The Daily Northwestern Tuesday, September 19, 2017
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM 8 SPORTS/Women’s Soccer
3 CAMPUS/Alumni
Cats snap losing skid, defeat Buckeyes 1-0
Alumnus develops social media app to connect members of outdoor community
Find us online @thedailynu 4 OPINION/Schwartz
Recognize difference between fact, opinion
High 75 Low 63
Residents call for affordable housing City Council pushes for further discussion of plan By KRISTINA KARISCH and AMELIA LANGAS
daily senior staffers @kristinakarisch, @amelialangas
Katie Pach/Daily Senior Staffer
Cyclists ride through Evanston for Over the Rainbow’s 10th Annual Challenge Tour. OTR raised $150,000 at the Sunday event.
Ride supports accessible housing Cyclists raise $150,000 for 10th annual Evanston fundraiser By NIKKI BAIM
the daily northwestern @nikkibaim22
A group of more than 100 people raised $150,000 riding their bikes along the North
Shore on Sunday, participating in Over the Rainbow’s 10th Annual Challenge Tour to promote affordable and accessible housing. Over the Rainbow — a nonprofit that aims to provide housing, enrichment
programming and services encouraging independent living for people with physical disabilities — will use the money raised from the tour to expand its resident services. The services “help with Medicare, Medicaid, food
programs, enrichment programing and preventing isolation issues,” said Kaitlin Lavelle, Over the Rainbow’s manager of Individual Living. Riders, ranging from » See TOUR, page 6
CONVOCATION 2017
Schapiro speaks Provost supports to new students challenging ideas President affirms safe spaces, slams critics in address By ERICA SNOW
daily senior staffer @ericasnoww
University President Morton Schapiro blasted Fox News and stressed the importance of safe spaces in a speech to new students Monday. Schapiro said during his convocation address that he is frequently misunderstood by conservative commentators because of his previous articles defending safe spaces, which he defined as places on campus where students can find friends and build the confidence to have difficult conversations. “There’s a lot of confusion out there about your generation being called by Fox News and others ‘snowflakes,’ and they call me the ‘king of the snowflakes,’” Schapiro told
new students. “They have no understanding of this generation. … They have no idea what truly a safe space means and what truly uncomfortable learning means.” Schapiro said clubs, music groups and religious groups could qualify as safe spaces, and that other universities may misconstrue the intentions of safe spaces. Associated Student Government President Nehaarika Mulukutla told The Daily it is important for freshmen to know they can find a community on campus that makes them feel accepted. “It’s incredibly important that President Schapiro chose to ... tell that class effectively that you have a space on this campus to not be perfect,” the Weinberg senior said. “You’re going to gain the strength, confidence and the support from the community around you from these safe spaces to be able to handle your Wildcat » See SCHAPIRO, page 6
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
Holloway, TellesIrvin give advice at convocation
By ERICA SNOW
daily senior staffer @ericasnoww
Provost Jonathan Holloway and vice president for student affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin encouraged new students to listen to their peers and challenge personal worldviews during convocation Monday. Holloway, who assumed the position of provost this summer, said education will give students the “gift of perception and analysis.” He added that in college, students’ core beliefs will be challenged, but that moment should not be terrifying. “Let me suggest that you look at that moment as a gift,” Holloway said. “It should serve as a reminder of the privilege that you have.” Holloway acknowledged that socioeconomic standing,
race, gender and other qualifiers can change a person. “All of these things are real aspects of who you are and of what has made you,” he said. “But by being here, you also have to accept that despite your many differences, you share the fact of being deeply privileged. You have the privilege of the opportunity to explore, to analyze, to read, to write.” Telles-Irvin also offered advice to the new students, encouraging them to ask for help and be open to those different from themselves. She said a Northwestern experience is one of “excellence, not perfection.” “Just remember, number one, that you have been successful, and there is no reason why you cannot succeed here,” Telles-Irvin said. “You belong at Northwestern.” Telles-Irvin said asking for help was one of the most difficult things she had to do herself as an undergraduate.
» See CONVOCATION, page 6
Although city staff presented an affordable housing and accessibility overview at Monday’s City Council meeting, service providers and residents were upset that no concrete plan had been created, let alone implemented. During public comment, many said they wanted council to finally take action. Tracy McKeithen, executive director of Family Promise North Shore — a family homeless shelter in Evanston — said the city has been talking about change since the formation of the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness in 2011. “I urge you to not have another discussion about the need for affordable housing in Evanston. It is crystal clear,” McKeithen said. “We need to make units available to families in need.” According to the presentation, Evanston faces a gap in the supply and demand of affordable housing, which typically serves low- to moderate-income households, people with disabilities and older adults. A study by the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University found there is a 9,927-household demand of affordable housing in Evanston and Skokie, but only 3,945 units available. In addition, the fair market rent for a two-bedroom
apartment in Cook County is $1,232, compared to a $2,454 average rent in Evanston, said Savannah Clement, a housing policy and planning analyst for the city. To meet city staff ’s definition of affordable housing — where 30 percent of income is devoted to rent — Clement said a household in Cook County would have to work for 115 hours a week at minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom apartment. In Evanston, that number would be an impossible 229 hours per week. “ There literally aren’t enough hours,” Clement said. “This isn’t just an Evanston and Cook County issue, this is a nationwide issue of the affordability gap.” Aldermen also addressed the need for the city to support landlords who have worked to maintain affordable housing rates but often lack the assistance to continue doing so. For example, Tina Paden, a landlord at Paden Properties on Emerson Street, said her company works to provide low-income citizens with affordable units. Though it has housed people referred by charity organizations such as Connections for the Homeless and Family Promise in the past, the company will no longer be able to provide affordable housing due to the lack of resources provided by the city, she said. At the meeting, staff shared seven ways to increase and improve affordable housing, some of which include preserving existing affordable housing, expanding revenue » See HOUSING, page 6
Graphic by: Colin Lynch
INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8