The Daily Northwestern — January 28, 2021

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Local experts try to build vaccine trust Heistancy could end up increasing existing COVID disparities

By JORJA SIEMONS

the daily northwestern @jorjasiemons

Anushuya Thapa/The Daily Northwestern

Communication sophomore Jared Kimmel takes class through Zoom in an in-person classroom in Ford Center. During Winter Quarter, some students got the chance to return to in-person instruction for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Students return to in-person classes After Wildcat Wellness, hybrid courses officially begin Jan. 18

By ANUSHUYA THAPA

daily senior staffer

In the Ford Center, Weinberg junior Saurav Khadka and Communication sophomore Jared Kimmel attended their first inperson class since the pandemic began. Twelve students were seated six feet apart as the instructor lectured the class through Zoom, with several students

tuning in from home.

Since the end of the Wildcast Wellness quarantine period on Jan. 17, Northwestern began inperson meetings for its hybrid Winter Quarter classes. For some students, classes where they have the option to meet their classmates and professors in person are a much-needed break from the abnormalities of remote learning. “(It was) the first time I felt like I was going to school in a long

time,” Khadka said. “I put on my backpack and walked out. In that regard, I think it feels more real.”

Kimmel, who had COVID-19 but has since recovered, said he is optimistic about Spring Quarter and “can’t wait” to go back to regular classes. He said he hopes enough people will be vaccinated for more small classes to start meeting in person.

Khadka and Kimmel are in the same studio team for a

McCormick design class. They both said attending class in person helped facilitate collaboration, even though they sat at different tables.

“It’s also so much easier to focus when you’re actually around other people,” Kimmel said. “When you’re in your own room, just alone with your computer, it’s so easy to get lost.”

» See HYBRID, page 6

When healthcare workers from NorthShore University HealthSystem received the COVID-19 vaccine in midDecember, uptake rates hovered just above 50 percent.

Lakshmi Halasyamani, chief medical officer at NorthShore, said the health system sent out over 11,000 vaccination tickets to get approximately 6,000 workers inoculated.

Participation rates have since risen. But Halasyamani said her team anticipated the initial low turnout, given NorthShore’s diversity in race, ethnicity and political views.

“Our vaccination efforts within healthcare ecosystems are kind of a microcosm of our communities,” she said. “We’re seeing those same concerns in our populations.”

Scholars say decades of institutional racism have laid a foundation for legitimate distrust in medicine. As NorthShore and AMITA Health work with the Evanston government to distribute the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, local experts emphasize the need for messaging tailored to residents of color who may be vaccine hesitant.

One Evanston resident, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of community retaliation, said he will not take the coronavirus vaccine because he sees echoes of the 1932 Tuskegee experiment in the vaccine’s

rollout. The 40-year project, conducted by the Public Health Service and the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) denied Black men with syphilis proper treatment in order to track the full progression of the disease, even though they were told otherwise.

“I remember Tuskegee,” he said. “The doctors had the penicillin, and they wouldn’t give it to them. That was a government study, and look what happened.”

NU political science Prof. and Associate Director of the University’s Institute for Policy Research James Druckman said when it comes to the likelihood of being vaccinated, “very large gaps” exist between Black Americans and other racial groups.

A member of the COVID States Project, a multi-university consortium aimed at analyzing national data about virus transmission, Druckman began tracking vaccine hesitancy last summer. According to the team’s research, only 52 percent of African Americans are likely to seek vaccination, compared to 67 percent of White people, 71 percent of Hispanic people and 77 percent of Asian Americans.

“That (disparity) reflects the history of unethical and deadly medical trials that have been run,” Druckman said.

Generations of medical bias and maltreatment have harmed communities of color. In 1951, The John Hopkins Hospital began using Black American Henrietta Lacks’ cells without her consent. Last September, a whistleblower alleged that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted forced

» See TRUST, page 6

Mayoral candidate Lori Keenan promotes access, equity

Longtime resident, activist hopes to open more lines of city-wide communication with residents

By JACOB FULTON

daily senior staffer @jacobnfulton

If she’s elected to be Evanston’s next mayor, 7th Ward resident Lori Keenan said her Monday nights won’t look any different.

With friends and supporters, Keenan jokes that she’ll attend the same number of City Council meetings no matter the results of this year’s municipal elections. The only difference? Instead of speaking during public comment, she hopes to bring her voice to the other side of the dais.

The 22-year resident said her longtime involvement in the Evanston community sets her apart from the other candidates, 2018 Evanston Township High School graduate

Recycle Me

Sebastian Nalls and former state Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston). She’s raised three children in the city, and her participation in Evanston life has run the gamut from serving on preschool boards to coaching T-ball in local leagues.

“If you want to give back to your community, you can do it in a multitude of ways,” she said. “But if you really want to have a voice for the people, then you have to have been involved here for the duration — you can’t just show up now and try to make a difference.”

A history of activism Since Keenan first moved to Evanston, she said she’s challenged city officials on a wide range of topics. She supported the Preservation Commission’s effort to designate

the Foster School as a landmark, and recently pushed for a referendum that prevented the demolition of another landmark, the Harley Clarke Mansion’.

Former Ald. Emily Guthrie (3rd) met Keenan in 2010 when Evanston Public Library’s branch campuses were facing a closure to bridge a budget deficit.

Guthrie and Keenan agreed the two EPL branches were community staples, and worked with a team of residents to save them, raising $150,000 to pay salaries at both campuses for six months.

Because the branches remained open, Keenan said the team created an opportunity for more than a million library visits.

Guthrie said these community campaigns have allowed Keenan to connect with residents across all

Photo courtesy of Lori Keenan

Mayoral candidate Lori Keenan. Keenan, a 22-year Evanston resident, announced her candidacy in November.

nine wards.

