Crime Down In Allston-Brighton

The District D-14 police headquarter in Allston, where police have helped to decrease crime in the area over the last three years.  Photo by Ethan Leavitt

BOSTON – Crime is continuing to decline in Allston-Brighton. Over the last three years, there has been on average an eight percent decrease in crime in the neighborhood, Boston Police Department Crime statistics show.

That is the second highest decrease in crime among Boston neighborhoods. The only neighborhood with a steeper average decline is Jamaica Plain at 13 percent per year, according to yearly Boston Police Crime Statistics reports.

Even with the drop-off in the number of crimes, police are urging residents to be cautious and make sure they do everything they can to protect themselves.

“If you see something suspicious going on, I strongly urge you to report it, either by calling 911 or coming down to the police station here to do so,” Sergeant Michael O’Hara, who works in District D-14 which covers the Allston-Brighton area, said.

Through the first four months, there have been 308 crimes reported, which six percent less than the number of crimes reported during the same time period last year, the latest Boston Police Department Crime statistics indicate.

There are multiple reasons why the crime rate has fallen. One is the additional resources Allston-Brighton police officers are receiving. O’Hara pointed out that the department has received assistance from members of the BPD’s Special Investigations Unit.

The unit has provided District D-14 with more manpower, more resources, and more statistical data to help track crimes in the neighborhood. It has provided extra patrol cars in identified crime hotspots, according to the Boston Police Department Bureau of Field Services Division.

With the large number of bars and university fraternity houses in the area, the unit has had special “party” cars patrolling the neighborhood on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and special Sunday nights to break up conflicts that occur in those locations ever since 21-year-old Anthony Spaulding was stabbed to death during a drunken brawl on New Years Eve two years ago. Each “party” car has two officers and a supervisor to lend support to the effort.

More of these party patrol cars are out preparing for the weekend festivities in Allston. Photo by Ethan Leavitt

“Things used to be out of control with the parties,” Boston Police Officer Amy Boyle said. “When Spaulding got killed in that fight, the department realized it needed more patrol cars and more officers around the bars and frat houses to make sure something like that wouldn’t happen again.”

The unit can also venture into other parts of Boston and even outside the city to go after suspects, which D-14 officers do not normally do, according to the Boston Police Department Bureau of Field Services Division.

Joan Pasquale, the Executive Director of The Parents and Community Build Group in Allston, thinks a combination of the record snowfall in Boston this year and a good relationship with the police also factors into the decline of crime in the neighborhood.

“Residents are inclined to be homebound on bad weather days,” Pasquale said. “When residents know who their Community Service Police Officers are, then reporting crime becomes a natural process.”

Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Press Secretary Jake Wark says the criminal justice system in Suffolk County is geared in a way to divert non-violent offenders from becoming repeat offenders, or, worse, violent criminals. When that occurs, he believes the crime rate goes down.

“If you can divert low-level players from becoming high-level players, and incarcerate the serious offenders, you’re going to see a decline in crime,” Wark said.

Suffolk County District Attorney Press Secretary Jake Wark, who believes one group of people can affect a crime rate. Photo by Ethan Leavitt

Theft is by far the most prevalent crime that takes place in Allston-Brighton. There have been five times as many thefts reported over the last three years in the neighborhood than every other crime combined, Boston Police Crime statistics indicate.

202 Washington Street, which was burglarized last month, according to police reports. Photo by Ethan Leavitt

The latest statistics show an average 15 percent drop in both burglaries and larcenies over the past three years. During the first quarter of 2015, there has been a 23.8 percent decrease in larcenies and a 12.5 percent decrease in attempted burglaries as compared to the first quarter of 2014.

“Theft is really a crime of opportunity,” O’Hara said. “People get robbed and most breaking-and-enterings occur because they are careless in the way they hold their personal belongings, like their cellphones, and they leave their front doors and windows open or unlocked. We have made strides, though, to make sure that does not happen as often.”

According to police reports, there were four people arrested last year who were complicit in at least 40-50 burglaries. Wark believes that once those assailants were apprehended, the rate of theft started to decline again.

“What we sometimes see is that an individual or crew of individuals who will drive up the rate of burglaries, larcenies, breaking and enterings,” Wark said. “The successful prosecution of even one individual can sometimes have a double-digit effect on a particular crime rate, particularly in Allston-Brighton.”

O’Hara hopes to have these recidivists indicted on repeat offender charges so that they would not be able to be back on the streets before serving the 20-year maximum penalty in prison.

Much of the stolen property police have recovered have been expensive electronics. Cellphones, iPads, and laptops are the most common stolen items police recover, according to the police reports.

Boyle says that in Allston-Brighton, which has a large student population, thefts tend to decline during spring break, summer vacation, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Break, when students take their valuables with them and leave the neighborhood for an extended period of time, and then pick up again in the fall.

“Theft is bound to go back up at some point,” Boyle said. “The number always fluctuates, but that’s why we have more patrol.”

