Junior’s Lego resume goes viral
sports Men’s Tennis NU drops two close conference matches » PAGE 8
» PAGE 3
opinion Cui NU enters the college “arms race” » PAGE 4
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The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
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Rutgers students protest Ludlow By Ciara mccarthy
daily senior staffer @mccarthy_ciara
Bailey Williams/The Daily Northwestern
SAFE HAVEN District 65 Board of Education President Tracy Quattrocki questions distinguishing between leggings and yoga pants. Quattrocki, shown laughing, elaborated and said the situation will not be resolved until the language in Haven Middle School’s dress code is clarified.
Board talks Haven dress code By Bailey Williams
the daily northwestern @news_BaileyW
District 65 school board members addressed concerns from parents and students over the Haven Middle School leggings policy Tuesday night
after the issue sparked protests and attracted national media attention. “Dress codes like these encourage educators to do the sexualizing (themselves) and put them in a no-win situation, frankly,” Haven parent Kevin Bond said at the meeting. “Telling girls that their rather dumpy clothes ... are inappropriate
or somehow too sexy for school is drawing attention to their bodies in an embarrassing and painful way.” Just a week after protests of the so-called ban on leggings and yoga pants began, the meeting held at the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 » See leggings, page 7
Students at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, are organizing to protest the hiring of Northwestern philosophy Prof. Peter Ludlow, a candidate for a position at the school. The campus group Women Organizing Against Harassment is spearheading efforts to protest Ludlow’s candidacy and change the University’s hiring process for new faculty. In February, a Medill junior filed a Title IX lawsuit against NU, alleging that Ludlow bought her alcohol and sexually assaulted her in 2012. Nearly two months since the suit was filed, Ludlow’s future is still uncertain. NU administrators canceled his Spring Quarter philosophy class after students protested Ludlow’s continued employment at NU. Now, students at Rutgers are protesting Ludlow’s potential employment, led by WOAH and supported by activists on NU’s campus. On Monday, the group organized a “phone jam” of Rutgers President Robert Barchi’s office. Members of WOAH and their supporters called Barchi’s office to request all potential faculty hires be vetted for sexual misconduct, said the group’s president and founder Sarah Beth Kaye.
A Rutgers spokesman declined Tuesday to comment on the planned phone jam. “We have nothing to say about it and we have nothing to add to what we’ve already said about the candidacy of Professor Ludlow,” he said. In February, Rutgers confirmed Ludlow was being considered for a job, but denied he had already been offered a position or Ludlow had accepted it. “This was not brought to our attention by either the candidate or his employer. We are looking into this matter thoroughly, including requesting all relevant information to fully evaluate his candidacy,” Rutgers spokesman Greg Trevor said at the time. A Change.org petition created by concerned faculty requested NU “make a commitment that professor who have been determined (by campus or legal processes) to have committed sexual harassment, violence or abuse shall not be ‘passed on’ to other Universities.” NU’s Title IX Coordinating Committee wrote in response to the petition that it is current practice to include “positive findings from investigations” in a respondent’s personnel file. Ludlow was reportedly offered a » See rutgers, page 7
UP officers allege NU Comedian DeVine to speak at NU discrimination in suit By Rebecca Savransky daily senior staffer @BeccaSavransky
By Patrick svitek
daily senior staffer @PatrickSvitek
Two University Police officers are accusing Northwestern of discrimination based on their race and sexual orientation, claiming they had no chance to fight an allegation of sexual harassment and are now in danger of losing their jobs. In complaints submitted in February to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the two officers allege the University treats white, straight They’re making officers difa professional ferently than other officers judgment on when dealing mere allegations with workgrievalone. We don’t place ances. The want to see two officers also accuse it happen to NU of failing anybody else. to properly investigate Peter Ross, the allegation attorney against them, which they said they did not learn about until they were punished. “There was no presumption of innocence,” one of the complaints said. “The burden of proof apparently required no more than a bald allegation, no presentation of facts or evidence.” The complaints, dated Feb. 5 and Feb.
“
26, put UP at the center of discrimination claims for the second time in less than two months. In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, Sgt. Haydee Martinez alleges another sergeant sexually harassed her for being lesbian, among other claims that depict the department as a hostile work environment. The latest allegations against UP stem from an incident that occurred Sept. 21, 2013, during which the two officers claim they were joking with a third officer about one of them kissing her spouse on the drive to work earlier in the day. The two officers’ attorneys described the conversation as innocent banter among three friendly colleagues. A fourth officer overheard the conversation and reported it as sexual harassment, according to the complaints, which describe him as a gay colleague with a history of filing workplace grievances. Based on questions they were later asked about the incident, the two officers believe the fourth officer relayed what he overheard to the University as more explicit than it actually was. In interviews with an NU human services official, the two officers claim they were denied due process and not allowed to have any representation or review the allegation, any evidence or the accuser’s testimony. An appeal of their guilty verdicts to human services was unsuccessful, according to the complaints. The two officers say they were suspended for three days without » See complaint, page 7
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
Next week, Northwestern will have one more workaholic than usual. Comedian Adam DeVine will perform Tuesday at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall as A&O Productions’ spring speaker. DeVine, a stand-up comedian, actor, writer and producer, is known for his roles as both a creator and He’s one of the ac tor on most loved the Comedy Cencharacters on tral shows the show so we “Workaholics” thought when and “Adam he came up, DeVine’s he’d be a good House Party.” He pick. was given a Demetrios Teen Choice Cokinos, Award for A&O chairman his role in the 2012 film “Pitch Perfect.” A&O chairman Demetrios Cokinos said the organization’s poll results and other data showed there was a large following of “Workaholics” on campus, making DeVine a clear choice through the process. “He is one of the most loved characters on the show so we thought that when he came up, he’d be a good pick,” the Communication senior said. The event will open with performances from Communication senior
“
Mike Schultz and Communication junior Alex Heller, followed by comedian Adam Ray. A&O spokeswoman Rosalind Mowitt said the members of the organization’s speakers committee attend several events on campus to find student openers who will engage the crowd and keep energy high leading up to the main performance. “Heller and Schultz are both really talented stand-up comedians,” said Mowitt, a Weinberg senior. “Heller is someone we’ve had our eye on for a while. She has a really great routine and then Schultz was also just an excellent candidate.” Mowitt said she was looking forward to featuring a comedian as the main performer for the event this year, noting it was important to vary the type of performers A&O uses in their lineup each year. “We traditionally, for our speakers do a blend between doing something like a Q-and-A like we did with Franco or doing a stand up show and we just really wanted to do that,” she said about the organization’s winter speaker. “So in addition to him being recognizable from his work in ‘Workaholics’ and ‘Pitch Perfect,’ he’s also a pretty talented stand-up comedian.” Last year’s scheduled spring speaker, Nick Swardson, was canceled due to a death in the comedian’s family. Cokinos said he is looking forward to the event and is excited about the group’s success in bringing speakers to campus that had demonstrated student support. “Whenever we can get who students want, thats always just makes us happy,” he said. “Coming back to
Source: A&O Productions
DEVINE INTERVENTION Comedian Adam DeVine will perform April 8 as A&O Productions’ spring speaker. DeVine is known for his roles on the Comedy Central shows “Workaholics” and “Adam DeVine’s House Party.”