“I’ve often made the joke that if you had 100 Evanstonians in a room, you’d have 105 opinions,” Guthrie said. “Everybody has an

opinion, and it’s sometimes difficult to navigate, because some of those opinions compete. But I think Lori, because she’s been so involved, will be capable of doing that work.”

Guthrie said she expects Keenan would be a hands-on mayor — a departure from the past few

» See KEENAN, page 6

INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | A&E 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

AROUND TOWN

The Lucky Platter opens new grab-and-go pantry

By WENDY KLUNK

the daily northwestern @wklunk

An Evanston staple is about to get funkier, fresher and faster.

Derek Gaspar, owner of The Lucky Platter, is prioritizing his staff ’s wellbeing and restaurant sustainability with the launch of The Platter Pantry, a new grab-and-go section that will serve a variety of unique and local products.

The pantry will include some basic produce, soups, salads, niche snacks, unique drinks and frozen meals, along with some of the diner’s staples, namely their featured breakfast pastries — apricot cheese flakies. Additionally, Gaspar is excited to feature outside brands, including Kombucha Brava and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.

Gaspar plans to open the pantry in mid to late February in a build-out expansion, which is complete. He hopes the pantry will not only benefit the community, but also allow his staff to work more hours as the pandemic continues to take a toll on the restaurant industry.

“Evanston has a lot of progressive people who want to support local (businesses),” Gaspar said. “We were really trying to listen to the community and see what they are looking for, and I think this is what that is.”

While Gaspar says the last few months have not been easy, he is grateful for regular customers whose business has allowed the diner to stay open. He hopes the pantry will not only keep

CDC recommends two layers of masks to curb spread of COVID variant As new, potentially more contagious COVID19 variants spread throughout the country, some medical experts recommend that people wear two layers of masks.

Photo courtesy of Derek Gaspar

The Platter Pantry, which is directly connected to The Lucky Platter dining room is expected to open to the public in mid to late February.

the regulars coming back, but also generate publicity and expand the customer base.

Evanston resident Deborah Linder said the grab-and-go style pantry will make a great

The first case of the United Kingdom B.1.1.7. variant in Illinois was confirmed Jan. 15. In a recent interview, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, expressed his support for double-masking.

“If you have a physical covering with one layer and you put another layer on, it just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective,” Fauci said in a Jan. 25 interview. “That’s the reason

why you see people double-masking or doing a version of an N95.”

U.S. officials have discouraged Americans from purchasing N95 masks in order to maintain the supply for frontline medical workers, but some professionals think it is time the U.S. upgrades to medical grade masks. Several European countries, including Germany, recently mandated wearing medical grade masks in public spaces.

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addition to the south Evanston restaurant scene.

“My husband used to live in an apartment building right around there,” she said.“He would have really benefited from that, just being able to go down and get something good instead of having to do takeout.”

A new pantry is not the only change to occur at The Lucky Platter as a result of the pandemic.

While they are known by many as a breakfast spot, the diner has focused more heavily on dinner takeout, and in summer 2020, they opened an outdoor patio to encourage a safer dining environment.

Manager Brendan Johnson said although the past few months have been a significant adjustment for staff, a supportive workplace environment has made it all possible.

“We all came together to fill a bunch of different roles,” Johnson said. “I was no longer just a manager, servers were no longer just servers.”

Johnson has contributed to making sure the pantry will be fresh and original, as well as uphold the image The Lucky Platter has built in Evanston over the past nearly 30 years.

In the weeks before opening, Johnson, Gaspar and the rest of the team are sorting out small details and finishing the product curation process.

“This is the time where it’s all gonna really come together, the home stretch, and we’re all getting really excited,” Gaspar said. wendyklunk2024@u.northwestern.edu The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends masks have “two or more layers of washable, breathable fabric” because studies of multilayer masks show they can block from 50 percent to 70 percent of fine droplets and particles.

Health experts also point out that doublemasking can ease the fit of a mask on an individual.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

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ON CAMPUS

Hillel talks Zionism, racial justice

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By MAIA PANDEY

eic@dailynorthwestern.com

the daily northwestern @maiapandey

After exchanges between University President Morton Schapiro and NU Community Not Cops this fall, Northwestern Hillel tackled questions about Zionism, anti-Semitism and racial justice in a weeklong symposium this month.

After demonstrations outside his home in October, Schapiro said in an email to the University community the protesters’ rhetoric toward him held antiSemitic undertones. In response, NUCNC said they condemned anti-Semitism and their words had been misconstrued by Schapiro because “anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism.”

Hillel Social Justice Coordinator Lydia Greenberg, who helped organize the symposium, told The Daily many Jewish students felt “hurt, confused, (and) frustrated” either at the administration or other students after the heated back-and-forth in the fall.

“What happened on this campus is not unique to Northwestern,” Greenberg said. “These are issues that come up around the country — when does Zionism come up in social justice movements?

When is that appropriate, and when is it not? When is anti-Zionism anti-Semitism? Is abolition compatible with Zionism?”

The symposium aimed to address these questions and motivate students to continue educating themselves, Greenberg said. She worked with a cohort of Jewish students and faculty to plan five events from Jan. 11-14. Each event, with the exception of the final, students-only “Town Square,” was open to the entire NU community.

Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer, president of Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, spoke in the symposium’s opening event on “Zionism, AntiSemitism, and the 21st Century” about the reality of disagreeing with certain parts of a larger movement. You are not expected to agree with everyone in a certain coalition about every single issue, Kurtzer said.

“There’s a difference between being told, ‘You can’t be here because your views on this issue keep

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The Northwestern Hillel building at 629 Foster St. prior to renovations. Hillel hosted a weeklong virtual symposium this month to discuss Zionism, anti-Semitism and racial justice.

you out,’ versus insisting that your own issues get centered,” he added. “That’s where this starts to cross over, the insistence that, ‘I want to show up, for instance, on racial justice but at the same time I’m gonna insist that my Israel politics get centered in that space.’ ” In the panel “Social Justice Movements and the Jewish Community,” activist Yasmine Esther, who was raised in a Black and Jewish home and whose children are Black and Jewish, said White Jewish people must recognize their privilege when advocating for social justice.

