Last week the Mayor of Providence created a controversy by announcing a Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) system by which students of local Colleges and Universities pay a $150 fee per semester. This would be the first time a city levied a per-pupil fee to charge local schools for their use of land and municipal services. Naturally, the Universities balked and cried crocodile tears for their students who would suffer as the result of yet another fee. Students and their families already burdened with exponentially increasing tuition joined in too.

If things are bad in Providence, they are much worse in Boston. In 2002, the BRA found that 50% of property in Boston was tax exempt. This study was conducted before the massive land grab by Harvard in Allston and Northeastern's expansion into Lower Roxbury. It's safe to assume that with these notable expansions along with many others, the amount of tax-exempt land is notably larger than 50%.

Boston gains a tremendous economic and cultural benefit from its large number of colleges and universities. But their presence does come at a high cost that is paid by the rest of us. The worst economy in a generation has caused municipalities to slash budgets for essential services and forced local governments to look for new means of creating revenue. It's hard not to notice that despite being similarly hit by the economy, many schools are flushed with cash and just sitting on hundred of millions (and some even with billions) of dollars. The economic reality has pushed a long-ignored issue to the forefront of Boston's Mayoral race.

Per-Student Fees
I find the per-student tax to be a very interesting approach to a PILOT system. It strikes me as infinitely more transparent and fair than the current system that happens mostly behind closed doors and from the beginning uses a flawed methodology to calculate fees levied on the colleges and universities.

Negotiations begin by looking at the value of property owned by the college or university. The problem with starting with property value, is that it ignores the largest cost to the city which are the students. It ignores that schools over-enroll forcing many more students to live off campus and naturally the many more students who choose to live off-campus. Off-campus students are even more apt to use municipal resources and yet are not accounted for at all under the current system. This is the way I see the advantages and disadvantages of per-student fees broken down.

Advantages:

• Accurately taxes Colleges and Universities for impact and use of services in the city


• Includes students who live off campus who use municipal and city services more than their on-campus counterparts


• A public, accountable, and equitable system across the board. No more closed-room dealings with City and university officials that lead to some schools paying more than others.


• Per-Student fees become a separate part of tuition fees rather than squirreled away inappropriately under Student Activity or Maintenance fees

Disadvantages:

• Fee paid directly from students


• Potentially higher cost to students


• Doesn't address needed reform PILOT fees required of Hospitals and other non-profits

It's important to note that any progressive changes to the PILOT system will likely lead to students paying more. So it becomes a question of whether you tax the students directly (per pupil, per semester) or indirectly (an overall negotiated fee to the city). I happen to think the former is fairer to everyone involved.

Where is Boston heading? Good question!
In January, Boston's Mayor Menino announced the formulation of a task force to revise Boston's PILOT program. Thankfully not lost in the Mayor's typical fanfare, was the announcement that the four of the six committee members represent organizations that would pay more under a more aggressive PILOT structure. These members include Robert Brown the President of BU, Zorica Pantic President of Wentworth Institute of Technology, Patricia McGovern the general counsel of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Thomas Glynn the Chief Operating Officer of Partners Healthcare.

The conflict of interest here is obvious. Even moreso to the rest of us left footing the bill.

Originally published at Blueblooder.com.

Yelp.com > Facebook.com

On Friday night I attended my first Yelp event (it was a 1989 themed prom at Whiskey Park) and it was the most fun I've had since moving back to Boston.  There is such an incredible community around this website and Yelpers are ridiculously friendly and awesome. I just can't believe I went to a party I actually really enjoyed...when I usually hate parties.

Here's my prom photo along with obligatory prom goth brigid! Teehee, I have a prom photo now!



If you're going to join Yelp.com to help us improve the site and be a part of this awesome community make sure you friend me! I give lots of compliments.

Today I told a waitress that it was "my first poutine" and everyone at the table made fun of me. Jerks

I'm back in Boston after a really amazing time in Montreal which I will report on further at a later time. It's good to be back, but I am sort of not excited for work tomorrow.

John Williams, our Laureate Conductor, and the brilliant composer and conductor behind films including Jaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the Harry Potter series, brings you a night of some of the most memorable movie music of all time. The evening also includes a special appearance by Lynn Redgrave narrating the Harry Potter Grande Suite. Experience the magic of the silver screen, evoked by the drama and emotion of orchestral melodies.

