The Daily Northwestern - September 28, 2023

The Daily Northwestern

Learning resources with an open license

Big 10 schools start no-cost library for learning , teaching

By LEAH SCHROEDER daily senior staffer @lmschroeder_

At the start of each quarter, students all feel the familiar pain of shelling out hundreds of dollars to purchase textbooks and access codes for classes.

To combat this issue and encourage equity, NU Open Education Librarian Lauren McKeen McDonald has worked to introduce Open Educational Resources at Northwestern. The initiative provides teaching and learning resources with an open license, meaning resources can be freely used, shared and customized.

Protesters march against rezoning NU Accountability Alliance asks for Ryan Field legal agreement

By SELENA KUZNIKOV daily senior staffer @selenakuznikov

About 100 members of the Northwestern Accountability

Alliance and Evanston residents gathered to pressure Evanston city government to require NU to establish a community bene ts agreement on the Ryan Field rebuild at a Tuesday evening march.

Illinois law targets family in uencers

signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in August and will go into e ect in July 2024.

e rally began near Lighthouse Beach and traveled down Central Street to stop in front of NU President Michael Schill’s residence.

Evanston resident and former Evanston Community Services

Manager Kevin Brown (Weinberg ‘85) stood outside the house, announcing to the crowd that the University needs to “respect our community” as a endees cheered

» See PROTEST, page 10

“The thing that we’ve been talking a lot about at Northwestern is the cost of course materials and use of access codes and other supplementary materials and how it continues to rise,” McDonald said. “OER is a way for us to be able to provide low- or no-cost course materials to students, so it provides a more equitable learning environment.”

McDonald and librarians from Penn State University and the University of Minnesota have formed

a team to incorporate OER at their respective universities within the Big Ten Academic Alliance. e team found out that the two-year grant that they began working on a year ago and proposed in February was funded this August.

With the grant, the team’s ultimate goal is to create a shared learning infrastructure between BTA universities.

“We had been working on this project for a long time, and I think that it’s something that’s really needed,” McDonald said. “ ere’s not a lot of cohesive information about what (open homework systems) do, what subject areas they’re appropriate for and what open textbooks they might pair well with. I think that the work that comes out of this project will really ll a need within that open education space.”

To incentivize professors to utilize OER, NU introduced a $5,000 OER faculty grant to develop, use and publish OER for their courses.

Math Prof. Aaron Greicius said he uses OER in his classroom because of the added accessibility it o ers. Greicius wrote an OER textbook that he uses for his linear algebra class and hopes to establish it as the o cial textbook of the department in the next year.

“I believe it doesn’t have to be so costly,” Greicius said. “ ere’s lots

» See OER , page 10

Students’ new mom away from home

Wilme e mother starts service to drop o food, prescriptions and more

By SAUL PINK daily senior staffer @saullpink

By KATE WALTER

daily senior staffer @katewalter03

Last month, Illinois became the rst state to pass legislation that entitles the children of in uencers to a percentage of their parents’ earnings from content they’re featured in.

Senate Bill 1782 amends the state’s Child Labor Law to protect children featured in online content. e law applies to children featured in 30% of their parents’ content over a 30-day period. It requires in uencers to share their earnings with children featured in the content if it earns at least 10 cents per view.

e funds must be set aside into a trust fund, accessible to children when they turn 18 or are emancipated. If their earnings aren’t set aside, the law grants them the ability to sue their parents. e law was

State Sen. David Koehler (D-Peoria), who sponsored the legislation, said the rise of family-related “influencing” has led to the need to protect children shown in content.

“ is is one of those things that really kind of took o and is now kind of a mainstream occurrence within social media,” said Koehler. “We need to have legislation that puts some safeguards in place.”

Johanna Grange, a Chicagobased content creator and co-founder of social media agency Oak Street Social, said she supports the bill’s entitling children to a percentage of the earnings, but not with the means of legal action.

“I struggle a li le bit with the suing spot, just simply because parents worked their tails o to provide for their families,” said Grange. “On the ip side of things, I think it’s really important to include them in the conversation so

» See INFLUENCERS , page 10

Ten days a er McCormick freshman Liv Bernstein said goodbye to her parents on Deering Meadow, she said hello to her “Northwestern mom” outside of McCulloch Hall.

Heather Metz, 48, had driven to Evanston from Wilmette on a sunny Friday a ernoon, a dozen cupcakes — nut-free — in the back of her SUV.

The trip wasn’t an act of motherly love. It was an act of commerce — the rst delivery of Metz’s new business. In June, she launched the NU outpost of mindyKNOWS, a service founded in 2019 at Washington University in St. Louis. rough mindyKNOWS, parents of college students can hire locals to perform tasks like picking up prescriptions, dropping o gi s and even delivering chicken soup for their child.

When Metz reached the North Campus dorm, she texted Bernstein. e rst-year student, dressed in shorts and a white Budweiser T-shirt, exited

her dorm room and descended the stairs to receive the cupcakes. ey were a gi from Bernstein’s parents in New York City, a confectionary congratulations for completing her rst week of college.

The two women chatted brie y about classes and dorm life. Then, Metz snapped a photo of Bernstein and the cupcakes, which she sent to Bernstein’s parents.

“I got to share [the cupcakes] with my roommate and my friends and they all enjoyed it,” Bernstein said. “So it was a nice thing to have.”

Metz’s business stands at the intersection of two de ning features of college life in the 2020s: helicopter parents and swi delivery services.

“We are not Mom or Dad,” reads a card that Metz hands out to prospective clients, “but we’re the next best thing.”

e next best thing doesn’t come cheap: Metz’s services cost $55 per month, $500 a year or $1,850 for a four-year membership — plus delivery fees. Her one-o o erings include an $85 Chicken Soup Care Package, which comes with

a quart of hot soup, a loaf of bread, scones, juice and a handwritten note. Metz also o ers a Cookie Care Package — which gi s students a personalized cookie cake, eight plates, napkins and a handwritten card for

$75 — and a Happy Birthday Cupcake Care Package for $130. Although she hasn’t sold any memberships yet, Metz says the personal touch justi es the

Sonya Dymova/The Daily Northwestern

Protestors opposing the new Ryan Field marched down half of Sheridan Road toward the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center. They began at Lighthouse Beach and were accompanied by a car caravan.

Saul Pink/Daily Senior Sta er Heather Metz (right) hands cupcakes to McCormick freshman Liv Bernstein (le ). It was Metz’s first delivery as part of a new business where parents of Northwestern students can hire locals to help their kids, from picking up prescriptions to celebrating birthdays.

DownTo helps students make connections on campus

By TABI PARENT daily senior staffer @tabithaparent12

A new app crops up on campus what seems like every day, with ambassadors posting promotional Instagram stories and tabling in odd nooks and crannies of Norris University Center. e latest addition to the cyber-campus scene is DownTo — an app designed to make meeting up with friends on campus easier.

“We came up with this idea of like, ‘Okay, your core group of best friends are only a subset of the people that you know on campus, so what if we could build a product where you can tell all of your close friends and also all of the other people that you know on campus, ‘ is is what I’m doing,’’” said DownTo CEO Caroline Ingeborn.

Much like Fizz — the private campus-speci c social platform that took o among Northwestern students last year — DownTo’s team also restricts its platform to veri ed students with .edu emails. As stated in its FAQ section, the app is “strictly no randos.”

Weinberg sophomore Asha Reddy said she could see herself using the app.

“It’s more of a social app compared to Fizz and Yik Yak, but I think they create a community especially for Northwestern students, so that’s a perk of it,” Reddy said. “It seems like a good way to make plans and hang out with people that you might not usually hang out with.”

