The Daily Northwestern — November 13, 2019 by The Daily Northwestern

The Daily Northwestern Wednesday, November 13, 2019

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How Merrimack pulled off NU upset

Students engage in political activism during study abroad in Chile, Hong Kong

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The case for diversity in Artificial Intelligence

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‘Art for Cats’ to provide materials Pilot program seeks to alleviate financial burden By JAMES POLLARD and NEYA THANIKACHALAM

daily senior staffers @pamesjollard, @neyachalam

The Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences is implementing a new pilot program to partially cover costs for supplies required in two introductory art courses this winter. The program, called Art for Cats, will assist with costs associated with Art 220: Introduction to Painting and Art 250: Introduction to Photography. The program is similar to Books for Cats, which provides free STEM textbooks and course materials to first-generation lowincome students. Mary Finn, the associate dean for undergraduate academic affairs, said after Books for Cats launched in 2017, students and advisors began asking her about aid for nonSTEM course costs. “It’s really got to be a combination of perhaps providing some financial assistance to students who are lowincome, but also on behalf

of everybody because there are many students who don’t qualify, but who will find it’s still a lot of money,” Finn said. “What are some less expensive ways to do things?” The fund prioritizes covering students with the greatest financial need, about onethird of students receiving Northwestern grant assistance, said Brian Drabik, the senior associate director at the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid, in an email. Drabik said financial aid worked closely with Weinberg to create a process for funding students and will help by identifying eligible students and increasing the financial aid award by the appropriate amount. “We hope with initiatives like Art for Cats, we can continue and grow to work to remove financial barriers so that all students have access to the academic and creative opportunities the University offers to students,” Drabik said. Martin said expenses for Introduction to Photography include photo paper, which can be costly. For Introduction to Painting, he said expenses include brushes, oil paints, canvasses and chemicals used for » See ART, page 6

Evan Robinson-Johnson/Daily Senior Staffer

Itamar Rabinovich, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., answers questions from the audience after his talk. Rabinovich discussed how the power balance in the Middle East is changing.

Diplomat talks Israel, Middle East Itamar Rabinovich, former Israel Ambassador, spoke on campus By JASON BEEFERMAN

the daily northwestern

Israel’s former Ambassador to the U.S. Itamar Rabinovich spoke to members of the surrounding Northshore

community on campus Tuesday about the complex, changing state of affairs in the Middle East. Hosted by the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies, Rabinovich’s talk, “Israel Facing a New

City Council introduces cannabis law Ordinance would legalize recreational cannabis for those over 21 By SAMANTHA HANDLER

daily senior staffer @sn_handler

Aldermen on the Administration and Public Works Committee unanimously voted to introduce an ordinance Monday that makes it legal for anyone who is 21 or older to possess recreational cannabis in Evanston. However, aldermen still have questions about how Evanston police will enforce the new law, as well as how the city will inform residents. Ald. Robin Rue Simmons (5th) said she wants to give all matters regarding recreational cannabis “very close attention.” The ordinance allows Illinois residents to possess 30 grams of cannabis flower, up to 500 milligrams of THC in cannabisinfused concentrate and up to 5 grams of cannabis concentrate. Non-Illinois residents can possess half of each of the limits. Interim city manager Erika Storlie said at the meeting that there are current provisions in City Code that allow police to issue citations to someone caught in possession of cannabis. With » See CANNABIS, page 6

Middle East: Challenges and Responses,” focused on how Turkey, Israel and Iran have become the three major powers in the Middle East, while other nations have struggled to gain footing after the Arab Spring revolutions.

NU hosts 30 Days of Indigenous Programming the daily northwestern @emmayarger

Ald. Robin Rue Simmons (5th) at a City Council meeting. Rue Simmons had questions about the city legalizing recreational cannabis.

Serving the University and Evanston since 1881

» See ISRAEL, page 6

Native community hosts Nov. events By EMMA YARGER

Evan Robinson-Johnson/Daily Senior Staffer

“The Arab world is weak,” Rabinovich said. “The three most powerful countries in the Middle East are not Arab — Iran, Turkey and Israel.” Rabinovitch said in recent

Graduate students Nikki McDaid-Morgan and Forrest Bruce gathered under Weber Arch Tuesday morning with a small group of Indigenous community members to take campus nature walks and appreciate the land where Northwestern was built. This event was a part of the University’s 30 Days of Indigenous programming, a set of resources and activities throughout November organized to celebrate Native American History Month. Members of the Indigenous community said all students, faculty and staff are invited to participate in daily events or self-guided learning to engage with Indigenous history and communities. McDaid-Morgan, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, said the walk aimed to

reconnect with land and waters by taking time to appreciate them. The walk began with land recognition and emphasized environmentalism through engagement with the Earth, she said. “When people recognize the folks that this land is the traditional homelands of, that’s great, but it’s not enough,” McDaid-Morgan said. Before the walk started, McDaid-Morgan shared a traditional story from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. She said when humans arrived to Earth, animals agreed to help them as long as they always live in harmony with land and waters. The campus nature walks will also occur the next two Tuesdays of November. Other events throughout the month include smudging ceremonies — the practice of burning sage for healing purposes. Upcoming craft circles will include making corn husk dolls and jewelry. Assistant Director of Multicultural Student Affairs Aaron Golding said events like last week’s » See HERITAGE, page 6

INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8

2 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

AROUND TOWN

Council approves citizen police review commission By CASSIDY WANG

daily senior staffer @cassidyw_

At Monday’s City Council meeting, aldermen unanimously approved an ordinance creating a citizen police review commission after it was amended to remove the nondisclosure agreement section. The ordinance is a response to a report by the Citizen Police Complaint Assessment Committee in December 2018. The citizen police review commission will be comprised of nine members, who cannot include elected officials or city employees.The purpose of the board is to “increase transparency and build a trusting relationship between the community and the Evanston Police Department,” according to city documents. Specifically, the commission aims “to promote public confidence in the professionalism and accountability” of EPD through unbiased review of complaints and policy recommendations. The commission will also incorporate a “citizen perspective” in evaluating complaints and seek to provide a systematic means to improve citizen and police interactions. At Ald. Cicely Fleming’s (9th) recommendation, the ordinance was amended by striking out language that specifies how members must sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure form regarding executive session information. Fleming objected to the confidentiality requirement for members of the commission out of concern that other rules in executive session

POLICE BLOTTER Vodka taken from Walgreens A Walgreens employee reported a bottle of vodka taken from the store Monday, Evanston police said. The employee reported the theft at around 8:30 p.m., and officers arrived to the Walgreens, 635 Chicago Ave., shortly after, Evanston police Cmdr. Ryan

would also apply. “It doesn’t necessarily communicate to the public that we’re trying to have a transparent and open process with our police complaint review board,” Fleming said. “I know people who have been following this issue… what they really wanted was more information, not less information.” Fleming said the city should be able to waive confidentiality. To put confidentiality back in the ordinance, she said, erodes trust in the community. Under the ordinance, the nine-member commission would review EPD’s internal investigation and evaluate its objectivity and fairness, among other factors, through watching videos, including body-cam footage, in closed sessions. Ultimately, the police chief and city manager have the authority to decide if there will be discipline for the officer in question, in accordance with state law. As of 2015, Illinois is one of 15 states that have enacted legislation to codify a version of a Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, a law that grants police special protections in criminal prosecutions and other investigations. The ordinance for the commission specifies that “pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, only the police chief and the city manager are empowered to impose discipline.” The city’s collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police Union provides that the city can “hire, promote, demote, suspend, discipline or discharge” police for a just cause. The Citizens Network of Protection — a group dedicated to police reform and civilian Glew said.The employee observed three men standing by liquor shelves, Glew said, and saw one man remove a bottle of vodka from the shelf. The employee described one man as wearing a black coat, one wore a white coat and another wore a red coat. No employee witnessed any of the men take the bottle out of the store. All three were seen running northbound, and officers stopped them a

Evan Robinson-Johnson/Daily Senior Staffer

Ald. Cicely Fleming (9th) speaks at a City Council meeting. Aldermen approved an ordinance creating a citizen police review commission.

oversight — is concerned that the board would not be able to proactively address structural racism in policing, according to Austin Spillar, a member of the CNP. “They use that language of proactive,” Spillar

said. “When you read the ordinance… this is an advisory committee, it is a review committee. I don’t understand what about this is proactive.”

block and a half north of the store. They were released without charges. The theft was not captured on video and no arrests were made, Glew said.

The report was given to police at around 10:50 a.m. that there was graffiti in the alley of the Shell Station. When officers arrived they found orange and black spray paint graffiti. There is no offender information and no information on when it occurred, Glew said.

Graffiti found at Shell Station

An unknown person reported criminal damage to the Shell Station, 101 Ridge Ave., on Monday.

cassidywang2022@u.northwestern.edu

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THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 3

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

ON CAMPUS

California wildfires impact students By ARIANNA CARPATI

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A resident shoots video of the Woolsey fire that threatens homes along West Winding Way in Los Angeles’ Malibu on November 9, 2018.

tracks the fires online. She said the fires are one of the reasons why she does not want to live in California later in life. “Why would you want to live somewhere where you’re always in danger?” she said. “You don’t have that environmental danger. You can control your safety in Chicago, but you can’t do that in LA.” Weinberg freshman Benjamin Liu, from East Bay, Calif., remembered that last November, the wildfires caused such poor air quality that school closed for a day. Early on this academic year, there were power outages in Liu’s town due to a nearby fire. ”I thought about it as I was going to bed, even when I was in classes sometimes,” Liu

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said. “I was not too worried, but it was still there. It was a pretty consistent worry throughout the day.” Liu noted that during the week when the fire was close to his home, it was a frequent topic of conversation when he was on the phone with his parents. However, now that it’s not impacting them as directly they don’t talk about it as much, he said. Even though these NU students are far from the danger of the fires during the school year, they still worry for their friends and families back home. “My entire state is on fire,” Sekhon said.