The voices of Black Jewish activists have been amplified in these movements are encouraging, Esther said, but many in the Jewish community still feel uncomfortable acknowledging the benefits of White privilege.

“It’s not a privilege to have to hide your identity — you should not have to hide your Magen David, you should not have to take off your kippah, none of

that should happen,” Esther said. “But the fact that you can do that, and then move through a space as a White person is a privilege. My children can not take their melanin off before they go outside.”

McCormick sophomore Natan Gamliel, who helped plan the symposium, said the events created a space where participants could disagree with one another without the discussion turning combative.

The campus conversation last fall, much of which took place over social media, did not allow for as productive a dialogue, Gamliel added.

“Over Instagram or things like that, it’s a lot easier to slip into the mentality of, ‘I need to win this interaction,’ ” Gamliel said. “Of course, (the symposium) was meant to challenge you to think more broadly and consider more nuances, but it was primarily just meant to be supportive of anybody there. In that way, it definitely was more productive.” maiapandey@u.northwestern.edu

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2021

arts & entertainment

Photo courtesy of Taylor Ericson

Chicago-based band ‘splits’ releases second EP

By JACK AUSTIN

the daily northwestern @jackaustin10

Chicago alternative rock band splits released their highly anticipated second EP, “vice versa, ” which revolves around a message of resilience.

This album’s cover art depicts four koi fish for the four members of the band.

“Koi fish in Japan (are) associated with perseverance, adversity, strength and purpose, so we thought that connected with the idea for the record,” vocalist Taylor Ericson said. “Because they are swimming in a circle, that also touches on this idea that you can be resilient with the

right group.”

Claire Zhang, lead guitarist, said the album’s message is to gather inner strength and not give up on yourself, a point she has found especially relevant amid the global pandemic.

With the band spending lots of time fleshing out parts of songs, Zhang said “vice versa” is musically stronger than the band’s debut EP. Stiles Ramirez said splits distinguish themselves from other Chicago indie bands with its genuine desire to communicate with their fans.

Ramirez reached out to the group on Instagram after seeing one of their shows and, since then, splits regularly checks in on Ramirez.

Ramirez listens to the record while they do homework and draw. When they first listened

to the record, their reaction was “pure joy.”

I can definitely hear the emotion, I can feel them in a certain way,” Ramirez said. “I can dance to it, but it is actually sad if I pay close attention to it.”

Beth Howells said they have seen almost every splits live show. They said they prefer some of the older songs on “they let us go” to “vice versa” because the songs are faster and more familiar.

Ericson, the band’s vocalist, and Zhang, the lead guiarist, said splits wants to release a single before summer and “ideally” another album before the end of the year. The two band members hope to implement a faster songwriting process to avoid large gaps between EPs again.

While their first EP consisted mostly of guitar, drums and vocals, “vice versa” contains more layers and some synthesizer due to increased involvement from producer John Terry.

Moving forward, Zhang said the band wants to continue refining their sound, using a structured approach, without losing the unique guitar-centered sound. The band, Zhang said, has learned to stay resilient during these difficult times.

“It was a challenge of just learning how to write and collaborate separately, all online,” Zhang said. “This EP is really about resilience — that’s what the koi fish symbolism is.” jonathanaustin2023@u.northwestern.edu

NU alumni reflect on arts, pandemic and social justice

By NICK FRANCIS

the daily northwestern @nick24francis

The Northwestern School of Communication hosted a webinar Tuesday addressing how the pandemic and social justice are revolutionizing the world’s arts scene.

The panel, titled “Setting the Stage: The Future of the Performing Arts,” was hosted

by Communication Dean E. Patrick Johnson and featured actress and singer Kate Baldwin (Communication ’97), conductor Roderick Cox (Bienen M.M. ’11) and opera singer Kangmin Justin Kim (Bienen ’11).

All three artists were just on the verge of new projects when the pandemic forced their industry shutdowns. Baldwin was in her final tech rehearsal of the musical “Love Life” when she heard the news that Broadway was shutting down. Cox was working in a concert hall in Germany when capacity was suddenly restricted, and two performances later, were fully shut down. Kim had just completed his opening night in Europe when shutdowns rolled in, dashing any hopes of completing his six-show run.

After an adjustment period, practicing, self reflection and new opportunities afforded by virtual performances, Kim said the uncertain date of return to in-person activity has provided a unique chance for him to grow as an artist.

“We’ve done it for one year already, and we know how to prepare ourselves mentally and physically, and how to keep our form,” he said, “I’m staying hopeful.”

Kim said the switch to online performances

Photo courtesy of Northwestern School of Communication

Pictured left to right, School of Communication Dean E. Patrick Johnson, actress/singer Kate Baldwin, conductor Roderick Cox and opera singer Kangmin Justin Kim. The four were participants in a Tuesday webinar addressing the impact of COVID-19 and recent social justice initiatives on global arts.

has had an unintended, positive effect on a certain audience. While some believe opera is mostly enjoyed by older people, Kim said his experience online has allowed him to liven it up and bring it to younger audiences who have begun to love it like he’s never seen.

Like Kim, Cox also said he derives much of his fulfillment from art. No artist is used to putting down their craft for a long period of time, if at all, he said. The challenge for him during the pandemic has been finding out how to express it in innovative ways.

Owing to its online nature, the pandemic provided an abrupt change for many artists, and a segue to create further change in the industry.

Cox said the arts scene at large is long overdue for a reckoning and the time has come for more underrepresented audiences to receive their share of representation.

“Black artists may not have had a place in our art form. But there were great moments and artists, and they are still there,” he said. “We just have to make room for them. We have to make room for them to shine.”