The app allows students across campus to connect with one another and make plans at the touch of a few buttons. On the app’s main page, students select from a list of four options indicating the activity they are “down to” do, where they would like to meet up, with whom and when. The app also features campus and Evanston-specific locations like Allison dining hall and 10Q Chicken.

Pressing the “I’m Down!” bu on at the bo om of the page sends out a noti cation to the “Activity @Northwestern” page, le ing other users know that students are available for the activity they have speci ed.

DownTo currently has six campus ambassadors listed on its Instagram page, along with two lead NU ambassadors.

All eight of the ambassadors are current students who organize events for DownTo — like a recent free beer and hotdog event in partnership with D&D Finer Foods — and post about the app on social media.

“At rst, everything is di cult … with people joining and ge ing used to how (the app is) being used, but I think it has so much potential,” said McCormick junior Caroline DeRose, a DownTo ambassador.

Because the app is so new, DeRose says there

are still improvements to be made.

While some see the app’s potential, others, like SESP and Weinberg sophomore Zoe Lively, are more hesitant about its ability to integrate into the campus’s fabric.

“I didn’t feel relevant to it,” Lively said. “I think it’s a really good way for freshmen to meet people, and people were posting a lot during Wildcat Welcome, but I feel established in my friend groups, and I’m not looking to meet a bunch of new people all at once.”

DownTo is currently being rolled out at other college campuses like the University

of California, Los Angeles, the University of Michigan and the University of Iowa. While there is still a long road ahead for DownTo, Ingeborn said she is excited to continue engaging with the app.

“All of these micromoments in our everyday (life) will increase that serendipity so that we spend more moments together with friends and friends of friends in real life, and our social circles can expand, and there’s no social anxiety,” Ingeborn said. “ at’s real success for me.”

tabiparent2025@u.northwestern.edu

Illustration by June Woo

DownTo allows students across campus to connect with one another and make plans at the touch of just a few buttons.

Secondhand shopping offers affordability

By SHREYA SRINIVASAN the daily northwestern @shreyasrin

For JoAnn Sylvano, store manager of the YWCA Shop for Good in Evanston, shopping second-hand can both be socially and wallet conscious.

“Pre-loved clothing,” she said, “is a win-win.” Shopping second-hand in Evanston is an affordable option for many customers — but it can also be a way to give back to the community the stores rely on.

The YWCA Shop for Good women’s boutique, located at 820 Dempster St., donates proceeds to the YWCA’s domestic violence shelters. Along with providing resources to families it works with, the center also teaches and “empowers” women, Sylvano said.

“I wanted to make a solution and do something that’s meaningful,” she said of her work with the YWCA. “With the money that we raise, the women have a second chance in life and be independent.”

The store was formerly named Crowded Closet, but changed its name on Sept. 14. Though the shop used to run on consignment,

it’s now fully donation-based — a model Sylvano said is more affordable. A typical woman’s blouse ranges from $12 to $28, but the shop has a marked-down designer and non-designer section.

The boutique attracts mostly Evanston locals, but Sylvano said they are able to reach many different generations. She is aiming to gain more Northwestern students.

“I feel like I needed something with meaning, “ Sylvano said. “So many companies mass produce.”

On campus, NU Thrift creates an affordable pop-up thrift store three times a year. The group started in 2019 because of a lack of affordable thrift stores nearby. All clothes are $3 and come from student donations, ‘Cats Closet, and Junior League of Evanston-North Shore Thrift House.

All proceeds have gone to local activist organizations, such as the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization and Chicago Abortion Fund.

Although on-campus, club president and Communication senior Marlene Alanis said the pop-up store sees students and non-students alike.

“It was intended to be a resource for all students, but specifically, with (first generation low income) students in mind,” Alanis said.

Similarly, Stepping Out On Faith Consignment Shop on 1632 Orrington Ave welcomes a full range of customers, from high-school students to

retirees, all equally likely to buy and sell.

From modern clothes to ‘70s styles to vintage accessories, store owner Vivian Killebrew says that “you can find a little bit of everything.”

“The bottom line is everything is affordable,” Killebrew said. “Consignment, resale, used (clothing) is the way to go because you get a bigger bang for your buck. Nine times out of 10, you get a better quality and they’re not throw-away clothes.”

Killebrew said the store relies on a 60% to 40% split between the store and the consignors, and items get marked down 10% every 30 days.

Despite a different business model than their donation-based counterparts, Stepping Out On Faith has the same goal of promoting secondhand items. The store donates unsold clothes that aren’t picked to Connections for The Homeless, a social service organization that assists unhoused people in Evanston.

With Evanston’s office workers going remote since the pandemic, Killebrew has noticed more students coming in.

“This generation gets thrifting, and I love it,” Killebrew said. “Consigning, I would say, is a little bit more upscale, but at the end of the day it’s all thrifting. Don’t let the fancy names confuse you.” shreyasrinivasan2026@u.northwestern.edu

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New lawsuit alleges housing company used AI to discriminate

Open Communities, an Evanston-based nonprofit advocating for fair housing, has filed a federal lawsuit against nationwide property management company Harbor Group Management. The lawsuit alleges the company used artificial intelligence tools to reject prospective renters who use housing choice vouchers. The lawsuit, filed Monday, is the result of a more than six-month investigation conducted by Open Communities.

The investigation began when plaintiff Elizabeth Richardson contacted Open Communities, alleging that Harbor Group Management had discriminated against her by rejecting her application to rent at Northgate Crossing Apartments in northwest Chicago suburb Wheeling.

Richardson, who is Black, uses the Housing Choice Voucher program, a federal program that issues vouchers to income-qualified Americans to cover part of their housing costs. Recipients can use the vouchers to find housing anywhere they choose — the program is not limited to designated affordable housing units. According to a Wednesday press release from Open Communities, 78% of Housing Choice Voucher recipients in Illinois are Black.

The investigation found that Harbor Group’s use of AI tools at its apartment complexes across the country consistently led to discriminatory outcomes.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants “intentionally employed PERQ Artificial Intelligence automated systems to communicate a blanket ‘no Housing Choice Voucher/No Section 8 Policy’ policy to reject Internet rental applications from individuals including Richardson, who receive housing assistance payments.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and seeks “damages and injunctive relief” against the defendants.

Though the defendants’ practices did not explicitly target Black applicants, Open Communities argued in the Wednesday release that the case constitutes racial discrimination, given the majority of housing choice voucher recipients are Black.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “The Fair Housing Act bars more than intentionally discriminatory conduct — it also bars policies that have an unjustified discriminatory effect based on race, national origin, disability, or other protected class.”

— Lily Carey

What to Watch For: NU welcomes strong foe

By ALEX CERVANTES daily senior staffer @cervantespalex

When graduate student tight end Charlie Mangieri waltzed into the end zone on Saturday night, he capped off a night to remember for Northwestern. The Wildcats completed their three-touchdown comeback to stamp a 37-34 win against Minnesota, their first Big Ten victory at home since October 2021.

Now, riding high off its most recent triumph, NU (2-2, 1-1 Big Ten) welcomes No. 6 Penn State for a showdown at Ryan Field.

The Nittany Lions (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) come to Evanston following a 31-0 trouncing of thenNo. 24 Iowa. As its offense — led by quarterback Drew Allar and a dynamic rushing duo of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton continues to establish itself — Penn State’s defense leads the charge as one of the most formidable units in the country.

