The Daily Northwestern — November 7, 2022

Arts & Entertainment

Black city employees raise equity concerns

Employees publish report detailing city discrimination

By SELENA KUZNIKOV daily senior staffer @selenakuznikov

After approximately 30 Black city of Evanston employees hosted an internal meeting in August to share their workplace experiences, Black city employ ees have now published a report alleging inequitable and unjust practices in the workplace.

Written by employees across various departments, divisions and ages, the 39-page report, released Nov. 1, states Black city employees face racial discrimina tion and institutional inequities and barriers.

The City of Evanston Black Employee Action Group pub lished the report and said it aimed to highlight inequities and provide a “solution-based frame work” to improve city work places for all employees. The report’s authors remain anony mous, with the group requesting protection for employees behind the letter under whistleblower protection laws.

“What we identified at (the August meeting) is that our experiences may seem singular,

but are actually part of a deeper sys temic racial issue rooted in the policies and politics of our work place,” the report said.

The report cited anonymous lived experiences from Black employees. Employees alleged a culture of racist comments and microaggressions from coworkers, unfair hiring practices, inequitable workloads and a lack of upward mobility or opportu nities in the workplace, among other discriminatory practices.

The report alleged that the city’s Human Resources depart ment failed to adequately inves tigate complaints filed by Black employees, stating that many incidents reported to HR had little to no follow-up under previous and current Evanston leadership.

The group also referenced the 2022 lakefront report published by Salvatore, Prescott, Porter & Porter, which found the city HR department and city officials had failed in addressing systemic sexual misconduct and physical abuse along Evanston’s lakefront employees. The lakefront report alleges inadequate documenta tion of reports, inconsistent complaint responses, a lack of necessary training and capacity to handle investigations, among

» See DISCRIMINATION, page 11

Wildcats fall to No. 2 Ohio State

Cats come up short against Buckeyes amid wild weather conditions

By JOHN RIKER daily senior staffer @jhnriker

On Tuesday afternoon before Northwestern’s home contest

against No. 2 Ohio State, offen sive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian added mete orologist to his responsibilities.

Up against the Buckeyes’ vaunted unit, the third-year offen sive coordinator designed a game

Residents discuss budget worries

City hosts events for constituent input on proposed budget for 2023

By JEREMY FREDRICKS the daily northwestern @jsfredricks

About 10 Evanston resi dents gathered to raise con cerns about a lack of transpar ency around the city’s 2023 proposed budget at a Thurs day town hall.

The proposed budget of about $402.5 million would be an 11.7% increase from last year. It features more funding to help the city lower carbon emissions under the Climate Action and Resilience Plan and to hire additional staffers for a variety of departments.

About a quarter of the budget will support infrastructure and civic projects under the Capital Improvement Plan.

Hosted at the Evanston Ecology Center, the Thursday event was the city’s second town hall on the subject, with the first one held in Spanish on Oct. 26.

Trisha Connolly was one of several residents who pointed to a lack of transparency from the city in its past and current financial affairs.

plan that adjusted to the windy and rainy forecast by leaning heavily on the run, with a specific emphasis on Wildcat formations that would directly snap the ball to the Wildcats’ running backs.

“[Coach Bajakian] and the

offensive staff did a good job putting together an outstand ing plan,” head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We had to wait until practice Tuesday to » See FOOTBALL , page 11

Here’s how to vote as a student at NU

Ahead of midterms, Wildcats prepare to vote in Evanston

By PAVAN ACHARYA daily senior staffer @pavanacharya02

The 2022 midterm elec tions are fast approaching, and Northwestern students and faculty have multiple on-campus voting resources available from now through Election Day on Nov. 8.

NU community members can choose to either vote in the Illinois elections or those of another home state. Those who choose to vote in Illinois can request a mail-in ballot or vote in person, either early or on Election Day.

In Illinois, absentee bal lot requests are due five days prior to the election. The bal lots themselves must be post marked by Election Day.

Those who have missed absentee ballot deadlines in Illinois can register to vote online or in person on

Election Day. Voters who plan to register when they vote in person must bring two forms of identification: one to estab lish their identity and another to show proof of an Illinois address. Election Day polling locations on or near the NU Evanston campus include the Noyes Cultural Arts Center by North Campus and Parkes Hall on South Campus and will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Those voting out of state can vote by mail-in ballot or in person in their home state on or before Election Day.

Voting rules vary through out each of the 50 states. For example, Nebraska requires absentee ballots to be requested 11 days before Elec tion Day, whereas requests are due one day prior in Montana. Some states like Pennsylvania require that mail-in ballots are postmarked and received by Election Day. Meanwhile, New York requires the ballots be postmarked and received within seven days of Election

Alyce Browne/Daily Senior Staffer

The Wildcats huddle before a play. Northwestern played through intense wind and a rainstorm in Saturday’s contest, a 21-7 loss to No. 2 Ohio State.

“People are not going to be able to stay in this town, if that’s the train that we continue to drive,” Connolly

said. “I feel like we don’t have a holistic picture.”

Evanston

Chief Financial Officer Hitesh Desai and

Budget Manager Clayton Black delivered a presentation

Jeremy Fredricks/The Daily Northwestern

Evanston Chief Financial Officer Hitesh Desai presents the 2023 proposed budget to residents at a Thursday town hall. Residents expressed concerns about several aspects of the budget, especially transparency, during the town hall.

Ulki Toys fosters representation through crochet

By SAMANTHA POWERS the daily northwestern

Unika Gujar makes crochet toys for everyone: babies, college students and adults. One woman Gujar met at a pop-up took particular delight in her handmade teddy bears — before declaring herself to be “70 years young.”

Gujar, owner of Ulki Toys, sells animals, purses, keychains and more through her pop-up shops and Instagram and Facebook pages. She started the business 10 years ago, when she wanted to make her baby niece a handmade toy with sen timental value. The name “Ulki” comes from a nickname that Gujar’s family calls her niece.

“Because these (toys) are handmade, they hold a certain place in someone’s life,” Gujar said. “These are not just any toys that you would get in a store or buy on Amazon. These are specially hand crafted, each toy made with a lot of care and love.”

Now, Gujar said her business is thriving.

Growing up in India, Gujar enjoyed playing with dolls, but she noticed their blond hair and blue eyes didn’t look like her. She crochets dolls of all kinds, hoping that children will be able to see themselves in her toys.

Gujar said she’s seen that vision come true: at one local business fair, a girl pointed to one of Gujar’s dolls, delighted that it looked like her.

“There was a Black doll with beads in her hair, and she was like, ‘Mama, that looks like me! Can I have that one?’” Gujar said. “That is something I have seen all these years, and I feel that is really amazing.”

Though she has crocheted since she was 12, Gujar said her most complex creations still take her four or five hours. But the labor is worth it when she sees the joy on the kids’ faces.

Brian Urban said Gujar’s doll helped his 9-year-old daughter Lily last month when she got into a bike accident.

Lily ended up in the hospital and had to endure seven stitches. She found comfort in her doll, Rosetta.

“(Lily takes Rosetta) a lot of places,” Urban said. “She tries to be fair to her animal friends, but yes, Rosetta travels a lot.”

While Lily found her toy helpful in her time of need, 10-year-old Helena, whose parent asked for her last name to be omitted, is another of Gujar’s customers, and enjoys her toys in a more playful context.

Helena said she currently has five Ulki Toys dolls, all animals dressed in colorful outfits. She said it’s hard to choose between her two favorites: a red monkey wearing green overalls or a bunny wearing a fuzzy blue sweater.

Sara Shaaban — mom to five-year-old Reece and three-year-old Georgia — said her kids are avid fans of the store. Earlier this year, Shaaban was selling goods from her self-care shop, Witchy Woman World Apothecary, at West End Market,

where Ulki Toys also had a stall. She said her kids begged all day for Gujar’s toys.

She ended up trading her own goods for a doll for Georgia and a blue rhino for Reece.

“We can all continue to lift each other up, sup port one another, keep money flowing, and keep inspiration and motivation high,” she said.

Gujar’s prices range from $5 for emoji keychains to $50 for full-sized dolls, all of which are handmade. Her toys are meant to be enjoyed, Gujar added.

“It’s pretty affordable, I feel,” Gujar said. “I have kept it that way because I want these toys to have a house in every child’s home.”

samanthapowers2026@u.northwestern.edu

Setting the record straight

Clarification: A story in the Oct. 31 paper titled “City celebrates Día de los Muertos” neglected to mention the Indigenous origins of Día de los Muertos in its sub-headline. While the day is widely celebrated across Latin America today, it originated from the region’s Indigenous communities. The Daily is commit ted to accurately reporting on the communities we serve.

