The Daily Northwestern — November 14, 2022

Residents react to redistrict

By SHANNON TYLER daily senior staffer @shannonmtyler

Every decade, each state redistricts legislative and con gressional districts to account for population changes. As part of the new state senate map, the entirety of Evanston is a part of the 9th district, including a portion of South Evanston that was previously part of the 7th district.

Since Illinois approved its new districts in 2021, Evanston is fully represented by State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), who just won reelection. Before Tuesday’s election, a portion of South Evanston from Howard Street to about Case Street was a part of the 7th district represented by state Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago).

Fine told The Daily she is “thrilled” to represent all of Evanston, since she was already representing a major ity of the city. She also said she takes seriously the responsi bility to represent the entire city’s diverse population.

“To make sure that every body feels like they have a voice and that voice is heard, that is what is so important,” Fine said. “To make sure that everything we do is looked at, through a lens of inclusiv ity, so everybody can feel like they’re a part of it.”

With both districts leaning left, all residents remained under Democratic represen tation before and after the midterms.

The state legislature determined the redistricting process, and some political advocates accused Illinois of districting unfairly and gerry mandering certain areas.

CHANGE Illinois advo cates for ethics and efficiency

By AVIVA BECHKY and AVANI KALRA daily senior staffers @avivabechky @avanidkalra

Content warning: This article con tains discussion of medical mistreatment, assault, suicidal ideation and racism.

Peter Basquin moved out of one Chi cago-area residential mental health care

facility because of bedbugs, cockroaches and lice. He left another because it lacked the counseling structure he needed.

Basquin said he wound up at Albany Care in 2019, where another resident assaulted him.

The long-term mental health care facil ity, located in Evanston’s 4th Ward, is legally required to help Basquin find tran sitional housing. Still, he has struggled to move out. He applied for Supplemental

Security Income to support his transition and appealed twice, but he was denied each time. For now, he’s staying at Albany Care.

“What am I gonna go to?” Basquin said. “I’m not going to be homeless. I’m not going to go out and live in a shelter. I’m glad that I have a roof over my head.”

In recent years, Albany Care residents have struggled to access vital medication

while reporting a shortage in therapists and nurses. A new executive director took over the 417-bed facility in October 2021, followed within a year by Interim Executive Director Megan Marker. Mean while, residents in the 4th and 9th wards have expressed concerns to city govern ment about Albany Care’s impact on the neighborhood.

NUGW calls on NU to recognize grad union

Workers plan to file with NLRB if not recognized by University at 5 p.m. Monday

By ISABEL FUNK daily senior staffer @isabeldfunk

Northwestern

participated in the march, which kicked off at the Technological Institute, stopped at The Rock and ended with delivering the letter at the Rebecca Crown Center.

Along the way, graduate workers left chalk messages on the sidewalk, hoisted signs and participated in chants.

Since NUGW launched its official union drive Oct. 6, more than 2,000 graduate workers have signed union cards. According to the University, about 3,500 graduate students enrolled in fall 2022.

“(Our union) is made up of the united voices of over 2,000 graduate workers, a supermajority,” NUGW co-Chair Emi lie Lozier said. “How often can you get a supermajority on anything in the U.S.?”

Lozier said NUGW gave the Univer sity a deadline of 5 p.m. on Monday to voluntarily recognize the union. At that point, she said, the workers will file with the National Labor Relations Board — with or without University support.

A fifth-year chemistry Ph.D. candidate,

Lozier also applauded the workers for put ting in the effort to build union support.

“Without this level of engagement, we would not be standing here in as power ful a position as we are now,” Lozier said. “What an incredible payoff for all the hard work, for you all and for generations of graduate students who have been organiz ing for this before us.”

Throughout the march, speakers

Albany Care’s residents have reported violence and medical mistreatment. But obstacles to leaving the long-term mental health care facility persist.

University Graduate Workers marched across campus and delivered a letter to Provost Kathleen Hagerty on Thursday, calling on the University to voluntarily recognize the union.

About 120 graduate workers

Illustration by Olivia Abeyta

AUDIO/Everything Evanston Edible Evanston’s growing community gardening efforts

Evanston author launches publishing company

By KRISTEN AXTMAN the daily northwestern @kristenaxtman1

Evanston resident Anne Beall started a con sulting firm in 2003. Within five years, the firm had an office space in downtown Chicago, and it “was more successful than (she) ever imag ined.” Then, the 2008 recession hit and “every thing folded.”

