Through its ruling, the Supreme Court left him with a $675,000 fine for illegally downloading and sharing 30 songs.

Since the Supreme Court denied his petition without comment, Tenenbaum said the case will continue through the U.S. First Circuit District Court, but may not conclude soon.

“I’m continuing to live my life as if this weren’t a major distraction,” he said in a phone interview. “The legal system has a history of righting its wrongs, but so far the results have not been encouraging.”

Tenenbaum, who has been studying for his doctorate in statistical physics for the past six years, said he does not have the hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay the fine.

When he offered $5,250 to Recording Industry Association of America, which is what they initially asked for in a settlement, they denied it, asking for more than $10,000, he said.

“I didn’t reject attempts to compromise,” he said. “I’m just trying to do right here.”

Tenenbaum said the RIAA’s claims that he continued to illegally download songs, blaming it on sisters, houseguests or burglars, was “nonsense.”

“The whole process is one of enormous intimidation,” he said.

When the case went to court in 2009, Tenenbaum was ordered to pay $675,000 by the jury, he said.

Though a federal judge decreased the fine to $67,500 in 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit revisited the ruling in 2011 and reinstated the original fine, according to an article published by The Boston Globe on Tuesday.

“If a song costs 99 cents, I don’t see how it could be worth $22,000 if it is distributed,” Tenenbaum said.

The appeals court remanded the case to go back to the First Circuit District Court, he said.

Since the Supreme Court denied Tenenbaum’s petition, he said the case will go back to the First Circuit District Court.

“We are pleased with the decision,” said RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy in a phone interview.

Tenenbaum said he never thought this would be the result of downloading a few songs, which he said could also be recorded off the radio.

“If you double-park your car, you expect to get a ticket, but you don’t expect to get a $1 million fine,” he said.

Tenenbaum said he is not hopeful for a quick conclusion to this case.

“We can only hope they will reduce the amount to something reasonable, which $675,000 for 30 songs is not,” he said.

The Xultun lunar calendar, roughly five centuries older than previously discovered Mayan calendars, was recently discovered, according to a Science Magazine report released Thursday. The calendar debunks the prediction of an apocalypse in December.

A team of BU researchers and students confirmed these findings during an archeology expedition in northeast Guatemala. The research team, which was studying the ancient Mayan ruins, uncovered a well-preserved room containing vivid murals and a ninth-century Mayan lunar calendar, the oldest evidence of precise astronomical measurements among the Mayans.

The Xultun mural is significant because of its old age and astronomical precision, according to Science. However, the mural is important for a number of other reasons.

First, it raises questions as to why scribes began to write on walls instead of in books. One theory, according to the release in Science, is that the tiny room where it was found may have been an “office” dedicated to the practices of Mayan scribes. The room, which is located along the outskirts of the Maya site, may have been a meeting place for these scribes to complete their work.

William Saturno, one of the lead researchers of the expeditions and an assistant professor of archaeology at BU, has come up with another theory.

“I don’t know for certain as to why [the calendar] is there,” Saturno said in a phone interview, “but I think it was probably copied to the wall as a matter of reference.”

He believes Mayan scribes created these murals out of convenience. Rather than constantly opening and closing books, scribes copied important information to the walls to have it handy.

THE MAYANS: LIFE PAST 2012

Aside from detailed symbols and pictures, the mural contains another set of numbers that weakens pop-culture’s interpretation of the Mayan’s supposed 2012 “end of the world” prediction.

The Mayans, whose lives revolved around a multi-faceted calendar system, measured time through a variety of cycles, including a 144,000-day one called a “baktun.” It was once believed that the Mayans predicted the world’s end with the conclusion of the 13th baktun, which falls at the end of December 2012.

However, Mayan experts have dismissed this apocalyptic interpretation, explaining that the conclusion of baktuns mark the end of current cycles and the emergence of new ones. This new find at Xultun further reinforces that the Maya’s conception of time was not finite—the new calendar extends 17 baktuns, about 2,000 years past 2012.

“I never bought into any of the end of the world predictions and never really know what I should trust,” said Jeanine Ilacqua, a sophomore in the College of Communication.

Ilacqua said she feels this discovery will ease the concerns of “dooms-dayers” who believe the world will end in December of this year, she said. “It does bring a new perspective to be considered.”

WHAT THE TABLES REVEAL

While researchers, such as Saturno, are still trying to answer the many questions created by the Xultun find, they said the murals suggest scribes had sophisticated knowledge of astronomy and mathematics as early as the eighth century.