campus, we’re only a week in and we just kind of get to kick off the quarter with a laugh.” DeVine has performed stand-up at several events, including the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival. He has also had roles in “Community,” “Arrested Development” and “Samantha Who?” He is currently starring in the fourth season of “Workaholics” and performing on the ABC sitcom “Modern Family.” Tickets go on sale at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday on the Norris Box Office website. rebeccasavransky2015@u.northwestern.edu
INSIDE Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8
2 NEWS | the daily northwestern wednesday, april 2, 2014
Around Town Ring to offer HIV, herpes protection By Olivia Exstrum
the daily northwestern @OliviaExstrum
A Northwestern researcher developed an intravaginal ring last month that will be the first device to protect women from pregnancy, HIV and herpes. Patrick Kiser, a visiting associate professor of biomedical engineering and obstetrics and gynecology, said the device was created in an effort to improve reproductive health, specifically in developing countries. Kiser and his colleagues have been working on developing the ring for “six or seven years in various forms and versions.� “The real underlying idea behind the ring is that there is an unmet need for HIV prevention technology,� Kiser said. “This need coincides with a need for family planning technology in developing countries, especially those in Africa.� Although there are other effective contraceptive methods including condoms, men in developing countries often refuse to use them, Kiser said. He said he and his colleagues hope the ring’s contraceptive element will encourage women to use it. In addition to pregnancy prevention, it will give women the added benefit of HIV protection.
The ring is vaginally inserted and stays in place for three months. It delivers controlled doses of tenofovir, an antiretroviral drug, and levonorgestrel, a contraceptive. The two drugs are delivered at the site of transmission, which allows them to be effective in lower doses than that normally found in pills. Kiser said it was a challenge getting the two drugs to work together, as they have very different properties and require two separate polymers to control their delivery. “At the end of the day, we overcame all those challenges and figured out a way to make a stable device that is manufacturable and translatable to the clinic,� he said. In addition to creating the ring, Kiser and his colleagues have spent the last three years writing a paper explaining the device’s engineering. Meredith Clark, manager of drug delivery at the nonprofit Contraception Research and Development and professor at the Eastern Virginia Medical School, collaborated with Kiser on both researching and writing the paper. Clark said compiling the paper was difficult because there was a large variety of elements that needed to be conveyed. “We wanted to tell the story from a high level perspective, but on top of that there was a lot of engineering that went into this,� she said. “There were a lot of aspects we were trying to capture in this one paper.�
Police Blotter City resident arrested, charged with simple assault of police officer
A 49-year-old man was arrested at his west Evanston home Monday afternoon for acting aggressively toward a police officer. Police responded to a domestic disturbance in the 1700 block of Grey Avenue, Evanston Police Cmdr. Jay Parrott said. Police said the man showed an aggressive stance to an officer at the scene, clenching his fist. The officer charged the Evanston resident with simple assault. The man is scheduled to appear in court April 18.
More than $3,700 in valuables stolen from city apartment
Two laptop computers and about $150 in Canadian dollars were taken Sunday evening from an apartment near Northwestern. Apple and Samsung laptops, together worth about $3,600, were stolen from the apartment in the 1600 block of Chicago Avenue, Parrott said. Police said there was no sign of forced entry into the home. The 23-year-old resident believes he may have left his door unlocked, Parrott said. — Julian Gerez
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The project and research is supported by the Contraception Research and Development and the United States Agency for International Development. Kiser said USAID is working on a variety of initiatives to combat the HIV and AIDS epidemics, many of which involve some type of family planning. “HIV prevention technology and contraceptive technology are very, very different,� Kiser said. Although contraceptive technology is very well developed — female condoms, barriers, spermicide, vaginal rings, such as NuvaRing, and IUDs are a few examples of such technology — HIV prevention technologies are fairly new. Kiser said the ring was created primarily for women in developing countries, but a market also exists for the product in more developed countries due to its ability to protect against pregnancy, HIV and herpes. “If we can make a device that targets multiple conditions that women are concerned about, this can really be a game changer in women’s health and contraceptive technology,� he said. Kiser and his colleagues expect testing for the ring to begin in June or July of this year. However, it may take several years before it is approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is available on the market for purchase. oliviaexstrum2017@u.northwestern.edu
Setting the record straight In “CARE gets week to save tenancy with city� from Tuesday’s print edition, Ald. Mark Tendam (6th) said a quote that was misattributed to Ald. Peter Braithwaite (2nd). The Daily regrets the error.
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wednesday, april 2, 2014
On Campus Purple Profile
Junior builds Lego resume, nets national exposure By David Lee
the daily northwestern @davidylee95
When summer internship applications asked Communication junior Leah Bowman to think outside the box, she made her own. During Spring Break, Bowman made a 62-piece Lego model of herself, using Lego Digital Designer, multiple third-party programs and her dad’s immense Lego collection. The package is complete with a custom-made box and an instruction manual, which she sent to an ad agency as her summer internship application. “I had a really clear vision of what I wanted to do, and then it was really easy for me to act on it,” she said. However, Bowman said it didn’t start receiving much attention until after she decided to post a picture of her resume on Reddit. “I posted, maybe at around 10 a.m., and I pretty much did not leave my computer all day,” Bowman said. “I was watching it, responding to comments, getting emails and
Across Campuses Long Island student accepted at all 8 Ivy League schools MELVILLE, N.Y. — Seventeen-year-old Kwasi Enin of Shirley, N.Y., took a shot at — and won — what amounts to an academic royal flush: He applied to and was accepted at all eight Ivy League schools. But the William Floyd High School senior said he never thought he’d land slots in the class of 2018 at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale. He hasn’t decided where he’ll attend, but would cross Long Island Sound to attend Yale in New Haven,
LinkedIn requests.” The resume received national media attention just days after Bowman uploaded it. Since she posted the resume March 24, its exposure has created additional opportunities for Bowman. Many organizations have contacted her via LinkedIn and email including The Ginger People, which is a company that produces ginger, and a Silicon Valley startup. “I’ve been reached out to by a lot of people who have offered to help me or make connections for me or give me advice,” she said. “It’s been really fantastic, the kind of network I’m building now because of this.” Bowman said she first came up with the idea when an internship application instructed her to write a persuasive essay using herself as a product. Coming from a family of Lego enthusiasts, Bowman said making her Lego doppelganger was an easy decision. Scott Bowman, her father and a self-proclaimed “AFOL,” short for “adult fan of Legos,” said he got the family hooked on the building bricks at a young age. Scott Bowman, who like the toys is of Danish descent, said he has been
a fan of the miniature construction toys since childhood. The 54-year-old pours about $1,000 annually into his basement Lego collection, which is organized into drawers by color and shape. His best-known work is a 75,000-piece replica of the Science Center of Iowa, which he said he worked on almost every night for two months. “I think Lego is inspirational … it is designing within constraint,” the mechanical engineer said. “I like to think of it in the scientific sense. Who could think we can build the kind of things we build with rectilinear blocks? Creativity is amplified, not diminished, by constraint.” Scott Bowman said he and his daughter had been using Legos since she was young, and he was proud of the product she created. “Mostly I was a facilitator, telling her where the stuff was, giving her hints as to what kind of software was available,” Scott Bowman said. “But she designed everything and did a fabulous job.”
