The Berkeley Beacon

Letter from the Editor

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

We at the Beacon are excited to share this week’s print issue with you, the first with a new order of sections and a brand new back page concept.

Firearms, fatalities, but finally a discussion

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

Sensible gun laws are possible, and the time for debate and action on these laws is now, as initiated by President Obama and other members of Congress in the past month.

Students witness trolley collision at Boylston Station that injures dozens

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

A collision between two green line trolleys at the Boylston Street MBTA Outbound station at noon Thursday resulted in 35 passengers being transported to area hospitals.

Professor's political connections translate to class, CPLA

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

Stepping into Gregory Payne’s office on the eighth floor of the Walker Building is like entering a political time warp. Photos of the professor with presidents past, memorabilia from countless election campaigns, and stacks of books on politics fill the walls and shelves.

Classes canceled Monday as city braces for hurricane

Ryan Catalani / Beacon Staff and Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

Emerson College will be closed on Monday as the effects of Category 1 Hurricane Sandy are forecasted to hit Boston early tomorrow morning. The dining hall will remain open, unless Boston suffers a power outage.

Pelton, SGA tuition talk tense

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff and Stephanie Bradbury / Beacon Staff

Student leaders and administration officials sat at opposite ends of a long, rectangular table in the Bill Bordy Theatre Tuesday afternoon as tensions rose during an hour-long discussion on college finances.

SGA Election results announced

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

Student Government Association elections results for Fall 2012.

SGA candidates call for meal plan and academic reform at speech night

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

Student Government Association candidates vowed to continue working on current initiatives at speech night Monday, as many stated they want to push harder for meal plan and academic reform at the college.

After petition, Pelton meets athletes

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

After hundreds of student athletes and alumni petitioned the president to evaluate the athletic director, President M. Lee Pelton held a meeting with team captains Thursday to discuss their concerns. The topics of the meeting included improving communication between the Athletics Department administration and the team members, and working to increase the current budget for the department.

Campaign poster draws EVVYs ire

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

A class of 2015 presidential candidate ignited a battle with the EVVY Awards producers last week when he began posting campaign fliers around campus that parodied the award show’s design. Nick de la Canal said he was pinning up the posters, which depict the freshman class presidential hopeful posing as the model in the EVVY Awards’ marketing fliers, when the show’s executive producer Natalie Casper approached him.

SGA recommends activities fee increase

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

As part of its annual recommendation to the board of trustees, the Student Government Association (SGA) will suggest a $10 per year increase of the student activities fee.

Student government calls for financial assessment

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

The Student Government Association (SGA) called on Emerson’s administration to curb the financial burden of this year’s tuition hike by reconsidering forthcoming construction projects, freezing tuition increases so each grade pays the same price for all four years, and improving its communication with the student representatives.

Fire in Back Bay leaves off-campus students without electricity

Jackie Tempera / Beacon Staff and Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

After a three alarm fire left much of Boylston Street dark Tuesday night, off-campus Emerson students living in the area will remain without power until at least tomorrow, Boston fire officials said. Steve MacDonald, a Boston Fire Department spokesman, said crews responded to a fire caused by a 115,000 volt transformer on Scotia Street at 6:27 p.m. Tuesday. The building, an electrical substation owned and operated by NStar, is adjacent to the Back Bay Hilton hotel, which was immediately evacuated.

Small faculty group in Boston gathers to watch groundbreaking

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

Although the majority of the campus has remained quiet during spring break this week, faculty gathered Thursday afternoon in the multipurpose room of Piano Row to watch the live video of the Los Angeles campus groundbreaking ceremony.

Health and Wellness Director talks testing

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

During her first meeting with the Student Government Association since her start at Emerson in June 2007, Jane Powers, the director for the Center for Health and Wellness, addressed concerns about STD testing at the college last week.

Graduating early on the rise at Emerson

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

For Anita Kalaitzakis, the desire to become a foreign correspondent developed in her introductory journalism classes at Emerson around the same time she realized that graduating a full year early from the college was a viable option. “Having two parents from two different European countries and living in East Africa, my news diet was so much more diverse,” the Tanzania native said. “From that, I really wanted to fill that niche in European countries and find a way to make issues, countries, and topics that people don’t know about – relatable and relevant to them.” Kalaitzakis, a journalism major who started at Emerson in fall 2010, plans to continue her studies in Europe after receiving her degree from Emerson when she is slated to graduate in 2013.

Orgs frustrated by lack of recognition

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff and Frankie Olito / Beacon Staff

Each year, a select number of organizations are chosen for Student Government Association recognition. As some student leaders, some of whom were denied funding last fall, begin the application process, many groups reapplying say they felt snubbed and believe recognition is dubious. Last fall, the Organization Recognition and Review Board (ORRB), the SGA committee that recommends organizations to the Dean of Students and Associate Dean of Students for approval, chose three out of 14 applications for recommendation, according to SGA President Tau Zaman. He said the number of groups that can be recognized each year varies.

Emerson Democrats denied $2,963 appeal

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

The Emerson College Democrats were denied a $2,963.50 appeal to the Student Government Association Tuesday for funding that would have been used to host a statewide convention, drawing hundreds of area students and politicians to Emerson’s campus.

Comm. studies chair elected NCA president

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

Richard West’s office is in a quiet corner of the communication studies department, but looking at paintings from the Dominican Republic and Mexican masks among plenty of photos and academic papers in the room, one can tell that West is nothing but.

Student mobilizes protesters against MBTA

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

Freshman Zach Tucker said he woke up Jan. 3 and read the news as he does nearly every morning. This day, however, something in particular grabbed his attention: the proposed Massachusetts Bay of Transit Authority budget cuts, which prompted Tucker to immediately turn to the web to gather student support.

Run off election determines class of 2015 president

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

In January Ben Halls will begin his run as class of 2015 president, becoming the oldest member of the Student Government Association. The 24-year-old London native was the landslide winner of the run off election with 65 percent of the vote over Donovan Birch Jr.

Class of 2015 presidential candidate 'lies' about past experience during campaign

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

Paul Almeida, one of three candidates for class of 2015 president, falsely stated throughout his campaign that he served as his high school’s class president, a Beacon investigation revealed.

Polls open; 11 positions and constitutional amendment up for vote

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff and Xakota Espinoza / Beacon Staff

When polls open tonight at midnight, students will vote to fill 11 Student Government Association positions and choose whether to ratify proposed changes to the constitution that alter roughly 40 percent of the text.

Emerson to break ground on Los Angeles campus in early 2012

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

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Emerson to break ground on Los Angeles campus in early 2012

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

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Two resign from SGA

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

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Citi Performing Arts Center to operate Colonial Theatre

Heidi Moeller / Beacon Staff

College officials announced yesterday that they are negotiating a three year lease with Citi Performing Arts Center that would result in occupancy of the Colonial Theatre in July 2012.