The Daily Northwestern - April 11th, 2024

The Daily Northwestern

Tenants given move-out date

Evanston orders

Wesley residents to vacate by May 13

By WILLIAM TONG and HANNAH WEBSTER the daily northwestern @william2tong / @hannahe_webster

Residents living at 2014, 2018 and 2024 Wesley Ave. are required to move out by May 13, city o cials announced at a Tuesday meeting held with tenants and Evanston housing organizations.

In early February, the city sent a notice to the tenants requiring them to leave the 5th Ward buildings immediately because of structural deterioration in stairs and platforms. e rst notice did not include a move out deadline.

Now, the city plans to follow its Dangerous Buildings Code and “take action to remove anyone who is still residing there” by the May 13 deadline, according to a city notice handed out to tenants at the meeting.

“If we don’t give a date at some point, the city is negligent,” Ald. Bobby Burns (5th) said.

e city instructed tenants

to contact Connections for the Homeless case managers by 5 p.m. on April 12 to ensure housing assistance eligibility.

In a separate document handed out during the meeting, the city rejected most of the tenants’ requests for additional support.

e city originally o ered housing search assistance, short-term lodging and living assistance and one year of rent subsidies — though tenants can qualify for a one-year extension.

Tenants asked for three years of rent assistance from the city, covered in full for the rst year and subsidized to meet their current rates for the last two, but city o cials denied that request.

In the notice, the city said it will not guarantee tenants substitute housing in Evanston because of a “housing shortage.” And, the city cannot guarantee tenants the right to return to the apartments if or when they are rehabilitated because it doesn’t own the properties, according to the notice.

“If we ask for a dollar, and you give us a dime, how are we being helped?” tenant William Carter said.

» See WESLEY, page 6

Martin Stadium to host football

Enhanced venue will hold ‘majority’ of home games for 2024, 2025

By LUCAS KIM and HENRY FRIEMAN the daily northwestern @lucaskim_15 / @henryfrieman

Northwestern football will play a “majority” of its 2024

and 2025 home games at a temporarily modified Martin Stadium, according to a Wednesday afternoon news release.

NU made the announcement nearly two weeks after

State Dept. o cial talks world a airs

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell appears at virtual town hall

By LAVENDER HUANG the daily northwestern @lavenderhuang_

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell discussed technological competition with China, China’s role in the Russia-Ukraine War, concerns over Taiwan and future U.S.-China diplomacy at a virtual town hall Tuesday.

Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, moderated the event. Northwestern was one of five organizations participating in the online panel with Campbell and Orlins, who joined the conversation from the State Department in Washington.

Campbell, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in February, said that China is a “fierce, intense competitor, as is the United States.” He added that the U.S. wants to keep competition from becoming confrontation.

“I do believe China is competing to win, without question,” Campbell said.

On the topic of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Campbell said the U.S. has to deal with “challenging” issues” like China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine War, but sees indications that both sides are determined to keep U.S.China relations on a “steady, stable path” despite differences in views.

“I don’t believe China, at this juncture, fundamentally wants to see the borders of Europe rewritten through conflict,” Campbell said. Campbell also addressed concerns about the risk of conflict in the Taiwan Strait with increasing Chinese military activity in the region.

He emphasized that the U.S. government’s position is to maintain “peace and stability” in Taiwan.

“In the past, the U.S. often spoke alone on the absolute need to sustain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” Campbell said. “Recently, more countries have shown their support.”

Campbell ended his talk by highlighting the Biden administration’s measures to

combat rising anti-Asian hate and violence and addressing the influx of Chinese economic migrants entering the U.S. from Latin America.

After Campbell’s town hall, Kaiser Kuo, co-founder

of the Sinica Podcast, led a discussion with about 20 NU students and faculty at Scott Hall.

Kuo said Campbell needs

page 6

requesting a city analysis to expand the lakefront stadium — which hosts the University’s lacrosse and soccer teams — to accommodate up to 15,000 spectators while construction continues on a new

Ryan Field. “I am thrilled that we could make this happen,” University President Michael Schill wrote in the release. “It’s truly a win

» See STADIUM, page 6

Flavored tobacco ban hurts business

Some Evanston business owners say earnings are down

By JERRY WU daily senior staffer @jerrwu

Before Evanston’s ban on flavored tobacco sales took effect on April 1, Asif Mehmood, the owner of Evanston Gas & Food store on 101 Ridge Ave., said he was considering retiring soon. Now, he said his “future is uncertain.”

Evanston is the first city in Illinois to prohibit businesses from selling flavored tobacco products, four months after City Council approved the ban with a 6-3 vote. The new ordinance applies to flavored cigarettes, cigars, vaping items, pipe tobacco and rolling papers, but still allows residents to possess these products.

Since the ban went into effect, Mehmood said he lost about $2,000 in daily earnings, largely from flavored tobacco

products. He estimates that by the end of the month, his losses will be at least tenfold compared to at the ban’s start.

Mehmood’s storefront lies right along the border between Evanston and the city of Chicago. So, many of his customers need only to cross a few blocks to buy the products he can no longer sell, he added.

“It took me 25 years to establish their business,” Mehmood said. “I will see at the end of the month if I’m able to pay my bills.”

The ban comes as Evanston looks to protect the public from marketing practices employed by the tobacco industry “that are disproportionately targeting Black people and young consumers,” according to the city’s website.

