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The Daily Northwestern Thursday, April 11, 2013
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‘All-males club’
Presidential race highlights gender gap in Associated Student Government
Photo illustration by Skylar Zhang/Daily Senior Staffer
Ani Ajith, David Harris, Benison Choi and Aaron Zelikovitch are up for election in Associated Student Government’s presidential race April 19. The campaign season kicked off this week.
By CAT ZAKRZEWSKI
daily senior staffer @Cat_Zakrzewski
The 2013 Associated Student Government election marks the third race in a row in which a female candidate has not vied for the organization’s highest position. Of the eight candidates running on a presidential ticket this year, executive vice presidential candidate Jo Lee is the only woman. Women are underrepresented at top positions in ASG, likely because so few run. Claire Lew (WCAS ‘11) the organization’s last female president, won in 2010. No women ran for the top two posts in 2012, and Communication senior Jazzy Johnson unsuccessfully ran for executive
vice president in 2011. “Overall, this isn’t unique to student body president,” Lew said. “It’s more of a social construct we have around gender than it is Northwestern being unique.” But the underrepresentation of women in ASG has an acute impact on the women who do get elected. Lauren Masterson, outgoing student groups vice president, said issues that arose in the “male-dominated” organization made her job more challenging. “I have been definitely faced with situations that made me feel like a sexualized person or a stereotyped person,” Masterson said. “Sometimes I felt that people were uncomfortable with me being a more aggressive figure on the executive board.” When the academic year began, Masterson was one of only three women
ESPN journalist speaks to students By JOSH WALFISH
daily senior staffer @JoshWalfish
ESPN reporter Adam Schefter earned his masters degree at Northwestern but never claimed his diploma. Schefter (Medill ‘90) left the graduate journalism program early to pursue an internship in Seattle. He called not attending his graduation ceremony and receiving his diploma one of the biggest regrets of his career. “I never graduated from Medill,” Schefter said. “I think back to the time I spent at (University of) Michigan and the graduation ceremony there, and it was one of the great days of my life ... I didn’t care about (Medill’s) graduation. It didn’t matter to me at the time, and I can say, standing up here today, it matters to me now.” The story was the first of many Schefter told Wednesday to a full McCormick Tribune Center Forum. Schefter gave attendees career tips and spoke about how he went from Medill to being one of the most respected NFL journalists in the country. Schefter talked at length about being able to bounce back from rejection and
“
Northwestern is a part of me, it’s in my soul, it’s on my resume and it’s always great to be back. Adam Schefter, ESPN reporter
using the word “no” as a motivation to find the next opportunity. It was this philosophy that helped him get a start in sports journalism at University of Michigan, where he joined The Michigan Daily as an undergraduate after he was not accepted into a fraternity and denied jobs with both the football and basketball teams. He said that everyone experiences rejection, but an individual’s response to those rejections will dictate his or her life path. “The world is not waiting for you to come join their company,” Schefter said. “It’s up to you to go find those jobs and expect the rejection that’s going to come. ... Sometimes the best thing to happen to you is for someone to tell you no.” The other main theme of Schefter’s » See SCHEFTER, page 7
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serving in the 14 ASG executive board positions. This disproportionate representation is not new to the organization. Although close to 52 percent of the current student body is female, in almost 45 years of history, ASG has only seen 11 female presidents. ALLEGED DOUBLE STANDARDS Several ASG insiders have noted women are more underrepresented at the top of the organization than in the Senate. Of the 44 senators in the organization, 28 are men and 16 are women, according to a document obtained by The Daily. Seven Senate seats were unfilled as of Tuesday due to ongoing transitions. Masterson attributed the lack of women rising to the top to the nature of the organization. “It’s kind of sad to me that once you
Fiske takes all precincts but Parkes in election
Ald. Judy Fiske (1st) beat challenger Ed Tivador in every precinct but the one with the polling location on Northwestern’s campus, according to full election results released Wednesday. At Parkes Hall, Tivador received 52 votes and Fiske received 31. Fiske bested Tivador by margins ranging from 30 to 80 votes. Turnout in the first precinct was a dismal 6 percent, compared to 25 percent throughout the ward. The precinct-level numbers confirm the student vote was likely insignificant in the aldermanic race, which was decided by about 140 ballots. Steven Monacelli, a Communication senior who worked on the Tivador campaign, said Tuesday evening that student turnout “wasn’t what we hoped” despite several events on campus. Both candidates have been quiet since Election Night, when Tivador conceded to Fiske in a phone call she described as “very nice.” They did not respond to requests for post-election interviews. — Patrick Svitek
others, she said, such as public relations vice president. Weinberg junior Carly Blumenfeld has also served as an ASG executive board member throughout the year. She said she has not been affected by the double standard as much as other female leaders. Blumenfeld works in the newly-created chief-of-staff position, which is responsible for maintaining personal relations within ASG. She said her role was one of the more “feminine” ones on the board. Blumenfeld said she has never received specifically gendered complaints from senators, but from her observations she said women are at times excluded. “There’s kind of this all-males club feeling sometimes,” Blumenfeld said. “There are cliques in Senate composed of all men
cross the executive threshold, there’s not as many women,” Masterson said. “ASG is a tough organization to be a part of. People hate on you and criticize you no matter what you’re doing. I think women might be turned off by that more because they’re more oriented toward positive relationships.” Masterson also noted women were even less willing to run for some ASG positions than others that have traditionally been filled by men. She said women in these roles face a double standard. She said in the past she has been called “intimidating” and “scary” for doing her job. Her male successor is more intense, she said, but other ASG members are less offended by that quality in him. Additionally, there is a perception within the organization that some positions are better suited for women than
» See WOMEN IN ASG, page 6
1st Ward results by precinct 1st Ward results Registered voters per precinct by precinct Precinct 1 Registered
voters per precinct
Didn’t vote
Precinct Precinct 1 2
Didn’t vote Ballots Cast
Precinct Precinct 2 3
Ballots Cast
Precinct Precinct 3 4 Precinct 4 0
300
600
900
1200
1500
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
Vote Breakdown by Precinct
Noyes Cultural Arts Center
Vote Breakdown by Precinct
Noyes Cultural Arts Center 37.4%
Voted for Ed Tivador Voted for for Ed Judy Fiske Voted Tivador Voted for Judy Fiske Jane R. Perlman Building Jane R. Perlman Building 43.7% 43.7%
56.3% 56.3%
North Shore Retirement Hotel North Shore Retirement Hotel 44.4%
55.6%
44.4%
55.6%
37.4%62.6%
3 3
62.6%
37.3%
2 1 2 1
62.7% 37.3%
4 4
62.7% Parkes Hall Parkes Hall
Graphic by Lori Janjigian, Walter Ko and Chelsea Sherlock/The Daily Northwestern
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