The Daily Northwestern Thursday, April 4, 2019
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NYT lawyer talks media and Trump David McCraw talks new book, legal battles By AUSTIN BENAVIDES
the daily northwestern @awstinbenavides
Owen Stidman / Daily Senior Staffer
Julie Payne-Kirchmeier and Carlos Gonzalez. After speaking to ASG Senate about gender-open housing in February, the two were able to come back with news of the expansion on Wednesday.
Gender-open housing to expand Res Services plans come less than two months after ASG resolution By GABBY BIRENBAUM
daily senior staffer @birenbomb
When Residential Services and the Office of Student Affairs began brainstorming a potential update to the University’s genderopen housing options and policy, they quickly realized they were not the only ones pursuing this topic. With the Gender Queer, NonBinary, Transgender Task Force
advocating for expanded housing and Associated Student Government approving a resolution in February calling for gender-open housing to be more attainable and affordable, Julie Payne-Kirchmeier, the associate vice president and chief of staff of student affairs, recognized there was a unique opportunity to act fast. “What (ASG) brought to us, and what the GQNBT task force recommended, and our own conversations all sort of coalesced at
the same time,” Payne-Kirchmeier said. “It was literally perfect timing. So, we were able to move forward quickly.” Less than two months after ASG approved the resolution, Northwestern Residential Services sent out an email to the student body announcing the expansion of their gender-open housing options. Carlos Gonzalez, the director of housing operations and services, said the expansion satisfied every action clause in the
ASG resolution. The expansion provides price point differentiation, new location options and opportunities for first-year and transfer students who want to live in gender-open housing. Gender-open housing accomodations were last addressed in 2013, when single-occupancy rooms in Foster-Walker Complex, Kemper Hall, and eventually 560 Lincoln became available to those » See HOUSING, page 6
Recently, the Justice Department accidently gave the New York Times a confidential document and tried asking for it back multiple times. In the end, the Times never returned it and published an article regarding its contents, prompting several lawsuit threats against the publication. This is just one of the stories David McCraw — one of the people who would have defended the Times against the DOJ — discussed when he spoke on Wednesday at Fisk Hall about being a member of the legal counsel for the national paper. McCraw talked to Northwestern students and faculty about his new book and the state of journalism in the Trump era and beyond. In his new book “Truth in Our Times,” David McCraw, the deputy general counsel of the New York Times, wrote about his experience in the legal proceedings that occupied the Times during the months before and after President Trump’s inauguration. Salma Barhoumeh, a Weinberg freshman, questioned McCraw’s decision to go ahead and clear the confidential document for publication.
“For him obviously, he’s allowed to publish it,” Barhoumeh told The Daily. “But personally, I don’t think it’s really fair. It’s good that the people are more knowledgeable about what is going on in government, but it’s not necessarily fair. This document was classified for a reason, so that’s questionable in my mind.” During his talk, McCraw emphasized the hectic and even threatening environment reporters are in today. At the New York Times, McCraw acts as a crisis manager, and helped to bring home reporters who were imprisoned overseas. He said the current administration’s “fake news” rhetoric emboldened the regimes that have historically placed restrictions on the media. “The evil genius behind this sloganeering about fake news is that it sounds like somebody is in pursuit of the truth when it’s just the opposite.” McCraw said. “Fake news sounds like something somebody would say when they hear about the truth, but in fact, fake news is really an invitation to label and disregard and to not think.” The true danger to a free press, McCraw said, is not concentrated in one political party but rather rested among those who are in positions of power. While the Trump administration has vocally labeled the New York Times as “failing” and threatened to sue multiple times, McCraw said even under Democratic » See MCCRAW, page 6
Schapiro speaks at NU community eyes change in Chicago Chicago campus After Lightfoot election, some hopeful, some hesitant about reform Top administrators discuss budget, diversity By GABBY BIRENBAUM
daily senior staffer @birenbomb
President Morton Schapiro boasted about Northwestern’s research and apologized for the University’s incorrect information on the budget during a moderated conversation with top administration officials Wednesday morning. The ‘Conversations with the President’ event, hosted by the Northwestern University Staff Advisory Council on NU’s Chicago campus, featured Schapiro; Provost Jonathan Holloway; Craig Johnson, the vice president for business and finance and Jeri Ward, the vice president for global marketing and communications. The panel discussed the importance of research at NU, the budget deficit and diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Schapiro opened the event by discussing Northwestern’s research profile and membership as one of 62 schools in the Association of American Universities. With the impending opening of the Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center, Schapiro said he expects Northwestern to crack the top ten for research university funding from the National Institutes of Health. Holloway underscored this commitment, telling The Daily in the fall that University leadership has tried to shield the Office for Research from budget cuts. However, Jay Walsh, the vice president for research, said the office experienced “personnel changes” in a November interview. The president also praised Northwestern’s fundraising, saying that the school has surpassed its $3.75 billion goal in “We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern” and currently sits at $4.35 billion. When discussing the budget, Schapiro apologized for giving » See SCHAPIRO, page 6
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By CATHERINE HENDERSON daily senior staffer @caity_henderson
On Tuesday night, Lori Lightfoot won the runoff election to become Chicago’s first black woman, openly gay mayor. Lightfoot won by a landslide against her competitor Toni Preckwinkle, receiving 73 percent of the vote and leading in all 50 wards. As a former prosecutor, Lightfoot has never held public office, a trait she emphasized in her campaign as an outsider to the Chicago political machine. Lightfoot and Preckwinkle won the top spots in the February election, but neither received the majority of the vote, so the two advanced to a runoff. In a Wednesday statement to The Daily, Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro described Lightfoot as a “skilled reformer” advocating for accountability in government. “Lori Lightfoot’s election is a real milestone for Chicago,”
Schapiro said. “All of us at Northwestern are looking forward to working with her and her administration.” However, English Prof. Bill Savage said Lightfoot is stepping into a difficult position. He emphasized Chicago’s massive pension debt, speculating this was a part of why current mayor Rahm Emanuel decided to step down. He said neither Lightfoot or Preckwinkle outlined a clear solution for this problem. Savage also said any solution to police-community relations, a major issue in the city, would require a “massive cultural shift.” “I don’t envy anyone with the job of mayor of Chicago,” Savage said. Medill senior Andie Linker is from Lincoln Park, Chicago and voted for Preckwinkle, though she thought both candidates were “really excellent.” However, she said she was concerned by the low voter turnout. Linker said she hopes Lightfoot will engage with grassroots organizers in Chicago and create change in the government.
Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS
Lori Lightfoot. The former prosecutor received 73 percent of the vote.
“I was really pleased with this election cycle in general for Chicago,” Linker said. “I think it hopefully looks towards a future of a really progressive city.” Weinberg junior Josemanuel Hernandez voted for Lightfoot in the runoff, but he said neither candidate represented his
progressive vision. He said he decided to vote for Lightfoot because she was more distant from the Chicago political system. However, Hernandez expressed concern about Lightfoot’s ties to the Chicago Police » See CHANGE, page 6
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