The Student Government Association would like to give a few updates for this week. Congratulations to all of the final nominees and winners for the SGA Awards.

Everyone who attended the LEAP conference, we hope you are able to take back useful information and apply it to your organizations this upcoming year.

Tomorrow there will be no SGA meeting. We encourage everyone to go to Ramily Reunion. This will be held on the 9th floor of 73 Tremont from 12:00pm-2:00pm. Enjoy free food, prizes, and arcade games. You can also stuff and make your own Rammy! Don’t miss this fun event, and enjoy this annual end of the year celebration.

Our weekly meetings are every Thursday in Donahue 311. As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at sga@suffolk.edu

Have a great week,

Student Government Association

Dr. Kermit Gosnell – have you heard of him? If you haven’t, I wouldn’t be surprised. There’s been a virtual blackout regarding Gosnell’s murder trial and horrifying “business” practices. That said, you most certainly should be hearing his name incessantly given the case against him.

Although news has been trickling through as of late, the perfect story for an all-out media blitz has been left by the wayside. There are many questions swirling around in regards to why the media has ignored the subject.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell ran a shady abortion clinic, in a rundown section of Philadelphia, known as Women’s Medical Society. What went on in the clinic was anything but acceptable, under any circumstances. It is outrageous to think that despite numerous inspections and brushes with medical disaster, the facility operated for years.

Gosnell was responsible for numerous late-term abortions, with many running well over the 20-week maximum set by Pennsylvania state law. Regardless of your stance on the issue of abortion, this isn’t even the offensive part. In many cases, the baby would actually be born, or labor would be induced in order for birth to occur. At this point, Dr. Gosnell would insert a pair of scissors into the live baby’s neck and then cut the spinal cord.

This alone would seem enough to brand Gosnell a monster, but sadly it seems only the tip of the iceberg. The feet of aborted fetuses and babies were kept in jars as memories, equipment was never sterilized, drugs were used copiously and without proper training, and some patients were so severely injured by Gosnell’s procedures that one even died.

So just where is the media on this? Many suspect that there is a general fear by the media that the issue is too anti-abortion for their own comfort zone. This appears potentially plausible, but the story has even been absent from right-wing media. Regardless, the issue is well beyond the moral implications of abortion.

The issue at hand is that there are potentially hundreds of cases of murder against Dr. Gosnell, but a great deal of evidence has been destroyed and even illegally disposed of. So how did it get to this point?

What allowed this to happen?

Documents show that numerous complaints have been filed, inspections failed, and cases ignored outright. And yet, it took years for Dr. Gosnell’s insidious operation to be shut down and have him brought up on charges. There appears to be a complete lack of regard for safety, laws, and human life, all in the name of laziness and politics.

In an attempt to stave off pro-choice political attacks, inspectors often let deplorable operating conditions slide and eventually ceased inspecting all Philadelphia abortion clinics entirely. The safety and lives of thousands of women and newborn children were put in harm’s way because it was politically expedient to simply not find faults in abortion clinic procedures. This leaves me stunned that there was zero accountability to be had for any party involved.

In addition, reports and complaints were filed but never followed up on or acted upon due to a disregard for the safety of anyone seeking Dr. Gosnell’s treatment. It is unthinkable that anyone – especially in the case of one woman who was killed with too much anesthesia – could let a case slide and expect it will sort itself out.

It is time for people to face their jobs and complete them. Suspicious and dangerous operations need to be alerted to the public, and this also requires the cooperation of the media. Let us not forget that sick individuals like Dr. Kermit Gosnell are out there, and they must be exposed.

Eyewitnesses interviewed from almost every news outlet on Monday commented on how quickly Boston Police, on-scene medical staff and volunteers responded after the bombs detonated. Any injury to come from an attack as cowardice and malicious as what happened Monday is too many but without the efforts of police and others, circumstances could have been much worse.

By the time news broke about the fire at the JFK Library, I had already heard from a friend of a friend that police and firefighters were on-scene dealing with the incident. When news broke about possible threats at Brigham and Women’s and Tufts Medical Hospital, SWAT and local authorities were almost immediately on scene.

Emerson College was shut down by 4 p.m., hospitals told media to let people know they had plenty of blood due to donors and volunteers just hours after the tragedy. After racing 26.2 miles, marathon runners sprinted to local hospitals to donate blood.

Almost everything the city could have done to keep its citizens calm, it did and did well. Cell phone towers were shutdown to prevent remote detonation, public transportation was shut down to prevent people being outside and Copley Square was locked down. All of these actions weren’t immediate, but they each happened in a timely manner that certainly helped calm and protect the city.

President Obama has had to make far too many speeches during his presidency in the wake of a tragedy, but he said it best when he told America that “Boston is a tough and resilient town. So are its people,” before assuring whoever did this will be brought to justice. He couldn’t have described New England’s most notable city any better.

I, like plenty reading this had friends or loved ones down at the finish line to enjoy what is always supposed to be a joyful day in Boston. I’m happy to say nobody I knew was injured. While I count myself lucky to say that statement, it wasn’t all luck that made this possible. If there weren’t so many people ready to volunteer, help and serve Monday, I’m not sure if luck would have been enough to keep as many people’s loved ones safe as there were.

Boston has been stereotyped and characterized as a less-than-friendly city, even ranked the No. 5 rudest city by Travel and Leisure; none of that was on display April 15. I read a story of a Boston University student helping aid an injured child and her mother. More than 1,200 people offered their homes to those who needed a place to stay that night. Suffolk sent updates to students’ email and phones all day long. The local media didn’t speculate about Al-Qaeda being behind this, instead just simply giving viewers the latest news. The city’s retiring Mayor left his hospital bed where he was recovering from a broken leg to address his citizens.

Boston will not enjoy the happiness it did the morning of April 15 for some time but make no mistake, it will be a united city.

Only minutes after initial coverage started, a CNN guest started inaccurately accusing the attack on Al Queda and saying it was an international terrorist attack. Even with no evidence to support her claims, the CNN host did not do anything to inform the viewers that this statement was only speculation. Not only was this coverage irresponsible, it induced additional fear into the viewers that foreign Al Queda terrorist are on American soil, bombing our citizens.

Also on CNN, another guest accused “right wing extremistS” for that attack claiming that because it was Tax Day along with numerous other ridiculous claims. Once again, the CNN host did nothing to clear the statement as speculation since there was no true evidence of any suspects or causes for the blast.

The NY Post also had other numerous false claims on the incident. At one point in time, they reported 12 deaths from the explosion while all other news sources were only claiming two deaths (this later rose to three casualties). Along with the falsely reported death numbers, IT also reported that a Saudi National was being held in custody at a local Boston Hospital that had been “identified as a suspect.” The Boston Police Department repeatedly disclaimed this report saying they had no advances on any suspect but that they had been questioning as many people as possible that had information on the blast.

Aside from the false reporting and false accusations, Twitter was in a constant uproar reporting more “suspicious packages” found all over the city of Boston. This reporting kept citizens and visitors in an unhealthy constant state of mind and fearful of what else can come. Of course this was a very frightening and uncomfortable time for the people in the city. We were already scrambling to get a hold of friends and loved ones to make sure they were not hurt in the initial blast and to reach out a welcoming hand for those that were affected but because of these unreliable reports, our own safety was uncertain.