Ald. Devon Reid (8th) first proposed an ordinance in June to ban the sales of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, which expanded to all flavored tobacco products per recommendations from the city’s

» See BAN, page 6

Joshua Suko /The Daily Northwestern

Students gathered in Scott Hall Tuesday night to hear Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Kaiser Kuo speak about U.S.-China relations.

‘ is is Us’ art exhibit looks to represent identities

By ANAVI PRAKASH the daily northwestern @anavi_52

When customers visit Co ee Lab & Roasters on Noyes Street, they don’t just get to have a drink or sweet treat. ey also get to see the art exhibit housed in the espresso bar for all of April.

The exhibit, titled “This is Us,” features 31 pieces of art created by 10 Evanston residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It is the third annual exhibit produced by a threemonth long workshop hosted by the Center for Independent Futures and Art Encounter.

The workshop aims to give people with disabilities a “full life” when it comes to arts, according to Jeff Morthorst, the Center for Independent Future’s activities director and project manager. He said there were two parts to the workshop: creating the art pieces and celebrating them by putting them on display.

“The celebration garners public exposure, social capital and self esteem,” he said. “We wanted to be able to provide the entire spectrum of fine art.”

Prior to 2024, the exhibit was shown at a small Evanston art gallery with limited hours. Morthorst said the move to Coffee Lab creates more opportunities for people to see the artists’ work.

Melinda Menezes was one of those viewers. She said the exhibit was meaningful to her because she has family members with intellectual disabilities whom she wished had opportunities like this workshop

“People that have intellectual disabilities are sometimes in the shadows, so I think it’s really nice to bring it forward where (people) get to see our commonalities (with each other),” she said.

Morthorst said the title, “This is Us,” is an “expression of the group.”

He said the largest piece of the exhibit is a collaboration between all 10 artists. Each artist started by creating a work that re ects who they are, he said. en, the artists came together and put the pieces together to re ect their identity as a group.

“What they have done is an expression of two identities for each person,” Morthorst said. “Each person’s identity as an individual and then their identity as a team or a group. That’s how they came to ‘This is Us.’”

He said one of the projects featured in the exhibit involved artists painting full face masks in a way that reflects their individual identities. He added that project artists were guided by Art Encounter teaching artist Val McCune and had the opportunity to work with a variety of materials, including paint, marbles and words

cut out of magazines and newspapers.

McCormick freshman Alex Sangster, a frequent Coffee Lab customer, said she had casually looked at the art while picking a table to sit at and thought it was “cool.” After learning about the mission of the workshop, her opinion didn’t change, she said.

“I think it’s cooler now, but it doesn’t make me think any differently (about the exhibit),” Sangster said.

Morthorst said he hopes exhibit viewers treat it like any other art display they see in

the city. He added that he wants people to see the artists of “This is Us” in the same light they would see artists without disabilities. As for the artists themselves, he said he wants them to feel proud of the work they’ve done.

“I’m really hoping that they get that sense of accomplishment that drives people to continue to try and feel the joy of recognition from folks who see their work and (feel) a sense of belonging to the community,” Morthorst said.

anaviprakash2027@u.northwestern.edu

Anavi Prakash/The Daily Northwestern

The ‘This is Us’ art exhibit features 31 pieces of art created by 10 artists in a three-month workshop. The exhibit will be on display at Co ee Lab on Noyes Street for all of April.

One Book author talks writing about grief

By LEAH SCHROEDER daily senior staffer @lmschroeder_

Heads down, about 25 students put pencil to paper, carefully considering what “ghosts” they carry with them. Led by author Jami Nakamura Lin, this grief writing workshop titled “Carrying Our Ghosts: Writing in and through Grief” took place Wednesday evening in Crowe Hall.

The workshop, hosted in conjunction by the Asian American Studies program and One Book One Northwestern, drew inspiration from Nakamura Lin’s experience with grief. Nakamura Lin wrote her 2023 novel “The Night Parade” as a form of remembrance and resurrection. The book touches on themes of mythology, mental illness, motherhood and intergenerational trauma.

“One of the reasons why I was so interested in writing about this novel was that I didn’t feel like there were really that many places to talk about (grief),” Nakamura Lin said. “When my father died, I really felt the loss of that space and there wasn’t really a place to talk about it.”

Nakamura Lin said she aimed to call on participants to “see (their grief), point at it” and wanted them to face their grief with her, a concept borrowed from Akwaeke Emezi’s “Dear Senthuran.”

Northwestern selects

“The Night Watchman” as next One Book pick

“The Night Watchman” by Louise Erdrich will be next year’s One Book One Northwestern selection, Northwestern announced Monday. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is about a tribal leader that stands up to Congress in the 1950s while his tribe is at risk of being disbanded and displaced. The character is based on Erdrich’s grandfather, who was the chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa from 1954-58. He, like the titular character, was also a night

The workshop led participants through several readings about grief, facilitating a space for participants to narrate their own “ghosts.”

“Ghosts are things that keep returning to us over and over again,” Nakamura Lin said. “Often, when I was growing up, I would just kind of shut all those things away. Writing my own story was a process of trying to learn how to carry that with me.”

Nakamura Lin encouraged participants to encounter grief and memory with curiosity and care and write without self-judgment.

