NEWS Around Town City expands storefront assistance » PAGE 2
SPORTS Curtain Call Senior Josh Jamieson looks to end golf career on a high note » PAGE 8
OPINION Lamps Foods are not unsafe just because they’re ‘chemical’ » PAGE 4
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The Daily Northwestern Wednesday, May 11, 2016
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Student life VP renominated ASG presents same candidate despite rejection last week By ERICA SNOW
the daily northwestern @ericasnoww
SESP sophomore Sumaia Masoom will again be presented as the nominee for co-vice president for student life in Associated Student Government Senate on Wednesday after senators rejected her nomination last week, causing concerns from other applicants that their support for the opposing presidential ticket contributed to their not being nominated. During last Wednesday’s meeting, some senators questioned the nomination of Masoom because she has not been involved with the student life committee. They also questioned her ability to represent the entirety of the student body given her support for Northwestern Divest. Masoom said at the meeting last week she could withhold her personal beliefs to represent whatever the majority of campus wanted. Her nomination fell short by one vote. Senate confirmed SESP junior Anna DiStefano as a co-vice president for student life to replace McCormick junior Wendy Roldan. The position has traditionally been held by one person, but senators amended the ASG Code to allow for two co-vice presidents at last Wednesday’s meeting.
Both Masoom and DiStefano publicly endorsed ASG president Christina Cilento, a SESP junior, and executive vice president Macs Vinson, a McCormick junior, when they ran for their offices in April. Medill sophomore Isabel Schwartz applied for the position after senators rejected Masoom’s nomination. But when she heard she wasn’t nominated, Schwartz said she wondered if her support for the opposing presidential campaign of Weinberg junior Joji Syed and Weinberg sophomore Archit Baskaran was a factor in the decision. Schwartz said she has been involved with the student life committee since fall of her freshman year. Masoom said during her confirmation hearing she has not been involved with the student life committee. While Schwartz said she is ultimately glad she didn’t receive the nomination due to its time commitment and hopes Masoom will be confirmed, she said she was initially disappointed when she received the email from chief of staff Isaac Rappoport notifying her that she wasn’t the nominee. “It’s easier to work with people you already know support you than people who might push back more or not be fully in line with your vision for ASG,” Schwartz said. “There are political implications or causes behind it on some level, but I don’t think that was it entirely.” SESP sophomore Josh O’Neil, who was Syed’s campaign manager, applied for the position when applications were
Keshia Johnson/The Daily Northwestern
DIMENSIONS DISCUSSED Middle East and North African Studies lecturer Amjad al-Dajani speaks during a panel about Zionism on Tuesday. Four Northwestern professors sat on the panel, which examined Zionism from various academic and personal perspectives.
Profs share ideas on Zionism By JULIA DORAN
the daily northwestern @_juliadoran
A panel of four professors examined Zionism from various academic and personal perspectives Tuesday as part of Israel Week, an effort by Northwestern Hillel to celebrate the country and the anniversary of its independence. “On campus, there’s a notion that Zionism is one thing and one thing only — an exclusive call for Jewish nationality and Jewish nationality only — which is only implementable via oppression and marginalization of Palestinians who are not Jewish,” Weinberg freshman Adam Chanes, who organized the event, told The Daily. Chanes said some students have forgotten Zionism’s ideological and philosophical
» See NOMINATION, page 6
heritage, narrowly considering it in an institutional or political sense. He also said some NU students discount the complexity of Zionism and make the term a “dirty word.” Panelists discussed Zionism’s various interpretations within the Israeli-Palestinian debate, and the ways the term has affected how groups identify one another and themselves. “From the perspective of Israelis, Zionism is for the return of the Jews to their ancestors’ homeland, while from the Palestinian perspective, it is considered a British conspiracy to reject them from that land,” said Middle East and North African studies lecturer Amjad al-Dajani, who sat on the panel. “You have these two sides and views that are opposite, and in a way, they formulated one another through the conflict.” Religious Studies Prof. Laurie Zoloth
said despite negative connotations that have developed around the idea of Zionism, she’s committed to keeping the term and its original meaning alive. “I’m not giving up on the term,” she said. “I want to say I’m a Zionist in the same way I want to fly an American flag. I’m not willing to give it away, which is why I think you should keep saying you’re a Zionist and place yourself at the center of that discourse.” But sometimes, Al-Dajani said Israeli policy can contradict traditional Jewish values. “I always felt that the Jewish people have a moral compass,” he said. “There is a sense of what is right and what is wrong. I think the disconnect happening is that they are looking at the state or the government in » See ZIONISM, page 6
Panel discusses balancing student activism, academics By SAM KREVLIN
the daily northwestern @samkrevlin
Keshia Johnson/The Daily Northwestern
STRIKING THE BALANCE Panelists discuss balancing student activism and academics. The event was hosted by Educate Discuss Unite and focused on the challenges of student activism.
It’s nearly impossible to be an activist and have a full-time job, Columbia College Prof. Prexy Nesbitt said at a student activism panel Tuesday night. “It comes down to what your values are,” Nesbitt said. “Students with a lot of debt have a hell of a choice to make. Do they buckle down and strive to pay off the money or do they begin to challenge the complex institutions and the messy world we live in?” Nesbitt, along with Associated Student Government president Christina Cilento and Kelly Benkert, director of leadership and community engagement, spoke about how student activists are constantly tested
by both academic demands and economic constraints. About 10 students attended the event in Fisk Hall hosted by Educate Discuss Unite, a student group focused on education policy. During the discussion, Cilento, a SESP junior, said her main challenge is juggling her academic life with her commitments as an activist for Fossil Free Northwestern. “It is about figuring out what is important to me,” Cilento said. “Honestly, activism is more important, but I need the grades in order to graduate.” Nesbitt, who has been a community organizer for 50 years, said he was “thrown out” of the University of Chicago and NU because he couldn’t be an activist while being a full-time student. The panel also discussed how students should approach activism on campus.
Benkert said students should celebrate small wins as much as big ones, even though they can sometimes feel like losses. Student activists must build power and leverage to achieve success in the long run, she added. Cilento made an example of Fossil Free NU’s campaign to convince NU to divest from fossil fuels. She said the University saying ‘no’ doesn’t mean the conversation is over but that the group must find more weight for its next argument. Nesbitt also urged patience in approaching resistance to activism. “You approach with a perspective that, ‘This may take a long time, but I am prepared to fight for a long time.’” Nesbitt said. “You don’t sprint to do community organizing. It is long distance.” » See ACTIVISM, page 6
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