I fully trust that our Boston Police Department and the FBI have full control of this situation. Our city is probably safer today than it was yesterday and we are all here doing our part to keep it that way. Once events like these are politicized, it ruins the importance and influence it has on our daily lives. Accusing one another and obsessing over why this happened or who did it, doesn’t solve anything. I know as citizens, we have the right to know what is going on in the world around us, but when did it get to a point where sources are reporting false information for the sole fact of satisfying people and getting more re-tweets?

Twelve hours earlier, I had been hanging out in the alleys of Harvard Square before heading to the Sinclair to see the Pennsylvania-based band Pissed Jeans, a band which has consistently put on some great performances. I had been speaking to my friend Adric about Boston: I’ve been seriously thinking about moving to the west coast after visiting San Francisco with the Journal and being impressed. Oakland, in particular, had captured my imagination: what a perfect example of the type of community and solidarity between neighbors. “Planet Oakland,” as they called it, was the opposite of what Boston felt like at the time. The DIY music community was thriving, but eventually the law got in the way and forced what were once safe-spaces hosting friendly gatherings to shut down. Before Monday, this was on my mind more than anything else.

Once inside Forum, I decided to turn back around and hike up a block to Walgreens, where I purchased lens cleaner, cloth, and a pouch of pistachios. On the way back, I made quick eye contact with former Journal editor Derek Anderson, who was helping a runner’s family decide which Apple product to buy. I thought about finding him later in the afternoon, and as I walked back into the restaurant I ran into Adam XII, former-WFNX and current RadioBDC DJ. He greeted me smiling, asking how I was. I told him about the frustrations of navigating around the Marathon site, and he concurred, noting that a similar thing had happened to him a couple of years ago.

Then, I went to work. And, decided to smoke a cigarette five minutes later. Great work ethic, huh?

As we walked out the back door of the bar, I took out a Marlboro Red and raised it, touching my lips. Lighting it, I looked down both ends of Public Alley 441. It was pretty barren.

An hour before the blast, Alex Pearlman and I posed in the party booth machine.

When you take photos for an event, it can be trying getting everyone into the frame. I had asked four women if they’d like to be on RadioBDC.com, which they promptly gave positive reactions to. Sammy, the dog, was just lying in the window with her head down. Of course I got her seldom look in the photograph. I took down the four names, from left to right, and walked to the far end of the second floor, where I quickly snapped a picture of the runners on my phone from above, and tweeted it.

Seven minutes later, I stood by the front of the bar behind a table with mixing equipment on it. Alex Pearlman, also a former Journal editor and current employee for the Globe and RadioBDC, was nowhere to be seen. I peered down at my phone to lookup NBA news, as I hadn’t since the Mavericks went over .500 the night before.

A flash went off in the front of the restaurant. At least that’s what I thought; I hadn’t been the only photographer there. A second flash went off along with a huge boom.

“Get Down! There’s a gun!”

I couldn’t see, there was so much smoke. Glass blew by my face. A pretty heavy-set guy, I was the easiest target in the room. I had to get out. I couldn’t see Alex Pearlman anywhere, and in the pandemonium, I took the first chance I could to push the table forward and jolt out the back door. Those fifteen seconds or so have become a blur. I had never felt total hysteria before. Quite a sensation, it split my brain and my body, and without much processing, I felt my body move like I was jumping from one side of a mosh pit to the other, into a friend’s chest — but instead it was the side of the bar. I hadn’t even thought about the bag I left, the cherished lens I’d had since I was 16, or the ATM card I had just opened a tab with. It was survival or nothing.

Public Alley 441 was no longer the devoid strip of asphalt in dire need of repairs. Instead, it became a stream of runners without bibs, and instead with infants, fathers, partners, mothers, and just about any type of person you could think of. Thankfully, there was enough room to jolt down the street without having to crawl over another person, although I cannot say that for every other location. It was then that I realized this wasn’t a gunman — this was a widespread catastrophe in the Back Bay.

I began to shoot people running before I spotted Pearlman through my lens. Within a minute, we were racing around the corner and onto Boylston, into the action, to do the best we could at what we do, report the news.

“Something’s seriously wrong,” I thought to myself. “Your job is to find the facts, be skeptical, and do everything to not exploit the situation.” The Metro desk at the Globe picked up Pearlman’s phone call.

“What happened?” she asked, but the person on the other line could only ask her the same question. “A bomb went off at the marathon, at least one. People are running around crying, wondering where to go.” That was the first moment I realized that this was a terrorist attack. I quickly texted my mother that I was safe and turned off my phone to save battery.

The next ten minutes were spent taking as many photos of the scene as I could without getting in the way. That was the most important thing: do not, in any way, obstruct someone trying to help. The police were expanding the perimeter, and as I tried to tell them I was press, one officer told me to “F*** off, I don’t care who you’re with.” Of course, he was right — I should have never even asked. I told them that I respected what they were doing and that I’d do anything I could to be neither seen or heard while doing my job. The officer nodded and ran off to get the next barrier. This was a terrorist attack. I put the camera down and looked around. It hasn’t left my mind yet, the gruesome scene. It wouldn’t be right to try to describe other peoples’ condition in this editorial.

For the next twenty minutes, my phone was back on and became a livestream that the Globe had been actively trying to get spread, except the termination of cell services in the area had crushed it to the point of no connection, and in turn, left me with one percent battery life.

We found Chris Faraone, former staff writer for the Boston Phoenix, who I had worked with during the lead-up to the death of Andrew Breitbart a year ago. He was coming to meet us when the explosion happened. Standing on the curb with face in phone, he was tweeting like a machine, figuring out as much information as possible. One of my roommates, a pedicabber who was working down by Mass Ave, reached us to check in before heading back to the South End bike shop.

Adam XII and the rest of the RadioBDC staff were standing close to their van on Newbury Street when we finally reached them. Before long, Garrett Quinn, of Mediaite and Reason Magazine, appeared out of nowhere. Pearlman, Faraone, Quinn, and I started to walk towards Commonwealth Avenue where the marathon route had been diverted.

One older man, who had been running in the race, walked up to us. His face was blank as he explained that his wife and family had been sitting on the bleachers next to the finish line, and that he hadn’t heard from any of them since the morning. Quinn took out his phone and texted the number the man provided. His eyes were in terror for ten minutes before she texted back that he should come home, they were safe. The terror turned into tears of relief.

Lola Bar on Commonwealth Avenue had become our home for the next hour or so. Journalists seemed to pile in, as it was as close as we could get to the scene. We found few power outlets and a 4G netcard to attempt to send the Globe the photos taken. No luck. Too slow. Deval Patrick and Ed Davis spoke from a hotel on the other side of Boylston, and as we watched, shushes attempted to shut up the drunkards raging about 9/11 in the back corner.

Anxiety about getting the photos out set in, and before long Pearlman and I were on our way down the mall, up Beacon Street, and onto Temple Street, where we quickly lit cigarettes and decompressed for five minutes. We had frequently shared cigarette breaks at this spot right in front of Donahue, but this time was different.

If you had the opportunity to help, you did. Random volunteers raced down the street with wheelchairs and water. Bostonians offered up their homes, cars, and communication devices to complete strangers. Restaurants offered free food and drinks to anyone dislocated. As the Boss sings on last year’s album Wrecking Ball, “we take care of our own.” I don’t have to move all the way to the west coast to experience Oakland, because this is “Planet Boston,” when it needs to be.

