The Daily Northwestern Friday, March 6, 2020
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Small businesses in city struggle to stay afloat By SOPHIA SCANLAN
daily senior stafer @sophia_scanlan
If you walk through the streets of Evanston, you’ll notice struggling small businesses, empty storefronts and a plethora of big-box chains. Small businesses in the city have faced challenges in the past decade. In the last year alone, several longstanding independent stores have closed, including Market Fresh Books, Williams Shoes the Walking Spirit and Coucou & Olive — all of which had been in Evanston for at least 10 years, if not longer. This trend is not specific to Evanston. Other college towns like Cambridge, Mass. and Berkeley, Calif. have seen spikes in closures of independent shops and restaurants. Though this is a decadesold, nationwide problem, it’s been exacerbated in recent years. In December, The New York Times published a collection of letters to the editor, in which several readers from all » See BUSINESS, page 4
Police data show racial disparities Study: Black people stopped for pat downs more often By MOLLY LUBBERS
the daily northwestern @mollylubbers
The Evanston Police Department has phased out its stop and frisk policy, Evanston Police Cmdr. Brian Henry said, but police accountability advocates said EPD’s data shows racial disparities in pat downs. In 2013, former police chief Richard Eddington announced the expansion of stop-and-frisk tactics to address gun violence, the Daily reported. Henry said the practice is no longer used under chief Demitrous Cook, who was sworn in January 2019. However, Evanston police officers can conduct “investigative stops,” according to the city website, which means officers can stop someone if they have reasonable suspicion a person “is commiting, is about to commit or has committed a crime.” If the officer has reasonable
suspicion the person has a weapon or “dangerous instrument,” then the officer can pat them down. Pat downs can be traumatic, said Edwin Yohnka, director of communications and public policy at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. “A search is a really humiliating, debilitating thing,” Yohnka said. “You’re often stuck on the side of the road or the street, or something like that, as the police do a search.” Officers who conduct an investigative stop must complete a “field contact card,” which tracks the reasons for the stop as well as the description of the person stopped, according to the city’s website. Henry said EPD uses the cards internally to address concerns. He said EPD uploads pat down data to a police dashboard on the city website. As of the time of publication, pat down data is not available on the dashboard. Previously, a graph named “Stop and Frisk Year to Year Comparison,” was on the city website. The » See POLICE, page 18
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Hasan talks global Islamophobia SASA, McSA hosted British journalist and political commentator By SAMMI BOAS
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British journalist and political commentator Mehdi Hasan discussed global Islamophobia this Thursday at a speakers event co-sponsored by South Asian Students Alliance and Muslim-cultural Students Association Hasan spoke about Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi’s passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in late 2019. The restrictive measure prohibits Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan from gaining citizenship in India. The bill has been met with protest, resulting in violence toward Muslim protestors by Hindu mobs. The protests have occurred for months, including during President Donald Trump’s visit to New Delhi in late February. Over 30 people died and more than 200 were » See HASAN, page 18
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Journalist and political commentator Mehdi Hasan speaks about global Islamophobia during a co-sponsored SASA and McSA event.
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FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
AROUND TOWN Teresa Parod beautifies city with garage door murals By ZOE MALIN
daily senior staffer @zoermalin
When Evanston resident Teresa Parod takes out the garbage in the alley behind her house, she’s often greeted by people photographing her garage door. It’s adorned with a colorful mural that depicts her house. Across the alley, Parod’s neighbors’ garage doors are also painted. One is covered in zinnia flowers and another features the solar system. Parod creates all of the murals, and she said she aims to fill the once “lackluster” area with joy. “I like that it’s unexpected,” Parod said. “I’m working to make an ugly place look nice.” Parod is a lifelong artist and an art history instructor at Oakton Community College. She works in a variety of different mediums and said she likes making big public art pieces. After noticing that his mother doesn’t typically show her pieces publicly, Parod’s son suggested she paint the family’s garage door a few years ago. Parod said she finally covered her garage door in brushstrokes of blue and green last summer. Upon seeing the finished piece, Parod’s neighbors asked her to paint murals on their garage doors. Parod agreed. She painted sunflowers on the second garage door she worked on, and ever since, has received requests for murals from homeowners. “Now I have a waiting list of people who want murals done,” Parod said. “People talk to me while I’m working, and conversations usually end with their name on my list.” Each garage door mural takes Parod between two and 12 days to complete. She only works on the murals when the temperature is 50 degrees or above, since paint won’t set in cold conditions. When people first ask Parod to paint their garage doors, she has them look at her website to find a theme they like. Parod bases the mural’s design on the chosen theme and draws a sketch before painting. She charges for the cost of materials, but said she doesn’t expect people to pay her personally. Parod
Zoe Malin/The Daily Northwestern
Teresa Parod is a lifelong painter. She paints garage door murals in Evanston.
sees her murals as a service to the neighborhood, filling it with vibrant, positive imagery. Parod’s husband, Bill Parod, is also involved with the garage door art. He created an app that lays augmented reality scenes on top of his wife’s murals. For example, he animated black birds to fly in and out of a garage door mural of a neighbor’s dog. The app brings the murals to life, making each a digital landscape with video, sound and design elements. Bill Parod said people will eventually be able to download the app and see the augmented reality scenes he produced. “These murals represent light and fun,” Bill Parod said. “When people see them, they always have a smile on their faces.” Expanding the reach of her art, Parod also painted
a mural on a building located at 2504 Gross Point Rd. in Evanston. She dedicated the piece to her late brother. The mural was a community effort between Parod, her family and the Evanston community. Parod also creates public art across the country. She put together a mural made from Mardi Gras beads in New Orleans and works on an ongoing outdoor mosaic in Fusterlandia, a village near Havana, Cuba. Parod said her main focus, however, is the garage door murals she continuously receives inquiries about. “I’d like to paint every garage door in my alley,” Parod said. “I would love it if this became a fad.” As Parod hoped, other Evanston residents have painted their garage doors. Artist Amanda Freund, owner of a gallery on Chicago Avenue, painted her
garage door in 2016. Freund said her garage door was “banged up,” so she wanted to paint a floral mural on top. The mural not only hid the dents, but also beautified the structure. “Adding a mural to your home raises the energy of the space,” said Freund. “It’s a visual investment.” While summer is months away, Parod already started designing the numerous garage doors she will paint during the warmer season. She plans to do murals in the alley behind her house, in the greater Evanston area and in Chicago. “These murals make me happy, and I know they make other people happy, too,” Parod said. “I’m just so grateful people let me paint their garages.” zoemalin2022@u.northwestern.edu
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FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
ON CAMPUS How NU is addressing coronavirus By ISABELLE SARRAF
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www.dailynorthwestern.com Editor in Chief Troy Closson
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In the past few weeks, increasing concerns of pandemic following the international COVID19 outbreak, also known as the novel coronavirus, have led Northwestern and other schools to impose restrictions and cancellations to the community.
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How Northwestern is addressing the COVID-19 outbreak
On Jan. 27, the University announced that due to the coronavirus outbreak that it prohibits undergraduate travel to China, followed by travel restrictions to South Korea, Italy and Iran to the list of prohibited countries. Additionally, administrative officials issued another statement that they “prefer” NU employees avoid any nonessential travel abroad. Any faculty or staff planning to leave the country must first seek approval from their vice president, dean or immediate supervisor, according to the release. NU restricts sponsored undergraduate travel to countries deemed high risk by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which have issued Level Three travel advisories to those four countries, warning against all nonessential travel. The U.S. Department of State has also issued travel advisory warnings to those four countries. Feinberg Prof. Karla Satchell, who teaches microbiology and immunology, told The Daily in February that people in the Chicago area should not be afraid of catching the COVID-19. Since then, however, five people in Cook County are confirmed to have contracted the virus, two of which have recovered. Last weekend, Weinberg sophomore Sydney Matrisciano, who was studying abroad this quarter in Florence, Italy, was evacuated back to the U.S. and put in quarantine following a COVID-19 epidemic in the country. Though Winter Quarter is not the most popular time of year for NU students to study abroad, the University’s decision to cancel international spring break travel will affect 43 trips,
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are unavailable to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
according to spokesman Jon Yates. On Wednesday morning, the University announced NU-sponsored undergraduate and graduate international spring break trips were canceled. That afternoon, University President Morton Schapiro announced in an email the cancellation of Northwestern’s Dance Marathon philanthropy event, which was set to occur this Friday to Sunday, amid coronavirus concerns.
How other universities are responding to the outbreak
Columbia University suspended sponsored student travel abroad, including spring break trips, in response to the spreading coronavirus, according to a statement Tuesday. The Provost also stated that University employees and affiliates are urged to avoid non-essential international travel. Duke University is requiring any student, faculty or staff who travels to CDC-designated Level Three risk countries to be subject to a “mandatory 14-day self-quarantine” before they return to campus, according to a Thursday afternoon email. Though the University is not restricting domestic travel, it advised against attending large conferences or events.
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Stanford University suspended all international spring quarter programs in response to the outbreak, which will affect 234 undergraduates planning to study abroad, according to a Wednesday release. They cited students facing “unpredictable circumstances overseas” such as accessing healthcare, navigating local disruptions and the possibility for travel restrictions as reasons why they made the decision to cancel programs. A Stanford Against Coronavirus student group is petitioning the University asking to coordinate a strategy that protects all Stanford affiliates. The group’s contingency plan suggests the University address the outbreak by suspending large campus gatherings, preparing student dorms with disinfectants and providing dining staff with medical masks. “If Stanford University hesitates to take immediate and appropriate actions to protect its 16,520 students and 14,060 faculty and staff members, COVID-19 will have a great potential to spread throughout the campus, jeopardizing the lives of us all,” the petition reads.
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FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
BUSINESS
city manager Erika Storlie said the increase in parking fees also served to offset Evanston’s 2019 budget deficit. But beyond the revenue, meters are important to protect downtown Evanston from the “chaos” that would ensue if free parking existed, Zalmezak said. If there were no limits, he claimed downtown Evanston employees and city residents would fill every spot, and customers from neighboring communities wouldn’t have a place for their cars. Storlie added that the city allows the first hour free every day in garages and free parking all day on Sundays. “(That) is something we continue to promote to help all businesses thrive,” Storlie wrote in an email to The Daily.
From page 1
corners of the country lamented the loss of beloved small businesses and expressed frustration with big outlets like Amazon. Whether it’s competition with incoming big chains, increased parking fees, the rise of online shopping or geographical disadvantages, many small businesses in Evanston face similar issues — and for some, their futures are at stake.
Battling big business
Though many independent shops still exist in the city, several owners said it’s not easy to compete when big businesses keep popping up blocks away from their stores. Unicorn Cafe, 1723 Sherman Ave., owner Jessica Donnelly said owning a coffee shop in the city has been particularly challenging, because the downtown area features seven other cafes, the majority of which are national or regional chains. Colectivo Coffee and Philz Coffee both opened in the past fifteen months, while Starbucks Coffee Company and Peet’s Coffee have been in Evanston for longer. But Ald. Judy Fiske (1st) said she doesn’t see big businesses moving in as a problem. “The more people that come in regardless of where they’re doing business, the better it is — the more feet on the street,” Fiske said. In recent years, Donnelly has grown disappointed and disillusioned with the city and its lack of support for independent businesses like hers. “When I came to purchase the Unicorn, I felt so strongly about Evanston and the vision I thought the government had for, what was in my mind, at the time, a wonderful college town that had an incredibly strong community and believed in small business and local investment,” Donnelly said. “I feel like it’s probably the worst place for any small business to invest and succeed because there’s no support.” The city’s actions have left others in similar situations feeling disheartened. Diana Hamann, who owns The Wine Goddess, 702 Main St., on the Main-Dempster Mile, said she understands the city’s desire to keep storefronts occupied. But when the city afforded the incoming Trader Joe’s a $2 million parking lot in 2012, rather than investing that money in local businesses, she felt frustrated. “I send (the city) a check every month for literally thousands of dollars that I collect on the backs of my customers,” Hamann said, referring to the liquor tax she pays. “For that money to go into the city’s general coffers and then for me to see them giving my competition … a $2 million parking lot, that was a bummer.” Evanston’s economic development manager Paul Zalmezak, who said he was not involved in the Trader Joe’s project, explained the city’s decision to fund the parking lot. In the end, he said, the overall gain from this kind of land contribution might be worthwhile for the city if its sales and tax revenue exceed the land’s value.
