The Daily Northwestern Thursday, May 16, 2019
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Admin discusses medical leave policy Associate dean talks advancements, program challenges By ATUL JALAN
the daily northwestern @jalan_atul
Zoe Malin / The Daily Northwestern
Investigative journalist David Kidwell spoke to students in the McCormick Foundation Center at an event sponsored by NU’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
David Kidwell speaks at event
Reporter analyzes Illinois corruption and press transparency By AUSTIN BENAVIDES
daily senior staffer @awstinbenavides
On Wednesday, reporter David Kidwell, whose investigative pieces led to the arrest of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and revealed a $2 million Chicago bribery scandal, spoke about corruption in Illinois and his effort to keep government officials transparent to students at an event hosted by Northwestern’s chapter of the Society of
Professional Journalists. Kidwell began his 35-year career at the Iroquois County’s Times-Republic, working almost every position available at the publication, and went on to spend the majority of his time as a reporter at the Miami Herald and later at the Chicago Tribune. Currently, Kidwell works as the special projects editor at the Better Government Association, a nonprofit government watchdog organization. During the event, Kidwell stressed the importance of
persistence with investigative reporting. While working as a beat reporter, he said, he would “always have something long-term going” in case he was given the chance to write an indepth piece. “The only difference between an investigative reporter and a real reporter is time,” Kidwell said, “I have the luxury of time. I don’t have any extra skills. I don’t have any extra talent. If you produce enough and you do well enough on beats and covering general assignments, and you hone those skills, if you
want to take six months of story that’s when you’re more likely going to be able to do it. That’s when they’re going to give you the time to do it. ” One of his earliest successes in deeper investigative pieces was an article he wrote at The Tampa Tribune, where he exposed a scandal in the sheriff ’s department in which they spent “$30,000 in taxpayer funded lap dances,” under the guise of an “undercover investigation.” » See KIDWELL, page 6
Mona Dugo, Northwestern’s senior associate dean of students, discussed advancements in the University’s medical leave of absence program and remaining challenges it faces during Associate Student Government’s Wednesday Senate meeting. Throughout Dugo’s six-year tenure, she’s worked to improve the University’s processes for medical leave from “rows and rows” of disorganized binders containing various students’ names to a coordinated operation that engages deeply with individual students to offer financial support and create plans for treatment during their leave. Dugo said 529 students took medical leave between Fall 2014 and Spring 2018. The top two reasons for leaving were anxiety and depression. Black, Hispanic, first-generation and low-income students were all overrepresented in the percentage of students who took medical leave, Dugo said, demonstrating the need for continued effort toward combating the unique challenges faced by traditionally marginalized groups. Increased financial assistance has been a signature achievement for NU’s medical absence programm Dugo said. Her office provides funds for housing,
healthcare and other necessities, she said. She’s arranged health insurance for about 60 students since the start of the school year, she added, and her office has paid out approximately $38,000 in medical co-pays and fees. “If we have students who don’t have health insurance, we’re never going to put treatment requirements in place for students that they can’t meet because they can’t afford them,” Dugo said. “If a student doesn’t have insurance, I’m going to work really hard to get them student insurance and we have a couple mechanisms for doing that.” Increasing transparency has been an issue, Dugo admitted. McCormick sophomore Spencer Colton, ASG’s vice president for technology, discussed obstacles students on leave have faced when they return to campus due to a lack of information. “There’s been at least one person who’s come to me and asked for information about medical leave of absence because I was part of ASG,” Colton said. “She did end up going through with it but then when she tried to come back to the University, there was some kind of lack of communication and she missed the deadline… She ended up just transferring elsewhere because she felt like she couldn’t do it here anymore.” Dugo’s office, in response, has been working with the Office of the Registrar to centralize information for all different kinds of leave students can » See SENATE, page 6
City to consider Democratic Socialists talk ideology small developments The discussion was the first in a planned series on political beliefs
Committee looks at affordable housing solutions By CASSIDY WANG
the daily northwestern @cassidyw_
The Affordable Housing Plan Steering Committee discussed using smaller developments and accessory dwelling units as affordable housing solutions at a Wednesday meeting. Housing and grants manager Sarah Flax gave a presentation on the changes needed to allow for smaller developments and ADUs. She said one way to allow for such developments is eliminating single-family zoning, which Minneapolis’ City Council did last December. Flax said the policy is “really just low-density zoning,” as opposed to eliminating single
family homes. She described the policy as “adding density to single-family neighborhoods.” Flax said such policies could help integrate affordable housing in different communities within the city. “When you look at how much of our city is zoned R1 and R2, that’s a lot of land and a lot of lots,” Flax said. The policy “helps integrate affordable housing units in some of our highest-cost housing areas because large lots, single-family neighborhoods tend to be expensive.” While inclusionary units in larger downtown developments integrate affordable units with market rate housing, Flax said adopting new policies could promote integration of affordable housing in lower-density areas. Flax also suggested using ADUs to address affordable
» See AHC, page 6
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
By ANDRES CORREA
daily senior staffer @aocorrea1
With a new Chicago City Council set to take office next week, Democratic Socialists hosted a panel at the Levy Senior Center on Wednesday where they discussed their platform and its local implementation. Hosted by Evanston’s city clerk’s office, the event was mediated by the city clerk Devon Reid. Panel guests included Chicago Ald.-elect Rossana RodriguezSanchez (33rd), Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) and Lucie Daily file photo by Colin Boyle Macias, co-chair of the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America. Sarah Flax. Flax discussed the details of the environmental remediation for the Church Street lot during The event is the first in a planned Monday’s City Council meeting. series aimed at discussing political ideologies and their impact on parliamentary procedures — but by discussing the role socialism to running water. She said she municipalities. we think that’s very important — played in their youth. watched her father organize with “We host a number of events and some things more exciting, Rodriguez-Sanchez said neighbors and advocate for access. throughout the year that dis- like democratic socialism at the she attended her first protest at This was the first time she was cuss various things,” Reid said. local level.” age 6 when her community in “Some that are really boring like Panelists began the event Puerto Rico did not have access » See SOCIALISM, page 6
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