Though she hesitated at first, Communication junior Melanie Ahn shared her narrative with the workshop.

“I’m someone that isn’t very vulnerable with my emotions,” Ahn said. “I tend to push things down and I’m not very good at expressing the way that I feel. It was kind of daunting to step into a space like this and be asked to do that, but I found it to be really cathartic. Grief is something that can be a really personal but also communal experience.”

English and Asian American Studies Prof. Michelle Huang, who is currently teaching “English 375: Memory and Identity in Asian American Literature,” encouraged her students to attend the event. Huang said she plans to apply certain aspects of the workshop to her classes, including the open-ended writing and discussion prompts.

“It’s okay to mourn and be vulnerable,” Huang

watchman at a factory.

Erdrich writes in the book’s afterword that the knowledge of termination “has faded, even among American Indian people,” which motivated her to write “The Night Watchman.”

The last time Indigenous people were centered in the OBON selection was in 2015.

Center for Native American and Indigenous Research Director and SESP Prof. Megan Bang and SESP Dean Bryan Brayboy are this year’s OBON co-chairs.

“Louise Erdrich is not only an incredible writer, but she is also a remarkable storyteller,” Brayboy said in the announcement. “All her books, and especially ‘The Night Watchman,’ help readers understand the human condition, the suffering

said. “Those feelings are also thinking and not just unproductive or not useful, that they can be used to move towards a better world. The grief means and matters something.”

Nakamura Lin encouraged attendees to change the way that they think about grief.

“Often, with grief, people like to give you a specific timeline to be sad,” Nakamura Lin said. “Thinking about it as an opening, as carrying these things with us — it can be a portal to something else.”

leahschroeder2026@u.northwestern.edu

and true stories of resistance attached to policies like termination.”

All incoming freshmen and transfer students will receive a physical or electronic copy of “The Night Watchman.” Programming inspired by the novel will take place during the 2024-25 school year.

In the release, Bang said she was thrilled the NU community is engaging with Erdrich’s book next year.

“(‘The Night Watchman’) reflects many important rich dimensions of history, community, family and more broadly human experience on the 100-year anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act,” Bang said.

Beatrice Villaflor

Daily file illustration by Lillian Ali

One Book One Northwestern hosted a conversation about grief with author Nakamura Lin.

Duda: Dispelling the “lesser of two evils” debate in 2024 election

In my last opinion article, I expressed my desire not to vote in the 2024 presidential election. e common rebu als I have heard are: “A non-vote is a vote for Donald Trump,” and I should vote for President Joe Biden because he is “the lesser of two evils.”

I cannot ignore these guilt trips.

A two-party system means a non-vote may indirectly bene t an opposing candidate. However, let us refrain from mental gymnastics — a non-vote is not a vote for any candidate; It is simply not a vote.

Instead of guilt-tripping me with an oversimpli ed talking point, I encourage Biden supporters who hold this view to look inward. It is disheartening that Biden supporters cannot build an argument to vote for him without mentioning Trump. e 2024 Biden campaign cannot either, as it is strongly relying on an anti-Trump message to bring victory in November. is worked in past elections, but a er working hard to secure these victories, Democrats are exhausted.

In a Yahoo News/YouGov poll that collected voter a itudes toward the 2024 election, 39% of Democrats picked “exhaustion” from the list of a itudes o ered. Perhaps this exhaustion is causing Biden voters to

LTE: It’s time to rename the John Evans Alumni Center in light of history

We are members of the John Evans Study Commi ee, which in May 2014 submi ed its report on the Sand Creek Massacre of November 29, 1864, in southeastern Colorado.

Soldiers savagely a acked a peaceful encampment of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians who had been promised safe refuge, murdering and mutilating their surprised and helpless victims. John Evans, the most prominent of Northwestern’s founders and a er whom Evanston, Illinois is named, was at the time Colorado’s territorial governor and superintendent of Indian A airs.

Our report describes Evans’ actions before and a er Sand Creek as “a great moral lapse,” “a deep moral failure that warrants condemnation,” and “nothing short of appalling.” While we found no evidence that Evans was involved in the planning of the massacre, he unquestionably contributed to the conditions that made it possible, squandered opportunities to prevent it, and a erward defended it with incorrect, misleading, evasive and self-serving statements that the Congressional investigation that immediately followed the massacre described as “prevarication and shu ing.” Secretary of State William Seward demanded Evans’ resignation, which he submi ed on August 1, 1865.

The report also details Evans’ laudatory

LTE: Standing against anti-LGBTQ+ group’s campaign at The Arch

Dear Editor,

Thank you for the informative story on April 5 about the unfortunate visit to NU’s Arch by members of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property — an anti-LGBTQ “action group” dedicated to exposing the so-called “grooming” of young people by transgender activists or teachers engaged in sex education.

It’s sad that such a group (playing bagpipes, no less) is now involved in campaigning at universities and in the process of spreading hatred about the LGBTQ+ community and transgender persons in particular.

As a gay man, I’ve had the good luck to meet several transgender individuals in my life and to become friends with some. Without exception, they’ve been fine individuals who simply want to live without discrimination. Some are NU graduates.

Know this: The idea that trans children, teenagers or young adults are being groomed in any way by other trans individuals or organizations, or by schools, is ludicrous and laughable.

The notion that LGBTQ+ persons are trying

sluggishly use the worn-out adage, “A non-vote is a vote for Trump.”