Conn., depending on the financial aid package offered. Kwasi said he thought he’d just give it the old college try and “maybe two or three of them” would bite, he said. The eight Ivy League colleges are among the nation’s most selective institutions of higher education. As an example of what Kwasi accomplished, Harvard has one of the lowest acceptance rates in the country at just 5.9 percent for the fall of 2014 — 2,023 students out of 34,295 applicants. For Kwasi, applying to a competitive college wasn’t exactly a gamble. He has an SAT score of 2,250 out of 2,400, which places him in the 99th percentile for all students taking the exam. He has taken and scored high on many Advanced Placement exams. He is an
athlete, a shot putter, in fact, and his baritone voice can belt out a tune when he’s not playing viola for the school orchestra. Still, he said, “I’ve never heard of someone getting all eight.” He has now surpassed the accomplishments of some of his uncles and cousins, who were accepted to several Ivies. “I always thought they were far better than me academically,” Kwasi said. He began hearing from each of the schools on March 27, the date when tens of thousands of anxious students log onto the schools’ websites to see if they have been accepted. Kwasi had already been accepted to Princeton in December, but he hoped to make the cut at a few more.
davidlee2017@u.northwestern.edu
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LEAH’S LEGOS These custom-designed Lego sets serve as a resume for Communication junior Leah Bowman. She initially used the Legos to apply to a competitive internship.
Brown: Yes. Columbia: Yes. Cornell: Yes. And the yesses kept coming. “I was like — this can’t be happening.” By session’s end, about 5 p.m., he had checked six Ivy League schools and then received an email at about 5:30 p.m. from Harvard — a school he thought would never accept him. “It has to be the one to reject me,” he said as he sat in his high school library Monday, still incredulous. “They’re Harvard.” And if that was not enough, he also gained acceptance to Duke University, Stony Brook University, SUNY Geneseo and Binghamton University. — Zachary R. Dowdy (Newsday)
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Is NU entering the elite school ‘admissions arms race?’ Tom cui
Daily columnist
The figures are out: This year Northwestern sent out acceptance letters to only 12.9 percent of applicants. Since the 2006 round, the NU administration has slashed the rate by a yearly average of two percentage points. A very ugly misconception is thinking lower rates imply incoming freshmen will be much smarter or more dedicated than those from years back. Median test scores have not risen dramatically over the years, nor have already high graduation rates. The trend is terrifying, less because of what little it has to do with academic success and more because it has to do with NU’s entry into the “admissions arms race.” I am exploiting scare quotes for a reason, because the outcome of this arms race will only be for the worse. That is not to say an arms race is not a good description of what is happening among the nation’s elite colleges. On one hand, there are fewer American teenagers now than there were in the past. Consistent with earlier peaks
in elementary and high school enrollment, the level of college enrollment peaked in 2012. Even then, the rise of online applications lets the college bound try their luck with dozens of schools, “reach” to “safety.” The demand for higher education, from the individual school’s perspective, is uncertain. One way to cope with this is to strictly dominate all competition. The arms race is one of data mining and self-promotion. Elite schools buy student data from high schools, spam anyone above a certain test score with brochures and boast about bigger and better investments. The more hope they sow, the better; more applications give them greater choice in composing the class, mitigating uncertainty. Among the top colleges, Northwestern employs a particularly shrewd strategy. A near doubling of applications over ten years is due to mass interest from the East and West Coasts, as well as abroad, whose growing enrollment substitutes for the decline in the number of Midwestern applicants. To ensure against admitting students not devoted to the school, early decision applicants now make up 45 percent of the admitted body, compared to just a quarter of it eight years ago.
NU now admits students from two worlds: those who can afford to apply early decision and are willing to accept whatever bill the school throws at them and a disparate bunch who can boast major accomplishments during high school, picked up after they ended up still not good enough for the most elite schools. Even those fighting the admissions arms race admit it is not a good thing. Former admissions directors confess too many are suckered into applying to a school when they have no chance. The more colleges try to outperform competitors when it comes to prestige, the more they must remain credible to current customers and become incessantly pre-professional — a trend current admissions directors believe to be true. For all the rhetoric about reaching out to underrepresented groups, the recruitment strategies have shown to have little effect on convincing high-performing, low-income students to apply. What makes the NU case even worse is that its students, split among six undergraduate schools and many other clusters, do not have much of a shared identity in the first place. It is hard enough for the administration to
build that identity, but I claim its admissions strategy creates more problems every year than those it fixes. The basic question is about empathy; the two worlds have difficulty communicating with each other. The early decision world is intoxicated by the school’s traditions. The regular decision world fragments into distinct majors and professions, with each person too focused on the path they plodded along to hear outside voices. Can the high school seniors with acceptance letters on their monitors understand the stress they will go through if they come here, enveloped in degrees of self-doubt, guilt and hopelessness and the feeling when no one can really spare the time to listen? The thought terrifies me, at least. Yet the arms race goes on, unless decision makers consider a divorce from the madness. Maybe we need a drastic policy change, like an admissions system where acceptances are chosen by lottery. What matters more than selectivity is a desire to band together. Tom Cui is a Weinberg junior. He can be reached at tianfangcui2015@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com.