Homicide is the least reported crime in Allston-Brighton. Boston Police records indicate that there have been no homicides reported in 2015 in the neighborhood and only four have been reported over the last three years, less than any other neighborhood in Boston.

Eight years ago, the Boston Police Department launched the “One Less Gun” campaign. A photo of every gun that is recovered from a crime scene is posted on the Boston Police Department’s website with the caption “One Less Gun”, with a description of where it was found and what crime it was involved in. O’Hara thinks that the campaign sends a message to people about how unsafe guns are and dissuades them from thinking about purchasing one.

“The fewer guns we have on the streets, the safer everyone is going to be,” O’Hara said. “Gun violence is the most tragic, and we think that the campaign can continue to save more lives.”

Boston City Councillor Mark Ciommo, who was born and raised in Allston-Brighton, has launched several initiatives over the last three years to help decrease the crime rate. He worked with Pasquale on the most recent one, the “Not In My Neighborhood” campaign. Ciommo says the point of the campaign is to ensure that people report criminal activity when they see it and to ensure neighborhood solidarity.

“Just by being neighborly and aware of your surroundings, you can keep crime out of your neighborhood,” Ciommo said. “Not In My Neighborhood is the message that is sent to criminals, and criminals don’t tend to visit or want to occupy neighborhoods where residents will report crimes or suspicious behavior.”

O’Hara believes it will take at least one more year to know if the measures taken are truly helping the neighborhood, but he is pleased with the results thus far.

“Time will tell if what we’re doing is actually working. Crime is always an issue in our area and we know we can always do more to try to stop it,“ O’Hara said.

Work Inc. Spearheads Efforts to Employ Individuals With Disabilities

Adam Shaw, a Work Inc. client, appreciates the opportunity to work in the company’s kitchen. Photo by Ethan Leavitt

DORCHESTER – “Well what I want her to help me with is just getting there and just getting the job, and getting there on time”

That is voice of Curleann Prince, a kitchen trainee at Work Inc., a non-profit organization that since its founding in 1963 has made it its mission to care for and provide vocational training and job placement services for individuals with disabilities, according to the company’s website.

As stated in its Form 990, Work Inc. generates around $24,000,000 in revenue per year, with just a little over $13,000,000 of it coming from government grants and contributions. The company uses this large budget for a myriad of programs, including deaf services, family support, independent living, residential, transportation, and vocational services, its website says. The biggest emphasis, though, is helping to make the lives of individuals with disabilities better and more independent by helping them to find jobs.

“So the assumption is that if they’re treating someone with a disability that the person has an ailment,” Work Inc. CEO Jim Cassetta said. “But really they should look at it as treating someone with an ability. That’s what Work Inc. does. We treat people with abilities.”

Cassetta fights what he believes to be a societal problem in the United States. He is trying to fight a negative trend in the employment of individuals with disabilities. Despite the fact that the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that unemployment in the country is down to 5.8 percent, the lowest it has been since 2009, people with disabilities still are excluded from the job pool. The report says that 70 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed, as opposed to the more than 70 percent of adults without disabilities who are employed. The reason for that is that there is a stigma that individuals with disabilities do not have the mental and/or physical capacity to perform an everyday job.

“Everyday, you have aspirations, you have goals, you have dreams and desires, so does everybody, including people with disabilities,” Cassetta said. “They want to wake up everyday and do something meaningful with their lives and feel good about it. They do not want to wake up and not have a job to go to and not do something meaningful. Unfortunately, in our society, people with disabilities aren’t given enough credit to in fact get into a job program like we have here at Work Inc.”

In its 94,000 square foot facility in Dorchester (as the City of Boston Assessing website says), Work Inc. provides counseling and training to over 200 individuals with disabilities every day in life skills such as manufacturing and packaging and have successfully placed thousands, as said on its website. Lawan SWain is the program coordinator at Work Inc., and he tries to help individuals with disabilities achieve a higher quality of life by teaching them skills that help them function among non-disabled peers.

“The whole thing is to give them a quality of life, something that a typical person might take for granted,” SWain said. “How I look at it is everyone learns in a different manner. Some of them may learn a little slower than others, but our job is to break it down and put it into different criteria so that they can live the same life as everybody else.”

Work Inc.’s website breaks down that process into four steps: Engage, Develop, Assess, and Place. The individuals with disabilities first decide what they want to do. Then, Work Inc. trains them and assesses what they can do. Finally, the company determines whether they are qualified for a certain job and ultimately places them into one. The process can take a substantial amount of time, but the hope is to place the individuals in a job that they can perform and enjoy doing.

“We have people who come in here who say they want to be astronauts, and obviously that can’t happen,” James Cawley, Work Inc.’s community relations and business development coordinator and former Boston Globe newsroom researcher, said. “Depending on the individual, it can take three to four months or a year to engage and assess. What you have to do is figure out what the individual is capable of doing, what they want to do, and if they actually can do that. Then, when we match all those things up, we place someone into a job.”

