Boston Police warns women after area rapes The Cambridge Police Department and Boston Police Department are investigating two sexual assaults that took place near Fanueil Hall within the past month, according to a BPD press release, and warn young women in the area to take caution. In both cases, a suspect convinced the victims to accept a ride, then drove them to the Alewife area and sexually assaulted them with extreme force. Although the assaults were a week apart, they occurred in nearly the exact same location. In the first case, the suspect was driving a sport utility vehicle, and the victim accepted the ride when she couldn’t find a cab. In the second case, the suspect was actually driving a white taxi. Anyone with information should contact the Cambridge Police Department Investigation Section at 617-349-3370 or the Police Operations Desk (open 24 hours) at 617-349-3301.
Community Task Force discusses school expansion The Community Task Force held their first meeting of the semester Thursday evening, discussing objectives for new student housing. Northeastern presented community members a compiled list of goals with plans to implement them through a span of 10 years. Within the goals, Northeastern is still maintaining its agreement with the city of Boston by providing a minimum of 1250 new beds on campus. Despite the new objectives, community members want to create a “buffer” which distills residents from students. City Councilor Michael Ross contributed to the discussion by outlining the issue at hand and said it was a matter of having 40-story buildings or having the campus spreading. Northeastern and task force members came to a consensus that both parties have to reconsider their options in terms of redevelopment. During the next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 24, members plan to discuss options to avoid delays and short-term answers for redevelopment.
Police to begin new, shorter rape defense program Northeastern’s Division of Public Safety is testing a new rape defense program from the creators of the Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) system. The program is similar to RAD, but while RAD classes consist of three four-hour sessions, the new program would be just two hours. James Ferrier, associate director of public safety, said he hopes the new program will attract students who are unwilling or unable to commit to RAD. “The issue we’ve faced with RAD is it’s a significant time commitment,” Ferrier said. “We identified another program that’s based on the exact same features.” Although currently the program is being tested, Ferrier said there may be open enrollment by spring semester. In the meantime, RAD classes are still being offered, and registration for these classes is now open. The courses will be held on three consecutive Wednesdays, beginning Oct. 19 and ending Nov. 2. For more information or to register, call 617-373-2697.
BRC funds Miss America 1995 visit to campus The Budget Review Committee (BRC) allocated $16,435 to four different student organizations last week. The student groups included the Northeastern University Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society, which received $452 for their National Chemistry Week festivities, and the Northeastern University Orchestra, which was allotted $2,252 for their fall semester needs. The Delta Zeta sorority was also allotted $9,184 to bring Heather Whitestone, the 1995 Miss America, to campus. Another receiver was the Asian Student Union, which was allocated $4,547 to sponsor the Perry Shen University Tour at Northeastern.
Economics Department to bring columnist to campus New York Times columnist Paul Krugman will speak at Northeastern next Wednesday, Oct. 12 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Blackman Auditorium. Krugman is also a professor of economics at Princeton University, and will be speaking on lessons that can be learned from the fight over social security reform. He will be speaking as part of the Economic Policy Forum, which is sponsored by the Economics Department, and has been ongoing for several years. John Kwoka, an economics professor and coordinator of the program, said economics students use Krugman’s textbook, making him relevant to Northeastern students. “Given that students know him from the textbook, faculty know him from his work at Princeton and a lot of people know him from the New York Times,” Kwoka said they decided he would be a good fit for the event.
Information Services offers computer training courses Information Services Customer Services has released their October schedule of training courses, which are now open for registration. The courses will include training sessions on Excel, Microsoft Word, online research and information security awareness. Most classes will be taught on an introductory level, and prior experience is not required. The first of the October classes will be held today, and various classes will be available through the end of the month. To see the specific dates and times of the training sessions, vist www.help.neu.edu and click the “training” button. Then click “search for available classes.” Most classes will be held in 145 Snell Library, but details are available on the Web site. Courses are free to students, and all courses currently have space available.
— Compiled by staff writer Hailey Heinz and correspondents Edward Cen and Alex Pauline.