Creative competition
Several small business owners have felt the need to alter their shops to stay competitive as bigger stores move in and other economic factors pose hardships. To differentiate itself from nearby chains, Unicorn began serving Sparrow Coffee, a brand
Pushing Evanston residents to shop local
typically reserved for restaurants with Michelin stars. The cafe also partnered with Patisserie Coralie and Bennison’s Bakery to sell locallymade pastries and promote shopping small. “Colectivo and Starbucks and Peet’s can easily, in a blink, afford everything that small businesses like Coralie … and the Unicorn simply cannot,” Donnelly said. “The real tragedy is, those corporations reinvest less than half of what a local business owner invests in this community.” The Wine Goddess — a brightly lit shop lined with several shelves full of different wines — also got creative to supplement slim wineretail margins. A store like The Wine Goddess would buy a bottle of wine for $10 and be “very, very lucky” to take a full markup at 50 percent, charging $14.99, Hamann explained. But big businesses can offer the same wine for $12.99, making it harder for her store to compete. Early on, the store made its profit by selling bottles during the day and hosting classes at night. Recently, the shop began offering evening concerts to bring in additional income. Wine is now also sold by the glass at those events. Hamann said beyond the financial advantages of hosting these events, The Wine Goddess also offers more entertainment options for the community. “I like to keep it local, so we definitely try to do stuff for locals to not have to go into (Chicago) for their nightlife,” Hamann said. “We’re always thinking of new and interesting ways to get people in the front door.”
many are limited to two hours — mostly in the city’s bustling downtown. “You don’t really have time to do more than one or two things,” Donnelly said. “If you wanted to have a leisurely day of, let’s say,
Many small business owners also feel as if Northwestern students and city residents aren’t adequately aware of which businesses in Evanston are independent and which ones aren’t. “Evanstonians really want to believe that they’re supporting local and they believe in local, but they don’t really do their homework,” Donnelly said. “They don’t recognize that new coffee shops are, like Philz, (not) just a national chain, (but) owned by a massive international conglomerate.” When it comes to students, particularly those from out of town, many seem to prefer the convenience of big chains or the comfort of a place they already know. Weinberg junior Juan Zuniga — who serves as Associated Student Government’s co-vice president for community relations — likes trying out local restaurants. However, he said that
Parking fee problems
Increased parking fees in Evanston have also frustrated business owners, heightening existing problems. This December, the city upped the metered parking fee from $1.50 to $2.00 per hour, and, although some spots away from Sherman Avenue offer four or 12-hour parking windows,
Daily file photo by Maia Spoto
Jennifer and William Eason stand behind the counter at Jennifer’s Edibles. William Eason said becoming a part of the Wildcard Advantage Discount program helped attract more NU students to the restaurant.
going to work out, go to your bank, maybe do a little shopping, and sit and have a cup of coffee and read the paper, you don’t have time because you’re only permitted a very limited amount of time of parking meters.” These raises in parking fees likely push people to shop in areas where the fee is lower or nonexistent, Donnelly added. In the nearby suburbs of Wilmette, Glencoe and Winnetka, for instance, parking in the downtown area is largely free, although some spots require permits. In Wilmette, people wanting to spend more than four hours have to pay to park in a 12-hour lot, but the fee does not exceed $4.00 — which would only cover two hours of parking in much of Evanston. Business owners on Evanston’s Central Street have also raised concerns about the parking fees. Mari Barnes, president of the Central Street Business Association and owner of the boutique Notice, 2112 Central St., said many customers who shop on the street come from Wilmette, so parking is critical. She added that over the years, she’s seen a visible difference in how many cars fill the lot. “We chose Central Street because it’s such a vibrant little street,” Barnes said. “Years ago, when we opened, (we were) across from a parking lot — that parking lot was full all the time. Now, we look out and often it’s empty.” Zalmezak said he hears the concerns these owners have about parking, but he added that the fees are cheaper in comparison to downtown Chicago, where metered parking can cost up to $7.00 per hour. He said the city gets revenue from parking because it doesn’t want to raise taxes. Interim
as a busy student, he finds it easier to stop by chains when he has less time to sit and eat. Medill sophomore Julia Wallace said she frequents chains like Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panera Bread just because she likes their food. But she also tries to show her NU friends who aren’t from the area some of her favorite local restaurants she has gotten to know well from living in the area since she was a child. “I try to prioritize going to lesser known places and telling my friends about them, so maybe it will be a place they like and they’ll come back with other people,” she said. “Because I just feel like it’s hard to find places if you don’t know.” Becky Sebert, a co-owner of Becky & Me Toys, 620 Grove St., has noticed a decrease in college students stopping by independent shops. She attributes the change to Amazon, claiming that younger people, at least in Evanston, often shop online and don’t support brick-and-mortar stores enough. In addition, Sebert observed that around the holidays, more elderly customers came by and fewer middle-aged people stopped into her store. The shop sent out an email to members of its frequent buyer program in January, urging them to make Becky & Me Toys their go-to toy store, as opposed to shopping online, so the business can stay afloat. The email told customers that to keep Becky & Me Toys in business, they should try to visit more than once or twice a year, and do more than just buy gifts to complement big ones they’ve ordered online. While shopping, many people will tell Sebert about their online purchases offhand, not realizing the impact their actions have on
THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 5
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
tour that highlights many black stores throughout all wards, in conjunction with a business expo where owners in the consortium convene and showcase their products. Clarence Weaver, one of the founders of the organization and a co-owner of C&W Market and Ice Cream Parlor, 1901 Church St. said the event has been helpful. “That’s probably one of the biggest moments when we all come together. We get a chance to hear in April what a lot of people are doing and what a lot of people need,” Weaver said. “From there we have quarterly sessions to address some of the things that we see as an issue collectively.” Some of these businesses also commit to employing area residents. Hecky Powell, the owner of Hecky’s Barbeque, 1902 Green Bay Rd. often hires younger people, especially Evanston Township High School students. That’s important, he said, because his family has been in Evanston since 1902 and he wants to continue helping the ward. “Employing especially young people from the community is teaching them the work ethic, teaching them a skill,” Powell said. “It’s giving back to the community that has given a lot to me.”
Investing in the future Daily file photo by Evan Robinson-Johnson
Evanston couple Regina Sant’Anna and Douglas Skites opened Kombucha Brava’s taproom in July 2018. The business will participate in the Evanston Craft Beverage Crawl on May 14.
the store’s bottom line. “They’ll come in here and take our time and we’ll explain the item, we’ll show it to them in person — then they look on their phone here and see it’s a dollar less or maybe even the same price (on Amazon),” Sebert said. “We can’t survive on people just coming in and looking.”
St. — said more people, especially students, should come to the area. To help promote his eatery, Eason worked with Northwestern to become a part of the Wildcard Advantage Discount program, which invites businesses to give
and Simpson Street, Rue Simmons said. The alderman is a member of the city’s Minority, Women & Evanston Business Enterprise Development Committee. It established the Entrepreneurship Support Program, which
discounts to students, faculty and staff. Already, he said, the program has helped attract more students to Jennifer’s Edibles. To provide further support, the city also has offered a grant for facade improvements, updating awnings, lighting and signage on streets including Church Street, Dodge Street
provides grants of up to $3,500 to local spots to fund things like professional services and business structure to set them up for success. Black Business Consortium Evanston North Shore, which four store owners founded in 2015, also seeks to support minority-owned shops. Each April, the consortium hosts a bus
Local solutions for local problems
Although online shopping continues to threaten local merchants, Evanston leaders are looking for solutions and several organizations are carrying out programs aimed at supporting these businesses. The city is planning to spend time this year listening to local business owners’ needs, Zalmezak said, adding that he’s interested in creating new programs to help. Last month, Central Street added new special service areas, which fund marketing activities and neighborhood beautification to businesses in those districts. John Kim, a co-founder of Backlot Coffee, 2006 Central St., said he’s satisfied with the level of support he receives from the city. “When I need help, I can go to them,” Kim said. “Other than that, I don’t necessarily expect the city to be actively involved in what’s going on on the business level. They’re there to run a city and provide services and be available for everybody who needs them.” The group Downtown Evanston provides many of those services. It offers marketing assistance to businesses in the area and places ads on the radio, websites, public transportation and newspapers, among other initiatives. The association hosts workshops for business owners on topics ranging from social media and search engine optimization techniques to decorating their windows for the holidays. The group also organizes several events like Hygge Fest and the Warm Bevvy Walk that encourage people to visit various stores. The Main-Dempster Mile, another Evanston community organization, unites business owners in southeast Evanston through events, like the Evanston Wine Walk and Small Business Saturday. On May 14, the group will host the Evanston Craft Beverage Crawl to celebrate local spots like Sketchbook Brewing Co., Few Spirits and Kombucha Brava. “(The Main-Dempster Mile) is a really nice organization where all the small businesses in the area come together and organize events and visibility, so it’s really great,” said Regina Sant’Anna, owner of Kombucha Brava, 717 Custer Ave. “They’re organizing this, so I think there’s a lot of help from the city in that way.”
The city could do more to provide support to small businesses, owners say. Eason said the city should do more for minority-owned establishments in particular. Though the 5th Ward is more racially diverse now, he added, it’s still a hub for the black community and the city should invest in it more, starting with making loans more available for prospective store owners. “There still is a level of institutional racism that black people run into when it comes to getting loans and things of that nature,” Eason said. “There are a lot of folks out here that have good ideas and want to get started in business but are pretty much scared.” Donnelly, the owner of Unicorn Cafe, said Evanston needs to restore character to the downtown area. One city she said Evanston could look to for inspiration is Crested Butte, Colorado — a town of about 1,600 people, about 230 miles southwest of Denver — because it prohibits big corporations from opening locations there. Though Crested Butte is smaller than Evanston, Donnelly said the city should take note of economic development policies found in similar small business havens. “When I first moved to the North Shore 20 years ago at least, Evanston was charming and really picturesque and welcoming,” she said. “It’s now lost that character and charm.” While Sebert is grateful that Downtown Evanston already promotes her store, she also had ideas for the city. She believes the city should launch a campaign educating people about the importance of shopping local and reminding them that doing so keeps tax dollars in the city and pays employees who also live there. She said something like that could help stores like hers stay alive. “It’s heartbreaking, to be honest — a lot of tears. When you own a business, it’s like a part of your family,” Sebert said. “The thought of having to close is really, really sad and really, really hard.” sophiascanlan2022@u.northwestern.edu
Beyond the Purple line
Those who work in other parts of the city, however, can’t always see the same foot traffic compared to areas immediately near the Purple line, like the downtown center, Main-Dempster Mile and Central Street. The 5th Ward, located in west Evanston, is one such area. “Generally, the 5th Ward businesses are stable, and some are scaling, but there is certainly room for more economic activity throughout the 5th Ward,” Ald. Robin Rue Simmons (5th) said. “We have segregated business corridors and … if you have a business model that depends on pedestrian traffic or other traffic, it’s not as competitive as other merchant districts in the area.” William Eason — the managing partner of the restaurant Jennifer’s Edibles, 1623 Simpson
Daily file photo by Colin Boyle
Unicorn Cafe, 1723 Sherman Ave. The Evanston-based coffee shop has stuggled to compete with national and regional coffee chains.
6 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
Northwestern partners with Indonesian university By ANUSHUYA THAPA
the daily northwestern @AnushuyaThapa
Sari Ratri, a 2017 Arryman Scholar, described the program as an “oasis.” As young scholars in Indonesia, Ratri said she and her colleagues used to be tasked with bureaucratic jobs like assisting senior lecturers and “unproductive” scholarship. The Arryman Program is run by the Equality Development and Globalization Studies program at NU in partnership with the Jakartabased Indonesian Scholarship and Research Support Foundation. Ratri said it offered her freedom from “the feudal system of education” in Indonesia. Established in 2012, the program trains 20 promising Indonesian scholars in a social-science based doctorate program at Northwestern. As a group, they would have returned to a new academic institution in Indonesia, built by private partners and NU with no direct connection with the Indonesian government. However, the proposed School of Social Sciences and Public Policy was not built and the scholars, the first of whom will be obtaining their doctorate this June, will now move to a new research institute within an established Indonesian public university, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). The new research institute will be called Institute for Advanced Research (IFAR). Northwestern is also planning a broader research collaboration with the same university independent of the Arryman Scholars program. “We wanted to have intellectual freedom, to be respected, to have high quality theoretical research, not only practical research. But, as you know, building an institution is not an easy job,” Ratri said. Jeffrey Winters, the director of the Arryman Scholars Program and EDGS said funding an independent institution would cost between $200 to 400 million. In addition, a newly built educational institution would not have the accreditation and prestige that established universities in Indonesia hold, he said. “Being separate as an enclave and not engaged in the core of Indonesian higher education was not as effective or impactful as actually being inside of and operating within one of the most powerful universities in the region,” Winters said. Unlike in America, privately-funded universities
Daily file photo by Evan Robinson-Johnson
Buffet Institute plans collaboration with Universitas Gadjah Mada. Arryman Scholars will find an institutional home there as well.