“The phone stopped ringing, the emails stopped coming, people stopped returning my outreach, so I thought what am I going to do,” Beall said.

In a moment of uncertainty, Beall authored her first book in 2008, called “Strategic Market Research: A Guide to Conducting Research that Drives Businesses.” After publishing the book, her business started to recover.

Since then, Beall, 56, has published nine more books and co-founded Chicago Story Press, all while continuing to run her original consulting firm –– Beall Research. She writes about everything from the hidden messages in fairy tales to the impact feral cats have on a community.

“Every book had something that was really burn ing at me that needed to be explored,” she said.

“Stop the Steal,” a movement that supported former president Donald Trump’s claim that the election was stolen, inspired Beall’s most recent book, “Only Prince Charming Gets to Break the Rules: Gender and Rule Violation in Fairy Tales and Life.”

“I remember thinking, ‘Doesn’t it feel like there’s some groups that feel like they don’t have to follow the rules?’” Beall said.

Former 2nd Ward Ald. Peter Braithwaite joins RoundTable board

In fairy tales, Beall said men are rewarded for breaking rules while women are often severely punished. She said she wished she had more female role models –– like her undergraduate adviser — who encouraged her to not doubt her abilities. Beall, who majored in social psychol ogy, worked with her undergraduate adviser to research why people don’t listen to women in

joined the Evanston RoundTable’s board of directors, the publication announced Thursday.

Braithwaite currently works as director of pro curement, diversity and community engagement at Northwestern. A lifelong Evanston resident, he stepped down from City Council in July after representing the 2nd Ward for nearly 12 years.

groups and how nonverbal communications cause women to undermine one another.

Beall said she lets research guide her endeav ors. After interviewing thousands of individu als, she believes everyone has an interesting story to tell.

Beall and Judi Goshen, a friend from her writers group, started a publishing company in

Braithwaite is the latest addition to the RoundTable’s eight-member board of directors. Some board mem bers have community expertise, including time on local school boards or leadership in nonprofit management, while others have backgrounds in journalism.

“We couldn’t be more excited to have Peter join the board,” said Tracy Quattrocki, Evanston

2020. Goshen, 63, said she wanted to partner with Beall as soon as she came up with the idea in 2019.

“Anne is a go-getter and is very motivated,” Goshen said. “She has so much energy. She gets more done in an hour than some people get done in a week.”

Their publishing company allows storytell ers to convert spoken stories into written form. Beall and Goshen don’t just publish finished works, but also compile stories. Their most recent book, “Storytellers’ True Stories about Love,” contains 33 submitted works about dif ferent kinds of love.

Michael Tuck, Beall’s husband, said he admires his wife’s intelligence, work ethic and passion for finding new hobbies.

She has been a great presence in his and his sons’ lives, he said. Having a Ph.D. in social psychology from Yale University makes her knowledgeable about emotions and behavior.

“She’s very good about feelings, asking me about feelings and so on,” Tuck said. “I as an almost 60-year-old (man) … wasn’t raised talk ing about feelings.”

Now, Beall is continuing to pursue new pas sions. At an Evanston writers workshop, she works on her fiction writing.

She is also expanding her medium. She prac tices photography and has some of her photos framed in her house.

“I just kind of follow my heart,” Beall said. “Actually, that’s pretty much the best advice I could really give to anyone is to be true to yourself, be true to who you are, and just fol low your heart.”

kristenaxtman2025@u.northwestern.edu

Roundtable’s board president and executive editor. “With his extensive knowledge of city government from his years on the council, his engagement with the business sector and his deep roots in the com munity, Peter will be a tremendous asset.”

Illustration by Anna Souter

Anne Beall has authored two books that research the hidden messages about gender in fairy tales.

Former 2nd Ward Ald. Peter Braithwaite has

Jacob Fulton

CSA hosts Arden Cho as fall speaker

By MELISSA DAI the daily northwestern @melissa_dai

Fans gathered and emotions ran high Sunday as the Chinese Students Association welcomed Asian American actor Arden Cho as its 2022 fall speaker.

Communication senior Amanda Han and Bienen and Weinberg dual degree junior Mia Huang, CSA’s programming chairs, organized the event and mod erated Cho’s talk in Ryan Auditorium.

