Proposed Student Parliament Gets Mixed Reviews Among Students
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Year XLI. VolumeThe LXXXII. Issue LV. Daily Free Presswww.dailyfreepress.com [ The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University ] Campus & City Science Tuesday Sports Laying down the law: Captain Clutch: Connolly Weather BU prof. running for Feelin’ nervous? scores two goals to led Today: Rainy, High 43 Congress ‘Gut instinct’ explained Terriers over Crimson Tonight: Clear, Low 16 Tomorrow: 37/16 page 3 page 5 page 8 Data Courtesy of weather.com BU community reflects on King legacy, present-day struggles Occupy protesters By Sonia Su Daily Free Press Staff reveal stories of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences stu- dent Josh McDonald stood in front of a crowd physical, verbal, of about 1,000 people and played his trumpet in an ensemble, as part of the Annual Commemo- sexual harassment ration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. His con- By Meg DeMouth nection to the Civil Rights leader stems from Daily Free Press Staff the day his father and grandfather marched and Despite the abandonment of their Dewey got arrested in the Selma-to-Montgomery dem- Square encampment, Occupy Boston dem- onstration. onstrators are still grappling with issues of “I have a connection to Dr. King that goes sexual assault, members said. deeper than most people’s,” McDonald said. But the Boston Police Department said “My dad was there at a really pivotal time. that for the most part, there have not been That’s something . that I wish I had the many issues with Occupy Boston. chance to do when I was in college.” “By and large the protesters who partici- The commemoration, held in Metcalf Ball- RACHEL PEARSON/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF pated in the Occupy Boston movement were room on Monday afternoon, had a theme of Boston University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Commemoration takes extremely well behaved,” said BPD spokes- “Manifest Your Destiny.” Students, professors place at the George Sherman Union on Monday. man James Kenneally. and locals explored not only King’s accom- Other Occupy movements around the plishments, but also what lessons students can FStefan Jones, a senior in the College of country have previously had official sexual take from his legacy in 21st-century America. sociology, asked the audience to reflect on why Fine Arts, read a statement on people who are assaults. In November, New York police ar- “We’re not just reliving history, we’re mak- people haven’t seen more progress. The more weary on what to do with their lives, which re- rested two men accused of sexual assault by ing history,” said Howard Thurman Center insidious assault, she said, is of our indifference ceived laughs from the audience. women protesting at Occupy Wall Street. Director Katherine Kennedy, the annual event and the fear of being different. “Get over it,” Jones said. “Decide what Protesters from Occupy Boston said that coordinator. Benjamin told the audience about her fa- you’re going to do and do your best. We can no sexual violence, threatened and actual, was Kennedy said the program strives to keep ther’s stroke, which paralyzed one of his limbs longer accept mediocrity.” and has been a long-standing problem at King’s lessons alive by making his story rel- and led to him re-learning how to use it again. During the hour-long celebration, a band both the former Dewey Square camp and evant to today’s world. She compared her father’s stroke to society’s provided a soundtrack in hopes of propelling current Occupy congregations. Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore emceed paralysis and said people rely on using the both the emotional response of the audience “This issue of aggression – sexual, phys- the commemoration and told the audience of functioning limb rather than the paralyzed one and the speakers into new territories, McDon- ical or verbal – has been around the entire his mother’s guidance, who told him to “Go on when they want to heal. Overcoming the pa- ald said. time and we’ve rarely enforced anything to out there [and] do some good.” ralysis, she said, would help people create new CAS sophomore Lauren Anson, a Martin put a stop to it,” said Allison, an Occupy Elmore presented a number of students and initiatives for social change. Luther King scholar, said the commemoration Boston member who asked to keep her last faculty members who spoke about their experi- “We can remain paralyzed and frustrated delved beyond the history they have learned name anonymous. ences with the King legacy. or remap the collective circuits [in our brains] about King and inspired them to question what Allison said a known Level-3 sex