The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
arts & entertainment
A&E
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Find us online @thedailynu Scan this QR code with to listen to our latest podcast; NU Declassified! Refresh, Fusion hold winter auditions
High 32 Low 30
Faculty Senate reviews budget
Holloway, Johnson present 2019 f iscal report By JACKSON MILLER
the daily northwestern @jacksonfire123
Connie Deng/ The Daily Northwestern
Attendees learn about Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement. Burke will speak at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on Jan. 27 as part of MLK Dream Week.
SHAPE holds Burke discussion Students discuss Tarana Burke, black female activist contributions
By ANIKA MITTU
the daily northwestern @anika_mittu
Ahead of Tarana Burke’s keynote address for Martin
Luther King Jr. Dream Week on Jan. 27, 15 students gathered at the Women’s Center on Wednesday to discuss the #MeToo movement founder and her work with sexual assault survivors.
Burke created the phrase “Me Too” as a way for sexual assault survivors to communicate with one another, the Center for Awareness, Response and Education’s Assistant Director of Sexual
Violence Response Services and Advocacy Kyra Jones said. However, actress Alyssa Milano received attention for the term in a now-viral tweet » See BURKE, page 6
Provost Jonathan Holloway and Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Craig Johnson presented Northwestern’s 2019 financial report at the Faculty Senate Wednesday night in Scott Hall’s Guild Lounge. The presentation outlined the University’s fiscal performance in 2019 as well as its spending over the past decade. Faculty had a chance to ask questions of Holloway and Johnson. Holloway said achieving the past fiscal year’s $68.7 million budget surplus required a “big culture change” toward a more centralized Northwestern administration. “We have changed so many policies, practices and structures that it would be exquisitely difficult to run into the same kind of problem we ran into before,” Holloway said. Holloway said the administration hasn’t always needed such rigorous fiscal discipline because Northwestern had “so much cash wealth for such a long time.”
Given the past year’s fiscal success, Holloway said the University can now expand the faculty compensation pool, though only “modestly so.” “It will not be enough to make amends for the last two years, but I hope it is the beginning of a series of trends of growth in the compensation pool,” he said. Art history professor Claudia Swan asked how raises would be allocated considering the existing gap in compensation for female faculty. Holloway said the administration would follow up by drawing upon Northwestern data on its female faculty members’ salaries, Faculty Senate’s salary committee reports and the deans of each school. Johnson said the University spent $590.4 million on recruiting and replacing faculty during the past 10 years. Philosophy professor and past Faculty Senate president Baron Reed asked whether the administration tracks how spending on compensation is allocated between ordinary raises and retention offers. Johnson said this can be difficult to track since retention offers take a variety of forms, including direct salary adjustments. “We haven’t done the regression on our compensation levels » See SENATE, page 6
ASG gets ready Evanston Voter Initiative shot down for election season Petition won’t appear on ballot, supporters raise bias concerns
New commission selected prior to presidential cycle By YUNKYO KIM
the daily northwestern @yunkyomoonk
Associated Student Government voted members into a new election commission at this Wednesday’s session, signaling the beginning of its annual presidential election cycle. Composed of 7 undergraduate students unaffiliated with any campaigns, the commission is in charge of regulating major aspects of the ASG election, from the beginning to the end of the election period. When the president and executive vice president are voted into office in the second week of the spring quarter, the commission will formally dissolve. In the meantime, they will coordinate and promote the election, host debates, assess election materials, review election guidelines and publish petitions for candidacy. “We are there to make sure that the campaign is run in a way that is the best for students,” Margot Bartol, former election commissioner for the previous cycle, said. Members of the commission
also have the authority to judge instances of campaign infractions, and after three formal violations, they have the authority to remove a candidate from a ballot or consider articles of impeachment for newlyelected officials. Previous election commissions have punished campaigns for violations. Weinberg junior Sky Patterson was penalized by the commission in 2018 for going against “acceptable pre-campaign activities,” such as convening with students and organizations and developing non-promotional campaign materials. The commission had found that the campaign had recruited campaign staff before it was allowed and that it sent out a policy email that included minor promotional material. Patterson and her running mate were later elected and sworn in as executive leaders of ASG, before she resigned in December 2018 citing health and academic concerns. Henry Molnar, a Weinberg senior and ASG chief of staff who had served in the election commission during Patterson’s campaign, said he chose to join it again as he thought it was an integral role in conflict resolution “Election commissions are most » See ASG, page 6
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
By EMMA YARGER
the daily northwestern @emmayarger
The Municipal Officers Electoral Board sustained the objection to the Evanston Voter Initiative in a 2-1 vote during their hearing Wednesday, but the petitioners and supporters of the initiative claimed the proceedings were biased. The Evanston Voter Initiative is a petition that aims to create a pathway for Evanston residents to create and pass ordinances. The hearing decided that the referendum question concerning the initiative will not be on the March 17 ballot. The petitioners, resident Allie Harned and former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, Evanston Voter Initiative’s legal counsel, said they will appeal this decision in a higher court. During the hearing, Mayor Steve Hagerty and Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) voted for both parts of the objection while City Clerk Devon Reid — the third member of the board — voted against. After the objection was sustained, the board unanimously voted to adopt a written decision. The first section of the objection argued the Illinois constitution does not allow binding
Emma Yarger/The Daily Northwestern
Petitioners of Evanston Voter Initiative (left) and objectors to the initiative (right) at Wednesday’s hearing.
referenda on a local question of public policy. “There are going to be inherent ways conflict with the existing ways in which law is passed in Evanston,” former 7th Ward
alderman Jane Grover said. The petitioners argued that binding referenda are legal because the power of the voters is equal to the power of the City Council, so each body has the
right to submit referenda. “Constitutional debates make it clear that voters have the identical power of a council to put a » See EVI, page 6
INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8