BU Today

BU Today blogs from left: Proto Pop by Jennifer Choi (COM’10), Paradigm Thrift by Brendan Gauthier (COM'11), I've Thought About It by Zach Kohn (COM'11), Case Studies by Sarah Zlotowitz (UNI'11), and Pedal Pusher by Andrew McFarland (CAS'11, COM'11). Check out the latest, below...

Last spring I attended a presentation given by Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, at Bikes Not Bombs headquarters in Jamaica Plain.

Peñalosa has become a celebrated advocate for more livable cities because of his mayoral policies.

Over his three-year term, from 1998 to 2001, Peñalosa worked to reshape the Colombian capital’s transportation system and social landscape. The city constructed nearly 200 miles of bike paths and started an annual car-free day that became so popular a public referendum mandated that officials completely clear automobiles from city’s streets during rush hour by 2015. The extensive network of bike lanes connected communities once segmented by highways.

The tale of Bogotá has become a parable for cities around the world and is applicable to Boston, as Peñalosa reminded the crowd that day.
Now that Mayor Thomas Menino (Hon.’01) gears up for his fifth term, bikes seem to be an important objective. Beginning in 2008, the Boston Bikes program, led by Nicole Freedman, former Olympian cyclist and the city’s “bike czar,” has had some successes trying to bring similar reforms to the Hub. Five miles of bike paths have been added since Freedman’s arrival last year.

According to an August 2009 Boston Bikes proposal, one of Commonwealth Avenue’s car lanes in Kenmore Square could be eliminated to give way to bikes. Between Mass. Ave. and Arlington Street, car lanes could be narrowed to squeeze in a bike lane. Once revamped, the BU Bridge will feature two bike lanes as well.

The bicycle can serve as a crucial political tool. So much of how people interact depends on how they move. Small enough to avoid gridlock, outside the realm of T complications, fast enough to blow past pedestrians, a biker can truly control his or her transit.

Enrique Peñalosa’s visit became a reminder: never underestimate the political weight of your two-wheeled friend!

Andrew McFarland can be reached at afarland@bu.edu.

Advocated for bike-lane reform? Let us know in the comments.

When I cross the Cambridge footbridge, I can’t help but notice the magnificence of Allston street art.

Coming up the bridge from Lower Allston, cyclists and pedestrians beat the nearly 45-degree incline with the spray painted words “hang in there honey” and “you’re almost there,” while neon pink and green stencils of AC/DC’s Bon Scott (circa the High Voltage years) stare up at you from the bridge.

Street art is everywhere, though many of us pass it by without recognizing the genius, wit, and risk poured into each tag, post, and stencil.

Last winter’s scandal is over; as many of us know (and are reminded of every day if you pass International Bikes), Shepard Fairey graced Boston with his signature art and was eventually arrested for it.

Fairey, famous for his red, white, and blue Obama “Hope” image and Andre the Giant imagery, was taken into custody in February on warrants charging him with tagging locations, including the BU Bridge.

Usually working between 2 a.m. and sunrise, street artists put a lot on the line to convey their message and make Boston a little easier on the eyes.

In recent years, New York City street artist Danielle Bremner was sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation for tagging in the Back Bay and in one of MBTA’s rail yards.

Street art isn’t child’s play.

Because of the legal risks, most street artists remain anonymous for the duration of their careers and lives, taking neither payment nor credit for their work.

While Fairey’s work is among the best known in Boston, other pieces pepper our campus and the surrounding neighborhoods, too.

First, the famous Goldenstash. Not much is known about the man behind the mustache, but the legendary image greets thousands of Bostonians daily. For those who aren’t familiar with the image, picture a cartoony-looking ’70s playboy with a full head of hair and a glistening golden mustache and chain.

Other notable Boston artists include PIXNIT. A rare find, PIXNIT adds a feminine touch to the boys club. Floral stencils from Allston alleys to Back Bay rooftops mark her famous work.

But the freshest pieces I’ve spotted in our neck of the woods would be from none other than Stay Cute.

Right behind the West Campus dorms, in the Bank of America kiosk, an almost nauseatingly cute cartoon creature stands above the words “Stay Cute.”

Stay Cute’s made a name via snickering.

So, if midterms or the gloomy Boston weather are getting you down, keep your eyes peeled for some street art in your neighborhood.

Found anything sweet slapped onto a building, box, or streetside near you? Send e-mails to jenchoi@bu.edu. Follow me on twitter @jenchoi.