in Indonesia are not as highly regarded as public institutions like UGM, which tend to be highly competitive. However, being an educational institution connected to the government in Indonesia raises concerns over intellectual freedom and other barriers to academic development. This holds true for both the Arryman Scholars and Northwestern’s planned collaboration with UGM. “We just want to make sure that, as a university, (UGM) abides by the same principles of academic freedom and support for students and quality research that NU does,” said anthropology Prof. Jessica Winegar. Winegar, who attended a meeting between delegates from UGM and Northwestern faculty to discuss possible joint research projects, said the
collaboration being discussed was in the realm of millions of dollars in research grants. Upwards of 50 different faculty members across the different schools at NU would be seeking to collaborate with their UGM counterparts, Winegar said. Winters confirmed University President Morton Schapiro signed a letter of intent with the Dean of UGM. Though the letter is not a finalization, Winters said it expressed a “very serious desire by both sides to move forward” with their plans. For the Arryman Scholars, protecting their intellectual freedom and ensuring steady job development is a key concern. To address those gaps, the scholars often hold meetings that go on into the night and strategize with NU faculty and each other. “It’s not going to be easy for my colleagues who are doing research that would fall into the category
of sensitive research,” Ratri said. Atmaezer Hariara Simanjuntak, a member of the 2019 cohort, is researching palm oil plantations and the movement of indigenous people in Indonesia. He said a public university’s pressure to “manage the message” could impact his research. The government might want him to suggest that palm oil is good for the environment despite contrary evidence, he said. However, UGM has proven its commitment to academic freedom, Winters said. He said at UGM and elsewhere, research on sensitive matters, such as the 1965 massacre of individuals associated with the Communist party, has been successfully conducted. “When the police or the military push back and don’t want, for example, a conference or the showing of a film that has to do with that subject,” Winters said, “The university has stood up and said, ‘This is an academic institution, we are free to analyze these questions no matter how sensitive.’” Many of the proposed mechanisms in the new institute would be a break from long-standing traditions in Indonesian higher education. For example, prestigious universities in Indonesia typically hire their own graduates. Ratri said she is looking forward to teaching and researching at a different university than the one she graduated from, bringing new dynamics to the education field in Indonesia alongside the other Arryman scholars. “(The idea) was not just to train people and get them PhDs, but to create an integrated group of scholars who would create an academic ecosystem amongst themselves when they get back,” Winters said. “The idea was to have them form the core of an educational institution.” In addition to the academic aspirations of Northwestern and UGM, the broader research partnership and the development of IFAR has stakes for the Indonesian government, who has a state goal of developing a “world class” education system by 2025. Amid these entities, Simanjuntak said the scale of the co-operation is huge and a lot of interests are at stake. Arryman scholars are responsible for ensuring quality publications as a result, he said. “Because then when you talk about IFAR,” said Simanjuntak, “you’ll talk about UGM and Northwestern’s partnership — which means there’s a lot on our shoulders.” anushuya@u.northwestern.edu
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THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 7
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
Group to address Evanston lakefront stabilization By DELANEY NELSON
the daily northwestern @delaneygnelson
Stabilizing Evanston’s shoreline could cost around $46 million, says Evanston Division Fire Chief Kim Kull. This estimate accounts for the redoing of the rock wall that lines the town’s lakefront by putting sheet piling behind it and restoring the revetment. The city is having to look into lakefront stabilization because of rising lake levels and storm events, said Lara Biggs, Engineering and Capital Planning Bureau Chief. Biggs said at the Feb. 10 council meeting that Lake Michigan levels were at a record high for February, and are expected to increase even more this summer. Biggs said rocks in Evanston’s revetment have shifted in isolated locations, confirmed by an Army Corps of Engineers inspection. Both a January storm and a February high-wave event increased the need for a lakefront stabilization effort due to resulting damage. At the Feb. 24 City Council meeting, the Administration and Public Works Committee approved an agreement with the SmithGroup coastal engineering sect for $74,500. Biggs said the first thing that needs to be done is the completion of a shoreline condition assessment. “The situation is really dynamic,” Biggs said. “We’re seeing changes to the lakefront infrastructure, the rock walls, and the beaches that are changing week by week. However, we need to have a solid review of what’s out there, and what our range of options are to deal with the problems.” The SmithGroup has four tasks to complete: conduct a post-storm inspection and condition assessment, conduct a coastal vulnerability assessment, create a lakefront property “road map” selecting up to five urgent-need repair sites and create Construction Documents for the five sites chosen. The SmithGroup’s assessment will only include publicly-owned property and a representative from the city will be present for all assessments. The assessment should take place over the next three months, ending in late May.
Daily file photo by Emma Edmund
Lake Michigan. Evanston’s lakefront stabilization and mitigation efforts could cost around $46 million, said Evanston Division Fire Chief Kim Kull.
Once the assessment is complete, the recommendations will be brought to City Council, who will decide what to implement. Dave Stoneback, director of the city’s Public Works Agency, said the council will have to take into account how much the city can afford. “Because it’s not a budgeted project right now, it will be necessary to have a conversation about how much people feel comfortable spending of unbudgeted funds,” Biggs said. Biggs, Kull and Stoneback all expressed uncertainty in the city’s ability to afford stabilization projects, at least in the short term, although the full costs won’t be known until the assessment is complete.
All three, however, also emphasized that shoreline erosion, rising water levels and destabilization of the lakefront’s revetment are issues that need to be addressed. Due to the popularity of Evanston’s beaches for both residents and nonresidents, Biggs and Stoneback said narrowing beaches rising water levels could threaten the city’s summer recreation activities. Stoneback said this could restrict summer camp programming and said the city’s “token sales” from the lakefront might decline because there will be less beach space available. Biggs said this also stands to impact the city’s economy because less people frequenting
the beaches over the summer might mean less traffic through Evanston’s businesses, calling it a “hit we wish we didn’t have to deal with.” One possible source of funding for the city is the Public Assistance (PA) program. Kull filled out the preapplications for the PA program, which she said became an opportunity for Evanston when Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared an emergency on Feb. 6. The PA program would only cover repairs from the January storm, and would not take preventative measures. Kull also filled out applications for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), which would help the city protect the lakefront against future damages. Kull said she applied for two measures: adding sheet piling to the rock wall and adding a groin wall, designed to reduce wave effects. For the latter, she requested $8.55 million. “I think $37 million to redo the rock wall is only one of the measures that needs to be done to really, truly protect the lakefront,” Kull said. “You’re probably looking closer to $45/46 million, and that would be with the groin wall additions. And in doing that, yes, I think it would be too costly for the city to incur, at least in the short term.” At the Feb. 10 council meeting, Kull said the availability of funding is limited because the city is competing with other communities that have been impacted by rising water levels and shoreline erosion. Biggs said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been clear it isn’t trying to solve lakefront erosion or high lake levels, so it is unclear what aspects, if any, of the lakefront damage will count as hazard mitigation. While Kull said lakefront stabilization efforts are costly, she said it’s important to take action sooner rather than later. Waiting, she said, could mean more recovery efforts and greater costs later, because this problem is not going away. “I think we’re looking at our critical infrastructure, a water plant in particular potentially being compromised,” Kull said. “And that in and of itself, could compromise half a million people.”
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8 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
SHAPE hosts abortion rights groups, talks access By SAMANTHA AGUILAR
the daily northwestern @samanthaguilar7
Representatives from Chicago Abortion Fund and Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health gathered Thursday for a panel on sexual and reproductive health and legislation. Northwestern’s Sexual Health and Assault Peer Educators hosted the event, which focused on each organization’s role in advancing reproductive rights and access for people across Chicago and Illinois. Communication junior Amy Prochaska began the discussion by establishing ground rules for the event. “What’s said in this space stays, but what you learned can leave,” Prochaska said. Alyssa Vera Ramos, arts justice organizer at ICAH, told the attendees the group has been working for a decade to repeal the Parental Notification of Abortion Act in Illinois. The law says when a person 17 years or younger decides to have an abortion, a healthcare provider must notify a parent or other legal guardian at least 48 hours in advance of the procedure. Vera Ramos said this law is dangerous to youth because a parent’s power over their child can turn the notification into a request for approval, hindering minor’s right to receive an abortion. “Young people can consent to any other healthcare that is related to the pregnancy,”Vera Ramos said. “You can receive postpartum care, carry the pregnancy to term, you can decide to give the baby up for adoption, you can (surrender the baby to a) safe haven and none of that involves a parent at all, except abortion. It’s really just shame and stigma.” If an individual does not want to disclose their decision to have an abortion to a parent, they have
Child Opportunity Index quantifies disparities in Evanston wards
The Child Opportunity Index, a report produced by diversitydatakids.org measuring the quality of resources and neighborhood conditions for children in 100 metropolitan areas across the country, found that opportunity levels in Evanston often align with
Daily file photo by Colin Boyle
The Center for Awareness, Response and Education.Panelists from the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health and the Chicago Abortion Fund discuss their work increasing access to abortion services.
to reveal they are being abused by said guardian. This would prompt notification of the Department of Children and Family Services, leading to traumatic results for the child, Vera Ramos said. Minors can also petition a judge for a judicial bypass waiver, and the American Civil Liberties Union provides legal services. Still, many are unaware of this option, Vera Ramos said.
ICAH works to spread awareness of the different resources people can seek to have a safe abortion and support as they go through the process, through education and theater. The FYI Performance Company under ICAH performs participatory playsat schools to improve knowledge about healthcare systems and well-being. “Personal storytelling has been a big culture shift
ward lines and racial demographics across the city. The report maps opportunities by neighborhood, assigning them a score from one to 100 and breaking scores up into five different levels, ranging from very low opportunity to very high opportunity. Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, the organization’s project director, said the report, which was released in January 2020, is the Child Opportunity Index’s second iteration. The initial report was released in 2014, she said, but this new version focuses on being able to compare neighborhoods across metropolitan areas.
In Evanston, no ward was rated very low. However, the Fifth Ward was entirely low opportunity, and the Second Ward was all rated moderate — and both wards have significant black and Hispanic populations compared to the rest of the city. Conversely, the Seventh and Third Wards were both rated all high or very high opportunity, and both house sizable white populations. She said she hopes to see the new report used as a tool for communities to quantify and address the inequalities they find within their areas. She said the
in the last couple years specifically around abortion,” Vera Ramos said. Qudsiyyah Shariyf, the program coordinator of Chicago Abortion Fund, said being part of the national network of abortion funds and working with organizations like the ACLU has given them the ability to talk to legislators about the people that the organization serves. CAF’s primary program is a helpline for people looking for funding to receive abortion services. They also provide practical and emotional support as well as community programming, political education and advocacy. ICAH and CAF worked together to pass House Bill 40 which mandated that Illinois state Medicaid cover abortion care entirely. It also assisted with passing the reproductive health act that established Illinois as a state where the right to abortion would still be protected if Roe v. Wade were to fall. Shariyf said the biggest barrier to abortion she sees is the financial ability to pay for the procedure and lack of information on resources. More than 50 percent of those who receive assistance from Chicago Abortion Fund come from out of state, Shariyf said. Barriers can include missing workdays and travel costs reaching facilities. People seeking an abortion without Medicaid may have to pay over $1,000 for the procedure. The Chicago Abortion Fund is trying to defer these costs with their biggest fundraising campaign of the year, Fund-a-Thon, that raised over $101,000 last year. “Ideally we don’t want to have jobs,” Shariyf said. “We don’t want to have to fund abortions because the government should be doing it.” amanthaaguilar2023@u.northwestern.edu previous report has already spurred groups including the Chicago Department of Public Health into action. “In some cases people are intrigued by data, because they become aware that there are really vast inequities in the community,” Acevedo-Garcia said. “Sometimes they’re already aware that there are inequities, but what they see in the data is a tangible picture, including the math and the numbers of how deep the inequities are. And that can move people to action.” — Jacob Fulton
The Daily Northwestern Winter 2020 | An independent voice since 1923 | Evanston, Illinois EDITOR IN CHIEF | Troy Closson PRINT MANAGING EDITORS | Gabby Birenbaum, Samantha Handler, Marissa Martinez DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR | Heena Srivastava ___________________ D&I CHAIRS | Marissa Martinez, Chris Vazquez ___________________ WEB EDITORS | Andrea Bian, Josiah Bonifant, Neya Thanikachalam SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR | Megan Munce ___________________ CAMPUS EDITOR | Austin Benavides ASSISTANT EDITORS | Arianna Carpati, Yunyko Kim, Isabelle Sarraf ___________________ CITY EDITOR | Emma Edmund ASSISTANT EDITORS | Jacob Fulton, Molly Lubbers, Maia Spoto ___________________ SPORTS EDITORS | Ella Brockway, Andrew Golden, Charlie Goldsmith ASSISTANT EDITORS | Gaby Carroll, John Riker, Carlos Stinson-Maas
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FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 9
10 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN
“If I put my mind to anything, I can achieve it”
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
How Abi Scheid became the best 3-point shooter in the country -by Drew Schott Down by 12 points at halftime to No. 11 Ohio State on Jan. 3, 2017, Northwestern needed a momentum shift. Quickly. A win over the highly-ranked Buckeyes would not only give the Wildcats a 3-0 conference start, but a big boost to their 2017 NCAA Tournament resume. Somebody had to step up. But it wasn’t forward Nia Coffey — a fourtime All-Big Ten First Team honoree — or guard Ashley Deary, the eventual Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. And it wasn’t sophomore guard Amber Jamison, the Cats’ leading shooter from behind the arc. Instead, it was an unknown freshman forward Abi Scheid. She drained two 3-pointers that sparked a 14-4 third-quarter run for NU that cut Ohio State’s lead to two. The small-town Minnesota native playing in only her 16th game in a Cats uniform went on to score a season-high 20 points. Scheid — who spent her entire basketball career up to her freshman season in Evanston as a center — claims she shot less than 10 3-pointers in high school. Yet on that Tuesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, she nailed all four of her triples. “We weren’t looking at her as a pure 3-point shooter,” coach Joe McKeown said. “But after that game, I was like, ‘Maybe we’re missing something here. Maybe we should get her more shots and get her on the floor more.’” More than three years later, Scheid is the top 3-point shooter in the nation. On the season, Scheid has nailed 72 triples at a 48.6 percent clip, averages 11.8 points per game and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team by Big Ten coaches Monday. As Scheid and No. 11 NU heads to Indianapolis this weekend as the No. 2 seed in
the Big Ten Tournament, the senior will be relied on for her long-range prowess. Over the Cats’ recent nine-game win streak, she has shot better than 50 percent from deep. Coming from a town of around 23,000 people, the three-time captain never thought she would dominate from behind the arc. But things change. “I know that if I put my mind to anything, I can achieve it,” Scheid said.