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General Manager Stacia Campbell

California — one of the top states of origin for Northwestern students — has been battling wildfires, which spread across thousands of acres each year, forcing hundreds to evacuate their homes. Many Northwestern students from California are concerned about the well-being of their families and friends as wildfires remain a constant danger. In 2019, an estimated 198,392 acres have burned by a total of 6,190 incidents. 732 structures have been destroyed and there have been three fatalities due to the wildfires. Medill Freshman Jack Izzo, from San Diego, said he often thinks about the threat of wildfires at home while away at Northwestern. He remembers evacuating his home when he was seven years old. Since then, he has experienced school cancellations due to poor air quality. Izzo keeps track of the fires online but said he knows his family would contact him in the event of an emergency. “It’s not at the top of my mind, but it’s definitely occurred to me,” Izzo said. “I’ve definitely thought about that like, ‘Dang, I am really not in the position to do anything if anything was to happen to my family or my house.’” In October, the red zone — or an area with a high risk of wildfires— was just two miles away from Medill sophomore Navpreet Sekhon’s home in Los Angeles, and she said the threat of wildfires has impacted her emotional wellbeing at Northwestern. “I wasn’t too freaked out, but, for a couple of hours I was just checking my phone constantly,” Sekhon said. “I skipped one of my classes that day because I was just like, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen.’” She said she was mostly worried for her mother who, as an empty nester, is often home alone. Sekhon has news updates on her phone and

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"Anything Butt" Wed. 11/13/19

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by Henry Alford Welcome to The Daily's new student-created crossword puzzle. Come back every Wednesday during fall quarter for a new crossword. Answers on Thursdays. ACROSS 1 NASCAR backflipper Edwards 5 Country gal Yearwood 11 "Weekend Update" host Michael 14 "Same." 15 Mariott rival 16 Carpool lane 17 Patriotic anthem 20 Like the Incas 21 Melber of MSNBC 22 MBA subj. 23 Star Wars protagonist 24 Anti-coke org. 26 Italian scooter line 28 Places for emojis 32 Cognitive decline 35 Versatile utensil 36 Allies' enemy 37 Horned Frogs sch. 39 Child's play 40 Bird houses 42 One who practices on courts? 45 Wildly unorthodox, and what the other longest answers include 48 Polytheist, perhaps 49 That dude's 50 Home of the Free Speech Movement, abbr. 53 Looked at 55 Express disapproval 57 Hate 59 Courtroom attire? 62 Make a request 63 Signing, as a contract 64 Record-breaking Atlantic hurricane 65 Degrees for English majors 66 Raymond of "East of Eden" 67 Chemical endings

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“Anything Butt” DOWN 1 Stogie 2 Make right 3 Wrestling star Piper 4 Hoop site 5 Jay-Z hit "On to ________" 6 Grafton mystery novel "____ for Ricochet" 7 "Casablanca" heroine 8 Go hungry 9 Day-ones 10 Wheel-spinner's purchase 11 Windy City native 12 High school dance, slangily 13 Dear ____ Hansen 18 Weighed down 19 Works on walls 25 In action 27 Selective org. 28 Nuclear Treaty policies 29 Colorful parrot 30 Gaelic language 31 Svedka alternative 32 Carvey of "Wayne's World" 33 Lovers no longer 34 Chooses the wrong words 38 Jazz home 41 Hang 43 Pitch Perfect or The Godfather 44 Has too much of 46 Beach hut 47 Raps 50 Siri's advice for a lost driver, maybe 51 Wind instrument? 52 Alpha followers 53 Blood blocker 54 "Frozen" queen 56 Soulful Redding 58 Most of us are there 60 Phony card 61 Feminine suffix

OPINION

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Wednesday, November 13, 2019

More diversity’s needed in AI to fight human biases MARCUS THUILLIER

DAILY COLUMNIST

As I approach graduation, diversity and representation has been on my mind. It’s been a key point of discussion in one of my classes this quarter, Leadership Insights and Skills for Data Scientists. It is of fundamental importance for data scientists, especially in the tech industry, to be aware of diversity or the lack thereof in their surroundings. As companies turn to data to answer some of their pressing questions, it is important to take a step back and consider what this data is actually telling us. The data boom that has happened recently has led to plenty of opportunities in the tech industry. However, this boom also comes with its drawbacks. The artificial intelligence community has been portrayed for a long time as creating impartial and objective solutions to human problems. However, this idea is just a myth, as often data solutions carry bias and subjectivity. This bias exists in two ways. First, the designer of the algorithm can be biased. Big companies like Facebook or Google, for example, have less than 15 percent of women working in AI research. These companies also have less than 4 percent of black employees and are known to discriminate against “older” employees. Like many aspects of our social system, the AI industry is dominated by white men between the ages of 18 and 35. The quality, accuracy and reliability of the products created suffer from it. These employees inject their biases in how they acquire, treat and format data. This directly impacts the models and algorithms they develop. A data scientist might choose to exclude some variables trying to prove a preexisting assumption. He might not control for outliers, for example, someone whose bank account is significantly bigger than anybody else’s in the dataset, which would skew the models. Yet another example is the

possible presence of confounding variables, an extra variable that has an effect on what you want to predict. A correlation between murder rate and sale of ice cream can be caused by the raise in temperature, not by murders actually encouraging people to buy ice cream. Even worse, these biases perpetuate existing stereotypes and transfer a continued culture of discrimination into AI. The solution to this problem is as often simple in thought but difficult to execute. Big tech companies, especially the ones driving innovation in AI, need to hire a more diverse workforce. The industry needs more people of color and women to counterbalance the biases that white male tech workers possess. The program I’m in currently does a really good job — this program brings in 50 percent men and women, 50 percent international and domestic students and 50 percent of students with previous work experience. It is a tough task, but bringing different opinions and perspectives to the table is as important in the AI industry as anywhere else. The second challenge facing the AI community is that the bias exists in the datasets themselves. In any algorithm or model developed in AI and data science, the model will only ever be as good as the data is. Just like there needs to be more diversity in the people who treat and handle the data, there needs to be more diversity in who the data is about. The training data can be incomplete or non-representative of the population or, as previously mentioned, can carry the bias of its maker. Some models built on voice recording datasets have had trouble identifying higher-pitched voices for example, which is a consequence of maledominated datasets. The same goes for facial recognition algorithms, which perform much better on men with lighter skin, again showing bias against women and people of color. People are attempting to curb this phenomenon. A bill introduced in April 2019, named the Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2019, was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The act would lead to a greater assessment of whether the new