“It’s really our first glimpse at what the scientific process in this century is like,” Saturno said.

“We never got to see what scientists, mathematicians and astronomers in the eighth century in the New World were doing. This is what they’re writing and thinking about. I think that’s pretty cool.”

In an attempt to answer some questions about the Mayan at Xultun, researchers are now analyzing the Xultun tables by comparing them to other Mayan monuments at different sites. They are hoping to understand if mathematical concepts, astronomical understanding and calendars were centralized or if they were discovered independently in the different regions of the Mayan empire.

CORRECTION: This article originally cited an anecdote from a BU student on the expedition in northeast Guatemala. The information, however, was taken from a news story published by The Boston Globe without proper attribution. Additionally, the article originally stated the Xultun lunar calendar predicted an apocalypse in December, but the discovery debunks that theory. 

Bracketology pitted BU against Arkansas in the first round of play. Both teams got on the board early, each scoring in the second inning as BU tallied one run as Arkansas picked up two. The Terriers’ offense went cold for the next three innings while their defense struggled as well. An error by senior first baseman Melanie Delgado ultimately resulted in the Razorbacks’ third and winning run coming in unearned.

When the sixth inning arrived, it looked as if BU’s greatest opportunity to push for a comeback had presented itself. The meat of the order, sophomores Megan Volpano, Brittany Clendenny and Chelsea O’Connor were scheduled to bat.

Volpano led things off with a solo blast that brought the Terriers within one run of their opponents. However, Clendenny, who finished the year leading the Terriers in doubles (14), home runs (8), total bases (95) and slugging percentage (.549), hit a line drive directly at the right fielder. O’Connor then singled up the middle, but the next two batters were unable to advance her further than first base and the Razorbacks escaped with a 3-2 victory.

“They are a well-coached team,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik of Arkansas in the post-game conference. “Obviously we are playing up a couple of conferences, and I thought our kids matched up pretty well.”

BU’s second contest of the regional was certainly one that no player from either team will soon forget. The game lasted 13 innings, the longest of the season for the Terriers, and resulted in a 4-3 win for BU – the team’s only win during the tournament.

The Terriers drew blood first when O’Connor drove Volpano in with a single in the first inning. It took Iona five innings to get to sophomore pitcher Holli Floetker, but the Gaels added a run in both the fifth and sixth innings on two and three hits, respectively.

BU managed to keep the score even by scoring a run of their own in the fifth. This time, Volpano drove in classmate Jayme Mask who singled earlier in the inning.

During extra innings, Iona threatened first when it put up a run against relief pitcher, junior Whitney Tuthill.

But BU got a break in the bottom half of the inning when sophomore catcher Amy Ekart reached on a throwing error and advanced to third. However, it was the hustle of Delgado -who brought Ekart home on an infield single – that preserved the game for another four innings.

In the bottom of the 13th inning, O’Connor and junior Emily Roesch each reached on singles and advanced to third and second on a wild pitch. Ekart stepped up and drove O’Connor home to end the game just before it reached three hours in length.

Almost immediately after the extended match against Iona, the Terriers were forced to play No. 1 Cal. The Golden Bears had lost to Arkansas earlier and had no plans to suffer another defeat.

Junior pitcher Jolene Henderson limited the Terriers to just three hits and struck out 11. Cal took the win by virtue of the NCAA mercy rule, winning 8-0 in six innings.

In spite of the lopsided loss that ended the year, Rychcik said that he was content with the team’s overall performance this season.

“It’s been a great year,” Rychcik said. “We’ve beaten a lot of good teams and played well against a lot of good competition. We were able to come out here and represent our conference and school really well.”

Boston University graduates clap as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt takes the podium at BU's 139th Commencement, held Saturday afternoon on Nickerson Field. MICHELLE KWOK/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Standing before Boston University’s Class of 2012, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt told graduates although the economy is not good, they have a competitive edge.

“You have an innate mastery of technology, an ability to find, build, foster connections that no generation before you has ever possessed,” Schmidt said at BU’s 139th commencement at Nickerson Field Sunday afternoon. “It’s a very, very powerful skill that you’ve taught yourself.”

Schmidt told the graduates that their generation “is the first fully connected generation the world has ever known,” and that, as a result, the graduates have a responsibility to use that capability to solve many of the world’s problems.

“To connect the world is to free the world, I say, and if we get this right then we can fix all the world’s most pressing problems to beam bright rays of hope to millions who can see it as only a flicker,” Schmidt said. “You have that power right in your pockets or your pocketbooks right now.”