As a result of the process, there are over 100 Work Inc. individuals working every day, as the company website indicates. Their mental capacity mostly allows them to work jobs in facilities management, fast food restaurants such as Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds, and manufacturing.

Through the Ability One Program, Work Inc. individuals provide several services to federal government buildings, including janitorial work, landscaping, snow removal, and mail sorting, as the company’s website says. This includes complete facilities management of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, which Work Inc.’s website says started in 2003.

The feedback overall from employers who hire Work Inc.-trained individuals is positive. Cassetta believes that is because these people seize the opportunity to be employed and work twice as hard as a result, sometimes even showing up to work when they are not supposed to.

“With several employers, the feedback I get is, ‘Can you send me more?’ because they show up every day,” Cassetta said. “Work has been denied from them for the better part of their lives. We have people showing up on holidays at federal job sites looking for work and people call in and say, “The building is closed.’ Once they have an opportunity that has been denied to them, they embrace it.”

When a Work Inc. individual is not working out in the community, he or she has several options to work in-house that still benefit the outside community. There are several factories at the Dorchester base that manufacture things such as IV bags for hospitals. They are also responsible for the packaging and shipping of items to various companies in Massachusetts. An example of this is a contract Work Inc. has with Bountiful Pantry, a company that produces dried soups and dips. Work Inc. employs over 20 individuals with disabilities for that contract. The employees work in a manufacturing room on the second floor of the facility and are in charge of labeling, weighing, mixing, and packaging the items. For these jobs, Work Inc. pays the individuals wages commensurate to how much work they complete, according to the company’s website.

The Spring 2014 newsletter of Work Inc. trumpets the launch of a Culinary Arts in March of this year. Individuals in the program are trained in several aspects of food service, including food preparation, customer service, and cleanup. It has already paid dividends, as two members of the program have been placed in food service jobs at Dunkin Donuts and the Dollar Store.

Prince aspires to work in a restaurant and currently participates in the Culinary Arts Program. She finds that her training at the Work Inc. cafeteria has helped her, and believes it will lead her to a job like other members of the program have obtained.

“Working here has made me more confident,” Prince said. “It has also given me more structure.”

Work Inc. faces a constant struggle to fund their programs. Despite the seemingly large amount of money they receive from the government, it is never enough for a program that requires so much individual attention. Cawley says he goes to Washington every year to meet with the Massachusetts delegation and goes to the statehouse almost every other day to advocate for individuals with disabilities. That is why, in 2004, Work Inc. bought Facilities Management and Maintenance Inc. (FM&M), a for-profit company that provides cleaning and maintenance services to several buildings in Massachusetts, the FM&M website says. Acquiring the company allows Work Inc. to place its individuals into employment in the company and to bring in around $5,000,000 per year in additional revenue, according to the Massachusetts Open Checkbook.

Cawley calls this social entrepreneurship, finding innovative ways to acquire funding for a social cause without having to rely on government funding, which tends to fluctuate. He says that transactions like Work Inc.’s acquisition of FM&M are a key component in pushing the company’s mission to employ individuals with disabilities and that everyone is capable of succeeding.

“You can’t rely on government funding anymore. Every year the budget gets cut. Every year we have to fight and scrape for every dollar that we get,” Cawley says. “People want to work, and we have to find opportunities in order to get our message out. Through the social entrepreneurship, we won’t have to rely on government funding as much to get individuals with disabilities a better life.”

When all is said and done, Work Inc. assures employers that once they hire a Work Inc. employee, they have an employee for life.

“Once somebody is in a job three months, he’s there for life,” Cawley said. “They never miss a day. They’re not going to transfer out to another job. So when we pitch employers, one of the key things we say all the time is that we have reliable employees that are going to be there all the time, literally all the time.”

 

 

Brian Durocher: A Leader of Women

The upbeat Brian Durocher encouraging his team against Providence College
Photo Courtesy of BU Today

By Ethan Leavitt

BOSTON – With body checks forbidden, women’s hockey requires precision stickhandling, strong skating, perfect body positioning, and a leader with the knowledge to direct it. Brian Durocher, Boston University women’s ice hockey head coach, has this knowledge from his immersion into the sport of hockey since his youth (goaltending in high school and during his BU days). Living in a household with a wife (Laura) and three daughters (Kirsten, Kara, and Kelsey) has also taught him a thing or two about relating to women.

“At least I’ve grown up in that environment a little bit for the last number of years, so I guess that helps me a little bit,” Durocher said. “Part of my personality has become a little more easy-going, and I don’t have to be in everybody’s face all the time.”

His players respond well to that laid-back attitude, as opposed to the many coaches who are labeled as “screamers and yellers.”

“He comes in and likes to touch a lot on the positives. He likes to grab the most positives out of any situation that we have,” junior defenseman Kaleigh Fratkin said. “Sometimes screamers and yellers aren’t the best and some players don’t respond best to those types of coaches, and I think that as a team we respond well to his type of coaching style.”