Donald Schleicher, guest music director

W. A. Mozart, Overture to Le nozze di Figaro Sergei Prokofiev, Sinfonia Concertante in E Minor for cello and orchestra Paul Hindemith, Symphony: Mathis der Maler (Matthias the Painter)

Luiz Venturelli de Souza, cello (Concerto/Aria Competition winner)

Photo courtesy of Unika Gujar

Unika Gujar showcases her handmade crochet toys.

Schill outlines presidential priorities

By TALIA WINIARSKY the daily northwestern @winiarskyt

University President Michael Schill said he will prioritize strengthening mental health resources, emphasizing diversity and inclusion and promoting civil discourse during his tenure in a Friday speech to students and families.

Attendees filled Cahn Auditorium to hear Schill speak, many for the first time since he assumed the position seven weeks before, dur ing Family Weekend. After his remarks, Schill and other administrators responded to audi ence questions.

“Your children are our number-one prior ity,” Schill said. “Ultimately, we are going to be judged by the quality of the experience of our students and your children.”

Schill first addressed mental health on cam pus. He said the quarter system, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, has greatly increased the number of students seeking men tal support.

Garrett Gilmer, executive director of Coun seling and Psychological Services, responded to a parent’s concerns about long wait times for the office’s appointments, citing the Same Day Access service.

Gilmer said the service, which started in September 2021, allows students to immedi ately walk into the office for non-emergency matters, although the online scheduling sys tem may have a longer wait time. Students have historically voiced concerns about delays and inadequacies in CAPS services. Gilmer added that students in crisis can call the office any time for immediate assistance.

Discussing his focus on inclusion, Schill said while the school already promotes diver sity — noting about one-fifth of students are Pell Grant-eligible and the University com mits funding to financial aid — the next step is making all students “feel like they belong here.”

Toward the end of his remarks, Schill

where University President Michael Schill gave a speech Friday.

emphasized the importance of civil discourse. Students should have conversations with people different from themselves while understanding how their words affect others, he said.

“Just because you have the right to say some thing — which I will defend to the very ends of this Earth — doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do,” Schill said.

While Schill outlined general priorities, he didn’t announce specific academic goals. However, he said he wants to “burnish and polish Northwestern’s gems,” which include its economics, sociology and materials sci ence departments, among others. He said he wants to identify which other departments can reach a similar status with increased University investment.

Francis James, a parent who attended the event, said he would’ve liked to have heard more about the specifics of Schill’s goals. Although the school has a lot to offer its students, James hopes Schill’s vision for the school can increase its national stature.

“This is still a regional university — it’s still Midwestern,” James said. “He should make this a first-choice university.”

James, who traveled 20 hours from Gabon to visit, was a student at the University of Cali fornia, Los Angeles’ law school about 15 years before Schill served as its dean. He said he still remembers Schill’s outgoing personality and high energy.

This weekend was parent Michelle Miulli’s second time visiting for Family Weekend. She was a “big fan” of former University President Morton Schapiro and said she hopes she’ll like Schill just as much.

Miulli said attending the speech and getting to know the University president, as well as participating in other Family Weekend events, provided her a perspective on her daughter’s college experience.

“It’s nice to be here and be part of her world for a couple of days,” Miulli said.

taliawiniarsky2026@u.northwestern.edu

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Ald. Burns asks city to fund administrative help

By SAUL PINK daily senior staffer @saullpink

Ald. Bobby Burns’ (5th) day of city duties last Monday totaled over six hours. He began with a meeting about a rental licensing program initia tive, then met with a resident who wants the city to install chess tables at Twiggs Park and finally attended a meeting about the opening of a 5th Ward school — calling residents and answering emails in between.

Full days of work like this one are part of being an Evanston councilmember, a job that pays $15,990 annually. Burns is pushing for the city to help fund administrative work and com munications for councilmembers to help them manage their time.

Burns said the combination of low compensa tion and high demands of the job limit who can run for office.

A freelance political consultant, Burns said he wouldn’t be able give full effort to his aldermanic work if he had a nine-to-five job. Serving on City Council, he said, is “really only suited for some one that’s retired or independently wealthy.”

His current proposal requires the city hire a “virtual executive assistant” — one outside contractor who could help each councilmember with administrative work, answering emails and scheduling appointments with residents.

Burns first suggested in early October that the city allocate $15,000 to each councilmember to hire help with communications. But, the Rules Committee raised concerns about elected offi cials personally managing city funds, and its nar row purview of communications-related work.

Other councilmembers resonated with Burns’ call for greater assistance.

Ald. Krissie Harris (2nd), has been on the council for under two months. She said the posi tion requires numerous small jobs, including the time-consuming task of taking pictures of dilapi dated sidewalks that residents email her about.

“Citizens are concerned and reaching out, calling, having questions, having requests,” Har ris said. “It’s nothing to me that’s been inappro priate. Nothing that we can’t collectively figure out.”

The duties of an Evanston councilmember go

far beyond policymaking, Burns said. He cited resolving landlord-tenant disputes and dealing with conflicts between neighbors as examples of issues he handles daily.

“We have a constituency that expects a lot from their government, including their elected officials,” Burns told The Daily. “If a resident does not feel like they’re getting the service that they expect to get, I get called in to help mediate or advocate for the residents.”

Burns, who sits on 15 committees, acknowl edged that the historically Black 5th Ward has higher health inequalities and lower incomes, which gives him more needs to address. Accord ing to the city’s Health and Human Services Department, 5th Ward residents have a life expectancy five to 13 years shorter than resi dents in predominantly white neighborhoods.

Former 4th Ward alderman Don Wilson said he would have benefitted from administrative help during his 12 years on the council. He said residents have unrealistic expectations for their

councilmembers.

“The job, in my view, is more oriented towards helping the people in the ward by establishing and setting policy, not to run the day-to-day operations of the city,” Wilson said.

The Rules Committee discussed Burns’ origi nal proposal on Oct. 3. Ald. Juan Geracaris (9th) agreed that councilmembers need funding from the city, adding that he pays out of his pocket for a Spanish interpreter at his ward meetings.

Most members of the committee wanted assistance, but disagreed on what it should look like.

Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th) said the city should hire permanent staff to assist council members. Ald. Eleanor Revelle (7th) agreed, but noted that it will require sacrifices in the city’s budget.

“I’d like to be weighing this decision when I’m looking at the whole 2023 budget because I think we’re gonna have a lot of tradeoffs that we need to make,” Revelle said.

The proposal is not in the current budget, but Burns hopes to pass it before the council’s Dec. 31 budget approval deadline.

Increasing councilmembers’ salaries could also work if outside administrative help can’t be hired, Burns said, but these negotiations only happen every four years. The last salary increase came at the beginning of 2017, and the next opportunity will come in 2025.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis tics, $15,990 in 2017 has the same purchasing power as about $19,500 today, given inflation.

Burns stressed that his priority is adding assis tance for councilmembers to the 2023 budget.

“I really do not have the time to write a sen tence of a newsletter,” Burns said at the Rules Committee meeting. “It’s taking away precious time that I would rather be spending with my family and preparing for these meetings, which is difficult enough to do. I need help.”

saulpink2025@u.northwestern.edu

Joy James

In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love: Precarity, Power, Communities

“The academic profile is higher than the activist profile, but the activist profile is what I adore. It’s not a profile per se, it’s a practice of humility, and also courage. The practice evolves in a loveless state. The state’s animus against you keeps you disciplined, and that discipline enables your capacity to love the most vulnerable. And the way you are positioned in struggle radiates beyond any kind of linear, unitary animus. If violence is arrayed against me because I’m Black, or if I’m female, queer, or undocumented, add more. You can do an additive approach like a vulnerability index, but that still could not deal with the multidimensional reality of people who literally kept communities alive, and are keeping them alive. What if the most hopeful people are those without hope in the system?” In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love

; Imprisoned Intellectuals; Warfare in the American Homeland; and The Angela Y. Davis Reader, James developed the Harriet Tubman Digital Repository while Senior Research Fellow at the UT-Austin John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies. The Allison Davis Lecture Series is sponsored by Weinberg College and the Edith Kreeger Wolf Endowment.

Daily file photo by Madison Smith

Ald. Bobby Burns (5th) is pushing for the city to hire a contractor as “virtual executive assistant” that can provide administrative assistance to councilmembers.

A&E

arts & entertainment

Students, faculty discuss white makeup of NU theatre

By PAVAN ACHARYA daily senior staffer @pavanacharya02

Communication junior Alondra Rios was worried about the audition process for Arts Alliance at Northwestern University’s produc tion of “In the Heights.”

As the production’s director, she feared the cast might not reflect the diverse perspectives required for the show, which explores the lives of multiple characters residing in the primarily Latine New York City neighborhood of Wash ington Heights.

“One of the biggest drawbacks for putting on ‘In the Heights’ was this question of, ‘Do we have the people to actually put it on?’” Rios said.