Dreamstime/TNS

In his piece, columnist Marcus Thuillier argues that the AI community needs to become more diverse to fight human biases.

technologies developed are negatively impacted by race, gender or other biases. It seems to be a step in the right direction, although there is no telling when the legislature would be enforced. If the algorithms did not carry the biases we as humans do, this would not be a problem. Before these algorithms evolve from being a novelty to being the norm, people in the tech industry — which will soon also include me — need to seriously evaluate and consider the implications of building the future of AI. There

are moral and ethical ramifications that they need to be aware of and correct for when working to build the next big thing. Marcus Thuillier is a second-year graduate student. He can be contacted at marcusthuillier2019@u. northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

Social media: A complex but necessary tool in democracy ELIZABETH SPERTI

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

This past week, Political Union debated whether social media is corrosive to democracy. I took the stance that it wasn’t. I believe that social media is not corrosive to democracy for two reasons. First, social media is significant to movements that promote democracy. The most prominent example is the Arab Spring, in which social media played an integral part in mobilizing protests across multiple countries. According to a study done at the University of Washington in which more than 3 million tweets, gigabytes of YouTube content and thousands of blog posts were analyzed, the role of social media in shaping discourse was significant. Online discussions often occurred right before major events, and the inspiring stories of brave citizens protesting authoritarian regimes reached an international audience. A specific way in which social media was used to strengthen the movements was

through the instantaneous ability to share horrifying abuse committed by police in Tunisia and Egypt, for example — recall the infamous story of Khaled Mohamed Said, a computer programmer the police beat to death in the streets of Egypt. According to an essay in Technology Review, the photos shared of Said’s disfigured corpse sparked a movement on Facebook, “We Are All Khaled Said,” which became a Facebook group with almost 1.5 million members. Social media, specifically Facebook, functioned in two ways throughout this movement — it became a platform to spread images and videos depicting the atrocious acts committed by the police and it provided an accessible platform to spread information about the logistics of protests. Videos of police brutality against black Americans also went viral on social media in 2016. This helped spread awareness about the fatally excessive force white police officers get away with. A striking case of this is was Diamond Reynolds’ use of Facebook Live to document the aftermath of her boyfriend Philando Castile’s shooting by a police officer

in Minnesota. As of 2018, the video had been viewed more than 5.6 million times. Even if social media does nothing else, it provides a platform for people to see evidence of injustice when it occurs, which is necessary for democracy. I won’t deny the bias inherent to social media, in fact, I love to call it out. But the reality is with so many people using social media as their news source, it’s necessary to acknowledge the important role social media plays in promoting at least some awareness. My second reason is that bias is a political issue, not a social media issue. The view that social media is not bad for democracy doesn’t take into consideration the responsibility of individuals to check that bias. Resigning to this idea actually allows us to blame the polarization rampant in our society on the tool used to wield our opinions rather than acknowledge that we have a choice in how we use that tool. Additionally, simply concluding that social media is bad for democracy erases the way that social media can be used to promote awareness and foster discussion. Of course, these discussions can be ugly and the news radically biased, but to

focus solely on that is to miss all of the ways social media has vastly increased access to learning resources. Think of social media as any other tool: It can be used for good or evil, and the choice lies in individuals, not in the entity itself. We can’t risk ignoring social media’s part in one of the most important pieces of our democracy: an informed public with access to a variety of perspectives. To ignore this is to excuse ourselves from reflecting on the ways we can improve how social media is used in democracies and to decrease places it weakens it. Twitter’s announcement to ban all political advertising, for example, might be a step in the right direction, as it can decrease the frequency of paid political reach. It’s also putting heavy pressure on Facebook to do the same. Elizabeth Sperti is a Weinberg sophomore. She can be contacted at elizabethsperti2018@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@ dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

The Daily Northwestern Volume 140, Issue 38 Editor in Chief Troy Closson

Print Managing Editors Catherine Henderson Kristina Karisch Peter Warren

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR may be sent to 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, via fax at 847-491-9905, via e-mail to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com or by dropping a letter in the box outside The Daily office. Letters have the following requirements: • Should be typed • Should be double-spaced • Should include the author’s name, signature, school, class and phone number. • Should be fewer than 400 words They will be checked for authenticity and may be edited for length, clarity, style and grammar.