That Mr. Mellow touch does not run in his gene pool. Durocher’s style is the polar opposite of his beloved great-uncle, the late Leo Durocher, the hot-tempered, frequently ejected baseball manager who compiled the 5th most wins in baseball history with a philosophy summed up in his memoir’s title: Nice Guys Finish Last.

At the pregame meeting in the locker room—a crimson sanctum with red floors, red helmets, and red-and-white uniforms with BOSTON emblazoned across the chest hanging in cubbies—Durocher starts by giving out paw stickers as a reward to players who blocked shots and scored short-handed goals. Senior Britt Hergesheimer got one, junior Shannon Doyle got two, and sophomore Kayla Tutino got two. After that, he’s all business, unsmiling, as his gravelly voice forecasts the upcoming battle against an aggressive Providence College team, his hand dancing over a small dry-erase board, diagramming plays. His firm but relaxed tone grasps the attention of his players as they have their eyes fixed on him.

“Real quick. Their forecheck I’d call a little more on the aggressive side, much like BC. You’re going to get F1 right after you quick. F2 will be in pretty close proximity. There’s times when all three will be on one side of the ice for them. They’ll stop and start. They’ll face the play, but they’ll also be real aggressive coming after you. Our wings will need to get out of the zone at times, alright. We’ll have to get up the walls and get outta there. Get over the blue line, getting wraps, get up and get that D’s stick up in the air so it slides into the neutral zone.”

Durocher, again in a firm but relaxed way, then expresses disappointment in his team by reminding them that they have not played as well as they could have during their three-game winless streak and what they need to do in order to snap it.

“I don’t remember us staying up at the blue line as well as we have in the past. All those things have gotta be done with a purpose,” he said. “We gotta out-tempo this team. We gotta out-compete this team. We gotta go get ourselves a W.”

The meeting is short and sweet, only five minutes long.

Durocher remarked directly afterward that he knew his team was focused and that they were “all business.” That was exactly the case as they played one of their most complete games of the year, defeating Providence College handily 7-1.

Durocher has guided the BU women’s ice hockey team with tremendous success with that approach ever since its inception as a Division I program nine years ago, leading his team to a 142-90-37 overall record. Each year has brought with it major accomplishments. Most notably, BU captured its first Hockey East title in 2009-10, won a second Hockey East title in 2011-12, and reached the NCAA title game while setting a program record for wins in a season (27) in 2010-11. Last season, his team clinched its third straight NCAA tournament appearance, narrowly losing to Cornell 8-7 in a triple-overtime thriller in the first round. In those nine years, Durocher has turned BU into one of the premier women’s ice hockey programs in the country, currently ranked #7 in the nation.

A big key to that success on the ice has been effective recruiting, something which Durocher has a fervent dedication to.

“I wake up thinking about recruiting,” he said. “I’m always kind of picking away at the computer, seeing who I can send a little note to.”

Those notes aren’t always blatant recruitment pitches; they can be birthday wishes, congrats on a recent good game, anything to try to create a bond with a potential Terrier. Durocher also likes to personally greet recruits and their families in their homes and take them on a tour of the campus so that he can make the players and their families feel comfortable.

“He just makes you feel at home no matter where you are. He’s easy to talk to,” freshman forward Dakota Woodworth, his latest recruit, said. “You know he knows what he’s talking about. He’s one of the most highly respected coaches in all of women’s hockey. There’s just something about him I guess.“

One of his earliest catches was goaltender Allyse Wilcox (CGS’07, SHA’09). She had a staunch 2.32 GAA in her four years between the pipes and led BU to its first winning season in 2006-07. Two of Durocher’s most recent catches have been Jenn Wakefield (CAS ’12) and Marie-Philip Poulin (SED ’14). In her time at BU, Wakefield became the all-time leading goal scorer in Hockey East history. Poulin is the team leader in scoring this year with 28 points in only 15 games played. Both players have represented their home country of Canada multiple times in international competition and have been integral parts of BU’s development into a national title contender.

“I’m a believer that good players make coaches look awful good,” Durocher said. “So if we can recruit good players, that’s going to help me and that’s going to help my staff.”

In spite of the fact that the women’s team has made it to more NCAA tournaments than the men’s team has over the past three years (three times for the women as opposed to once for the men), the men’s team still gets a substantial amount more attention, while women’s hockey is an afterthought.

“Yeah it would be exciting if we were on TV once in a while or if we got a little fan base here, but on the other hand I know that the university, the administration, is pushing the envelope the best they can,” Durocher said. “Paralleling hockey a little more often is something I’d be really excited to see before my time on this earth ends. I think it’s got to start with our undergraduates coming up Comm. Ave and going to the games to watch the great athletes play and make it another chic thing to be because that’s what men’s hockey is.”

Not being under the university’s microscope, though, has helped the women’s team evade controversy, unlike the men’s team last season, which had three players (Charlie Coyle, Max Nicastro, and Corey Trivino) kicked off the team, two of whom (Trivino and Nicastro) were charged with sexual assault. This led to an internal investigation that revealed the “culture of sexual entitlement” on the team.