Schmidt said these new connections that students may make are not possible without a heart, which computers do not have.

“You have heart and the future will not beat without you,” he said.

College of Arts and Sciences senior Leila Belmahi, the student speaker, also addressed her classmates to reveal the “secret” of the senior class.

“When we were freshmen we thought that the seniors had all the answers. So here it is, I’m here to tell you the senior secret, and it is,” she said, looking all around, “that there is no secret.

The BU culture has always reminded each student to “be you,” Belmahi said, and BU is a special place that praises students’ diversity.

Schmidt urged the crowd to turn off their devices for just one hour a day. While he said he believes in the ability of the graduates’ generation to rule technology, they cannot let technology rule them.

“Learn where the off button is,” he said. “Take your eyes off that screen and look into the eyes of the person that you love, alright?”

Before Schmidt’s speech, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences senior Fernando Limbo III presented the class gift. In the Spring 2012 semester, seniors raised $60,080.

“This year’s class gift campaign was very special,” Limbo said. “With 2,408 participants, it was the most successful class gift campaign in BU’s history.”

At the beginning, BU President Robert Brown called for a moment of silence to remember the four BU students killed this year.

He also bestowed honorary degrees to former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Thomas Kelley, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Sandra Lynch and “Star Trek” actor Leonard Nimoy.

Nimoy received Vulcan peace signs from graduates in the crowd.

“The iconic status of Spock is above all a measure of your talent as an actor and your character as a person,” Brown said of Nimoy. “This is a role that you have not only played over the course of several decades but one that you have guarded and nurtured.”

BU School of Medicine professor Robert Lowe and Writing Program Curriculum Coordinator Marisa Milanese also received the Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching, a $5,000 award for finalists competing for the Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

Physics professor Andrew Duffy received the cup and prize, a $10,000 award.

Brown told the graduates that as they leave Nickerson Field, they join a long line of BU graduates that include some 300,000 living alumni.

“Your accomplishments will be part of the fabric of our legacy,” Brown said. “Your Boston University education has prepared you well.”

Brown urged the graduates to embark into the world and make a better place for everyone.

Schmidt told graduates to engage in the world around and feel, taste and smell what is right in front of them.

“Life is not lived in the glow of a monitor, life is not in a series of status updates, life is not about your friend count,” he said, “it’s the friends who actually you can count on.”

The plot is simple enough. Seven British retirees, listless for a potpourri of reasons, travel to colorful Jaipur, India to live in the eponymous Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, an attempt to chromatize their final years. Each character commences their own relationship with India, carving the narrative into vignette form.

Yet, the themes that unite the seven ultimately fosters a narrative of transcendental proportions. Impending death sharpens each character’s wit and sass, producing dialogue that is truthfully blunt, evidenced when Muril [Maggie Smith] explains that, “…at my age, I can’t plan that far ahead, I don’t even buy green bananas.” It’s as the seniors’ limited time injects a passion into every action, rendering these otherwise tired characters almost superhuman.

And of course, India, a nation whose belief in reincarnation settles a calm over the land, voices its own interpretation of death to the seniors, contextualizing the narrative.  Perfectly summed in the film’s repeated mantra, India explains that “Everything will be alright in the end. And so if it is not alright, it is not the end.”

The most fabulous component of Best Exotic, however, is the cast. The British stars, many seasoned by Shakespearean experience, provide charisma unattainable for younger actors who have not yet experienced life. Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith continually charm the audience, exemplified by one line from Nighy that invited immediate applause in one theatre. Slumdog Millionaire superstar Dev Patel as the hotel manager holds his weight too, delightfully adding the ignorance of youth needed to counterbalance the elders’ aged quips.

To the untrained eye, Best Exotic looks beautiful, in most part due to the vibrancy of India, the “assault on the senses” that India provides, as one character describes it. To those trained to notice filmmaking intricacies, Best Exotic looks gorgeous. Camera movement artfully mimics the chaos of Indian traffic crowds, as the camera bends over and around rickshaws to then find our characters. Cinematographer Ben Davis makes the bodies of water look like velvet and manipulates evening light to be particularly elegant, similar to his work in The Debt, another collaboration with Best Exotic director John Madden.

That said, the vignette structure isn’t always efficient. The overcrowded cast necessitates that characters weave in and out of the chronology of the film – creating quite a surprise when they reappear. Additionally, a few characters experience unnaturally quick changes in their character arcs, a result of the competition to share the silver screen.

