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The Daily Northwestern Tuesday, March 5, 2013
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CTA puts lines on hold for project Bridge constructin affects Purple Express, Red, Brown line trains By CIARA MCCARTHY
the daily northwestern
The Chicago Transit Authority has halted Purple Line Express train service through March 11 due to construction, temporarily lengthening commutes for some Evanston El riders. The Chicago Department of Transportation scheduled the first half of reconstruction of the Wells Street Bridge from Friday through March 11, which means CTA trains between Merchandise Mart and the Loop will be suspended. CDOT’s reconstruction will occur in two parts. Workers are constructing one half of the bridge during this nine-day period and will build the second half from April 26 to May 6. Because CDOT’s reconstruction prevents CTA trains from operating, the CTA will conduct its own repairs during the same time period. CTA usually schedules repair work on weekends only but decided to coordinate its construction with CDOT’s so travelers would suffer minimal delays.
The CTA’s repairs are part of the larger Loop Track Renewal Project, which began in March 2012 and will cost $33.8 million. The ongoing construction will address special track work needed near the Tower 18 junction. This junction is the busiest in the CTA, Lukidis said. She said the junction handles five of the CTA’s eight rail lines, amounting to nearly 700 trains a day. These two periods of repair will likely be the final phases of the Loop Track Renewal Project. “It was perfect timing to coordinate those efforts and do work while the Wells Street Bridge was already going to be shut down,” CTA spokeswoman Lambrini Lukidis said. The conjunction of these projects will reduce work time by eight days and reduce costs by $500,000, according to a news release. Although CTA and CDOT’s coordination was intended to shorten the overall delay time, commuters are still burdened by the additional time added to their commute during this nine-day period. So far, the construction has suspended Purple Line Express and caused longer travel times for Red and Brown Line trains. Phyllis Younkins commutes from Chicago to Evanston every day for work and said the delays have caused » See CTA, page 6
Melody Song/The Daily Northwestern
PENSION PROBLEMS State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) addressed the state’s financial struggles, including a mounting pension problem, at a talk with NU students Monday at the Buffett Center.
Biss talks ‘tough’ budget cuts State senator meets with students to discuss debt issues By SUYEON SON
the daily northwestern
Ina Yang/The Daily Northwestern
EXPRESS-LESS A sign in the Foster Street CTA station alerts passengers to service changes, including a lack of Purple Line Express service, associated with the Wells Street bridge reconstruction in Chicago. The disruptions will run through March 11, followed by another nine-day period beginning April 26.
“Things suck.” That’s what State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) repeated during a round table discussion Monday night. The Northwestern University Political Union invited Biss to join a group of 16 students for the discussion in the Roberta Buffett Center. Biss, who discussed the current political climate regarding recent developments such as gun control and marriage equality, also tackled what he considered a “catastrophic wreck”: the Illinois state budget. “We’re sitting on nearly a hundred billion dollars of debt,” Biss said. “Because of that, we’re shredding the network of services that
the state should, and needs to, provide that citizens rely on while having to watch their taxes go up and the pile of bills increase.” He said a big portion of the problem came from pension funds. Under a pension system, an employee regularly pays a percentage of their salary to the employer, who must then provide monetary installments usually upon the employee’s retirement. Unfortunately, because it is difficult to predict various factors like mortality or investment return rates, employers are often unwilling or unable to fulfill their responsibilities, Biss said. “Constitutionally, it’s a contract,” Biss said. “We keep our end of the bargain, you keep yours.” About 20 percent of the Illinois state budget is allotted for making up and keeping up with pension funds, he said. “The state has mismanaged its retirement systems for many decades,” Biss said. “The amount we dedicate (to pension) increases
every year. It went from $4.8 billion to $5.7 billion last year. This year, they tell us it’s $6.7 billion.” Biss said the disproportionately large percent of the budget that goes to pension results in cuts in educational grants and health coverage, including $1.6 billion out of Medicaid. Although the effects may be as simple as only being able to buy one pair of glasses as opposed to two per year, some might be forced to choose four prescriptions out of the ten they need, he explained. “We’ve had to make some very real, very human, tough decisions,” Biss said. And although the Illinois Senate last week approved an expansion plan for health care that will make up for those cuts, there are still non-Medicaid, specialized medical funds that cannot be saved, he said. “The budget problem applies to any major at Northwestern,” NUPU » See BISS, page 6
Campus marketing jobs scrutinized despite benefits Brand representatives, fellow students question effectiveness By KATE STEIN
the daily northwestern
With student marketing representatives flooding Northwestern’s campus for the experience and resume-boosting they offer, some NU students are questioning whether such positions are necessary or effective. Throughout campus, students represent companies like Ubisoft, which
produces video games such as Just Dance and Assassin’s Creed, and Erodr, a social networking application designed for college campuses. Representatives perform tasks like organizing launch parties for their products, promoting brands to NU students and donating items to groups. Weinberg junior Zach Silva, who represents Ubisoft, said it’s difficult to gauge student interest in the company. Silva organizes promotional events for the company’s videogames, maintains the NU Ubisoft Facebook page and gives Ubisoft promotional items to groups on campus. “There are about 450 likes on the Facebook page, but it’s hard to tell whether or not people are genuinely interested in the game,” he said.
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Silva said many students don’t have time to spend on Ubisoft products. “Northwestern is not like a lot of other schools in this program,” he said. “The state schools have groups devoted to video games, but the quarter system makes marketing difficult.” NU is one of four schools remaining in a national contest hosted by Ubisoft to get college students to like their school’s Ubisoft Facebook page. Gamer Ian Coley, who liked the Ubisoft Facebook page at Silva’s request, said he does not object to the presence of marketers on campus. “It’s fine,” Coley said of Ubisoft. “It doesn’t seem very aggressive and it’s not such an in-your-face campaign.”
Coley, a Weinberg senior, said he wasn’t sure if Ubisoft needs a marketing presence on campus. Coley said he thinks most NU students who play Ubisoft’s games are already aware of the company, so marketing to them is not necessary. Coley also said he does not believe there’s much of a new market among other students, but would attend the company’s promotional events. “It would have been cool to hang out with people here who play video games because you don’t get the chance very often.” Jason Hutcheson, a Weinberg senior who also liked the Ubisoft Facebook page during a contest, said he is not familiar with most companies that hire student
marketers. He said he does not think marketing by students on campus is an effective marketing strategy for companies in general. “They’re working to attract students who have a lot of capital to invest in them, but at the same time, I feel that if they make good games, or in other cases, products, it’s not necessary.” Medill sophomore Quinn Murphy, who had been representing Erodr, said in a message to The Daily that she temporarily stopped representing the brand because she and her boss did not think the application was getting off the ground at NU. She said the company found students » See REPRESENTATIVES, page 6
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