Finding her shot
Scheid began playing basketball in third grade in Elk River — a town nearly 34 miles from Minneapolis — and from the start, Scheid was always the tallest player on her team. So she began to mold her game into the position that best suited her height: center. Playing Amateur Athletic Union basketball as a 6-foot seventh-grader, coaches took notice of Scheid’s skills as a five. When she entered Elk River High School in the fall of 2012, she was immediately called up to the varsity team by coach Reed Caouette. During her freshman and sophomore seasons, Scheid crashed the boards and controlled the post as a dominating force in Elk River’s frontcourt. Caouette said Scheid had an incredible work ethic that made her a dynamic threat from behind the arc. “It was Abi’s hard work,” Caouette said. “She wanted to become a better shooter and she worked hard at it.” Already a strong free-throw shooter, Scheid improved her range by working on 3-pointers in the summer before her junior year. Her practice quickly translated, as she nailed “four or five” triples in the second game of the season, according to Caouette. Throughout the year, he recognized Scheid’s potential as a dual threat and gave her opportunities to shoot the 3-ball in transition as the trailer. But Scheid rarely shot from deep, even though defenders seldom stepped out to guard her at the 3-point line. Instead, she chose to beat opponents in the paint. But every now-and-then, Scheid would nail a triple. In a sectional semifinal against Rogers High School, Scheid scored 40 points — with three of them coming from behind the arc — as she broke the Elk River single-game scoring record. “She certainly had the green light to shoot it from the perimeter,” Caouette said.
Committing to NU
Heading into her senior year, Scheid had the attention of numerous programs outside the Gopher State as a four-star recruit and the 66th-best player in ESPN’s Class of 2016. Programs like North Dakota State and South Dakota State had been recruiting her since freshman year. But those schools quickly fell out of contention as Scheid averaged 18.3 points and 10.3 rebounds her junior season and received an All-State Honorable Mention. Numerous programs recruited Scheid to play center. But the Cats had other ideas for the Minnesota native. McKeown and assistant coach Shauna Green — now the head coach at Dayton — didn’t want Scheid to play exclusively in the post. They wanted her to shoot, an evaluation that greatly intrigued Scheid. NU’s coaches said she would become a stretch-four to maximize her 3-point promise and post abilities. “(McKeown) told me about how he wants me to stretch out to the arc and how it’s going to develop if I commit to Northwestern,” Scheid said. “So yeah. I was up for the challenge.” Scheid committed to the Cats on Sep. 30, 2015. Off the court, she was drawn to NU because of its academic rigor. Additionally, she felt Evanston would give her a unique college experience that greatly differed from her upbringing in Elk River. “If I went to Minnesota, I would’ve never left because all my family is there,” Scheid said. “I’m glad I branched out and put myself in an uncomfortable position.”
Making her mark
During her junior season — in which NU made a run to the WNIT Championship — Scheid fired 128 shots from deep, yet missed most of January with an injury.
So heading into her senior season, Scheid wanted to improve her form after shooting worse than 40 percent from behind the arc the past two seasons. She added a quick release on her shot for better timing and accuracy and practiced triples from a couple feet behind the 3-point line to become more consistent. These changes have helped Scheid become the nation’s best 3-point shooter and the Cats’ secondleading scorer. Scheid has shot 50 percent or better from behind the arc in 16 games this season. Against Penn State, she shot 6-for-6 from behind the arc and topped 1,000 career points. “She’s the ultimate mismatch,” Wolf said. “If there’s a big who can’t move, she’ll be at the 3-point line making threes in their face or driving by them. (She) will put a smaller guard in the post. There’s really nobody in the country that can guard her.” If there’s one thing Scheid hates most, it’s failing. So after playing a bad game, she responds in the only way she knows how: by working harder. Scheid hits the gym, working on shots or moves that she got wrong in games before closely analyzing her mistakes in the film room. And then, she erases the performance from her mind. “One of the hardest lessons is keeping your confidence when you fail,” Scheid said. “But knowing what you can do and your potential is such a big part of being successful.” These principles guide Scheid as a captain. She sometimes shoots 100 3-pointers before practice, hoping to set an example for her teammates. While training, she is a vocal leader, unafraid to call out her teammates for lacking effort. Senior Byrdy Galernik — Scheid’s roommate — says the tenacity that drives Scheid as a leader makes Wildcats proud to play with her. “Scheid’s really important to our team,” Galernik said. “She’s a three-time captain and has a strong leadership role on our team. And we’ve been able to help her out.”
Leaving a legacy
On Leap Day, celebration ensued at WelshRyan Arena as NU clinched a share of the Big Ten Championship for the first time since the 1989-90 season. After scoring 10 points against Illinois, all Scheid could do was smile as she celebrated with teammates and hugged family members amid purple-and-white streamers. When the Cats gathered a few minutes later for a team photo, the Championship trophy rested on Scheid’s knee, symbolizing her status as one of NU’s most important players. And she is. Scheid is on pace for the fourth-best 3-point percentage in conference history and has shredded opposing defenses all season. But beginning this weekend, all the records and percentages Scheid has achieved will move to the side. With the conference tournament and March Madness starting in the near future, Scheid knows she can’t be distracted. Not by the thought of maintaining the best 3-point percentage in the nation. Not by the potential of possibly avenging January’s loss to No.1 Maryland in the Big Ten Championship. And not by the excitement where her future in basketball lies. “That is in the back of my mind,” Scheid said. “I want to focus on finishing the season strong. But I mean, it’s hard not to think about the potential for after college play.” McKeown believes Scheid can flourish at the next level because of her unique ability to stretch defenses around the 3-point line. But her coach’s thoughts are for another day. The spotlight in Indianapolis will certainly be on Scheid, one of the key catalysts for NU’s programrecord 26 wins this season. McKeown believes Scheid’s presence from behind the arc will be her Evanston legacy for years to come. But over the next month, he has the feeling that the former center from small-town Minnesota will add to her legend. “There’s a reason they call it March Madness,” McKeown said. “It’s when great players are put on a big stage. She can handle that. We can depend on her.” drewschott2023@u.northwestern.edu
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
Creating her own legacy
THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 11
Sophomore guard Sydney Wood ready for next step after breakout season
-by Carlos Stinson-Maas
As students rushed the court and streamers fell from the rafters, Sydney Wood was celebrating Northwestern’s first Big Ten title since 1990 with her teammates. Two days later, she was named an honorable mention to the All-Big Ten team. The recognition comes after a breakout season for the sophomore, in which she ranked second on the team in assists, steals and blocks in her first year as a starter. She’s also had her share of big games — against Michigan, she scored 14 points, including 10 in the third quarter, to lead the Wildcats to their first win in Ann Arbor since 2015. Just over a
week later, she scored 12 points in consecutive games against Wisconsin and Ohio State, coming a rebound away from a double-double against the Buckeyes. She shot over 80 percent from the field in all three of those wins. The 5-foot-11 guard has shown off her rebounding ability all season, snagging at least seven boards in nine games. She has excelled on the defensive end, recording at least three steals in eight games. As the NCAA Tournament approaches, NU is preparing to compete on college basketball’s biggest stage. In many ways, Wood’s been getting ready for this moment for her entire life. She grew up in Olney, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C., and attended St. John’s College High School, a private Catholic school in the capital. In her freshman season at St. John’s, all three point guards on the team were injured. So Wood stepped up, taking on a new position to become the varsity starting point guard. “She had never played the point guard position,” St. John’s coach Jonathan Scribner told The Daily. “It was a tough run, but she learned a lot and she did well.”
In the following years, St. John’s went on to win consecutive state championships, and was ranked third in the country by USA Today in 201718. According to Scribner, 13 St. John’s alumni are currently playing for Division 1 programs — with eight starting. Even with other standout players around her, like current Virginia Tech star Aisha Sheppard and North Carolina standout Malu TshitengeMutombo, Wood averaged doubledigit points her junior year, and was named team captain as a senior. The Olney native’s high-school performance earned her recognition from scouts, as she was given a grade of 94 and ranked 24th at her position and 87th overall by ESPN. Scribner still thinks Wood should’ve gotten more recognition. “She was definitely underrecruited,” Scribner said. “You have to really watch and see all the little things she does, especially defensively.” Part of Wood’s under-recruitment might be explained by her lack of statistical flashiness — in nearly 30 minutes per game this season, she’s averaging just over five points. To Scribner, Wood’s always been more focused on creating opportunities for
her teammates and doing whatever it takes to win. “If she was asked to score a lot, she could,” Scribner said. “She never was one to try to pad her stats. She’s a great teammate, and she wants to get other people open.” In addition to her selflessness and talent, Scribner said Wood’s maturity and basketball IQ helped her succeed at the high school level. For Wood, she started developing those skills well before high school. Wood’s father Kenny graduated as the all-time leading scorer in New York public school history, and was a part of the Richmond team that upset No. 2 Syracuse in the first round of the 1991 NCAA Tournament. Her uncle, Howard Wood, led Tennessee to the Sweet 16 in 1981, and played a year in the NBA for the Utah Jazz. “It was really like a bonding thing for me and my dad. We used to work out a lot,” Wood said. “That background has really helped me. It’s always been something that I’ve been passionate about.” From playing pickup with her sister to learning about the game from professionals, Wood spent much of her childhood learning about basketball
and fostering a love for the game. In the future, Wood plans to still be around sports in some capacity, whether that’s as a player or otherwise. “I have such a love for basketball,” Wood said. “I love watching it, I love reading about it. It’s just something that I really want to stay involved with, and I don’t know what avenue, but I know I want to be around the game.” Wood’s coaches and teammates said they believe she’ll excel at whatever she does. “She’s wickedly smart, and actually a really really good people person,” Scribner said. “I have no doubt that whatever she decides to pursue she’s gonna do very well at.” As for the immediate future, Wood and the entire Wildcats team will soon be put to the test against the best teams in the country in the Big Ten tournament. Senior forward Abbie Wolf said she thinks Wood is up to the challenge. “I’ve been so impressed from the day she got here,” Wolf said. “I’m pretty sure all the Big Ten is scared of her.” carlosstinson-maas2023@u.northwestern.edu
The anchor down low
Abbie Wolf joined the Cats without her own low-post game. Now she’s a force in the paint for the Big Ten champs. -by John Riker Greenwich High School girls’ basketball coach Chrys Hernandez took a long flight to attend the senior day of one of her program’s most famous alumni this past Saturday. Her decision proved to be a worthwhile one when that alumnus, Northwestern senior forward/center Abbie Wolf, dominated Illinois in the post and gritted her way to 21 points, nine rebounds and three consecutive and-ones in the Wildcats’ win. Amid the postgame celebration, Hernandez couldn’t resist ribbing her former player. Where had all those and-ones come from? “We were joking this weekend, when did you get a postup game?” Hernandez recalled to The Daily. “(In high school), she didn’t like playing with her back to the basket. She had a faceup game. This weekend, seeing her get all of those and-ones in such a short amount of time and getting the rebounds the way she did, I can see that she has settled into what she always has: doing what is best for the team.” NU is a Big Ten champion for a multitude of reasons, and Wolf is a major, if oft-overlooked, one. The Cats boast the nation’s 3-point leader in senior forward Abi Scheid and an offensive dynamo in junior guard Lindsey Pulliam, but Wolf ’s contributions have been a driving factor behind NU’s success. “Wolf has been great all year,” coach Joe McKeown said. “She probably hasn’t gotten a lot of attention at times, which (happens) when you have a Lindsey Pulliam or Veronica Burton or Abi Scheid. But she has changed games and has bailed us out of a lot of games, too. She can
score on the blocks and she can defend the best post players in the Big Ten. We’re going to need her this week, next week, every week that she has left eligible for us.” Wolf ’s reputation as a dominant force preceded her starting high school in Greenwich, Conn. The daughter of an Olympic shot putter and the younger sister of two Division I athletes, Wolf carved out her own mark on the basketball and volleyball courts. Hernandez heard the buzz around Wolf, but didn’t bank on a smooth transition. “Abbie came in my fourth year at the high school and everyone was talking about how great she was. And coming in from middle school, Abbie was by far the biggest and tallest kid Greenwich had seen in a while,” Hernandez said. “I was skeptical, not because I had ever seen her play, but because it’s a different level from middle school to high school. I wasn’t drinking the Kool-Aid and wasn’t sure she could handle the rigors of the high school game.” It didn’t take long for Wolf to make an impression on her new coach. “I’ll never forget the first time I saw her on the court,” the coach said. “She came to play in our fall league before our season, and she cut baseline and received a pass from the guard driving to the basket and took a reverse layup on the baseline. Everyone in the gym went crazy. That’s when I knew. There was no hesitation. It was just an innate, this is what I’m supposed to do. I knew we had something special on our hands.” Playing a style predicated on size and finesse, Wolf proved to be a generational talent for the Greenwich Cardinals. She lit up the stat-sheets and was the Cardinals’ thirdever player to reach 1,000 career points, but her impact became most apparent in the wins column. During Wolf ’s senior season, Greenwich reached the state championship for the second time and broke its singleseason wins record — not unlike another team Wolf would helm four years later. Wolf did her due diligence in her college search, prioritizing the basketball culture and academics of her prospective schools. After taking her visit, Wolf saw NU as a clear fit. “I remember sitting at Walker Brothers with Coach (Kate) Pop(ovec) and Maya Jonas, my host,” Wolf said. “The conversation was flowing and wasn’t forced at all. I just knew it was my people, and I wanted to