The production staff ended up being very pleased with the audition results and casted a diverse group of students, Rios said. But her initial worries reflect the thoughts of many NU theatre members who feel the department does not adequately support students of color due to its overwhelmingly white racial makeup.

Of the 98 students who graduated from NU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Drama and Theatre arts in 2021, about 75% were white.

Undergraduate Admissions, not the Depart ment of Theatre itself, is in charge of accep tance for theatre majors, according to School of Communication Assistant Dean and Executive Artistic Director Tanya Palmer. She said the theatre department wants to work with admis sions to help address and increase diversity in the major.

However, about one-third of students who earned a Master’s of Fine Arts in Acting from 2017 to 2022 were nonwhite. Palmer said one reason the makeup of theatre graduate students

is more diverse than that of undergraduates is because the department admits applicants to the Master’s program.

However, Palmer said theatre being over whelmingly white is not exclusive to the University.

“Theatre as a whole has not been particularly inclusive, and people of color don’t necessar ily see a future in the field,” Palmer said. “I think that’s changing. There’s a lot more diver sity in professional theaters, as well as within universities.”

She said School of Communication Dean E. Patrick Johnson has made multiple hires in recent years to increase faculty and staff diver sity within the department.

Palmer also said the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts has increased efforts to feature more projects from nonwhite artists, such as “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” by play wright Rajiv Joseph and “Water by the Spoon ful” by Quiara Alegría Hudes.

However, Communication senior and coChair of The Waa-Mu Show Madeline Oberle said some of Wirtz’s casting policies make it difficult for student-run productions to cast nonwhite performers, especially considering the theatre department’s overwhelmingly white makeup.

Oberle said last year’s entirely student-pro duced and written Waa-Mu Show, “A Peculiar Inheritance,” had to compete with Wirtz’s pro ductions of “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” and “Water by the Spoonful” during the cast ing process. Some roles in the Wirtz’ shows required students of color to play them, and Oberle said some students were cast in these roles despite ranking The Waa-Mu Show higher in their preference sheets.

“That was a real learning experience for me, like ‘Wow, this was remarkably sh—y,’” Oberle

said. “In all my best efforts, the show ended up way more predominantly white than I wanted it to be because of who came in and auditioned and because of who we were able to get in the casting room.”

Oberle said the production hopes to cast more nonwhite actors in its upcoming production.

Vibrant Colors Collective, or VC2, the University’s only multicultural theatre board, was founded earlier this year. Communica tion sophomore Nathan Hiykel, the board’s co-founder and co-artistic director, said there is currently no major push within NU theatre to produce stories reflective of the experiences of people of color or other marginalized com munities — something VC2 is trying to correct.

However, Hiykel said it can be a challenge for VC2 to produce plays featuring nonwhite stories because of the predominantly white nature of NU theatre.

“We don’t have enough (people of color) to put on these plays, and it becomes kind of a mess,” Hiykel said.

VC2 will also have a general member section to encourage people of any major to attend meetings and learn about theatre in an affinity space for people of color, Hiykel said.

Hiykel said other theatre boards can increase their outreach to nonwhite students outside the major by reaching out to non-theatre affinity spaces for students of color, such as For Mem bers Only, NU’s premier Black student alliance.

“Our exclusivity and our lacking trust of other people that aren’t specifically in theatre is kind of the downfall of the theatre commu nity at the moment,” Hiykel said.

Hiykel said VC2 plans to communicate more with theatre department heads to discuss gaps in diversity. He also said one of the best ways the school can support people of color and address systemic problems is by donating to

nonwhite theatre organizations. These efforts help lower-income and nonwhite students feel more confident about pursuing careers in the atre, Hiykel said.

Similarly, Palmer said the School of Commu nication can encourage more people of diverse backgrounds to apply by better explaining the value of a theatre education.

“Theatre majors come out with skills that can really launch them into a wide range of careers in various fields, of certainly com munication and the arts, but also the skills of being able to speak in public or being able to be good, strong communicators and storytell ers,” Palmer said.

She said another one of Johnson’s goals is to break down barriers between the School of Communication’s departments to increase collaboration between students and faculty. As part of this goal, the school wants non-theatre students to know they can participate in per formances on campus.

For “In the Heights,” Rios put this idea into practice by reaching out to multiple Latine organizations via GroupMe.

She said the production held an open call audition for individuals who may not be famil iar with the process. An open call audition is available to anyone who wants to audition for a role in a production, rather than a callback, which is only open to selected individuals. As a result, many non-theatre majors and nonwhite individuals auditioned for the show, Rios said.

“I’m really hoping that in the future, more per formances will start incorporating (open calls) and doing that outreach because we do have the people in the school to put on stories like these,” Rios said. “It’s just whether or not we’re going to take the time and effort to reach out.”

Illustration by Olivia Abeyta

Weinberg junior Joy Fu produces viral lofi music

By LAURA SIMMONS the daily northwestern @lauras237

Weinberg junior Joy Fu began experimenting with lofi music, a popular subgenre of electronic music, when teaching herself production skills in high school.

A few years and many YouTube tutorials later, Fu released her first album “Impromptu Sailing” on Aug. 11, sharing experimental and lofi-inspired songs follow ing her music-related summer internship experience in Shanghai.

One of her songs, “Pétanque,” reached more than 20,000 listens on Spotify after it was added to a popular lofi playlist. Fu said none of her later pieces became as popular at “Pétanque,” even though she submitted them to multiple Spotify playlists.

“Initially, doing lofi was to make money,” Fu said. “But now it also makes me happy, regardless of the money side.”

Fu’s journey began with playing classical piano, but she said she didn’t enjoy learning the instrument and quit after 10 years of lessons.

Though she still doesn’t prefer listening to or playing classical music, Fu said knowing how to play the piano has been beneficial when producing.

“I always thought that the popular music I listened to on the radio was a completely different thing than classical music,” Fu said. “And then I found out that it’s the same. It’s all music.”

In high school, Fu said she and her friends created primarily lyrics and melodies, but this led her to wonder if she could also produce.

Along with online tutorials, Fu said she’s drawn inspiration from professional musicians. “Impromptu Sailing,” was influenced by Lana Del Rey and Waa Wei, a Taiwanese musician who specializes in pop with ele ments of jazz, Fu said.

Fu said she wrote “Impromptu Sailing” using a pro gram that allows the user to combine various music tracks and adjust frequency, or pitch. The program can also add the impression of sound emanating from various directions and distances.

“You can place different instruments (in the program),” Fu said. “It’s like a concert hall. You can put the piano in the middle and the people on the outside.”

Communication senior Rosalie Liu said she was inspired by Fu’s music when she directed the film “Upon The Sea.” Fu’s songs “anchor,” “12:28,” “沉没 Silenced,” “re-sail” and “Pétanque” were especially influential as she designed her storyboard, Liu said.

Both from Shanghai, Liu and Fu met before Fu’s freshman year at a student orientation in Shanghai hosted by the Chinese International Student Associa tion, Liu said.

“She’s sort of my inspiration,” Liu said. “I really like her as a friend and artist.”

Fu grew up speaking Mandarin and learned English in school, which she said influences what language she decides to use in her music. Fu said she uses Mandarin to sing about emotional topics.

“Taiwanese music and American music, they often touch on different themes,” Fu said. “When I’m writ ing more ballad, slow-paced music, I tend to gravitate toward the Taiwanese side, which is in Mandarin, but then if I want to write something like a Taylor Swiftstyle track, I might use English.”

During Fu’s summer internship, she met New York University senior Haotian Wang, who helped Fu with her album. The song “Coffee Cage” required various

instrumentalists, so Haotian played the Chinese flute. He said he felt lucky to be part of the song.

“Impromptu Sailing” reminds Wang of an audiovi sual journey, which he described as a movie creating an immersive experience.

Wang said this aspect of Fu’s music is similar to his album “The Bridge in The Mountain’s Hands (A Trav elog),” which he also released this summer.

“It’s a really interesting experience to actually listen to (“Impromptu Sailing”) at night, because I feel like this is an album … for evening,” Wang said. “It’s really good (to) slow down and meditate.”

As someone not pursuing music for money or fame, Fu said she feels less constrained to following the guidelines of popular music, which follows a more constrictive framework.

Her summer internship helped her appreciate mak ing more experimental music, Fu added.

“(My internship) was very fun, but that was when I realized the industry part of music-making — that not everyone has the privilege to do whatever they want freely in music,” Fu said.

laurasimmons2025@u.northwestern.edu

Dittmar Gallery exhibit explores mental health, race

By JACK AUSTIN daily senior staffer @jackaustinnews

Trotter Alexander has been an artist since birth, exploring themes of mental health and racial identity while traversing the worlds of both street art and formal art. His most recent exhibit, “The Story of Ka Makana o’ka,” on display at Dittmar Gallery on campus, runs from Oct. 27 to Dec. 7.