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THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 5

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

District 65 narrows search for new superintendent By SAMANTHA HANDLER

daily senior staffer @sn_handler

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 narrowed the search for a new superintendent to five candidates who will interview with the board this week, according to a statement from Board president Suni Kartha. Kartha announced on Nov. 6 that the search firm the district hired to find a new superintendent had presented the board with a report on 31 candidates in late October and recommended five for interviews. The board will interview the candidates during closed session meetings from Nov. 12 to Nov. 14. Kartha said in the statement that the district intends to narrow the pool to two or three candidates, conduct a second round of interviews the first week of December and anticipates announcing the new superintendent in January. “The Board remains committed to a transparent process that is inclusive of community voice,” Kartha said in the statement. “We are thoughtfully considering opportunities to obtain additional input while respecting the confidentiality requested by the candidates in order to remain in our search process.” The search comes after former superintendent Paul Goren formally announced his resignation in June. Goren, a long term resident, served as superintendent for five years. Stacy Beardsley, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, was appointed as interim superintendent for the summer break. Phil Ehrhardt and Heidi Wennstrom now serve as co-interim superintendents for the 201920 academic year.

Police investigate racial slur sent to three District 65 schools

Evanston police are investigating letters containing the N-word that were sent to three Evanston/Skokie District 65 schools, police said

A community report released in September based on a survey of 1,040 participants showed residents want interpersonal skills, knowledge of climate issues and communications skills in the next superintendent. The report also said district residents are looking for a “visionary” superintendent who is committed to racial equity and restorative practices. At a school board meeting Sept. 23, parents and educators asked the board to prioritize equity in the search. District 65 has long struggled to close opportunity gaps between white and black students. Last January, the latest Measures of Academic Progress results showed no black students at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Literary and Fine Arts School in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh grades met the college readiness benchmark in math or reading. There are 541 students enrolled at King Arts, which is located in the 5th Ward, and black and white students each make up roughly onethird of the student population, according to the 2017-2018 Illinois Report Card. In the search firm’s final report, which Kartha said the board received on Oct. 28, the consultants said the final candidates meet at least 85 percent of the criteria from the September community report. Of the 31 total initial candidates, eight are currently superintendents, 20 are from Illinois and 10 hold doctorate degrees. The report did not disclose race, age or gender identity of the candidates. “These persons, in our professional judgment, best meet the leadership characteristics and criteria published by the Board in the vacancy announcement and were best matches to the Leadership Profile,” the search firm said in the report. The Chicago Tribune reported on Monday that the District 65 interim superintendents informed families on Nov. 8 that Kingsley Elementary, Park School and the J.E.H. Education Center received “racist and hateful letters.” The letters read “White (N-word) matter,” according to the Tribune. “These are clear acts of racism, and this offensive and extremely hateful language has no place in our schools,” interim superintendents Phil Ehrhardt

Daily file photo by Noah Frick-Alofs

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board president Suni Kartha at a meeting. The school district is searching for a new superintendent.

The Organization for Positive Action and Leadership — a grassroots-based Evanston group working toward racial equity — says on their website that they plan to hold community engagement events regarding the superintendent search.

“Choosing the right superintendent will be vital in closing the achievement gap,” OPAL said on their website.

and Heidi Wennstrom said in an email to parents. “In District 65, we will not tolerate anything less than kindness and respect for all members of our community.” District 65 also announced earlier this fall that it will partner with Logan Consulting Services to introduce a new curriculum that addresses the context, history, identity, lived experience and language associated with the N-word. Called

the LCS N-word project, the curriculum is a compilation of resources and services, including educator orientation and a seminar for parents or guardians. The Tribune said the most recent letter was received Nov. 7. Evanston police Cmdr. Ryan Glew said the investigation is ongoing.

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ISRAEL

From page 1 history, Turkey, Iran and Israel have become the major players of the Middle East, while Libya, Sudan and Yemen are “torn,” Syria is in a civil war, and Egypt has returned to a military dictatorship. Edward Koven (Weinberg ’62, School of Law ’65), an audience member from Highland Park, said he appreciated how Rabinovich made an effort to remain neutral in American politics. “He went really out of his way not to upset anybody in our government when he talked

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 especially of right and left and trying to appeal to both sides of the aisle,” Koven said. However, Rabinovich did mention certain eccentricities in Trump’s foreign policy statements, like how Trump “recognized Israeli annexation of the Golan, except that Israel never annexed the Golan,” and how Trump said that the Kurdish people are to blame for not participating in the invasion of Normandy. In the subsequent Q&A with the audience, however, Rabinovich said he is critical of the Israeli government for siding with Republicans in recent events. “The current Israeli government went

CANNABIS

HERITAGE

the Illinois state law legalizing recreational cannabis taking effect Jan. 1, Evanston needs to change its code. Based on the new ordinance, Storlie said the city would not issue citations to anyone possessing legal amounts of cannabis. The city wants to hold two community meetings for the public to understand what the allowable amounts are, and at least one meeting will be held in December, Storlie said. “One of them will be geared toward residents who want to know what they can and can’t do,” Storlie said. “We also want to have a forum for business owners to know what they can and can’t do in terms of their employees, whether or not they can still have a drug-free workplace, things like that.” Some aldermen questioned if the Evanston Police Department will still be able to conduct car searches based on the smell of cannabis. Evanston police chief Demetrious Cook added that EPD will post about what amounts of cannabis are legal on EPD’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. He said people found to be under the influence of cannabis while driving will face DUIs, and the equipment for testing the amount of cannabis in a person’s system should come out by June. Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) said at one of her ward meetings that Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) explained to residents that by making recreational cannabis use legal, it is treated in a similar way to beer. “Beer is legal,” Rainey said. “You can’t drink a beer in your car, and you’re not going to be able to smoke a joint in your car because it creates a different state of awareness.” While the ordinance was introduced unanimously, Rue Simmons said she still has “lots of questions,” including about whether residents can smoke in the presence of minors. Aldermen will continue to discuss as the city moves forward with the legalization of recreational cannabis. Aldermen are also in discussions about zoning regulations regarding cannabis dispensary locations and what taxes to impose on those dispensaries.