“Through and through there is a lot of participation in the community from all these programs, including men’s hockey, but every once in a while there are people that slip up,” Durocher said. “We’ll continue to strive as a women’s hockey program and as an athletic department to make sure that we’re first class citizens and people who carry themselves very professionally.”

This especially hit home for him because he has been at the university in one capacity or another for a long time. In his twenty-four years at BU, he was a goalie on the men’s hockey team as a student (1974-1978), an assistant coach for the men’s hockey team for two stints (1984-1988, 1996-2004), and now is heading up the women’s side of the game.

“I see myself as someone who has embraced this university, seen it grow, and not just in the schooling of hockey, but if you look at the facilities that are here, you look at the dormitories that are here for kids,” Durocher said. “Right up Comm. Ave it’s some place, something I’m very proud, and I consider myself lucky to be able to work at.”

For the past nine years, Durocher has ingrained himself into the BU women’s hockey team and made a lasting impact. He has done this to such an extent that, like his former superior, Jack Parker, he will be around for a long time.

“I got kinda captivated by the fact that this would be my alma mater, Boston University, a place I’m real proud of, a place I see as a great academic institution, and a place that has been very proud of its hockey over the years. If I do things right, maybe this is my last job that I undertake,” Durocher said. “I’ve had nine years with this program that have been highly rewarding, a great honor, and something that I’m very proud of, the way it’s unfolded here so far.”

[30]

Obama Wins Second Term in Office

Barack Obama greets his supporters after winning a second term in office
Photo Courtesy of slate.com

Citizens casting their vote at the Boston Public Library
Photo By Ethan Leavitt

By Ethan Leavitt

BOSTON – The American people have voted for four more years of Barack Obama.

From makeshift voting sites in East Coast communities that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy to the more typical voting booths set up in school gyms, libraries and town halls across the rest of the country, people lined up from dawn to dusk to cast their ballots, collectively concluding one of the most bitter and expensive presidential campaigns in history, in which the candidates, parties, and well-heeled outside groups spent more than $2.5 billion. At the end of the day, in  one of the most important elections in the country’s history, the voters decided that President Obama deserved a second term in the White House and that they were not willing to hand over the keys to the country to Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

In his victory speech, Obama reaffirmed his campaign message to keep the country moving forward.

“It moves forward because of you,” Obama said. “It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope.”

Obama also reaffirmed that, while times are tough, there are better times coming.

“Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come,” he said.

In his concession speech, Romney spoke about having less partisan bickering and that he believes the U.S. can bring itself back to prominence.

“I ran for office because I’m concerned about America,” Romney said. “This election is over, but our principles endure. I believe that the principles upon which this nation was founded are the only sure guide to a resurgent economy and to renewed greatness.”

The results of the 2012 presidential election were similar to those in the 2008 election, when Obama defeated Arizona Sen. John McCain.  Obama won every state he won in 2008 except for North Carolina and Indiana. He also had similar success in swing states such as Ohio, Virginia, and Florida.  Just as in 2008, these three states carried Obama to victory.  More specifically with Florida and Ohio, even though Romney won the massive majority of the counties, Obama won the highly populated areas of both of those states, nabbing over 900,000 votes combined in Cayuhoga County and Miami-Dade County, as was the case in 2008.

The 2012 Presidential Election Electoral Vote Results
Photo Courtesy of freedomslighthouse.net

Obama and Romney, former governor of Massachusetts and wealthy founder of the private equity firm Bain Capital, spent months highlighting their sharp divisions over the role of government in Americans’ lives, in bringing down the stubbornly high unemployment rate, reducing the $1 trillion-plus government spending deficit and reducing a national debt that has crept above $16 trillion.

Throughout the campaign, Romney had argued that Obama had four years to bring about the change he had promised throughout the 2008 campaign and that he had not done so.  As a result, Romney had urged that a new voice, especially one with business expertise, was needed to rejuvenate the American economy.

Obama, on the other hand, had contended that progress had been made in his four years, when he was compelled to confront the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, a downturn that was well under way when he replaced George W. Bush in the White House on Jan. 20, 2009. Obama insisted that there was no way reduce the staggering debt and safeguard crucial social programs without asking the wealthy to pay their “fair share” in taxes.  He hammered at Romney’s shifting positions and said Romney’s proposals amounted to the same “top-down” policies that tanked the U.S. economy in the first place.

One voter, who claimed to have had multiple interactions with Romney in the past, stated his belief that Romney is incredibly inconsistent and that Obama is on the right track to bringing the economy back.

“I don’t like him.  He’s about as phony as the day is long,” Mike DiCarlo said.  “With Obama, I think the economy will continue to grow, but it’ll grow slowly, and slow growth is not bad growth.  It’s actually good growth.”

One thing that voters agreed upon is the importance of America building itself back up again.

“It’s very important to rebuild America again,” James Engel said.  “We need to redo America.”