Thank you to the SUPD officer who we pleaded our case to after showing our expired student IDs, for allowing us to get into our office. This office has become my absolute comfort zone in the past five years, and while my mental health was struggling to grasp what had just happened, I could relax a bit while looking around at the memorabilia collected on the walls of D537.

I entered Suffolk University during the last few months of the Bush administration. I covered the 2008 and 2012 elections. I was here during the forced resignation of President Sergeant, and virally f’d up the first issue with President McCarthy on campus. (Yea, sorry about that.) I’ve seen Seriously Bent get funnier and funnier. I’ve seen the College Republicans awesome care package drive become the most popular, successful event on campus.

It had never once crossed my mind that I would be spending my last night on the staff of the Suffolk Journal, as its editor-in-chief, after almost 100 issues, covering a terrorist attack which, if I was fifteen feet closer to the street…who knows.

I love you, Suffolk, and although I may be hot-headed at points, you’ve treated me well. You’ve given me so many opportunities and allowed me to meet so many people who I cherish. It is terrible that this happened in our city, but life will continue. Fear is meant to destroy your faith, don’t let it.

On Tuesday, April 2, the Associated Press made a major change to their universal writing style guide restricting the use of the term “illegal immigrant” because of its offensive nature. They also will be stressing the importance of limiting alternative terms such as: “undocumented immigrant” and “unauthorized immigrant”. The problem with this is pretty obvious; these immigrants are in the United States illegally, undocumented, and unauthorized so if we aren’t allowed to refer to this large amount of people as such, how do they propose we identify them?

According to the statement made by the AP Vice-President and Executive Editor, Kathleen Carol, the term is being restricted to ensure AP’s responsibility “to use the most precise and accurate words so that the meaning is clear to any reader anywhere.” Instead of using the terms, journalists should describe the action the person is committing rather than accusing the person of an illegal act in a label. To me, this statement is a little contradictory because these people are committing an illegal act and the label is describing their action.

In my opinion, this has nothing to do with my views on policy or the proposed immigration reform plan. I am 100 percent for a reasonable plan of changing the immigration regulations and creating an easier path for those that are currently here illegally. I do however, think that changing this term, is limiting the seriousness of the situation and somewhat making it seem like the people it refers to are not doing anything wrong.

Our country would not be what it is today without immigration. We are all immigrants from somewhere and our ancestors went through much turmoil to achieve citizenship in America in hopes of a better future for themselves and their families. The illegal immigrants that are here today are going through the same turmoil and challenges but changing the term we refer to them as, in the press, does not change the fact that they are committing a crime.

Seriously, he has touched every neighborhood in Boston, helping open up shelters, parks, and encouraging programming for citizens of all ages. He’s helped spring-up businesses across the peninsula and beyond, even opening up the entire waterfront neighborhood to exciting new ventures. Menino, within his first few years, refused participation in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade because of the exclusion of LGBQT groups. As you’ll recall, last year, he spoke out against Chick-Fil-A, whose owner is a well-known bigot, while they tried to secure a restaurant license in Boston. Today, our City Hall proudly displays a pride flag.

Menino, along with Allston-native Michael Bloomberg, helped co-found Cops Against Illegal Guns, which has grown exponentially since it’s inception in 2006. He’s encouraged the reduction of gas emissions, helping bring countless LEED-Green certified buildings to the downtown area as well as in neighborhoods. The list goes on and on. Menino has been the model big-city mayor, there’s no doubt about that. Say what you will about him, but he’s done more good than bad for the city of Boston. Perhaps the greatest threat he’s brought upon the city is the security culture, initially set up in 2004 when the Democratic National Convention came to town. There are CCTV cameras everywhere you look.

So, what names will be filling our pages next semester if they survive the summer? The only three candidates declared are: Councilman John Connolly, former candidate for councilman Will Dorcena, and former BPD officer and radio station owner Charles Clemons.

Clemons, who runs Touch 106 FM, has previously been pursued by the FCC for illegal broadcasting. Clemons, who saw the current law as unfit, then walked from Boston to Washington D.C. for what he believed in. Since then, Touch 106 FM has become a huge voice for the black community in the area and has touched the hearts of many with its community programs and benefits.

Councilman Connolly launched his campaign with an event including local band Bad Rabbits. The band had played up the ranks through basement and loft shows, which the Boston Police have recently infiltrated and taken down. Who knows if Connolly would give them preferential treatment? His image is supposedly hip and fresh, and wants to replace the “culture of cynicism” with a “culture of opportunity,” especially when it comes to Boston Public Schools. He’s the type of guy who wants to challenge the status quo, to see outside of it to reveal the underlying problems.

Finally, there’s Will Dorcena, who lost a bid for Councilman in 2011 after spending the entire race complaining that no one would listen to him. He entered the race to end the “dictatorship,” as he saw it, of Menino. Now that that’s for-sure over, Dorcena will have to make his platform apparent — since it’s available hardly anywhere. He does, however, have a very passionate and decorated past, serving as director of the New England Press Association and the Ford Hall Forum.

Good luck to the three men in the race so far! We encourage all of you to stay connected and informed on this race and register to vote for November!

The Student Government Association would like to give a few updates for this week. The finance committee had their budget allocations meeting this weekend, therefore by now you should know what your budget is for the school year 2013-2014. If you have not received an email or you have any questions please email Martha Alvarado.

Next Tuesday we will be launching the “Take the Stairs” campaign; encouraging students to refrain from taking the elevator to go up a couple levels and take the stairs. This is to alleviate the traffic jam at the elevators. If you have any questions feel free to ask any SGA senator you see around campus.

The Leap Conference will be held April 12th-13th in Cape Cod this year. If you are part of a club make sure you register on SU Connect by Friday, April 5th. At least to executive board members are required to attend. This conference will help prepare new e-board members for their roles this upcoming year.

Our weekly meetings are every Thursday in Donahue 311. As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at sga@suffolk.edu

Have a great week,

Student Government Association

Marriage equality is an issue that has pressed on as one of the most passionate debates of our time over the last decade. On March 26, the Supreme Court held an oral debate that could greatly change the tide depending on the route our figureheads chose to take.

Proposition 8 was initially a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment passed in November of 2008 which stated that only marriage between a man and a woman could be considered valid. Five years later and that debate presses on all over the country, with Prop 8 being synonymous with both loss and with the want and the will to fight on.

A debate was held Tuesday for people to voice their opinions on legalizing gay marriage. This time, though, there wasn’t just the general public calling for change and progressive movement. There were voices from higher up and from both sides of the aisle recognizing the need to reassess preconceived standards that the United States has held for far too long, without question or complaint.

Amongst those whose opinions were heard was Senator Clair McCaskill from Missouri, who wrote, “My views on this subject have changed over time, but as many of my gay and lesbian friends, colleagues, and staff embrace long term committed relationships, I find myself unable to look them in the eye without honestly confronting this uncomfortable inequality.”

Senator Mark Warner from Virginia added his name to the growing list of Democratic senators who were endorsing gay marriage, but the one whose name had been mentioned of late is Rob Portman – the first ever Republican Senator to endorse marriage equality.

The reasons are abundantly blatant: the cons against marriage equality are frighteningly archaic, and those who oppose it have taken to their repetitive dribble about why marriage equality would ultimately be detrimental to our beings. Marriage is for conception they say: well what about the women who are barren and will never be able to produce their own children? It’s healthier for a child to grow up with a mom and a dad: what of the households with abuse, neglect, missing parents, and single moms? Marriage is a religious right: says who? This opposition did exist, such as Washington layer Charles Cooper, who has taken the strategy of defending his case by saying why move forward when we’ve been stuck one way for decades?