Still, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel more than makes up for its characters chaos with colorful characters, gorgeous vistas, and spiritual enlightenment. Quite like the balance of India herself.

“I was a little confused because we had been told they would [release the names] on Friday,” Teller, who was a captain and chaser for BU’s Quidditch team, said. “I didn’t expect anyone to be contacting me.”

Teller had received a call from another national team hopeful, Allison Gillette. Gillette, who attends Emerson College, and Teller had made a pact that whoever saw the listing first would call the other.

“She gave me a call and said, ‘Go to your computer right now,’” Teller said. “I asked her if they released the team and she said, ‘I’m not saying anything go and get on the International Quidditch website.’ So I went and saw that I was on it and for the next half hour I was screaming.”

As a member of the national squad, Teller will travel to Oxford, England this summer to participate in the Olympic Expo Games. He is one of 21 first-string players from around the country that will make the trip.

“Honestly, I don’t think it hit me right away,” Teller said. “Obviously I was screaming and unbelievably excited, but I just didn’t even let it soak the fact that I’m actually going now, and I’m on the first national Quidditch team to ever be assembled.

“Now that I’ve sat and I’ve thought about it, I just couldn’t be happier. I’m proud and I’m excited and I’m honored… I’m going to do my best to represent BU and the country over there.”

According to the International Quidditch Association’s website, members of Team USA were chosen based on athletic skill as well as fundraising, organization and leadership ability. The IQA received 150 nominations – three of which came from BU – for the 21 first-string spots and 21 reserve positions.

BU sophomore keeper Brendan Stack made the reserve roster.

“I really think I’m just getting to show the world Quidditch and what it’s become,” Teller said on traveling to Oxford. “To this day, there are still people who don’t know what it is and don’t understand, and to have such a talented team go over seas to represent our country… We’re going to show everybody how far this sport has come and the athletic skill that it actually requires to do this sport.”

Teller was originally recruited to BU as a sprinter for the university’s track and field team. After his freshman year, Teller stopped competing as a member of the track and field squad and joined the Quidditch team.

Originally, Teller was not sure if Quidditch was something he would keep up with.

“I didn’t think I could get myself to run with a broom between my legs,” Teller said in an interview with The Daily Free Press on April 9. “But once I saw how physical the game was and how much fun it seemed, I decided to pick up a broom and try it.”

Since first picking up the broom, Teller has excelled on the pitch, participating in three World Cups, serving as a captain at two of them. Teller also held the highest total number of goals for the BU team in 2009, according to the IQA website.

Teller, who handled the public relations and media relations for BU’s squad, was also selected because of his abilities off the field. According to the IQA’s website, it will need to raise at least $2,000 for each player that is sent to the games. Consequently, those chosen will need to assist in the fundraising that will pay for their airfare, accommodations and uniforms.

“I look to the roster, and I know most of these people – maybe not personally, but I know them through Quidditch,” Teller said. “This is just the best team they could have put together and I am so excited to play with them.”

The student, who drove the vehicle that crashed and killed three students,  faces three counts of careless driving causing death and four counts of careless driving causing injury, according to a statement from New Zealand Police.

The student has been identified by news outlets as 20-year-old Stephen Houseman, a School of Hospitality Administration junior.

New Zealand police officials, however, could not confirm the name due to the country’s policy on name suppression, which allows the defendant to avoid being identified upon request.

BU officials declined to confirm the student’s identity.

Houseman has been asked to surrender his passport during the court proceedings, according to the statement.

The Police Serious Crash Unit ruled out drug and alcohol use by anyone involved, including the driver, as causes that may have contributed to the crash, according to the statement.

Once the case goes through court, the coroner will make the final determination about the cause of death, Kevin Taylor, a New Zealand policing manager inspector, said in the statement.

“We are very aware that this is an incredibly difficult situation, which has been traumatic for all those involved,” he said.

Taylor said police look into three factors that could have contributed to the crash — the vehicle, the environment and the driver.

“We have done that and determined there is sufficient evidence to lay charges against the driver,” he said in the statement.

This decision was not done easily, Taylor said.

“We understand the tragedy will already have had a significant impact on this young man,” he said. “However, we are faced with a situation where three people have died and others are seriously injured, and we must apply the law in an objective and dispassionate way.”

Meg Theriault, a School of Management junior  who was in the vehicle when it crashed, remains in critical condition at Waikato Hospital, but is breathing on her own, according to a press release by the hospital.

