his native Czech Republic. He won back-to-back Cups with the Pens back then, fitting right in with giants like Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey, Ron Francis and Kevin Stevens. Little did people know at the time, he’d out-perform all but one of those guys by a longshot. Since his debut at the old Civic Arena for a then-Cupless Pittsburgh franchise, he’s risen to third all-time in goals, fifth in assists and second in points.

Imagine the spectacle of him closing out his career alongside Sidney Crosby, the man who received the proverbial torch from Lemieux. Lemieux gave Jagr his start, and it’s only fitting that Crosby be the one to give him a proper ending.

Wish: Jagr gets traded to Pittsburgh this season. Nevermind it not making sense for the Penguins. Make it happen.

This is (not) fine

This year’s College Football Playoff field is set, and, my goodness, how can anyone think this system doesn’t need improvement? Alabama made it in over Ohio State, despite OSU beating an undefeated Wisconsin team to win the Big Ten Championship, and ‘Bama not even making it to the SEC title game. OSU’s two losses were against Oklahoma (a playoff team) and on the road at Iowa, a very tough place to play. Alabama did have only one loss, granted, but there’s something to be said for winning the conference.

Plus, how tough was Alabama’s schedule, really? Their most impressive wins were against LSU and Mississippi State — nothing to scoff at, but nothing that leaps off the page. And, again, they didn’t even make it to the title game. They lost their biggest game of the season. The sports fan in me just doesn’t buy this.

Something needs to change; either go to the oft-proposed eight-team format, or go back to the old two-team crapshoot. This isn’t working.

Wish: Somehow the College Football Playoff gets fixed.

SPORTS

December 7, 2017

Page 11

Women’s puck finds unlikely hero in Frankel

By Caroline Ingram News Staff Four months ago, if you had asked first-year Northeastern women’s hockey goalie Aerin Frankel how many games she was anticipating seeing action in this season, her response would have been a modest, “two or three games.”

Fast forward a few short months, and Frankel spent her Saturday afternoon prepping for a matchup with Hockey East foe University of New Hampshire. Frankel started between the pipes for the Huskies, something that is becoming a sort of routine these days.

To start out her debut season with the Huskies, Frankel spent the first handful of games serving as the backup to third-year goalie Brittany Bugalski. The team saw a tough schedule for their opening month of action, facing Hockey East rival Boston University and highly-ranked Clarkson and Colgate teams within a condensed first couple of weeks of the season.

Head coach Dave Flint said Bugalski was arguably overworked during those weeks to open the season, and it was evident that Bugalski was in need of a break from her duties.

In stepped Frankel, a first-year hailing from upstate New York, standing at an underwhelming 5 feet, 5 inches. Admittedly, Frankel was not expecting to get the call so early on in her NU career, but she was equipped with an ambitious and confident approach paralleling her determined personality.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect from her going into the year,” Flint said.

“Bugalski has been my starter for a number of years now. I honestly wasn’t sure where Frankel was going to fit in and although I obviously wanted to get her into some games, I wasn’t sure which games those would be.” MacMillan. “She has a professional attitude come game time; emotions are never too high or too low.”

Frankel’s love for hockey stems from her cousins back home, who took up the sport at an early age and instantly fell in love with it. Their dedication and obsession had a huge impact on Frankel’s decision to test it out for herself.

“I started when I was about 6 or 7,” she said. “I didn’t switch to goalie until I was about 9, but once I did, I liked it so much more.”

That instant love for a position most youngsters shy away from has never faltered throughout Frankel’s years of playing. Come high school, Frankel set her sights on playing past the junior club level—she wanted something more, and she certainly was not ready to walk away from the game that had become her life.

“In eighth grade or so I first started thinking about my desires to play collegiately,” Frankel said. “Then in my sophomore year of high school I left home and went to Minnesota to go to boarding school. That decision was kind of like a turning point for me, because I made that decision knowing that I would be putting myself in the best possible position to get recruited so that I could play college hockey.”

Following the move cross-country to Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Frankel began garnering the attention of college scouts, and talked to four or five different schools during the recruiting process.