Well Mr. Cooper, without change, without reflection and review the U.S will never grow at the standard at which the society and its people deserve.

We’re actually lucky enough to be living in a day and age where our President and Vice President can openly say that they fully support marriage equality, and yet the fight seems to press on.

Prop 8 may not be the most monumental case to ever reach our Supreme Court, and even if the decision goes in the progressive direction, the LGBTQ community still has a ways to go before they’re truly and equally represented by the state of law. However, what’s important to note is that in general, the side of the Left needs to win Prop 8 and the call for a repeal has been an ongoing battle that progressives and liberals flock to as a mean to shout their anger and those of whom who wish to oppress and control for no other reason than general and systematic hate.

Although the hearing was March 26, the official ruling at this point in time may not be disclosed until as late as June.

There’s also that whole “Prop 8.” and Defense of Marriage Amendment slacktivism going on. You know: when no one gives a damn about anything until they see their friends on Facebook or Twitter doing the same thing. (Example: Kony 2012) See, changing your profile photo a few days out of the year to show you support something might seem pro-active to you, but really you’re just clicking a button. What percentage actually reached out to a lawmaker? How, other than clicking a button, did you help the cause? But really, why are we still arguing about who people are allowed to love? If a pair of people admire each other to the point where they would enjoy spending the rest of their lives together, why deny them the same legal benefits that “traditional” marriages receive?

From the 14th Amendment: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Every person has the same rights, because every person is equal. What are the arguments against gay marriage? I mean, what are the valid arguments against gay marriage? Don’t try to push the whole “disruption of the fabric of space” or “the bible is against it” muck. Thanks for trying, but your stubborn reasons prove that you don’t know anything about human history, only the (mainstream version) of the “Christian era.”

Why are people still against gay marriage? Because there are hateful communities that band together to ostracize anything that’s not in their element. Because children take after their parents, even when their parents are god-fearing hate-mongers. We’re sorry if this offends you, but thinking someone else is lower than you because of their lifestyle, choices, or especially because of something they were born into, is the most offensive thing on the planet Earth.

For God’s sake, there are people protesting the funerals of soldiers!

There’s no way to be objectively journalistic about this.

The Student Government Association would like to give a few updates for this week. Congratulations to everyone who was nominated for the SGA awards.

Last Wednesday, March 20th, we co-sponsored with Program Council to bring Rachel’s Challenge to Suffolk University. It was held at the C Walsh Theatre where Rachel’s brother spoke about her life. Rachel was a student killed in the Columbine shootings in 1999. Thank you to everyone who attended and showed their compassion and contribution to help stop bullying.

Tuesday we co-sponsored the Relay for Life dinner. It was held in the Donahue café, where it was suggested for a $2 donation at the door, where the money will be donated to Relay for Life. There was a great variety of food like Caesar salad, sautéed zucchini, a pasta bar, and much more. This was for a great cause, and we would like to thank everyone who attended and donated.

Are you always late for class, especially in the Sawyer building because you’re waiting too long for the elevator to arrive? Why not try taking the stairs. SGA will be launching the “Take the Stairs” campaign soon to alleviate the traffic jam at the elevators. To contribute to this, take the stairs so there is less traffic at the elevators; it is a great initiative that will contribute to your healthy lifestyle.

We hope you had a good week back from spring break, and are catching up in all your classes.

Our weekly meetings are every Thursday in Donahue 311. As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at:

sga@suffolk.edu

Have a great week,

Student Government

Association

Micro-units are essentially studio apartments with 400 sq. ft. or less of personal living space, and they’ve already been commonplace in many of Asia’s most-crowded cities for years. In places such as Manhattan, where housing is scarce and rents are astronomical, zoning regulations typically prevented such units from existing. Struggling to meet demand in New York City, developers have recently and successfully attempted to change or bypass laws limiting their ability to shrink the size of new units.

While micro-unit apartments certainly have some role in Boston’s future and can potentially satisfy a niche market, the forum felt disingenuous and seemed out of touch with the city’s actual development environment. Right off the bat, attendees were staring face to face with a fierce marketing campaign attempting to convince them that micro-units were the new “in” thing and a necessity.

The phrase “Small is Sexy” in big, bold letters immediately caught my eye – I couldn’t help but feel as though I was being sold something by some company’s marketing department. Clever phrases were repeatedly inserted into the conversation by city leaders, including such misnomers as “Innovation Housing” and “Creative Units.”

Suffolk’s President McCarthy was the first to speak as he introduced the event, and quickly quipped about there being a precedent for micro-units: in New York City. While Boston may certainly have some commonalities with New York City, there is one major difference as far as building new residential units. Boston has a plethora of vacant, undeveloped, and underdeveloped parcels of land littering the city which means that the market for decently priced normal-sized units can easily be satisfied.

Kairos Shen, Director of Planning at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, insisted that micro-units were merely a market response to Boston’s housing situation. Shen, however, never once acknowledged that the city continually gets in the way of significant development and places onerous regulations on new construction.

For example, parking requirements for downtown units – which have prime transit access and are within walking distance to ample amounts of amenities – make no sense and drive up prices unnecessarily. Meanwhile, haphazard building height caps continue to reduce what developers can supply. While these are typical of just about every city, Boston is arguably still one of the most restrictive cities and requires a great deal of political clout and connections to get proposals approved.

Tamara Roy, Senior Associate Principal at ADD Inc., recommended that the key to reducing rents was to simply shrink units. It is incredibly perplexing that rather than continually adding on to our zoning codes, each panelist suggests we continue to complicate our codes and attempt to centrally plan how new residential developments are going to look in order to keep rents lower. Then, in complete contradiction to the reduced rents statement, Roy went on to say, “[Micro units] aren’t cheap, but they’re the cheapest we have.” To me, this highlights a major problem: micro units are supposed to be cheap!

ADD Inc. had also determined that the city needed to encourage universities to house more of their students in order to dial back the demand for units. The city was absent, however, when Northeastern University recently struggled for months to get construction started on a dorm. If the city truly wants to reduce rents and benefit residents instead of the connected developers, there needs to be a massive attitude change at City Hall and an overhaul of how new project proposals are processed, in addition to simplifying and relaxing zoning codes.

The forum wasn’t a total loss though, as Kairos Shen introduced the theory that successful micro unit buildings require a vibrant neighborhood, rather than lavish-albeit-cramped units. Shen also touched upon the lack of three-bedroom apartments for families, stating that there was a need to increase supply and reduce rents for all unit types across the board.

While the overall impression from the forum was that developers are using clever marketing to pull a fast one in order to “pack ‘em and stack ‘em” and turn over more profit, there were many important issues highlighted. Although it is disheartening to think that micro units could become the mainstream rather than a niche market, it was great to see the tremendous efforts which some were making in order to innovate and improve the city.

Millennium Partners LLC is scheduled to begin renovating and restoring the Burnham Building (more commonly known as the Filene’s Building) in Downtown Crossing this summer. The project will be followed by the construction of one of Boston’s tallest towers since the John Hancock was built in 1976.

Not letting an opportunity go to waste, the Downtown BID has told all of Downtown Crossing’s pushcart vendors they’ve got to go. The alleged reasoning behind the decision was that construction activity would require the vendors to move elsewhere for the duration of the project.