Cho began her career collaborating with con tent creators on YouTube and has since starred in “Teen Wolf” and the recent Netflix original series “Partner Track.” Han and Huang said her YouTube background was a factor in their decision to reach out to the actor.

“Arden was someone we had both seen on the screen growing up,” Han said. “I was a big fan of Ryan Higa, so I would see her a lot in those videos.”

During the event, Han and Huang asked Cho about her experiences as an Asian American woman in the film industry, focusing on her role as Ingrid Yun, the protagonist of “Partner Track.”

Perceiving herself as a deserving main character was a struggle, Cho said, as she always felt over looked and out of place due to her Asian heritage.

“So much of my life, I’ve just been a support ing character to my friends and people at work,” Cho said during the event. “I wonder if this is how most Asians feel, and maybe that’s why people take advantage of us and abuse us.”

Cho also spoke about acting as Ingrid, who faces racism and sexism as a Korean American lawyer in her white-male-dominated profession.

Acting out her reactions to the discrimination and microaggressions, she said, was “quite triggering.”

“You know that it’s not real, but you experience it over and over and over with multiple takes, and there were definitely days where I would go home feeling horrible because it was tough to shoot it,” Cho said.

Near the end of the event, Han and Huang opened the dialogue up to the crowd for a Q&A session. One audience member asked about the

She said retirement may be on the table, both because of this controversy and Netflix’s recent announcement that “Partner Track” would not return for a second season.

“As Asian American actors and actresses, we have all this pressure to represent our entire community with every single project,” Cho said. “But please remember that we’re just storytellers and artists. If we do represent our community, then great, but I don’t think it always has to be everyone’s story because it can’t be.”

In another emotional moment, attendee Briana Lee, a senior manager at Tyson Foods, teared up while praising the show, explaining how she reso nated with Ingrid as an Asian American woman in corporate America.

She asked Cho how she balanced advocating for Asian Americans and trying not to become the “poster child” of the movement, to which Cho responded that she has not yet found an answer.

“I, as a corporate leader in the Asian com munity, also haven’t figured out how to find that balance between being a champion (for Asian Americans) but making sure you’re not exploited,” Lee told The Daily.

Cho closed with final thoughts about her role in “Partner Track.”

Playing the protagonist of the show, she said, showed her how she could be a central figure in her own life.

“I’ve learned such a big lesson in filming the show: We, as Asian Americans, really do deserve to be the main characters, and so many of us are,” Cho said. “I hope that young Asian American people watching the show feel the same way.”

melissadai2026@u.northwestern.edu

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overlooked by mainstream society, exploring the ways in which our hands represent our roles in the world around us.

criticism Cho faced for the alleged “white man and Asian woman” romantic trope in “Partner Track.” Cho, tearing up, said she hasn’t felt fully supported by the Asian American community due to the backlash.

Valerie Chu/The Daily Northwestern Arden Cho joined Chinese Students Association Programming Chairs Amanda Han and Mia Huang as CSA’s 2022 fall speaker Sunday.

A&E

arts & entertainment

ReFusionShaka rocks the stage with joint performance

By MJ GUDINO the daily northwestern

Cheering students, colorful flashing lights and cardboard cutouts of performers’ faces sprinkled the crowd at ReFusionShaka’s Friday and Satur day performances at Cahn Auditorium.

The largest dance show on campus showcased student-choreographed routines from Refresh Dance Crew, Fusion Dance Co. and Boomshaka, as well as guest performances from other student groups on campus.

McCormick and Communication freshman Gabriela Norwood said she especially enjoyed seeing Boomshaka perform to “Womanizer” by Britney Spears.

“Watching the show made me want to join

a dance group,” Norwood said. “(It) was like a confidence boost for me, and it was very cool to see them onstage having fun.”

Other iconic songs in the show included “Ras putin” by Boney M. and the “The Home Depot Beat” by The Home Depot, which showcased Boomshaka performers in hard hats and high visibility safety vests drumming and perform ing stick tricks.

Norwood said her favorite part of the per formance was the lighting, which varied with each song and featured bright colors and flashing strobes at times.

“(It) was phenomenal,” she said. “It built up the atmosphere and anticipation of different moves and helped carry the storytelling of the show.”

Communication sophomore Melanie Ahn,

the show’s lighting director, worked with cho reographers throughout the summer and Fall Quarter to determine the color and timing of lights.