Frankel said the coaching staff and the city of Boston were key reasons for her decision to become a Husky.

“I knew I wanted to be closer to home. That helped me eliminate some of my options that were out west,” Frankel said. “Then when it came to the final couple of schools, I really liked the coaches here, so that was important for me. Plus I really liked the campus and I love Boston, so I thought it’d be a great fit.”

Arguably one of the most exciting things about the coaching staff here, from Frankel’s perspective, would be head coach Flint’s previous experience serving as a Team USA goaltending coach. Flint was

appointed as the coach and advisor to the women’s national program and was part of the staff of the women’s silver medal-winning team at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 in addition to the women’s team that took home gold at the 2008 World Championships.

“I think I have an advantage over other teams in that since I can ask him [Flint] anything and he can help me since he has so much experience,” Frankel said. “In addition to having a volunteer goalie coach as we do and as many other teams do, we also have him to help us with goaltending specifically. I get a lot of feedback from him, and we go over a lot of film together.

It’s great to have him as a resource, obviously, with the background that he has.”

Frankel’s first start came Nov. 10, when she earned her first shut-out and led the team to a 3-0 win over Merrimack. A day later, Frankel helped the team to a 1-1 tie with Merrimack, stopping 51 of 52 shots faced over the weekend series.

Her outstanding play earned her recognition, being named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week.

“She is a kid that never takes a day off, which is why she has been able to step in and play the way she has,” MacMillan said.

Frankel’s stellar play came at a perfect time as the Huskies had been struggling with consistency and defensive lapses, losing three straight games prior to Frankel’s promotion to starter.

Flint spoke about the impact that Frankel’s performances had on the rest of the team, noting that it came at just the right time to turn things around for them.

“Anytime you have a player step up in the way that Frankel has it is just a huge benefit to the team,” Flint said. “It gives everyone else confidence knowing that they have a really solid player in net. It allows them to be more aggressive and competitive, and I think that helped us get past Merrimack and get some

momentum going in our season.”

“Her style is different than most goalies I’ve played in front of,” MacMillan added. “She is super aggressive, which allows us to be aggressive as well. She will come out and play the puck with confidence instead of backing into the net.”

Frankel credits the upperclassmen of the team for making the adjustment to playing college hockey significantly less stressful than she anticipated it’d be.

“Our captains have been a huge help in terms easing the transition to playing here and being a student athlete,” Frankel said. “The whole team in general is really positive and everyone is always looking out for each other so I think it’s a really easy environment to do well in.”

In Frankel’s first few months as a Husky, she put her focus on working hard every day and always being prepared to play should she get the call. Her goal was simply to challenge Bugalski and to keep up the positive, competitive energy between the two. Once Bugalski began to falter in net, it was Frankel’s turn to show everyone just how hard she had been working.

“She’s not a very big goalie, or the most technically sound goalie, but what impresses me the most about her play is her compete level,” Flint said. “You can tell how much she doesn’t like to get scored on. She competes on every single shot that she faces, and that’s what has really stuck out to me.”

The same was noted of Frankel

by MacMillan, who described an instance in which Frankel’s unorthodox style was really highlighted.

“There was a time in a game when I picked up a player in front of our net, and a shot from the point got through,” MacMillan said. “When she made the save she was right beside me, outside of the crease. I looked down and I laughed as I’ve never seen a goalie so composed yet so aggressive. It’s impressive to see

from such a young goalie.”

Frankel’s motto thus far has been “to work hard every day and give my best effort.” She says she knows she won’t be starting every game for the Huskies this season, but she wants to be prepared and ready to compete for those games that she does get the chance.

Perhaps the best insight into Frankel’s personality and character came when she described what particular moments stick out from her time as a Husky thus far. Frankel was quick to recall the team’s triumph over top-ranked Wisconsin, a game in which Frankel starred in net, stopping 39 shots.

“Not only was that a great moment for me, but it was a great team moment and team win,” Frankel said. “Getting a shutout in my first start was a great moment for me personally, but I think overall, the best moment has been with the team in our win over Wisconsin.”