of- College of Arts and Sciences sophomore to heal and move forward together,” Benjamin future impact his legacy will have. fender threatened her in December while Shamoore Simpson spoke of how to bring peo- said. “A lot of [traditional memorials are] just she was facilitating a General Assembly ple together, comparing the world to a canvas CAS senior Kemi Alabi , president of Speak kind of like . history we all learn all through meeting. comprising various images and words. For Yourself, performed three speeches and a elementary school,” Ansong said. “And here, “He has come at me physically before “People fail to realize that it’s the differ- fight song, which received standing ovations. it’s more like a celebration, a challenge to do and had to be removed from me by a group ences that bring us together,” Simpson said. “If Alabi prefaced her performance with a refer- better, a challenge to really think about his ide- of men,” she said. “That night, he threat- you have a legacy, it’s through the people [with ence to the idea of “silence” and music in her als and how we can apply them to our lives ened me again. This was in the midst of pro- whom] you connect.” poetry, a kind of silence she said people do not know how to fill yet. today.” cessing a proposal about banning him from Ruha Benjamin, an assistant professor of Occupy Boston resources.” In recent weeks Occupy Boston activists debated about what the group’s policy re- Letter from the Editors: garding sexual assault and violence should As you’re gearing up for the new semester, In addition to the paper you’re holding now, should to cover and suggestions for our web- look like. The ongoing discussion, which we here at The Daily Free Press are taking the we’re looking to expand our coverage through site. has spilled out of meetings and into blogs next step into the new world of journalism. We a variety of platforms. Check out our blog The We hope you will pick up the FreeP to look and Twitter accounts, has led to the creation are a bit late jumping onto the multimedia-us- Daily Free Now for videos, slideshows and for the latest StuVi III plans, the Student Union of the Resolution Against Sexual Miscon- ing, social media-obsessed bandwagon . but more information on the latest BU and Boston elections and how the No. 2 men’s hockey team duct. we’re here now. news. Follow us on Twitter @dailyfreepress for will fare as it continues to march toward the The resolution, passed by Occupy Bos- This semester we’ll continue to cover news breaking news coverage or “like” us on Face- Beanpot and postseason. Whether you want ton’s General Assembly in early January, around Boston University’s campus, the city, book to interact with the FreeP community and to read our top-notch reporting or fill out the states the group “will not tolerate” any sort Terrier athletics and the local arts and entertain- have your voice be heard. crossword, our staff is devoted to informing of sexual misconduct or threats of sexual ment scene with weekly editions of MUSE. So Our tight-knit staff is always looking for you – the BU community. misconduct against individuals, according be sure to pick up the print version of the FreeP new additions, so if you are interested be sure Come get FreePy with us, every Monday through Thursday at locations to look out FreeP staff applications. Otherwise, Chelsea Diana, Editor-in-Chief OCCUPY, see page 5 around campus. feel free to give us feedback on new topics we Tim Healey, Managing Editor Proposed student parliament gets TOTAL mixed reviews among students By Rachel Eides with students to draft an amendment that meets Daily Free Press Staff the needs of Union, student groups and the While a committee of Student Union offi- working group, said committee member D.A. cials prepares to review a proposal for a student Whatley, a freshman in the School of Manage- parliament, members said the biggest concern ment. may be finding a way to coordinate with the Whatley, who is vice president of the War- student groups at Boston University and meet- ren Towers Residence Hall Association, said ing their needs. he supports the idea of a parliament, but that “The extent to which the implementation coordinating a meeting time for more than 400 of this proposal would benefit the student body representatives is the greatest concern. is too objective a question to answer at this “I want a viable, long-term solution if this point,” said Union Vice President of Internal student parliament is created,” Whatley said. Affairs Sophie Miller, a sophomore in the Col- The working group proposed monthly meet- lege of Communication. ings to be attended by a representative from Miller said the proposal, which was present- each of BU’s 480 student groups; the represen- ed by a group of students at the Dec.