Here are three storylines to read before NU’s clash with the Nittany Lions this weekend:

1. ‘Cats offense looking to carry momentum from Minnesota win

Penn State enters Ryan Field this weekend boasting one of the stingiest defenses in the country.

The Nittany Lions’ passing defense is the top unit in the country, allowing a mere 138 yards through the air, per contest through four games.

Penn State has also surrendered just 81.5 rushing yards per game to opponents this season, ranking 13th nationally.

During the second half and overtime against Minnesota, NU’s offense flipped on a dime. Graduate student quarterback Ben Bryant put up his best performance to date in the purple

and white, throwing for 269 yards and three touchdowns. He finished with 396 passing yards and four touchdowns.

“Even though the second half involved a very explosive passing game, the fact that we were able to move the line of scrimmage and establish the run game early played a factor,” interim head coach David Braun said. “The protection out of the offensive line was a huge factor.”

Put simply, the ‘Cats put up their best offensive display of the 2023 season.

It will be hard to replicate the same kind of scoring surge against the Nittany Lions, especially if NU falls behind early — a tale written every game.

Ultimately, the play of the offensive line — which is coming off its best game of pass protection on the season — will be paramount as it

looks to stymie a formidable Penn State front.

2. A critical turnover battle

In its opening four contests, no team has been able to force the Nittany Lions into coughing up the football.

Allar and the Penn State offense have an unblemished resume at the moment, but can the ‘Cats be the first team to force the Nittany Lions into a turnover?

Last year’s torrential downpour in College Park played a tremendous role in the unsightly offensive display, notably assisting NU in forcing five turnovers. While the weather conditions on Saturday will be mild, the ‘Cats will likely need to produce a similar level of chaos.

Conversely, Bryant and the NU offense will

need to protect the football. It may be easier said than done, but the ‘Cats can ill afford another instance where a turnover deep in their own territory sparks a scoring run from their opponent — like last Saturday against the Golden Gophers.

Win the turnover battle, odds are you win the game. It’s one of football’s oldest adages, but will likely ring true when NU takes the field this weekend.

3. Penn State not intimidated by Ryan Field atmosphere

NFL Hall of Famer and Colorado coach Deion Sanders has taken center stage around field noise at practice. Before the Buffaloes match up against then-No. 10 Oregon, Sanders blasted music at practice to prepare his players for the upcoming atmosphere.

But when asked about whether the Nittany Lions were practicing with any music to prepare for Saturday’s contest, coach James Franklin’s response was blunt.

“They were asking me to turn it up today and I said, ‘No,’” Franklin told a pool of reporters Wednesday.

Most NU students filtered out of the student section by the time the ‘Cats commenced their 21-point fourth quarter comeback. So, when Mangieri capped off NU’s revival in overtime, the ensuing field storm from the ‘Cats faithful was anything but large.

Inspired, sure. Massive in size, no.

Still, on the first game day with students back on campus, the NU student section was packed to the brim in the first quarter. And with the new points-based ticket claim system incentivizing attendance at all sporting events, one could expect similar devotion on Saturday, especially coming off a victory.

alexcervantes2024@u.northwestern.edu

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Northwestern junior offensive lineman Caleb Tiernan and graduate student quarterback Ben Bryant. Bryant threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns in the Wildcats’ win against Minnesota last Saturday.

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Family, faith and loyalty fuel Anto Saka

From mom’s crash course to game-changing ability

By JAKE EPSTEIN daily senior staffer @jakeepste1n

Ann Saka never considered herself a “football mom.”

A mother of six, she typically took her four daughters to piano, dance and swim practices. Her husband Anthony Saka handled the sports’ side for their two younger sons. The pair worked in tandem to build values of academics, faith and diligence in each of their children.

“My parents always stressed the fact that the only thing we own is a degree,” sophomore defensive end Anto Saka said.

Those family morals helped pave the way for him to become one of the most sought after high school prospects in the country, garnering more than 20 Power Five offers.

They kept him hungry while he bided his time during his freshman season, learning under veteran defenders like 2023 NFL draft pick Adetomiwa Adebawore. And when turmoil overtook Northwestern football’s summer, Anto Saka stuck to the program he’d committed to — before he burst onto the scene with two early season sacks.

Currently, the 6-foot-4 245-pounder leads the team in that category, but he’s not focused on stuffing the statsheet.

“I go punch through the tackle, shut off the gap and make a tackle,” Anto Saka said. “If I get a sack, great, (but) even if I don’t make the play, I still play a key part in helping my teammates.”

Ann Saka initially believed football was just a “recreational” game that helped her son stay in shape. No matter what, Ann Saka and her family placed academics on the highest pedestal.

But after seeing her son dedicate more and more time to the game he loved, she realized football was getting serious in her household. This came to a head during a Loyola Blakefield middle school game against its local rival Gilman School — one of the first games Ann Saka attended.

“I’m watching him, but not really understanding what he’s doing, except seeing him run up and down,” she said.

From the opening kickoff, she was introduced to an entirely new world — one where the spotlight shines brightest on her son and spectators spanning the sideline sing his praises. Everyone spoke a ‘football language’ that she had yet to understand.

Several years down the road, with Anto Saka in the thick of the recruiting process, his family accompanied him on some college visits across the country — far from his stomping grounds in the Baltimore metro.

Holding education at the forefront, Anto Saka and his family toured academic institutions like Duke University and the University of Michigan. Still looking to understand the fundamentals of football, Ann Saka confided in a USC coach, who told the doting mother to “tell him to squash the quarterback.”

As she continues to learn, that simple piece of advice continues to pay dividends, with Anto Saka wreaking havoc in opposing backfields.

“I’m learning it because of Anto, and it’s really fascinating and interesting,” Ann Saka said. “My daughters have been very helpful — my husband, too, (though) not as patient. I don’t know all the details, but I know enough to enjoy seeing my son play.”

***

Although high school football tryouts took place well before classes began, Loyola Blakefield varsity football coach Anthony Zehyoue’s first interaction with his future star was far from the gridiron.

A 2007 national champion with LSU, Zehyoue also served as a history teacher. Sure enough, Anto Saka was enrolled in the coach’s freshmen world history roster, where he immediately caught the coach’s eye.

“Here I am — the head football coach — with one of the biggest kids on the school campus in my class, and he’s not on the team,” Zehyoue said.

While Anto Saka decided to walk away from football prior to his freshman year of high school, it wasn’t long before he stepped back on the field.

Following a stint playing junior varsity basketball, his classmates and coach guided him back to a game he dominated since his peewee football days.

“I was pretty sure I was done, but (Zehyoue) sought me out on the field during PE class,’” Anto

Saka said. “He’s the one that instilled that belief back into me and that love for the game.”

Once he joined Zehyoue’s Dons’ squad, the defensive star took little time imposing his will whenever the whistles blew. In just a small sample of games, the coach knew he had a star on his hands.

Zehyoue said Anto Saka’s impact superseded the statsheet, so much that opposing coaches always brought up his number postgame.

This hype came to a culmination during his final high school game — the Turkey Bowl against his school’s archrival Calvert Hall College. Considered one of the biggest games in Maryland, the two teams have duked it out on Thanksgiving day for more than 100 years.

“The community talks about it all year,” Zehyoue said. “It’s bragging rights for the winner, and it’s a tough year for the loser.”

With the Dons carrying a six-game losing streak into the 2021 tilt, Anto Saka entered the game determined to cap his career off with the sweet taste of revenge. With his father watching in the stands and his mother glued to the television while cooking dinner, the defensive end went to work.