Frankel is excited for future moments and years here at Northeastern, and she hopes to continue to push Bugalski and prove to everyone that she deserves starts in net.

Oh, and about that Sunday game against the University of New Hampshire? Frankel did not disappoint, putting up another impressive 36-save performance to help the Huskies to a 5-3 win. It was her fourth game this season with 30 or more saves.

In the month of November, Frankel posted a 3-2-1 record, earning her Hockey East Goaltender of the Month. One of her three posted wins was against No. 1 University of Wisconsin Nov. 24, where Frankel made 39 saves. Frankel currently posts a 1.93 goals against average, ranking her 13th in the country.

There appear to be many more opportunities to come for Frankel, and she could not be more excited for what lies ahead.

“This is only the beginning,” MacMillan said. “Frankel is going to be a star for many more seasons.”

Huskies battle injuries in tough stretch

By John Hagerty Deputy Sports Editor After losing 79-69 to Harvard University, Northeastern University women’s basketball head coach Kelly Cole praised her team’s grit, as they responded well to a 20-point deficit in the third quarter.

Despite the game being out of reach in the final minutes, the Huskies fought and clawed until the clock hit zero.

“We continued to fight,” Cole said after the game. “We continued to execute things and that’s one of the things that I like to see and I think that is who we are as a program.

We’re not going to give up, ever.”

The Huskies faced a myriad of injuries throughout the season, notably to key rotation players second-year guard Ayanna Dublin, third-year forward Gabby Giacone and their leading scorer from last season, fifth-year guard Claudia Ortiz.

In the game against Harvard, second-year forward Jasmine Braswell and first-year guard Jasmin Watson were thrust into totally new roles, each playing around 20 minutes against Harvard when they were mainly playing spot minutes, if at all, in the team’s other games.

Third-year guard Jess Genco led the Huskies in scoring with 15 points from five of 13 three-pointers, but more importantly she was a motivational leader for the team.

Genco has carried a heavy load for the team this season, averaging a team-high 39 minutes per game.

“She’s been playing 40 minutes a game for the past three years,” Cole said. “We saw her rallying the team

which is good. Today when things were down for us, Jess did a good job.”

The Huskies had a recent practice with only eight healthy players, making it impossible to even scrimmage each other five-on-five.

In spite of these challenges, the Huskies have played better than their current 3-5 record might indicate.

The team is trying to stay positive and hopes the games without the injured starters will give newcomers more game experience and increase the team’s overall depth as they head into conference play.

“There’s a lot of positives to be had,” Cole said. “We are going to come out of it on the better side of this because we’ll have a deeper bench.”

Over Thanksgiving break, the Huskies played in the Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by UMass Amherst.

The tournament involved two games in two days — a tall task for a team facing injuries and a shortened bench.

The Huskies won the first game 64-54 against host UMass, a game in which the team trailed by one at halftime.

Genco championed a 15-0 NU run in the third quarter to regain the lead and finished with a team-high 18 points.

After dominating the host Minutemen in the third quarter, the Huskies were able to hold their lead and ride out the victory.

In the second game, NU faced the University of Houston and lost 72-64. The Huskies led by 12 at one point in the first half but were unable to maintain the lead, facing a barrage of scoring from Houston

guard Angela Harris, who had a game-high 25 points.

Against Houston, only six Huskies saw the floor.

With such a small group playing heavy minutes in two straight days during the tournament, Cole did acknowledge that her team’s exhaustion could have affected the outcome of the game.

“I’m certainly not going to blame fatigue for [the loss], but I’m sure it’s a factor,” Cole said. “In the second game in two days, you’re going to have some tired legs.”

Shortly after Thanksgiving break, the team faced the University of New Hampshire. NU kept pace with the home Wildcats in the first quarter, but the team gave up multiple big runs in the second half en route to a 65-50 loss.

Third-year forward Gabby Giacone led the Huskies against UNH, scoring 16 points.