The BID was designed and appointed by Mayor Menino, with the intent of placing a voluntary fee on all downtown businesses in order to maintain the quasi-public agency tasked with keeping the area clean and lively. Soon, the fee became mandatory for all downtown, and now, it has become apparent that too much power was gifted to the group.

Realizing that simply allowing the pushcart vendors to move to other locations nearby made too much sense, the BID – in all its brilliance – deemed it the perfect opportunity to weed out the vendors they did not want. The option will be given to apply for a permit in the new pushcart program being designed by the BID.

However, there is no guarantee that any of the vendors will successfully attain a permit, or that they will be able to remain in the hollowed out retail Mecca. For years, the pushcarts provided merchandise, food and produce, and friendly interaction to the thousands of pedestrians which flow through Downtown Crossing every day – even now, during the neighborhood’s darkest hours as retail vacancies are running at their highest rates ever.

Despite a stalled project leaving a torn building and a gaping hole at their backs, the vendors persevered in keeping the streets active and welcoming. But now, with the fate of the neighborhood suddenly looking brighter, the BID is attempting to shut down these small businesses in order to maintain a sterile, corporate feel.

If the goal is to keep people out of the streets and make Downtown Crossing less interesting, the BID is doing a fine job. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but the real intent behind the Downtown BID should be to improve the area in order to attract the most pedestrians, tourists, and new residents and companies as possible.

Mayor Menino did come out to blast the plan, even giving a 60-day extension to the current pushcart program before the BID’s plan goes into effect. However, the mayor should have realized the BID was wielding too much power at its inception. Curbing the agency then would have been a smart move, but instead they were simply given more power with the mandatory tax on all downtown properties.

The time is now for Mayor Menino to put an end to the dissolution of the vendor program, reign in the BID’s power, and see to it that Downtown Crossing flourishes. For far too long the city has let this neighborhood struggle, and it is never time to allow small businesses be terminated.

As the ominous fog constantly poured over the hills, we took to the streets to explore as much as we could within the four-day period. Our Managing Editor, Alex Hall, finally got to visit the headquarters for Turner-owned Bleacher Report, for which he is a featured columnist. Thanks to Mark Smoyer, Creative Manager at BR, for allowing us to take a tour of the offices and for sitting down with us to discuss post-graduation options. It meant a lot to us!

Also thanks to the city of Oakland for showing us what an active community really means! During February’s monthly First Friday street fair, a young man was murdered. As we walked from the BART station towards the March 1 fair, groups of people wearing bright green shirts reading “Respect Our City” marched towards what we can only explain as an experience. Oakland, home to student protests, the Black Panthers, and the harshest Occupy battles, is an incredibly united city, priding itself on acceptance, equality, and solidarity. If only our city could bond together like Oakland. Even Mayor Jean Quan walked around talking to everyone she could. Thank you to Verbs, a member of the FMLY, and the rest of the city of Oakland.

The hills of San Francisco will give you blisters, but the view is worth the climb. The Haight-Ashbury district, full of homefree travelers, can offer you more thrift stores and niche shops than your parent’s bank account can afford.

Finally, in addition to our Editor-In-Chief Ethan speaking on a panel, the Journal has once again brought home an award. This, tenth place Best-of-Show for a small school newspaper website, is our sixth nationally recognized award since 2010. We are very proud of our staff for helping dominate and innovate the college journalism field yet again — our current website has been noted for its increased mobility as well as it’s unique international coverage.

We hope you continue to read and support us! Here’s to San Diego 2014!

The Student Government Association hopes everyone had a relaxing spring break. Here are our updates for this week. We would like to congratulate the newly elected Executive Board members, President-Elect Billy (William) Cerullo, Vice President-Elect Vito Gallo, Secretary-Elect Geraldin Batista and Treasurer-Elect Tyler LeBlanc.

We would also like to Congratulate the newly elected senators; Senator-at-large for diversity – Rebecca Jeannick Ndawana, Senator –at-large for Residence Life – Reycine Thomas, Senator-at-large for Commuters – Kingsley Njoku, Senator-at-large for college of Arts and Sciences -Daouda Wague, Senators-at-large open seats are Isatta Coomber and Diana M. Harte.

Congratulations to the class senators; Senators for class of 2014 are Jenny Trieu, Eda Tuzunatac, and Ariella Bennett. Senators for class of 2015 are Haley Ford, Jake Pitochelli, Rakan A Alzaydi, Riley Sweeney, Katherine Desrosiers, Beverley Kwong, and Nicholas Teske. Senators for class of 2016 are Alyssa Perry, Colin Loiselle, Aldiana Mujanovic, Justin Pires, An Wang, and Julianne Jeha.

If you would like to become a member of SGA, you still can. All you have to do is show up to three consecutive meetings and get voted in as a member at large by the board. We hope you all had a great spring break and are back in the school motion.

Our weekly meetings are every Thursday at 1:00pm in Donahue 311. As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at sga@suffolk.edu

Have a great week,

Student Government Association

Still trying to figure out if you switched over to network news or if you are playing Modern Warfare? One could easily confuse the two, considering the current hype being slandered by local and national media over the drone program. It seems drones have become an American staple over recent weeks, and perhaps there should be a postage stamp series honoring the protection they provide as the new wings of this country.

Senator Rand Paul, the libertarian from Kentucky, found himself in a ridiculous position on March 6, 2013. The situation demanded he filibuster the confirmation of President Obama’s nominee for CIA director, John Brennan. Sen. Paul’s primary argument concerned the ambiguity of the administration’s drone program policy, wherein it mentions the use of domestic drone strikes against Americans on American soil. Paul stated, “The President is Judge, Jury, and executioner,” demanding that a formal outline be presented as to the extent the President is intending to authorize domestic drone strikes.

It was unfortunate for the senator to be in such a position in the first place, but forced by an obligation to the people and filled with conviction for receiving tax dollars, he challenged the administration and utilized the classic, “there isn’t enough oxygen in this room for the two of us” routine. Sen. Paul stood for hours, and he did not stand alone. In fact, Rand was relieved by others from both sides of the aisle including Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon. They stood outraged, making a near mockery of themselves and the entire American democratic process on behalf of popular sentiment, all because the Administration could not cross their t’s and dot their i’s.

The American people cannot hold the government’s hand every step of the way when addressing an issue that is as obvious and plain as can be. Thankfully for Kentucky that day, Rand Paul was there to make that sentiment vocal. But was it really necessary? Don’t we expect an administration to be a little more self-sufficient and get the document right the first time? Did the sequester cut into the office supply budget for paper?

There are no civil liberties under the Bill of Rights that imply citizens would allow the killing of an American in a non-time-of-war situation without due process, on American soil, or international soil for that matter. America supports the right to a fair trial, innocence before guilt, the right to competent representation, and all of the civil liberties that make this country free, democratic, and just. There is no suggestion of potential needless bloodshed with an unmanned aerial vehicle. The American democratic process is so beautiful, it has even spread to other countries, with America paving the way in the preservation of human rights.