During the panel, Baldwin also touched upon her involvement in increasing representation for women in the arts. She said she hopes to further the cause by encouraging the panel attendees and other women to join Maestra, an organization supporting women composers in musical theater.

Baldwin said the School of Communication’s focus on racial, gender and other forms of diversity are important to the future of art, and Northwestern’s push for diversity is only a recent advent though its path forward, under Dean Johnson, is bright.

“Dean Johnson is a superstar, and is uniquely poised to lead the School of Communication forward into this era that is embracing the call for social change,” Baldwin told The Daily. “We need to embrace and learn about other playwrights and women and bipoc voices, and there is room to include everybody.”

For Baldwin, she said the conversations she has about issues of representation with her fellow NU graduates is what has pushed her worldview to continuously evolve.

Looking into the future, Cox said that young artists are empowered to redefine the arts scene for the better. Even once the pandemic ends, he said the lessons learned during COVID-19 can be applied to further equity, uplift marginalized voices and bring about radical change and rebirth.

“People need art,” he said. “It should be one of the first things that we should be entering — this new renaissance of art, coming out of this darkness.” nickfrancis2024@u.northwestern.edu

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 5

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2021

Purple Crayon Players to premiere original film

By DIEGO RAMOS-BECHARA

the daily northwestern @d_ramos42

Quiet on the set! It’s lights, camera, action for the Purple Crayon Players, a board within the Northwestern Student Theatre Coalition, as they get ready to premiere their latest film, “Stepping Stones,” this Saturday.

The film follows a group of children that find a magic rock that transforms them into grownups. Director and Communication junior Samara Malik described the film as a “story about what it means to grow up, the series of actions and choices that force you to conform with society’s expectations of you.”

The film centers themes of individuality, authenticity and nonconformity. These themes speak to the board’s mission, as they strive to create plays that encourage young audiences to engage with theatre and performance, often with shows children can appreciate and be inspired by.

Malik said she wanted the story’s characters to reflect contemporary demographics, as the goal of the film was to empower kids by seeing a version of themselves on-screen that matched who they are in real life.

Photo courtesy of Owen Kiley

Purple Crayon Players is preparing to premiere their film “Stepping Stones” this Friday.

“I wanted to include (characters) that were questioning their sexuality, their heritage, that were non-binary, and I wanted them to explore what it meant to defy what society had expected them to grow up and be,” she said.

Like many productions, the pandemic impacted the film’s pre-and post-production processes. The film was to be staged in the McCormick Auditorium and was set in

medieval times, featuring dragons and wizards.

“We had to find an alternative method to convey the story, given that we were changing the medium,” she said. “That’s how we settled on the contemporary setting.”

While she would have liked to film in person, Malik said the virtual setting propelled and supported her directing.

Communication freshmen Adelina Marinello

and Veronica Szafoni filmed all their scenes from home.

“We were sent these boxes containing tripods, greenscreens and microphones; we would film our scenes individually and then meet with Samara to talk about what could be improved,” Marinello said.

Both actresses commended the film for tackling what it’s actually like to grow up in today’s world. Szafoni said she found her character relatable because she has faced expectations to act a particular way and have certain conversations, she said.

Marinello’s character, Ella, struggles with coming to terms with her sexuality and what it means to her.

“It’s all about the pressure to conform with the norms, struggling between finding what she wants for herself and what she’s expected to become,” she said.

While it was challenging to create an entire film remotely, Marinello, Szafoni and Malik said the experience was enriching and they learned a lot.

“I think that the uniqueness involved with shooting the film speaks to the film’s themes of individuality and creativity,” Malik said. diegoramos-bechara2024@u.northwestern.edu

Local industry experts talk filming during pandemic

By RAYNA SONG

the daily northwestern @raynayu_song

After almost a year of staying home and social distancing, the film and television industry has adapted to the consequences of COVID-19. Although the future still remains unclear, professionals are optimistic about a prompt return to filming.

“COVID-19 effectively stopped a majority of productions immediately, which caused a cascading effect, shutting down businesses that depend on the film and TV industry, like caterers, production equipment rental businesses, post production houses,” Chicago freelance television producer Craig J. Harris said.

Harris, who has won local Emmy awards for

his previous works, said COVID-19 disrupted his filming process as a producer, as some workers didn’t want to risk their health, making it difficult to hire people.

The return to production has been slow, as film companies must carefully adhere to national and local COVID-19 guidelines.

Maintaining a COVID-safe environment can be costly, and even unaffordable, for some companies.

When it comes to the film and TV industry in Illinois, the opportunities for work during the pandemic are few and competitive, Harris said. But he is hopeful about the job prospects to come.

“I do believe that once the pandemic is under control — some scientists are predicting by perhaps early 2022 — the jobs will be plentiful because the demand for new content hasn’t

subsided, just the ability to create it,” Harris said.

Many organizations continue to offer support to industry members, such as The Kaufherr Resource Center in Chicago, which assists union performers and other media professionals by building community, providing resources and offering opportunities for career growth.

“The products of our mission look very different these days, but the need has never been greater,” Center director Jess Jones said.

“When the pandemic forced many spaces to close in March of last year, we immediately began to reimagine how to create opportunities for community, education and career cultivation.”

Oriana Oppice, a Chicago-based director, producer, actor and writer, said the city’s film and television industry was hit hard because it

is home to many large productions. One popular show, NBC’s “Chicago Fire,” paused filming its ninth season for two weeks in November due to several positive COVID-19 tests on the production team.

Oppice added many people in the industry learned to pivot quickly, setting up remote recording or learning a new skill they could do from home such as editing.

“It’s going to take a bit of time for the vaccinations to reach many of our industry workers, and it remains to be seen how quickly work will come back to Chicago,” Oppice said.