NU grading preferences During breaks, visit discourage collaboration semester school friends Trevor Stoimenoff Daily Columnist
Last quarter, while performing my weekly experiment in the physics laboratory, my lab partner and I ran into a step that was explained in a confusing way. We turned to the lab group next to us and asked them about the problem, and they gladly told us how they approached it. As we got back to work, I overheard a girl at another station telling her partner about how she refuses to help other lab groups because she is in competition with each student for grades. Her partner responded that she felt the same way, that she had even purposely answered another lab group’s question incorrectly in the past for that reason. In my time at Northwestern, I have never been so disappointed with my peers as I was in that moment. Despite the fact that it was only two students and they by no means represent the opinions of every student at NU, I was still shocked somebody could be so aggressively competitive. However, I do understand where these two students are coming from and why they feel the way they do. I am a biology major, meaning most of the classes I take are science-related. In every science class I have taken at NU, the professor chooses to curve the course in such a way that a certain percentage of students gets an A, a certain percentage gets a B and so on. This means grades are essentially based on the class median or mean, so everybody’s goal is to score higher than the average and therefore hope for the lowest average possible. Though this makes sense on paper and works for students who don’t struggle with the sciences, it brings up the problem of competition within the classroom. When I was touring NU a year and a half ago, the one thing that I took away from my time on campus above everything else was that the student body seemed extremely unified. The tour guides
stressed that NU valued collaboration in every facet and that everybody here was always willing to help. Though that might be true in other academic areas, and the majority of the time it is true, the courses that I have taken have encouraged the opposite. By grading one student on the success of others, professors are creating an environment in which students hope for the failure of their peers. Although the girls in my physics class were definitely extreme in their views and actions, they did represent one of the major flaws of the grading system. There are many directions professors could go to fix this issue. In one course I am enrolled in this quarter, my professor sets grades in this manner: After every assignment, midterm and final exam is completed, he adjusts each grade up a certain percentage so the mean of the class is a B. This means that there are no set numbers of A’s, B’s and C’s, but each student’s grade is based on his or her own performance in the class. On top of this grading scheme, the professor also created weekly assignments in which we are placed in groups with four to five other students and forced to collaborate. I am a firm believer in collaboration, and studying in groups helps immensely in learning challenging material. But with many professors’ current grading systems, students are discouraged from doing so. Does the opinion of a couple of girls in a physics lab represent the voice of every student? Certainly not. But it does bring to light the fact that the grading system encourages anticollaborative behavior, and it cultures the thought within students’ minds that in order to succeed, they must simply outperform their peers, rather than achieve results based on their own merit. Although this style of grading may be necessary in “weed-out” classes, it contradicts the image the University presents to the world. Trevor Stoimenoff is a Weinberg sophomore. He can be reached at trevorstoimenoff2016@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@ dailynorthwestern.com.
Matt gates
Daily columnist
We have many complaints about the quarter system: its fast pace, its large number of exams, its breaks that don’t align with semester schools. But many of us note the benefits: the opportunity to explore a greater number of courses, the ability to finish a course we hate faster, the chance to double major or graduate early more easily. However, those looking on the positive side often miss another unintended benefit of the quarter system. Our breaks and summer vacation may not line up with our friends, but we may visit our friends at college. It may not always be possible for students to visit old classmates at other schools. Travel is expensive, and people are busy. But for some who attend Northwestern, our high school friends go to college somewhere close to our hometown, and visits are possible. While discussing Spring Break plans, I saw that many other students, particularly freshmen, planned to visit high school friends at their colleges over break. Visiting friends at another school gives us a glimpse into their new lives. Psych majors and engineers alike can enjoy examining how their friends behave in a new environment. Taking the time and effort to visit friends at other schools shows them that you care and helps maintain friendships from high school. After three weeks of Winter Break, my high school friends and I agreed it was great to see each other again, but we quickly ran out of things to do in my hometown. Spring Break visits to other schools were more fun and interesting than my
winter ones. I got to meet new people, go to new places and see what life is like at other schools. Walking around college campuses and towns with my friends was far more entertaining than driving around my hometown and pretending it was as much fun as when my friends had just gotten their licenses. Seeing what other people are experiencing in college allows us Seeing what to put our own other people are experiences in perspective. It experiencing in makes us college allows us also appreciate NU to put our own more. Many of them don’t have experiences in the school spirit perspective. It or pride that NU does. One of my also makes us friends went to appreciate NU an Orgo class at more. another school and learned some classes are hard everywhere. Another one visited a high school friend at a school that is considered more of a party school than NU. She saw that while it is true that some schools have different social scenes than others, most schools have every type of person if you look hard enough. Visiting friends is an interesting experience, especially for freshmen. If you didn’t take the time to visit people over Spring Break, there’s always September once classes at semester schools start. Or if you live close, you can get your friends to visit you and show them how awesome NU is.
“
Matt Gates is a Weinberg freshman. He can be reached at matthewgates2017@u.northwestern.edu. If you want to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com.
The Daily Northwestern Volume 134, Issue 91 Editor in Chief Paulina Firozi
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wednesday, april 2, 2014
Captured: Cats edge Tar Heels
In Northwestern’s first game of the season at Lakeside Field on Monday, the Wildcats avenged last year’s season-ending loss to North Carolina with a 7-5 victory over the Tar Heels. The victory was the 300th in program history for No. 7 NU, which handed No. 1 North Carolina its first loss since April 28, 2013. The Cats held the Tar Heels’ high-flying offensive attack — which averages more than 18 goals per game — to just five tallies on 12 shots. “We had to neutralize their offense because they’re very, very potent offensively, and we wanted to be able to contain their players,” coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “And we knew we had to play great team D, too.” The Cats got back on track following an uncharacteristic rough spell of three losses in five games. Goalkeeper Bridget Bianco said NU brought a “chip on the shoulder” mentality into the matchup with the Tar Heels. “We’re taking this win and trust me, we’re going to enjoy it,” Bianco said. For more photos from the game, visit dailynorthwestern.com/captured. To submit your own snapshots — from Spring Break, excursions in Evanston or just walking around campus — email photo@ dailynorthwestern.com.