The Huskies now have 11 days to rest and prepare for the lengthy season ahead. They will round out their non-conference schedule on Dec. 17 at the University of Vermont, followed by two games at the Beach Classic in Long Beach, California. They will start their CAA slate at Towson University on December 29.

Cole feels that the determination that the team displayed thus far will lead to in-game success as they continue the season.

“There are certainly details that we have to be better at, both defensively and offensively,” Cole said. “I think with the fact that the kids are fighting as hard as they are, and continuing to stay positive and work, I have no doubt we will get there.”

Photo by Patrick Leung First-year guard Stella Clark eagerly awaits her opponent’s move during the Huskies’ 63-43 win against Fairfield University Nov. 17.

SPORTS

Page 12

December 7, 2017

Women’s hockey powers past UNH

By Caroline Ingram News Staff

Photo by Riley Robinson First-year forward Zach Solow fights for possession of the puck in a faceoff against Merrimack College.

Huskies gain momentum with weekend sweep

By Calli Remillard Sports Editor The Northeastern men’s ice hockey team swept Merrimack College this weekend in a home-and-home series “Two points, as I’ve talked about a lot, are hard to come by in this league,” head coach Jim Madigan said of Friday night’s win. “One thing it does is stop the bleeding from a two-league-game losing streak and gets us back on the winning track.”

From the first puck drop Friday, the game was intense. Northeastern got on the board first as second-year forward John Picking scored his second goal of the season just under eight minutes into play.

“I thought [Picking] played really well,” Madigan said. “He’s heavy on pucks, he got pucks in deep, he competes, he battles.”

The Huskies managed to capitalize on their second power play of the game with just two seconds left in the power play, bringing the score to 2-0. Fourth-year forward and captain Nolan Stevens fired the puck past third-year Merrimack goaltender Craig Pantano on a rebound from fourth-year forward Dylan Sikura.

Heading back onto the ice for the second, the Huskies were ahead by two. Third-year forward Adam Gaudette received the puck from Stevens and sent it hurling towards the goal, but it rang off the post.

The game was physical, with players cycling in and out of the penalty box for minors such as high sticking or hitting after the whistle.

One instance landed second-year Merrimack forward Tyler Drevitch in the box with a minor for goaltender interference, but the Red and

Black were unable to find the back of the net despite the man advantage.

After some back and forth through the main part of the middle frame, the Huskies chalked up their third goal of the game with two minutes to go. Chaos in front of the net allowed third-year forward Lincoln Griffin to put away his fifth goal of the season.

The third period saw just as much aggression as the previous 40 minutes. Second-year forward Matt Filipe received a five minute major for goaltender interference and charging with ten minutes to go.

Merrimack scored their first goal of the game halfway through the power play, with second-year forward Cole McBride beating Primeau’s glove side for the point.

Merrimack fourth-year defenseman Marc Biega received a minor for cross-checking with 2:15 left on the clock, and the Huskies were able to secure the 3-1 win.

The Huskies traveled north on Saturday to take on Merrimack, where Gaudette, Sikura and Stevens played on the same line for the first time this season.

“We’re always moving things around and we thought, in this building, getting those three guys together here and give us an offensive spark here.”

The opening frame was dominated by the Huskies, who struck first late in the period. With a four-on-three advantage, Sikura fired a pass over to Gaudette, who ripped a shot on goal past third-year goaltender Drew Volger for the first point of the game.

Returning to the ice for the second, Merrimack was quick to earn a point of their own. Just over five minutes into play, second-year forward Logan Coomes capitalized on a

rebound that had been deflected by Primeau and evened the score.

Northeastern regained the upper hand just a few minutes later with Gaudette’s second of the game.

Receiving a pass from second-year defenseman Ryan Shea, Gaudette flew down the left side and sent the puck over the blocker of Volger for his tenth goal of the season.

Gaudette scored his 26th career power play goal against Merrimack, the most of any active NCAA player.