“But this city is pretty resilient and always welcoming, so I believe as soon as the world can open again, Chicago film and TV will be back at full force.” raynasong2023@u.northwestern.edu

International students perform in post-pandemic China

By LYNN YANG

the daily northwestern

Northwestern theatre students in post-pandemic China are engaging in in-person production, an opportunity that is yet to be realistic for their peers in the States.

Due to the travel ban between China and the U.S., most Chinese international students chose to continue remote learning this quarter at home.

For Communication sophomore Joyce Pu, life in Shanghai’s theatre scene has returned to a new normal. Pu partook in three in-person productions over the winter break for the Youge Theater Group, Shanghai’s creative hub for aspiring young playwrights to experiment with untested scripts.

Unlike a typical theatre production, where stage movement plays a crucial role in audience interactions, Youge’s New Play Reading Series focused on the script itself, Pu said. Instead of physically interacting with fellow actors, Pu said she expressed the character’s emotional rawness while staying still on stage.

Since Northwestern launched its remote learning policy in March, Pu had not performed in front of a live audience for more than eight months.

“This experience taught me why people choose theatre over digital productions,” Pu said. “You have that physical presence with the audience and the actor. As an actor, I learned so much from simply interacting with my audiences.”

While Pu chose a local internship, Jonyca Jiao, English literature & theatre sophomore from Xi’an, travelled with the Yayapa production team across China to stage “The Little Match Girl” in Shenzhen and Guiyang.

Directed by Greg Ganakas, “The Little Match Girl” was an American musical adaption of the iconic story by Hans Christian Andersen, depicting a young girl’s misfortune as she sells matches in the street on New Year’s Eve. After a series of cross-continental Zoom interviews, the final cast was assembled and began a 45-day music training with Ganakas. Before meeting the audience, the cast hosted intermittent rehearsals throughout November and the first half of December.

Photo courtesy of Yayapa Production

Jonyca Jiao on stage with the Little Match Girl cast.

“The rehearsal process was intense,” said Jiao, who starred as the hostess of the restaurant from which the little match girl was ejected. Jiao had to find a balance between rehearsals and classes, all while navigating a 14-hour time difference.

Instead of continuing her coursework remotely as an Art History and Theatre major, junior Coco Huang chose to take a gap quarter to work fulltime at the Beijing Tianqiao Performance Arts Center, a comprehensive modern theatre complex that opened in 2015.

As the stage manager of Tianqiao’s New Play Incubator Project, Huang helped young playwrights pitch their scripts, recruit actors and members for their production teams and design the rehearsal schedule for individual performances.

Huang primarily contributed to a production of “Chun Shi.” Directed by Peking University graduate and freelance playwright Hongxuan

Zhu, the show portrayed the life of two female physicists navigating their career before the Chinese Scientific Revolution’s inception.

Besides staging the evolution of Chinese scientific enlightenment, “Chun Shi” expanded on the Republic of China’s budding feminism ideals in the 1930s, Huang said.

As she continues her internship at Tianqiao, Huang plans to expand the venue’s experience with Western experimental theatre formats and site-specific performance. Going forward, Huang intends to help structure a series of workshops and public performances, joining forces with her fellow Chinese international theatre enthusiasts.

“Only when ‘Chineseness’ can outgrow Western identity politics, owning a space to breathe and enunciate its nuance, then can we truly claim an international presence,” Huang said. jingwenyang2024@u.northwestern.edu

arts & entertainment Editor Rebecca Aizin Assistant Editors Nick Francis Laya Neelakandan Designer Jacob Fulton Staff Jack Austin Diego Ramos-Bechara Rayna Song Lynn Yang

6 THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

HYBRID

From page 1

Communication sophomore Mako Yamamoto, said she had been struggling with online classes before due to the demands as a Theatre major. Last quarter, Yamamoto was enrolled in a dance class where she was one of two students learning from home while the rest met in person.

“There were technological issues and you couldn’t hear the professors,” Yamamoto said. “I think that’s what prompted me to want to go in person when I can to avoid those problems and have a better learning experience in general.”

This winter, Yamamoto is enrolled in an acting class where students attend in-person sessions in alternating groups of ten. She said students are assigned one chair for the quarter and remain masked and distanced throughout their class.

However, Yamamoto said the in-person classes present their own challenges. For example, wearing masks limits the actors’ ability to use facial expressions.

In certain instances where facial cues are important, Yamamoto said she prefers acting through Zoom. For synchronized acts and movement-heavy performances, though, she said she enjoys being in person.

KEENAN

From page 1

mayors, she said, who have let city staff make policy decisions she believes should have been brought before City Council.

Keenan has spent over two decades talking to citizens about policy and platforms across the city. But this year, her campaign was different.

“As I was collecting petition signatures to get myself on the ballot, I realized, this is the first time I’m actually on a clipboard,” Keenan said. “I’ve done so many of these types of things. It’s the first time I’m doing it for me.”

Tuned into the community Evanston resident Tiffany Rice, first met Lori Keenan soon after her son, Dajae Coleman was shot and killed in September 2012. After her son’s death, Rice wanted to make a difference in the Evanston community, and Keenan offered to help.

Alongside Keenan and many other residents, Rice founded the Dajae Coleman Foundation, an organization focused on engaging and supporting Evanston youth and celebrating the values Dajae stood for. “(Keenan) has a genuine interest in addressing some of the issues that affect people through all walks of life in Evanston,” Rice said. “You just have to have that connection with the people in the community. People want to know who you are.”

Keenan, who’s watched rising prices drive low- and middle-income residents out of the city, said she wants to ease the affordable housing application process for all residents and prioritize the creation of more lowincome housing.

Additionally, Keenan is the owner of a local public

In-person meetings for hybrid classes also involve students who are attending class from home. Yamamoto said students studying at home watch the students on campus act through Zoom.

“We have had to move closer to the screen so that people online can actually hear us,” Yamamoto said. “So it is a practice in making sure your voice is projected, or else Zoom just won’t pick it up.”

