The Daily Northwestern - Nov. 6, 2012

Page 1

Student groups host » PAGE 6 election watch parties

sports Football Wildcats come off bye week rested and focused » PAGE 8

opinion Guest Columnists The final say on who you should vote for today » PAGE 4

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The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Find us online @thedailynu

DAILY DECISION

‘Why vote?’: Timeworn question endures By Patrick Svitek

daily senior staffer

Which national issues concern you the most? From Harvard University Institute of Politics survey of 18- to 29-year-olds attitudes toward politics and public service

Campus polling locations

Economy

National Security

General.....................................32% Jobs...........................................9% National Debt/Budget deficit.........7% Unemployment/Job loss................4% Employment................................2% Taxes..........................................2% Money issues...............................2% Government spending...................1% Poverty........................................1% Economic equality/inequality..........1%

War/Military.................................2% Foreign policy/affairs.....................1%

Sheridan Rd.

1 Patten Gym

Other Immigration.................................5% Education....................................4% Moral issues................................2% President Obama/lack of leadership...1% Environment................................1% Energy.........................................1% Government/political corruption......1%

Health Care

2 Parkes Hall

Health care, general.....................9% Medical/health insurance..............1% Christine Nguyen/Daily Senior Staffer

Chelsea Sherlock/The Daily Northwestern

SESP senior Becca Portman does not take sides. Her position at the helm of Northwestern’s largest voter registration initiative demands that she remain nonpartisan. But it doesn’t take a diehard Democrat or Republican to gauge the pervasive apathy that grips college campuses every election season. “It sort of creates a self-fulfilling prophecy when young people don’t vote,” said Portman, the program coordinator for NU Votes. “Our needs and voices aren’t represented, and then we get disillusioned with politics and we don’t vote. So the change that we want to see happen doesn’t happen.” In a mid-October survey, less than half of young adults told Harvard pollsters they will “definitely” vote in today’s presidential election. The same survey found that just a quarter of young adults consider themselves “politically engaged” this election cycle. Portman’s diagnosis — mixed with a never-ending slew of less-than-promising statistics — begs an age-old question facing young Americans: “Why vote?” Over the past few months, The Daily presented that same question to a dozen politicians, pundits and students. Their answers ranged from cheerily optimistic to nakedly resentful of the political process. “You’re a citizen, you’re of age, you should register to vote,” University » See Why VOTE?, page 6

EPD presents profiling report Whistleblower sues NU-affiliated hospital By Rachel Janik

the daily northwestern

Representatives of the Evanston Police Department presented to the city’s Human Services Committee on Monday the results of an internal investigation that cleared the racial profiling allegations against the officer who detained a Northwestern professor’s son. In August, EPD Officer Mark Buell handcuffed 13-year-old Diwani Greenwell, the son of Medill Prof. Ava Greenwell, outside his home during a burglary investigation. Sgt. Angela Hearts-Glass approached the committee with an extensive presentation Monday recounting the details of the events surrounding the handcuffing of Greenwell. The review included audio from the 911 call, including an initial description of the suspect as a teenage black male wearing khaki cargo shorts and a dark shirt. However, the report also says Greenwell told officers her son was wearing navy cargo pants. Hearts-Glass provided video footage from the vehicles of officers on the scene, in addition to recordings of dispatches among units as they attempted to find suspects before Diwani was handcuffed. She told the committee that the investigation revealed more misunderstanding than malice in Buell’s actions and that miscommunication between officers led them to mistakenly conclude Diwani was

By Amanda Gilbert

the daily northwestern

Rachel Janik/The Daily Northwestern

detainment debate Medill Prof. Ava Greenwell and her husband, Dale, respond to the Evanston Police Department’s presentation about their 13-year-old son Diwani’s handcuffing in August.

attempting to flee police on his bicycle. Evanston residents disputed the report, testifying there were too many inconsistencies between the suspect’s description and Greenwell’s appearance to justify stopping him. Greenwell and her husband, Dale, also approached the committee to respond to EPD’s findings. “Had there been more questions asked by the dispatcher, more questions answered by police to me, and better

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communication clearly from this presentation … we probably wouldn’t be here today,” Greenwell said. She said the original internal affairs report posted online sought to discredit the family’s complaints. “My son did nothing wrong, and neither did I,” Greenwell said. “Your department created this problem.” EPD Chief Richard Eddington said » See council, page 5

A lawsuit against Northwestern University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital publicly revealed last week alleges the two institutions double-billed for patient care. Former Northwestern University employee Audra Soulias filed a whistleblower lawsuit accusing the University and hospital of violating the False Claims Act by defrauding the federal government. She alleges that they were billing different governmental agencies for the same patient care. “Specifically, the hospital, owned and/ or operated by the University, has billed and continues to bill both the National Institute of Health and Medicare for the same care for the same patients in multiple clinical trials,” Soulias said in her complaint. The error occurred because the hospital and the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation removed the “research” category for patients from their computer billing systems, according to the complaint. This prevented the billing system from being able to categorize patients as research subjects. Therefore, both private and public insurance was billed for these research services. Soulias said she was laid off after telling

her supervisor about her concerns regarding the billing system. Northwestern Memorial spokeswoman Kris Lathan said the hospital will not comment on ongoing litigation, but added that a University representative said NU believes the school should not be a party involved in the lawsuit because it is not involved in Medicare billing. The University did not immediately reply to requests for a statement. Soulia’s lawsuit was filed in November 2010. It remained sealed until July while federal prosecutors reviewed the claims. Whistleblower assistant and support lawyer Mitch Kreindler said after their review that prosecutors declined to add the government agencies as plaintiffs. He said Soulias will pursue the lawsuit on her own. The whistleblower lawsuit is unique in that respect because it allows individuals to sue on behalf of the federal government, he added. Kriendler said because the lawsuit involves the federal government, it is filed under seal, which means it is hidden from the public until federal attorneys can review it and decide whether or not to participate. “Think about the power the whistleblower provides,” he said. “You can serve the United States government with your information.” » See lawsuit, page 5

INSIDE Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Forum 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8


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