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The Daily Northwestern Friday, March 4, 2016
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Election signs irk Evanston residents
Find us online @thedailynu
University eliminates loans in aid plans
In Focus
Posters appearing on public property in violation of state law
NU announces several changes to financial aid packages
By MARISSA PAGE
By CHRISTINE FAROLAN
daily senior staffer @marissahpage
As the March 15 state and national primary elections draw nearer, Evanston residents and city officials noted an influx of campaign signage cropping up on public property — a violation of state law. Bonnie Schindler (Medill ‘91, ‘92) said she began to notice signs for different local candidates over the past week or so, largely for Judge of Circuit Court of Cook County and Cook County State’s Attorney, posted on public property such as right of ways — stretches of grass in the middle of city roads — and traffic circles. “I totally don’t care if people have it on their lawns, it’s just really annoying on city property, especially when I just paid a big tax bill,” Schindler said. She added jokingly, “I feel like that little triangle of grass is partly mine now.” Schindler identified Carolyn Gallagher, who’s running for Cook County Judge, as one of the candidates whose signage was placed on city property. Other candidates could not be reached for comment as of Thursday night. Gallagher said as an attorney and a judicial candidate she is “prohibited by the canons of ethics” in being involved with the financial aspects of her campaign, including the hiring of independent contractors who place the signage, so she said she was not directly involved in the distribution of her materials. She said she received a call from an Evanston resident who was upset about the signage. “No one from any other township and no one from the city has called me,” Gallagher said. “I’m sure this comes up every election cycle, and my campaign manager put a call in to the guys putting the signs up.” Jim Maiworm, assistant director of public works, said members from Evanston’s public works routinely clean up signs of all kinds on public property, from political signs to advertisements. “Periodically, once a week during the spring, because spring is a very busy season for it all, we sweep through and we just collect,” Maiworm said. “Political season is usually a little heavier than not.” City manager Wally Bobkiewicz said one exception to the rule prohibiting signage on public property is the Civic Center, which serves as the city’s polling place. Signs are allowed within a certain number of feet from a polling place, he said. Other than the Civic Center, Bobkiewicz said the city works diligently to make sure signs remain off public
For students dealing with mental health issues, medical leave presents obstacles By OLIVIA EXSTRUM
daily senior staffer @oliviaexstrum
John Mederich experienced his first mental breakdown in October 2013. A report on the incident described a volatile scene. According to medical records obtained by The Daily, a friend became worried when Mederich began acting strangely, “furious, ranting, raving.” “He started sobbing, and said that he was suicidal, ‘I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.’, (sic) and ‘I’m going to stab myself,’” a staff member at Counseling and Psychological Services wrote about the friend’s report. The friend told a security guard at Foster-Walker Complex she was concerned for Mederich’s safety. University Police escorted Mederich to the hospital, where he said he was hospitalized for about a week. About three weeks later, he was hospitalized again. A CAPS psychiatrist recommended he take a medical leave, but he said he wasn’t ready. A little more than two months later, Mederich requested a leave, citing “issues adjusting to my sophomore year at Northwestern due to substance abuse issues that related to my mental health,” records show. His request was then granted. Mederich has spent the majority of the time since then on three medical leaves, totaling about a year and a half. After suffering a psychotic breakdown in September 2015, Mederich took his last leave in October. He hasn’t been back since. Unlike some universities, taking a medical leave at NU is voluntary, administrators said. Staff members from CAPS and the Dean of Students Office said the majority of students return from leave happier and healthier. Administrators said the stigma around taking a medical leave, however, is still a barrier to students receiving the support they need. Mona Dugo, senior associate dean of students in Student Assistance and Support Services, an office within the Dean of Students Office that helps students navigate university resources, told The Daily the Dean of Students Office is discussing ways to make students’ return to school smoother after taking a medical leave. Some students who have taken medical leave for mental health issues said although the treatment they received was beneficial, the medical leave process wasn’t easy. They said intensive treatment plans, stigma about taking time off and a system not always sensitive to their needs were all barriers to what they wanted out of their medical leave experience. Mederich applied to transfer to Loyola University Chicago in November. He started classes in January, majoring in communication studies and minoring in gender studies. Loyola is close to home — Mederich commutes from Rogers Park, where he lives with his parents. In records obtained by The Daily, an October 2015 letter from Dugo, who said she is unable to comment on individual students’ experiences due to privacy laws, shows
» See SIGNS, page 11
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if Mederich were to return to NU he would not be able to do so until Winter Quarter 2017 “at the earliest.” Mederich said it isn’t worth it. Diagnosed with “depression with features of psychosis,” Mederich has always struggled with his mental health. But he said the University’s expectations for treatment and maintaining sobriety were unrealistic and made returning to school more difficult. Overall, Mederich said the medical leave process has left him with a lot of “what ifs.” His medical leaves had a pattern: Following mental health issues at the beginning of the school year, he would take a medical leave, only to return and struggle to readjust to life at NU. The process would then begin again. “No one mentioned the pattern,” he said. “It was more so myself who had to come up with that conclusion. It was like after (the third) medical leave that I was like, ‘I’m done with NU because I can’t put myself through this anymore.’” Mederich said although he appreciated the support he received, he felt himself lose control over his treatment process. “Taking medical leaves has overall negatively impacted my mental health,” he said. “Leaving Northwestern, I feel like a damaged product.”