Alexander grew up with his father in Chicago, but would often visit his mother, who lived in Hawaii. The gallery is informed by the different perspectives and cul tures of the two locations, Alexander said. The exhibit name itself, “Ka Makana o’ka” means gifted angel in Hawaiian, he said.

The exhibit is a reflection on Alexander’s first time visiting Hawaii as a boy from Chicago.

“When you walk on the soil (in Hawaii), you can really feel the act of spirituality that’s coursing through

in the land,” Alexander said. “A lot of people in Chicago don’t give a f--k about the land they are standing on at all. They don’t believe in its preservation because they don’t see a direct consequence. For Hawaii, the ground that you’re on is sacred.”

Deanna Cruz (Communication M.S. ’12), founder and president of the Dandelion Artist Alliance, said Alexander infuses his work with raw and expressive emotion. Cruz said Alexander, who is a member of the alliance, is a modern artist. She said he always has a larger message to deliver through his vibrant colors.

“For as young as he is, I would say that he’s opened up more doors for himself than a lot of the other emerg ing artists that we have,” Cruz said. “It’s very motivating to hear him speak and hear where his mind is.”

Alexander began working as an assistant in the studio of Chicago artist Czr Prz in 2018. Under Prz’s tutelage, Alexander worked on sculptures and paintings.

Prz said Alexander’s paintings reflect emotions through expressive figures that make dramatic gestures.

“He’s doing a lot of interpretive work,” Prz said.“It’s

got a little bit of illustrative, graphic novel, comic book ish aspects to it. He’s following in the footsteps of a lot of Chicago Black artists right now.”

From Prz’s perspective, Alexander is still evolving as an artist — and the best is yet to come.

Chicago singer, songwriter and rapper Senite first learned of Alexander’s work through a live painting event for another musician, where Alexander reflected the sounds and feelings of the music into a live painting. She described Alexander’s art as a “comfortable chaos” and was impressed with the latest Dittmar exhibit.

“My jaw was on the floor,” Senite said. “I was just amazed at the different mediums that he’s able to put into one piece. It’s like a million pieces, but every one is a completely different feeling, completely different texture, completely different vibe.”

Spray paint, a key aspect of Alexander’s street art, is also widely employed in the exhibit. Alexander said he wanted to combine the aesthetics of street art and traditional Hawaiian art because of spray painting’s

anti-elitist nature.

“Street art is supposed to be free, and it’s supposed to be for the people. It’s supposed to be rough. It’s sup posed to be loose,” Alexander said. “The nature of the art style translates into an art show. You have unfinished edges, you have paint splatters everywhere.”

For Alexander, art has always been a coping mecha nism and mode of catharsis. But he also believes in empowerment and avoiding victimization narratives.

In describing how he depicts depression in his art, he said he focuses on what he has learned instead of what he has suffered.

Recounting a painting of himself screaming with highly saturated fires and aggressive brushstrokes, Alexander said the emotion and passion his paintings evoke give them power, which he hopes resonates with his audience.

“I don’t want you to look at my art,” Alexander said.

“I want you to look at my vision.”

jonathanaustin2023@u.northwestern.edu

NU alum directs ‘A Christmas Story, The Musical’

By JACK AUSTIN daily senior staffer @jackaustinnews

Before embarking on a career as an award-winning director, Scott Weinstein (Communication ’10) immersed himself in Northwestern’s theatre scene. Weinstein said his experience working in set and sound design and directing several student productions pre pared him for the world of professional theater.

Weinstein’s latest production, “A Christmas Story, The Musical,” runs from Nov. 2 through Jan. 1 at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire — the longestrunning musical theatre in the Chicago area. The play is adapted from the beloved 1983 film “A Christmas Story,” a comedy about a suburban family living in Indiana during the holiday season. The film largely follows Ralphie, a young boy with materialistic desires who wants a Red Ryder BB gun for a Christmas gift. The Daily spoke with Weinstein about the musical’s production and process.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

The Daily: What inspired you to take on “A Christ mas Story, The Musical”?

Weinstein: I think we’re all looking for a sense of community right now in a big way. “Christmas Story” is definitely a show and a story about a family and a com munity, and when and what it means to be together and go through a stressful time together. It felt like a really great story to be telling right now and at a time when we need some joy and some comedy and togetherness.

The Daily: How does “A Christmas Story” compare to other plays you have directed?

Weinstein: This is my first time working with this many kids. We have something like 16 kids in the cast, which is a lot. All of my work kind of has a theme of family running through it, and found family and what that means in all senses of the word, and this show definitely fits into that theme.

The Daily: What role does music play in the show?

Weinstein: Music is throughout the whole show. It’s almost entirely underscored. There’s amazing songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (of “La La Land” and “Dear Evan Hansen”). Music in the show is used to represent the characters, their inner fantasy life. Ralphie fanta sizes that he’s a cowboy, and so it goes to this western theme, and also there’s an amazing jazz speakeasy tap dance number.

The Daily: What has been challenging and reward ing in adapting a popular film like this?

Weinstein: There’s always a challenge in working on an adaptation because you want to honor the things that people love about the original piece, but it also needs to work in this new medium. It’s rewarding when iconic imagery like the bunny suit or the leg lamp get applause every night.

The Daily: Who can we expect to stand out in performances?

Weinstein: It’s an amazing cast. Playing the Old Man and the mother are Lorenzo Rush and Sara Reinecke, and they’re just two all-star Chicago per formers. They’re so, so funny together. We have two amazing Ralphies — they’re just both so natural and lovely to work with. Just watching these kids be kids and

also have such retention for material and be working so hard has been amazing.

The Daily: What do you think audiences will take away from this show?

Weinstein: Hopefully, they take away not just joy and comfort from the show but also a real sense of humor, and I think a healthy dose of holiday cynicism. Sometimes the holidays are just about wanting to get presents, and that is what Ralphie wants in the movie and the musical. He gets a little bit of the undercut to the warm and fuzzies of the holiday, but then you also get the warm and fuzzies as well.

The Daily: What are you most proud of as a director?

Weinstein: What I’m most proud of as a direc tor is the process that I create with actors and with the company of a show. I really love creating an environment that people can collaborate in and feel safe in and enjoy their work. I like to create an environment that other people can love as much as I do. That’s really important to me and something I’m very proud of.

jonathanaustin2023@u.northwestern.edu

Graduate student launches original, custom art business

By KARA PEELER daily senior staffer @karapeeler

Samantha Kurit creates her art in one sitting, start to finish. She spreads out her supplies on the floor, painting in her sunlit apartment while her beagle mix Kirby watches.

The first-year Speech, Language and Learning graduate student moved to Evanston from Wel lington, Florida in August. But even as a graduate student, Kurit has continued her work, selling original and custom work ranging from custom dog portraits to local sceneries. She sells original work through her gallery space at Artem Pop Up Gallery and Etsy shop.

While teaching art as a high school student, Kurit said a woman came up to her, compli mented her painting and asked if she did dog portraits. After she made the first custom piece, others requested more and she began her busi ness. When visiting NU to make a decision about the graduate program, she popped into Artem, grabbed an artist application and later applied. In spare time before classes began, she

fell in love painting Evanston landmarks.

The Daily talked with Kurit about her experi ence as an artist in Evanston and what the future holds for her.

This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

The Daily: What has art looked like for you since you’ve had gallery space at Artem?

Kurit: I’ve met a lot of cool people, a lot of cool artists. It’s been really cool seeing other people’s work around the gallery, and people I’ve interacted with that have bought art from me. It’s really cool to think about how people have my art hanging up in their homes and their dorm rooms.

The Daily: How do you balance art with school?

Kurit: Art is like my escape. It’s work and play at the same time. It’s good to take that moment for myself and work through it. Also, I do have lectures playing in the background as I’m paint ing, and it’s like multitasking.

The Daily: How was your experience at Down town Evanston Fall Fest, where you hosted a stall?

Kurit: Downtown Evanston reached out to me, so it was really nice of them. They had a whole table set up for me. It was a great, honestly amazing event. I’m so excited to hopefully do another one in the winter. There was a lot of foot traffic, a lot of different vendors. I ran out of (business) cards in one day — I had to order all new ones.

The Daily: How have your professors and classmates reacted to your art?

Kurit: One of my professors who came by to Fall Fest didn’t even know I was having a table. And she was, “I think you’re my student!” She was like, “I have to have you paint me something later,” so it was really nice. And then a bunch of people in my program have followed my Instagram account, and they’ve seen my stuff, or they bring it up to me in class, like, “Oh my God, I love this.”

The Daily: Where do you draw your inspira tion from?

Kurit: My inspiration would be prob ably places, like anywhere I go. I love Tapas

Barcelona, and we live kind of close, and that was one of the first places I ever ate in Evanston. So I like to paint memories of good things. It’s nice because if someone went on a first date or if that’s the place you go to study, it’s nice to have those little memories that people can take home with them.