For McCormick Prof. Gaby Ruiz-Funes, balancing between the “two planes” — one physical and the other virtual — of a hybrid class is a challenge. After holding her first in-person class since the pandemic began on Jan. 25, Ruiz-Funes said switching between interacting with in-person students and students on Zoom made gauging her students’ engagement difficult.

In addition, she said audiovisual difficulties and technological interruptions made her wish she had been able to do a “dry run” of class before an actual lecture.

“There are so many cool tools that they’ve put in these classrooms to facilitate online learning,” RuizFunes said. “But the truth is, we just don’t have the time as teachers to learn those on the fly and adapt very quickly.” anushuyathapa2023@u.northwestern.edu relations firm, and said as a small business owner, she’s seen firsthand the struggles local businesses are facing amid COVID-19, both in her own company and with those she’s worked for.

“We need a mayor who not only has been involved in the issues in town, but is interested in also staying involved in the issues in town,” she said. “This isn’t a stepping stone for me — this is where I want to be.”

Open door, open ears While collecting signatures for her mayoral petition, a lifelong Evanston resident posted a question to Keenan: Would she reinstate an open-door policy for the mayor’s office?

“He went on to tell me that Lorraine Morton, when she was mayor, had an open-door policy, and that the last two mayors have had anything but that,” Keenan said. “Hearing that really made me realize that’s something I want to incorporate.”

Now, that suggestion has become an important part of her campaign. Keenan said she intends to be accessible and responsive to all residents.

Keenan said she also wants to increase city-wide digital correspondence and connect with residents through in-person interactions. And she’ll encourage other members of City Council to meet with people both inside and out of their wards as a way to break down barriers within Evanston. More accessibility, Keenan said, will challenge the city’s elected officials to make choices with their voters’ needs in mind, she said.

“I’ve been showing up for Evanston,” she said. “I’ve already been able to make a change against many odds.

So what could we do if we could all be working together?”

TRUST

From page 1

hysterectomies on immigrant women, a practice preceded by decades of forced sterilizations of Black, brown and Indigenous women in the United States.

Kenzie Cameron, a research professor in general internal medicine at Feinberg School of Medicine, said racism in medicine results in a “rational distrust” of the medical institution.

Cameron said this hesitation is dangerous, especially in a pandemic that has disproportionately impacted Black and brown communities.

According to CDC data released at the end of November, Black people and Hispanic or Latinx people are 2.8 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to White people.

Indigenous people are four times more likely to be hospitalized than White people.

“If we see the same levels of lower vaccine uptake in Black and brown communities (for the COVID-19 vaccine) as we’ve seen with other vaccines, we are going to see an increasing and wider disparity,” Cameron said. “I don’t want to see this get even worse.”

Ike Ogbo, Evanston’s Health & Human Services director, said the city is pushing evidencebased information through its COVID-19 website and social media sites to educate citizens — especially those hesitant about getting vaccinated.

“People sometimes are afraid of what they do not know,” Ogbo said. “(It) becomes our responsibility to equip them with the knowledge and information.”

Halasyamani shared the sentiment, calling information the “antidote to fear” and recommending that residents refer to resources from NorthShore, the CDC and the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Halasyamani said several myths about the vaccine need to be dispelled, including the idea that it is not safe or effective because it was quickly developed, as well as the notion that individuals

could contract COVID-19 from the vaccine.

“The individuals who reviewed the scientific information at the FDA, they are not politically motivated,” she said.

She said while individuals cannot contract COVID-19 from the vaccine, because neither vaccine contains a live or dead virus, people can expect flu-like symptoms after being vaccinated.

According to the CDC, up to 89 percent of vaccinated people develop some pain or swelling at the injection site, and up to 83 percent experience fevers, fatigue, or headaches. These symptoms usually resolve within three days of vaccination, and hypersensitivity-related adverse events are rare.

As local healthcare organizations continue to spread this information to Evanston residents, Druckman said messaging strategy is important to consider. From his research, messages prioritizing personal physicians’ own voices are the most effective in building trust.

Clyde Yancy, chief of cardiology and vice dean for Diversity and Inclusion at Feinberg, also emphasized the importance of people hearing from medical professionals who look like them, speak their languages, and understand the distrust they feel.

Northwestern Medicine’s recent “Why I Got Vaccinated” video campaign featured the testimonies of Black and brown medical professionals, Yancy included.

“I am a Black man volunteering in a very willing way to receive the vaccination, in part because this disease has disproportionately impacted people of color, and in part because, as a scientist, I trust the science,” the former American Heart Association president said in a video that showed him getting vaccinated.

Moving forward, Yancy said communication that is framed in a culturally competent way has the potential to make vaccination messages trustworthy and effective.

“I think that changes everything,” he said. jorjasiemons2024@u.northwestern.edu

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Students recount experience in quarantine housing

By HANK YANG

the daily northwestern @hankyang22

At Northwestern, both students who test positive and students contacted through contact tracing are placed in Quarantine and Isolation Housing to contain potential infections.

On-campus Q/I Housing is located at the Foster-Walker Complex. Students who test positive are placed in Foster-Walker East in isolation, while those who have been in close contact with COVID-positive students and test negative are quarantined in Foster-Walker West.

Five days after moving into NU, Medill freshman Liam Warin was contacted by Q/I Housing to notify him that his roommate tested positive. Within a few hours, Warin was transported to Foster-Walker West. During his ten days in quarantine, he said the isolation made maintaining his mental health difficult.

“You’re not seeing anyone. Sometimes on the weekends when you don’t have class you’re just

not speaking out loud (for) long, long hours,” Warin said. “It’s definitely very frustrating, not being able to go outside and walk and get fresh air.”

Every day, students in quarantine receive a wellbeing call from Q/I Housing Coordinators to help ensure every need is provided for.

