EARLY BIRD SPECIAL, 2
SAVE THE FISH, 5
BARRY BONDS, 9
ARIZONA AT AGGANIS, 10
BU welcomes the early decision class of 2023.
Ruth Thurstan gave a seminar on declining marine ecosystems and fisheries.
A baseball legend continues to be snubbed from admission to the Hall of Fame.
Men’s hockey will play two games against Arizona State Friday and Saturday.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2019
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Shutdown impacts BU researchers, students
VIGUNTHAAN THARMARAJAH/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Bunker Hill Monument, a Boston National Historic Park, is closed due to the partial federal government shutdown.
BY MIA CATHELL
DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The United States’ partial government shutdown, which began on Dec. 22, 2018, has halted numerous academic opportunities across Boston University, an institution that receives federal funding. Jennifer Grodsky, BU’s vice president for federal relations, wrote in an email that a number of university faculty and students have been affected by shuttered federal agencies. “BU researchers who are awaiting word on whether they have won federally-funded research
grants from federal agencies like the National Science Foundation and NASA, which are currently closed, are also impacted,” Grodsky wrote. Students participating in internships based in Washington, D.C., such as at the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency, cannot begin until the federal departments reopen, Grodsky wrote. “If the shutdown continues,” Grodsky wrote, “federal science agencies will delay their peer review of research proposals and will struggle to address the back-
log of research grant applications when they reopen.” This will lead to delays in awarding new grants, which BU faculty and students rely on to conduct their scientific work, Grodsky wrote. Masha Kamenetska, an assistant professor of chemistry and physics, is conducting research to measure the electron conductivity of DNA molecules. She said her funding is still active during the shutdown, as it was allocated in the budget earlier this month, but that a grant she submitted for review is being put on hold by the NSF.
“Delaying and shutting down all these federal agencies is not good for anyone and certainly is not good for science,” Kamenetska said. Additionally, Kamenetska said that she proposed Monday to purchase an optical tweezer, a scientific instrument that uses a laser beam to manipulate small particles, for the science department to be shared among professors. If approved, the project would begin to receive funding in July, but with the delay in the shutdown, the starting date is unknown. “All of this throws delays and uncertainty into our work,” Kamenetska said. Although this is only a partial shutdown, Grodsky wrote that she was worried about the consequences of its record length, which has now lasted for 33 days. “There was a 16-day government shutdown in 2013, which unfortunately took scientific agencies months to recover from,” Grodsky wrote. “While this shutdown is partial – many agencies are still operational – it is unprecedented in its length. I am very worried that even when the affected agencies reopen, it will take quite some time for their operations to return to normal.” R. Glynn Holt, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, said NSF asked him to serve as an investigator on a panel that reviews proposals in his field. The day-long event was scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., this Friday. However, Holt said the panel was canceled due to travel issues and websites being CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
YEAR XLVII. VOLUME XCVI. ISSUE I
Government workers get early benefits BY NATALIE PATRICK
DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
In light of the partial federal government shutdown, the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance began issuing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for the month of February early to eligible employees that are not being paid. Brooke Karanovich, director of communications at the DTA, wrote in an email that 93 percent of SNAP clients at the DTA received their benefits early. “Due to the partial government shutdown,” Karanovich wrote, “the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) issued February SNAP benefits early between January 17 and January 20 to the vast majority of SNAP households.” Karanovich also wrote that the SNAP benefits that were issued early must last until the end of February, as clients will not be receiving another payment for the month. A Jan. 17 press release from the DTA stated that the U.S. Department of Agriculture funds SNAP benefits. A USDA press release published on Jan. 8 instructed states to give out the SNAP benefits for February before Jan. 20. One in nine Massachusetts residents received benefits from the SNAP program, according to DTA’s release. New applicants and cases
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Class explores urban issues Boston Common to receive $28 million BY DAMIAN WALSH
DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston University students in the Kilachand Honors College will have the opportunity to make a difference in communities across the state in a new global health program called MetroBridge this year. MetroBridge was created by the BU’s Initiative on Cities and seeks to make connections between university classrooms and the wider world to solve real public health crises, according to their website. Emily Robbins, the program manager for MetroBridge, wrote in an email that the program was created in order to give students a way to have an impact on Boston-area communities outside of campus. “MetroBridge was created in response to two pressing needs— one is that students are eager to impact their local communities and apply the skills they’re learn-
ing to real-world situations, and the other is that cities are always looking for new solutions to big challenges,” Robbins wrote in an email. The program has projects across Massachusetts in seven cities and towns including Chelsea, New Bedford and Providence. The scope and nature of these projects varies from exploring homelessness and housing insecurity to analyzing the effects of airplane noise congestion. “Our goal is that MetroBridge will not only have a positive impact on the local governments we work with, but also help students understand how the skills they’re building can be applied in the real world,” Robins wrote. Cities could use MetroBridge in different ways, such as to uncover new policy ideas, survey residents to better understand CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
BY JULIA SULLIVAN
DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced plans Jan. 17 to allocate $28 million for improvements to the Boston Common, the oldest park in the United States. The funds for the project were generated by the recent sale of the Winthrop Square Garage in Boston’s Financial District, a space which will be turned into a building. Liz Vizza, executive director of the Friends of the Public Garden — an advocacy group that cares for the Common — said in addition to the $28 million that has been directed toward improvements for the Common, Franklin Park will also be granted $28 million. Additional money from the sale of the garage will also be allocated for public housing projects, Vizza said. “If this money is coming to the park, we need to do a master plan so that the money can be thoughtfully
SERENA YU/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced Jan. 17 that $28 million will be granted to improve the Boston Common.
and comprehensively used for the best future of the Common, and it needs to be a robust public process,” Vizza said. Though the Winthrop Square Garage lot has been sold, Vizza said she is concerned about the impact the new building would have on the sur-
rounding greenery. “We opposed it because we didn’t want to have the threat and the impact of shadows on the turf and the trees,” Vizza said. There are two state laws that were put into place in the 1990s to CONTINUED ON PAGE 4