HOLY CARP! OMFG!

This is like my personal geeky fantasy made real! One of the best composers of our age leading one of the best orchestras in the world performing in one of only three musical halls with perfect acoustics in the world and playing some of the most iconic classical soundtrack pieces ever written. AND all the while a synchronized video montage is projected in the background.

To sum up: Live Orchestra lead by John Williams + Incredible acoustics + Star Wars + Indiana Jones + Synchronized Video Montage = Total Geekasm

...But who the hell is Lynn Redgrave?

Yes, that's me. My body still hurts all over.

Today in 1919, a 5-story tank of Molasses burst in Boston's North End flooding more than 26,000,0000 pounds of molasses into the surrounding city. A fifteen foot wave crushed buildings instantly and swept others right off their foundations and into the harbor. When the black tide subsided, 35 people had died and more than 150 were injured.


U.S Industrial Alcohol, the company who owned the tank, initially blamed anarchists claiming it was an act of sabotage. The company had become rich and powerful from its business in World War I converting molasses into alcohol for munitions. However, the story was quickly found to be false and the truth about the poorly constructed and over-filled tank came to light. The resulting case, and subsequent judgement in the People's favor, caused Massachusetts to lead the country in enacting laws to certify engineers and regulate construction.


You can read up more on this amazing and bizarre moment in history on Wikipedia or MassMoments.org.

After the spectacular failure of my Boston Summer Drink Guide this summer (i.e I never finished it and by the time I had time to it was already getting cold), I decided to press ahead with my Winter Drink Guide. This one proved to be much easier as it involved doing what one naturally does in winter time: find nice ways to keep warm. You may notice a more Cambridge-heavy list here, which is an unfortunate side effect of my move across the Charles.

Nonetheless, here it is my list of favorite places to get something warm yourself up in these dark winter months:

Chaider
Combine a New England staple (cider) with a heavily-spiced Tra Que chai from Vietnam and you get a delicious re-invention of two old traditions. This is mulled cider gone amazing with pleasant tones of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Fans of mulled cider will find a new love.

@ Tealuxe
0 Brattle St., Cambridge
108 Newbury St., Boston
231 Thayer St., Providence (RI)

London Fog
This amazing beverage comes at the intersection of anglophile and yuppie. Said simply the London Fog is an Earl Grey Latte and it is utterly amazing. Steamed milk is combined with an excellent Earl Grey (not too perfumed for you picky tea lovers!). This of course begs the question why it took people so long to come up with such a brilliantly simple idea for a drink.

@ 1369 Coffee House
757 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
1369 Cambridge St., Cambridge

Mexican-style Hot Chocolate
A rich hot chocolate is spiced up with cinnamon and cayenne pepper creating a distinctive mix of spicy and sweet. This rather thick beverage will warm you up very quickly and keep you warm long after you've finished it. Ibarra and Abuelita have nothing on this thing of beauty.

@ Simon's Coffee Shop
1736 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge

Hot Cholocate
The classic winter-time beverage and sadly once you've had it here you'll struggle to find better. The trick here is they go beyond what even the fanciest pantsed places do with their hot chocolate. Milk and cocoa? Hah! Here they grind in your choice of dark, milk, or white chocolate resulting in a thick and velvety hot beverage that is quite possibly a life-changing event. Well, except if you pick white chocolate then it is an abomination.

@ L.A. Burdick Chocolate Shop & Café
52 Brattle St., Cambridge

There is no place I'd rather be than in a snowy Boston.

Thanksgiving has been survived by all involved. For the second year we held it at my parent's home in Boston, so my sister and I bonded over both helping and dealing with a very stressed mother. The highlight of the last two days, since Black Friday as always underwhelming, was having a fireside chat with the Andy Rooney. He was totally baffled by the concept of fundraising for public education. This weekend I am going to be as lazy as possible to catch up on some well-needed R&R.

Today was another long day in the land of work. The day's length was compounded by a distinct lack of sleep I have been getting, some really stressful projects, and some very tedious tasks involving a notary public I had to do today. I even missed purchasing this totally perfect shirt, but mark my words this shirt will be mine. I really can't complain as I will have plenty of time to rest up this weekend as I get Monday off. Three-day weekends are like the best thing ever and always reminds me what a crime the two-day weekend is.

I decided to go for a bit of a walk after work, partially to get some exercise after an unhealthy take-out dinner. I wandered down Newbury Street and discovered a subterranian Japanese convenience store. I wandered it's cluttered shelves amusing myself with the racks of burned DVD-Rs of Japanese media for sale and smiling at the brazen illegality of it. Then I saw it: Vermont Curry. It was destiny. Two great things one one box: Vermont and Curry.

Who knew Vermont was famous for Curry? Well, the Japanese did. Of course, I grabbed a box of the sauce mix, purchased it, and ran outside with my prize gripping it tightly in my gloves, wondering how a curry flavored with Apples and honey will taste. Maple Syrup would perhaps be more fitting, but who am I to argue with Vermont Curry? It's mere existence brings far more happiness than something like this possibly ever should.

Vermont Curry just further proof of what a mysterious and exotic land Vermont is - at least to the Japanese. Let us not forget it is the only place in the world where hippie gun nuts exist. Oh, Vermont is there anything you can't do?

History, Bitches!
Happy Anniversary Great Boston Fire! Today in 1872 you ravaged 65 acres of Boston's downtown, from the Common to the waterfront. The fire spread so virulently, firemen turned to explosives to blow up buildings before the fire could spread. In the end, the damage was estimated at $75 million in 1872 dollars - well over a billion dollars today. Boston would rebuild fully within only two years removing all traces of the disaster, and infact the city grew as a result. Like Boston had done since it's founding, the rubble was used to aid in the city's extensive land-building operations and formed the foundation of the Fort Point area.

Last night brigid and plankton took me out to Ceremony, a goth club in Boston. Well, I had a lot more fun than I thought I would in a scene I know nothing about. Despite ear-defeaning distorted bass it was fun watching other people dance (writhing slowly) and meeting a lot of brigid's friends in the scene. It amazes me how she pretty much knows everyone.

Unfortunately, brigid kept getting plankton to buy me beer and I discovered I am a very cheap date. Three hours and two beers I was pretty gone and has become the closest to being drunk I have ever been. I woke up this morning and I do not feel all that great. Tea and Emergen-C to the rescue! ...I hope.

Also, if you have feelings you need to read Blankets. It is one of the best pieces of literature I have read in quite some time. Something about it hit me so deeply. I would wager most of you have already read it, but if you are the least bit romantic or sentimental you will most likely really like this graphic novel.

EDIT: My World Series parade photos are up too.

Today was another ten hour day at work, which ruined epic afternoon plans. On the bright side one of my pet project fundraisers has netted us an ever-growing pile of money (now $2,600). So among all the stresses and necessary things that had to get done today I felt very accomplished in my side project.

I got home a little before seven, had a quick dinner, and decided to plow through cooking my curry. It felt good to finally get the chance to make the damned curry I have been planning to do for almost a week. It looks pretty delicious and made the apartment smell very nice. I have about a week's worth of dinners and a great need for a rice cooker.

I started to feel a little sick today and have been busily drinking lots of my Thayer Street Medicinal Blend tea. I need to stave off this cold for at least another week so work dies down.

The Red Sox are having an amazing game tonight against the Rockies, but I am so exhausted that I think I may need to go to bed in a few minutes and miss the rest of the game. Finally, there are pictures of one of my roommate's cats on my Flickr and also some photos of my recent adventures. Now bed.

My sister woke me up to triumphantly tell me she made it onto overheardinnewyork.com. It really does sound like her too. Later in the evening her advances were rejected by the other half of the exchange.

Now, back to sleep after a very exhausting, stressful, but highly productive nine hour work day. I have to look halfway normal during a ceremony to unveil our new laboratory donated by Pfizer. Lots of fancy people will be in attendance including the Mayor Mumbles Menino and the new BPS superintendent.

Oh, yeah: Go Sox. Now, bed.

Today was nuts and I prefer not to write about it. It's not halfway interesting either. I keep promising interesting LiveJournal entries, but the list of topics I want to write about keeps getting longer and longer. So I'll get a quick two out of the way.

Red Sox
So the Red Sox were down 3-1 and at last night's game were facing elimination from the post-season. Now, I know most of you don't care much for baseball but this story is short and fairly funny. Our ace pitcher Josh Beckett, who has been the only pitcher on the Red Sox who's pitching made Cleveland lose their only game. Okay, boring right? Well, as it turns out Josh Beckett's ex-girlfriend sang the National Anthem to open last night's game.

Cleveland of course claims this was a total coincidence, but let's be serious. Beckett was announced in the rotation days earlier and Cleveland knew well he was coming and the media discovered the connection the day before the game. It just seems entirely too convenient that this would be and then with ample notice still go on. Be serious Cleveland, you knew but even that didn't help you nor did the criminally bad call in your favor that reduced what should have been a home run into a single. The Red Sox have an uphill battle to win the next two games to clinch the series. If the Indians take just one more game the Sox are golfing. Only ten teams in the history of baseball have come back to a 3-1 hole and the Red Sox are looking to be number 11 with things now at 3-2. Just like in 2004. Boston hasn't felt this alive in years.

An Apology to the Affleck Brothers
Okay, so I was pretty nasty towards the Affleck brothers making their new movie Gone Baby Gone. Partly because I thought it looked precisely and sounded like Mystic River only without a twitchy Tim Robbins and a oleaginous Sean Penn. Also, because I despise Ben Affleck and his poky brother. So apparently totally doesn't suck™, and is actually very good. At the time of writing it had over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and people are going so far as to say it represents the redemption of Ben Affleck's Hollywood street cred. The consensus seems to be the movie turns out to heavily distance itself from the traditions of the cop drama genre and ventures deeply into moral ambiguity:

“We Own the Night”, released last week, painted a picture of cops and criminals as angels and demons fighting a holy war on an epic stage. In “Gone Baby Gone”, the angels turn out to be demons, and they skirmish in the shadows. - The Metro

Okay, Affleck so your directorial debut doesn't suck. I'll put that up to beginner's luck. At least I don't have to listen to your Boston accent.

Finally, there is just so many reasons to be excited by the very concept of Earl Grey brownies and with a recipe courtesy of the Boston Globe that becomes a delicious reality.

On this day in 1846, a crowd gathered in the operating theater at Massachusetts General Hospital. A Boston printer with a tumor on his jaw lay on the table. Curious and skeptical physicians and medical students waited impatiently. Finally, Boston dentist William Morton entered the room carrying a glass inhaler with an ether-soaked sponge. He used this apparatus to render the patient unconscious. A surgeon then removed the tumor. After the patient recovered consciousness, he reported that he had experienced no pain but only a sensation like that of being scraped with a blunt instrument. The historic moment was proclaimed "Ether Day," and hailed around the world as "the greatest gift ever known to mankind." One London newspaper declared "WE HAVE CONQUERED PAIN." - MassMoments.org

TrustPlus
A local Waltham-based company looking to make "the Internet the Safest Place on Earth" by building a universal reputation system which displays your feedback on an ever-increasing number of websites and services. If you use Freecycle, Craigslist, eBay, or any place where you are trusting people you have never met before with money, goods, or your own being this service should be of particular interest to you. It is a new service so it hasn't taken off yet. But in my opinion this service fills a really important gap left open, and if it becomes successful could make the Internet a much safer place to do business, get rid of crap, and to make friends.

Sign up for a free account and add (petergray) me to your trust circle!

Boston Community Change
If you reside in the Boston area, and dislike chains or just want to support your community, consider signing up for your free Boston Community Change Card the goal of which is to:

The Boston Community Change Card program is designed to help communities reverse the negative impact of losing dollars to retailers that are not locally owned. The program provides consumers with the incentives they need to shift their purchasing habits to support the cultural, economic and environmental health of their communities by shopping locally. When you shop at participating neighborhood businesses, you facilitate a shift of dollars to the common good through cash rewards for consumers, beneficiaries and the local community.

It's a free and easy way to do some good. Sign up here.

Moving day is tomorrow! Oh, and sorry for the lack of updates and the extraordinarily impersonal nature of this entry.

Busy seems to be the on-going theme these days. I really haven't had a spare evening in quite some time and would like to sometime soon as I miss open pockets of time where I can freely do as I please. But I have to admit it is a bit fun to be so occupied in my life with many things. Still, I hope to make more time for relaxing once I'm moved into my apartment the week after next. Then things should settle down for at least a bit.