This nurse really delivered ĨŽƌ ŵLJ ĨĂŵŝůLJ͘ KŶĞ ŶƵƌƐĞ͕ ƚǁŽ ĚĞůŝǀĞƌŝĞƐ͕ ƚŚƌĞĞ ŐĞŶĞƌĂƟ ŽŶƐ͘ Linda Berkson knew she could count on the nurses of Northwestern Medicine to help bring her daughter Rachel ƐĂĨĞůLJ ŝŶƚŽ ƚŚĞ ǁŽƌůĚ͘ tŚĞŶ ŝƚ ĐĂŵĞ Ɵ ŵĞ ĨŽƌ ZĂĐŚĞů ƚŽ ŐŝǀĞ ďŝƌƚŚ ƚŽ ŚĞƌ Į ƌƐƚ ĐŚŝůĚ͕ dĞĚĚLJ͕ ƐŚĞ ĐŽƵŶƚĞĚ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ŶĂƟ ŽŶĂůůLJ ƌĞĐŽŐŶŝnjĞĚ ŶƵƌƐĞƐ͕ ƚŽŽ͘ tŚĂƚ ŶĞŝƚŚĞƌ ƌĞĂůŝnjĞĚ ǁĂƐ ƚŚĂƚ ƚŚĞ ƐĂŵĞ ŶƵƌƐĞ ʹ >Žƌŝ EĞƩ ĞůƐ͕ ^E͕ ZE ͲK ͕ Ͳ &D ʹ ǁŽƵůĚ ĂƐƐŝƐƚ ŝŶ ďŽƚŚ ĚĞůŝǀĞƌŝĞƐ͕ Ă ŐĞŶĞƌĂƟ ŽŶ ĂƉĂƌƚ͘ >Žƌŝ ŝƐ ũƵƐƚ ŽŶĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ĞdžĐĞƉƟ ŽŶĂů ƉƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂůƐ ǁŚŽ͛ǀĞ ĞĂƌŶĞĚ EŽƌƚŚǁĞƐƚĞƌŶ DĞŵŽƌŝĂů ,ŽƐƉŝƚĂů ƚŚĞ ƌĞƉĞĂƚĞĚ ĚĞƐŝŐŶĂƟ ŽŶ ĂƐ Ă DĂŐŶĞƚ ŚŽƐƉŝƚĂů͕ Ă ƐƚĂƚƵƐ ŽŶůLJ ϯй ŽĨ ŚŽƐƉŝƚĂůƐ ĂĐŚŝĞǀĞ͘ /Ĩ ŽƵƌ ŶƵƌƐĞƐ ĐĂŶ ŝŶƐƉŝƌĞ ƚŚĂƚ ŬŝŶĚ ŽĨ ĐŽŶĮ ĚĞŶĐĞ ŝŶ ŐĞŶĞƌĂƟ ŽŶƐ ŽĨ ƉĂƟ ĞŶƚƐ͕ ŝŵĂŐŝŶĞ ǁŚĂƚ ǁĞ ĐĂŶ ĚŽ ĨŽƌ LJŽƵ͘ dŽ ĚŝƐĐŽǀĞƌ LJŽƵƌ ďƌĞĂŬƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ĐĂůů ϴϰϳͲϲϲϱͲϮϭϯϯ͘
KƵƌ ďƌĞĂŬƚŚƌŽƵŐŚƐ ĂƌĞ LJŽƵƌ ďƌĞĂŬƚŚƌŽƵŐŚƐ͘ northwesternmedicine.org/northwesternnurses
6 NEWS | the daily northwestern wednesday, april 2, 2014
City’s funding requests nearly double for cameras near ETHS
City officials confirmed Monday night that they have requested almost double the federal funding to install security cameras along streets leading to Evanston Township High School. At Monday’s City Council meeting, Ald. Delores Holmes (5th) asked why the final version of the grant application for the cameras called for $395,000, when aldermen approved a plan to seek $200,000 in January. Holmes, whose ward includes ETHS, 1600 Dodge Ave., said residents are increasingly concerned about the discrepancy, pointing
Bill to lower small business filing fee moves to Illinois House
The Illinois State Senate unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that would make the state filing fee to start a small business the cheapest in the country.
National News GM chief deflects lawmakers amid new revelations on ignitions WASHINGTON — In her first head-on questioning from Congress, General Motors’ new chief executive, Mary Barra, sought Tuesday to quell a furor over the automaker’s failure for over a decade to fix defective ignition switches blamed for contributing to 13 fatalities in 31 frontal crashes. She apologized to victims’ families and promised to “do the right thing” both legally and morally. “While I cannot turn back the clock,” she said in sworn testimony, “as soon as I learned about the problem, we acted without hesitation. We told the world we had a problem that needed to be fixed. ... Today’s GM will do the right thing.” But confronted over the company’s repeated postponement of serious action, as well as congressional investigators’ findings that GM fielded at least 133 warranty claims over the problem from June 2003 to June 2012 without fully addressing it, Barra shed little new light. Again and again, she deflected questions by telling members of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that she knew almost
to letters to the editor about the issue in two local news outlets. Citing a March 21 email to council members, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz responded that the dollar amount was changed to “more closely reflect the maximum amount required for the project,” including the cost of storing video captured by the cameras. Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl told Holmes she understands grant requests often increase as the recipient works to figure out its exact needs. However, Tisdahl said she supports any effort to provide more information about the proposal. “I think since we have been completely transparent about everything we’ve done with this grant request, we should continue to be completely transparent,” Tisdahl said.
The council voted 5-3 on Jan. 27 to pursue a $200,000 grant, which comes from federal funding allocated by the Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The cameras would be placed along Dodge Avenue and Church Street, which meet at the high school. Tisdahl has touted the proposal as a way of deterring crime in the ETHS area. The plan’s opponents have questioned whether the cameras — which would not be monitored but could be used by police in subsequent investigations — could lead to safer neighborhoods without infringing on civil liberties. Bobkiewicz said he shared the final version of the grant application with aldermen in mid-March.
The bill would decrease the filing fee to establish a limited liability company from $500 to $39. The bill aims to help the economy by making it easier to start a small business, said state Sen. Heather Steans, who sponsored the bill. “Anything we can do to make it easier and less expensive to start a new business is a boon to entrepreneurs, job seekers and the entire economy,” the Chicago Democrat said in a
news release. The bill intends to address the relatively higher filing fee in Illinois compared to surrounding states, the release said. In Minnesota and Kentucky, which the release cited, the fees are respectively $135 and $40. The bill is now up for consideration by the Illinois House of Representatives.
Evanston-area nonprofits and Northwestern community members spoke to Evanston residents Tuesday evening about their rights as tenants. The panel, which was hosted by Open Communities, a North Shore fair housing nonprofit, provided information about local tenant services and legal assistance. Organizations such as Connections for the Homeless, which is based in Evanston, and the Legal Assistance Foundation, which serves Chicago and suburban Cook County, described their services in rent assistance and free legal counsel for low-income tenants to a group of about 10 attendees. An Evanston Health Department representative spoke about city housing inspections and smoking regulations. Clean air ordinances prevent tenants from smoking in common areas in an apartment building but do not address smoking in individual units, even when it affects neighbor tenants, she said. Members of the NU community were also present, suggesting ways for tenants to conserve water and energy and mentioning services available to students seeking off-campus housing.