do everything here.” Wolf has certainly made the most out of the academic side of her choice. A journalism major in Medill, she has worked with Northwestern News Network’s Sports Night and spent a quarter in South Africa for her journalism residency immediately following last year’s WNIT tournament. She’s reaped the rewards of her basketball education as well. Over her first two years, Wolf played sparingly for a Cats team that bounced around arenas and struggled in the competitive Big Ten. Wolf took on a more significant role in her junior season and helped NU make a deep run in the WNIT. Then the Cats — and Wolf especially — turned the corner. Wolf flourished in a starting role and earned an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention nod, averaging 11.6 points and 6.6 rebounds for a team that has risen to the top of the Big Ten. Against powerhouse Maryland on December 31, Wolf reached double-digits as the Cats pulled off a seasonaltering upset and earned a statement victory. “Over the years there have been a lot of moments, but New Year’s Eve beating Maryland that handily, it was like, ‘Wow, we’re really doing this thing,’” Wolf said. “The wheels were in motion. The rest of the Big Ten was really put on notice after that.” NU needed a win against in-state rival Illinois to clinch a share of the Big Ten title, but the Fighting Illini pulled within six early in the third quarter. Then, Wolf took over and put on a vintage performance. The senior attacked the Illinois defense in the post and scored andone layups on three straight possessions to extend the Cats’ lead to 11. A quarter later, NU had a Big Ten title. The confetti-filled celebration was sweet, but the result was hardly a surprise for Wolf. “We’ve been breaking it in the middle of the court for practice saying ‘Big Ten Champs’ since my sophomore year, when we were near the bottom,” Wolf said. “We’ve always seen it in ourselves, but preseason, people were ranking us middle, back of the pack, which was pretty insulting. We always play with a chip on our shoulder, from (the) WNIT to playing Duke and other top teams. Now, the rest of the country knows too.” johnriker2023@u.northwestern.edu
12 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
NORTHWESTERN
MICHIGAN
TOURNEY TIME No. 2 Wildcats head south to Indianapolis to open Big Ten Tournament against No. 7 Michigan -by Drew Schott Starting in early November and lasting until Leap Day, No.11 Northwestern put together one of its best regular seasons in program history. Despite a run to last season’s WNIT Final, not many people believed the Wildcats would be as successful as they have been in the 2019-20 campaign. But over the last four months, NU has constantly proven its doubters wrong. The Cats (26-3, 16-2 Big Ten) showed they could compete with top conference talent early on when they defeated then-No. 12 Maryland 81-58 at Welsh-Ryan Arena on New Year’s Day and secured a come-frombehind overtime victory against then-No. 15 Indiana at Assembly Hall on Jan. 16. These victories propelled NU into the national spotlight and helped the team receive its first ranking in the AP Top 25 since Jan. 4, 2016. Led by unanimous All-Big Ten First Team honoree Lindsey Pulliam and senior forward Abi Scheid — the nation’s top 3-point shooter — the Cats’ offense has been stellar, averaging nearly 76 points per game over its current nine-game win streak. On the other side of the ball, NU’s defense — tied for the second-best in the conference — holds its opponents to 56.7 points per game and is piloted by one of the best defensive guards in the country: Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Veronica Burton.
The past week has been special for the Cat and rose to a season-best No. 11 in the AP Poll. As the second seed in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, NU has the chance to win its first conference tournament title ever. But to get there, the team has to go through formidable conference opponents, starting with No. 7 Michigan (20-10, 10-8) on Friday night in the Big Ten quarterfinals. “We’ve got our hands full,” coach Joe McKeown said. “Michigan we had two great games. But really, we’re just focused on us more than anything else.” The Cats will need to perform well against the Wolverines, who played NU close in both matchups this season. On Jan. 30, the Cats edged out an 81-73 win over Michigan at Welsh-Ryan Arena, thanks to 32 points from Pulliam and a huge 28-17 run in the second half. Two weeks later, NU countered a loud Crisler Center crowd to defeat the Wolverines 66-60 for its first win in Ann Arbor since 2015. Michigan — who beat No. 10 Nebraska 81-75 on Thursday night — is led by forward Naz Hillmon, the conference’s fifth-best scorer. Stopping Hillmon — who averages 17.2 points — will be the key for NU’s defense. The Cats struggled to guard Hillmon in Evanston — where she scored 27 points — but NU’s defense stifled the sophomore on her home floor and held her to only eight points. A win against the Wolverines could potentially give the Cats a rematch against No. 3 Iowa, who
defeated NU 77-51 in January and prevented them from receiving the tournament’s top seed. But to win the Big Ten, Scheid knows NU must focus on only one game at a time. “ That ’s how we built ourselves up,” Scheid said. “Having a chip on our shoulder and always walking on the court being ready for the game, no matter who the opponent is.” drewschott2023@u. northwestern.edu
A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad season: How NU responded after its 2017-18 campaign -by Charlie Goldsmith Two years ago, guard Jordan Hamilton felt like Northwestern was stuck in a pit. The Wildcats played their 2017-18 season at Evanston Township High School, where the bleachers towered on top of the floor. The fans –– usually fewer than 1,000 at a game –– were right on top of the action and watched NU finish the season 12-20 and second-to-last in the Big Ten standings. “It just felt like we were in a pit with the crowd on top of your shoulders,” Hamilton said. “It always felt like a road game.” From there, it seemed like a long climb to the top of the Big Ten. “Northwestern’s always been looked down upon in sports,” Hamilton said. “It’s taken a lot of patience. Just knowing how tough an area we were in and then getting to where we are, that’s been the coolest thing about being at Northwestern. Seeing the transformation of the team has been surreal.” NU had only eight active scholarship players on the roster for that 2017-18 campaign, and two of the Cats’ three bench players were centers. After graduating one of the strongest senior classes in program history, NU started two freshman guards, two sophomore forwards and a junior center. The Cats’ leading returning scorer, junior forward
Amber Jamison, took a year away from the program starting in November. So NU relied on inexperienced freshmen guards Jordan Hamilton and Lindsey Pulliam to carry the offense. Out of necessity, head coach Joe McKeown often played lineups that featured forward Bryana Hopkins running the point, 6-foot-2 forward Abi Scheid playing small forward and center Abbie Wolf playing power forward. The rest of the picture was even less glamorous. NU’s locker room was barely big enough to fit the entire team and coaching staff, and postgame press conferences took place in an ETHS classroom. “Courtside seats” were fold-up plastic chairs placed behind a lunch table with a long black tablecloth covering it. The court was orange and blue, and when NU played Illinois, the floor perfectly matched the Fighting Illini’s color scheme. Shot clocks weren’t installed until right before the season started. Because of technological limitations at ETHS, no games could be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network. “We asked a lot out of this group when we rebuilt Welsh-Ryan,” McKeown said. “We practiced all over campus, all over everywhere. But that’s helped them. We ran into adversity, and some of how they’ve handled that this year is because of what they went through as freshmen or sophomores.” Even when NU was at the bottom, McKeown
often had the Cats break huddles at the end of practice by chanting “Big Ten champs.” But in nonconference play in 2017-18, NU lost to Chattanooga, Milwaukee, Missouri State and Green Bay. Then the Cats started their Big Ten schedule with a 27-point loss to Minnesota, and a week later they lost by 30 at Michigan State. After that game against the Spartans, the coaches called a meeting and stressed to the team that they had to start believing they were good enough to win in the Big Ten. “We told them you belong here,” assistant coach Kate Popovec said. “We recruited you guys for a purpose, and you have the talent to get things done. From there, there was a shift in the confidence level of our kids.” The Cats started to turn a corner. At the end of January, NU lost by just 3 points against No. 14 Maryland, even after some controversial calls went against the Cats. Hamilton said that was the first sign this group could eventually win the Big Ten one day. “Nobody expected us to be in that game like that against Maryland,” Hamilton said. “We had high hopes after that. It was challenging, but eventually we always thought that we could win every game even though it didn’t appear that way to other people.” “As much as you hate moral victories, we were like, ‘We should have beat Maryland,’” Popovec said. “With this group, it wasn’t a burden to have to go out
and play a game and get killed. We really thought we could win every game.” After that game, Maryland head coach Brenda Frese went up to McKeown and told him NU’s young stars had a bright future ahead of them. The Cats ended the season on a high note, winning their final two home games of the season. NU beat Rutgers on Senior Day, and that result likely kept the Scarlet Knights out of the 2018 NCAA Tournament field. That win gave the Cats even more reason to believe in its future heading into the offseason. “We had nothing to play for except ruining Rutgers’ season,” Wolf said. “That was really special. A lot of that season was really a grind without too many highlights, so that Rutgers game was something to remember.” The rest of this team’s story is well known: a major step forward in Big Ten play in 2018-19 capped by a run to the WNIT Final and a Big Ten regular season title in 2020. Heading into this weekend’s Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament in March, NU is looking to put the finishing touches on a long, impressive journey. “We’ve been through a lot of adversity over the last four years,” McKeown said. “And we’ve come out of it.” charliegoldsmith2021@u.northwestern.edu
THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 13
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
Musical tells story of 1980s Evanston punk band By MOLLY LUBBERS
the daily northwestern @mollylubbers
Scan this QR code to listen to our latest podcast: Everything Evanston: 1980s Evanston band inspires musical
Professional musician Jason Narducy is no stranger to the stage. But for the past few months, he’s stepped off it to watch “Verböten,” a musical inspired by a band he formed in the 1980s. At about age 11, Narducy started Verböten, which means “forbidden” in German, with three other Evanston kids. Now, he’s written the score for the musical, which The House Theatre of Chicago will perform at the Chopin Theatre until March 29. Narducy said seeing the musical has been an emotional experience. “Sometimes you can’t help it,” Narducy said. “It’s just like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna cry right now.’ I’m still trying to get my head around it honestly. That’s how crazy it is.” The project started when Communication senior lecturer Brett Neveu watched a documentary show featuring Verböten. After realizing he knew Narducy, Neveu wanted to write about the band. He met with some of the original members still living in Evanston. Although singer Tracey Bradford moved to Florida, he was able to see the dynamic between Narducy, bassist Chris Kean and drummer Zack Kantor. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is a family; I’m meeting a family who love each other,” Neveu said. “And so how did that begin? And if we can watch a show where we’re seeing that happen, then maybe we’ll feel that way about some stuff in our own lives.” Neveu developed the book for Verböten over the past few years. He said he tried to keep the written scenes compact to let the songs carry a lot
Robert Crown demolition work set to begin next week
The city’s Capital Planning and Engineering Bureau has scheduled demolition work on the old Robert Crown Community Center to begin next week, according to a city news release. Part of a $53 million project that began in July 2018, the new Robert Crown Library, 1701 Main St., opened its doors last Saturday. It is located in a building that also offers public meeting spaces and athletic facilities. The city contracted Bulley & Andrews for the center’s demolition, a process that will likely last seven weeks, according to the news release. It is set to occur between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday work is possible, depending on weather
Molly Lubbers/The Daily Northwestern
Jason Narducy plays guitar in his home practice space. Narducy wrote the score for the musical Verböten, which is based on his childhood band.
of the emotion. In general, Narducy said he wrote punk songs for the young characters and rock ones for the adults. Instead of a pit, cast members play their own instruments, which artistic director Nathan Allen said is important for a story about musicians. “So much of the expression of the character is through the performance of music,” he said. “And so we had to find actors that not only fit the role, but then are also musicians in that character’s particular instrument.” That meant the casting process took some time, but many people involved with the musical said the end result was worth it. events and the project’s progress. Bulley & Andrews will follow local regulations during demolition to guarantee that both workers and the public remain safe throughout the process and that they handle and dispose of all materials properly, the news release said. “An independent environmental engineering firm will also perform ambient air monitoring to ensure air quality requirements are met,” said the news release. “Vibration monitoring equipment will also be installed to alert the contractor in the event that constructionrelated vibrations approach levels which could potentially damage adjacent structures.” John Devaney, the project manager for the center, told The Daily in a previous interview that soccer fields and a new parking lot will replace the old Robert Crown Community Center. — Maia Spoto
Krystal Ortiz, who plays Bradford, said the cast has bonded over playing together. “It’s cool because we’re not so much like pretending,” Ortiz said. “We’re actually in the band right now for the rest of the play and getting to play a gig every night together. It’s super fun.” Just like the characters in the musical, the cast has become a family, said Kieran McCabe, the actor for Narducy. He said their connection makes the show more authentic. “We have to be so vulnerable to perform Verböten,” McCabe said. “If we didn’t really love each other, and if we weren’t really taking care of one
another, then it would show and the play would have less heart and you would care less as an audience member.” As for the real-life Narducy, he said the musical is darker than the true story. However, he said that both in the musical and in reality, Verböten had a significant impact on his identity. “It was sort of everything to me and and continues to be,” he said. “I’m still very passionate about it and it is absolutely surreal to sit down and watch a musical about that band.” mollylubbers2023@u.northwestern.edu
POLICE BLOTTER
years old.