He covered nearly every inch of turf at Towson’s Johnny Unitas Stadium, tallying three sacks, a plethora of pressures and grabbing a 41-35 upset to put an exclamation point on a stellar high school tenure.

As he reflected on the sideline in a whirlwind of emotions, thinking of how everyone had counted his team out, Anto Saka knew this moment would far outlast the final horn. Hanging in his Phoenix, Maryland, bedroom, his unwashed No. 52 uniform serves as a constant, framed reminder of history he helped write — and his motivation to make a difference at the next level. ***

In the immediate aftermath of as tumultuous an offseason any program could have, many of Saka’s friends began reaching out, trying to gauge his interest in entering the transfer portal.

And no one would blame the former four star recruit for trying to hit the reset button, but he and his family knew that his loyalty to the purple and white

was firm. For Ann Saka, the answer stemmed back to her son’s days in the recruiting process.

An “unapologetically Christian” woman, Ann Saka prayed over one of the biggest decisions of her son’s life thus far. She dreamt that her son would wind up in Evanston — but didn’t tell him so he’d make his own decision.

Once he chose NU, Anto Saka’s word was his bond. According to his father, loyalty looms large in their family — and Anthony Saka urged his son to silence the outside noise and honor his initial commitment.

“You stay here and help the team to grow,” Anthony Saka told his son. “Football is a team sport, so they need you and others to build a strong team.”

Through transparent conversations with interim head coach David Braun, his family and close friends, Saka decided to remain a Wildcat and quickly returned to work with his teammates to prepare for what would be a season like no other.

That decision immediately paid off, with the pass rusher racking up sacks in consecutive weeks against UTEP and Duke. He was the first player to both record a sack this season for the ‘Cats and on Blue Devils quarterback Riley Leonard.

“That young man can rush the passer, no doubt about that,” Braun said. “He and I have talked about … (being) someone that can have a huge impact on the quarterback week in and week out, and he’s shown the ability to do that.”

Braun said he’s hoping the Maryland native can develop into an every down, unblockable player in conference play.

As Anto Saka continues to carve out more of a three-down role, he has the support of veterans and coaches alike — but the sophomore said it all starts with accountability. Keeping the same values his parents instilled at an early age, Anto Saka continues to strive toward his childhood dream of playing in the NFL.

“Looking at the man in the mirror and being honest with him has really paid off up to this point,” Anto Saka said. “Whatever I can do to help the team, that’s what I want. That’s the only thing going through my mind.”

Seeger Gray/Daily Senior Staffer

Price: Time to drop the ‘interim’ tag for Braun

By LAWRENCE PRICE daily senior staffer @lpiii_tres

The ‘interim’ in Northwestern football head coach David Braun’s title is an interesting one.

Of course, the program and the players don’t give it the time of day — that’s their head coach, point blank, period.

For outsiders, though, the seven-letter word sticks out like a sore thumb. When you look up Braun on Google or the Northwestern Athletics webpage, “interim” is glued to the next two words following it. Shoot, most Daily Northwestern stories that include Braun state ‘interim head coach’ when he’s first mentioned.

The word is the definition of a placeholder. It’s the idea of something being temporary. Good, but not good enough.

But after NU’s 37-34 win over Minnesota on Saturday, it’s time to drop the ‘interim’ tag.

I know it’s easiest to make this claim after the program’s most intense win since 2020. After a win like that, everything feels different — the air smells better, the music hits harder and haters’ voices begin to simmer out.

However, the ‘Cats comeback revealed the strong impact Braun has on the team. It showed how his passion and fire, which he’s talked about in multiple press conferences, has rubbed off on his players. After Saturday’s win, Braun noted that he wanted to let his ‘intense, competitive spirit’ loose following the Duke loss.

The team embodied that seven days later.

And most athletes are expected to have a fire that burns inside them before entering college — a type of adrenaline and motor that’s been churning nearly all their lives. But it’s even more

Hubert: Northwestern? Becoming a party school?

important for a head coach to be able to harness all of these emotions in a time of need like Saturday. The team needs a leader at the helm that they trust in a tight game to guide them in the right direction, or one they’re willing to fight for in overtime.

Braun has been that.

When he was appointed to his current role, there was no blueprint for success. If anything, it was already ripped up and shredded.

The entire world — even people without a lick of football knowledge — was peering down on the disarrayed program. And not to mention, he inherited a team that won one game in 2022 and was expected to attend Big Ten Media Days in less than two weeks after the promotion.

Now, NU is .500 four games into the season and seemingly more motivated than ever.

Of course, there’s a world where the ‘Cats don’t win another game this season (well, at least one more with Howard on Oct. 7). Nonetheless, Braun should be rewarded, at least based on the ‘Cats small sample size. He’s the face of the program’s future.

While dishing out credit, Braun loves to highlight everyone else around him, whether it’s his players, coaching staff, support staff or even his family. And that makes sense, his team wouldn’t be 2-2 without those groups. This topic wouldn’t be discussed without them.

However, it’s time for him to accept his own flowers.

I don’t know if Athletics Director Dr. Derrick Gragg and Braun have already had initial conversations about this topic, but if not, they should.

So, in a cliche way, the ball is in your court, Dr. Gragg.

lawrenceprice2024@u.northwestern.edu

By ELENA HUBERT daily senior staffer @elenahubert25

Clear skies, full(ish) stands, can’t lose.

Even before the ‘Cats captured their first Big Ten victory of the season , there was an air of hope in the backyards, alleyways and frat homes of Northwestern on Saturday. The flagship university of a historically dry town seemed to turn a new leaf.

As dedicated to my craft as I am, I spent my precious time before Northwestern’s home game against Minnesota attending as many darties (day parties, of course) as possible. My goal? Get a sense of how my fellow ‘Cats were rallying for one of the most embattled teams nationwide.

A few “SkeeYee”s and “Mo Bamba”s later, I think I’ve come to a conclusion — we’re back.

Purple and white pandemonium gripped the streets of Hamlin, Foster and Gaffield in something like a second Dillo Day. “What’s the move?” became “when’s the move?” as almost every fraternity (okay, we have about eight active Interfraternity Council chapters) and a share of clubs — allegedly even The Daily — hosted their pre-games. Did it matter that one darty-goer I spoke to didn’t know who the Wildcats were playing today? Jury’s still out, but she told me she would still, “of course,” be at the game. And I have no doubt in my mind that she was part of the atone-point-overflowing student section (three sections worth!).

There are a lot of variables at play here. We just finished the first week of classes, so there are no midterms lurking around the corner. Saturday’s

game opened with the Wildcat Dash, a tradition where freshmen are strongly encouraged to collectively run across the field. A night game means more time to get in party mode. And arguably most importantly, a 1-2 record is an energizing force compared to 1-11 last year.

Sure, shut me down with clips of Wisconsin’s crowd during “Jump Around” or photos of the hour-long lines outside of Illinois’ bars during Welcome Week. But to see hundreds of students rally together on game day for NU football given this summer’s events left me in awe.

No, I am not being paid by Wildside (our official student section), nor by any alumni (although my contact information is linked below). And, as the sister of a recent University of Georgia graduate and the daughter of Louisiana State and Arizona State alums, I really do know what a party school looks like.

Still, in our 9,000-strong undergraduate body, living in a suburban setting with no dedicated college bar, I see a hunger for camaraderie.

Ask any student what brought them here, and, nine times out of ten it’s the school’s marketing of a top ten institution with the fun of a Big Ten school. But what they really find on the campus maybe-not-so “just outside of Chicago” is a party culture only accessible to those with the funds to pay for $40 Uber rides to and from the city.