Cecilia Taylor has been working as a Q/I Housing Coordinator since the beginning of Fall Quarter. She said the calls help her connect with students and allow her to quickly respond to students’ needs and questions.

“Outside of informational conversations, I love to chat with students about their interests, hobbies and studies,” Taylor said. “Being able to have a fun conversation with students restores a sense of normalcy and always makes my day so much brighter.”

Counseling and Psychological Services also offers a Q/I Housing support space for students who can join a bi-weekly informal chat on Zoom with other students and CAPS professionals. In addition, students can check out exercise equipment during their stay.

“The number of students in Q/I Housing

tends to correlate with the number of students living on campus. With the highest number of students now living on campus since Q/I Housing started last March, we currently have our highest population in Q/I Housing,” said Carlos Gonzalez, the executive director of residential services at NU. Each student is provided with a personal bathroom, basic toiletries, towels and sheets.

Students choose food from the Quarantine and Isolation menu and get it delivered to their doors twice a day.

Weinberg freshman George Graham, tested positive and stayed in isolation housing for ten days.

“Towards the end of my stay in isolation, I received a fun care package with a Bob Ross coloring book, some markers, some extra snacks and a Rubix cube, which gave me something to do,” Graham said.

Warin’s advice for students who are placed in contact tracing?

“Bring your own fitted sheets. Certainly bring your own snacks if you have any,” he said. “Bring a towel because the towels they

Illustration by Hank Yang

Students who have been contact traced or tested positive for COVID-19 are put into Quarantine and Isolation Housing.

give you are a little small… Bring a litany of clothes. I would honestly pack for 11 or 12 days.” hankyang2024@u.northwestern.edu

Plastic pollution threatens Lake Michigan, wildlife

By WILLIAM CLARK

the daily northwestern @willsclark01

As advocates push for clarity within Evanston’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan, local researchers and advocates are raising alarm about the growing social and ecological effects of plastic pollution in Lake Michigan.

According to a study from the Rochester Institute of Technology, 11 million pounds of plastic – the equivalent of 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools full of plastic bottles – are entering Lake Michigan each year. Scientists say this plastic threatens the lake’s wildlife and ecosystems, as well as the over 10 million people who rely on it for drinking water.

“We’re starting to see (plastic) creep into a lot of different parts of the food web,” Jaclyn Wegner,

the director of Conservation Action at the Shedd Aquarium, said.

She said that plastic entering aquatic ecosystems doesn’t biodegrade, but rather breaks down into smaller pieces, known as microplastics, that are so tiny they can pass through water filtration systems and be mistaken for food by fish and other wildlife.

Accumulation of plastics isn’t only contained within aquatic ecosystems. A World Wildlife Fund study found that, globally, the average person consumes about five grams of microplastics each week – the equivalent of a credit card. This plastic can come from seafood, such as fish with plastic accumulated in their bodies, but it’s also present in water systems.

Although microplastics’ impacts on human health are largely unknown, they represent a growing area of concern among researchers and public health organizations.

“Plastic pollution… is a consumption problem,” Tyrone Dobson, the volunteer engagement manager at the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said.

“We as a people consume more plastic, and most of that plastic… is single-use plastics.”

In Evanston, reducing plastic pollution is part of CARP’s zero-waste goal by 2050, but the city has yet to take concrete steps in that direction.

Evanston Environment Board member Michelle Redfield said a ban on single-use plastics is being considered at the city level, but not officially on the city’s agenda.

“The city has not yet developed a zero-waste strategy, yet they’re moving forward in some really impactful ways,” Redfield said.

The city’s agenda for 2021 includes proposing an update to the 2015 “Shopping Bag Ordinance” as well as propositions for universal composting and recycling, Redfield said.

But advocates stressed that solutions to plastic

pollution need to be inclusive and shouldn’t place disproportionate burdens on lower-income residents, people with disabilities or small business owners. Wegner said single-use container bans should include subsidies to help small restaurants transition to compostable or reusable containers.

Beyond policy solutions, many advocates said that addressing plastic pollution requires a fundamental transformation of cultural norms about waste.

“The plastic pollution problem that we have is very closely aligned (with)… the idea that people and places and water can be treated as disposable,” Anna-Lisa Castle, a water policy manager at the Alliance for the Great Lakes said. “We need our economy to work in a way that things get reused and that pollution is not just an acceptable externality.”

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SPORTS

Thursday, January 28, 2021

@DailyNU_Sports Photo courtesy of Brooks Barnhizer

MARK AND BROOKS

Northwestern recruit and father team up for successful senior season amid pandemic-related uncertainty

By GREG SVIRNOVSKIY

daily senior staffer @gsvirnovskiy

It wasn’t a typical night at Lapel High School on that December 2019 day when Mark Barnhizer led the Lafayette Jefferson Bronchos in their play against the Bulldogs. Two small-town Indiana schools facing off against each other in a state where high school basketball is like religion and game days feel a lot like going to church.

This time, a hero was returning home.

Mark Barnhizer starred at Lapel High School in the early 1970’s, setting scoring marks and developing a long range shot that his son has likened to that of Pete Maravich.

He was back with his two boys.

Braxton, now a freshman guard at Trinity Christian College in Chicago, and Brooks, currently a senior at Lafayette Jeff, who in November 2020 signed on to play at Northwestern. They set that game on fire.

Brooks led the charts with 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Braxton chipped in with a 15 point, 13 rebound double double.

And then, the coach took his boys around the school. It’s the same building. The same gym.

“I remember right before we played, they gave him a standing ovation,” Brooks said. “It was cool to see how big of a hero he was there. He always told us about his high school days. To actually back and see how much he meant to that community, it was really cool.”

Mark Barnhizer would play at Purdue for one season after graduating from Lapel, before transferring to

Fitzgerald stays with Cats, signs new tenyear coaching deal Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald has agreed to a ten year contract extension that will keep him in Evanston until 2030.

The news was first reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.