The American people have too much invested in institutions of checks and balances, Second Amendment Rights, and state and local authorities to ever allow a situation to exist within this country. The drone program is no different than loading any of the super sonic military fighters in our arsenal with a payload and flying it anywhere in the world. What is so special about a drone that it can be used to exterminate someone when a manned jet or a missile could do the same thing, and we already know standard protocols and rules of engagement have been established in various international agreements? The American military has elite units specially designed to get captured Americans out or to capture enemies and bring them to International Criminal Court. America has in some ways wrought and in others been forced into accepting the responsibility as the most powerful country in the world; most notably, after the advent of the nuclear bomb.

But what happens when the supposed good guys cut corners and allow one of their main targets, Saddam Hussein, to not be tried in International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. America and the international community violated cruel and unusual punishment protocols– protocols it helped to establish — when it allowed the hanging of Saddam Hussein. What was to follow was water boarding, extraordinary rendition, and American-born terrorist Al Anwar Alwaki annihilated in Yemen in 2011, due to a drone strike. Next step: drone program America?

If the CIA director and the administration itself are willing to delve this low, it clearly shows an inability to accomplish their task of ensuring due process to its constituents and Paul’s filibuster couldn’t have been more warranted! Days leading up to the filibuster allowed plenty of time for clarification to be made over the specific intended use of the domestic drone policy to the public, but none came. At the cost of hard-hit Washington egos, the filibuster and the polls echoing throughout the Country send a clear message and the American democratic process remains strong.

Local residents caught wind of the plot and were able to threaten to hold-up the project unless some changes or assurances were made. The fear was that residents of the building would still own vehicles and simply park them on local roads where spaces are already few and far between.

The developer, Sebastian Mariscal, promised that he would require all residents to sign an agreement to not own a car in order to quell the fears of local car owners. However, area residents remained skeptical and would not budge from their position that parking must be required.

After going through nearly a year of preliminary permitting with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Mariscal caved last week and decided to include a 40-car parking garage underneath the new apartment building. Despite this, prospective residents are still required to agree to not own a car in exchange for leasing an apartment.

The debacle highlights some serious problems in city planning and permitting, and begs the question as to why there isn’t serious reform of the development process in Boston. The fact that this developer was forced to conform his own project on his own property to the will of other residents is rather alarming, especially when it is simply in regards to parking requirements.

If the city of Boston and the Boston Redevelopment Authority were seeking to improve the city, they would recognize that projects such as this are beneficial to the city’s future and would remove the hurdles in the way. Instead, Allston’s – and many other neighborhoods ripe with walking, cycling, and transit options – will continue to have parking minimum requirements.

Any developer who seeks to provide cheaper residential units and lessen Boston’s reliance on the car will continue to face stiff opposition from self-entitled neighbors and ill-advised city agencies. The Union Square area has major bus routes running through it, is a short walk to the Green Line, and will even have a new commuter rail station down the street.

There is no need to twist arms in order to require parking when alternatives to cars are so plentiful. In addition to this, the neighborhood itself is rich with retail within reasonable walking distance. With little need to hop on a bike or a bus for a long haul, the parking dilemma becomes even more perplexing.

Due to the changes in the development, Mariscal will be forced to charge higher rents due to the increased construction costs. There will also be an addition of parking to the area, inviting more traffic to the area, along with the pollution that comes with it. Perhaps one day the development process will give fair treatment to all developers and residents, rather than putting power in the hands of a few naysayers.

***TRIGGER WARNING***

In the media frenzy surrounding the controversial Steubenville, Ohio rape case, many people find themselves bashing not the rapists themselves, but the reporters commenting on the story and sometimes sympathizing with two of the boys themselves. And I can’t help but find myself hopping on that bandwagon.

For those unfamiliar with the case, two Steubenville teens were found guilty on Sunday for raping and illegally distributing photographs of a West Virginia girl after she passed out from alcohol intake during a party. Many people in the community came to the defense of the two boys because they were stars of the high school’s football team, and therefore could not have committed such a heinous crime. Of course they could have, they even uploaded a 12-minute YouTube video (Google it if you want to see the lowest form of human) laughing about the incident and calling the girl in question “deader than OJ’s wife.” Someone’s social status never excuses them from committing a crime, and just because they may not have known what they were doing was bad, that does not mean they should not receive punishment.

But members of major press organizations seemed to have forgotten that fact. In a CNN report following the sentencing of the two boys, the reporter on scene almost seemed to feel bad for them. She stated that she found it “incredibly difficult” to watch them be sentenced. She made a point of saying that there was alcohol involved at this party. She chose to point out the fact that these two boys were great students and great athletes before giving news of their sentencing. She inserted a bit of how one of the boys went over and apologized to the family of the young girl. She even went as far as to mention how one boy’s father showed up to the case and hugged him, and said he loved him; something that the defense attorney says he had never heard him say before.

All of what was just listed above is not needed. Absolutely none of it pertains to the main fact that these two boys were sentenced for sexually assaulting a girl. Is it important to say that these were young men? Sure. But they made a conscious decision that night to do something heinous and wrong, and they knew it was wrong. But pushing all of that aside, it is not the job of any journalist to sympathize with them during a news story. Was she allowed to sympathize with them? Sure. But is she allowed to sympathize with them when reporting what should be an objective news story? Not really, no. And the sad thing is multiple major news organizations have reported this story in a similar light to what was just put above, though CNN probably did it the worst. Not to mention, they released the victim’s name on air — something that will surely come with a lawsuit soon enough.

I’m fairly certain a few murderers have wept during their sentencing, but very rarely do we have to point out the fact that their lives were ruined because of their conscious choice to ruin someone else’s. And that’s the exact same treatment these boys should be receiving. The simple fact of the matter is objective, neutral press organizations should not be jumping across the courtroom to pat the back of a convicted criminal and apologize for the situation they consciously put themselves in.

As some of us may have watched, The American Conservative Union hosts an annual convention to spread and inspire conservatism across the state by inviting key conservative leaders and members to engage in conversation and activism; this convention is called the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and it took place last week from March 13-16. An organization called GOProud, a gay-friendly conservative group that promotes conservative values and is openly a supporter of gay marriage rights, was officially uninvited from the conference due to other attended organizations’, and donors’, dislike for GOProud. Although the organization was banned, this did not stop the Executive Director of GOProud, Jimmy LaSalvia, who was invited by another group to participate in a panel at the conference. Another surprising twist in this story is the results of individual polls done by outside organizers of the members attending CPAC and their opinions on the ban of GOProud. With over 60 percent of attendees being between the age of 18-29, about 80 percent of those asked thought that CPAC was wrong to have uninvited the group.

These numbers are not too surprising when considering new Pew results released Wed., March 20, regarding new attitudes toward gay marriage. Of those asked in the recent poll, 49 percent of the total population are in favor of gay marriage. When broken down by demographic, Millennials (born in 1981 or later), responded with 70 percent in favor of gay marriage.

The support for this issue is exploding at rapid numbers and public support is now being represented in those who have the chance to influence the issue the most. Both Senator Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio, and former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton went public with their announcement of support for gay marriage. Senator Portman, a former co-sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act, took to his local newspaper to announce his change of position which was inspired by his gay son. Portman, saying he has looked at the issue from a different perspective: “that’s of a dad who loves his son too and wants him to have the same opportunities that his brother and sister would have.” As for former Secretary Clinton, during a speech about human rights in Geneva, she expressed hope and support for gay rights causes across the world and inspired everyone to be “On the right side of history.”