The Daily: What have you learned through your art business so far?

Kurit: I have come more to terms with real izing how valuable my time is. It’s all your time. It’s your effort. It’s your talent — that is worth something. So it was pretty interesting to experi ence that for myself, and really put a price tag on my art because that was probably one of the hardest things for me to do.

The Daily: What are your future goals?

Kurit: Right now I’m going to school to be a speech therapist. I would love to include art with speech therapy. I’m hoping maybe in the next 10 to 15 years, I could open my own art studio, and then do classes and all kinds of stuff.

karapeeler2025@u.northwestern.edu

Liner Notes: Carly Rae Jepsen takes listeners to the moon

By JACOB FULTON daily senior staffer @jacobnfulton

On Oct. 21, millions of people across the world hit play on the latest Taylor Swift album as the clock struck midnight. But I was on a different mission that evening. As some of my best friends listened to the first notes of Swift’s “Lavender Haze,” I was beginning my most anticipated listen of the year — Carly Rae Jepsen’s “The Loneliest Time.” (For concerned Swifties, don’t worry. I did go back and listen to her album as well.)

You may recognize Jepsen’s name from her 2011 smash hit, “Call Me Maybe,” or her 2015 return to pop, “I Really Like You,” whose music video featured Tom Hanks and Justin Bieber. But just weeks ago, she dropped her fifth studio album (or seventh, if you count the two collec tions of b-sides she’s released).

Weaving together folk and disco influences for a wide-ranging tracklist, the project is on par with Jepsen’s previous efforts, transporting listen ers with each song’s atmosphere. (The title track even promises a trip to the moon.) Since 2015’s “E•mo•tion,” Jepsen has consistently produced solid pop records, each generating their own takes on love, loss and intimacy. She’s also toyed more with self-reflection in each project — and she takes that idea even further with this latest record.

“The Loneliest Time” has something for everyone, ranging from the emotionally dev astating ballad (and album highlight) in “Go

Find Yourself or Whatever” to the enticingly precise autotune of the upbeat “Shooting Star.” I knew going into my first listen that I would be listening to a diverse portfolio of sounds, after each of Jepsen’s four promotional singles for the album took a totally different direction. Still, she managed to catch me by surprise.

A number of songs on “The Loneliest Time” are post-breakup mantras, detailing the differ ent stages of grief, recovery and self-discovery that come with the end of a relationship. While she’s explored the theme in previous records, it’s much more pronounced in Jepsen’s latest effort.

Jepsen has spoken at length about the experi ence of dating in her 30s during performances and the press rollout for “The Loneliest Time,” but this album succinctly distills years of emo tions and experiences into bite-sized capsules for listeners. (Even if she sometimes leans a little too far into the bit for my personal taste.

“Beach House,” I’m looking at you.)

Throughout the album, Jepsen also explores the idea that a relationship’s end isn’t always linear. With an intriguing amount of candor, she talks about returning to an ex, even though it might not be the right choice. We’ve all either had a friend who’s done that, or been that friend ourselves. As a result, the juxtaposition between this messaging and bitingly snarky tracks like “Talking to Yourself” — a rundown of all the things Jepsen wished she’d said to an ex and my personal favorite from the album — truly high lights the complexity of modern-day romance.

As Jepsen has grown as an artist, her albums

have continued to mature, and “The Loneliest Time” is a salient example of

Though some of the highest highs of past

might eclipse the peaks of Jepsen’s latest project, the project has the most consistency of any of her albums. The album clocks in at 13 songs (and three bonus tracks), yet none stand out as filler tracks. Even my least favorite tracks make sense in the narrative arc of the project, which indicates its potential staying power in my music rotation.

this trend.

albums

In recent weeks, a clip from the album’s titu lar track has gone viral on TikTok, where Jepsen croons a promise to return to a former lover. “I’m coming back for you, baby!” she enthusiastically exclaims. Much as she vows to come back for her lover — as she now circles back to the virality that started her career — I know I’ll find myself coming back to this record for years to come.

Illustration by Olivia Abeyta Carly Rae Jepsen’s “The Loneliest Time” was released Oct. 21.

Photo courtesy of Joe Mazza/ Brave Lux The show runs at Marriott Theatre through Jan. 1.

Liner Notes: The 1975 explores the importance of love

By IRIS SWARTHOUT daily senior staffer @swarthout_iris

1975 was the year of Margaret Thatcher’s debut as leader of the Conservative Party, the end of the Vietnam War and an inflationary peak — a period of rapid change.

That same year is the namesake of today’s top British pop rock band, “The 1975.” The group takes on the inevitability of life adjustment and post-graduate angst in its discography through eclectic and synthetic beats.

But “Being Funny In A Foreign Language,” released Oct. 14, draws arguably the most jarring means of change — love — into a new hemi sphere. By citing the importance of love in a post modern age riddled with partisanship beyond recognition and rising gun violence levels, The 1975 extends the age of ‘70s peace-making into the 21st century.

The new album starts with a title song that identifies political activism as a defining element of today’s culture. “The 1975” starts and ends with the same, augmented chorus of “I’m sorry if you’re living and you’re seventeen,” sung by lead vocalist Matthew “Matty” Healy.

Postmodernism encapsulates most of the song’s sentiment — most notably through cita tions of QAnon, a far-right, online political con spiracy movement. QAnon, Healy sings, created “a legitimitate scene, but it was just some bloke in the Philippines,” pointing towards the absurdity

of the artificial world.

This train of postmodernist thought extends even to the more upbeat, jazz-infused song “Hap piness.” It starts with a train of saxophone accom panied by the strikingly quiet voice of “confidence is comical” before the first line of chorus reads “she showed me what love is / I’m actin’ like I know myself.” In the midst of uncertainty, The 1975 points toward a proven method of escap ism: love.

Love, sex and chocolate — the romantics of

life are consistently brought forth in The 1975’s musical directory, via both word and instruments.

The band initially formed when the four mem bers of the band –– Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald and drummer George Daniel — were in high school and achieved national relevance from a 2013 self-titled debut album. In an interview with National Public Radio, Healy said the band is inspired by ‘80s movies, which adhere to his personal values.

“(‘80s movies) discuss everything that I

discuss: love, fear, sex and a longing for something beyond,” he said in the interview.

The young love mantra is explicitly screamed in most of the album’s first-kiss lyrics, such as “I’m in Love With You.” But slower beats are just as meaningful, as seen in Healy’s whimpers of longing found in “All I Need to Hear.”

The most powerful tune signals reconciled love are in “About You” — a softly-sung piece that pulls at the heartstrings of the wise. The line, “do you think I have forgotten,” painfully lulled by Healy, is salvaged from utter heartbreak with the more feminine and smooth tone of “There was something about you that now I can’t remember / It’s the same damn thing that made my heart surrender.” Here, listeners sense a fully-realized relationship between the two tones — edging romanticism beyond a complicated past and into etherealism.

A humanistic struggle for reconciliation of the world’s modern terror culminates in “Looking For Somebody (To Love).” The song theorizes the reasoning for gun violence, tucking it under the blanket of love’s absence in the hearts of shooters. The assertion pushes boundaries, formulating a rehabilitative approach to violence and answering uncomfortable questions through verse.

Youthful grunge meshes with a rather mature understanding of postmodernism through “Being Funny In A Foreign Language.” The 1975’s slampoetry lyrics open the listener to persuasion — if they desire to look beyond the melody.

irisswarthout2023@u.northwestern.edu

Reel Thoughts: ‘Love is Blind’ proves that’s not the case

By NICOLE MARKUS daily senior staffer @nicolejmarkus

Warning: This article contains spoilers.

Despite my enjoyment of the first two sea sons of reality show “Love Is Blind,” I could barely bear to watch Season 3, and it’s not even over yet.

“Love Is Blind” features a group of singles, and as you may suspect, they are ready to min gle. And by mingle, I mean marry. The filming process takes a little more than a month, and participants get engaged without ever seeing each other.

That’s right. Participants don’t see their future spouses before they get down on one knee. Instead, their first interactions take place in closed pods, where they date each other through a wall for about a week before decid ing who they’re ready to commit to for a life time. The show is marketed as a modern-day experiment that breaks away from the societal norms that put pressure on physical compat ibility, instead focusing on deep emotional connections.

After getting engaged, the pairs are whisked away to a romantic, but turbulent, getaway before facing the trials and tribulations of normal life. Family, friends and even other participants get in the way of the “emotional connection” the couples built in the pods. After a month, the engaged couples must decide whether to get married in dramatic fashion: declaring whether they do or don’t at the altar in front of their loved ones.

In Season 3, as is typical for the Netflix

series, you have to suspend disbelief to watch the experimental reality show. As someone who has never had the chance to meet and get to know someone through a wall, I can’t say whether these couples actually fall in love as they claim to over the course of a week, though it seems unlikely. What I can say, however, is that the couples in this season seem to be deeply mismatched.