The extension will likely put a kibosh on rumors that Fitzgerald is

play three seasons at Auburn. He’d spend a year coaching in Alabama before returning to Indiana to settle down, meeting and then marrying his wife Heidi and continuing a remarkably successf ul career coaching high school basketball.

For a long time, Brooks measured his basketball skill up to his father’s.

They’d take each other on at the gym every day. Mark would always win — until Brooks turned 12.

“We were playing open gym one Sunday,” Brooks said. “He would kill me everyday. I would never win a game. But I didn’t lose a game against him that day.”

Mark proudly told his wife about their son’s progress as they were leaving the gym. She’s the one who told Brooks how happy his dad was.

“He didn’t tell me, he was too proud for that,” Brooks said, laughing.

Their relationship has revolved around the basketball court. Brooks first touched the ball when he was four. By the time he was seven, he was playing organized hoops, modeling shots off the pros: off-kilter looped shots like the ones he’d watch Kevin Garnett take on TV, offensive possessions like Steve Nash.

First, Mark was a dad and dad only.

When Brooks started playing high school basketball in seventh grade, he became coach too. He’s their biggest supporter, their biggest cheerleader and a lot of times, their biggest critic.

“I would never trade the experience of coaching my sons,” Mark said. “I’ve kind of coached them all the way up. You hear those coaches say, ‘I don’t take it home with me.’

I’m not that kind of guy. I definitely take it home with me. It kinda consumes me.”

He w atc h ed and coached as Brooks went from averag ing 16.2 points per game as a sophomore at Lafayette Jefferson to 20.8 points and almost five assists per contest as a junior.

Mark couldn’t have e x p ec ted what was to come in his son’s senior year—both his son’s breakout season and a global pandemic, which has gotten in the way of a potential season for the ages.

Interrupted and changed forever by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Barnhizers and the team at Lafayette Jeff didn’t know if they’d be able to play this season.

“You never really know if somebody’s gonna be quarantined,” Barnhizer said. “Or just what the rates and cautions that they’ll take. You just gotta go hard every day because you don’t know what tomorrow brings.

It’s really tough but you’ve just gotta adjust and make the most of it.”

The Indiana High School Athletic Association eventually allowed competitive basketball to return.

The Lafayette Jeff players space out whenever they can in practice.

Coaches and players wear masks when they’re not on the court. It’s all about caution.

The season opener against the Indianapolis Metropolitan Pumas was different. Gone were the fans, who’d crowded the stands in all of Barnhizer ’s previous games with the Bulldogs.

Braxton was gone too, plying his trade in college.

“It’s a lot different,” Brooks said. “Especially if you’re in Indiana, you’re used to a lot of fans being at your games, playing in front of people. But this year,

flirting with making the switch to an NFL job any time soon. After the Wildcats’ stunning 7-2 2020 season that included a win in the Citrus Bowl over Auburn, Fitzgerald drew heavy interest from the professional ranks.

A departure from the coach would have been devastating for a program which is dealing with the retirement of defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz and Athletic Director Jim Phillips’ departure to become commissioner of the ACC. Instead, Fitzgerald is staying, opting for stability.

Fitzgerald, who took over at NU following the death of coach Randy Walker in 2006, will enter his sixteenth season as head coach of the program in 2021, making him the sixth-longest tenured coach in the FBS. He’s compiled a 106-81 record, revitalizing a football team that had long been spinning in circles before his arrival.

Northwestern’s victory in the 2013 Gator Bowl over Mississippi State was the program’s first bowl game win in 64 years. It also marked Fitzgerald’s

50th career win coaching the Cats. He nabbed his 100th career victory in the 2020 season opener against Maryland.

Since 2013, Fitzgerald has led NU to four more bowl game championships, including a storybook come-frombehind takedown of Utah in the 2018 Holiday Bowl, in which the Cats at one point trailed by 17 before winning by 11 on the back of a 28-point third quarter.

In another indication of NU’s ascent under Fitzgerald: the Cats have won the Big Ten West division over

It’s no wonder his boys would soon get the better of him.

The final act almost wasn’t supposed to happen.

it’s just been the exact opposite. We only get like two fans every game.”

Same Brooks. Scratch that — better Brooks.

Behind his 40 point, 11 rebound masterclass and triple-double, the Bronchos thrashed the Pumas in a 105-54 scoreline. Along the way, Barnhizer showcased his hops. He threw down dunks on consecutive possessions in the middle quarters, capitalizing on fastbreaks and engineering his own steals. And he spread the ball around, dishing out a whopping ten assists in the effort.

Teammate Ashton Beaver, a senior at Lafayette Jeff and Brooks’ teammate since sophomore year, put up 23 points on opening night.

“We were ready to go,” Beaver said.

“We were trying to show everyone that even though our brothers were gone, we could still be good. Everyone thought we weren’t.”

That opening night wasn’t an outlier. Barnhizer and the Bronchos won their first nine games of the season, a stretch in which the guard scored over 30 points each time, and hit the forty point mark on three separate occasions.

He’s now averaging 35 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds a game.

More importantly, Barnhizer is doing it in a year in which so much is up in the air: when he’s not sure if he’ll play tomorrow, or which teammates will be suiting up on the court alongside him.

“We’re all just very excited to play,” Beaver said. “We didn’t know if we were going to be able to play at first.

Because of Covid, we had to quarantine before our season even began. We keep our own energy. That’s all we need.” gregorysvirnovskiy2022@u.northwestern.edu the likes of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota two out of the past three years.

Fitzgerald’s unprecedented success is why NFL teams, including the Green Bay Packers in 2018, have tried to pluck Fitzgerald away from Evanston. In early January, it was reported

by Adam Schefter that Fitz was “open to taking NFL HC interviews.”

But now, he’s back among the purple and white for another ten years, to help Northwestern reach new heights.

— Greg Svirnovskiy