Biden has failed to prove what he will do to strengthen the economy. In his State of the Union address, Biden said in ation dropped from 9% to 3% without providing any context. is drop does not have real-world implications for middle-class or lower-income Americans because we do not experience in ation in overall percentages.

Buy meat at the grocery store. Fill up your gas tank. Go to a fast-food joint. Buy a used car. All these goods cost more than since Biden took o ce. Unfortunately for Biden, since consumers have a di cult time recognizing overall trends in in ation, perception ma ers. Six in 10 voters polled by CBS News described the economy under Biden as “bad.”

Surprisingly, Biden did not o er concrete solutions in his address. Instead, he went a er corporations for taking advantage of the economic conditions by increasing prices purely to increase pro t margins, a proven driver of ongoing in ation. He could potentially gain a lot of voters by addressing this issue, as a Financial Times-Michigan Ross poll found that 63% of respondents blame price increases on “large corporations taking advantage of in ation.”

Pu ing this issue aside, there is still an elephant in the room for many voters: the war in Gaza. is brings me to the second cliched quote: Vote for Biden because he is the “lesser of two evils.”

achievements. It criticizes the University for ignoring as long as it did “a deplorable aspect of Evans’s career that exposed a deep aw in his moral character.”

We write now to join others, notably history Prof. Doug Kiel last June in e Daily, in urging the Board of Trustees to reconsider its 2017 decision not to remove Evans’ name from the John Evans Alumni Center.

We did not make such a speci c recommendation when we submi ed the report in 2014 because we were charged solely with answering historical questions. e much larger and broader-based Native American Outreach and Inclusion Task Force was appointed to o er recommendations. Among the recommendations the Task Force made was to initiate a process to rename the John Evans Alumni Center.In the period following the commi ee’s report and that of the Native American Outreach and Inclusion Task Force, the central issue pertinent to removing Evans’ name was his personal culpability for the events at Sand Creek.

Now, a er such major achievements as the creation of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research, the recruitment of Indigenous faculty (including Prof. Kiel) and an Indigenous dean for one of NU’s schools, the beginnings of a set of relationships with Native American organizations both in Chicago and beyond, and University President Michael Schill’s declared commitment to diversity and inclusion in his inaugural speech, we are in a very di erent moment.

e issues are no longer tied to the University’s past, but to its future.

to groom kids to become miniature versions of themselves is an old, old concept that reeks of prejudice and misunderstanding anew with every successive generation.

I remember when I was a youngster in the 1970s, country singer Anita Bryant and her followers tried to spread fear of gays and lesbians as diabolical types who needed to be separated from the nation’s vulnerable children. In 1978, a California lawmaker even introduced a voter referendum that would have banned gays and lesbians from the state’s public schools. (It failed.)

Now, a half century later, we see a new wave of bigots accusing transgender people, as well as educators simply doing their jobs, of having the same nefarious motives.

Make no mistake: Grooming exists and will as long as child sexual abuse exists. It is a horrible act and evil to its core. We can define it as a pedophile secretly becoming friends with a youth or young adult — and often their family — over time with the intent of gaining their confidence in order to eventually sexually abuse them.

But that has zero to do with what far-rightwing anti-LGBTQ+ activists really fear and loathe: educating or counseling fact-hungry young people about sexuality and transgender issues. In an effort to scare parents out of their wits and create a modern moral panic, these ultra-conservative activists have revived an old trope — a metaphor adapting or rather warping

Considering what is going on in Gaza right now and Biden’s complicity in it, this argument is disgusting. He has provided Israel with U.S.-made military equipment, including bunker buster bombs that have been used in Gaza and white phosphorus used in southern Lebanon, both of which could be investigated as war crimes.

Actively arming a genocide that has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians is the very de nition of evil.

Biden refuses to use our nation’s leverage to get Israel to change their course of action in Gaza. He has the power to condition military aid or withhold billions of dollars in supplementary funding to Israel.

While news articles are circulating about tension between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war, this does not translate into tangible policy changes toward Israel.

In fact, the Biden administration just signed o on new arms packages for Israel, including hundreds of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs. ese U.S.-made 2,000-pound bombs were explicitly linked to masscasualty events in Gaza caused by Israel’s bombing campaigns.

Unless Biden’s policy toward Israel changes, we can expect more of the same.

Biden risks losing the election over his support for Israel. In a recent interview, Biden said the belief that he is overseeing and actively arming a genocide is “not widely shared.” If he genuinely believes this, he is detached from his Democratic voter base.

e name issue is especially signi cant because of the building’s symbolic as well as functional role as the center for alumni relations. e NU Alumni home page eloquently declares, “Our work isn’t done until all alumni feel welcome, represented, and valued.” Keeping the name of John Evans, whose role in the events leading up to and in the a ermath of the Sand Creek Massacre is so deplorable and appalling, directly contradicts that aspiration.

Last September, we made a similar case directly to the Board of Trustees. Board of Trustees President Peter Barris responded last week, stating that the Board would not reconsider its 2017 decision. Mr. Barris said the 2017 decision was based on a “rigorous assessment” of Evans’ “direct culpability” for the massacre.

Mr. Barris did not describe the nature of that assessment or the process by which it was carried out. Moreover, he did not respond to our suggestion that the name of the alumni center should signal more than Evans’ technical responsibility for the massacre.