Where do you get your art scene info? Let us know in the comments.

Read more Proto Pop here.

Every time I mention Twitter, people roll their eyes and tell me how pointless Twitter is. “There is no reason for it,” they say. “I don’t care what you had for breakfast.”

Sure, Twitter is useless, but so are paperclips, bidets, Hershey’s Kisses, and the water cups in beer pong. That doesn’t stop people from using or eating them. So let me spread it to the world right now: I love Twitter.

For those new to the most recent in a line of social networking sites, I’ll give you a quick breakdown.

1. Twitter, like Facebook and MySpace before it, will only remain popular until your parents get one.
2. There are no friends on Twitter. Only followers and followings. Don’t go around talking about your Twitter friends or everyone will know you’re a big phony.
3. When you publish something to Twitter, it is called a “tweet.” This is to make sure that you feel uncomfortable every time you talk about Twitter.
4. Each tweet can be up to 140 characters because after that nobody is listening anymore.
5. Following celebrities isn’t that much fun. It turns out Ashton Kutcher doesn’t have anything interesting to say in less than 140 characters, either.

Despite its flaws and its uselessness, I have embraced Twitter. I have many important things to say all the time, but usually, people stop listening. When I post them on Twitter, I trap everyone who follows me. Read my thoughts! Now everyone can know that Doritos make me feel sick and that my conditioner bottle is empty, so I’ve been filling it with water to get the last drops out.

When friends question me about it, I am able to shout them down. “I’m a communications student! I need a Twitter!”

I’m not sure what that means, but it usually works.

The biggest challenge for Twitter users is knowing when to stop. All my thoughts have started to form in my head in less than 140 characters. It has gotten to the point where I think I can write a decent dissertation in four to five pages.

So yeah, Twitter is pointless, but it’s also a whole lot of fun. Plus, it’s only a matter of time before my mom gets one.

When he’s not tweeting, Zach Kohn can be reached at zachkohn@bu.edu. Follow @kohnisrad and @butoday on Twitter.

Do you follow @kohnisrad on Twitter? Let us know in the comments.

Read more I've Thought About It here.

It’s been a month. At least. A month of a strict hot soup/hot tea/cough drop diet. Of purchases of everything from Kleenex to Robitussin to Sudafed. And while my CVS rewards card has done well for itself, I am still sick.

I was in denial for a while, refusing to believe that my persistent cough meant something real. But I soon realized that everybody else figured out what was up. They knew I was sick, and they were ready to diagnose me. So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when, as I left the Warren dining hall in a sudden coughing fit, a freshman looked at me, shook his head, and said with a mixture of pity and condemnation:

“Swine flu.”

As it turns out, I have bronchitis, which is slowly but surely being remedied by some pretty intense antibiotics. But to the general public, the diagnosis doesn’t matter. As far as they’re concerned, I have H1N1 written all over me.

It was a popular Halloween costume: a pink pig with a mask and its scientific alias scrawled across the front. It’s been nicknamed and abbreviated; everybody loves to joke about “the swine.” But while people laugh about this public health scare, they’re nervous. I know this is true, because no matter how hard I try to stifle my cough, I still get the look.

The look says a lot of things. We’ve all done it — the quick sidelong glance. It can be cruel or compassionate, but it usually means one of the following:

“Lock it up.”

“That sucks for her.”

“Get away from me.”

“Why did she come to class?”

“Is she serious?”

“SWINE!”

“I hope I don’t get whatever she has.”

And, my personal favorite:

“Your cough is disgusting.”

Like most realities of life, it seems that the best medicine is laughter, that joking about it makes us feel better. But if you go to Student Health Services, I can promise that no one is laughing.

It’s that time of year. Everyone’s sick with “flu-like symptoms,” and when you walk into SHS it’s clear. When I stepped into the packed waiting room, it was pretty much silent save for the white noise of stifled coughs and sniffles. “The look,” however, was rampant. Even though we were all sick, we were staring each other down behind our blue masks. Sitting as tightly as possible, crossing every body part as if to ward off our neighbors’ illnesses, we couldn’t find compassion for each other, even when we were in the same shoes.

So the next time you’re tempted to give “the look,” have some empathy — after all, it could be contagious.

Even while she’s recuperating, Sarah Zlotowitz can be reached at sarahz11@bu.edu.

Getting 'the look'? Let us know in the comments.

Read more Case Studies here.