beading craft circle are welcome to people of all experience levels and backgrounds. “The opportunity to be able to just practice and learn was great,” Golding said. “It was really a great community, just rejuvenation time to come together and hang out.” Jennifer Michals, the program assistant for the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research, said the main goal of 30 Days of Indigenous programming is to spread awareness about Indigenous history to a broader audience. “Illinois doesn’t really teach about Native Americans,” Michals said. “It’s not a mandated part of their curriculum, so having resources that

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samanthahandler2021@u.northwestern.edu

overboard in identifying with one side in American politics,” Rabinovich said. “It always was a maxim of Israeli policy and diplomacy in the United States to keep Israel as a nonpartisan issue in American politics… But being blatantly supportive of President Trump and the Republican Party was a grave mistake on the part of Israel.” Despite being hosted on the University’s campus, the event included an audience of almost entirely Chicagoland residents. Many attendees came from nearby communities such as Highland Park, and they heard about the event through the center’s event listserv, which includes over 1,000 people. was created by Native and Indigenous folks is really important that we are able to share our knowledge and our voices.” The Office of Native American Indigenous research, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and Multicultural Student Affairs worked together to create the calendar of events for November, which can be found on MSA’s website. Upcoming events include a commemoration for the Sand Creek Massacre on Saturday, an existing tradition at NU that creators incorporated into 30 Days of Indigenous. Golding said the calendar of events increases visibility of Native peoples on campus and in the larger community. “It’s commonly thought of that Native

David Shyovitz, the director of the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies said he noticed there weren’t many University students at the event, which he attributed to “the million things they have going on,” and the attendees weren’t hindered by homework and exams. However, Shyovitz said he still thought the talk was a success. “It was a really deliberate and methodical look at really complicated issues,” Shyovitz said. “And that’s what we’re supposed to be doing here on campus, right?” jasonbeefman2023@u.northwestern.edu Americans are relegated to the past or something like that, but we’re here,” Golding said. “We sit next to you in class.” Michals said supporting Native American and Indigenous initiatives shouldn’t stop when November comes to an end. She said although they use November as a chance to celebrate, Native people are tasked with representing Indigenous communities to the public throughout the year. “Our native community gets really overtaxed and overworked in sharing information,” Michals said. “After this month is over, we would still like to cultivate our relationships with community members and students.” emmayarger2023@u.northwestern.edu

ART

From page 1 “fitting the paint,” which makes them more fluid. Matthew Martin, department assistant in the art, theory and practice program, said the University determined which students might have qualified for financial assistance in past years. He said more students would have qualified in the photo and painting courses, adding that those classes also had higher expenses than other art classes, making them a smart choice. “(The courses) seemed like a good place to start and just see how this goes,” Martin said. “And then, presumably, if this goes well, and it seems likely that we can kind of continue offering this, then just start adding other classes to it.” While the Books for Cats program helps cover the costs of introductory STEM courses, Finn said the pilot program is an attempt to signal that it is equally important for students to be able to explore other arts courses. “It has much to offer its students, and that experience of taking introductory art courses is a really valuable academic experience no less valuable than STEM classes,” Finn said. jamespollard2022@u.northwestern.edu neyathanikachalam2022@u.northwestern.edu

Daily file photo by Evan Robinson-Johnson

Northwestern’s financial aid office at 1801 Hinman Ave. The University will implement a new program to fund art supplies for some students on financial aid.

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Large 3 Bedroom Furnished Apartments On Campus SHERMAN & EMERSON 1901 Sherman Ave Available September 2020 Hardwood Floors, Ceiling Fans Appliances, Heat, Hot Water FREE Large Storage Units Bike Room, Intercom $2725 Laundry Room Cable Ready Open House Showing Thursday November 14th 5 to 6:30 pm Friday November 15th 5 to 6:30 pm Cagan Management 847-324-8992 mlungu@cagan.com

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DAILY CROSSWORD Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 7

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

Students engage in political activism while abroad By ASHLEY CAPOOT

daily senior staffer @ashleycapoot

When Weinberg junior Neha Pashankar embarked on her semester abroad in Chile, she knew she was about to become immersed in a completely new culture. However, she said she could never have anticipated that she would be tear-gassed in the streets of Santiago as she marched with over one million other protesters. Pashankar is one of many Northwestern students studying abroad in cities like Santiago, Hong Kong and Barcelona, where major political protests have broken out. In Chile, protests first broke out in October when the government raised public transportation fares. President Sebastián Piñera declared a state of emergency after an estimated 60 percent of the city’s subway stations were damaged by protesters. Piñera ultimately repealed the fare, but he deployed Chile’s military to the streets for the first time since the fall of Agusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship in 1990. Unrest still permeates the country and protests continue. On Monday, Piñera announced that he is willing to draft a new constitution. There is no longer a state of emergency in Chile, but Pashankar said her classes still have not resumed, and people now carry around sodium bicarbonate to neutralize the effects of the tear gas. Nonetheless, she said she still feels safe walking around most parts of the city and found the protests empowering. “It’s really a cool and unique experience that I got to study here while this was all