Theriault’s parents, Todd and Deb, have met with Houseman’s parents, they said in the press release.

“We feel their pain and he now has a journey of recovery much like our daughter does,” they said.

They said they understand and support the need for this case to go to court, but that it “could have been any of our kids” in the driver’s seat.

“This was an accident – all our kids were pursuing their dream. Nobody was intentionally doing anything that would harm anyone,” Todd and Deb stated.

New Zealand police could not be reached by press time.

BU officials declined to comment.

“When I landed on the mats and realized that the bar was still up, the most exhilarating feeling shot through my body,” Barwise said in an email interview on Thursday. “I have never been so excited in my life. I jumped off the mats and ran to my coaches… It’s a very unique feeling to work so hard toward a specific goal and have it be able to pay off. It’s pretty rare.

“I honestly surprised myself on that jump,” she said. “I wasn’t really expecting to make it because I had attempted it so many times without success.”

With her success, Barwise, who had the top jump in the ECAC Championship, qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials. The leap, which was second in the NCAA this season, gave Barwise an automatic ‘A’ standard for the trials and was just short of BU’s record.

“I knew ahead of time what I needed to jump to make the trials,” Barwise said, “so when I cleared the 1.87 I instantly knew what it meant… I was extremely excited at first and then it was somewhat overwhelming. It was my goal to make trials and so in clearing that bar and knowing I had qualified I was ecstatic.”

The Orange, Conn., native’s most recent accomplishment comes at the end of an impressive junior campaign.

“I have been fortunate to stay healthy and be able to compete well all season long,” Barwise said. “My indoor season also went really well and I think that gave me a boost of confidence heading into the outdoor season.”

Barwise held the best mark in the America East conference for the high jump, with 1.80 meters, and in the heptathlon, with 5014 points, during the outdoor season. Barwise then set a conference record in the high jump with a mark of 1.82 meters at the America East Championships.

She received the Coaches’ Award at the America East Championships as she had accumulated the most points out of any female competitor. Most recently, Barwise was named an U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association First Team All-American in the high jump after she finished fifth in the NCAA Championships with a jump of 1.81 meters.

“This outdoor season has gone extremely well,” Barwise said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better season so far, I just hope that I will be able to continue to do well through the post season.”

While Barwise is excited about her accomplishment, she said she now finds herself nervous as the thought of participating in the trials settles in.

“It’s intimidating to jump with athletes that are the top in the world,” Barwise said, “but I’m so grateful that I get this opportunity and the nerves that I have are good nerves and I am also still very excited.

“I need to just go and treat it as just another meet and opportunity to jump well. As long as I stay focused and jump how I have been all season there is nothing else I can ask for. This is going to be a huge learning experience for me and I can’t wait to see how everything turns out.”

Ultimately, Barwise said that she would be pleased with nearly any of the outcomes of the trials.

“I will be happy with just about any result,” Barwise said. “[It] is just such an honor to even make it there.”

Photo by Marisa Benjamin

Charming pianist and whimsical lyricist Regina Spektor brought her manic-pixie-dream-girl wonder act to the Orpheum Theatre on Thursday night in support of the release of her sixth studio album, What We Saw from the Cheap Seats.

Prior to her last album (2009’s Far), Spektor often performed solo, filling in her own percussion in the form of a drumstick-on-wooden chair or microphone tapping and throat noises. This past Thursday, however, Spektor performed with a backing band that included a full drummer, cellist and synth player.

The overall effect of the band gave the show a fuller sound, with the same fleshed-out traditional pop tendencies that marked Far. However, part of Spektor’s charm on previous albums like Soviet Kitsch and Begin to Hope was her knack for creating rhythm and melody through non-traditional avenues and creating music out of, well, noise, which was something that the backing band managed to eliminate for many of the live renditions of her songs.

That being said, Spektor remains one of the greatest vocalists I have ever seen live, with a range wider than the Brooklyn Bridge and a soulful yelp to rival any R&B diva in the business today. She opened the show with the never-recorded live classic, “Ain’t No Cover,” a bluesy ditty backed only by Spektor’s hand tapping the microphone rhythmically. The fact that she could open a show and hold the full Orpheum Theatre’s attention solely on vocal power speaks volumes about the integrity and sheer power of her live performances.

