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The Daily Northwestern Thursday, April 28, 2016
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
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Tax fraud hits NU employees By PETER KOTECKI
daily senior staffer @peterkotecki
Source: Dave Glatt Photo illustration by KT Son
After brief closing, Dave’s plans relocation to Noyes By DAVID FISHMAN
the daily northwestern @davidpkfishman
The eggplant parmesan from Dave’s Italian Kitchen has a special significance in the Ribeiro household. The cheesy dish, which has become a multi-generational legend for the family, has been used to satisfy cravings and convince children to eat their vegetables. “Evanston has always been known as a food community, but people really like tradition as well,” said resident Liz Ribeiro, a mother of two children raised on Dave’s cuisine. “Dave’s was able to provide that by being a long-standing pillar of the community.” After 44 years in Evanston, Dave’s briefly closed its doors at 1635 Chicago
Ave. on April 11, facing crippling debt and a downturn in business. Monday night, however, owner Dave Glatt announced on Facebook that he would reopen a new smaller version of the restaurant, Dave’s IK, at 815 Noyes St. in late May with additional funding from friends, family and the city. “Little by little I had more debt issues to face,” Glatt said. “I was behind in rent and there was just no way I could make that up. … There was never a right time to close, but at that point my debtors would have just taken over the place. Basically, I beat them by a week.” Ald. Judy Fiske (1st), who has eaten regularly at Dave’s for at least 40 years, said when the restaurant initially closed it felt like losing a family member. After hearing the news, she reached out to Glatt and expressed her and other city officials’ desire to keep the restaurant alive.
“Dave’s really represented a wide swath of the community,” Fiske said. “You could go in there and see parents with newborn babies all the way up to 100-year-olds. Everyone was in that restaurant.” In the days that followed, Paul Zalmezak, an Evanston economic development official, said he, Fiske and Glatt worked in tandem to find a new location and funds for the restaurant. Ultimately, they settled on the significantly smaller, 1,200-square-foot space previously occupied by Arlen’s Chicken and DMK Burger & Fish. Once they had worked out the costs, Glatt needed an additional $30,000 to buy new kitchen equipment and Zalmezak said his office recommended a loan to help him with the opening. On Wednesday night, the Economic » See DAVE’S, page 8
About 270 Northwestern employees were victims of identity theft after their 2015 federal income tax returns were accessed, but administrators do not know the source of the breach. Approximately 150 faculty and staff have reported problems with tax filing, but the number is still rising, said David Kovarik, director of information and systems security and compliance. As some employees attempted to file their 2015 tax returns, they were informed by the IRS or other agencies that the return had already been filed using the individual’s Taxpayer Identification Number, which is typically a social security number, he said. After about 35 of these reports came in, the University conducted an investigation of its systems to determine whether there had been a breach, Kovarik said. The investigation concluded that NU’s systems had not been breached. NU also contacted Equifax, the agency that handles W-2 forms for NU, which indicated there was no breach in its systems, he said. This was the first year NU partnered with Equifax for W-2 form distribution, University spokesman Al Cubbage told The Daily in an email. Kovarik said there have been instances of tax fraud at NU in the past, but the number of reports for 2015 was higher than in the last several years. “Unfortunately, it is more
Student at ETHS charged with carrying gun
An 18-year-old Evanston Township High School student was charged with a felony Wednesday for carrying a semi-automatic handgun in his backpack at school. ETHS officials notified the school resource officer assigned to the school that at about 9:20 a.m. Wednesday they discovered a handgun in his backpack, according to a news
commonplace than we would like to see,” he said. “The actual source — social security number, date of birth, personal data — is extremely difficult to pin down.” The uptick in fraudulent filing is common beyond NU, as social security numbers are increasingly used for authentication, Kovarik said. Several years ago, NU made an effort to remove social security numbers from its systems, instead asking faculty to input their employee ID numbers when accessing certain resources online, Kovarik said. This change made a significant difference by lessening the exposure to identity theft in NU’s systems, he said. German Prof. Franziska Lys, the director of undergraduate studies for her department, said she received a letter from the IRS that said someone had filed a tax return in her name. Lys said the return was clearly not hers, as she usually files with her husband and they both had an extension this year. Lys said she initially thought someone had hacked the IRS’s data, but said she realized this was an issue at NU after being contacted by The Daily. On Wednesday morning, Lys contacted Kovarik, who later confirmed that her personal information had indeed been accessed by another person, she said. When Lys asked why faculty at NU were not informed about these identity breaches, Kovarik told her the University is contacting employees whose identities were confirmed to be breached, she said. » See IDENTITY THEFT, page 8 release. The officer took possession of the unloaded Walther P38 semiautomatic handgun and arrested the student. The student was charged with a felony for unlawful use of a weapon and a misdemeanor for both unlawful use of a weapon and for not having a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card. The suspect is currently in custody and will appear in bond court Thursday, Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan said in an email to The Daily. — Robin Opsahl
Evanston, NU not participating in Springfield lobby day By ROBIN OPSAHL
daily senior staffer @robinlopsahl
Evanston and Northwestern will not participate in the annual Evanston Lobby Day in Springfield because of frustration with the state budget gridlock. The 2016 trip would have been the seventh annual lobbying day, which started with both Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl’s election and University President Morton Schapiro’s tenure in 2009. Tisdahl told the Daily on Wednesday the decision to not participate was reached through discussions between the city manager’s office and NU officials.
The state is currently nearing its eleventh month without a budget. “Even when I went down to Springfield for the Northwest Municipal Conference, it really was kind of a waste of time,” Tisdahl said. “There’s nothing really happening in Springfield now.” Weinberg senior Kenny Mok, the former Associated Student Government vice president for B-status finances, said he participated in Lobby Day last year with three other ASG representatives, leaders from the Evanston community and some city and University officials. Although he had a good time on the trip when he went, Mok said it was a tiring experience, and he doesn’t see a problem not going if it will not be productive.
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“If the primary purpose is to fight for the things Evanston and Northwestern need, to use that time wisely, I don’t think I have a big issue with (canceling Lobby Day),” Mok said. “If legislators were just going to tell them they can’t do anything right now because of the impasse right now, then that’s the reality.” Mok said during discussions with state legislators in Springfield on the trip last year, there was already uncertainty about the future of the budget and other negotiations with Gov. Bruce Rauner. Although Evanston officials were able to talk about issues such as funding and pertinent legislation, these discussions would probably not go as far due to the state gridlock, he said.
Weinberg junior Joji Syed, ASG’s former vice president of community relations, said although she wasn’t involved in the decision to not hold Lobby Day this year, she believes ensuring lines of communication between the University and different levels of government is always important. She said during her time as head of the community relations committee, she was able to accomplish more on strengthening communication between the University and Evanston leaders rather than state legislators. She said that while lobbying at a state level for community issues to be addressed was a good experience for ASG representatives, her committee was able to gain lobbying experience
in Evanston outside of the event, “I just stepped out of my role today but … I hope that for future years we reestablish this tradition,” Syed said. “It’s a great way for the community to get together and show what changes we want to happen.” Tisdahl said this decision is not permanent. The decision on whether to lead the trip to Springfield will be made on a yearly basis, depending on whether Evanston and NU believe it will be worth the trip, she added. “The state does not have its act in gear,” Tisdahl said. “There’s not a lot you can really accomplish in Springfield except being happy when you leave.” robinopsahl@u.northwestern.edu
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