B.U. students wary of Craigslist Killer

BOSTON—After the Monday arrest of Boston University student Philip Markoff in connection with the murder of Julissa Brisman, whom Markoff found by her masseuse add on Craigslist, other B.U. students started to take a second look at their surroundings.

Before he was dismissed by the university, 22-year-old Markoff was a second-year medical student who allegedly shot Brisman at the Copley Marriott and is also thought to have been involved with two other similar cases involving the Internet.

“As soon as I heard it was a B.U. student, I tried to find him on Facebook so I could tell him what a pathetic human being he was,” sophomore Alex Boyd, who also said the situation reminded him of an episode of “Law & Order,” said.

He was unable to find the Facebook, though, which was most likely deactivated “because so many people were telling him he was worthless and going to hell,” Boyd continued.

Colleen King, a sophomore who lives in Danielsen Hall, the first Boston University Shuttle stop on the Charles River campus after the medical campus, expressed nervousness about the possibility that she has seen the “Craigslist Killer.”

“It makes me wary to think that I may have ridden the B.U. bus with him,” she said of Markoff.

King’s roommate, sophomore Theresa Amrhein, said she was not more concerned about her safety after learning that the alleged killer was a B.U. student.

However, “It’s embarrassing that we go to school with a murderer,” she said.

Boyd and Amrhein both also live in Danielsen and regularly use the shuttle service, but neither was particularly worried about having ridden the B.U. bus with Markoff.


Photo courtesy of bu.edu

Live blog: Obama's 3/24 press conference

As Obama starts to take questions, the first concern reporters bring up is what to do about banks, and especially insurance company AIG, and their bonuses and corrupt lending. The president advises Americans to be patient with restructuring and assures them that lending practices will get strict requirements.

"Folks are sacrificing left and right. Workers cut an entire days' worth of pay so that an employee doesn't get laid off," Obama said to a reporter who asked why Americans haven't been asked to make sacrifices.

Our economy's growth comes mostly from the financial sector. If the risks investors take are in products that are useful and relevant to the American people, then this is the model the government will want to follow. Obama adds that the steps they are taking "will stabilize the economy and get it moving again." He asks that families continue with their normal routines, but also that they contribute to their communities and stay up-to-date on what is going on in Washington.

Live blog: Obama's 3/24 press conference

At his second press conference as President, Barack Obama addresses the nation and the pressing issue of the current economic crisis. He stresses that "there is no quick fix, no silver bullets." The economic recovery plan aims to created more jobs in construction, teaching, and other valuable areas. Additionally, Obama says that home ownership will likely rise because of lower current housing prices and mortages.

"It is my goal to cut the deficit in half by the end of my term," Obama said.

According to Obama, clean energy jobs and efficient health care are vital to the budget and recovery plan because they will set up the country better for the future. Though the banks and lenders give out bonus and continue practicing the habits that "brought this economy to its knees," Obama does not advise "demonizing" them.


"We will recover from this recession. But it will take time, it will take patience, and we will all need to work together," Obama said.

Santi Nallapaneni and Indian Immigration

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio—Santi Nallapaneni rushed into the lobby of Jamie’s Dance Force, her shiny black hair thrown into a loose ponytail, dressed in a casual black track suit, just in time to get her daughters from hip-hop class.

“I meant to be here sooner, but I had to pick up paperwork from a client for Monday,” she said apologetically as she collapsed into a chair, her dark brown eyes gleaming.

Nallapaneni, a 34-year-old first-generation American of Indian descent who recently switched companies and now works as a financial adviser for J.P. Morgan Chase, described her schedule as “hectic.”

However, a strong work ethic is one of the foundations of Indian families that parents pass down to their children, among other values such as religion, strong educational value, and respect for family members.

The 2000 U.S. Census reported that Indian-American men earned the highest full-time, year round median incomes, nearly double the rest of the American population.

Additionally, Indian-Americans make up a disproportionately high number of physicians, lawyers and engineers, among other professions, according to statistics provided by the U.S. India Political Action Committee.

Nallapaneni’s father, Anil Nalluri, came to America in 1975 with his wife, Parvati, and their two young sons from Guntur, A.P., India, to pursue a medical career.

“There was a shortage of physicians in the United States, and the opportunity just presented itself,” Nallapaneni said about her father’s decision to move.

Nalluri joined some Indian friends in Akron, Ohio, and completed both medical school and his residency in the city, before moving Youngstown, Ohio. These friends prompted the Nalluris’ decision to move, and the friends later founded the India Association of Greater Youngstown.

Adjusting to life in America, even with friends, still proved difficult. In addition to being homesick and dealing with cultural differences, the Nalluris were unprepared for the change in weather.

“The cold was a shock,” Nallapaneni said. “India was very warm.”

Nallapaneni, who lives in the Youngstown suburb of Canfield with her husband, by arranged marriage, and three young children, was born in the U.S. and had no issues adjusting.

“God, look at me, I’m so American!” she said. “I don’t even think of myself as different, but I know I am.”

Because of their dark skin, hair and eye color, the Nallapanenis are easy to recognize, especially in a community of few minority families. Nallapaneni even wears a silver aum charm, a religious Hindu symbol, on a necklace.

“Today when I met a client, she immediately goes, ‘You’re Sachin’s mom!’” Nallapaneni said. “My daughters look different onstage when they dance. You know which kids are ours.”

Though Indians are minorities in the U.S., they don’t face widespread racism or discrimination. Some setbacks have included 1980s Indian American intimidation group Dotbusters, in New Jersey, and the more recent “Indophobia,” discrimination because of outsourcing, according to a Columbia University report.