Although some people want to still consider this a difference of political party issue, it is not. It is a solid human rights issue affecting everyone across the nation no matter what political party you belong to. Support for the overturn of DOMA is now higher than the support to keep the act in legislation. The government has no right to tell someone who they can or cannot love and it is great to know our homosexual community is no longer alone in the efforts to ensure their right to marry.

Phi Alpha Tau – which boasts itself as the oldest communicative arts fraternity in the country – is in the process of raising money to help a transgender brother complete his transformation surgery. With a goal of $2,000 and a total surgery cost of $8,100, the fraternity has already raised approximately $14,000 as of Tuesday night with 40 days still left on the Indiegogo campaign.

Donnie Collins – whom the fundraiser is intended for – was born a woman, but began identifying as transgender at the age of 17, according to BostInno, and he began hormone treatments just fourteen months ago. Donnie tried to cover his Top Surgery (breast reductions and chest reconstruction) under his insurance plan, but the company declared it was not covered.

In light of the insurance company’s rejection of the procedure, the men of Phi Alpha Tau leapt at the chance to help out in any way they could. Donnie was in the midst of pledging to join the ranks of the fraternity when the devastating news came in.

“I felt really horrible finding out it was denied,” Donnie Collins said to BostInno. “People were so supportive and considerate of what I was feeling, though, and they raised money to fund my surgery.” Bravo, gentlemen!

Such brotherhood is – unfortunately – a rarity and I cannot commend the men of Phi Alpha Tau enough. One of the fraternity’s leaders in setting up the fundraising campaign, Chuck Bergen-Aragon, called the effort a “prime example of supporting brothers, and that’s what frats are about.”

While a perfect example of how fraternities are supposed to represent community and support, the mainstream view has unfortunately been tainted by less-savory frats. Take, for example, the Boston University fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi, which found itself up against the law for hazing charges. The charges stemmed from an incident in which police discovered five prospective members taped together and covered in condiments in the fraternity’s frat house basement.

The incident, which occurred early last year, came on the heels of another incident involving another of Boston University’s fraternities: Sigma Delta Tau. The incident involved three new fraternity pledges being “taken to the hospital because they were so intoxicated,” according to FOX News.

The cases involving Alpha Epsilon Pi and Sigma Delta Tau are unfortunately the stereotype of how most Americans expect college fraternities to behave. Luckily, Phi Alpha Tau is here to show us all is not lost. While I suspect fun and games will continue to trump serious community building efforts at most universities, I hope this story serves to inspire further action from our peers – not just for our neighbors at Emerson, but here at Suffolk, and at the thousands of colleges across the country.

Hold your heads high, Phi Alpha Tau; you’re changing a brother’s life and filling so many with hope. This is just what our generation needs: people to take charge and lead the world towards compassion, understanding, and equality for all.

It has been eight years since the Xbox 360 came out.

Some blame it on the recession, others on the increase of online access for home consoles, allowing for smaller updates to extend the shelf life of a game. Fact is, it has been way too long since a new console hit the market and the industry has suffered for it. A new generation brings creativity, it allows developers a chance to try new things and evolve the medium. When the life of an old console gets stretched, developers have no choice but to rehash old gameplay mechanics in fear that starting a new game property so late in the cycle will make their product seem stale once the new hardware hits the market.

With the Wii U hitting shelves this past holiday season, Nintendo pulled a Sega Dreamcast moment and decided to deliver their goods a little bit early and slightly underpowered compared to what we have come to expect with the new systems. Frankly, the Wii U only helped Nintendo catch up to what other manufacturers were already producing graphically. The one year head start will only make the games seem dated by the time Sony and Microsoft show up, so publisher support is key to keeping the console afloat.

Last week, Sony had its fifteen minutes of fame, announcing the highly anticipated PlayStation 4. Instead of actually showing the console, they opted to tell us what new features it will have and had developers stand on stage and give us concept videos on what their games might look like. To be fair, Watch Dogs and Destiny did show some gameplay footage, though both these titles had been announced prior. Killzone Shadow Fall looked mad impressive but until I get my hands on it, I don’t believe what I saw was gameplay, considering their previous overstatement with the second game in the series.

A highly touted feature was the all new “Share” button in the all new controller. It will record the last ten seconds of gameplay and let you annoy your friends with your pointless gaming achievements. While this feature is a godsend for the YouTube community, I don’t see it making the new PlayStation a must buy. Furthermore, the addition of a touchpad similar to the Vita across the front of the controller seems like an awesome feature, once they tell us what they plan to do with it.

In the end, the PlayStation 4 announcement came off as kind of rushed. I understand Sony’s need to capture their audience before the overwhelming chaos of E3, but not showing proper gameplay or a fully realized console just fell flat. Either way, your current PlayStation games will not work on it, nor will your old controllers, so if you want to keep up, better line up in the cold lines this November. The recession is over; throw your money at the screen.

Perhaps this is a surprise to you: the image of the “student” in Boston has been stained over the past few decades by relentless partying, sexual misconduct, and apathy towards everything. Yes, this is a stereotype. Unless you’ve developed relationships with your neighbors, they probably have nothing else to go on but stereotypes. We’ve already had a staff editorial about this before, when Suffolk students were the cause of new legislation in the Boston City Council which made anything legally a “party” when a third person walked into a room of two. Remember when the Boston Police and City Council decided that there would be greater sanctions on to students and 20-somethings, throughout the city, who repeatedly cause distress to their neighbors through loud parties? No, you don’t. None of you showed up to the hearing which was dominated by North End families. Landlords now have a greater responsibility to fine, warn, and eventually evict you. Neighborhoods are starting to refuse younger tenants.

Apathy of the consequences of relentless partying comes to an end when you’re in handcuffs and Suffolk has been notified. Why should Suffolk have anything to do with your private lives? You agreed to it when you were apathetic about reading such a long document and just clicked the “read it” box. You were even so apathetic that Congress decided to allow any American citizen to be detained indefinitely without trial.

Listen, you’re not immortal or indestructible. You’re human and you’ve decided to go to college. Yes, there are so many movies you’ve seen where college is a wonderland of alcohol, sex, and drugs. Hate to break it to you, those movies suck and will give you an unrealistic perception of reality. Jeez, you’re paying how much money a year for an education? Yet you still think screaming and bumping your Macklemore (because if your friends listen to one thing this semester, it’s Macklemore) in a neighborhood of families doesn’t matter? That sounds like a sense of self-entitlement. You are NOT entitled to anything except basic human rights, something which not all humans today even have.

This quickly turned into a rant, apologies if you feel this might be us “talking down” at you. But you need to realize that if you choose to live in neighborhoods with people who have to work all week (every neighborhood,) you need to live up to the community standards. This is all Suffolk really asks of us students. Be respectful as well as mindful. Yes, it is a bad idea to turn your speakers all the way up after midnight. No, whatever emotional or physical state you’re in will not be a sufficient excuse when you’re throwing cans off the roof of 28 Fleet St. (FYI: That roof has the best view of Boston ever.) Yes, it is a good idea to talk to your neighbors, exchange info, and encourage them to contact you when your get-together starts to impede on their peace. That’s how you become what we like to call a “good neighbor.” It doesn’t hurt.

The Student Government Association would like to give a few updates for this week. This past week, initiatives provided funds for the International Affairs Association, so they can attend their conference that will be held in New York. We would like to congratulation Justin Pires for becoming a senator for the class of 2016.