Colin Riley Praises and Criticizes BU’s Efforts During Hurricane Sandy

Colin Riley, the Executive Director of Media Relations at Boston University
Photo By Ethan Leavitt

By Ethan Leavitt

BOSTON – Colin Riley, the Executive Director of Media Relations at Boston University, complimented and criticized the efforts that the BU community made during a post-Hurricane Sandy news conference Wednesday in front students of the College of Communication.

The purpose was to inform the BU community about the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and address any concerns that students might have had as a result.

There have been no reported deaths or injuries to any BU students or staff as a result of the hurricane.  There also has been minimal structural damage on campus, including a portion of a billboard falling down in Kenmore Square, a light post becoming tilted on Harry Agganis Way, and some water damage in Warren Towers, Riley said.  One building in West Campus close to New Balance Field, which is under construction, is currently being disassembled because of asbestos-related issues.

Riley pointed out that the university was well prepared before Hurricane Sandy hit the BU campus.

“It was on our radar, and we kept an eye on it and we planned over the course of several days, particularly once the tracks showed a swing into the east coast and not away from it,” Riley said.  “We were also in touch with the National Weather Service and all the emergency planning and preparedness groups at the local, state, and federal level, as we do in any instance when there is potential damage from storms or power outage or water damage.”

Riley then complimented the university’s ability to respond to the impending threat of the hurricane.

“Everyone did their job,” Riley said.  “I’ve been here over 20 years, and I’m always impressed with our ability to respond and handle any situation here and how student-focused the administration is.”

Riley especially lauded the efforts of BU Dining Services and the people who volunteered to drive them home after the T shut down at 2:00 p.m.

“These are emergency employees.  They’re considered people who need to be on campus to feed the students and the community, and not only did they have breakfast and launch, but they started preparing boxed meals,” Riley said.  “That sort of shows how people are willing, including people who volunteered to drive these people home and into neighborhoods where there is debris flying around and limbs in the street.  It says a lot.”

One criticism Riley offered was in handling the communication of the decision to open school or not on Tuesday.  He would have preferred to relay the decision on Tuesday morning rather than saying that a decision would be made Monday night.

“20 years ago, we would’ve told you in the morning anyway.  I would never give a time generally.  I would generally say, ‘Next update will be in a few hours.’ That’s normally how we handle this,” Riley said.  “That’s one of those after-action things we’ll correct and make sure that we don’t create any unnecessary anxiety.”

While BU sent out Facebook messages, tweets, alerts on BU Today, and emailed alerts, Riley acknowledged that communication with the students could have been better.

“People thrive on information, and they really want it,” Riley said.  “My view, and I’ve been here a little longer, is that you don’t always have all the information at hand, so my view is let’s have a little more.”

For the future, Riley wanted to let students know that they should not be afraid to express themselves with any issues they might have, whether it’s due to a natural disaster or not.

“As much as we would like to anticipate every potential problem, please feel free to communicate,” Riley said.  “We want to hear your concerns. We want to hear your problems.  We want to help you out where we’re able to do it.”

BU Dining Services Serves BU Students During Hurricane Sandy

100 Bay State Road, along with all other dining halls on campus, was still open to serve students during Hurricane Sandy
Photo Courtesy of BU Today

By Ethan Leavitt

BOSTON – While Hurricane Sandy caused local businesses, public transportation, educational institutions, and many other services to be closed down on Monday, one service decided to keep its doors open for business: Boston University Dining Services.

A directive sent out by the University on Sunday stated that, “Essential Boston University employees must report for their regularly scheduled shift assignments.”  The university did not specifically state exactly which employees they meant when they said that.  However, Scott Rosario, the Marketing Director for Boston University Dining Services, expressed the paramount importance of having dining hall open all across campus during the storm.

“Dining Services is an essential program at Boston University and will operate to the fullest capacity possible regardless of the weather,” Rosario said in an emailed response.

Dining halls at Warren Towers, 100 Bay State Road, West Campus, and the George Sherman Union were open for the student population to utilize.  In order to ensure that these services would run as smoothly as possible, Dining Services took precautions to ensure that the food supply did not run out and formulated a plan in case there would have been a power outage.

In order to prepare for possible delivery issues caused by Hurricane Sandy, all the dining locations ordered extra supplies in the event vendors could not provide service during the storm.  These orders were placed on Friday for delivery Monday morning and were large enough to last through Thursday, according to BU Dining Services.

If any of the dining halls were to lose power, BU Dining Services was willing to take measures to ensure that food would still be served to students.

“In case power goes out we have to adapt.  If that means we stay open but just serve non-perishable foods like fruit, or cereals, or cook over a candle we’ll do it,” BU Dining Services said in a written statement. “A worst case scenario would involve severely limited services, but Dining Services would never be fully closed.”

Across Boston University’s three dining halls and other Dining Services affiliated locations such as Late Nite Café, the George Sherman Union, and RiZe Café, BU Dining Services serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner to anywhere from 5,000 to 6,000 students per day.