However, that is not the most severe of Indian-American discrimination. In 1917, the Barred Zone Act prohibited Asians, including Indians, from immigrating to the U.S. In 1923, Indians became ineligible for citizenship. But eventually, President Truman returned the right to immigrate and naturalize to Indians with the Luce-Celler Act of 1946.

Most recently, the government has been cracking down on illegal aliens in the U.S., a practice Nallapaneni thinks is “smart.”

“People shouldn’t freely be able to come into this country. It affects our tax dollars,” she said.

Though Nallapaneni generally supports immigration, she said she believes the government should be stringent.

“There’s a process, and there’s a reason for [immigration laws],” she said. “People need to follow the proper process if they want to come here.”

ABA discusses reproductive laws in light of octuplet fiasco

BOSTON—Though an American Bar Association meeting Feb. 14 was supposed to have centered around several “hot topics” in the role of law in bioethics, the panel spent the majority of its two hours discussing the ethics of assisted reproductive technology and the ethics surrounding “octo-mom” Nadya Suleman’s recent media upset.

Initial reports suggested that Suleman, who has six children from previous reproductive treatments, had taken fertility drugs. Doctors thought this because most in-vitro fertilization procedures produce only one or two babies. However, Suleman’s doctor implanted six frozen embryos leftover from previous treatments, and two of those split into twins.

Bruce Wilder, a Pittsburgh family-law attorney specializing in genetics and reproductive technology, said he thinks a line has been drawn in the field and that Suleman’s doctor crossed it.

“Basically they have guidelines for clinics and certainly this is clearly against all their guidelines. He’s probably going to lose his license,” Wilder said.

According to Nanette Elster, director of the Health Law Institute at DePaul University in Chicago, someone of Suleman’s genetic profile should have a maximum of two embryos implanted. Elster went on to say that Suleman’s in-vitro specialist, Dr. Michael Kamrava, is licensed in California and has the third-lowest success rating in the country.

“Between 1996 and 2006, the number of fertility centers transferring four or more embryos in any given cycle has decreased probably somewhere between 20 and 30 percent,” Elster said.

Because of this data, Elster said she thinks assisted reproductive technology experts have listened and are working to prevent cases of high-order multiples and dangerous births by means of self-regulation.

Additionally, Elster brought up the difference between reproductive rights, or procreative liberty, and parental rights.

“We’re blurring them a little bit here with this because we don’t know who’s going to necessarily be a good parent once there’s a child in existence,” she said.

According to second year Hamline Law School student Doug Colella, the biggest dilemma in the octuplet case combines family law and parenting.

“Is [Nadya Suleman] going to be a stable mother? She already has six kids, now she has 14 total,” Colella said.

Colella questioned whether assisted reproductive technology can be more regulated.

“Does the doctor have the authority to do this and say, ‘Well, you know, I put six of them in because the first five might not have worked, and we got really lucky here’?” he asked.

Fertility centers are not strictly regulated, meaning they have a lot of leeway, Elster said.

“They do have some guidelines. Other countries, in their overarching legislations, say the best interest of the child should be paramount,” she continued.

These countries include Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Nothing in the U.S., however, states that the fertility centers should act as gatekeepers, deciding who should have a certain number of children or why.

“We have cultural or religious norms that suggest that larger families are better families: Orthodox Jews, Mormons. Where do you draw the line and say you can only do [fertility treatments] to have so many kids?” Elster questioned.

Another issue the Suleman octuplet case raises is the risk of genetic deficiencies in carrying a large number of multiples. Three of the mother’s older children are handicapped, including having autism and other special needs.

Additionally, the financial cost of raising a large family is very high, especially considering that Suleman, a single mother, already receives food stamps and has created a website, www.thenadyasulemanfamily.com, to accept donations via major credit cards and paypal.

Because of all the problems Suleman’s octuplets have brought to light, Elster said she hopes the laws can change to reflect new technologies and possibilities.

“[Reproductive rights funding] is probably not going to be on the federal radar as much as it will be on state radar,” Elster said. “It will be some time till this is a front burner issue on the federal legislative table.”

She continued that she thinks that Obama will make an effort to provide genetics research and rights funding when federal funding becomes available through the stimulus package.

Laws that may come into effect will probably deal with negativity and accuracy of genetic testing, according to Elster.

Elster led the roundtable discussion, part of the ABA’s midyear meeting, which included 13 other law professionals and a law student, a fraction of the 3000 in attendance for the weekend.

“The great thing about this group is it sort of represents a lot of different areas of law, all [of which] touch on health law,” Elster said.

Angela Carlos Profile

"I thought I liked snow," Angela Carlos laughed as she explained her thought process in applying to Boston University. The 20-year-old brown-eyed, brunette junior, with bangs swept across her forehead, is tan and wearing a red jumper. She made the move from Southern hot spot Atlanta to Boston more than two and a half years ago.

Though the city has a low of 1 degree, Carlos doesn't regret her decision. According to Carlos, she wanted to escape the South and leave everything familiar behind.

Enrolled in the College of Communication's photojournalism program, Carlos has always loved photography. She also enjoys writing and thought the journalism curriculum would be a "good combination" of her passions.

Carlos, who fell in love with Massachusetts' capital while on vacation with her family when she was 8, says that her experiences growing up in the South have been much different from those of her friends. She regularly visits the Boston Common to take photographs and paint the scenery, and she has hosted a radio show on WTBU for the past few semesters; the program's title is "Pet Rocks."