What I saw on Saturday was a welcome change.

We are no Michigan, nor Georgia, nor Colorado, but there’s something special brewing in Evanston. With a little leniency from our professors and another conference win from our football team, we can continue to work towards making Dillo Day every day.

elenahubert2025@u.northwestern.edu

Visperas: NU-Q students are tired of being overlooked

state-of-the-art facility, considered one of the largest media and communication campuses of its kind anywhere in the world.

provides the liberal arts foundation of the campus. e campus concentrates on amplifying voices,

our world. On top of that, the Political Union never formally apologized.

I am a proud Northwestern student. I am grateful and indebted to NU for providing me with a world-class education, as well as opportunities to further myself: not only in the fields of media and communication, but also in my passion for building bridges between communities.

However, most of you may not know that I am a student at NU’s campus in Qatar (NU-Q). Even though I studied in Evanston last year, that was only as part of the annual Evanston Communication Exchange Program. Save for the friends I made and the classmates I had in Evanston, most of you are probably unaware that NU has another campus outside of Illinois –– let alone know that it’s located far outside of the United States.

Recognized as a top higher education institution in the fields of journalism, media and communication, NU was invited by the Qatar Foundation in 2008 to establish a campus in Education City, an oasis in Doha, Qatar. The area also hosts other prestigious American universities including Georgetown University, Carnegie Mellon University and Cornell. Roughly seven thousand miles east of Evanston, NU’s campus in Doha is a

In the spirit of celebrating NU’s academic excellence, NU-Q brings together three of NU’s premier schools – the School of Communication, which provides a major in media industries and technologies (a hybrid of communication studies and radio-TV-film majors); the Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, which supports the NU-Q Journal-

NU-Q students are Northwestern students as much as you all are. We’re Wildcats too. We’re tired of being overlooked by the students in Evanston, of being treated like second-class Wildcats. Shouldn’t we all be on the same level in each other’s eyes?

ism & Strategic Communication program; and the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences, which

stories and perspectives from the Global South.

In the early months of the communication exchange program earlier this year, my fellow NU-Q classmates and I heard that a debate about NU-Q was happening on the Evanston campus. Advertised by NU Political Union, a non-partisan group whose mission is engaging the Northwestern community in political discussions, in February, the question was whether Northwestern should close its Qatar campus.

At rst, we were taken aback. My fellow exchange students and I e ectively represented NU-Q while we were in Evanston, and here came the startling discovery that some Evanston students were having a discussion about closing our campus without including us. e fact that the debate was billed as “a campus-centric topic” was enough for us to share it with our peers back in Doha. We had a right to say something about this, and to raise our concerns.

NU-Q students and alumni were deeply, and rightfully, angered by this motion. Many accused Evanston students of “playing the moral police,” of being “elitist” and “racist” and having “an imaginary sense of righteousness.” NU-Q community members also pointed out the Political Union did not take into account the perspectives of those who teach, work and study at NU-Q, nor did they ask NU-Q students to participate in the discussion.

Furthermore, in their debate primer, the Political Union stated that their organization debates on “relevant political topics that affect Northwestern students.” My question is, was NU-Q really a relevant political topic that affected Evanston students so much they agreed to hold a debate over it?

Most of my exchange cohort went to the debate. Two Evanston students who studied for a semester at NU-Q also a ended. e Political Union said at the beginning, “we do not mean to o end or invalidate the students, faculty and sta of NU-Q.”

As I listened in on the debate, I noted that there was a serious lack of awareness about NU-Q from the students involved. The whole thing was a very Western-centric view on NU-Q, Qatar and the Middle East. There was a sense that none of these students seemed to care about us, nor were they willing to reach out to, let alone visit, NU-Q and learn about

Crawford, Lachman: Opinion’s for everyone

COLIN CRAWFORD

OPINION EDITOR

AND ETHAN LACHMAN

ASSISTANT

OPINION EDITOR

As the new academic year kicks o , we want to remind students, sta and Evanston residents that the opinion section of e Daily Northwestern is open to all. It is truly the epitome

Telling your own story is a great way to get into opinion writing. e impact of a re ection that readers can see parts of themselves in cannot be understated.

- Colin Crawford & Ethan Lachman

of ‘choose your own adventure,’ a place where you have the ability to share your hot takes and

analyses.

We welcome all types of opinion pieces, not just those about politics, campus life or city issues. We’d love to read about your own life. Last year, assistant opinion editor Yiming Fu wrote a piece titled “Hookup culture helped

Opinion pieces have the unique ability to combine journalism’s dedication to truth and fact with the creative voice of the individual writer, and we think this can be shown through many mediums.

- Colin Crawford & Ethan Lachman

me nd myself. I wish it didn’t have to be that way.” for his column “Rice Purity,” in which he re ected on his journey to self-love. Current print managing editor Selena Kuznikov wrote a re ective piece titled “I deserve a li le treat, and so do you” in the spring to encourage self-care. ese are just a few of our recent personal narratives, and telling your own story is a great

way to get into opinion writing. e impact of a re ection that readers can see parts of themselves in cannot be understated.

More than anything, we want to make clear the opinion section is for everyone. You don’t have to be a student or a journalism major to write for us — we encourage people from all parts of Northwestern and Evanston communities to submit their pitches. at diversity of perspectives is what creates a powerful and representative opinion section — a place where people can express how they feel, in their own words.

We also are always looking to incorporate multimedia elements into the classic opinion piece, whether you’d like to record yourself reading your own piece, or include an accompanying illustration or cartoon. Opinion pieces have the unique ability to combine journalism’s dedication to truth and fact with the creative voice of the individual writer, and we think this can be shown through many mediums.

If there’s something you are passionate about, or a topic not usually covered by e Daily, send us a submission at opinion@dailynorthwestern. com. We would like to publish as many stories that meet our policies as possible, but submi ing an article does not guarantee publication.

Colin Crawford is a Medill junior. He can be contacted at colincrawford2025@u.northwestern.edu.

Ethan Lachman is a Medill junior. He can be contacted at ethanlachman2025@u.northwestern.edu.

By the end of the debate, only a fellow exchange student and I were left from our group. The debate completely erased the NU-Q community from the conversation. Instead, the discussion focused solely on the contexts of NU-Q’s environment, academic freedom and theoretical institutional issues as reasons for closure of our campus.

The debate was humiliating, for myself and every NU-Q student there. We witnessed

”

So, Wildcats, I’m asking you to look beyond the Evanston bubble. It’s time to question, to probe and to understand NUQ’s socio-academic environment.

how easily we were robbed of our humanity and existence. We felt unwelcome, unwanted and cut o from our fellow Wildcats in Evanston.

Although this instance doesn’t fully re ect the Evanston student population, it did raise some questions about the Evanston campus’ understanding of NU-Q, and about the serious need for greater intercampus conversations to develop stronger cultural, intellectual and institutional ties.

NU-Q students are Northwestern students as much as you all are. We’re Wildcats too. We’re tired of being overlooked by the students in Evanston, of being treated like second-class Wildcats. Shouldn’t we all be on the same level in each other’s eyes? Shouldn’t we be trying to build bridges to connect with one another, regardless of how large the distance between our campuses are?

So, Wildcats, I’m asking you to look beyond the Evanston bubble. It’s time to question, to probe and to understand NU-Q’s socio-academic environment. It’s also time to challenge your preconceived notions of the world beyond America — to think critically. All while respecting and lifting each other up so we are on the same level with each other.

If we’re not recognized as equal Wildcats, then you’re not just letting us down, you’re letting all of Northwestern down.