Man arrested for cannabis possession
Bank card stolen from home
A 20-year-old Arlington Heights man was arrested Tuesday evening for possession of a controlled substance on Simpson Street. The police stopped the man for running a stop sign and saw him appear to hide something as they approached the vehicle. Evanston Police Cmdr. Brian Henry said officers smelled marijuana and brought a canine to search the vehicle. The man was arrested after police found about 30 grams of cannabis and pills that they sent to the lab to be tested for oxycodone. While recreational cannabis use has been legalized in Illinois, users must be at least 21
An Evanston man’s bank card was stolen Wednesday around 1 p.m. from his home on Isabella Street. The man had invited two men into his home after they came to the door asking for donations for their college savings. The man went upstairs to grab cash and over 2 hours later received a notification that his card had been used. Henry said the only time the man believed his card could have been stolen was when he left it unattended in his home while he went upstairs. The suspects are unknown, and the police are investigating. — Molly Burke
NU4Bernie engages campus, city through organizing By YONJOO SEO
the daily northwestern
Northwestern Students for Bernie (NU4Bernie) organizes phone banks, canvasses in Evanston and hosts events that welcome anyone who wants to learn more about U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his plans to establish policies such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. In the midst of a bustling Norris University Center every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, NU4Bernie’s table turns heads, arrayed with an assortment of signs reading “Join the Movement” and “Phone Bank for Bernie Sanders,” in blue and red font. NU4Bernie volunteer and McCormick senior Katherine Su said events such as the welcome kickoff and barnstorm, where the group gathers to strategize and socialize, mobilize people to foster support for Sanders among their friends and family, a main focus of the campaign. The student-run organization creates relationships that transcend the Northwestern campus, encompassing the Evanston community, and encouraging collaboration among college campuses across the country, Su said. Evanston residents of all ages canvass with the Northwestern students with the goal of identifying supporters and nonsupporters, talking with them and encouraging them to vote. Social media also contributes to the organization’s growth, Su said. Bernie supporters on college campuses retweet and direct message
Isabelle Sarraf/The Daily Northwestern
The student-run organization creates relationships that transcend the Northwestern campus.
one another to show support. “The organization at the University of Illinois at Chicago even made and sent buttons to supporters on other campuses,” Su said. Volunteers have different reasons for joining the organization, and contribute in ways that
complement their abilities. NU4Bernie volunteer and Weinberg sophomore Vanessa Obi said she joined the group because she believes structural change is needed to save the environment and curb inequality. Her ability to lift people’s spirits
garners excitement during the events. Isaac Larkin, Ph.D. student and NU4Bernie volunteer, said he felt encouraged by the other volunteers. “There is a camaraderie that comes from having a shared vision, and it is inspiring to become friends with people who want the same better world that I do,” Larkin said. The organization’s biweekly phone banks are centrally located on the ground floor of Norris so that people feel welcome to initiate conversation or get involved, Larkin said. Ben Millstein, (Communication ‘12) said he saw the table while visiting campus for the first time in eight years. He talked with volunteers about the potential of the Green New Deal, which Sanders supports, to create jobs. “This generation is probably more politically involved, aware and educated than mine was, and it is clear that they do not take democracy for granted,” Millstein said. Larkin said there is a way for everyone to be involved with NU4Bernie. Volunteers can canvass around campus or Evanston, phone or text bank or come out to events, among other opportunities that garner support for Sanders. “Many people feel a lot of anxiety toward politics, but it is heartening to channel that nervous energy into talking to real people and sharing your story,” Larkin said. “Democracy does not just begin and end at your ballot. We have the power to control our lives, stand up and talk to our fellow Americans about what matters.” yonjooseo2022@u.northwestern.edu
QUARTER IN REVIEW
14 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
Looking back on the highlights of Winter Quarter across campus, Evanston
SPORTS This season, Northwestern men’s and women’s basketball have been on completely different spectrums. While the men’s team is fighting to not be the worst team in the conference, the women’s team has made a meteoric rise to the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with a share of the regular season conference title. A key to the team’s success has been junior guard Lindsey Pulliam, who was named as a member of the first-team All-Big Ten roster. Pulliam has increased her stats statistically in
every major category, but specifically behind the arc. She has improved her percentage from 18.2 percent last season to 35.3 this season. On the other hand, the men’s team has been prepping for the future and coach Chris Collins and staff got a glimpse of that in the winter. High school junior forward Pat Baldwin Jr. played a game in Welsh-Ryan Arena and is being highly recruited by NU. If the Cats can get Baldwin, they could get more recruits and set the stage for the future.
CITY Election activities took off this quarter in Evanston. U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Naperville) campaigned for re-election at an Indivisible Evanston event in February. Evanston residents traveled to Iowa to canvass for presidential candidates, heard from State’s Attorney candidates and talked about what Midwestern values represent in the presidential election. Businesses in the city also took a hit. Andy’s Frozen Custard faces lease expiration at the end
of May, and the business is currently in discussions with the landlord regarding lease renewal. Gap, Coucou & Olive and dragonfly-df closed recently. City Council was busy, approving the sale of alcohol at Welsh-Ryan Arena. It also discussed a schedule for hiring a new city manager and potential amusement tax changes. The state government also hit the ground running, with Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposing two potential budgets and signing an insulin price cap into law.
Photos by Benjamin Bomier, Caroline Megerian, Joshua Hoffman, Zinya Salfati, Emma Edmund, Evan Robinson-Johnson and Owen Stidman
THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 15
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
CAMPUS Bracing another cold Chicago winter, Northwestern students had plenty of opportunity across campus to engage with student activism, celebrity speakers and community celebrations. Northwestern’s MLK Dream Week brought #MeToo founder Tarana Burke to campus as a keynote speaker, who spoke about the global movement’s necessity for the support of marginalized communities. That week, the Alpha Mu chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity hosted its 41st annual candlelight vigil in honor of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. February brought pressures on the Advisory
Committee on Investment Responsibility to divest from fossil fuels. Fossil Free Northwestern’s divestment proposal was subsequently rejected from Northwestern’s Board of Trustees. Frances Aparicio, author of “Negotiating Latinidad,” spoke on campus with students about their experiences with multiple Latinx identities. Chloe Fineman, one of Saturday Night Live’s newest cast members, co-headlined A&O Productions’ winter speaker event, bringing a night of laughs and entertainment to campus.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The arts and entertainment at Northwestern University is always fun, fresh, fierce and flirty, and this Winter was no exception. This quarter, a Northwestern student brought Survivor to this campus, transplanting the premise of the classic reality show to Northwestern’s campus. Wirtz premiered a bunch of great shows, such as “Legally Blonde” and “Julius Caesar.” Modernisms came to the Block Museum, showing the art of many diverse MiddleEastern countries to the campus. The musical
Xanadu brought a bright, gay light to campus during the darkest moment of the quarter. TikTok invaded campus and made so many people’s lives better. Alumni did things. Even The Dolphin Show, which has been mired in controversy for so long, came under new leadership this quarter and is on the path to fix its issues and put on a great show next year. In the cold sadness of Winter Quarter, we could all always rely on a little art and a little entertainment to brighten our day.
OPINION
Join the online conversation at www.dailynorthwestern.com Page 16
Friday, March 6, 2020
Reflecting on my highs, lows leading the Opinion desk ZACH BRIGHT
OPINION EDITOR
Before The Daily, my prior experience with student newspapers (like nearly every Medill student) consisted of my high school paper. So when I first applied to run the Opinion desk, I thought the job would not be nearly as timeconsuming and draining as it proved to be. I obviously knew it would be a substantial commitment, but found myself feeling too unprepared and scattered to lead the desk.
When I came back from Winter Break, it was the thing that worried me first. Now just days away from going home, I still dedicate so much energy thinking about it. While it did prove to be a serious undertaking, it taught me a number of things. In regard to my writing, I’m much better at doing so on a deadline. I mull over word choice, sentence structure and everything in between to think about the meaning that they will impart on readers. Logistically, I figured out how to ensure there was content for each day the Opinion page appears in the paper. I realized how to operate a workflow and communicate to the staffers for the section. And as editor, I learned how to handle sensitive situations from readers
and writers alike. Above all, I understood that behind these words — and those of the columns we run — are people. We’re students, just like most of you. None of us agree with everything that has been published to this page. We write for, but do not define, The Daily. Conversely, the publication does not define us. If you disagree with something that runs in the Opinion desk, that means that the desk is living up to its name. It’s reflecting opinions, both popular and unpopular, but opinions nonetheless. If you have one, I urge you to reach out and write for us, or just let us know what you think. Some of our best pieces have come from people who have come to the desk because of
what they read in the paper. I’m fortunate enough to have had this opportunity to write how I want and when I want, a luxury other desk editors don’t possess. Going forward, I’m sure to follow the Opinion desk wherever it goes and read the work the people behind it put out. Today, I appreciate the opportunities I’ve had as the editor. Zach Bright is a Medill sophomore. He can be contacted at zacharybright2022@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
Schumer’s attack on SCOTUS is dangerous to democracy WESLEY SHIROLA
ASST. OPINION EDITOR
Pro-choice advocates were rallying outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday as the justices were hearing oral arguments over a 2014 Louisiana abortion law that requires doctors performing abortions to hold admitting privileges at a hospital no more than 30 miles away from the abortion clinic. The case is especially relevant today since it marks the first time that the court will hear a case of this kind since it gained a conservative majority in 2018 when President Donald Trump appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the bench — he had previously appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017. Back in 2016, when the Supreme Court had a liberal majority, the justices struck down a similar Texas law. Wednesday’s case is thus in part a question of whether the justices will reaffirm that precedent or begin to relax long-standing legal doctrines holding “undue burdens” on abortion rights unconstitutional, according to the Wall Street Journal. The United States Constitution was rather
vague in its designing of the Supreme Court. It enumerated neither the exact powers and prerogatives of the Court nor did it lay out the organization of the Judicial Branch as a whole. Nevertheless, the Founding Fathers made one thing clear: The Supreme Court was to always be independent. Judicial independence ensures that justices are able to issue rulings based solely on the law, free of political influence. The Supreme Court’s role in America is ever-expanding. Every year, its influence over society enlarges as more and more divisive issues fall under the scope of the Court. As such, making certain that justices are free from political influence is arguably more important than ever before. But recently, some leaders have seemingly begun to disregard this crucial principle as they willingly and purposefully attempt to corrupt the highest court in the land. In attendance at Wednesday’s rally was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D - N.Y.). Schumer hit a new low when he stood outside the Supreme Court that afternoon and stirred up the mob of proabortion activists declaring, “I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if
Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.
you go forward with these awful decisions.” Schumer’s comments are nothing short of a threat against Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. More importantly, though, they are unprofessional and outright dangerous to our democracy. Chief Justice John Roberts, who usually tries his best to stay out of the limelight, responded to Trump’s own attacks on the judiciary in 2018 and released a statement in regard to Schumer’s after Wednesday’s hearing concluded. “Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter,” Justice Roberts wrote in the statement. Even liberal legal scholar Larry Tribe responded, tweeting that the remarks were “inexcusable,” that Justice Roberts was right to condemn Schumer and that he should
apologize and “take(s) back his implicit threat.” Schumer backpedalled on the Senate floor Thursday saying he “shouldn’t have used the words.” That his apology was sincere is highly doubtful. “I’m from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language,” he said. In response to those finding his comments threatening Schumer proclaimed: “It is a gross distortion.” Democrats must condemn Schumer’s words. Not doing so would be both extremely hypocritical — the party has sharply criticized Trump for his assaults on the independence of the court — and wrong. This is a chance for Democrats to stand up for what’s right. They should take it. Wesley Shirola is a Weinberg junior. He can be contacted at wesleyshirola2021@u.northwestern. edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@ dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
The Daily Northwestern Volume 141, Issue 40 Editor in Chief Troy Closson
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THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 17
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
Q&A with Chicago-based author Rebecca Makkai where a woman who lost her brother in the early days of AIDS is now dealing with everything that happened back then and searching for her estranged daughter.