Sadly, the Board’s decision not to reconsider its 2017 decision ignores the shameful and self-serving way Evans defended the massacre, as well as the fact that he was censured in his own time and ordered to resign from his two government positions.

e Board’s decision also ignores our central point — that the issues involved in the renaming now concern NU’s future and the building of a community in the decades to come where all will feel welcome, represented and valued.

We add, in the spirit of the University’s mo o, “Quaecumque Sunt Vera” (“All things that are true”),

the word “groom” — in a way that’s not only invalid but grossly harmful.

As a recent report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an independent think tank dedicated to defending human rights, summed it up: “Around the world today, the use of the term ‘groomer’ is used to justify hate, discrimination and violence against the LGBTQ+ community.

In the U.S. particularly, the use of this language, along with conspiratorial thinking around queer people, has led to legislation preventing the discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in schools and preventing trans children from accessing gender affirming healthcare and has motivated attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals.”

I salute the NU Society of Trans and NonBinary Students for standing up to the aforementioned activists in an intelligent and nonconfrontational way. These counter-protesters recognized American TFP’s message for what it was: not only misguided but inspired by venom — and essentially irreligious.

Signed,

Robert Kazel (Medill ’86)

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.

A YouGov and e Economist poll found that 50% of 2020 Biden voters believe that Israel is “commi ing genocide against Palestinian civilians.”

He is also detached from Democratic politicians. In a shocking speech, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recently stated that Israel is risking becoming a pariah state and even called for new elections in hopes of replacing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-right-wing coalition.

Unfortunately, there is no home for voters against the war in Gaza. Former President Trump is not any be er than Biden; Trump is strongly pro-Israel and claims Israel has to “ nish the problem” in Gaza.

Musician Jerry Garcia said, “Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil,” and this quote cannot be more ing for the 2024 election. When did the bar become so low in terms of presidential candidates that the “lesser of two evils” is someone complicit in what many view as genocide?

I decline to participate in this race to the very bottom of morality.

Melissa Duda is a second-year graduate student in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. She can be contacted at melissaduda2024@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Le er to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. e views expressed in this piece do not necessarily re ect the views of all sta members of e Daily Northwestern.

that, while we strongly favor changing the building’s name, we also object to removing Evans from University memory, as for so long were Sand Creek and his involvement in it.

Evans’ achievements should be acknowledged and remembered in full, along with the larger questions the contradictions between these accomplishments and his relationship to the Sand Creek Massacre raise.

We call on members of the NU community — students, faculty, sta and alumni — to join Prof. Kiel, the Native American Outreach and Inclusion Task Force, and others who agree with them to urge the Board of Trustees to remove the name of John Evans from the Alumni Center.

Respectfully,

Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone)

Peter Hayes

Frederick E. Hoxie

Andrew Koppelman

Carl Smith

Ellio West

Laurie Zoloth

If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Le er to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. e views expressed in this piece do not necessarily re ect the views of all sta members of e Daily Northwestern.

Organization aims to support parents of transgender children

By MISHA OBEROI the daily northwestern

In 2022, a 2nd Ward resident’s oldest son said he wanted to use puberty blockers. His coming out prompted family members to expand their understanding of gender identity, the parent said.

The parent’s son came out as nonbinary at the age of 10 and has since detransitioned. Her youngest child also came out as nonbinary two years later.

“It just touches every aspect of your life — your family, your school, legal things, friendships — it touches everything,” she said.

The parent, who asked to remain anonymous to protect the identity of her children, said as a single mother, she turned to Facebook to find other parents going through similar circumstances.

She saw a post about Gender Affirming Evanston, an organization still in its infancy at the time.

Immediately, the parent said she decided to help spearhead initiatives at the organization, along with therapist and Evanston resident ash luna and another Evanston parent, who also asked to remain anonymous to protect the identities of her children.

“It felt so good to meet people who are basically my neighbors going through the same thing,” the 2nd Ward parent said. “We can talk about it.”

Since then, Gender Affirming Evanston has grown into a support group for parents and caretakers of transgender, nonbinary, genderexpansive and gender non-conforming youth. The group meets monthly for 90-minute-long online sessions where members can discuss ongoing concerns and ask each other for advice, ash luna said.

ash luna, who identifies as trans and nonbinary and is a parent of several gender-expansive children, is one of two facilitators for the sessions. They said it was important for them to lend their firsthand experience to the group.

“At that point, it had just been cis parents getting together and talking about their trans kids — which is wonderful but can sometimes lack the nuances of lived experience,” ash luna said. “Their trans kids will someday be trans

adults, and trans adults used to be trans kids.”

Currently, Gender Affirming Evanston focuses on providing “immediate support,” ash luna’s co-facilitator said. But, the organization is planning to hold more in-person events in the future for community education, she added.

The organization is also working on a Queer Joy Consortium in partnership with Evanston Pride and PFLAG Evanston, under which it will organize community events and information sessions together, the facilitator said.

PFLAG Evanston President Lex Wilder said the partnership with Gender Affirming Evanston and Evanston Pride came about in hopes of reaching a larger audience.

“We wanted to make sure that we weren’t

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all doing the same work in different places,” Wilder said. “There’s strength in numbers.”