A number of students were appreciative of the fact that Boston University kept it’s dining facilities open.

“I do give a lot of credit to BU Dining Services for stepping up and making sure that the students get what they need during this difficult time,” Rosa Otieno, a sophomore in CAS, said.

Students especially appreciated that the dining halls remained open because they were likely their only option to get food on campus.

“I think that it’s necessary.  I live on Bay State, so I went to the Granby Street Café thinking that it was open, and it wasn’t, so that’s how I ended up in the GSU,” Jenna Blinkinsop, a junior in CAS, said.  “I’m glad that they’re not closed.  It’s great.  I don’t know how we would eat if we didn’t have dining services.  I know that if I was stuck in my room, I would not have very much food.”

In addition to keeping the dining halls open throughout the day, BU Dining Services was able to provide dinner accommodations to numerous people who do no not live in buildings with a dining hall.  Dining Services made arrangements for take-out meals to be delivered to the Residence Life Offices at Myles Standish Hall, Shelton, Danielson, and South Campus (518 Park Drive) residences.

Hundreds of people in these residences lined up to get a combination of a turkey, salami, or roast beef sandwich, chocolate chip cookies, banana, granola bar, and a drink.  Cristian Martinez, a sophomore in the School of Management who waited at in line at Myles Standish Hall for 30 minutes to get the take-out meal, was grateful for the meal.

“I think it’s great because it prevented us from going out in any potential dangerous weather,” Martinez said.

While people appreciated the effort BU Dining Services made here, they recognized that there were chinks in the armor.  Residents of 575 Commonwealth Avenue (Hojo) and in Student Village did not receive these services even though they do not have dining halls in their buildings.  This led to mixed feelings from the student population about the take-out dinner initiative.

“It definitely had the positive and negative impact,” Martinez said. “It was positive because people were able to get this meal and not have to go out in this weather, but at the same time it’s also negative because these bagged meals weren’t delivered all across campus, so not all people were able to get them, and for them, it made things more difficult.”

BU Dining Services were contacted on that matter and had no comment.

Despite that, BU Dining Services sees no differences between the functionality of services this year as opposed to last year with Hurricane Irene and expects service to continue throughout the week.

“The differences will only be known once the storm subsides,” Rosario said. “Last year we dealt with several power outage issues, as of today that has not been an issue.”

Chipotle Mexican Grill Invites Customers to Halloween Charity Event

Chipotle employees providing discounted food to customers during the Boorito Event
Photo Courtesy of Bizjournals.com

By Ethan Leavitt

BOSTON – Among the numerous things Americans indulge in, they love burritos, discounted items, and dressing up in costume for Halloween.  There is one event that will combine all three, and for a good cause.

Chipotle Mexican Grill announced Thursday the return of its long-standing tradition and popular Halloween fundraiser, Boorito. This Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 31, Chipotle will treat customers dressed in costume to a burrito, bowl, salad, or order of tacos for only $2 between the hours of 4 p.m. and closing. Proceeds from the fundraiser, up to $1 million, will benefit the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.

“We have always believed that good food should be affordable and accessible to everyone, and our annual Boorito fundraiser is a great opportunity for customers to enjoy a $2 burrito while supporting a great cause,” said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, in a written statement. “It’s a great way to celebrate Halloween by doing something good.”

In the past, Chipotle has donated to causes that relate to improving the way that people eat. Over the past two years, the company donated more than $2 million to organizations that in some way benefit the food system, such as Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, The Nature Conservancy, and FamilyFarmed.org.

The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, founded in 2011, will donate the proceeds from Boorito to organizations that have proven via a grant application to support family farmers and their communities, educators and programs that teach younger generations about food matters, and ranchers and farmers who are working to develop more sustainable practices.

“For us, this is just a way to extend that giving,” said Danielle Winslow, Chipotle’s PR and Social Media Consultant. “We have an entire organization dedicated to identifying ways to better our communities and work with younger generations, so it’s important to everybody who works here, and the company donates its time to run this organization.”

Boston University Marketing Professor Patrick Kaufmann believes that a corporate responsibility campaign like Boorito and the Cultivate Foundation will generate a positive connection with customers and have a tremendous effect on how people look at Chipotle’s brand.

“Do you like companies that do nice things for charity?” Kaufmann said. “Chipotle’s main product is food, and if you’re going to make these kind of connections with causes that allow people to generalize good feelings about your brand, and therefore get positive reactions on the margins of ‘Where should we go to eat?’ then you want to have some kind of a reasonable connection between the cause and your core product or service.”

Since it’s founding in 1993, Chipotle has been able to generate over $2 billion in revenue and generate a large amount of popularity based on the idea of affordable, good tasting, and freshly made food. In addition, the environment that the individual restaurants create and the causes to which it aligns itself, such as the Cultivate Foundation, resonate with customers.