The Huskies put one more away to secure their lead, this time with a power play goal from Stevens with less than a minute to go in the second period. Fourth-year forward Brett Seney was called for cross checking, and the Red and Black captain used the man advantage to score his ninth goal of the season just 8.5 seconds into the power play. “[Stevens] is an impactful player,” Madigan said. “He’s more of a 200-foot guy up and down the wall, so he’s not as in the middle of the ice as, say, Gaudette or Sikura with the moves, but Nolan is a legitimate scorer.”

A scoreless third period gave NU the win for a weekend sweep over Merrimack, leaving them with a 7-3-0 record in conference play and the number two seed in Hockey East.

Merrimack outshot the Huskies 29-20, with Primeau making an impressive 28 saves for the second night in a row.

“Cayden Primeau was awesome this whole weekend,” Madigan said.

“They go hard to the net and he stood his ground.”

The Huskies will travel across town to Chestnut Hill next Saturday, facing off against Boston College with a 7 p.m. puck drop.

In the last game of the 2017 calendar year for the Northeastern women’s hockey team, the Huskies made it count.

The Huskies battled Hockey East foe University of New Hampshire for the third and final time of the regular season, coming away with a win to secure a 2-1 record against them over the three games.

First-year goalie Aerin Frankel got the start in net over third-year Brittany Bugalski, who took the loss in a Friday night game against UNH where the Huskies fell in overtime 2-1.

The game started with an evenly matched opening, with first-year forward Veronika Pettey getting a prime offensive chance early on a 3-on-1, but missed the shot with the puck sliding off the blade of her stick.

After the game, fourth-year defenseman Lauren Kelly spoke about the high-intensity energy the team was feeling prior to puck drop.

“We had a lot of energy going into the game because of what had happened on Friday,” Kelly said.

“We realized that it was our last game for a while so we knew that we had to give everything that we had. It started in the locker room before warmups and translated into the game.”

The Huskies got on the scoreboard first at 8:33 into the first period, after third-year forward Tori Sullivan was able to bury an ugly rebound goal.

The Huskies passed the puck from the high point to the low corner before fourth-year defenseman Ainsley MacMillan fired a wobbly low shot from the point. With firstyear UNH goalie Ava Boutilier sprawled out of position in the crease, Sullivan was able to smack the puck home for the goal.

Moments later, UNH was able to tie it up with a similarly ugly rebound goal of their own. A shot was fired from the point by fourthyear forward Carlee Toews, and then it was second-year forward Meghara McManus in front who was able to get the rebound past Frankel.

NU struck again in the first, this time on the powerplay, with a shot from first-year defenseman Brooke Hobson which rattled off of Boutilier and was buried away with a topshelf shot by Kelly.

Not long after, NU extended their lead to two after a 2-on-1 chance allowed second-year forward Andrea Renner to charge into the offensive zone, ripping a high shot past Boutilier for the unassisted score.

Kelly noted how the team excelled at working together throughout the game, something they had struggled with in Friday’s game.

“When we played on Friday there

was a lot of individuality going on in the game, whereas today we did a lot better job of working together as a team,” Kelly said. “We were moving and handling the puck well today.”

In the second frame, UNH went on a 5-on-3 advantage early after Hobson was called for a tripping penalty just eight seconds into the period. The double-man advantage led to a UNH goal by fourth-year defenseman Amy Schlagel.

UNH got the tying goal at 12:07 of the second with another goal by McManus, who was just barely able to get a stick on a quick pass from Toews, diving by the post of the net to sneak the puck by Frankel.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued with another NU goal to close out the period, this time coming on the power play after a shot from third-year forward Kasidy Anderson. Kelly was again in a perfect netfront position in order to bury the rebound from the shot which was deflected off the pads of Boutilier.

Heading into the final period with just a one-goal cushion, the Huskies were determined to close out 2017 with authority.

“We had a give-everything-youhave mentality,” Kelly said. “We have nothing for a month, so we wanted to just leave it all on the ice.

We wanted to play for each other.”

The Huskies were able to overcome an unfavorable call against them early, in which a Renner goal was disallowed because of high sticking.

However, that didn’t seem to matter, as moments later fourth-year forward McKenna Brand rocketed home her 11th goal of the season, putting NU up 5-3.

