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The Daily Northwestern Tuesday, May 17, 2016
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
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Mixed opinion on open groups
IN THE CARDS
Students divided over Northwestern’s plan to nix most applications By DAVID FISHMAN
the daily northwestern @davidpkfishman Lauren Duquette/Daily Senior Staffer
ALL IN Members of Northwestern’s Bridge Club play a game. The team is preparing for the 2016 Collegiate Bridge Team Championships, to be held in July.
Bridge Club heads to national championships By ALLYSON CHIU
the daily northwestern @_allysonchiu
Members of Northwestern’s Bridge Club aren’t strangers to the stereotype. Every Sunday evening, these students meet at Norris University Center to face off in what’s colloquially known as “that card game for old people,” joked Weinberg freshman Kyle
Rockoff, one of the club’s members. For Rockoff, however, each practice provides a chance for him and the rest of the team to hone their skills in preparation for the 2016 Collegiate Bridge Team Championships. The two-day tournament is hosted by the American Contract Bridge League and will be held in July in Washington, D.C. The winning team will receive $20,000 in scholarship money, to be divided up evenly amongst the four members. This is the first time NU’s club has put
together a competitive team since its founding in the 1980s. Led by Rockoff, the four-person team consists of Communication sophomores Joey Lieberman and Di Xiao and McCormick fifth-year senior Ed Kim. Last month, the team qualified for the championships by ranking in the top four out of 17 universities and colleges nationwide. » See BRIDGE, page 6
Students expressed mixed feelings about University plans to mandate most groups admit all interested students, an effort to eliminate Northwestern’s culture of exclusivity by the end of next academic year. “Nepotism on this campus is definitely a problem,” said Chris Landy, a Communication and Bienen sophomore. “The admissions process … is a really flawed way of accepting someone into a group considering that Northwestern is an educational institution, not a corporation.” Brent Turner, executive director of Campus Life, said his office devised the goal last month after more than five years of discussion about the exclusive nature of » See OPEN GROUPS, page 6
Group petitions for IFC emphasizes member values redistricting changes By KELLI NGUYEN
By BILLY KOBIN
daily senior staffer @billy_kobin
A nonpartisan Illinois citizens group submitted 65,000 pages of signatures to the Illinois State Board of Elections earlier this month for a petition calling for a constitutional amendment to change redistricting procedures in light of the coming November elections. Independent Maps — a statewide coalition composed of volunteers and state business, philanthropic, religious and political groups — collected and delivered more than
570,000 signatures to the election board’s Springfield office on May 6. The petitions call for an amendment to be placed on state ballots for a vote this November. The amendment would take the power of redrawing state legislative districts away from legislators and give it to an independent commission. Jim Bray, an Independent Maps spokesman, said the current method of redistricting in Illinois is “not healthy for representative democracy,” as it allows the political party in power to ensure district lines protect its legislators in elections. » See REDISTRICTING, page 5
the daily northwestern @kellipnguyen
Interfraternity Council’s executive board will encourage “values-based recruitment” in addition to implementing an expanded education curriculum starting this fall, the board announced during a forum Monday evening organized in response to the banner controversy earlier this month. The forum drew 12 students to University Hall to discuss and critique IFC’s handling of campus sexual assault. IFC organized the event after criticism of banners it distributed to its chapters for Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which » See IFC, page 6
Zack Laurence/Daily Senior Staffer
OPEN FORUM Interfraternity Council president Will Altabef, a Communication junior, answers questions during a forum Monday evening. The IFC executive board hosted the event to discuss student concerns and ideas following the banner controversy.
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