CFA JUNIOR DIES OF HEART ATTACK
Juliane Miller, a College of Fine Arts student, died of a heart attack Aug. 31 at the Sherman Oaks Hospital in the Sherman Oaks district of Los Angeles. She was 20.
Described by friends as creative and compassionate, Miller was admitted to the hospital Aug. 22 after suffering a heart attack and intracranial bleeding, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner Department.
“ROUGH ‘EM UP?”
Boston University officials announced a policy banning profanity, racist and sexist comments in the stands of Agganis Arena, Walter Brown Arena, the Roof and Nickerson Field in September 2006 after the popular student chant taunting Boston College allowed the athletic department and school administrators to remove spectators who engaged in “obscenity.”
“I think our kids are smarter than that,” said Athletic Director Mike Lynch. “I think they can come up with something more clever than, ‘F you.'”
COM DEAN STEPS DOWN; STAFF SAYS DEAN MADE
THREATENING
COMMENTS
Former College of Communication dean John Schulz resigned Sept. 25, 2006, citing the toll an investigation into his résumé had taken on himself, his family and the college. On Sept. 22, former associate dean Tobe Berkovitz was named the interim dean, one week after Schulz allegedly made threatening comments to staff members. Schulz had originally planned to resign Oct. 15.
The incident was supposedly unrelated to the dean’s sudden replacement. According to an attendee at the social event who requested anonymity, Schulz told staff at the event, “There are a couple of people I would like to meet in an alley with a baseball bat.”
BU spokesman Stephen Burgay said the comments had “troubled a couple of folks.”
Schulz did not comment further on the allegations.
FRESHMAN HIT BY CAR, KILLED
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Beatriz Ponce, 17, died shortly after being hit by a car on Memorial Drive as she was crossing the street to her residence in the Hyatt Regency hotel Oct. 4, 2006.
The driver, Maurizio Aragona, 31, had a green light, said Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Robert Bousquet.
Witnesses said Aragona, of Belmont, got out of his car after striking Ponce and tried to help. Bousquet said Ponce had not used the crosswalk.
Ponce was pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital early the next morning, according to hospital officials.
“INSENSITIVE” FLIERS A SENSITVE ISSUE
The Black Student Union, UMOJA, said fliers posted by Teach for America were “insensitive” and urged discussion on the important issues raised by them Nov. 15, 2006.
Posted in CAS, the fliers displayed statistics such as, “By fourth grade, African-American students are, on average, 3 to 4 grade levels behind their Caucasian peers in math and science.”
TFA recruiter Patrick O’Donnell halted the posting of the fliers after issues were raised on their “negative repercussions.”
BU ATHLETES ATTACKED
Three BU men’s hockey players and one women’s lacrosse player were attacked Dec. 3, 2006 outside 9 Wadsworth St. in Allston by multiple assailants who allegedly injured them with baseball bats, hammers and wrenches.
Ronald Twombly Jr., 23, and Sean Melanson, 23, pleaded not guilty after they were arrested for alleged involvement in the 4 a.m. attack.
Senior hockey player Kevin Schaeffer, 22, sustained a broken orbital bone and dislocated thumb. He underwent surgery Dec. 12, 2007, and resumed playing with the Terriers later in the season. Men’s hockey team captain Sean Sullivan, goalie and assistant captain John Curry and women’s lacrosse player Lauren Morton were also injured.
Men’s hockey coach Jack Parker said he believed the attack was the result of a previous altercation that occurred between various members of the men’s hockey team and two unknown men.
STUDENT DIES AFTER FALL FROM
WINDOW
CAS sophomore Michael Robertson died after falling from his fourth-story South Campus brownstone room Jan. 21, 2007. The fall happened around 2 a.m., and no foul play was suspected.
Robertson, 20, of Demarest, N.J., was remembered as “one-of-a-kind” by friends and family. He had recently transferred to BU from the University of Richmond in Virginia.
ALLOCATIONS BOARD PROPOSES FUNDING CHANGES
The AB presented a proposal to give itself near-complete control over distribution of funds in early February. The proposal would have made it the only student group to have financial control over the allocations of all student group funding, though after facing criticism from student groups, the AB presented another proposal.
The proposed plan would require Student Union and Programming Council to request their funds from the AB, instead of appealing to the Dean of Students Office, as they do now. Modifications to the original proposal included a $4,000 increase to the Union’s budget and partial funding guarantees to large organizations that would take effect in the fall.
Following the response to the AB’s initial proposal, the Union countered with a proposal that would boost its annual budget, which is now about $8,000.
FIRE CLAIMS TWO BU STUDENTS’ LIVES, INJURES THIRD
A three-alarm fire that began in an off-campus apartment at 5 a.m. Feb. 24, 2007 killed School of Management senior Stephen Adelipour, 22, and CAS junior Rhiannon McCuish, 21.
Friends remembered track and soccer star McCuish as a selfless student who put her family and friends first. Friends and teachers remembered an adventurous Adelipour as humorous and intelligent and said he was always there for his friends.
The 21 Aberdeen St. fire also severely injured CAS senior Steven Boursiquot, who sustained burns on 20 percent of his body, underwent multiple skin-grafting surgeries on his back and foot and is now recovering at a rehabilitation center in Boston.
RIAA HITS STUDENTS WITH FINES
The Recording Industry of America sent pre-litigation settlements to 46 students in March, which included offers of around $3,000 to settle for illegally downloading music. These letters, sent first to the BU Information Technology Office, were forwarded on to the students in question.
Prior to March, the RIAA had fined more than 30 students since 2005.
“The lawsuits create a temporary dip [in filesharing activity],” said IT Consulting Services Director Jim Stone. “Over time, students go back to their previous levels of activity.”
SECOND FIRE IN THREE WEEKS KILLS PENNSYLVANIA STUDENT
Derek Crowl, 19, of Elysburg, Pa., died in an off-campus apartment fire near South Campus March 16, 2007. The four-alarm fire at 49 St. Mary’s street was the second to strike BU’s campus in a three-week period.
Crowl, a Bloomsburg University sophomore, was visiting friends in Boston to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The cause of the fire was believed to be a burning piece of charcoal on the apartment’s wooden porch.
YUNIS WINS UNION PRESIDENCY
CAS junior Adil Yunis won the Student Union presidency over current Vice President Mark DiCristofaro, receiving 1,256 votes — 30 more than DiCristofaro’s 1,226.
The other three students who campaigned with DiCristofaro were elected to the posts of vice president, treasurer and secretary.
NEW GUEST POLICY FOR THE FALL A STRONG POSSIBILITY
The University Council voted on a new Guest Policy on April 18, 2007, unanimously approving Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore’s proposal in the first step toward applying a more relaxed policy.
The new policy would allow for later on-campus student swipe-ins and eliminate the co-host policy and need for study extensions.
The University Leadership Group approved the proposal earlier this week, and it will be sent to President Robert Brown, who said he plans to sign off on it. If approved, it will be enacted for the fall 2007 term.
COMMUNITY SERVICE FEE INCREASES
The BU Community Service Fee — a portion of the Undergraduate Student Fee that funds student groups like the Student Union and Programming Council — will increase by $14 for each student next fall.
The Dean of Students Office, PC and the Allocations Board will split the funds, with the AB receiving an additional $7 per student and PC receiving an additional $3 per student.
