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The Daily Northwestern Monday, May 9, 2022
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2 CITY/Women’s March
4 A&E/Flo Milli
8 SPORTS/Baseball
Residents march for abortion rights
Flo Milli, Dreamer Isioma bring in the party at A&O Ball on Thursday night at Metro Chicago
NU readies for last month of the season
High 74 Low 63
EPD faces high resignation levels The department has had three chiefs since 2021 By ISABELLE BUTERA
the daily northwestern @isabelle_butera
Last year, Evanston Police Department faced an unusually high number of resignations and multiple chief turnovers. For police personnel and city leaders, these changes renewed discussions about EPD’s scope and capabilities. EPD has 27 officer vacancies, according to Cmdr. Ryan Glew, although the city budgeted for 154 officers in 2021, its lowest level since 1993. The department also faced a decrease of 14 officers from 2020, according to a report presented by Chief Richard Eddington at a March meeting of the Human Services Committee. Glew said EPD’s high resignation rate is due to officers taking “lateral opportunities” at other police departments. Because departments in other municipalities are suffering similar shortages, higher-paying opportunities draw officers away from EPD, he said. These resignations are
also unusual because most of the officers leaving are midcareer, Glew said. Normally, Glew said higher turnover is expected with newer officers. Mikhail Geyer, an EPD officer and Special Operations Group detective, said a change in Illinois pension laws about ten years ago exacerbated the high levels of resignations. Geyer said the new laws increased the portability of pensions, which lowered the cost for an officer transferring their pension when moving departments. Shifting community discussions about police reform also played a role in EPD departures, Geyer said. As Evanston engages in conversations about the future of policing, Geyer said some officers feel there hasn’t been genuine partnership between the community and the department. “I want to be very clear, we are open to those discussions,” Geyer said. “We always have been. It’s just hearing some of these folks who are leaving who feel like … they’re not part of that conversation, they don’t have a seat at the table.” Geyer said officers have a vested interest in the future of EPD and bring frontline, onthe-ground expertise to the community conversation about
» See EPD DEPARTURES, page 6
Seeger Gray/The Daily Northwestern
NAISA organizes fi rst Pow Wow
More than 200 people attended the student-run event on Saturday By KATRINA PHAM
daily senior staffer @katrinapham_
Four years ago, lumber from the Menominee Tribal Enterprises, a Native-owned and operated business, was used to build the WelshRyan Arena basketball court. The Native American and Indigenous Student Alliance made history on
that lumber on Saturday, hosting Northwestern’s first student-run Pow Wow. A pow wow is a celebration held by many Native American and Indigenous communities where Native and non-Native people connect over dance, food and more. More than 200 people attended the event, including Native and non-Native students, faculty, family, local residents and students
from other universities. Marin “Mark” Denning, who is of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, served as the emcee and Mark LaRoque, who is Ojibwe, acted as the event’s arena director. Medill sophomore and former Daily op-ed contributor Kadin Mills, who is Keweenaw Bay Ojibwe and head of NAISA’s communications committee, said his younger sister, who is not Native,
attended the event with him. Mills and his sister danced hand in hand to the beating of the drums from local groups like RedLine, Little Priest Singers and Indian Community School’s drum, the ICS Eagle Singers. “Being … with so many of our professors and mentors and community members is really a
» See POW WOW, page 6
Evanston celebrates Mother’s Day NU positivity rate The Evanston History Center hosted their annual House Walk-By By WENDY KLUNK
daily senior staffer @wklunk
From longtime traditions to new programs, Evanston offered residents many opportunities to celebrate and treat mothers, grandmothers and other loved ones this Mother’s Day. The Evanston History Center’s 47th Annual Mother’s Day House Walk-By provided an opportunity for families to learn something new while spending time outside together this weekend. EHC Executive Director Eden Juron Pearlman said participants received an expansive guidebook about the featured neighborhood, which they used to complete self-guided history and architecture tours. “I’m hopeful that people will take on Mother’s Day to follow the tradition and enjoy themselves in that way,” Pearlman said. “But really … you can do it anytime, and as many times as you’d like.” This year’s house walk-by
Recycle Me
goes through Evanston’s Oakton Historic District for the first time. The walk-by will be accompanied by a series of presentations, including a panel discussion Monday night and a look at the history of the CTA Yellow Line — which runs through the district — Thursday night. For the third year in a row, the event was formatted as a walking tour of Evanston home exteriors, which Pearlman said grants more flexibility than the typical interior house tour format. Pearlman said she is excited for attendees to have the chance to discover a part of Evanston they may not have previously explored. “(The house walk) has never been to that part of Evanston, so it affords us the opportunity to tell a totally different story,” Pearlman said. “These are not mansions by the lake. They’re not the oldest houses in Evanston … Many of the houses are classic bungalow style. This is more of a middle-class neighborhood, and I think people are really going to
reaches new high
The University will not increase mitigation measures By ANGELI MITTAL
daily senior staffer @amittal27
Illustration by Eliana Storkamp and Olivia Abeyta
Many Evanston restaurants and businesses had unique deals and programming to celebrate moms this Mother’s Day.
relate.” Beyond community events, Evanston residents and children have turned to local businesses and special events to find a gift sure to make their moms feel special on Mother’s Day. Weinberg freshman Sari Eisen said though her family isn’t local to the area, the unique variety of businesses downtown made it easy to find something her mom
would love. After browsing a few stores, she picked out makeup from Benefit Cosmetics. “She really loves makeup, and she loves beauty products and self care,” Eisen said. “I went into Benefit to look around, and they were very helpful in telling me what kind of sets they have, and what they recommend for if
» See MOTHER’S DAY, page 6
Northwestern’s positivity rate reached the highest reported throughout the pandemic at 7.40%, according to University data published Friday, with campus opened to full capacity and no changes to testing or masking requirements. The second highest reported positivity rate while a majority of students were still on campus occurred earlier this quarter at 5.91%. Previously, a rate of 5.98% was also reported at the end of Fall Quarter when most students had already left campus for Winter Break. Since the beginning of Spring Quarter, NU has not had any on-campus masking requirements or mandatory testing protocols. However, since the 5.91% positivity rate for the week of April 8, this metric has remained stable at
over 5% while the number of tests received declined in the following weeks. This week’s positivity rate represents a 2.28 percentage point increase from last week’s 5.12%. Though the number of new reported positive cases had been declining in the same time span, the University reported 302 new positive cases this week — almost 60% more than the 189 reported last week. While this number is two cases down from the 304 reported the week of April 8, the number of tests received also declined by 20% from that week. Of the 302 University cases, faculty make up significantly more cases compared to the previous week with 47, up from 16. Undergraduate students continue to comprise the majority of the cases with 106 positives, while non-undergraduate students account for 89 cases. Staff members this week constitute 60 of the cases. Friday’s COVID-19 metric updates come just one day after Vice President of Operations
» See COVID-19, page 6
INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | A&E 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8