— Sophia Bollag
— Jeanne Kuang
nothing about the problem until Jan. 31 and will await the results of an internal investigation being conducted by Anton Valukas, a former U.S. attorney from Chicago, before assigning blame. However, David Friedman, acting chief of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, pointed blame toward the company, saying that his agency could have addressed the problem years ago if GM had divulged a link between the ignition switch and the failure of airbags to deploy. Instead, he testified, the agency did not recognize that connection until GM identified it in announcing in February the start of recalls that would expand to more than 2.5 million cars, including Chevrolet Cobalts and HHRs, Saturn Ions and Skys, and Pontiac G5s and Solstices. Asked by Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado whether General Motors had acted in good faith, Friedman replied: “We have an open investigation to answer that question and if we find that they were not, we will hold them accountable.” For her part, DeGette held up a copy of the switch during her opening statement and cited a GM estimate that it could have been fixed for 57 cents. — Greg Gordon (McClatchy Washington Bureau)
— Patrick Svitek
With 7 million enrolled, Obama exudes new confidence about health care law WASHINGTON — More than 7 million Americans have now enrolled in private coverage on the nation’s health insurance marketplaces, thanks to a wave of late signups that has pushed the latest enrollment tally beyond the original goal set by the Congressional Budget Office. A fiery President Barack Obama made the formal announcement in a Rose Garden ceremony Tuesday afternoon that served as a victory lap and pep rally for administration officials, Democratic lawmakers and civilian volunteers who labored in support of the health law, despite a flawed federal enrollment website, a skeptical public and stiff political opposition from Republicans. While further challenges remain, both politically and logistically, the unexpected success of the marketplace enrollment period helps ensure that the president’s signature legislation will usher in one of the broadest expansions of national health coverage since the Medicaid and Medicare programs were launched in 1965 and the Children’s Health Insurance Program was established in 1997. Through a combination of new marketplace insurance, coverage for adult children up to age 26 on their parents’ health plans and expanded eligibility for Medicaid, an estimated 9.5 million to 9.8 million uninsured Americans likely have
Nonprofits promote tenants’ services
gained health coverage under the law, said economist Katherine Carman of the RAND Corp., a nonprofit think tank in Santa Monica, Calif. Those estimates will continue to grow, since Medicaid enrollment continues throughout the year and many states and the federal government are extending marketplace enrollment beyond the official signup deadline of March 31. “The Affordable Care Act hasn’t completely fixed our long-broken health care system,” Obama told the Rose Garden gathering. “But this law has made our health care system a lot better. A lot better.” The enrollment milestone is the payoff of a lean but resourceful operation that deployed tools, tactics and metrics honed on the campaign trail to enroll as many people as possible over the last six weeks, according to senior administration officials. The intensive outreach used local radio, Twitter, YouTube videos and celebrity endorsements from the likes of Miami Heat star LeBron James and singer Katy Perry, as well as 5,000 outreach events in community centers and churches. The hope was to reach young people, minorities and moms, with special focus on states like Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina with high rates of uninsured, and 25 cities with similarly high rates. — Tony Pugh and Lindsay Wise (McClatchy Washington Bureau)
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the daily northwestern | NEWS 7
wednesday, april 2, 2014
Leggings From page 1
administration building, 1500 McDaniel Ave. drew an audience of fewer than 20 people. Board members and district officials shared their thoughts on the Haven situation and discussed the possibility of clarifying the policy’s language before allowing audience members to contribute to the conversation. Ultimately, board members and district officials decided Haven’s policy needs further She can’t wear review. Among those in what a lot of attendance were parother girls wear ents of Haven students and a few students. Two at school, and of the parents wrote letters in advance to she’s heard it for changes loud and clear. advocate in the policy and betHaven Middle ter treatment of their School parent children. Bond, whose daughter attends Haven, said consideration of body image should factor into the dialogue as well. He emphasized the differential treatment of girls and boys at the school as a serious issue, referencing “an assembly on proper dress” that was held for only female students. He also said the body type of an individual student could affect how much scrutiny she is subject to under the policy. “When we set guidelines for dress for girls that are different than boys, we send the basic message that girls’ bodies are too sexy for school,” Bond said. Bond also spoke about how children at the school could be “coded,” the term students use for being disciplined for a dress code violation, for tucking in their yoga pants into their
“
Baseball From page 8
the past and apply it to the future.” NU’s game against Western Michigan, scheduled for Wednesday at Rocky Miller Park, was postponed indefinitely as the field recovers from recent rain. On Friday, the Cats begin a three-game series against Illinois, the team’s first home dates of the season. After playing 23 consecutive games on the
boots. Haven principal Kathy Roberson wrote in a letter to parents last month that the current dress code does not put a ban on leggings but includes certain restrictions for students who choose to wear them. “It has been communicated to students that ‘if leggings are worn, a shirt, shorts or skirt worn over them must be fingertip length,’” Roberson said in the letter. Bond’s wife and another parent explained that even though yoga pants are allowed, students are penalized for not making it obvious they are wearing yoga pants, not leggings. After Bond spoke, another parent, who has been asking questions about the policy since last spring, spoke about her daughter’s experience. Her daughter enjoyed wearing skirts and dresses to Haven, but on at least five occasions she was penalized for doing so. On all of these occasions, the parent said either she or her spouse had found the dress or skirt to be of appropriate length. “The message had been delivered to (my daughter),” the parent said. “She can’t wear what a lot of other girls wear at school, and she’s heard it loud and clear.” The parent proposed “staff training by an outside source” for teachers to judge whether a student has violated the dress code and increased “teacher accountability,” calling for teachers to be required to write up a description of when and why a student is disciplined. A parent of students at Chute Middle School spoke at the meeting, saying the treatment experienced at Haven was not typical of all of the schools in District 65. She said her children were not experiencing the same situations raised by Bond and the other parents. baileywilliams2017@u.northwestern.edu road, including a “home” series played 322 miles from Evanston due to poor field conditions, the team will play eight straight games in their own ballpark. Stevens said it will be nice for the Cats to sleep in their own beds before games and play in front of their friends and family. “We’re a little tired of being on the road,” he said. “It’ll be good to be home.” asputt@u.northwestern.edu
Complaint From page 1