The partners’ first event together will be a gender-affirming care information session at Skokie Public Library on April 30. A social worker from the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago will talk to attendees about what gender-affirming care can look like medically, Wilder said.

He added that holding these types of events in Evanston is important for preventing misinformation and fear from spreading in the community, especially among children.

“I think the more accurate information that can be out there for people, the better — and better for children,” he said. “They’re

vulnerable people, and they need to be seen and cared for.”

Wilder said the consortium is also planning to host a dance party in May. He said he feels a lot of the news nowadays on LGBTQ+ issues is very disheartening and hopes that events can bring joy to the kids.

ash luna echoed Wilder’s sentiment, adding that a lot of the rhetoric surrounding gender is negative, especially since it’s an election year.

“Safety is an ever-pressing concern,” they said. “Our rights to exist are in imbalance … I think that’s something we are aware of and something that comes up as a topic of conversation.”

Despite these challenges, the 2nd Ward parent said she reflects on her journey as a parent of a nonbinary child as one with both rewards and challenges.

Although the parent is no longer an active member of Gender Affirming Evanston, she said she feels thankful for her time with the group. At one session, she received guidance from other parents after bringing up her son’s desire to use puberty blockers, she said.

“Other people had already gone through it and could give a lot of advice,” she said.

She added that she feels lucky to be in Evanston/Skokie School District 65, where schools offer “Gender Support Plans” for children, and is grateful for the support the Evanston community has given her.

When her children first came out, the 2nd Ward parent said their father abandoned them and has since severed contact with the family.

“He was not accepting, not affirming,” she said. “He just basically took off and has no contact with them anymore.”

In his place, Gender Affirming Evanston, the Evanston community and her extended family have stepped in.

The 2nd Ward parent said she hopes to reconnect with the organization and attend the in-person events.

“Trans kids are everywhere in Evanston,” she said. “They’re in every classroom, in every neighborhood. It is routine, kids have different pronouns, it is becoming totally normal for them in our town, and that’s a good thing.”

mishaoberoi2027@u.northwestern.edu

Illustration by Olivia Abeyta

Gender A irming Evanston is planning to organize community events in collaboration with Evanston Pride and PFLAG Evanston in the next few months.

STADIUM

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for our community. In addition to creating a wonderful fan experience in the lead-up to the opening of Ryan Field, hosting games on campus will reduce the travel burdens for our student-athletes and fans and will make games much more accessible.”

Martin Stadium, situated on the Lake Michigan waterfront, is set to undergo a temporary enhancement that will increase seating capacity to a size “significantly less” than that of both the old and new Ryan Field, according to the release.

NU also announced that the lacrosse, women’s soccer and men’s soccer teams will continue using the facility for home games. The

BAN

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Human Services Committee.

At City Council’s Nov. 27 meeting, Reid, Alds. Krissie Harris (2nd) and Thomas Suffredin (6th) voted against the expanded ordinance.

“Is there a reason why if we are supporting this (ordinance), why wouldn’t we just ban all tobacco?” Reid said.

Don Zeigler, the chair of the Evanston Health Advisory Council said the ban is necessary to curb tobacco use among young consumers.

“Flavored tobacco products are particularly a serious problem because the products are flavored to attract new consumers,” Zeigler said.

But, Zeigler added that he thinks the city needs to “eliminate tobacco entirely as a health problem.”

In addition to its ban on flavored tobacco products, Evanston has been a leader in tobacco control efforts across Illinois, passing the state’s first ban on public indoor smoking and raising the legal age for residents to buy tobacco

CAMPBELL

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more “cognitive empathy” when analyzing China’s perspective, instead of only seeing the country as a threat or competitor.

“I think there’s a lot of ‘China better not cozy up too much with the Russians,’ rather than any effort to understand why China may feel compelled to do so,” Kuo said. “There’s no appreciation for the conundrum that China finds itself in.”

Campbell’s position on China is like seeing only half of a chess board, he added.

Kuo also disagreed with Campbell on the threat that China’s technological competition poses.

“China is not going to be stopped,” Kuo said. “We’re going to look back 20 years from now and realize that trying to starve them of these

reigning conference championship-winning field hockey squad will continue playing on the neighboring Lakeside Field.

To make the modifications, the University announced it joined forces with event company InProduction — which provides temporary seating, staging and structures for events across the country. In the past, InProduction designed and built seating for the PGA Tour Waste Management Open in Phoenix, NFL Draft in Kansas City and Kentucky Derby.

Construction on the stadium will begin this summer, and the facility will remain in use through the 2025 season.

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products from 18 to 21.

Kash Mohan, manager at the 7-Eleven on 817 Emerson St., said his store has also received a hard hit. He predicted that his sales will be about $300,000 less than the previous year.

Today, tobacco use continues to serve as one of the leading preventable causes of death in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society].

Mohan said he supports the city’s move since it’s a “good cause.” But like Mehmood, he questioned the effectiveness of the ordinance.

Mohan said that his customers have only brought business elsewhere, crossing a few blocks over into neighboring places like Wilmette, to purchase tobacco products.

“Three or four blocks down, they are stores where you can buy anything from there,” Mohan said. “I hope it works, but it looks like when I am talking to my customers, they said ‘no worries, I will just go to a couple blocks and buy it from there.’”

jerrywu2027@u.northwestern.edu

key technology inputs was a colossal mistake.”

