Pike hosts run for Boston Marathon tragedy » PAGE 3
SPORTS Women’s Golf NU celebrated its first B1G title as a program » PAGE 8
OPINION Bush takes media spotlight » PAGE 4
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The Daily Northwestern Monday, April 29, 2013
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‘Stand up!’: Ludacris fills Riviera for A&O Ball By DEONTAE MOORE
the daily northwestern @deontae_moore
Mariam Gomaa/Daily Senior Staffer
GET BACK Hip-hop artist Ludacris performs Saturday night at A&O Ball at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago. A&O Productions said it sold twice as many tickets for this year’s show as it did for last year’s spring Ball.
Northwestern to join Big Ten’s new West Division in ‘14
Northwestern is out of the Legends and in with the West. The Big Ten Conference will scrap its current divisions in favor of a geographic split that will start in 2014, the conference announced Sunday. NU will join Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue and Wisconsin in the West Division. Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers will compose the East Division. The move was precipitated by the addition of Maryland and Rutgers to the conference in November. “Big Ten directors of athletics concluded four months of study and deliberation with unanimous approval of a future football structure that preserved rivalries and created divisions based on their primary principle of East/West geography,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said in a news release. The conference will also go to a full nine-game conference schedule for football beginning in 2016. During a transitional period in 2014 and 2015, teams will play each team from their division and two from the opposite division. Beginning in 2016, they will play three from the opposite division. University President Morton Schapiro said earlier this week that NU lobbied for placement in the West Division. “We had spirited discussions here in senior staff about, ‘Are we a Midwestern university?’ or, ‘Are we eastern?’” Schapiro said Thursday at an on-campus address. “Part of me’s thinking, ‘Wow, we have so many alums in the Boston-D.C. corridor … and wouldn’t it be nice to be in that division?’ And at the end, we fought long and hard … to stay in the western division, and that’s because we’re proud to be Midwestern.” The new alignment may be a boon
The bass blared and strobe lights hit the stage Saturday night at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago as rapper Ludacris and his band performed for A&O Ball. The Atlanta emcee, backed by hype man Lil Fate, performed classics such as “What’s Your Fantasy” from his debut album “Back for the First Time.” He repeatedly asked whether his “real fans” were in the building, and a screaming crowd often responded. Ludacris tested students by performing a song from each of his studio albums, including “Rollout,” “Stand Up” and “How Low.” He also rapped his featured verses on hit songs “All I Do Is Win” and “Break Your Heart.” Although he did not know exact numbers, outgoing A&O chairman Logan Koepke said this year’s A&O Ball sold twice as many tickets as last year’s event, when rapper Method Man and electronic duo Major Lazer came to the Riviera. Saturday’s show started slowly as some students trickled into the theater while the first act started. That didn’t stop opening act Two-9 from getting the audience excited before Ludacris hit the stage: Students crowd-surfed and danced around through most of
their tracks. “Everyone was really into the Two-9 set,” said A&O spokesman Andrew Griesemer, a McCormick senior. “A lot of people went into (it) not knowing a whole lot about them. It was jammin’, and it was a lot of fun to watch.” Ludacris came on stage shortly after 9 p.m., just as his disc jockey encouraged the crowd to chant “Luda.” “Everyone knows a lot of his songs. There was almost a nostalgic appeal to it,” said A&O spokeswoman Shelly Tan, a Medill junior. “Ludacris really played well with the crowd.” Communication junior Ashley Mills agreed Ludacris’ interaction with the crowd pumped her up. The rapper asked a lot of questions to keep students engaged throughout the set. “He had everyone hyped, and the show was really interactive,” Mills said. “Two-9 was cool. I wasn’t sure who they were, but I still enjoyed their performance.” A&O cited good planning and marketing as reasons for the show’s success. Koepke talked about the process of putting on large production, from marketing the show to the 12 to 14 runners who got people where they needed to be during the concert. “I’m happy with how everything ended up this year,” Koepke said. “It » See LUDACRIS, page 7
for the Cats in football. While Wisconsin has been the Big Ten representative in the Rose Bowl the past three years, NU will avoid annual games against powerhouses like Ohio State and Penn State. — Joseph Diebold
New Big Ten Conference football divisons
EAST Indiana Michigan Michigan State Ohio State Penn State Maryland Rutgers
WEST Purdue Illinois Iowa Minnesota Nebraska Northwestern Wisconsin Graphic by Lori Janjigan/The Daily Northwestern
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
Jia You/Daily Senior Staffer
‘FIRST OF ALL, NOBODY IS IN THIS ALONE’ More than 2,000 Evanston residents participated in the second annual Stand Against Racism on Friday. The YWCA Evanston/North Shore organized the event.
Residents stand against racism By JIA YOU
daily senior staffer @jiayoumedill
More than 2,000 people joined millions nationwide to pledge to fight racism Friday afternoon in Evanston. The YWCA Evanston/North Shore organized the annual Stand Against Racism for the second year to raise awareness for racial inewquality. About 40 other Evanston organizations, including the city, Evanston Township High School and the Evanston Community Foundation, participated in the activity.
Eileen Heineman, the YWCA’s racial justice program manager, told The Daily after the event the Evanston branch joined the national movement to demonstrate community solidarity against racial prejudice. “What we are trying to help people understand is that first of all, nobody is in this alone,” Heineman said. “And part of it is also just to say that we know racism exists. … We want to acknowledge that, and we want to say that we’re going to keep standing against racism until we don’t need to do it any more.” Participants lined the sidewalks of Ridge Avenue and Church Street shortly after 12:30 p.m., holding
signs and cheering at passing cars. At 12:50 p.m., they read out a pledge to eliminate racism together, saying, “I take this pledge, fully aware that the struggle to overcome and eliminate racism will not end with a mere pledge, but calls for an ongoing transformation within myself and society.” Local politicians — including state Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston), Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin and Ald. Jane Grover (7th) — gathered outside the YWCA, 1215 Church St., during the stand. “You can’t not be part of this,” » See STAND, page 7
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