Take Cole Barnett and Zanab Jaffrey, for example. The couple bonded over their shared faith and desire for traveling adventures. How ever, after exiting the pods, it becomes increas ingly clear Barnett and Jaffrey are unsuited for each other.

On the getaway and then in the “real world,” Jaffrey struggles with Barnett’s immaturity. Barnett struggles to physically connect with Jaffrey and, when asked by Jaffrey, even rates her physical attractiveness lower than Colleen Reed, another castmate and former romantic interest of Barnett’s. Though we’ve yet to see their big moment at the altar, I can only hope they wise up and realize they’re not meant to be — for both of their sakes.

Reed and Matt Bolton form another dysfunc tional pair. I actually rooted for the couple at first, but that was until I realized how deeply manipulative and quick to anger Bolton was toward Reed. The relationship seems volatile, unhealthy and borderline toxic. It’s hard to watch in good conscience.

Another instance of manipulation is between Nancy Rodriguez and Bartise Bowden. Rodri guez, to me, did no wrong in the relationship except for continuing to stay with Bowden. On the other hand, Bowden insulted Rodriguez every chance he got, pushing her away despite his claims that he loved her. My jaw dropped

as I watched Bowden insult Rodriguez’s looks, and I cringed as I listened to him explain how physically attracted he was to fellow contes tant Raven Ross. Though Rodriguez said “I do” at their wedding, I hope the Episode 10 cliffhanger ends with an “I don’t” from Bowden, as I don’t think it’s fair to Rodriguez to go through with a marriage the other person isn’t invested in.

Speaking of Ross and her former fiance SK Alagbada, I had tears in my eyes watching their wedding. After all the times Alagbada assured and affirmed Ross, including in intimate vows at the wedding, he still said “I don’t” and left

Undertones a cappella creates community

By BEATRICE VILLAFLOR the daily northwestern @beaviilla

Communication freshman Yara Nasr auditioned for the Northwestern Under tones on a whim. But by callbacks, she ranked the group first on her preference list.

“I resonated with the Undertones a lot during our callback as people, as friends … not even as an a cappella group,” Nasr said.

As an out-of-state student, Nasr worried she’d struggle to find friends. Even though she is one of the newest members of the Undertones, affection ately known as a “baby,” Nasr said the tight-knit group eased her transition into NU.

The Undertones formed in 2001 and is one of three competitive a cappella

groups on campus, traditionally per forming pop and rock songs while wear ing black and blue.

Weinberg junior Maria Luiso, who runs the group’s public relations, said she also stumbled into a cappella despite ini tial reservations that performing would negatively impact her academics.

But Luiso said a cappella has actually had the opposite effect.

“I feel so much more fulfilled here on campus,” she said. “I can be better academically because I have this outlet to express myself in another way.”

The Undertones won its Interna tional Championship of Collegiate A Cappella quarterfinal within the Great Lakes region in February, where it received three Special Awards at the quarterfinal: Outstanding Soloist, Out standing Arrangement and Outstanding Choreography.

Three covers made up its ICCA set

list: “It’s Gonna Be Me” by *NSYNC, “Fallingwater” by Maggie Rogers and “Lips Are Movin” by Meghan Trainor.

Communication senior Sean Zucker man, the Undertones’ former president and current treasurer, said “It’s Gonna Be Me” is one of his favorites in the group’s repertoire.

The group is now working on “Move ment” by Hozier and “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga, Zuckerman said.

Bon Iver’s “Woods” is the group’s “tradition song,” Zuckerman said — the Undertones singers often end their con certs singing the song with their arms around each other.

Though the group prides itself on performance and musicianship, Zucker man and Luiso agree that what sets The Undertones apart from other a cappella groups is how members prioritize their friendships with one another.

“A graduating senior said this about

the Undertones, it’s my favorite quote ever, she said, ‘The Undertones take their music really seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously at all,’” Luiso said.

Rehearsals fill with laughter, even as the group works late into the night, Luiso and Nasr said. Those late-night rehearsals sometimes descend into “insanity,” Zuckerman said, and that’s when Zuckerman said his truest belly laughs come out.

As he gets closer to graduation, Zuckerman said a cappella is what comes to mind when he reflects on his time at NU.

“When I look back, what am I going to see in my brain? Or who am I going to think about?” Zuckerman said. “And one billion percent, it will always be the Undertones.”

her at the altar. This came off as manipulative and altogether unlike the Alagbada I had come to know and like over the course of the show. The biggest problem with this season of “Love Is Blind” is that I’m not rooting for the remaining couples. The focus on physicality and the manipulation the women face at the hands of this season’s crop of men just made me uncomfortable and sad. Though it would be nice to argue that love is, in fact, blind, I don’t think that point of view can be adopted after watching these “relationships” crumble.

nicolemarkus2025@u.northwestern.edu

entertainment

Illustration by Iris Swarthout

Illustration by Nicole Markus

EPL Community Journals document city memories

By LEAH SCHROEDER the daily northwestern @lmschroeder_

Nestled in the North American History section of Evanston Public Library’s Robert Crown Branch are three seemingly nondescript journals. But inside, they are filled with resi dents’ memories, opinions and art.

These journals are a product of EPL’s Com munity Journal project, launched in February by branch manager Beatriz Echeverría. Patrons can check out a journal for a maximum of two weeks and return it with up to four pages filled with their own experiences in the city.

“Since people in Evanston are so passionate about their city, I thought that people would be interested in leaving a written testimonial of their memories,” Echeverría said.

Echeverría was inspired to start the project after she saw the American Library Association and other libraries create similar programs.

The Robert Crown Branch currently houses three community journals: one for adults, teen agers and children, respectively. Each journal contains instructions and writing prompts, such as the writer’s favorite season, piece of nature or spot in the city.

Writers can also look back at what previous contributors have added to the project.

“The diversity of formats and the diversity of memories is what makes it interesting to me,” Echeverría said. “It would be beautiful to come back in five or 10 years and look through one of these journals and see all sorts of memories.”

The journals are also available for patrons to check out.

Echeverría said the program has seen the most success with adults. One such participant was Evanston resident John McClelland.

“This program is an interesting way for people, including some who are not habitual writers, to have something to say about their community’s place in their lives,” McClelland said. “For all its flaws, including some dark history and elitism, Evanston is wonderfully diverse and interesting.”

Library assistant Bridget Petrites said these journals will eventually help document the city’s past.

By giving people a voice and forum, she said the project is a part of living history.

“In 10 or 20 years’ time, it gives people an insight into what people were thinking then,” Petrites said. “People can see some of the thoughts of their neighbors and what Evanston (means) to one person versus another.”

Echeverría said the program has not gained as much awareness as she had hoped, leaving many pages unfilled in the community journals.

However, she hopes the program will con tinue indefinitely.

“It’s a way of giving people a voice that remains after they might not be here,”

Echeverría said. “That’s the beauty — that whatever you write in there is for posterity and for anybody to see. You kind of get a snapshot, even if it’s a five-year span, of what people think of their own city.”

leahschroeder2026@u.northwestern.edu

Courtesy of Beatriz Echeverría

The three Evanston Public Library community journals stacked on top of each other. Branch manager Beatriz Echeverría bought the journals, cataloged them, prepared instruction sheets and printed flyers to generate awareness.

Rain intensity heightens in the US, NU research finds

By SCOTT HWANG the daily northwestern

Rain intensity has increased across the eastern two-thirds of the U.S., a trend that puts pressure on infrastructure and increases the risk of flood ing, according to a recently published study by Northwestern researchers.

Using data from 1951–1980 and 1991–2020, the study found an average increase in wet day precipi tation by about 5% in the Central and Eastern U.S. The increase is in the amount of rainfall specifically on wet days, rather than the amount of total rainfall across any day.

Ubben Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Sustainability and Energy Ryan Harp, the lead author of the study, described the distinc tion as “nuanced.”

“When it rains, it’s raining about 5% more than it used to,” Harp told The Daily. “(Increased inten sity) doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s more rainfall over the course of the year.”

While the study did not examine the causes for rain intensity increases, this trend fits into scientifi cally predicted consequences of climate change. Earth and planetary sciences Prof. Daniel Hor ton is a co-author of the study and leads NU’s Cli mate Change Research Group. He said a temper ature-rising planet means a wetter one.

“As an atmosphere warms, its ability to hold moisture increases at a rate of about 7% more water vapor for every degree Celsius,” Horton said. “We would expect because we’ve warmed as a planet … then our precipitation would also increase.”

More intense rain can increase the risk of flooding, Horton said. He explained that exist ing infrastructure may not be designed to han dle changing weather patterns, potentially lead ing to drainage systems being overwhelmed.

Flooding in Chicago was caused by heavy rain soaked basements and overflowed pipes this September. It was the heaviest flooding in the region in two years.