Ahn has designed lighting for dance shows since high school but said ReFusionShaka was her biggest project yet.

“The philosophy that I bring into the space when I design lighting for the dance groups is continual understanding that these choreogra phers have worked so hard on these pieces,” Ahn said. ”(I’m) trying to respect their vision and making sure that both of our ideas can coexist and create the best product possible.”

Because of its complexity, the show required almost a thousand programmed lighting cues, Ahn said. She said her team of three was integral to her process and the success of the show.

Medill

This was Rossi’ choreographed her first piece for ReFusionShaka this year with the routine for Tropkillaz’s “Bola Rebola.” Rossi described ReFusionShaka as an experience unique to Northwestern’s dance community, citing how several alumni flew out to attend the show.

She looks forward to being a part of the show again next year, Rossi added.

“I knew I wanted to choreograph for this show because the energy is unmatched,” she said.

“You really do create such a strong bond with your team members and it becomes a family.”

mjgudino2026@u.northwestern.edu

Inclusive Theatre Festival brings together local theatres

By ASHTON GOREN the daily northwestern @ash_goren

Seesaw Theatre presented its Seventh Annual Inclusive Theatre Festival on Saturday and Sun day — a weekend-long conference that invites local theatres intended for diverse audiences to celebrate progress and collaborate.

At Northwestern, Seesaw’s mission is to pro duce shows for disabled audiences. Weinberg junior and ITF Conference Director Monica Wil liams said Seesaw began conducting research and contacting participants for the festival over the summer. One of inclusive theatre’s challenges is visibility, she said, so ITF seeks to spread aware ness about diverse types of theatre.

“I’ve done theatre since fourth grade, and (inclusive theatre) had never even entered my realm of possibility until freshman year,” Wil liams said. “ITF is a place for students and pro fessional artists to come together and really talk about how it’s going in the world of disability

theatre-making.”

This year’s festival is the first in-person confer ence since 2019. Presenters from Evanston and Chicago gave talks and hosted workshops at Nor ris University Center for theatre professionals, the disabled community and educators working in inclusive theatre.

Communication senior and Seesaw Artistic Director Rachel Hilbert said inclusive theatre is a relatively new field, so the festival seeks to create contact between new companies and artists to share strategies for producing inclusive theatre.

“Sensory theatre is so broad in terms of the ways you can do it, and how you can do it well,” Hilbert said. “There’s so much to take from every organization that does stuff like this.”

Hilbert said Seesaw’s primary audience is both NU students and community members from Evanston and the Chicago area with dis abilities, including those with autism. Hilbert said Seesaw has also produced shows for blind and deaf viewers.

Because Seesaw’s mission is broad, Hil bert said the conference can inform attendees

about different types of audiences. She said it’s important to understand differences so theatres can provide viewers with better specificity and accommodation.

“It’s really exciting that there’s enough people in the world making inclusive art,’’ Hilbert said.

Some speakers included members from Babes with Blades, a theatre company that recently pro duced “Othello” with an all-female, trans and gender non-conforming cast. Gianni Carcagno, a Chicago stage manager and theatre technician, gave a DIY captioning and accessibility workshop.

Special Gifts Theatre gave a presentation about productions for actors with disabilities. The com pany brought student ambassadors to the confer ence to demonstrate typical production strate gies, like improvising based on a prompt. Other techniques were modified to accommodate the actors; the team shortened songs for those who felt more confident performing a shorter piece.

Debbie Taus-Barth, SGT’s director of program operations, said the company is one of Chicago’s only therapy-based performing arts programs.

“We use the stage as a platform for skill-building

and social confidence,” Taus-Barth said during the presentation. “Everything we do is adaptive and very specific to every student in our program.”

Taus-Barth said last season, a nonverbal and hearing-impaired actress played Dorothy in “Wiz ard of Oz.” The team modified the script to accom modate her disability and highlight her ability to act the role nonverbally, she said. Other actors verbally told the story for hearing audiences, and Taus-Barth said the actress “was able to shine” through physical storytelling.

Williams said she is most excited about how inclusive theatre has the potential to open artistic doorways for more artists and audiences. She said ITF is not only meant to make theatre accessible for more viewers, but it is also a celebration of diverse artists’ contributions to the performing arts.

“Inclusive theatre is taking this art form that we all love so much and making it so that every single person can participate in it, however their heart wants,” