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The Daily Northwestern Thursday, January 18, 2024
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM 3 CAMPUS/Anniversary
4 OPINION/Free Speech
NU Grad Workers reflect on one year
Institutions should protect free speech, writes alum, First Amendment expert Stephen Rhodes
Find us online @thedailynu Scan this QR code to hear more about Evanston’s MLK Day celebration
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City not ready for migrants asylum seekers have reported Evanston lacks struggle to obtain work funds, housing for they permits, limiting their employand housing opportunipossible newcomers ment ties when settling. Similarly, By SHREYA SRINIVASAN
daily senior staffer @shreyasrin
After living on the floors of police stations and warming centers, an asylum-seeking Venezuelan family of four arrived at the home of Evanston resident Kristin Huzar in early 2023. She planned to house them for a few days while they found their bearings. They ended up staying with her for nine months. Huzar, with the help of community members and local food pantries, supported the family during their stay by fundraising $8,000 for their food and educational support. Now, the family lives in a studio apartment in the 5th Ward. Huzar, an ESL teacher at Nelson Elementary School in Niles, Ill., however, said the city should have offered more aid for migrants like the family she took in. “I got zero help from the city,” Huzar said. While navigating the U.S. immigration system, many
limited state and federal funding has contributed to a “tough” housing situation for new arrivals to the city, said Ald. Juan Geracaris (9th). “In my opinion, to solve this problem we really need federal funding to be able to do something about it,” Geracaris said. “We have some city funds that we set aside for aid for migrants and refugees that are already living in Evanston.” Since Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced in November a 60-day eviction policy for new arrivals in Chicago from migrant shelters and police stations, many migrants have been seeking housing in nearby suburbs. In response, nearby municipalities like Rosemont and Aurora, Ill. have already passed restrictions on unscheduled bus drop-offs to regulate migrant intake. In a Jan. 8 news release, Evanston announced that the city was encouraged by the state to direct migrants to a “centralized location” in Chicago for processing. The city
» See MIGRANT INFLUX, page 6
Samantha Powers/The Daily Northwestern
Eig said the creation of “King: A Life” took six years, hundreds of interviews and a team of fact-checkers.
Medill alum commemorates MLK
Jonathan Eig talks new King biography at annual keynote address By SAMANTHA POWERS
daily senior staffer @SQPowers04
Jonathan Eig (Medill ’86) commemorated Martin Luther
King Jr.’s life — flaws and all — at his keynote speech Tuesday in Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. An award-winning biographer, Eig spoke about the creation of his newest book, “King: A Life.”
Eig’s newest book on King is a National Book Award Nominee, a New York Times Bestseller and a Barack Obama Summer 2023 Read. Eig detailed King’s career as a moral leader, from the
Montgomery Bus Boycott to the March on Washington. But he also emphasized King’s flaws, including his extramarital affairs and his
» See MLK KEYNOTE, page 6
Live4Lali provides harm reduction Groundskeepers Mobile outreach center “The Stigma Crusher” offers city resources By CARLOTTA ANGIOLILLO
the daily northwestern @carlottaang76
Six months ago, Live4Lali’s purple truck — parked around the corner from the Howard Street Red Line station — may only have garnered suspicion or curiosity from passersby. Since mid-July, however, the vehicle has become a familiar sight to Evanston residents. “People recognize us now. It’s really refreshing,” said Alex Mathiesen, Live4Lali’s director of programs. “It’s empowering because they’ll see the truck rolling down the road, and people will come riding up and be like, ‘Man, I’m so glad I didn’t miss you today.’ Every time we go out there, we see 60 people-ish, and it’s continuing to grow.” Live4Lali aims to mitigate not only the immediate harm caused by substance use but also the subsequent legal, social and health issues, according to its website. The truck, known as “The Stigma Crusher,” is Live4Lali’s
Recycle Me
mobile outreach project, and it provides harm reduction resources, like safe injection kits and naloxone, to people with substance use disorders across different Chicago-area suburbs. The truck also administers food, personal care items and masks as well as assistance with finding treatment and recovery options. “Every single person that we serve takes food from us, every single one,” Mathiesen said. “We’re not just out there handing out needles and pipes. We’re there to be a hub for a community initiative, to get people into wherever they need to go.” The truck is located on West Howard Street near Chicago Avenue from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. Mathiesen, who himself is a former heroin user, said lived experience is essential to Live4Lali’s organizational identity and guides its programming. “We believe very firmly in the ‘nothing for us without us’ mentality,” Mathiesen said. Live4Lali also partners with other organizations in
tend NU campus
Assistant Groundskeeper Team keeps flowers Foreman Steve Camburn, planted, roads clear now in his 36th year with the started as a gardener and through the seasons team, now oversees the 23-member By MARY RANDOLPH
daily senior staff
Carlotta Angiolillo/The Daily Northwestern
Live4Lali’s mobile outreach project, also known as “The Stigma Crusher,” provides harm reduction resources to Evanston residents on Tuesdays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
the Evanston area, including local nonprofit Connections for the Homeless. Both groups share a philosophy of supporting each individual’s specific needs regardless of where they are in their recovery process.
Alaina Slempkes, a community nurse at Connections for the Homeless, said Live4Lali provides training for drug overdose prevention to
» See STIGMA CRUSHER, page 6
Sitting under several photos of Northwestern’s campus throughout the seasons at groundskeeping’s Ridge Avenue office, Lead Groundskeeper Nigel Chesters and groundskeeper Marco Montoya joke around about their memories from over the years. The office is filled with knickknacks and photos of the group’s favorite sports teams and home to the people responsible for all of NU’s grounds. Chesters and Montoya have been part of Northwestern’s groundskeeping team for 26 and 24 years, respectively, and said most of their colleagues have similar tenures. With essentially “no turnover,” Chesters said, the team knows the campus — and one another — intimately.
grounds team. Camburn said their jurisdiction includes everything from trees and flowers to concrete and benches to garbage pickup. “We handle almost everything outside the footprint of the building — and sometimes, even the ivy growing up the side of the building,” Camburn said. The groundskeeping team starts their day at 5 or 6 a.m. Most team members are assigned to one of eight oncampus areas, mowing, pruning, trimming or doing any number of tasks the campus requires that day. Right now, Montoya is mainly responsible for the fleet of vehicles and machinery the groundskeeping team uses, he said, working with the larger Facilities Management department’s two mechanics to ensure their gear is ready
» See GROUNDSKEEPERS, page 6
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