“I think Chipotle is quite laid back. It’s cool. It’s hip. That combined with the customization and ingredients of the food, it’s actually quite pleasant,” said Kevin Kwan, a Chipotle frequenter. “Chipotle is a pretty humane company. The fact that they’re running an event like Boorito is really nice. It’s really touching. You don’t see a lot of restaurants losing profits and donating their proceeds to charity to a greater good, so it’s really cool.”

Through Boorito and its connection to the Cultivate Foundation, Chipotle gets to attract new customers while at the same time achieving its philanthropic goals.

“Of course we benefit if someone who’s never been to Chipotle before and buys a burrito for $2 and decides, ‘Hey, this is a great restaurant. We love this food. We will come back again,’” Winslow said. “But, we started the foundation to do the right thing.”

Man on the Street Interviews: Who Would You Vote For?

Rucker Manley, 24, Second Year Graduate Student
Photo By Ethan Leavitt
“I feel like his economic policy is a lot stronger. I feel like he has a better handle on what it takes to be president, and as a whole, I don’t trust Mitt Romney.”

Sierra Brown, 18, Sophomore
Photo By Ethan Leavitt
“I am voting for Obama because I believe in social equality for everybody, including homosexuals and women. I am a woman, and I think that Mitt Romney as a president would not be really good for my social reproductive rights.”

Cristian Martinez, 19, Sophomore
Photo By Ethan Leavitt
“I will be voting for him because he is pro-immigration, and I am a strong advocate for that due to the fact that I am from Mexico.”

Phoebe Bartlett, 19, Sophomore
Photo By Ethan Leavitt
“I really agree with a lot of his health care policies, and I also don’t agree with the voucher system that Romney supports.”

Nick Koop, 19, Junior
Photo By Ethan Leavitt
“The way he appeals to the middle class makes the most sense for mine and my family’s financial situation. That’s the main thing I look at.”

Captain Molloy Interview

Captain Robert Molly of the BUPD busy at work ensuring our campus is safe
Photo by Ethan Leavitt

Elizabeth Warren Rallies at BU

Elizabeth Warren addressing over 700 supporters at Morse Auditorium at Boston University
Photo Courtesy of USA Today

By Ethan Leavitt

BOSTON – Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren rallied more than 700 people at Boston University’s Morse Auditorium Saturday morning. This comes in the same week that Warren and her opponent, Republican incumbent Scott Brown, released their first attack ads of the campaign.

There was not a seat to be had as college students, middle-aged people, senior citizens, and even a few toddlers thrown in there packed the auditorium at the first rally of the fall for Warren.

“Scott Brown isn’t a bad guy, he takes some good votes,” said Warren.  “But when it gets tough, when it comes down to the big votes that matter to working people across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, too often, Scott Brown has been on the side of the millionaires and the billionaires.”

In her fifteen minute speech, the consumer advocate addressed several voting blocs, including students, elderly people, women, and the unemployed and told them how she would fight for them, unlike Brown.

“Women!” Warren said, addressing one such group to applause. “Scott Brown voted against equal pay for equal work and voted to block women’s access to insurance coverage on birth control,” referring to Mr. Brown’s vote against the Paycheck Fairness Act and his support for the Blunt Amendment, which would have allowed employers to keep birth control out of employees’ health insurance plans.  “Me, I want to go to Washington to fight for women,” she continued, bringing the men and women to their feet.

Warren concluded her speech by presenting the essential values of the two major political parties, stating that the Republican vision could be boiled down to this: “I’ve got mine. The rest of you are on your own.”  Democrats, she said, “are a better people than that.”

Alleigh Marre, Brown’s press secretary, criticized Warren’s speech in an e-mail response.

“These are more negative attacks from Elizabeth Warren,” Marre said.  “This is another case of her not being honest with the people of Massachusetts.”

John Gee, a senior citizen and long-time Democratic voter who attended the rally, disagreed.

“I don’t necessarily like Scott Brown. I think he’s a faker,” he said.  “I think Elizabeth Warren is more for real.”

Recent college graduate Dana Edmunds also spoke highly of Warren’s speech.

“She was amazing, incredible,” Edmunds said.  “She is the type of woman that is a role model for all of us who need a voice and need to speak out.”

Massachusetts congressman Mike Capuano and Governor Deval Patrick also attended the event, giving Warren ringing endorsements before she made her speech. Capuano spoke about the tremendous impact this election will have and how people must vote for Warren.

“We need to remind people what’s at stake, how serious it is,” Capuano said.  “I need you. We need Elizabeth Warren.”

Patrick followed by contrasting Brown’s inconsistency by presenting Warren as a standup candidate.

“I want somebody who is going to say when the cameras are turned on, to you and me, that they’re there for you and me and then not turn around and cast Tea Party vote after Tea Party vote,” Patrick said.  “That is why I am with Elizabeth Warren.”

Up next for Warren is a face-to-face showdown against Brown in the first in a series of four scheduled debates beginning on September 20.  Asked if she was ready for that, she coyly answered, “Of course not. It’s only Saturday.”

[30]