André Visperas is a Communication senior at NU-Q. They can be contacted at andrevisperas2024@u.northwestern.edu. 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.

The Daily Northwestern Volume 147, Issue 3

Editor in Chief

Avani Kalra

Opinion Editor Colin Crawford

Assistant

Opinion Editor Ethan Lachman

Managing Editors

Ella Je ries

Selena Kuznikov

Saul Pink

Scott Hwang Laura Simmons

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR may be sent to 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, via fax at 847-491-9905, via e-mail to opinion@ dailynorthwestern.com or by dropping a letter in the box outside THE DAILY office.

Letters have the following requirements:

• Should be typed and double-spaced

• Should include the author’s name, signature, school, class and phone number.

• Should be fewer than 300 words They will be checked for authenticity and may be edited for length, clarity, style and grammar.

Letters, columns and cartoons contain the opinion of the authors, not Students Publishing Co. Inc. Submissions signed by more than three people must include at least one and no more than three names designated to represent the group.

Editorials reflect the majority opinion of THE DAILY’s student editorial board and not the opinions of either Northwestern University or Students Publishing Co. Inc.

If we’re not recognized as equal Wildcats, then you’re not just le ing us down, you’re le ing all of Northwestern down.

- ANDRÉ VISPERAS, columnist

in agreement.

“There’s so many different needs in this community,” Brown told The Daily. “For an institution to settle on building a stadium as a contribution to the community, it’s just not morally correct.”

NAA consists of both Evanston community organizations and NU student organizations. Community Alliance for Better Government, the Most Livable City Association, Reclaim Evanston, Northwestern University Graduate Workers, Fossil Free Northwestern and Students Organizing for Labor Rights were all in attendance.

NAA’s principles statement states that the organization does not oppose the improvement of the football stadium, but instead is against the rezoning of the stadium and surrounding area for “commercial entertainment.”

The University announced its plans to rebuild Ryan Field last September, after the Ryan family made a donation of $480 million and the NU Board of Trustees approved an approximately $800 million budget for the project. Since the announcement, these groups and others have called for NU to establish a community benefits agreement — a legally enforceable contract between community organizers and a developer of a project — that would codify community demands into the project.

In a recent study on the rebuild commissioned by Evanston’s city government, consultants suggested a community benefits agreement should be reached. The University has not commented publicly on whether it intends to establish such an agreement.

As protesters continued their march, they exclaimed “One struggle, one fight, community benefits are our right” while walking down Sheridan Road.

Northwestern Graduate Worker Member Adam Goldsmith said he wants a community benefits agreement negotiated openly and equally between residents and city government.

“I’ve attended different city and Northwestern meetings, and a lot of the communication to me has been top down,” Goldsmith said. “All of these forms of communication should all be done publicly and out in the open.”

Goldsmith added that negotiations need to be a twoway street, and trust needs to be established between the two parties.

OER

From page 1

to be gained in terms of reducing costs to students. I would also argue we can produce textbooks that better suit our teaching because we can make these things tailor-made to our particular courses.”

McDonald hopes that students and faculty become more aware of OER in order to create a more equitable learning environment at NU.

Classified Ads

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN is not responsible for more than one incorrect insertion of an ad. Corrections must be received by 10am on the day before ad runs again, call 847-4917206. All Classifieds must be paid in advance and are not accepted over the phone. To run online, ad must run in print on same day. The Daily does not knowingly accept misleading or false ads and does not guarantee any ad or claim, or endorse any advertised product or service. Please use caution when answering ads, especially when sending money.

It is the policy of The Daily Northwestern to accept housing advertising only from those whose housing is available without discrimination with respect to sexual orientation, race, creed or national origin. The presumption is therefore, that any housing listing appearing here is non-discriminatory.

Earlier this month, the University announced a partnership with nonprofit organization Rebuilding Exchange, which it says will ensure 35% of all construction jobs in the rebuilding project will go to “minorityand women-owned businesses.”

Lesley Williams, president of the Community Alliance for Better Government, said she does not believe the University will truly commit to this goal and called into question its commitment to helping BIPOC Evanston residents. She said a community benefits agreement with specific goals needs to be drafted in order for the community to be able to legally hold NU and the city accountable.

“This is truly a community-wide movement and it’s not just going to affect the 7th ward,” Williams said.

In May, an updated zoning request from the University included a commitment to including a memorandum of understanding — which Williams says is not legally enforceable in the same way a community benefits agreement is.

Evanston resident and artist Diane Thodos created a political cartoon displayed on a few signs at the rally. It depicted a person operating a steamroller with the phrase “NU Zoning Change” written on it rolling over Evanston residents, representing how she says residents are being “steamrolled by Northwestern.”

“I’m mad as hell,” she said. “We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore. Northwestern has really transformed from an institution of higher education to an institution of corporate greed. It’s extracting so much wealth from our community.”

Protesters continued to march and eventually made their final stop outside of the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center and later entered council chambers during a City Council meeting, chanting for several minutes before being asked to leave. Evanston police blocked off sections of Sheridan Road, Central Street and Ridge Avenue throughout the peaceful protest.

Communication senior and Fossil Fuel Northwestern member Jordan Muhammad said they were excited to see people from NU student organizations engaging with the Evanston community and hope in the future, more students will rally for change in Evanston and at the university.

“I think it’s really important that as undergrad students we engage with the Evanston community around us and really connect with each other so that we can work together to make the university listen and to build our power,” Muhammad said.

selenakuznikov2025@u.northwestern.edu

Weinberg sophomore Miriam Mae supports professors using more affordable resources to accommodate students in all different financial situations.

“I think it’s a pretty good opportunity if we could just get (textbooks) for free, especially for students from more diverse backgrounds that might not be able to afford textbooks,” Mae said.

leahschroeder2026@u.northwestern.edu

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN is not responsible for more than one incorrect insertion of an ad. Corrections must be received by 10am on the day before ad runs again, call 847-4917206. All Classifieds must be paid in advance and are not accepted over the phone. To run online, ad must run in print on same day. The Daily does not knowingly accept misleading or false ads and does not guarantee any ad or claim, or endorse any advertised product or service. Please use caution when answering ads, especially when sending money.

HELP WANTED ADS are accepted only from advertisers who are equal opportunity employers. The presumption, therefore, is that all positions offered here are available to qualified persons without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, handicap, or veteran status.

Complete the grid so each ROW, COLUMN and 3-by-3 BOX (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk

SOLUTION

From page 1

price tag.

“We can kind of touch base with your parents and be like, ‘I saw him from afar, he’s okay,’” she said.

Bernstein said she can imagine situations where having a local mom or dad like Metz could be helpful.

“One thing that you’re used to at home is like, when you’re sick, you can just tell your parents to figure it out for you,” Bernstein said.

mindyKnows — the brainchild of Mindy Horwitz — was born four years ago, after Horwitz’s son started at WashU. After seeing parents ask questions on Facebook that only a local could answer, she saw an opportunity to help people from out of town.

So far, Horwitz says, she’s helped hundreds of families. She bristles at the idea that her company is a concierge for the coddled.

“I think some people might have the wrong impression that we are preventing students from becoming independent,” Horwitz said. “Our

INFLUENCERS

From page 1

that you’re not featuring content that makes them uncomfortable.”

According to data from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, influencing has evolved into a multimillion dollar industry “Mom influencers” — content creators who mainly feature their children and family on social media— account for 30% of the total.

Grange, who said she doesn’t feature her own children online without their permission, noted that many parents do profit off their children on social media.