Political science Prof. Iza Ding, a local organizer of the town hall, said she had noticed growing interest in discussing China-adjacent topics at NU and considers the event on Tuesday a success.

Ding taught “Political Science 355: Politics of China” in Fall 2023, where she observed many students interested in the topic. She added that many NU faculty members and students are also working on “China-related projects.”

“The larger goal is really to build a community … regardless of people’s political positions, we want to make the public more informed and be able to make up their own minds about their opinions on China,” Ding said.

lavenderhuang2026@u.northwestern.edu

WESLEY

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Discussions of what will happen to the buildings themselves underlied tenant concerns about a lack of city support.

Evanston Housing Coalition, the buildings’ owner, has not made any official decisions for the apartments’ future.

In deciding what comes next, stakeholders will need to balance financial feasibility with “humane considerations,” said Chris Hersee, Evanston Housing Coalition’s board president.

“If the decision is … just about dollars and cents, that could be shortsighted,” Hersee said.

Still, it might be “premature” to lock in on a plan at this stage, he said. He added that the Housing Opportunity Development Corporation, which has managed the apartments since 2022, was unable to secure funding for building rehabilitation.

At the meeting, tenants supported a specific proposal for the apartments: donate them to Community Partners for Affordable Housing, which could help secure funding for repairs.

Sebastian Nalls, president of the Community Alliance for Better Government, brought up the idea with Gail Schechter, executive director of Housing Opportunities & Maintenance for the Elderly.

This plan could entail placing the apartments into CPAH’s community land trust and guaranteeing their affordability in perpetuity.

“If we can set the foundation in saying that … ‘CPAH is getting in contact with Evanston Housing Coalition to see if this can work,’ now there is a little more comfortability, at least from the tenants’ side,” Nalls said.

Others in the room, including Burns, said they were interested in exploring this idea more. Burns offered to facilitate further CPAH proposal discussions.

The tenants and community members working with them are also exploring a staggered rehabilitation plan where the apartment stairs are addressed building by building.

Still, the uncertainty of what will happen next — both for the tenants and the apartments they call home — has left the Wesley community frustrated.

“Our needs state that, once we get to wherever we land within the next two, three, six months, we’re going to know what’s going to happen in the next two, three years,” Carter said. “We’re not getting that from what (the city is) handing us today.”

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Daily file photo by William Tong

City officials told tenants at 2014, 2018 and 2024 Wesley Ave. to move out of the buildings because their stairways had deteriorated to dangerous levels. The Housing Opportunity Development Corporation previously put up temporary support for the stairs.

Global Poverty Research Lab effects policy change

By ISABEL SU daily senior staffer @isabelsu_

While studying at the University of Ghana, economist Samuel Ampaw began working on the Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Survey, a longterm data collection effort that monitors the country’s economic development.

Now, after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham, Ampaw is a postdoctoral scholar at Northwestern’s Global Poverty Research Lab, one of the main organizers of the survey.

Established in 2017 by economics Profs. Christopher Udry and Dean Karlan, the GPRL at the Kellogg School of Management is a hub for development economists to study poverty issues around the world. The lab uses a threepronged approach to understand causes and effects of poverty that includes research, policy engagement and support for NU faculty and student scholars.

“(As) someone growing up in a developing country context, seeing and knowing all the potential influence of this research on policy gives me a lot of interest,” Ampaw said.

For the 2022-23 round of the Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Survey, Ampaw was able to add some questions about social media use and mental health for his own research into how social media is impacting lives in developing countries.

He said his motivation for the research was a young boy he heard about who used social media to promote his dad’s carpentry work.

In addition to research, the GPRL hosts events like the annual Development Rookiefest, where doctoral students in development economics present their research to scholars from Chicago and the greater Midwest.

“We have multiple research projects, multiple students (and) different dimensions of interaction,” Udry said. “We can do things at scales we could not otherwise afford to do and answer the kinds of questions that otherwise are impossible to answer.”

Professors, postdoctoral and predoctoral fellows and undergraduate research assistants, conduct research in three geographic clusters:

China, Ghana and the Philippines.

The Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Survey, a collaboration between the GPRL, Yale University’s Economic Growth Center, and the University of Ghana’s Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, has been following the members of 5,000 households for 16 years.

“The advantage of this long-term panel is that it’s extremely rare,” Udry said. “It’s a unique lab for understanding what happens to people’s lives as a country progresses through stages of development.”

Using survey data, the GPRL has been able to work with the Ghanaian government to implement policy interventions like cash transfers, the direct payment of money to eligible recipients.

According to Udry, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, panel data helped researchers identify the people that would be most adversely affected by pandemic shutdowns.

“We were able to very quickly arrange for transfers of significant amounts of money in a very short timeframe to help people get through the worst parts of the pandemic,” Udry said.

Besides using research to effect policy change, the GPRL also aims to become more integrated with the NU community and to offer support to others interested in doing similar research, according to Isabel Oñate Falomir, a (or) the research director at the GPRL.

“One key thing that we want to do is be a provider of public goods within the University

and the research community,” Oñate Falomir said.

She said she has been talking to different departments at NU about potential partnerships, especially now that the GPRL has been properly established in its field of research.

Udry, too, said he wanted to foster more interdisciplinary collaboration in order to generate the best possible research around global poverty.