Policies and procedures
A typical medical leave lasts two quarters. There is no limit to how many medical leaves a student can go on, although if a student chooses to take more than one leave for the same reason, their subsequent leaves usually last at least a full academic year, Dugo said. The Dean of Students Office coordinates the medical leave and reinstatement processes. Dugo said she estimates more than 90 percent of medical leaves are mental health related. She said there were 42 medical leaves in Fall Quarter. According to the Winter Quarter 2016 Division of Student Affairs Deans’ Update, which details new Student Affairs initiatives, there were 137 total medical leaves in the 2014-15 academic year. The previous year, there were 130. Dugo said students sometimes request medical leave independently, but are usually referred to the Dean of Students Office by CAPS or their academic dean or adviser. Students’ transcripts do not show they were enrolled at NU during the quarter(s) they choose to take leave, Dugo said, including when a student leaves mid-quarter. The cutoff for students to apply for leave mid-quarter is typically the Friday of the eighth week of the quarter. Students who go on medical leave receive a refund of their tuition if they withdraw mid-quarter, Dugo said. “That’s a big incentive,” she said. “Not only do (students) get to save themselves academically, they get the money back, get kind of a reset when they’re coming back and feeling better.” For mental health-related medical leaves, the Dean of Students Office defers to CAPS for referrals to outside » See MEDICAL LEAVE, page 8
daily senior staffer @crfarolan
Northwestern is removing loans for incoming students and providing scholarships for undocumented immigrants who graduate from U.S. high schools, the University announced Thursday as part of changes to its financial aid program. In an email sent to students, University President Morton Schapiro and Provost Daniel Linzer announced the new initiatives, which include all-grant financial aid packages, a cap on need-based loans for current students set at $20,000, University-funded scholarships for undocumented students and increased aid for international students. The lack of loans in particular makes NU “unusual” among universities, except for a few Ivy League schools and others who have done the same, University spokesman Al Cubbage told The Daily. Funding for expanded aid will come from gifts and endowment earnings, among other sources. A total of $147.2 million from NU’s “We Will” campaign has already been put toward scholarships. Cubbage said gifts like this continually help the school because, similar to a savings account, they are set aside for an endowed scholarship which earns around 5 percent each year. “Northwestern is very fortunate in that it has a large endowment and generous alumni,” he said. “It’s great that we have that kind of support.” NU has increased financial aid for students by 55 percent in the last five years, with about $160 million available for the 2016-17 year. By 2020, the University hopes to have Pell Grant-eligible students make up 20 percent of the incoming class. These students are typically U.S. citizens, have demonstrated financial need and are enrolled in an eligible degree in college or career school. About 15 percent of the Class of 2019 was Pell Grant-eligible students. Amanda Walsh, president of the NU Quest Scholars Network, said this “20 by 2020” campaign stemmed from a proposal drafted for Associated Student Government Senate and Faculty Senate that recommended steps to take toward socioeconomic accessibility. “The goal of this reform and of many reforms … is to make sure socioeconomic status is not a disadvantage, to make sure there is no classism on campus,” the Communication senior said. Walsh said the roots of these changes trace back five or six years ago to the founding of Quest Scholars at NU as the school’s only student group focusing on low-income and first-generation students’ issues. For her, the early steps leading to today’s initiatives started with Quest Scholars’ “Money Matters” programming — which included speaker events, firesides and film screenings centered around the issues low-income students » See AID, page 11
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