“I do think that there’s a lot of situations out there where parents are cashing in on their kids, and that’s super sad,” Grange said.

The Illinois legislation is modeled after California’s Coogan Law, which is named after child actor Jackie Coogan and protects child performers by placing 15% of their earnings into a blocked trust account.

Sociologist and Brown University Prof. Hilary Levey Friedman wrote an article in October 2022 calling for the expansion of the Coogan Law to protect different types of child performers.

“I’d love to see more states passing Coogan laws, not just protecting child performers, but also including reality TV performers and kids performing and earning on social media,” Friedman told The Daily.

Some states, like Washington, are looking to pass legislation similar to Illinois to strengthen

students are independent thinkers … they navigate their own college experience.”

When Metz approached Horwitz about expanding to NU, Horwitz liked the idea because of NU’s many similarities to WashU, including large numbers of out-of-state and international students, she said. Metz also has a purple connection: She’s the wife of a Pritzker School of Law graduate and the daughter of an NU alum.

For now, Metz says she’s focusing on “getting the name out there” and hopes to land 30 clients by the end of the academic year.

Metz — the mother of three, including a son she just moved into his freshman dorm at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. — said she identifies with the label of “stand-in mom,” but she prefers “standin support.” She isn’t sure yet where she draws the line between being a local resource and overstepping into a college student’s life, but there’s one task that’s a dealbreaker.

“I don’t think we’re hand-holding,” Metz said. “I mean, I’m not ironing sheets.”

saulpink2025@u.northwestern.edu

child labor laws. Yet, others are taking steps to loosen these regulations. Iowa passed a bill to extend allowable working hours for children in May.

Friedman said the Illinois legislature is “forward thinking” in leading the fight to protect child performers, moving ahead of states with larger entertainment markets like New York and California.

Koheler said he hopes Illinois’ efforts will encourage other states to take action.

“We were right in doing something about this sooner rather than later,” Koheler said. “It will be a model and others will follow.”

katewalter2025@u.northwestern.edu

DAILY CROSSWORD

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols

Illustration by Lily Ogburn

A new Illinois law aims to protect the children of influencers.

Feinberg granted millions for medical developments

By NORA COLLINS daily senior staffer @noracollins02

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health awarded researchers at Northwestern and seven other institutions a $45 million grant to continue developing a small, implantable device that could detect and treat cancer, NU announced Tuesday.

The multi-institutional effort is funded by the agency, which aims to fast-track novel cancer technologies. The Biden-Harris administration recently pledged ARPA-H almost $115 million to support

NUPrint

By NORA COLLINS daily senior staffer @noracollins02

Northwestern Print replaced NUPrint in late June as part of the Procurement and Payment Services department’s effort to reduce costs and unify printing services across NU’s Evanston and Chicago campuses.

As students and staff return to campus for Fall Quarter, the new system is being put to the test.

NUPrint was run by three different vendors providing copying, printing and scanning devices, whereas Northwestern Print is entirely managed by Ricoh, a digital business service and printing company.

That allowed for reduced costs and one backend solution to connect all NU departments, according to Bob Trautvetter, director of information technology infrastructure at NU Libraries.

With a lower cost for the University, students now pay less per page — three instead of five cents for black and white and ten cents instead of twenty for color printing, Trautvetter said. However, the formerly $12 printing subsidy included in undergraduate tuition has been reduced to $6.

Trautvetter said one of Northwestern Print’s biggest advantages is “mobility print,” a feature that allows students to have the print queue directly set up on their laptop or mobile device, as opposed to the NUPrint web portal.

Cancer Moonshot objectives, which include preventing over four million cancer deaths by 2047 and improving the quality of life of those diagnosed.

The contract will support research and development of the device for five and a half years, according to a Tuesday news release from the University. The first four years will be dedicated to device development and animal models, with human clinical trials in ovarian cancer patients beginning in the fourth year.

The project is not just multi-institutional, but multidisciplinary — it involves engineers, physicians and specialists in synthetic biology, materials science, immunology, oncology, electrical engineering and artificial intelligence.

The device — one centimeter in diameter — will

continuously adjust immunotherapy doses to monitor the cancer’s progression, personalizing a traditionally one-size-fits-all treatment approach in a new way.

“From a clinical perspective, this could be a gamechanging approach to cancer therapy. It’s personalized, multi-modal and could improve access to care,” McCormick Prof. Jonathan Rivnay said in the release. “This concept of a regulated cell-based therapy also is exciting for other areas of medicine, and this project allows us to develop the toolbox of components needed to make it a reality.”

As a co-principal investigator on the project, Rivnay leads device development. His NU lab develops biocompatible electronics that produce and deliver molecules through living engineered cells. The

implantable cancer device will take a similar approach.

Researchers say the device could reduce U.S. cancer-related deaths by 50% and improve outcomes for those with hard-to-treat diseases such as ovarian and pancreatic cancer.

“Sensing in the complex environments in the body is a well-known, challenging task,” Rivnay said in the release. “The Northwestern-led effort will tackle these challenges with the goal of stable and continuous monitoring of biochemical signals that will provide real-time readouts of cancer progression and therapy — rather than sparse snapshots that are more typical in current practice.”

noracollins2025@u.northwestern.edu

“It’s not something students, faculty or staff will be as familiar with initially,” Trautvetter said. “Students are going to web print because that’s what they know. But I think it’s a big feature that will make printing a little easier for students.”

Cash is no longer an option for payment. However, Cat Cash can be used across campus printing and dining services, and any leftover student funds from NUPrint have been transferred to Cat Cash.

Undergraduate student ASG printing subsidies are also accommodated in the new service.

Mudd Library assistant Seph Mozes said payment issues prompted NU Libraries to make printing free for a period of time over the summer.

“As of a couple of weeks into the school term, I feel like we’ve been doing just fine,” Mozes said. “Graduate students don’t normally use Cat Cash as much as undergraduates, so I’ve been explaining what Cat Cash is (to them).”

Trautvetter said printing has dropped roughly 60% from pre-pandemic levels. Currently, four out of 10 schools across NU’s two campuses are part of the new system, along with a number of non-academic units like the library. The transition should be finalized within the remaining schools and departments in the next two to four months, he said.

The project is the result of over three years of work; a request for this proposal came out just ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trautvetter said. For security reasons, a VPN is required if an

individual is not connected to the “eduroam” network or a wired connection, he added.

Weinberg sophomore Miles Azuma-Hall , a former Daily staffer, said he has printed around $15 worth of supplies as practice coordinator for NU Swim Club, which requires printing out pool and dryland sets. He said he noticed the printing subsidy dropped, but overall has had a positive experience

with Northwestern Print.

“The system is much better than last year,” Azuma-Hall said. “Last year I had problems all the time … I have noticed there’s a few extra button presses, but honestly, that works out, because the website updates pretty well.”

noracollins2025@u.northwestern.edu

June Woo/The Daily Northwestern

Students pay less per page with Northwestern Print, which replaced the NUPrint system.

NU Athletics talks new points-based ticket system

By ALEX CERVANTES daily senior staffer @cervantespalex

One thousand, seven hundred and forty-six.

That’s the number of students who filed into Welsh-Ryan Arena to watch Northwestern volleyball take on No. 1 Wisconsin last Friday, the largest student crowd to witness an event at the arena. That figure was probably an underestimation, according to Andrew Cass, NU Athletics’ associate director of marketing and fan engagement.

This spike in attendance at fall sporting events has been propelled by a new ticket claim incentive for men’s basketball games.