Rebecca Makkai is a professor teaching prose and poetry in Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies. She is the author of “The Great Believers,” which was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and the 2018 National Book Award and winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal, LA Times Book Prize and Stonewall Book Award. “The Great Believers” is now being optioned for TV by Amy Poehler’s production company.
The Daily: What inspired you to write it? Makkai: It started out in a completely different place. It was originally a novel more about art history and it moved over into the AIDS epidemic. I grew up in Chicago and was born in 1978, so I was a kid in the early days of AIDS. But that means that I’ve had a lifelong interest in it ― it was one of the things going on in a culture that really shaped the way that I viewed the world.
which would be where those awards were coming in and where reviews were coming in. It’s been out almost two years now it came out in 2018 in June. I think there’s the initial buzz, and that’s always very exciting, but it’s stayed a topic of conversation people are continuing to read it, people are continuing to talk about it. And that’s really ultimately what you’re hoping for. The awards are not unimportant in and of themselves; the awards are an indicator that people are reading the book, and when you’re getting those awards, it spurs more people to read the book, and that’s really all you care about.
The Daily: Can you tell me about “The Great Believers” overall and what it’s about? Rebecca Makkai: It is largely set in Chicago in the 1980s in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and it follows one man as his life both falls apart and takes on much greater meaning. And it’s also got chapters set in 2015 Paris,
The Daily: How do you feel about all the success you found through “The Great Believers” and how it is being optioned for TV? Makkai: It’s been great. It’s been beyond my wildest dreams of what would have happened with the novel, both in terms of general audience response and then the literary world’s response,
The Daily : Did you have any expectations for the book when you first published it? Makkai: I’ve been going in knowing a lot about how the industry works and knowing a lot about how a book like this might do. You know a lot about how a book is going to do in the world before it’s actually published because
By VIVIAN XIA
the daily northwestern @vivianxia7
there’s this whole year period, after which you’ve already turned in the book and wheels are moving on cover, marketing, editing, budget and tour, and some of the earliest reviews come out months actually before the book is actually published. So in that period, you start to get a sense of what’s going to happen, and in that period, things were looking very good, so I was cautiously optimistic. The Daily: Are you working on anything else right now? Makkai: I’m working on my next novel, and I’m working on some short stories, and I’ve just wrapped up an oral history of this particular ACT UP demonstration, so AIDS demonstration. This is protests particularly from 1990, and I’ve just done an oral history of that for Chicago magazine, so that will be out in the April issue of Chicago magazine and I’m very happy with how that turned out. vivianxia2023@u.northwestern.edu
Prof. Hespos featured on Netf lix docuseries ‘Babies’ By VIVIAN XIA
the daily northwestern @vivianxia7
Psychology Prof. Susan Hespos is one of 36 worldrenowned scientists featured in the upcoming Netflix docuseries “Babies,” which explores babies’ development during their first year. The show premiered Feb. 21 and follows 15 babies from around the world. Each episode is focused on a new development in the lives of the babies each month, which is discussed by experts in that particular area of study. Hespos and her lab were featured in the episode “What Babies Know,” which examined concepts including gravity and how objects behave and interact in an everyday environment. The episode was filmed last fall and is expected to air in June or July. Hespos said when the docuseries’ production company initially reached out to her about interviewing for the show, she turned them down. She said the company kept asking her, so she eventually agreed
to be featured. “I distinctly remember saying, ‘No, and here’s 10 other people in the U.K. that do similar research, and they’re really great,’” Hespos said. “They just kept pursuing me and at some point I was like, ‘Alright.’ And early on, it was clear that the filming directors were really interested in the science.” Hespos’ lab focuses on infant cognition, specifically what babies come to understand about objects and the world around them within the first year. In the episode, the production company filmed Hespos’ lab while they were collecting data on the babies. Weinberg junior Jessica Tartakovsky currently works in Hespos’ lab and was there when the episode was being filmed. She said she was briefly on camera when she helped prepare and run some of the studies that were being filmed. “It was an experience that I hadn’t had before,” Tartakovsky said. “But I thought it was really exciting that a film crew is interested in the research that this lab is doing and wanting to broadcast that to a larger audience. I was happy to be on camera for that.” Shelley Powers, the lab manager of Hespos’ lab, said
it was great that Hespos was featured on the show because she deserves the recognition, and it was an opportunity for Hespos to be acknowledged on such a large platform. Powers said she enjoys working in Hespos’ lab because Hespos is a champion for the people in her lab and wants them to succeed. “She puts the students first,” Powers said. “She is rare on this campus because she’s very invested in her lab. She likes to be a part of what’s going on in the lab, so she makes a point of being here consistently with the students while we’re running studies.” Hespos said although the week the film crew came into her lab was stressful, the crew was fun to work with. She said it was important that they were getting the message out to the people and making the information accessible to people at large. “I’m really glad I did it ー not entirely sure I’m dying to do it again,” Hespos said. “Part of the reason I did it and part of the reason I’m glad that I did it is that the science needs to get out to the public.” vivianxia2023@u.northwestern.edu
Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun/TNS
Northwestern psychology prof. Susan Hespos is one of 36 world-renowned scientists featured in Netflix docuseries “Babies.”
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18 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
HASAN
POLICE
injured during three days of riots. “Trump and Modi both have a serious problem with Muslims living in their countries as minorities,” Hasan said. SASA and McSA co-sponsored Hasan to speak at Northwestern because he represented the identities and communities of both student groups, McSA co-presidents and Weinberg seniors Ahmad Keshk and Abdur Qureshi said. Qureshi said the co-sponsored events between the two groups are typically more fun and social, but the timeliness and severity of what’s happening in India can’t be ignored. “I feel like as organizations, we don’t traditionally take political stances,” Qureshi said. “But we wanted to make something that would have more of an impact. And, speaking of something that happened recently, this was like, literally weeks ago.” Hasan contrasted Modi and Trump, noting Modi treats Muslim Indians worse than Trump treats Muslim Americans. Modi’s second term in office has witnessed more Islamaphobic actions, leading to speculations for what Trump’s potential second term could look like, he said — especially considering the two leaders’ recent meeting. Modi’s Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has persecuted Muslims and plans to build detention camps, which Hasan said is striking considering that India used to be the world’s largest democracy. Shabeena Alam, 42, heard about the event through a Facebook post. She said that what’s been happening against Muslims in India has been especially concerning to her because she has family there and was born there. “To see those video clips of people being treated so inhumanely and so brutally and everybody just watching, I just couldn’t believe this was the country that I was born in,” Alam said. “I can’t believe how we are treated because that is our country and it doesn’t feel like our country anymore. And it is just heartbreaking.” Hasan ended his speech with a call to action, encouraging audience members to speak out. Hasan said resistance against Trump is connected to that against Modi and that India’s Muslims don’t have the aid of democracy to help them. DePaul student Kulsum Haq, 21, said she is a big fan of Hasan’s and she wished that she had the chance to ask a question about what we can do to make a difference. “We read about all these depressing things; we read about what’s happening in Syria, in Palestine, India, everywhere,” Haq said. “But after we spread awareness, after we get educated about it, what do we do after that? What can we do to help people?”
description for the graph said it showed field contacts from October 2016 to now. The data were filtered by stops involving a pat down. Henry said that title wasn’t correct, and the graph showed pat downs, not stop and frisks. “It’s an IT glitch, something we will deal with and address internally,” he said. A screenshot of the graph taken by The Daily on Feb. 27 shows 881 field contacts in 2017, 581 in 2018 and 467 in 2019. Yohnka said data can be useful for the police to review and for the public to see. “Reporting creates some accountability for agencies in terms of how they’re actually conducting policing on the streets outside of policy,” Yohnka said. EPD stopped pedestrians 138 times in 2018, according to the Illinois Pedestrian Stop Study. Stops of black pedestrians accounted for about 65 percent of those times, while the study estimated black people comprise only about 18 percent of Evanston’s population. According to Illinois Department of Transportation’s Traffic Stop Study, “white drivers” and “minority drivers” were stopped at roughly the same rate compared to their respective driving populations. However, it’s important to look into what happens following a stop, said Austin Spillar, a board member of Citizens’ Network of Protection, which is a nonprofit aimed at increasing police accountability. Spillar said the data shows minority drivers are more likely to have searches requested. During 2018, police requested a vehicle consent search for 16 of 7891 white drivers stopped, and 56 of 6952 minority drivers stopped. “Nobody likes to be pulled over by the police,” Spillar said. “So to have a police officer go through all your belongings only to come up empty handed most of the time, that’s one of those issues that drives a wedge between the police and the community.”
From page 1
From page 1
samanthaboas2023@u.northwestern.edu
Seen, Not Heard: Listen to Part Two of The Daily’s first audio In Focus
In times of struggle, SESP junior Chestan James sought solace in Northwestern’s chapter of Cru, an interdenominational Christian organization. He said the group has strengthened his relationship with God and functioned as his support network on campus. Within this community, he met other black students in Impact, a black ministry that functioned as a subsidiary of Cru on NU’s campus over the past three years. So James was heartbroken when he found
Daily file photo by Zach Laurence
An Evanston Police Department vehicle. Evanston police Cmdr. Brian Henry said EPD phased out its “Stop and Frisk” policy, but advocates said pat downs can be traumatic.
Yohnka also noted while dog searches weren’t frequently used, officers only used dog searches on minority drivers in 2018. Out of total stops — 14,843 — EPD used vehicle dog sniff searches 14 times in 2018, according to IDOT’s Traffic Stop Study for that year. Spillar also said he had concerns about some of the ages of those stopped. According to pat down data downloaded by The Daily on Feb. 27, for example, police patted down an eight-year-old in 2017. He said pat downs are experiences that can have a lasting impact on someone, especially when it happens at an early age. He added that there needs to be accountability for these numbers. Henry said that EPD doesn’t just rely on IDOT’s reports to identify potential problems with particular officers. “If there were a problem, we would know about in advance because there would usually be complaints,” he said. “There would be other things that would present the issue to us before a year audit of all their stops.” Previously, the Citizen Police Complaint Assessment Committee has questioned EPD’s
complaint process, The Daily reported. At the time, the committee chair expressed doubt as to whether the Citizens’ Police Advisory Committee, which evaluates police complaints, had authority over the discipline taken against an officer. CNP currently supports a restructuring of CPAC to give the committee more influence in the complaint review process. Henry added that EPD looks at its own data. He said police do a breakdown of individual officers’ data that looks at demographics of those stopped. He added that if EPD observes something in that data, they would counsel an officer about it. However, Spillar said internal processes aren’t enough. Instead, he said there needs to be an independent mechanism. “Things aren’t changing for the better,” Spillar said. “That’s why we need an independent civilian oversight board with the power to investigate these issues, the responsibility to really take a deep dive into the data, and if necessary, initiate investigations and have the power to hold officers accountable.”
