NEWS On Campus 29 NU students to attend Clinton Global Initiative University » PAGE 3
SPORTS Women’s Basketball Roundtable: 2015-2016 Season Recap and Big Ten Tournament Preview » PAGE 8
OPINION Mueller Oscars format innapropriate for Rock’s important monologue » PAGE 4
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The Daily Northwestern Wednesday, March 2, 2016
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Astronaut lands after 340 days Longest U.S. space trip ends, NU to continue study on astronaut By ANIKA HENANGER
the daily northwestern @anikahopeee
After nearly a year in space, astronaut Scott Kelly came back to Earth Tuesday night, an event Northwestern researchers and students celebrated with a homecoming party as they watched a live video feed from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Approximately 35 people gathered in Abbott Auditorium in the Pancoe Life Sciences Pavilion to watch the departure and landing of Kelly, one of two twins being studied by NU researchers in partnership with NASA. The coverage featured Kelly, along with two other astronauts, undocking from the International Space Station, boarding the Soyuz spacecraft and landing in Kazakhstan. The NU researchers will now continue their studies on the effects of spaceflight on the human body with Kelly in person now that he has returned to Earth. The landing concluded Scott Kelly’s 340-day orbit, the longest trip to space ever taken by an American astronaut. Kelly and his twin brother, Mark, are part of a 10-team study analyzing the effect of interstellar travel on humans. As one of the teams conducting the analysis, NU researchers will focus on space travel’s effects on bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract. During the live video feed coverage, biology Prof. Fred Turek and neurobiology Prof. Martha Vitaterna discussed the importance of unraveling how gut
microbiota affects mood. Because astronauts must work as a team and live in cramped conditions, any symptoms of depression or anxiety caused by gut bacteria can be detrimental, said Turek. “We just want to know what it takes to keep people healthy in space for that long,” said Vitaterna, who is also the executive director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology at NU. “Today is a really historic event. You have to step back and think about that.” Scott Kelly worked with NU researchers by providing samples of fecal matter and blood to be compared with his twin brother’s, said Turek. Because of the small dimensions of Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft, the samples will be retrieved by a shuttle from Space X, an American aerospace manufacturer. This shuttle will also deliver 20 “mousetronauts,” whose genetically identical twins will remain on earth, for another experiment on gut bacteria, said Turek. Vance Gao, a graduate student in NU’s Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program who is studying under Turek, said he was looking forward to analyzing the evidence. “It’s pretty incredible, just thinking about all the engineering and science that’s involved,” Gao said. “We’re really not sure what to expect (from the results of the experiment).” NASA provided a live stream of events from mission control centers in both Houston and Korolev, Russia. Later in the evening, Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov could be seen aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft, seated in the descent module. The module was the only portion of the shuttle that would survive the 249 mile freefall back to earth, said Turek. » See KELLY, page 6
Leeks Lim/The Daily Northwestern
GATHERING TOGETHER Students and staff members pray during a vigil at The Rock on Tuesday. The vigil was held to honor the lives of three young men killed last week in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and to pray for the recovery of a teen shot by a police officer in Salt Lake City over the weekend.
Vigil for police shootings held NU honors men killed, injured by police By PETER KOTECKI
daily senior staffer @peterkotecki
About 70 Northwestern students and staff members gathered at The Rock on Tuesday to honor the lives of three young men killed last week and to pray for the recovery of a teen shot by a police officer over the weekend. On Feb. 24, Muhannad Tairab, Adam Mekki and Mohamedtaha Omar were killed “execution-style” in Fort Wayne, Indiana, according to CNN. The young men were 17, 20 and 23, respectively. Two were Muslim and one was Christian,
CNN reported. Three days later, 17-year-old Abdi Mohamed, a Somali refugee, was shot by a police officer in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mohamed has since woken up from a coma. Experiences such as vigils are important for the NU community because students from diverse backgrounds can come together during times of tragedy, said Tahera Ahmad, associate chaplain and director of interfaith engagement. “They’re able to share their deep sense of sorrow and their pain, and have a community — a safe and brave space where they can share their thoughts and reflections, and then also receive a kind of healing,”
she said. The vigil was organized by several student groups, including Interfaith Advocates, Muslim-cultural Students Association, African Students Association and For Members Only, Ahmad said. Weinberg senior Alaa Mohamedali said the vigil was important to her because she believes every single life lost should be recognized. Everyone should acknowledge the Islamophobia and racism that led to this, she said during the vigil. “That’s why I’m usually the person who is found at every single vigil, regardless of religion or » See VIGIL, page 6
NU groups support black votes 311 Service Center
celebrates five years
By FATHMA RAHMAN
the daily northwestern @fathma_rahman
Early last year, Weinberg senior Robel Worku came across a video online of a Los Angeles Police Department officer shooting and killing a black man named Africa on the streets last March. Until that point, Worku had made an active effort to avoid coming across this type of footage, and he still recalls his reaction to what he saw very vividly, he said. “I remember all the thoughts that were running through my head that night — I remember feeling angrier than I’ve ever felt in my entire life,” Worku said at a Tuesday night discussion about black political involvement. “I was incredibly angry and hopeless and frustrated. I didn’t understand why what I do on a day-to-day basis fundamentally matters when s— like this can happen.” Black Lives Matter NU and Illinois and Indiana Regional Organizing Network Students of Northwestern United hosted the event to talk about the importance of the black community’s involvement in political institutions.
By JEREMY MARGOLIS
the daily northwestern @jeremyrmargolis
Sophie Mann/Daily Senior Staffer
POLITICAL POWER Sarayah Wright (left), Michelle Sanders (middle) and Robel Worku (right) lead a presentation about the importance of voting for the black community. The event, “Black Votes Matter,” was co-hosted by Black Lives Matter NU and Illinois and Indiana Regional Organizing Network Students of Northwestern United.
Worku said he is concerned that, until this point, many of the black community’s responses to instances of racial inequality have only been reactionary, and he said he thinks its members need to change their approach to politics to be more proactive. SESP freshman Sky Patterson, who addressed the audience at the event,
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
stressed the importance of participating in elections. “It’s very important to vote, because if you don’t vote for the candidates that share our values then the same problems that have been happening will continue to » See BLACK VOTES, page 6
Staffers of the city’s 311 Service Center celebrated the program’s five-year anniversary with a reception Tuesday morning, reflecting on how citywide communication has improved since its inception. City department directors took turns thanking the eight-member staff and its two supervisors, who are responsible for responding to citizen and business questions, requests and reports ranging from special trash pickups to downed trees. The 311 center has fielded over 678,000 calls since its start, and residents and employees can now also communicate with respondents via text message, a mobile phone app and live chat said Martha Logan, the city’s community engagement manager. Residents were initially critical of the
program because they felt it was a waste of Evanston’s resources, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz said. The first summer with 311 in service, the city experienced multipleday power outages following stormy weather, Bobkiewicz said. Electrical company ComEd set up an emergency operations center in Evanston and, through 311, residents were able to better communicate their power issues, he said. “We were in better shape than most of our neighbor communities because we were able to give ComEd information about where the power was out that other communities could not have,” Bobkiewicz said. “So it was after that stormy summer that people kind of quieted down about 311 and began to realize how powerful a tool it was for our community.” Since then, the program has expanded to include a list of more than » See 311, page 6
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