“A lot of our infrastructure has been built around this assumption that the precipitation patterns and intensity that we’ve seen in the past will continue into the future,” Harp said. “That’s not the case.”

As cities develop, more land area becomes impervious to water. Rainwater is then unable

The research found an average increase in wet day precipitation by about 5% in the Central and Eastern U.S. during the studied periods.

to infiltrate through roads, parking lots and sidewalks into the ground, leading to more frequent floods.

McCormick professor emeritus Bill Miller founded the Center for Engineering Sustain ability and Resilience, an NU organization which aims to address sustainability challenges.

“In natural areas where you have natural veg etation, anywhere between 80 and 100% of the water actually sinks into the ground rather than running off,” Miller said. “But in urban areas, essentially all of it runs off.”

In response to intense rain, some cities have turned to green infrastructure, which attempts

to absorb rainwater before it can run off. In 2015, Evanston renovated the parking lot in the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center to have water-permeable pavement.

Other factors, like geography, can determine how at risk a community is to flooding. Natural outlets for water to flow away from a city can reduce pressure on the city’s infrastructure.

Currently, Evanston faces a minor risk of flooding relative to neighboring communities, according to Lewis University Aviation Meteo rology adjunct Prof. Rick DiMaio.

“The west side of Evanston drains into the McCormick canal, and the east side of Evanston

drains into Lake Michigan,” DiMaio said. “So when we get really heavy-duty rains in Northeast Illinois, Evanston is one of the last places to flood.”

Nevertheless, as the climate changes, the risk to urban communities may continue to increase.

Horton said society can either adapt to more intense rainfall by renovating stormwater systems or by addressing the root of the problem.

“We know that the increase in precipitation is consistent with our predictions of what should happen with global warming,” Horton said. “So one thing we could do is reduce CO2.”

scotthwang2026@u.northwestern.edu

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on the proposal before opening the floor to resident comment.

A previous version of the budget included a 4% property tax increase, but that iteration was scrapped due to concerns about its poten tial impact on the cost of living for Evanston homeowners.

Regarding concerns about an increase in cost of living, Black pointed to a report from Evanston Now that showed the city’s 8.17% composite property tax rate is lower than nearby municipalities.

“Most of that is due to the efficiencies of a township,” Black said. “Administration costs and some of those hiring costs aren’t quite as high.”

More than $800,000 of the budget will be allocated to the Sustainability Fund, which aims to accelerate CARP’s progress. Evanston has cut carbon emissions by 38% since 2005,

HOW TO VOTE

From page 1

From page 1 Day.

Prospective voters on campus can register to vote, check or update their registration at the Center for Civic Engagement during drop-in hours. Voters can also request or return absen tee ballots at the center.

NUVotes also has temporary drop boxes located throughout campus at the Allison Hall, Sargent Hall, Schapiro Hall and Wil lard Residential College area desks, where

FOOTBALL

From page 1

feel like we could trust the weather report, and when we saw it, we knew it would be a major factor in the game.”

The conditions at Ryan Field on Saturday were as messy as advertised. Extreme wind gusts wreaked havoc on the passing attacks and special teams units, while a severe thun derstorm warning nearly stopped play mid way through the game and drenched the teams and spectators. Fitzgerald could only recount two Ryan Field games that he’d coached with comparable conditions: a recent game against Minnesota and a 2004 contest against Purdue.

The inclement weather gave NU the figura tive and literal perfect storm that it needed to keep pace with the Buckeyes and slow the topranked Ohio State offense, but the Cats (1-8, 1-5 Big Ten) could not gain enough traction offensively to complete an upset for the ages in a 21-7 loss to the Buckeyes (9-0, 6-0).

Entering the weekend as 38-point underdogs,

according to Sustainability and Resilience Coordinator Cara Pratt, and aims to reach a 50% reduction by 2025. The budget will add two sustainability specialists to staff, and sev eral municipal buildings will implement solar energy options.

The city also plans to add 39 civic positions, 22.5 of which will be in general services, eight in the Water Fund and the rest spread out across other departments.

A $23.6 million increase in the Water Fund accounts for most of the budget increase. Resi dents will face a 5% increase in the water rate and a 1.8% increase in solid waste fees.

City Council will hold a special meeting to discuss the budget Monday and aims to adopt it two weeks after that, with the deadline for approval set for Dec. 31.

“We give the larger picture to City Council,” Desai said. “Ultimately (it’s) for City Council to decide.”

jeremyfredricks2026@u.northwestern.edu

prospective voters can pick up stamps and mailing instructions.

NUVotes is a nonpartisan group associated with the Center of Civic Engagement that aims to provide information about voting registra tion and procedures for members of the Uni versity community.

Evanston and suburban Cook County voters can also vote in person and early at the Lor raine H. Morton Civic Center from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m on Nov. 7.

pavanacharya2025@u.northwestern.edu

NU hoped to mitigate Ohio State’s offensive prowess by preventing standout quarterback C.J. Stroud from finding his rhythm in the passing game. Though the Cats’ secondary broke up five of Stroud’s passes, the elements turned out to provide an even greater boost.

The wind conditions played into the NU’s favor, as passes routinely sailed over receivers’ heads and passing the ball beyond 10 yards became a challenge for either side. Stroud’s arm was a non-factor in the first half — the Heisman contender completed just six of his first 16 passes for 46 yards and the Buckeyes failed to score on their first six drives. Ohio State also endured a rash of uncharacteristic drops, including a would-be touchdown reception from receiver Emeka Egbuka.

“We wanted to limit their possessions for the whole game,” Fitzgerald said. “You don’t want to give that offense carte blanche. With the wind, the ball was sailing like crazy.”

NU reaped immediate dividends from its ground game, surprising the Ohio State defense with the potent trio of junior running backs Evan

DISCRIMINATION

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other issues.

“This is a call to awareness, accountability and action to correct historical wrongs,” the report said.

According to the report, many Black city employ ees alleged that they are under-compensated for their work, citing unfair pay compared to their white peers, increased duties without higher compensation and improper job classification.

The document cited a 2019 Daily story with payroll data showing full-time white city employees received a median income of $91,089 in 2018 — nearly $5,000 more than the city’s overall median sal ary and roughly $15,000 more than Black employees, the next largest racial group.

Employees outlined an action plan with 20 demands to help improve city workplaces for Black and brown staff. The demands included pushing for racially equitable hiring practices, increasing the number of HR employees, implementing recom mendations from the lakefront report and creating

a Pay Equity Ordinance.

“Sadly, we commonly see and experience inequi table actions by other city staff that contribute to the marginalization of Black lives, Black bodies and Black voices,” the report said. “We have decided that for this work community to function equitably, silence is no longer an option.”

The report detailed a range of deadlines for its 20 demands, from immediate action to 18 months from now. While the group requested the city immediately hire more HR employees, it asked for the creation and implementation of a Pay Equity Ordinance within 12 to 18 months. The group said it is looking for systemic change and a culture shift in all Evanston workplaces, not just in local government, to promote equity, diversity and inclusion citywide.

“We are asking that the City of Evanston… address and repair the social harms that have been inflicted on Black employees internally,” the report said. “Dismantle your own system of oppression.”

selenakuznikov2025@u.northwestern.edu

Hull and Cam Porter and sophomore quarter back Brendan Sullivan. After failing to register 80 total rushing yards in three of their previous four games, the Cats tallied 206 yards on a staggering 59 carries, while attempting 17 passes.

Hull was at the forefront of the rushing attack, carrying the ball 30 times for 122 yards and a score. The junior captain said that the running backs embraced the challenge of shouldering the offen sive load, both in their carries and their frequent alignments under center. The Cats ran direct snaps to their running backs on 17 of their 59 rushes and utilized the Wildcat formation to spark a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter.

“Especially Cam too, I feel like we handled it really well,” Hull said of the Cats’ emphasis on the Wildcat formation. “We were ready for those expec tations, ready for that little bit of added pressure.”

After that drive, the Buckeyes shut down the Cats’ ground-first approach and didn’t let NU reach the end zone again. The Cats’ offense reg istered four three-and-outs and four turnovers on downs. Rather than taking an aggressive mentality and trusting the playmaking ability

of Sullivan once conditions cleared, NU seemed content with taking time off the clock with lowrisk, low-reward runs.

While the Cats’ offense stalled, Ohio State made just enough explosive plays to take the lead. Stroud’s 44-yard quarterback keeper in the fourth quarter set up the Buckeyes’ third touch down and put the game out of reach.

Spectators at Ryan Field who braved Satur day’s storm witnessed a unique football game, from once-in-a-decade weather conditions that affected all three phases of the game to the incomprehensible fact that a team on a sevengame losing streak led the No. 2 team in college football at the first quarter break.

But for the NU fans mixed into the sea of Ohio State red, the result was all too familiar — an eighth-straight Cats loss.

