On the one hand, you have Back Bay nagtivists who haven't liked anything proposed for their neighborhood since 1871. On the other hand, you have a developer telling them they have to put up with a design totally at odds with the surrounding architecture, unless they want "a cartoon" of a building. At issue: What should replace the old WEIU building on Boylston Street.

Jay Fitzgerald ponders the role in all this of state Rep. Marty Walz, who is torn between the Scylla of outraged constituents and the Charybdis of monied developers.