The new points-based initiative was outlined in an email sent to NU students on Sept. 18. Point totals differ between sports — five for women’s basketball, four for Olympic sports, three for football and so on — in hopes of driving attendance to games.

Students can continue accumulating points over the weekend, including at field hockey and volleyball matches against Michigan State on Friday.

The Daily spoke to Cass and Walker Read, assistant director of ticket operations, about the ticket claim process for men’s basketball games this winter, increased attendance at fall sporting events and much more.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The Daily: Northwestern men’s basketball attendance soared during conference play last season. With concerns over the efficacy of the online claim process, what went into this year’s new points-based system approach?

Cass: Doing a more formalized process. We can’t just let everyone hop on and try to claim at the same time, even though we knew (the website) wouldn’t crash. How do we help our other programs that are just as good, if not better?

There’s a lot of fun happening in all our other venues for other sports.

They’re very competitive.

We were like, ‘What’s the best way to reward that priority (given to other programs)?’ It’s if you’re supporting student-athletes, your other peers, which, in turn, is our points system. It’s to reward the most passionate and supportive students, and if you show up at events, then they will calculate on the back end.

The Daily: What are the four claim windows, and how will that work for students?

Cass: We’ll package non-conference in-session, out of session (non-conference) and then we’ll have Big Ten (play) split into two categories. This is, once again, to minimize the amount of claiming.

(The way the claim window will work) is, ‘Hey, the top 250 people with the most points get to claim tickets on Monday.’ Then, the next 250 people get to claim their tickets on Tuesday, and then so on and so forth.

If someone gets the Monday claim and doesn’t claim that day, you can have all week until tickets are gone to claim them. The idea is that we reward those students that are showing up and getting points, and we’re still giving an opportunity to those who are maybe a little later (in the week).

The Daily: Points will accumulate over four years, but what went into the decision to not give seniors a points boost?

Read: We went back and forth for weeks on whether or not to do it. We want the most passionate student body to be there and create a good atmosphere. If you’re going to every single game supporting athletics, you should be granted the best opportunity. And, of course, seniors have gone to different events (over the years), but at the same time, if you’re going to those events now, you’re going to get points and have higher priority.

Cass: It’s important to understand that it wasn’t a light decision. Just thinking of the simple math: If we gave a senior five points to start with and someone else attends a women’s basketball game, they’re already at that

level. So how helpful would that have really been? We felt like it would’ve been checking a box. We don’t want to be performative. At the end of the day, if you’re passionate, love the ‘Cats and want to be there, then you’re going to have points, and you will get priority.

The Daily: For students who are not on campus this fall and thus unable to accumulate points, how can they attend basketball games in the winter?

Cass: We’re going to have a separate lottery for those that are studying abroad this fall. It will be the same claim windows, the same games for each window.

The registrar’s office has been very helpful in getting us student information, especially understanding that this is a brand new system. We’re trying to help students.

It’s going to be a feeling out process, but that’s kind of the best way we know how to help those students that aren’t physically here to get points. We don’t want them to miss out, especially if they are juniors and seniors, and they had been supportive when no one else was supportive.

The Daily: How did the athletics department ultimately determine each team’s points total for sporting events, particularly with women’s basketball so heavily weighted?

Cass: This was another topic that wasn’t easy to come to, and I don’t think everyone agreed on it. There’s so much participation in men’s basketball and, from an equity standpoint, there was little to none for women’s basketball last year.

I think this was more of an olive branch to our women’s basketball program to be like, ‘Come support them, too.’ It’s a fun environment, and they need the lift from student support.

The Daily: Were there any discussions over the summer about whether to increase the size of the student section?

Cass: We have expanded the student section this year.

MEN’S GOLF

Read: It’s an 11% increase in available student tickets, with a potential 27% jump if we can open up nonconference. So depending on the game, it can go up to that number.

The Daily: The email to students mentions the standby line from last season will return. Can you quantify how many tickets will be available to students at a given game?

Cass: We’ll probably have to figure out what our comfortability is announcing what those additional tickets look like. For instance, for Dayton, I think we’ll have no problem getting people to claim their tickets and sell out.

Western Michigan may be more of a problem. Do we feel comfortable on that Friday before being like, ‘Hey, we still have 300 tickets, so if you want, come to the standby line’? It’ll just be a vibe thing.

The Daily: Attendance at volleyball

has skyrocketed with new records set against Yale and Wisconsin. Did you expect this level of engagement so soon, and do you expect it to continue through the quarter?

Cass: No, I didn’t expect that against Yale and Wisconsin. No one was expecting that turnout, and a ton of people didn’t get scanned. No one could believe their eyes — we were all just shocked. Now, this incentive structure is helpful. I think volleyball has some cool giveaways coming up. My general philosophy in this job is if I can get (students) there, once they’re there, they’re going to want to come back because they’re going to have a good time.

Read: Always remember as a student, athletics is an escape. Classes are hard, it’s taxing, but (athletics) is a good way to set the book down, set your computer down, log off and go have fun with your friends for three hours.

alexcervantes2024@u.northwestern.edu

NU hosts Windon Memorial Classic, finishes in sixth

By LUCAS KIM daily senior staffer @lucaskim_15

The last time Northwestern competed at the Windon Memorial Classic, history was made. Entering the final round of the 2022 tournament tied for sixth place, the Wildcats overcame a 12-stroke lead and tallied a tournament-record 10-under 270 to capture the title.

The 2023 Windon Memorial Classic, however, didn’t bring the same luck. After maintaining a top-three position through two rounds, NU was unable to hold on and fell to a sixth-place finish at 22-under.

The tournament — hosted by the ‘Cats — brought 15 teams from all over the country, including four other Big Ten squads.

The first round saw an impressive start for NU. Both sophomore Ethan Tseng and graduate student James Imai led the team with 4-under performances, while junior Cameron Adam and sophomore Daniel Svärd carded a 3-under 68 and 2-under 69, respectively.

That was enough to propel the ‘Cats into second place, two strokes behind eventual winners Purdue.

The subsequent round provided more

of the same as NU tallied a 9-under 275 –– good enough to secure a third-place position by the end of the round.

Once again, Tseng led the squad with a 5-under 66, including six birdies. The sophomore moved into third place individually, following two excellent rounds.

Adam joined freshman Niall ShielsDonegan at 2-under for the round, with Imai and Svärd tallying even par scores (71).

With only two strokes separating the third-place ‘Cats and sixth-place South Florida, there wasn’t much room for error entering the final round.

Unfortunately for NU, a few minor miscues were all it took to drop out of the top five. An even-par 284 brought the ‘Cats one shot behind fifth-place North Florida at the tournament’s conclusion.

After tying for 18th place at the Gopher Invitational two weeks prior, Tseng stepped up and led the team with a 10-under 203, leading them to a fourth-place tie individually. Adam also placed in the top 10, tying for ninth at 7-under.

As the host of the tournament, NU was able to bring more players than usual, offering valuable playing time to four individual golfers, in addition to the five competing in the team’s rotation.

Out of the four players competing as individuals, freshman Archie Finnie stood out with a 2-under 211, tying for

34th place. The ‘Cats will make their next trip to Indiana, competing at the Fighting Irish

Classic on Oct. 1. lucaskim2025@u.northwestern.edu

Photo courtesy of Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics

Sophomore Ethan Tseng hits the ball. Tseng led the ‘Cats with a fourth-place individual finish at the Windon Memorial Classic.

Daily file photo by Joanne Haner Northwestern students wave balloons during the Wildcats’ regular season finale against Penn State last season. NU Athletics introduced a new student ticket claim process for men’s basketball games this year.