pay, demoted and notified they would be fired if another complaint was lodged against them, despite one of them having no prior disciplinary record. The complaints allege the two officers, who are white, received disparate treatment compared to a black sergeant who was accused of sexual harassment by the same co-worker. The sergeant made disparaging remarks about gay people, including at least one on the force, and no disciplinary action was taken, according to the complaints. Peter Ross, an attorney for the two officers, said their experience is particularly concerning because it leaves a permanent blemish on their careers. “They’re making a professional judgment on mere allegations alone,” Ross said of University
Rutgers
From page 1 job in November as the director of the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science, according to Leiter Reports, a philosophy blog published by University of Chicago Prof. Brian Leiter. Ludlow himself indicated that he would assume the position in a public Facebook post. He wrote in November, “I read this on Leiter, so it must be true” and linked to Leiter’s blog post. The phone jam is the most recent in a series of efforts by WOAH to bring attention to the group’s primary demand, which is to alter Rutgers’ hiring process to that potential faculty are vetted for sexual misconduct “on both a university and judicial level,” Kaye said. School administrators have been largely unreceptive to WOAH’s
Former Kellogg student a passenger on missing Malaysia Airlines flight
A Kellogg School of Management alumnus was a passenger on the Malaysia Airlines flight that went missing March 8. Rory (Rui) Wang (Kellogg ’08), 35, earned an MBA in Strategy, Finance and Marketing in 2008. According to Wang’s LinkedIn page, he was most recently working at the Boston Consulting Group in Beijing. He previously worked at A.T. Kearney
officials. “We don’t want to see it happen to anybody else, and we don’t want to see it happen to our complainants either.” Ross likened the alleged lack of due process to what philosophy Prof. Peter Ludlow described in his response last month to sexual harassment allegations by one of his former students. Ludlow called NU’s probe of the Medill junior’s accusations “flawed and one-sided,” claiming the University refused to accept evidence in support of his innocence. In a statement Monday afternoon, NU spokesman Bob Rowley said the University does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation or any other protected category. Earlier on Monday, a UP spokesman deferred comment to the University. patricksvitek2014@u.northwestern.edu requests, she said. “We expressed concerns and they were swept aside,” Kaye said. During a meeting, Rutgers Chief of Staff Gregory Jackson told representatives from WOAH they should focus on “bigger” issues than changing the University’s hiring process for new faculty, Kaye said. WOAH is requesting a meeting with Barchi to discuss its concerns further. Weinberg junior Jazz Stephens, who has helped to organize student efforts to demand greater transparency in sexual misconduct cases, has been in contact with WOAH to discuss the campuses’ respective efforts. She said NU activists want to continue to network with campuses across the country fighting for similar causes. mccarthy@u.northwestern.edu and studied accounting at Tsinghua University from 1998-2002. According to Flight 370’s passenger manifest, Wang was traveling with his wife, Jiao Weiwei, 32, and their 2-year-old son Moheng. His wife’s parents, Jiao Wenxue and Dai Shuling, both 58, were also on the flight, which has sparked a weeks-long international search and rescue effort. Malaysian officials have said it is “beyond all reasonable doubt” the flight crashed in the Indian Ocean and none of the passengers survived. — Tyler Pager
SPORTS
ON DECK APRIL
2
Softball UIC at NU, 4 p.m. Wednesday
ON THE RECORD
“We have high expectations, regardless of the age of our team.” — Arvid Swan, men’s tennis coach
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
@Wildcat_Extra
Buckeyes, Nittany Lions serve Cats close losses the daily northwestern
Northwestern (12-9, 1-4 Big Ten) suffered a pair of 4-3 losses to Big Ten foes this weekend when it fell to No. 2 Ohio State (21-2, 6-0) and No. 23 Penn State (17-2, 4-1). “We gave ourselves a chance to win both matches,” coach Arvid Swan said. “We just didn’t quite get it done at the end.” The No. 28 Wildcats have now lost five of their last seven matchups. Friday in Columbus, Ohio, NU dropped the No. 1 and 2 doubles 8-7 (7-2) and 8-6 to fall behind Ohio State 1-0. The Buckeyes pounced to extend their early lead, winning two straight singles matches over sophomore Mihir Kumar and junior Alex Pasareanu, pulling ahead 3-0. On the brink of defeat, the Cats rallied. Freshman Strong Kirchheimer topped No. 97 Hunter Callahan 6-3, 6-3, and No. 113 freshman Sam Shropshire handled Herkko Pollanen 6-2, 6-4, bringing NU within one point. But it wasn’t enough. Peter Kobelt, the eighth-ranked singles player in the country, secured the victory for Ohio State with a 6-1, 7-5 triumph over No. 37 senior Raleigh Smith. Although freshman Konrad Zieba would score another win for the Cats, it was too late — Ohio State had already picked up the W. “We played for the most part pretty good singles,” Swan said. “We could play
No. 28 Northwestern
No. 28 Northwestern
No. 2 Ohio State
No. 23 Penn State
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By Alex lederman
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a little better doubles than we did.” NU experienced a similar fate against Penn State in University Park, Pa. The Cats again lost doubles, and No. 50 Leonard Stakhovsky upset Smith 6-2, 6-2 to give the Nittany Lions the 2-0 edge. Although Shropshire, Kirchheimer and Pasareanu pulled out victories for NU, Penn State nabbed the 4-3 victory with a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win over Zieba and a 7-6 (12-10), 3-6, 6-4 nailbiter over Kumar. The Cats have seven matches left before the Big Ten Tournament, held April 24-27. Until then, NU plans to take it one match at a time. “We’re not gonna look too far ahead,” Swan said. “We’ve got a very good Michigan and Michigan State team coming into town, so the first goal there is to try to get a win against Michigan.” Four of NU’s nine players are freshman, and Smith is the only senior. All of the newcomers, who make up the eighthranked recruiting class in the nation, have had regular playing time this season. “We have high expectations, regardless of the age of our team,” Swan said. “We’ve certainly had some ups and downs over the course of the year, but that’s pretty much every year. Singles-wise we’ve improved through the year, and doubles-
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wise we’re improving too.” The Cats played an especially difficult non-conference schedule but came out looking strong. Of the nine ranked opponents the Cats faced out of conference, they emerged with five victories. Conference play has been a different story, though — NU has lost four of its first five matches. Still, the contests have been close. The Cats fell on the road 4-3 to No. 54 Purdue, Ohio State and Penn State, lost 4-1 against No. 7 Illinois and picked up a 6-1 victory against No. 57 Indiana. “If we continue to improve and focus on the process rather than the result, we’ll be happy with the results,” Swan said. “We still have a little ways to go, especially in doubles, but we’re gonna get there sooner rather than later.” As for the final goal, it remains unchanged. “The goal is to play in the postseason,” Swan said. “The goal is to finish high in the regular season and to do well in the Big Ten tournament. But that doesn’t happen without winning each match that’s ahead of us. We’ve got seven matches left, so we’re just gonna take it one at a time.” alexanderlederman2017@u.northwestern.edu
Softball
Men’s Tennis Daily file photo by Brian Lee
EYE ON THE BALL Raleigh Smith gears up for a backhand return. Northwestern’s senior leader stumbled over the weekend, falling in both of his singles matches in close losses to Ohio State and Penn State.