On a whim this evening, I wandered down and bought very cheap day of tickets to Man of La Mancha at the Lyric Stage. The first twenty minutes was a bit slow but it rapidly picked up and by the end I was totally crying like a huge sap. The Lyric stage is a wonderful little intimate theatre with a great ambition to adapt big productions to a very small place. Tonight made me realize how much I really want to attend more cultural events around here and how much I miss theatre being a significant part of my life. The play was oddly appropriate, given one of the songs from the play became the anthem of the 1967 "The Impossible Dream" Boston Red Sox, who after eight consecutive losing seasons defied all expectations and clinched the American League pennant but failed to capture the World Series. This year is the 40th anniversary of that historic season and the Red Sox seem to be doing the polar opposite - carrying the whole season with the best record in baseball and seeming all to willing to flub it up in the last month of the season.

My highlight of the week was getting a very mysterious package from greensword, which contained a very sweet note and a package of Jelly Babies. How utterly fantastic. Thanks Shauna, it totally brightened up my week!

This weekend I am off to Baltimore to go to the lavish million-dollar wedding being thrown by the West Coast side of the Gray line. The wedding is so fancy every member of my family had to buy new clothes. Despite fleeing the stuffy North East, this side of the family has managed to hold onto and indeed amplified the snobby upper-class mentality that the East coast family has lost. They still attend those goofy faux aristocratic events that are all the rage on the left coast elite. Well, even if the wedding isn't much fun, I look forward to seeing them all and chuckling at how ridiculous they all are. The wedding is going to have a Chinese twist, as my cousin is marrying a very well-to-do (surprise!) Chinese man who is the heir to some big-deal Chinese construction company. My sister and I were almost seated at the children's table (Zing!), but then at the last minute were switched to the single's table. There we shall wine and dine with the young and wealthy. Time to pick me up a twice endowed wife. Yussss.

The last week has gone by in a blur. Even working only "six" hours a day has left me with little time or energy for much else. If I have seemed distant or inaccessible it's just me still getting used to working and still dealing with some of the ongoing issues of home. Between the two of them I don't have much time or energy for anything else. Hopefully this will change very soon.

brigid referred me to a potential apartment prospect with one of her friends out in Central Square. We visited the same day and it was pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I would be right on the Red Line (the only part of the T I trust) and give me a really easy commute to work via the #1 bus. I am pretty excited by the concept of a graceful exit from things at home so I can focus a bit more on my own life. Also, the desire to want to get out into the world and be independent seems to be growing as issues at home seem to just be simmering until the next explosion.

The Job
I've already written about how work is going really well. In addition to my normal duties I've become the head of Alumni development and become the liaison to the Red Sox (Fenway Park is literally accross the street) and to their philanthropic arm the Red Sox Foundation. I've talked and met with a few people from both organizations which has significantly increased my love of the Red Sox. I now understand a lot more about just how much and how long they have been engaged with pretty amazing levels of philanthropy. It's also given me a context for understanding why many corporations and even other professional sports teams do very little or in the case of the Yankees do no philanthropic/charitable work. I'm also beginning to see and understand the differences between actual meaningful charitable and philanthropic work and what the flouted PR exercises that makes the bulk. Just another reason to appreciate and support organizations who actually make meaningful contributions.

( More on my Job )

If people are interested I could write about the school itself and its methods. But I worry that discussions of pedagogy and school-design might not interest most people on my LJ.

Anyone want to do something this weekend?

I have so many things I want to write about but practically no time to do so. As opposed to most of the time these things are actually interesting. In lieu of actual content, I'll post a picture driftingfocus took of me after my first real day of work.



As you can tell from the photo, I'm pretty happy with my job*. Everything but the pay and benefits is amazing, which is actually pretty awful for the kind of work I'm doing. But opportunities abound as does networking opportunities. I'm also growing more passionate about the place I am working for almost on a daily basis. My boss (so far) adores me and keeps saddling me with more responsibilities. I just hope I can keep up. Oh, and actually write a long overdue LJ about everything that has been happening.

*At the moment I'm laughing because wisefool just said something awful about my mother.