Spektor went on to introduce many yet-unreleased songs from her new album, touching upon the new single, “Don’t Leave Me (Ne me quitte pas)” (a new rendition of her song “Ne me quitte pas” from her 2002 self-released album Songs) with unwavering enthusiasm despite technical difficulties with the Orpheum’s sound system.

Photo by Marisa Benjamin

Right before the encore, Spektor giggled a little and sing-whispered into the microphone, “So can we all just agree that we love each other and pretend that I already left the stage and came back?” Judging from the roaring affirmative that Spektor received in response, I think we can agree that the crowd was, indeed, in love.

Roch Jauberty, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, is described as having a lively, humble and optimistic demeanor that gave a great sense of joy to those in his life/PHOTO COURTESY OF GIANNI DICROSTA

This is the third in a series of obituaries on the three Boston University students killed in a tragic car accident while studying abroad in New Zealand.

College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Dylan Turk saw Roch Jauberty not only as a basketball buddy and a roommate, but as a brother.

“There were no barriers with Roch,” Turk said in an email interview. “He was extremely genuine and open-minded with everyone. In that sense, he personally connected with us in a way that I couldn’t feel with others in my life.”

Jauberty, a CAS sophomore at Boston University, died at age 21 in a tragic car crash while studying abroad in New Zealand.

Jauberty majored in economics and international relations with a minor in business administration and management. He was an active member of the BU community as an employee at Warren Towers dining hall and a member of  the International Affairs Association.

Turk recalled playing basketball with Jauberty at BU’s gym during the winter of his freshman year.

“We became close friends ever since and continued to play basketball every week,” he said. “But Roch was a leader on and off the court.”

Together, Jauberty and Turk started an intramural basketball team. By the following year, they had become close friends and roommates.

College of Communication sophomore and Los Angeles native Maddie Rosenberger said the first time she met Jauberty freshman year, he walked in and lit up the room, wearing a Lakers hat that sparked conversation between them.

Rosenberger said she never saw him without a smile, which lit up his whole body and could be seen in his eyes.

“His smile was always huge because that was part of who he was, and he’s never not smiling, and it was impossible to be sad when Roch was around,” she said.

Jauberty was always very sincere, Rosenberger said, and if someone had a problem he would listen.

As a member of the IAA, Roch participated in several IAA conferences, IAA secretary  Caitlin Lesczynski said in an email.

“His enthusiasm for the IAA’s conferences was matched by few others and his absence going forward will be hard for all of us to come to terms with,” Lesczynski, a CAS junior, said. “Roch committed himself wholeheartedly to bettering the experience of the BU student body, and he was a genuine and devoted friend to many.”

While abroad, Jauberty interned at the Sustainable Business Network through the BU study abroad program, said SBN CEO Rachel Brown in a phone interview.

Jauberty worked closely with Greenfleet Programme Manager Mark Roberts on sustainable transport activity and helping SBN with their recent office move.

Roberts described Jauberty as an energetic guy “who preferred [to] bound through life rather than walk.”

“The last time our team saw Roch was when a group of us were going out to dinner after work, we ran into Roch and his friends on their way to play basketball,” Roberts said in an email interview. “Roch was in a bright, happy mood and was overjoyed to run into another group of friends.”

Jauberty showed great dedication to SBN in New Zealand.

“As a small organization, SBN staff need to be able to do that great Kiwi thing of ‘mucking in’ to anything that is going on in an active NGO,” he said. “Nothing was too much trouble for Roch. Roch showed great Kiwi spirit by getting fully involved in the many events run by SBN, including the SBN’s Sustainable Business Forum in March.”

Jauberty ran SBN’s website and social media, Roberts said. He researched examples of how to implement electric vehicles.

“The quality of the research work undertaken by Roch was commented on by other EV project partners, one of whom said, ‘I wish I had a Roch working for me too,’” he said.

Just last week, he said, the two of them drove around Auckland while running various errands for SBN.

“Roch was hugely interested in how the car worked,” Roberts said. “Then we stopped and had meat pies for lunch, something he loved to eat. The whole time we chatted continuously about sport and his favorite basketball team, the LA Lakers.”

Sofia Perez, a political science professor who taught Jauberty, said in an email that he was an excellent and engaged student.

“Roch was very engaged with his studies, an excellent student, very intelligent, affable and very present in class,” Perez said. “He would often talk to me after class about things I had said during lecture and he was very witty.”

Jauberty went out of his way to make sure he was there for people, Turk said, putting a smile on their face every time.

“The deep influence that Roch had will be with me for the rest of my life,” he said, “even on every basketball court that I will ever step on.”