happening because this is history,” Pashankar said. “It seemed very happy. They shout this thing called ‘pueblo unido’ which means ‘the town united,’ so it was like everyone was here fighting the same cause, so it was pretty powerful to watch.” McCormick junior Tommy Cohen is also studying abroad in Santiago, and he said that although he feels slightly removed from the movement because he is not native to the region, he’s honored to participate. Cohen said he was especially struck by unity among the protesters. Similar protests broke out in Hong Kong in June when officials implemented an unpopular bill permitting the extradition of criminals to mainland China and Taiwan. However, the movement has evolved and now largely symbolizes a fight for greater autonomy. Weinberg junior Amelia Russo, currently studying in Hong Kong, said tensions have escalated because many of the protests in and around her campus have become more unsafe and violent. Between Friday and Monday, she said a student died, a protester was shot and another was set on fire. Russo said that while the situation is undoubtedly serious, she has felt safe overall by avoiding areas where protests are occurring. “It’s very scary that these protests are happening, but I definitely think it’s added to my abroad experience,” Russo said. “I’ve been able to engage with this political topic and learn a lot about it and learn a lot about the history of Hong Kong and their relationship with China. I’m definitely grateful to have that experience and to be able to interact with locals and other students on a daily basis and understand their

Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Protesters set up various roadblocks outside the Mong Kok police station in Hong Kong, on September 8, 2019.

perspectives on it.” Russo said she also feels that the Western media hasn’t been informed enough about the protests because there is not enough overall coverage of the movement.

She said she hopes Northwestern students will keep this in mind as they read about the protests going forward. ashleycapoot2022@u.northwestern.edu

WRESTLING

No. 21 NU falls to No. 11 Virginia Tech in team’s season opener

In No. 21 Northwestern’s first wrestling match of the season, the team traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia to face off against No. 11 Virginia Tech. The

Wildcats and Hokies battled, with the result of the match hanging on the last match. NU’s Jack Heyob faced off against Virginia Tech’s John Borst in the 285-pound weight class but lost 9-0, giving the Cats an 0-1 start to their 2019-2020 campaign. Last season, NU and the Hokies participated in a meet in Evanston, and the Cats won another close matchup 20-16. This weekend’s match was an

outdoor match in Virginia, taking place at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park. NU was led by junior Sebastian Rivera, who wrestled above his 125-weight class against Virginia Tech’s Collin Gerardi, who is 133. Despite the weight difference, Rivera won the matchup 13-4 in a major decision. But Rivera wasn’t the only Cat to win by major decision. NU junior Ryan Deakin and sophomore Yahya Thomas also won by

major decisions. Deakin and Thomas dominated their respective matchups, winning 12-3 and 12-2 respectively against the Hokies. The Cats also got wins from sophomores Tyler Morland and Lucas Davison to put themselves in position to take the match. However, the final matchup proved to be too much. — Andrew Golden

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SPORTS

ON DECK NOV.

Women’s Basketball NU at Marquette, 7 p.m. Thursday

ON THE RECORD

This is like the closest thing we’re going to get to competing as far as the postseason, so we’re just going to enjoy every moment. —Juvaris Hayes, Merrimack guard

@DailyNU_Sports

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

CONQUERING THE ‘CATS

Merrimack gets their first ever victory as a Division I program over the ‘Cats By CHARLIE GOLDSMITH

daily senior staffer @2021_charlie

Before he walked into Merrimack’s locker room at the end of the game, head coach Joe Gallo raised his fist like he’d just won the national championship. His players were all waiting for him on the other side of the door, looking for a cooler or a cup or anything that could hold water. They wanted to douse him and celebrate the school’s first Division I win. As he turned the door-handle, Gallo smiled, well aware that he was about to walk into pure chaos. Then he burst into the room and screamed at the top of his lungs. “I TOLD YOU.” It was the kind of night that no one could have imagined, one that might put this program on the map — or at least be brought up in every recruiting trip Gallo goes on after this. Playing its first season in Division I, Merrimack beat Northwestern at WelshRyan Arena 71-61 for its first win. Two days before the upset and ensuing celebration, Merrimack didn’t look like a team that could play at this level. When the Warriors made their debut, they lost by 20 points to a Maine team that won five games last year. Merrimack entered as 18.5-point underdogs. No men’s college team had overcome that big a spread since UMBC beat Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. When the Warriors walked into the arena, they were in awe of the Wildcats’ facility and intimidated by the size of the Northwestern front-line. When they left the arena, they had conquered it. They walked out dancing and hugging the dozen fans who had made the trip to see a 10-point win in Evanston. Seven months ago, the Warriors were a Division II team. No one would have