“I’d like to think that we can serve as a conduit for researchers and scholars and undergraduates for learning about how to evaluate social policy in developing countries,” Udry said.

isabelsu2027.1@u.northwestern.edu

Illustration by Isabel Su

The Global Poverty Research Lab has three research clusters: Ghana, China and the Philippines.

NU secures midweek run-rule win against Illinois

By AUDREY PACHUTA the daily northwestern @audreypachuta

Following last weekend’s Michigan sweep, Northwestern traveled south for a Tuesday tilt against in-state rival Illinois.

Behind graduate student outfielder Angela Zedak’s 4-of-4, three-home run performance, the Wildcats (23-8, 9-1 Big Ten) defeated the Fighting Illini (15-22, 2-7 Big Ten) 8-0.

“This is a game that we circle every year,” Zedak told the Big Ten Network postgame. “It’s super fun to be the in-state team any chance we can.”

The result marked the team’s seventh shutout victory this season.

After sophomore sluggers Kansas Robinson and Kelsey Nader each hit into outs to start the game, Zedak wasted no time putting NU on the board. The outfielder mounted her first solo shot to straightaway center.

With a one-run lead, the ’Cats entered the field behind their ace — graduate student Ashley Miller — who now boasts a conference-best 1.16 ERA following Tuesday’s win.

NU extended its early lead in the second frame as freshman catcher Emma Raye doubled to lead off and then scored on a throwing error following sophomore infielder Bridget Donahey’s sacrifice bunt.

Coach Kate Drohan’s squad tallied half of its runs in the third inning with a pair of two-run dingers plating four more NU runs. After Nader’s lead-off single, Zedak went yard for the second time that evening. Four batters later, freshman utility player Isabel Cunnea followed suit with a

two-run homer of her own.

Before the past weekend’s series against Michigan, Cunnea had no extra base hits in her young career. In less than a week, the freshman tallied three home runs and two doubles, which earned her co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolades, with Penn State’s Bridget Nemeth.

The ’Cats carried their offensive momentum into the subsequent inning, boarding another run on consecutive singles from Nader and Zedak after Robinson worked a walk.

With two Illinois runners in scoring position and one out in the bottom of the fourth, NU held its opponent to another scoreless inning under pressure to keep its shutout alive.

During the fifth inning, the ’Cats’ scoring efforts were halted for the first time all game despite junior utility player Lauren Sciborski delivering a lead-off pinch-hit double — her third hit of the season.

In blow-out fashion, NU secured a run-rule victory in the sixth inning courtesy of Zedak’s third and final home run. The graduate student’s dominant performance at the plate tied the Big Ten record for most homers in a conference game and set program records for both home runs and total bases in a game.

Miller conceded just three hits on the night, exiting the game before the final inning to allow freshman pitcher Renae Cunningham to seal the victory with an eight-run cushion.

After their midweek road trip, the ’Cats look to sustain their winning momentum as they prepare to host Maryland this weekend.

audreypachuta2027@u.northwestern.edu

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Berry, Nicholson to return in fall

By AUDREY PACHUTA and HENRY FRIEMAN the daily northwestern @audreypachuta / @henryfrieman

Less than a month after Northwestern’s season-ending loss to back-to-back national champions UConn, senior guard Ty Berry and senior center Matt Nicholson announced they will return for their final year of eligibility next season.

Sustaining a torn meniscus in the Wildcats’ win over Nebraska in February, Berry missed out on the team’s final 11 games of the season.

Prior to the injury, the Newton, Kansas native averaged 11.6 points per game and shot a career-best 44.9% from beyond the arc.

As for the 7-foot, 280-pound Nicholson, the big man will also stay on campus.

The senior center averaged 5.3 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game in 2023-24 before suffering a season-ending foot injury against Iowa on March 2.

He did not play in any of NU’s postseason games but journeyed on a 12-hour plus road trip to Brooklyn for the ’Cats’ first and second–round contests in the NCAA tournament. The Clarkston, Michigan native served as another coach on the sideline during his team’s March Madness run.

Now, there will be “ONE MORE Y3AR” and “ONE MORE Y34R,” per the duo’s respective Instagram pages.

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henryfrieman2027@u.northwestern.edu

NU’s loss to Wisconsin reversed, Big Ten says

By CHARLIE SPUNGIN senior staffer @charliespungin

The result of Northwestern’s prior defeat against Wisconsin was overturned into a victory, the Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday.

The April 5 tilt originally resulted in a 4-3 Badger victory, but the conference awarded the Wildcats a win after filing a lineup protest

Entering the match, the Badgers’ Maria Sholokhova played all of her matches at the No. 1 slot and was on an 11-match win streak. Unexpectedly, she slid into the No. 2 position to face

NU senior Justine Leong. The result was a 6-2, 6-1 victory for Sholokhova, but that singles point was flipped to the ’Cats.

Wisconsin’s failure to place its singles players in order of skill to manipulate match results is known as stacking. By inserting Sholokhova — the No. 78 ranked player in the country — at the No. 2 slot, the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Protest Committee found sufficient evidence of stacking.

The victory catapulted NU into a three-way tie for second place in the Big Ten with a record of 6-1 in conference play. The Badgers are also now 6-1. charliespungin2027@u.northwestern.edu

Graduate student outfielder Angela Zedak loads up for a pitch. Zedak was 4-for-4 with three homeruns in Northwestern’s win over Illinois Tuesday.