DJ AJ: The man behind the music Introducing ‘Boombox Guy’ and the campus controversy infecting the internet JULIAN ROBERTS-GRMELA
UB pauses 80% of CAS funded Ph.D. recruiment for 2020-21 BRITTANY GORNY
ASST. FEATURES EDITOR
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
It’s mid-day, and the Student Union is swarming with students. Lines are long and tables are full. The building is noisy with chatter. Suddenly, a deep bass riff starts to resonate throughout the building. The light buzz intensifies as its source leaves The Commons and heads toward SU. The glass doors open, and “Starboy” by The Weeknd explodes throughout the building. In walks AJ Franklin –– the freshman business administration major and campus legend –– with two JBL boomboxes, one for each hand. Some cover their ears and try to shut out Franklin’s music, others gather around to take pictures. Since arriving in Buffalo this fall, Franklin made a name for himself on campus as “Boombox Guy.” Every day, Franklin leaves his headphones at home and instead opts to play music aloud on his speakers. His unparalleled volume, coupled with his playlist composed of music from artists like Tupac Shakur, The Weeknd and Travis Scott, has made Franklin stand out and slowly turn into a campus icon. Franklin, the subject of many memes (particularly those found on UB’s subreddit) recently had the bull outside SU decorated in his honor. While he is known by most, the campus is divided between Franklin’s fans and foes –– some feeling his music is harmless, even pleasant, and others feeling his music is obnoxious and disruptive. He stands out on a campus –– and in an era –– where most use headphones to listen to music. Franklin got his first speaker in high school, where he played his music in school and on the streets of Brooklyn. He added another speaker to his roster after feeling discouraged by the noise of the city occasionally overpowering his tunes. Franklin then bought his first JBL boombox before coming to UB, after saving up all summer. Now, he prefers to go by the name DJ AJ. He said he attempts to express himself through his speakers, something he’s had trouble doing while growing up. Franklin struggles with depression and has had difficulties being himself around others. Growing up, he dealt with an abusive father and bul> SEE DJ AJ | PAGE 2
Twenty-three departments in the College of Arts and Sciences won’t be recruiting funded Ph.D. students in the 2020-21 academic year, UB announced Thursday. The College of Arts and Sciences has 29 departments, meaning roughly 80% of CAS departments will not be recruiting funded Ph.D. students next fall. The biology, communicative disorders and sciences, communication, chemistry, geology and psychology departments will still recruit funded Ph.D. students, according to an email from David Johnson, the associate dean of graduate education. The College of Arts and Sciences formed a nine-member committee to determine how CAS will “recruit and distribute teaching assistant resources in the future,” according to CAS Dean Robin Shulze. According to UB, Johnson’s email didn’t include the length of the pause. “What the memo from the College of Arts and Sciences failed to mention is that this is a one-year pause in recruitment of Ph.D. students within some programs in the college,” UB spokesperson John DellaContrada wrote in an email. “This measure is being taken in order to raise stipends awarded to current Ph.D. students to $20,000 for the 10-month academic year. The programs are not shutting down and the college is not recruiting unfunded Ph.D. students into their programs.” “Since the previous wage floor was $10,000 for a full-time student, we’re very heartened by the raise,” Macy McDonald, an English Ph.D. student, said in a statement from the Living Stipend Movement. “But for the administration to first provide basic material dignity to graduate employees, and then turn around and effectively penalize departments, destroy the future of some of our departments, is incredibly cynical and shortsighted.” English professor Kenneth Dauber said this is a plan to end the College of Arts and Sciences as a serious intellectual institution, according to the statement from LSM. The 23 paused programs can still recruit self-fund> SEE PH.D. | PAGE 2