blamed them if they broke out the champagne after the win. “There was a championship atmosphere in here,” senior guard Juvaris Hayes said. “This is like the closest thing we’re going to get to competing as far as the postseason, so we’re just going to enjoy every moment of this victory.” *** Merrimack didn’t even know that it would get to play Northwestern until most NCAA teams had filled their schedules. Late in the process, the Wildcats still had an open slot. Since Merrimack was new to Division I and couldn’t organize its schedule as far in advance as other low-major teams, it had plenty of available dates. Eventually, the two schools settled on playing November 8, a date that will be remembered as long as Merrimack exists. Just getting to this game was a rollercoaster for the Warriors. They gave up 84 points to Maine, watching forward Andrew Fleming carve up Merrimack’s staple 2-3 zone defense and score 37 points. The Warriors’ 84-64 loss embarrassed Gallo, who challenged his players over the next 36 hours. He hoped the result wasn’t a sign of what the rest of the season would be like. “It was almost like I didn’t know who that team was,” Gallo said. “I knew that wasn’t us, but it’s hard to relay that to these guys. I was hoping I didn’t see a bunch of deer in headlights because they saw us lose by 20 in our first division I game and think that’s who we were.” Merrimack got back to Boston late Wednesday night, but early Thursday morning Gallo called an “air-it-out” film session. The players showed up to be criticized, as Gallo broke down every one of Maine’s scoring possessions and

pointed to the player responsible for allowing the basket. “I asked them, ‘was that because they had a really good player, or someone better than us? Or what it a breakdown on us?’” Gallo said. “And 80 percent of the things were correctable, were things that were totally on us.” “They had a kid that had 37 points on us, good player. Twenty of those 37 were a layup you or I could have made.” Gallo was so busy picking apart Merrimack’s poor defensive performance that he didn’t watch any Northwestern film until he got on the bus to the airport Thursday at 12:15 a.m. Even though he only knew of a few of Northwestern’s players, Gallo told the team in that meeting that they could at least compete with the Wildcats. But mostly, he was excited for his players to “get a taste of Big Ten life.” “This is huge, to be honest,” Gallo said the day before the game. “These games are a great opportunity for them to play against guys they watch on TV and read about. They can really see where they stack up.” *** The first thing Merrimack forward Devin Jensen noticed when he walked into Welsh-Ryan Arena was the space behind the basket. In Merrimack’s arena, the hoop is a few feet in front of a wall. At Welsh-Ryan, there’s an entire student section and a secondlevel overhang. “This gym is like completely different from what we’ve ever played in,” said Jensen, a 6-foot-5 stretch four. It took a little while for Jensen to adjust to the backdrop. He took more shots at morning shoot around than usual, trying to correct his depth perception so he wouldn’t look bad in his first game against a power conference team. Jensen’s mother had made the trip to Evanston, so he knew he didn’t want to air-ball anything. Hayes could tell he looked nervous. So he walked over a struck a conversation “I was joking with him. “Yo, six threes today,” Hayes said. “( Jensen) was like ‘nah, I don’t got it.’” “And I was like, ‘no, we gonna get you six threes tonight.’” “And he was like ‘alright, bet.’”

Then the conversation ended. Jensen had never scored more than ten points in three years with the team. Why would this night be any different? A few hours later, when Merrimack took the floor for pregame warmups and fans started to file in, Gallo said he noticed his players looking up at the scoreboard and the lights. To get more comfortable, the Warriors skipped the typical pre-game locker room talk. They spent the final 30 minutes before the game going through layup lines and putting up shots. Before the game started, Gallo pulled aside Hayes. Gallo told his best player –– a two-time Division II All American –– that he would be the most poised guy on the court. “I told Juvaris that this isn’t that big of a deal,” Gallo said. “I don’t care which Division you were playing in last year. We won more games each of the last three years than anyone on (Northwestern’s) roster combined.” After all that talk, the game tipped off and Merrimack played just like the team did against Maine. The Warriors committed two shooting fouls on Wildcats forward Miller Kopp in the first two minutes. Jensen was aggressive like Hayes had asked him to be, but he missed his first two threes and Merrimack trailed 8-0 early. Jensen spent the rest of the game making sure he kept that promise. He got the Warriors on the board with a transition three almost four minutes into the game. Jensen went on to have the best game of his career, scoring 23 points and making seven shots from beyond the arc. Both times it looked like NU would pull away early in the second half, Jensen cut that out. When the Cats came out of halftime strong and quickly turned a one-point deficit into a fourpoint lead, Jensen hit a contested three. Two minutes later, he hit another one that tied the score at 46. That shot was when Gallo became fully con-

vinced that this would be a close game. “It took until about the second media of the second half,” Gallo said. “That’s when I told them it was a basketball game, and they all knew.” *** Twelve minutes of game-time later, Merrimack was on top of the world. Jensen’s shooting had such an effect on the Wildcats’ that Collins switched his best defender –– guard Anthony Gaines –– onto him. That opened up the floor for Hayes, who scored 17 points after halftime. He iced the win by making eight free throws in the last two minutes. It was the biggest college basketball upset in the last 20 months. After post-game handshakes, the Merrimack guys sprinted to the locker room. “Get the water cooler,” one of them shouted. Gallo was the last one in. He hugged or shook the hand of every gathered fan wearing Merrimack colors, including some parents, friends and alumni. Finally, Gallo was done with that and ready to really celebrate. He flung open the door and reminded with what’s possible with those three words: I told you. Then he entered a mosh pit of sweaty, overexcited players who just won the game of their lives. He wanted to dance like Roy Williams. But he couldn’t dance. “It was kind of too tight,” Gallo said. “I need a little room for my moonwalk.” The players never found that water cooler. Hayes says a Gatorade bath will come sometime soon. This was that big of a win for Merrimack. The time they got their first Division I victory. “Unbelievable,” Gallo said. It really is. charliegoldsmith2021@u. northwestern.edu

Alison Albelda/Daily Senior Staffer