Baseball
NU loses 2 of 3 blowout games As skid continues, By rebecca friedman
the daily northwestern
The No. 23-ranked Wildcats had an eventful Spring Break, hosting two Big Ten opponents for threegame series. Northwestern beat Wisconsin 8-6 and 4-2 before falling 7-5 in the final contest. The Cats were less lucky against Nebraska, winning 10-2 in the opening game but getting stomped by 13-3 and 10-1 margins after. NU first battled against the Badgers, playing all three games at The Ballpark at Rosemont due to weather restrictions. The Cats still used their home field advantage, besting the Badgers in the first matchup in eight innings thanks to junior Julia Kuhn’s walk-off home run. The momentum carried into the next game for a Cats win before the Badgers battled back to win the third match. NU then took a break from Big Ten competition, hosting Northern Illinois at Rosemont. The prolific Cats’ offense was on display in the matchup, which NU took 13-2 in five innings for the runrule victory. The Cats then faced one of their toughest opponents of the season, again hosting the No. 19 Nebraska Cornhuskers at Rosemont for the first two games. NU wasted no time in the first game against Nebraska, finishing off the Cornhuskers in five innings with a score of 10-2. “We came out strong,” senior outfielder Emily Allard said. “We took it to them and got the big hits when we needed them. We really capitalized on their mistakes.” Junior outfielder Andrea DiPrima agreed, crediting the offense with an impressive performance. “We did a good job coming off with clutch hits when there were
Cats look for answers
Northwestern
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By Alex putterman
Nebraska
daily senior staffer @AlexPutt02
2 13 10 runners in scoring position,” she said. Sophomore designated player Andrea Filler had a stellar day for the Cats at the plate, batting 3-for-3 with five RBIs. However, the next meeting went the Cornhuskers’ way in a 13-3 Cats squash. “We made them mad,” Allard said. “We got a dose of our own medicine.” The series then switched to Evanston for the final matchup and continued to produce very lopsided victories. Nebraska beat NU 10-1 in five innings. But, the Cats agreed that Nebraska was a worthy opponent, and the high level of play was indicative of the competition in the Big Ten. “Nebraska is a great team. They have hitters up and down the lineup,” DiPrima said. “The Big Ten is getting better and better. Teams are becoming more and more consistent. It’s fun to be part of a conference with some of the best in the country.” NU has a lot of Big Ten competition left before they host the Big Ten tournament. Unfortunately, the Cats will have to grind through the remaining schedule without their star pitcher, junior Amy Letourneau, who is confirmed to be out for the season. As hosts of the tournament, NU is aiming for no less than a championship. “We’re looking for that Big Ten Championship,” Allard said. “It’s not out of reach. We are in control
Daily file photo by Meghan White
A CONSISTENT HIT Andrea DiPrima swings at a pitch. The junior outfielder has recorded a hit in all but one of the Wildcats’ games since March 21.
of our own destiny.” Allard, who has had a great start to her senior season, is a big part of that destiny. She was rewarded for her hard work and impressive play by being selected in the third round of the National Pro Fastpitch draft by the local Chicago Bandits. Though Allard, as a collegiate athlete, could not declare for the draft, she could still be chosen, and the Bandits hold her rights until she has completed her college eligibility. Allard and the Cats’ next Big Ten game will be on the road at Iowa this weekend. First though, the Cats will host UIC on Wednesday. Regardless of the opponent, the Cats are determined to play their game and stay focused. “Nebraska is over and done. We can use it to our advantage,” Allard said. “We can’t do anything about it now.” DiPrima echoed the same sentiment, stating that the key is to focus on what the team can control. “We need to continue to focus on fundamentals and take it one pitch at a time,” she said. “We just need to stick with the same plan.” rebeccafriedman2015@u.northwestern.edu
After losses to Penn State on Friday and Saturday, Northwestern finally avoided defeat on Sunday — when the game was cancelled by rain. The Wildcats (4-19, 1-4 Big Ten) dropped both its games to the Nittany Lions last weekend, making a total of 15 losses in the team’s last 17 games. “I’m getting a whole heck of a lot of effort and energy,” coach Paul Stevens said. “I’m just disappointed with the final result. We just can’t find a way to put the W up there. We keep falling short.” On Friday, NU grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning but was outscored 7-1 from the fourth on. Junior Brandon Magallones, who missed time earlier this season with a leg injury, allowed seven hits, five walks and five runs in 5.1 innings. Magallones said Monday that he’s still getting readjusted after the time off. “It was a little bit difficult,” he said. “Going from not really throwing at all to getting back playing again. It’s a little bit of a transition when you’re so used to practicing and throwing every single day to try to get back into it. I’m starting to get the rhythm back.” Saturday, the Cats hung around all game on the strength of 12 scattered hits but eventually lost 10-6. Freshman Matt Hopfner, one of NU’s biggest bright spots during what has been a rough season, continued his impressive hitting. The outfielder went 3-5 with a double on Saturday, improving his batting average to .368, a team high, and his OPS to .836. The weekend losses were far from
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anomalous. All season, the Cats have stayed close, before inevitably taking the loss. They’ve already lost nine games by one or two runs. “We’ve had a lot of games where we’ve had leads, we’ve given them up, we’ve come back, we’ve given them up again,” Stevens said. “We just seem to not be able to put that final nail in the coffin to nail things down.” Stevens says other than an ugly double-header March 14 (losses to Maine and LIU-Brooklyn) he’s been happy with the team’s effort. That, he says, is all he can ask. Whether the season turns around will depend on health and luck — will everyone stay on his feet, and will the close games turn the Cats’ way? There’s plenty of time to find out. NU has 18 conference games remaining and plenty of opportunity to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, which includes only the top eight teams. “We’re still staying positive and are just excited for the rest of the season. The good news is we’ve got a big chunk of the season left,” junior catcher Scott Heelan said. “We can still make something special of the season. We’ve just got to learn from » See baseball, page 7