out at Cru’s annual Leadership Summit in summer 2019 that the two groups would no longer partner together. Ties between the groups ended after Impact members expressed concerns with various Cru practices that fell on deaf ears. The aftermath of this falling out brought up complicated emotions for the students involved, but ultimately may have served as a positive for the group, several members said. After the split, James left Cru, an organization he’d committed himself to for two years, and became a dedicated student leader in Impact. “It’s a family,” James said. “God created us to have culture and to have all these differences and we’re meant to embrace those. Impact made me realize that I can be black and I can be Christian
and I don’t have to be one or the other.” In part two of the Seen Not Heard series — The Daily Northwestern’s first audio In Focus —- Impact members discuss moving on after their split from Cru and their vision for the future. — Andrea Michelson and Ryan Wangman
Scan this QR code with Snapchat or your smartphone camera to listen to episode one of an audio InFocus about Impact’s split from Cru
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THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 19
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020
Profile: Students take their comedy Out of DaBox By WILSON CHAPMAN
daily senior staffer @wilsonchapman6
When Communication senior Avery Powell first came to Northwestern, he auditioned for OutDaBox. Powell was accepted as a writer, but he didn’t act in a sketch until the fall. In the spring, a player dropped out, and the directors offered Powell the chance to be in their spring show. “They were like ‘okay little guy,’ let’s see what you can bring it and be in the spring show as a player, and I was like ‘yipee!’” Powell said. “So I was in the spring show as a player and I had a sketch in the show, and it was amazing. It was like the best time of my life.” ODB is a multicultural sketch and improv group at Northwestern. The group has traditionally focused on live comedy, but this quarter, they have begun a new initiative filming sketch, and completed filming for their first sketch on Saturday. In one form or another, ODB has been active on Northwestern’s campus for over 35 years. The group sprung out of The ODB Show, a revue produced by a former African American Theater Ensemble in the mid-70s. In the 80s, the cast of the revue split from the board and began operating as an individual group. Powell, who serves as ODB’s president, said as a black student on campus, the comedy scene can be alienating because of how white it is. There are very few black students involved within the community, and typically there are only five or so black comedians performing in improv groups at any given time. ODB offers Powell the ability to write about representation and inclusion thoughtfully, but present it in a humorous way. “You have a space to not only be a black performer but perform to a diverse audience who responds in an incredibly different way,” Powell said. “It’s a space to be yourself, not a minority.” Powell said the group has been discussing filming sketches since the summer. The conversations started because the leadership wanted to find a way to bring ODB into a newer age and take more advantage of modern media to promote their content. To get funding, the group went to the Radio, Television and FilmF department, and received funding from them for the first time. The members are taking the process step-by-step, but the plan is to release eight sketches by the end
of the year. Five of them will be full length, two to two and a half minute sketches, and three will be “blackouts,” sketches that are thirty seconds or less. The group is working on developing a new website to host these sketches, as well as a podcast they are developing where different members of ODB will take turns discussing a variety of topics in a talk show format. Communication sophomore Emnet Abera serves as the producer for ODB’s live shows and filmed sketches. She joined after attending ODB’s spring live show, which she said was the largest gathering of people of color she’s ever seen on a stage. She said she bonded with the members of the group quickly, far more than any other student group she has been in, and already feels very connected to the organization. Abera said she thinks the move to begin filming content makes sense for the organization in part because it provides the members with more tangible achievements to show to prospective employers. Abera said because ODB is focused on uplifting POC comedians, documenting their voices was a natural extension for the organization. “We’re trying to lift up the voices of POC, so we were like ‘why not film sketches, we have so much content that we don’t get to share with the rest of the student body,’” Abera said. “And it’s a bonus that it’s also helping many POC writers and filmmakers find a space on campus where they can do what they love and be supported by so many other POC.” Communication senior and ODB co-director Dora Grossman-Weir said the process is a learning curve for many members of the group, including her, because it’s such a new initiative, and they are understanding if the projected schedule changes. During the shoot of the first sketch, Grossman-Weir served as director, and it was the first time she had ever directed a film sketch before; at the same time, everyone was dedicated and efficient, and the shoot rapped an hour early. Development and individual growth in general is something ODB heavily focuses on, according to Grossman-Weir. Many members join the group with limited comedy experience and are chosen because they are enthusiastic and offer a fresh perspective. “When I got in as a player my freshman year, I was the only freshman they took at the time,” GrossmanWeir said, “and I remember at first feeling so nervous, and inadequate, and so quickly the people in the room fostered the idea that I deserved to be there and
Courtesy of Dora Grossman-Weir
Members of OutDaBox perform. ODB is a multicultural comedy group that provides a space to marginalized students to practice and perform sketches and improv.
was just as valuable in the room as everyone there. And I feel like imparting that on young improvisers from this side of things is so valuable.” Powell said he is slightly anxious about the future of the new initiatives he’s helped introduce, because the current membership of ODB is very seniorheavy. In spite of this, however, he is excited to see what the underclassmen in ODB achieve once he graduates, confident in their ability to overcome the challenges of implementing these new systems, because being on ODB helped him learn and grow
as a professional and as a person. “I’ve learned so much about how to work with other people and what’s important from ODB,” Powell said. “I was able to think about how representation matters in a way that my brain works, which is like humor and comedy and being ridiculous. Because that matters too, and how do you work to make sure you’re doing it right? You know, because it’s not stupid, it’s silly but it’s not stupid.” wilsonchapman2021@u.northwestern.edu
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SPORTS
ON DECK MAR.
7
Men’s Basketball No. 20 Penn State at NU, 3 p.m. Saturday
ON THE RECORD
Being able to handle pressure, staying calm and continuing to be able to play our game -- that’s a mentality. — Kelly Amonte Hiller, coach
@DailyNU_Sports
Friday, March 6, 2020
LACROSSE
Cats ready for showdown with top-ranked Tar Heels By BEN LUALDI
the daily northwestern
Monday night, Northwestern hosts arguably its biggest game of the season, taking on No. 1 North Carolina inside Ryan Fieldhouse. The Wildcats (4-2) are coming off a comeback win against Stanford last Sunday. NU allowed seven goals in nine minutes to fall into a 7-2 deficit midway through the first half. “I personally think it’s just a mentality,” coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said of the early deficit. “Being able to handle pressure, staying calm and continuing to be able to play our game — that’s a mentality.” The Cats demonstrated a strong mentality and rebounded, tying the game by halftime en route to winning 25-18. Not only did the win boost NU’s momentum heading into Monday’s clash against the Tar Heels (6-0, 2-0 ACC), the win was the 300th of Amonte Hiller’s storied coaching career, making her one of eight active coaches to pass the threshold. But Amonte Hiller downplayed the achievement. “[Coaching] is more about the relationships and experiences I’ve had,” she said. “I’m really focused on our season right now, and that’s where my head is.”
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 7 Northwestern Evanston, Illinois 6 p.m. Monday
As the team prepares for the matchup against the Tar Heels, the status of star sophomore attacker Izzy Scane is uncertain. Scane left during the second half after scoring five goals against Stanford. Amonte Hiller said she did not know if Scane would be available for the game Monday. Whether Scane plays or not, the Cats have to play their best lacrosse of the season Monday to grab a win. One player NU will need goals from is junior attacker Lauren Gilbert. Gilbert, who notched a career-high six goals against the Cardinal, pushed her goals tally this season to 22 through six games, a marked increase from the 52 goals she scored in 21 games last season. Amonte Hiller said Gilbert’s confidence is the reason for the attacker’s improvement. “Last year she played a lot and I think she gained confidence,” Amonte Hiller said. “She just came into the year with that confidence knowing that she can compete with anyone.” The Cats only had 10 turnovers against Stanford, the team’s lowest mark since the season opener against Detroit Mercy. To win Monday, much less have a deep run in the NCAA
Daily File Photo by Joshua Hoffman
Izzy Scane makes a move. The sophomore scored five goals against Stanford last weekend, but suffered an injury in the second half.
tournament, NU will have to take care of the ball. “We focused on [turnovers] a lot in the week leading up to Stanford,” she said. “Tightening up our transition and getting people in the right spots. We need to continue that.” North Carolina is a juggernaut, and has handled three ranked teams
already this season, with the Tar Heels securing a statement 19-6 win against then-No. 3 Maryland on Feb. 22. However, the Tar Heels are certainly beatable, as they faced adversity last weekend against No. 12 Virginia. The Cavaliers led 7-6 at halftime, and were leading 10-9 with just under 20 minutes remaining, but fell 18-12. Despite
MEN’S BASKETBALL
the upcoming showdown, Amonte Hiller said this week’s practices have been no different than any other. “We’re just trying to take it day by day,” Amonte Hiller said, “[To] continue to improve on ourselves, and that’s mentally and physically.” benjaminlualdi2023@u.northwestern.edu
FOOTBALL
NU to honor seniors versus PSU Johnson ready to put By GABRIELA CARROLL
the daily northwestern @gablcarroll
Chris Collins has emphasized the youth of this year’s Northwestern squad all season. He’s not wrong to do so — 11 of the Wildcats’ roster are underclassmen — but the program still has three players to honor on Senior Day against No. 20 Penn State. As the Cats approach their final game of the regular season and their Senior Day, they’re preparing to send off senior forward A.J. Turner, redshirt junior guard Tino Malnati and graduate guard Pat Spencer. Spencer joined the program this season after four seasons of college lacrosse at Loyola Maryland. He won the Tewaaraton Award, given annually to the best college lacrosse player, in his final season, and holds the NCAA record for assists, but Spencer loved basketball and wanted to play. “Coach really loved my competitive edge,” said Spencer early in the season about why he chose NU. “That’s something we both clicked on. I loved his edge. The ability to play at the Big Ten level and use that edge was really appealing to me, and having a young group and being able to make an impact right away was really important to me.” This season, Spencer exceeded expectations. He started at point guard in all but two games this season and became the Cats’ second-highest scorer, and has almost double as many assists as the next-highest player on the team. Spencer showed remarkable athleticism transitioning from lacrosse to basketball, and many of his skills transferred better than NU’s coaching staff anticipated. Turner joined the program two seasons ago after transferring from Boston College. The Michigan native started only three games this season, but was a consistent rotation player,
though not as strong a scorer as he was last season. As one of the team’s most experienced players, Turner often came in to provide a spark when the Cats struggled. Malnati, a walk-on, was not a regular part of the rotation. He played in eight games this season and scored just two points in his career. But Malnati was named one of two team captains at the beginning of the season, and is the only one of the three seniors to have started and ended his career at NU. He is also currently the only active player from the Cats’ tournament season. The three seniors designed their Senior Day “By the Players” uniforms, per a three-season-long tradition. The new uniforms are purple and
incorporate elements of the Chicago skyline and other attributes of the city. NU has only one rising senior — junior forward Anthony Gaines, who missed significant time this season and is expected to redshirt. Next year’s team will, however, have more experienced juniors: current sophomore forwards Pete Nance and Miller Kopp to fill in the hole Spencer, Turner and Malnati’s departures will leave. “They’ve been a resilient bunch,” Collins said. “Every time they were close to staying on the mat, they keep getting up and wanting to fight. I know, knowing the character of the guys in the locker room, that they’re going to finish this thing off right.” gabrielacarroll2023@u.northwestern.edu
Daily File Photo by Joshua Hoffman
A.J. Turner looks to make a pass. Turner and NU’s two other seniors, graduate Pat Spencer and redshirt junior Tino Malnati, will be honored on Senior Day against No. 20 Penn State.
2019 in rearview mirror By CHARLIE GOLDSMITH
daily senior staffer @2021_Charlie
Hunter Johnson doesn’t want to be afraid to make mistakes anymore. After having a 2019 season to forget at Northwestern, the quarterback said he isn’t worried about all of the game-ending injuries, the losses and the interceptions that defined his sophomore campaign. “There’s good years and bad years,” Johnson said. “I’m just moving on, everything about it. There’s obviously some things I’m going to take from it, but you can’t move forward looking back. I’m not looking back.” New offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian is helping Johnson turn the page. After the highly-touted transfer from Clemson finished last season with just one touchdown and four interceptions in six games, Bajakian had a simple message for Johnson when he was hired to coach the Wildcats. Bajakian wants Johnson to be more decisive, even if he’s wrong. “If I think I know the answer, (Bajakian) wants me to yell it out,” Johnson said. “Be confident, and if you’re wrong, then he’ll let you know. But he’d rather us go for it and be wrong than just go through the motions.” Coach Pat Fitzgerald admitted he needs to do a better job helping Johnson be more confident during the season. Johnson felt pressure all last year as the assumed replacement to Clayton Thorson, the winningest quarterback in NU history. The Indiana native left all three of his final games of the 2019 season with an injury. His sophomore season ended with a 10-yard sack against No. 10 Minnesota in November, and Johnson finished the year with a 46.3
completion percentage. “What comes with that locomotive is the hype,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s unrealistic to expect a lot right away because it’s new relationships, a new offense, new school. It’s a lot of stuff that goes on.” Heading into his third year with the program, Johnson knows he needs to play better to claim the starting spot in September. Too often last season, Johnson snapped the ball without understanding what the offensive line was doing on the play. So after pass rushers identified the easiest routes to the quarterback, Johnson was helpless in the pocket. “When you don’t know where your weaknesses are, you get your lips knocked off,” Fitzgerald said. “There were a couple hits last year where you just go ‘ugh,’ but you’ve got to know where protections are. That’s part of system knowledge and execution.” Bajakian’s new offense may give Johnson an extra advantage in the quarterback competition this year against graduate TJ Green, senior Aidan Smith and junior Andrew Marty. Last year, Johnson struggled learning former offensive coordinator Mick McCall’s offense, and Fitzgerald said Johnson’s command of the offense wasn’t as good as Green’s. But in 2020, all of the quarterbacks will have to learn a new system and will be on an equal ground in that area. Johnson said he’s excited for another quarterback competition and learned from his experience last year. “That’s just part of football. It’s a good group of guys, and we’re excited to just start playing again,” Johnson said. “It’s really not about us competing against each other, it’s about the whole unit getting on the same page.“ charliegoldsmith2021@u.northwestern.edu