Daily Archives: May 14, 2010

The Blissfully Succinct 1-Minute Commencement Address

Published May 14, 2010

As thousands of parents search for parking in advance of commencement here at the BU campus, Meghna interviews two grads from the Class of 1970 who walk for the first time this weekend — 40 years after a BU boycott in the wake of the Kent State shootings. BU Today produced a video story to commemorate the political turmoil in Boston at the time.

Nowadays we have something different, albeit less serious, to protest: interminable commencement addresses. Jumbo prof Barry S. Levy skips the pomp and circumstance and captures all the inspirational quotes and pithy wisdom in a joyous 60-second speech — sung to the tune of Mozart’s Turkish Rondo:

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A Transplant Could Save This Boy's Life

Published May 14, 2010

Iris Adler, my colleague at Radio Boston, shares this story, with an introduction:

I was meandering through Boston.com last night and happened upon James F. Smith’s blog post, “Seeking a Life Saving Match,” the compelling story of four-year-old Devan Tatlow, who suffers from a rare form of leukemia. Devan is in a desperate race for time. Doctors say they have less than 12 weeks to find the right match for a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant. Chances of a match are one in 200,000.

I read the story, imagined the anguish, closed my laptop and then moved on. Minutes later I went back to the story — what could I possibly do to help? This is what I can do: Pass on the information as part of the effort to help secure a donor.

Take a look at the picture of young Devan. You too will want to help.

The story: Seeking a life-saving match (Worldly Boston)

Follow Friday: The WBUR List

Published May 14, 2010

Which WBUR personalities do you wish you could follow on Twitter? Shout out in the comments (or tweet us @WBUR). I’m lobbying for Bob Oakes!

Here are the WBUR people already tweeting:

And our programs and blogs:

You can follow them all in one fell swoop with our Twitter lists.

(Wo)man Arrested In Maine Not Connected To Probe

Published May 14, 2010

More on the arrest in Maine, the haziest detail of this whole story:

Sen. Susan Collins says there’s not a direct tie between the man arrested in Maine and the suspect in the attempted bombing in New York’s Times Square. (AP)

First, we heard she was a woman. Then she was a man. Now he’s not connected to the probe.

Updated: Wait, actually he — Mohamad Rahman, a computer programmer — is connected. So what was Collins talking about?

Morning Roundup: FBI Raids Edition

Published May 14, 2010

Morning reading on yesterday’s FBI raids in the Boston area.

  1. Holder Says Men In Custody Might Have Provided Money To Terror Suspect

    Three Pakistani men taken into custody during a series of raids in the Boston area as part of the investigation into the failed Times Square car bombing may have provided money to the man who has admitted carrying out the unsuccessful attack, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday. (William K. Rashbaum and Scott Shane/NYT)

  2. Watertown Is Unsettled By FBI Operation

    It could have been a drug raid or a murder probe, neighbors thought, but no one could believe that the federal government’s investigation into the failed terrorist bombing in New York’s Times Square had touched down in Watertown. (Milton J. Valencia/Globe)

  3. Who Is Elias Audy? A Brookline ‘Pillar’

    Forty-four years ago, when he was a newly married 18-year-old, Bill Audy and his wife left their seaside village in northern Lebanon and followed her family to America. Two years later, after Audy used their life savings to open his first gas station in Brighton, his younger brother Elias followed him to Boston and into the gasoline business. (David Abel and Patricia Wen/Globe)

  4. What’s A ‘Hawala?’

    The feds followed the money and arrived in Boston. That has brought a lot of attention to the hawala system, an informal system of money transfer that doesn’t involve a bank. It might have connected the men arrested to the Times Square bomb suspect. An ex-FBI counter-terrorism expert explains that 99.9 percent of hawala transactions are perfectly legitimate. (Bob Oakes/WBUR)

What are you reading about the raids? Share links in the comments, please.