Serving the Northwestern and Evanston communities since 1881
The Daily Northwestern Monday, October 23, 2023
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM 5 A&E/Jewish Theatre Ensemble
3 CAMPUS/Afrobeats symposium
Gruesome Playground Injuries opens at Shanley
Scholars from around the world present research at Northwestern Afrobeats symposium
Find us online @thedailynu Scan this QR code with your camera to listen to a podcast on the Jewish Theatre Ensemble.
High 63 Low 45
Office vacancies on the rise downtown City officials warn vacancy rates could continue upwards By SHUN GRAVES
the daily northwestern @realshungraves
The office vacancy rate in downtown Evanston has seen an uptick — and city officials warn the trend could continue unabated going into 2024. Evanston Economic Development Manager Paul Zalmezak said the downtown vacancy rate stood at 12.6% as of last week, compared to a rate around 11.3% earlier this year. Concerns have grown, Zalmezak said, as an internal city database projects the rate to rise by several digits next year. “The trend upward is highly likely,” he said. “Evanston’s always performed better than other suburban submarkets, so sometimes these algorithms apply a straight model to the entire suburbs.” While Zalmezak said the model could be overestimating the rate, the trend spells trouble for the health of downtown offices, which drive retail spending and foot traffic. Across the country, downtowns continue to feel the effects of pandemic-era remote work. Chicago hit a record
downtown office vacancy rate of 23.7% last quarter, higher than Evanston’s peak of 15.4% recorded in December 2021. Zalmezak said he wouldn’t call the recent uptick in vacancies a “crisis,” but it could escalate if the city sees a drop in lease renewals. Even so, the rate has held roughly steady over the past year — and downtown boosters still expect the district to attract companies from around the Chicago area. “There is certainly opportunity to fill some vacant space,” said Andy Vick, executive director of nonprofit group Downtown Evanston. “But I would also say that there are exciting things that are happening.” Two parts of the UL product testing enterprise — UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement — will open new headquarters downtown next month. The safety science and research organizations will move from their office park in Northbrook. “Having more of that proximity to transportation, to restaurants — a lot of our talent coming into the workforce now has different kinds of demands,” said Kristen Delphos, vice president of communications and public
» See VACANCY, page 6
Photo courtesy of Tom Agudo/Northwestern Athletics
Northwestern celebrates its first Big Ten regular season title since 2013, following the Wildcats’ 2-1 win over No. 4 Rutgers Sunday.
‘Cats capture conference crown Weekend sweep clinches first Big Ten regular season title since 2013 By ALEX CERVANTES
daily senior staffer @cervantespalex
With her back to the goal and a Big Ten championship hanging in the balance,
graduate student midfielder Peyton Halsey was shielding the ball from the prodding jabs of Rutgers goalkeeper Sophia Howard. Ten shots earlier, Halsey evaded Howard to score the opening goal of No. 1
Northwestern’s penalty shootout with the No. 4 Scarlet Knights (15-1, 6-1 Big Ten). This time, instead of dribbling to her right as she had just minutes prior, Halsey turned left and ripped a tomahawk shot into the back of the cage,
clinching a 2-1 (4-3) win for the Wildcats (15-1, 7-0 Big Ten) and a share of the Big Ten regular season title. NU’s victory Sunday marks the program’s first regular season
» See FIELD HOCKEY, page 6
Maddow talks history, anti-fascism YAMO show sees MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow spoke Thursday in Harris Hall By ISAIAH TATUM
the daily northwestern
Political commentator and author Rachel Maddow discussed historical fascism at Northwestern and the Chicago Humanities Festival Thursday. The talks centered around historic examples of figures protecting democracy from fascist ideologies portrayed in her new book, “Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism.” Maddow currently hosts “The Rachel Maddow Show,” which airs on MSNBC. She has also authored four books. The most recent, “Prequel,” was released Tuesday. Maddow headlined a small, closed event in Harris Hall in front of history faculty and graduate students. Alongside a panel of select NU history professors, the television host led a dialogue about the stories presented in “Prequel” and the intersections between history and public dialogue. History Prof. Kathleen Belew joined Maddow as a panelist at the University event. “‘Prequel’ shows us that antifascist — that is to say, anti-Nazi — organizing has been part of
Recycle Me
mainstream American politics for a long, long time, and has fundamentally worked to support institutions, free elections and democracy,” Belew said. Maddow discussed her position as a non-historian author and the importance of engaging in conversations about history regardless of profession. She said history plays an integral role in her work. “I often turn to history just to make sense of things myself,” Maddow said. Maddow said her inspiration for the book was wanting to expand on discussions of insurrectionist attempts that were featured in her 2022 podcast series, “Ultra.” She described a desire to tell a story that exhibits the “ordinariness of heroes.” Later in the day, Maddow and Belew engaged in a one-onone conversation at the Chicago Humanities Festival. Over 1,000 people attended the sold out event at the University of Illinois Chicago. Maddow spoke of the importance of telling stories that otherwise wouldn’t be told. She said that characters of “Prequel” could serve as an example of modern-day
66th production ‘Stage Fright’ theme of ETHS student-run show By ANAVI PRAKASH
the daily northwestern
Emma Richman/The Daily Northwestern
Rachel Maddow spoke with history Prof. Kathleen Belew at the Chicago Humanities Festival.
anti-fascist action. “In the future, somebody will do a book or whatever future version is of a podcast, about our time,” Maddow said. “About our sort of turn on the chore wheel when this came around for us as Americans who are called upon to save democracy.” Attendee Lee Ann Searight said
she went to the talk because she thought both the book and the Maddow-Belew discussion were very necessary. “My husband and I usually watch Rachel Maddow,” Searight said. ”We thought it is probably relevant to the time we’re in.” isaiahtatum2027@u.northwestern.edu
Evanston Township High School’s theater department is putting on its 66th production of YAMO, an entirely studentcreated sketch comedy show. This year’s theme for the show is “Stage Fright.” Timothy Herbert, ETHS theater teacher and YAMO director, sees YAMO as a key part of Evanston’s fall traditions. Herbert says when he talks to ETHS alumni, all they want to talk about is YAMO. And the show is popular beyond the alumni community — tickets for the show sold out a week before performances began. “It’s kind of been a legacy for us,” he said. Communication freshman Casey Bond, a former ETHS student who served as
a writer and director for his senior YAMO show, said that students spend the first two weeks of the summer creating the show’s plot and brainstorming with all the writers and directors of the show. Writing materials for auditions, however, starts much earlier. Bond said this process begins in May of the school year before the show. The cast is divided into four companies — Acting, Impulse, Dance and Unexpected — each of which has its own director. Bond, who acted in YAMO during his sophomore and junior years, wanted to make sure his company felt like they were included in the theater community that could sometimes be “cliquey.” Gracie Puricelli, a junior at ETHS, is part of this year’s Dance company and is doing one skit with Unexpected. Puricelli decided to audition again for YAMO after participating last year because she enjoyed being part of its
» See YAMO, page 6
INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | A&E 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8