The Brand goal proved to be more than enough, as Frankel and the defensive unit were able to keep UNH at bay for the period, securing the win.

Kelly noted the win felt all the more sweet knowing that a long, well-deserved break is in store. The team was able to do exactly what they set out to do in the final game of 2017 – play for each other.

“We always have a common mentality coming into the game of just going out hard and leaving everything on the ice,” Kelly said. “Our motto this season has been ‘compete together’ and I think we did a good job of achieving that today.”

After the stretch against the University of New Hampshire, Frankel was named Hockey East Goaltender of the Month for November.

Throughout the month, Frankel produced a 3-2-1 record, with one of those wins coming in a 39-save effort against No. 1 University of Wisconsin Nov. 24.

Frankel is currently ranked 13th in the country, posting a 1.93 goals against average.

Men’s hoops cruises to third straight home win

By Charlie Wolfson Deputy City Editor A third straight home game awaited the Northeastern men’s basketball team Tuesday night as Bucknell came to Boston for a nonconference meeting with the Huskies at Matthews Arena.

After an air-tight first half, the home team seized control and recorded a resounding 82-64 victory.

This is the third consecutive game Northeastern has pulled away for a win after an even start to the game – their Nov. 30 game against Harvard and Saturday’s game against Cornell followed similar scripts.

Head coach Bill Coen said he’s pleased with the way his team has responded to the close, challenging games.

“I think it speaks to a couple

things,” Coen said after the game.

“First, it’s their togetherness.

They’re really a together group and you’ve got really good leadership.

I also think it speaks to our depth.

We play a lot of guys and we are allowed to stay fresh. That may not present itself in the first half, but I think in the second half our numbers really have an impact on the game and we can stay in attack mode.”

To Coen’s point, he deployed 12 players against Bucknell, eight of them for at least 20 minutes. The entirety of the first half was played with a scoring margin under 10, while the second half margin was in double digits for all but a few seconds.

Another key to Northeastern’s triumph Tuesday was rebounding: NU collected 29 of a possible 31 defensive boards. Conversely, they

were strong on the offensive glass, nabbing eight offensive rebounds of a possible 32.

“That’s something we focused on coming in, to have two really good bigs,” said Vasa Pusica, a third-year guard. “That was our game plan, to keep them off the boards.”

Northeastern was generally strong in the paint all night, highlighted by the play of their 6-foot-10-inch third-year center, Anthony Green.

He finished the game with 11 points, six rebounds and one backboardquaking two-handed slam. His coach said tonight’s performance was Green’s best of the year.

“He started off slowly, he got in quick foul trouble,” Coen said. “But I thought in the second half he gave us a huge lift and a huge presence in the paint. When we rebound this well, it ignites our break. So it not

only helps us defensively, but it helps us offensively so we can run our lanes and get easy baskets.”

Pusica paced the Huskies with a game-high 17 points, shooting 7-10 from the floor in 22 minutes.

It was another remarkably balanced night for the Northeastern offense, something that’s becoming the defining attribute of the 2017-18 team.

Coen often says they score “by committee,” and he doesn’t put much stock in who’s in the starting lineup — they rotate in and out frequently.

This is a stark contrast with last year’s team, which relied heavily on the talents of T.J. Williams, the CAA Player of the Year who graduated last spring.

Eleven points apiece from secondyear guard Donnell Gresham Jr.,

fourth-year guard Devon Begley and Green complimented Pusica’s 17, and second-year guards Bolden Brace and Maxime Boursiquot each added nine.

“It’s nice having a deep roster where it makes practice competitive,” Begley said. “You know that anybody on the roster can step on the court and contribute. When you support your teammate that’s next to you, no matter who’s on the court or who’s on the bench, it helps a lot.”

Prior to the game, Northeastern alumnus and current Dallas Mavericks star J.J. Barea returned to Matthews Arena to participate in the team’s Paws for Puerto Rico fundraiser. Barea played for the Huskies from 2002-06, where he averaged 20.3 points and 6.4 assists per game throughout his career with the Huskies.