“Our staff put together a really good plan to be prepared for the elements and we executed except for a couple plays,” Fitzgerald said. “Those ended up being the difference in the game.”

johnriker2023@u.northwestern.edu

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Illustration by Jacob Fulton

Wolverines beat Wildcats in Big Ten Championship

By JAKE EPSTEIN the daily northwestern @jakeepste1n

After a 2-1 victory over No. 2 Maryland (17-3, 7-1 Big Ten) in the semifinals, Northwestern (17-4, 5-3 Big Ten) looked to secure its first Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament Championship since 2014. The Wild cats came up short, losing 2-1 to No. 6 Michigan (14-5, 5-3 Big Ten).

NU quickly controlled the tempo of Friday’s semifinal win against the Terrapins, amassing a 2-0 lead. The Cats would not have the same for tune in the championship Sunday, as the Wolverines had them on their heels.

“We didn’t start well today, but (in) the last two games we’ve really started on our front foot,” Coach Tracey Fuchs said.

Eleven minutes into the contest, NU was awarded its first penalty cor ner. The Cats didn’t register a shot, and Michigan quickly went on the offensive.

Less than a minute later, Wolver ine forward Katie Anderson hit a slap-shot from the right side of the circle. Forward Kate McLaughlin redirected the ball past junior goal keeper Annabel Skubisz and into the goal. NU trailed for the first time in the tournament.

While the Cats failed to register a single shot on target in the first half, Skubisz kept the team in the game, tallying five first half saves.

“It all starts with her (Skubisz),”

Fuchs said. “She had a pretty good weekend, and we’re going to look for her next weekend to equal that (performance).”

At the half, Fuchs urged her team to settle down and play with more aggressiveness; however, Michigan started the second half on the attack. After earning a penalty corner, the Wolverines fired a shot that Skubisz could only deflect as far as Wolverine midfielder Brynn Zorilla, who made slight contact with the ball to score her first goal of the season.

Just four minutes into the second half, NU trailed by two against one of the nation’s stingiest defenses. Both sides pushed for the next decisive goal, but the third quarter ended with Michigan leading 2-0.

The Cats finally got on the board with five minutes remaining, when fifth-year back Kayla Blas fed junior midfielder Lauren Wadas on a pen alty corner. The Pennsylvania native weaved her way through traffic and fired an off-balance shot behind the Wolverine goalie to cut the deficit in half.

“She brought her game to another level today,” Fuchs said of Wadas. “She scored a goal, (but) more than that, she was just a presence all over the field and was one of our players who really matched them (Michigan) physically.”

Wadas’ goal seemed to instantly shift momentum in NU’s favor.

Thirty seconds later, the Cats gained a one-player advantage when Wolver ine forward Sarah Pyrtek received a green card.

Fuchs pulled Skubisz to the bench, which afforded NU an extra attacker to push for a late equalizer. Shortly thereafter, senior midfielder Ana Medina Garcia, who played both cen ter forward and center back through out the tournament, fired a shot just wide of the Michigan goal.

Despite a dangerous last-second attack, which the Cats referred to the umpires for a penalty corner, the matchup was ruled over. The Wolver ines held on to win a record-eighth Big Ten Tournament Championship.

In a tournament where each NU game was decided by a one-goal mar gin, Wadas and senior midfielder Alia Marshall were selected to the Big Ten Field Hockey All-Tournament Team.

“(Especially) in the Big Ten, everyone is so good and can score so quickly,” Marshall said.

After a second-place finish in what Fuchs described as the best confer ence tournament in the country, the team returns to Evanston where they’ll finish preparations in search of a second-consecutive national title.

The Cats secured the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face the winner of Miami (Ohio) and Rider.

“We’ve been in some really tight games, and we’ve won a majority of them,” Fuchs said. “We know Michi gan’s a top-five team, so we’re not happy (ever) about losing, but it’s only going to make us better for next week.”

jacobepstein2026@u.northwestern.edu

MEN’S SOCCER

Cats lose to Terrapins in Big Ten Tournament

By ALEX CERVANTES daily senior staffer @cervantespalex

Northwestern entered Ludwig Field on Friday looking to replicate last year’s success against Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament.

But there was no fairytale upset in the cards this year, as the Wildcats’ 2022 campaign came to an end in a 1-0 defeat to the Terrapins.

After securing postseason qualifi cation by the narrowest of margins, coach Russell Payne and NU booked a first-round date with top-seeded Maryland.

The Cats started on the front foot, with freshman midfielder Jason Gajadhar registering the first chance of the game. Gajadhar, who was named to the Big Ten’s All-Freshman team Friday, saw his shot saved by Terrapin goalkeeper Niklas Neumann in the ninth minute.

Just three minutes later, graduate student midfielder Bardia Kimiavi cut back on his right foot and tried to curl a shot to the back post, but it was parried away by Neumann.

Half an hour into the contest, misfortune struck NU. Maryland’s Joshua Bolma was fouled in the box and the hosts were awarded a penalty.

Though graduate student Christian Garner leapt the opposite way, Mal colm Johnston’s ensuing attempt slammed off the crossbar as the Cats avoided calamity.

Despite a few quality chances in the opening frame, the pair of teams headed into the intermission scoreless.

Out of the break, the Terrapins enjoyed the first great chance of the second half. A lengthy VAR check

saw Maryland blessed with its sec ond penalty kick of the game. This time around, the Terrapins tasked Bolma with the penalty-taking responsibilities.

With the stadium on pins and nee dles, the referee blew his whistle and Bolma took a few paces left before trotting towards the ball. A hop, skip and a jump later, Garner laid com fortably in front of the goal holding the ball at his stomach. In miraculous fashion, Maryland had wasted not one but two penalty chances.

All momentum seemed to be in NU’s favor, thanks in large part to the efforts of Garner, who recorded six saves in the game. But it was the Terrapins who broke the deadlock with less than 15 minutes remaining.

After collecting a flicked on header, freshman forward Christo pher Thaggard’s heavy touch was stolen and Maryland was on the counterattack.

Six yellow jerseys sprinted at the retreating quintet in black. The ball was played out wide to Johnston who picked out a darting Colin Griffith in the center of the box. Garner’s diving effort to snag the cross was futile as the ball snuck into the side left netting of the goal, handing the Terrapins a 1-0 advantage.

Though the Cats threw the kitchen sink at Maryland in an effort to grab a late equalizer, the Terrapins held onto the lead — ending NU’s season.

Payne’s second campaign with the Cats saw the team secure fewer positive results than his first, but the success of his freshmen, especially Gajadhar, and transfer players lays the groundwork for future success in Evanston.

VOLLEYBALL

NU falls short in conference play

By KATE WALTER daily senior staffer @katewalter03

Northwestern (17-9, 6-8 Big Ten) faced a tough weekend of conference play at home, dropping matches to No. 6 Ohio State (16-5, 12-1 Big Ten) and No. 4 Nebraska (21-2, 13-1 Big Ten). Both matches had a lively Family Weekend crowd, with the Nebraska match setting a new volleyball attendance record of 4,019 fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Similar to the football team this week end, NU couldn’t seal the deal against a top-ranked Buckeyes squad, dropping its first three sets in the Friday match. The Cats kept things close in the first set, with the Buckeyes finishing only three points ahead. Seven kills by senior Temi Thomas-Ailara wasn’t enough to fend off the Buckeyes.

NU couldn’t get into the flow during the second set either, falling behind the Buckeyes and putting up 12 points to Ohio State’s 25. The Cats tried to get back into the game during the third set, but the Buckeyes grabbed the lead after six points and took the set, and the match, with a final score of 25-18.

The Cats battled No. 4 Nebraska through five sets Sunday, gaining a 2-1 set lead before falling to the Cornhuskers in the fifth set. Compared to last month’s three-set sweep by Nebraska, NU held its own against the Cornhuskers in front of a home crowd.

Thomas-Ailara lit up the first set with 11 kills and a .833 hitting percentage, clinching the first set for the Cats with a decisive kill. The Cornhuskers took the next set, notching 13 kills to NU’s 10. NU bounced back to win a competitive third set, with Thomas-Ailara’s set point kill giving the Cats a 2-1 set lead against the Cornhuskers.

The fourth set was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, but Nebraska closed it out, forcing the Cats to

Daily file photo by Angeli Mittal

a fifth set to determine the match. NU ran out of steam in the fifth set, falling to the Cornhuskers 15-6. Thomas-Ailara ended the match with a season-high 26 kills. Coming up, the Cats will hit the road for games against Michigan and Michigan

State. They’ll also face the Spartans for the first time this season and have a chance to avenge their October loss to the Wolverines

Paloma Leone-Getten/The Daily Northwestern

Khadija Ahmed/The Daily Northwestern

Seeger Gray/Daily Senior Staffer

Seeger Gray/Daily Senior Staffer