Furthermore, this week was the meeting that was mandatory for all the students that are running for a senator position next year. Good luck to everyone that is running! The packets were due Tuesday, February 26th at 5:00pm. We invite the Suffolk community to join us for Open Forum, a very important event for the Student Government Association.

There have been a few minor changes to the initiative by-laws. If your organization is planning at coming in front of the Finance Committee to request an amount for an event, make sure the by-laws are read and you are familiar with them.

This week will be Open Forum for the candidates for 2013-2014 Executive Board. Please join us at the C. Walsh Theatre this Thursday at 1pm.  This is your chance to ask the candidates anything you would like!

Save the date for SGA elections on March 4th through 6th. This is when you pick the students that you want to represent you. SGA will be tabling in the Donahue lobby and Sawyer café on Tuesday, March 5th, stop by the table and get free Pinkberry. SGA will also be tabling in the Residence Halls during elections, be on the look out!

As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at

sga@suffolk.edu

Have a great week,

Student Government

Association

That’s correct — according to a recent email, some users may be party to reparations in a pending class action settlement against Facebook. The Action claims “Facebook unlawfully used over 150 million users’ names, pictures, likeness and identities in ‘featured article ad campaigns’ on its site.”

Facebook, Inc. – a company that is still in its tentative stages after launching its IPO just five quarters ago – outpaced its expected growth estimates last quarter wholly due to revenue generated from advertisement. As such, a proposed class action directly targeted at marketing couldn’t come at a worse time for this volatile industry, especially when facing off against advertising giants like Google and Microsoft’s Bing.

But how far does this violation actually go? According to the Facebook Settlement Page, claimants can file for reparations only up to $10! Further, if the number of claimants exceeds a payout deemed economically plausible according to Facebook’s numbers, Facebook will give the money to a charity that educates people on proper online advertising techniques.

Is this to say that Facebook has placed a cap on the social cost of using personal information for its own profits? Are companies really willing to use someone’s face and name for its own margins and then scrape out of finding the quantitative cost-per-click payout it rightfully owes to its constituents? It makes one wonder if Facebook did their homework before testing in the open market and begs the question: Do people really gain enough satisfaction from Facebook that they are willing to forfeit potential monetary gains and privacy rights violations?

Over the years Facebook has accepted the role of pilot in the Web 2.0 era – carrying us from its inception in 2004, to the present landmark of mobile use outpacing desktop use in a single quarter. Everyone agrees that Facebook has been a sensation, piggybacking on the advent of the “dot com boom,” but at some point reality has to kick in.

A little review of the stock’s performance is enough to knock out some of the hype and see where the stock settles, or worse, that no market exists at all. Facebook’s Initial Public Offering of $42.05 came just ten months ago on May 18, 2012. It closed the day down $3.82 to finish at $38.23. Although the stock did top out at a whopping $45 throughout the day’s trading, it continued to close at a steady decline until hitting its lowest of $26.82 in September. Currently, the stock has been trading in the $27-$29 range, but topped at $32.46 a month ago. The majority – and I do mean majority – of Facebook’s revenue came directly from revenue generated through advertisement.

Facebook employs a targeted marketing platform for firms, small businesses, and individuals to advertise to specific or non-specific demographics by employing advance data correlation techniques desirable to attract commerce. Options exist as to how these advertisements are portrayed and the advertiser is charged according to the campaign criteria selected. The case involved, Farley, et al vs. Facebook, is allowing any person featured in a “sponsored story ad campaign” prior to Dec. 3, 2012 to file a claim as party to receive a proportion of a single $20 million payout by May 2, 2013. This is where it gets interesting: If the settlement is approved, the court will enter a Final Order and Judgment, dismissing the case with prejudice, meaning that it cannot be filed again and remember if too many people file, Facebook will simply throw the money into a charity.

Let’s get serious: if Facebook admits that it featured an advertisement with a picture of someone and their name next to a company or product without their consent, and somebody clicked on that advertisement as a result, that person should be entitled to a portion of the money received by Facebook from the advertiser. But wouldn’t that ruin Facebook? I mean, if I am on someone’s page and there are advertisements on the sides of the screen, isn’t that the same thing?

I could be on any of the 644 million active websites comprising the webscape, or I could be utilizing my time shopping at the mall, but instead I am looking at pictures of family. If those pictures were available on a family website and there were advertisements, doesn’t the owner of the site receive the profits from clicks when someone is attracted to their site as a result of their individual unique creation?

In the same way, how can we ever hope to define the separation between a person’s name and their picture in such a way that person is not entitled to advertising profits for clicks while viewing their information? If this is the case, maybe Facebook doesn’t just owe you one check, maybe – according to our evolving democracy – Facebook owes you a check every month or every quarter for a portion of the profits due to clicks while someone was attracted to your site. Do you think this sort of change in the market will create a positive effect, evolving Web 2.0 into the next phase, whatever that may be? Could committing to put Constitutional rights first cause a modification of Facebook and the industry that could only result in improving real-world performance?

This past Friday, the Massachusetts Department of Education issued an eleven page directive affirming rights of transgender students. This will provide guidelines for educators on how to uphold the identities of transgender and gender non-conforming students.

As outlined, transgender students must be allowed to use restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities that correspond with their gender identity and must be permitted to play on sport teams with the gender that they align with. Any person, student or otherwise, who deems it appropriate to purposefully use an incorrect pronoun or names as a way of deliberately harassing a transgender student will be subject to punishment and disciplinary action.

These rules and regulations were given a second look after the state’s 2011 anti-discrimination law was taken into review in order to include transgender students. Transgender youth advocates are in deep support of the movement, hoping that this will allow aid for the confusion surrounding teachers, students, parents and administrators on how to conduct and take part in a safe and giving environment, inclusive to all students, transgender or not.

There will undoubtedly be backlash from the dependable right-wing individuals who wish for the traditional and restrictive to power on – but for now this is a wonderful step in the right and progressive direction.

Being the long suffering and silent group of the LGBTQ advocacy, it’s time for their plight to be recognized and for action towards equality to be taken. Where better to start than in the school systems? School K-12 is ideally where children and teenagers alike go for a sense of safety, but for too long, many of the LGBTQ students have felt a sense of danger. As of late, there has been much change for gay, lesbian, and bisexual students, and now Massachusetts has set a model for every other state to follow.

It’s all the more impressive when you consider outside sources. Although Hollywood likes to proclaim itself as the progressive mold, a group of individuals always a step ahead of the rest, they have an unfortunate history of using derogative words such as “tranny” in regards to transgender characters. David O’Russel – a director who reportedly molested his transgender niece and then blamed her surgery for the event – was just this last Sunday welcomed at the 85^th Oscars, where he was nominated for Best Director for his film Silver Linings Playbook.

As a society, people like to label, and box in, and make sure everything has a specific spot in which they fit with other like-minded people. Transgender individuals, and transgendered youth especially, tend to raise an eyebrow on those of whom have yet to accept the idea that not everyone is going to fit into their pre-conceived notions.

If there is still a judgmental world awaiting these high schoolers now, in four years’ time, at the very least make sure that those years of puberty and emotional turmoil aren’t inflected by any more anxiety than necessary. Massachusetts is setting an example. With articles being published about the difficulties of transgender employees, with Oregon being the first state to include them in Medicaid, it’s difficult to see where we’re headed and whether it will be for the better or worse. But for now, we have to congratulate our state for being one of the few that will deliberately and assertively take action with the crisis of keeping transgender youth safe and happy.