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The Daily Northwestern Thursday, March 31, 2016
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Confidence held in study abroad Students, admins aim to keep life as usual after Brussels attacks By SHANE MCKEON
daily senior staffer @shane_mckeon
As Julie Friend drove around Pakistan with a convoy of Medill graduate students, the administrator — whose job was to make sure the young reporters stayed safe — said her chief concern was not terrorism or the Taliban, but something more mundane. She insisted that everyone buckle up. “A seatbelt is the most important thing to keep you safe abroad,” said Friend, the University’s director of global safety and security. “I was pretty militant about that.” Indeed, the leading cause of death for American travelers abroad is automobile accidents, according to statistics from the State Department. Eighth on the list: terrorism. Although the attacks in Brussels reignited some Americans’ fears about terrorism abroad, the University has no plans to change policy following the attacks there and in Paris, Friend said. Friend pointed out that terrorism is not among the leading threats to American students abroad, and said she’s more concerned with everyday dangers: a car accident on a road that’s too congested for an ambulance to arrive quickly, or a beachgoer who swims too far out and drowns because there’s no lifeguard on a public beach. (The University hasn’t had a student die abroad from a car accident or drowning, Friend said.) “A student who gets into a car
accident in Paris — I know they’ll get access to some of the best medical care in the world,” she said. “A student who gets into an accident in rural India, we’ll find a way to get to them, but they’ll probably be triaged by a local hospital, and the care will not be as good.” Still, a brush with terrorism can leave a student with an emotional weight that doesn’t lift easily. Communication junior Savannah Birnbaum was studying in Paris when Islamic State terrorists launched the attacks that left 130 dead and hundreds more injured. Sitting in her apartment, she called her parents and let them know she was OK, but she still felt shook up. Although it took a few weeks to get past that shock, she said support from administrators helped her readjust. She said Friend emailed a list of “common sense precautions” that included heightened awareness in public spaces and on public transportation. She said the advice helped. “They were definitely right there,” she said. “It was a reminder that there were people looking out for me at home. I wasn’t stranded in this foreign country.” It wasn’t the first time terrorism touched her life: Birnbaum, who grew up in Manhattan, was six years old on 9/11. Her parents pulled her out of school that day, and she said she remembers an “ash rain” falling around her neighborhood. She said the two tragedies led her to conclude that terrorism “could reach me anywhere I am,” and so she shouldn’t live in fear of it. “At first, there were feelings of just being scared and not being sure, and then slowly getting over that and becoming someone who could handle those everyday uncertainties and insecurities,” Birnbaum » See BRUSSELS, page 6
Zack Laurence/Daily Senior Staffer
ADAPTING ACADEMICS Provost Dan Linzer speaks to students and fellow administrators at Sargent dining hall on Wednesday. A crowd of 50 gathered to discuss Northwestern’s efforts to make its academic system more inclusive.
Academic inclusion discussed Linzer leads talk as part of dialogue series By FATHMA RAHMAN
the daily northwestern @fathma_rahman
Administrators and students sat around cafeteria tables in Sargent dining hall Wednesday night, discussing the University’s efforts to make Northwestern’s academic system inclusive for all students as a part of an ongoing dialogue series that resulted from campus activism during the previous two quarters. Provost Dan Linzer began the dialogue with a list of the University’s recent actions on that front, including recent financial aid increases and the
Kirk, SCOTUS nominee meet By BILLY KOBIN
daily senior staffer @billy_kobin
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) met with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland on Tuesday, becoming the first Republican senator to sit down with the nominee amid a
partisan battle over whether to seat a new justice in an election year. During the 20-minute meeting in Kirk’s office in Washington, D.C., the Republican senator criticized GOP leaders’ refusal to hold confirmation hearings or a vote on the current federal appellate court judge. Kirk and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) have been the only two GOP senators to
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
publicly state that the Senate should vote on the nominee, in opposition to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) calls to block the nomination until the next president is elected. “By leading by example, I’m showing what a rational, responsible guy » See KIRK, page 6
search for two Native American faculty members. Roughly 50 people that included students and mostly faculty and administrators attended. Linzer said the greater purpose of the dialogue — more than just to share ideas and information — was to work on rebuilding trust among community members. “We have a history of inequality and exclusion on this campus,” Linzer said. “Our goal that we all share is to be an institution of equality and inclusion, but there’s stuff that’s happened over the years that we’re trying to deal with and make right. And while that should be straightforward, it’s full of all sorts of challenges even when we have the
best intentions.” Both students and administrators repeatedly brought up “cultural competence” in a classroom setting. Ron Braeutigam, associate provost of undergraduate education, spoke about planned changes to the Course and Teacher Evaluation Council system which include adding questions about the cost of courses. Braeutigam said this will work toward creating a more inclusive experience in providing students more opportunities to give feedback. As deans and other administrators highlighted plans to improve “cultural competency” throughout the university,
Northwestern tution to top $50,000 next year
currently $48,624. The University announced in early March that students entering next year and beyond will not be offered loans as part of their financial aid packages. In addition, current students will have their need-based loans capped at $20,000. The email also said room and board rates will increase by 3.7 percent from $14,936 to $15,489. Last year, tuition rose by 3.8 percent.
Northwestern’s tuition will top $50,000 next year, the University announced in an email early Wednesday morning. According to the email, undergraduate tuition will rise to $50,424 for the 2016-17 school year, an increase of 3.7 percent. Tuition is
» See LINZER, page 6
— Shane McKeon
INSIDE Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8