NEWS On Campus Palestinian journalist discusses Gaza’s conditions » PAGE 3
SPORTS Men’s Tennis Northwestern matches best start in school history » PAGE 8
OPINION Folmsbee Scalia leaves behind scientific legacy » PAGE 4
High 31 Low 18
The Daily Northwestern Tuesday, March 1, 2016
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
cu o F In
Find us online @thedailynu
s
r Staffer Lee/Daily Senio Graphic by Jerry
LIQUOR LIABILITY
Students, administrators discuss contract policy amid perceived ‘crackdown’ on events with alcohol
By ALICE YIN
daily senior staffer @alice__yin
For the first time in at least nine years, the sorority quads were absent of the serenading male voices that had filled each chapter house for one night during Winter Quarter. The surrounding roads were empty of the busses that opened their doors to current and new Greek members, all clad in formalwear. And Facebook did not explode in a morning-after barrage of photo uploads and profile pictures of a night downtown. This year, Gone Greek Night — a post-recruitment
tradition that involves an off-campus night out for Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association chapters — was canceled. The decision was the result of about three months of negotiations between University administrators and the IFC and PHA community following this year’s plan for a revamped Gone Greek Night, said Weinberg senior Mark Nelson, who ended his term as IFC president in January. However, Nelson said the event’s cancellation actually boils down to alcohol policy — more specifically, Northwestern Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin’s interpretation of it. Her hesitation to sign off on Gone Greek Night stems from a larger conversation the University is having on the future of events that serve alcohol, Nelson said. “My understanding is that Dr. Telles-Irvin is questioning the stance on alcohol policy,” he said. “(Gone Greek Night) got blocked because one person felt it was far too risky.” In an interview with The Daily last month, TellesIrvin said the University is taking a pause to review practices around undergraduate student organization events that have alcohol. This year’s Gone Greek Night, she said, had not met her standards for approval. “We’re still trying to understand the implications, the liability, the health of our students, the messages we’re sending,” she said. “(My decision is) not to take away fun. It’s essentially to make sure you
the daily northwestern @robinlopsahl
Despite Gov. Bruce Rauner’s discussion of exploring right-to-work legislation to settle Illinois’ budget crisis, the laws would be unlikely to impact Evanston if implemented, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz said. The governor proposed right-towork laws as a possible compromise to the state budget stalemate in his Jan. 27 State of the State address. Right-towork laws remove bargaining rights from unions and ensure that employees are not obligated to join unions or pay union dues in any workplace. Both state Democrats and local union workers have criticized the legislation. Rauner said he would consider those laws as cost-cutting “structural changes” the legislature could pass for him to approve the budget put forth by state Democrats if they remain unwilling to cut $4 billion from their suggested $36
billion budget per his recommendation. “I’m insisting that we attack the root causes of our dismal economic performance,” Rauner said in the budget address. “I understand that union leaders and trial lawyers are putting pressure on you to keep the status quo, but if we don’t offer a competitive environment for businesses, pretty soon the unions won’t have any more jobs to unionize and the trial lawyers won’t have any more businesses to sue.” When Rauner introduced his version of the legislation to the Illinois House last May, it failed, yielding zero yes votes. However, governors in neighboring states such as Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan have all passed right-towork laws in the past five years. If right-to-work laws were to pass in Illinois, they would most likely be on a county or municipality-level, Bobkiewicz said, and Evanston is not likely to be a community to implement them. Bobkiewicz said given the “long history” of union membership in the city, he thought it was unlikely City
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
By MADELINE FOX
daily senior staffer @maddycfox
over the summer since current contracts end Dec. 31. “Over the next few months, not having a budget and ongoing right-to-work » See RIGHT TO WORK, page 5
» See LAWSUIT, page 5
have a safe, healthy and fulfilling experience here at Northwestern. If we can get there, I’d be happy.” Though Telles-Irvin said there was no official policy change, other students said they have noticed a shift in University approval of events with alcohol. On a larger scale, students and administrators are also engaged in discussions about potential changes to NU’s alcohol policy.
Gone Greek Night, gone
A year ago, IFC and PHA executive board members decided the next Gone Greek Night would consolidate all chapters into one venue to boost inclusivity and safety, instead of chapters pairing up individually at separate venues as they had in previous years. “Our changes for Gone Greek Night were largely because our community wanted change,” said Medill senior KK Doyle, who served as PHA president until January. “This is an event that’s celebrating having gone Greek all as one community, so why were we pairing off ?” In the past, the Fraternity and Sorority life team under the Campus Life office oversaw Gone Greek Night registration, executive director of Campus Life Brent Turner said, with individual fraternities and sororities signing contracts and their national chapters assuming the insurance. But as there was no feasible way to split the contract for this year’s consolidated event among all the chapters, he said, » See CONTRACTS, page 4
Source: Brian Cassella, Chicago Tribune/MCT
DISCUSSING RIGHT TO WORK Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner declares victory at his election night celebration at the Hilton Chicago on Nov. 4, 2014. He has discussed the possibility of making Illinois a right-towork state.
Council or the Evanston community would have any substantial discussion on the matter. However, now is an important time for unions in the city, as Evanston employee’s contracts will be negotiated
Officers allege they were discriminated against by NU
Two current University Police officers and one former officer will re-file claims they were improperly disciplined over alleged inappropriate comments about LGBT people, a lawyer involved with the case said Monday. The two UP officers and one former UP sergeant were disciplined for “inappropriate comments about homosexuals” made on a bus en route to a Northwestern football game Sept. 21, 2013, according to court documents. The officers then filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in February 2014 claiming they were treated unfairly by the University because of their race — all three officers are white — following the incident. One officer, a woman, also claimed she was discriminated against because of her gender, the documents show. Judge Robert Gettleman ruled Wednesday the three individuals can file an amended complaint after he partially upheld and partially denied Northwestern’s motion to dismiss the suit against the University. The three individuals can move forward with claims for reverse race discrimination and violation of their equal rights under the law, according to the court documents. The female officer’s complaint of gender discrimination and the other current officer’s claim of interference with anticipated economic advantage from a promotion for which he was no longer eligible can also be re-filed, according to the documents. University spokesman Al Cubbage declined to comment Monday, saying the University does not comment on ongoing personnel matters. One of their coworkers lodged a complaint against the three individuals with the Sexual Harassment Prevention Office after confronting one of them about their remarks, prompting Joan Slavin, director of Sexual Harassment Prevention, to investigate the incident, according to the documents. Slavin found the three officers had violated NU’s sexual harassment policy and notified the administration, according to court documents. All three individuals were suspended — two of them without pay — by UP, given a shift change, banned from applying for promotion for six months and notified they would be fired if another complaint were filed against them based on Slavin’s findings, the documents show. Additionally, one of the officers,
Right-to-work talks unlikely to impact city By ROBIN OPSAHL
UP officers to re-file claims
INSIDE Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 6 | Classifieds & Puzzles 7 | Sports 8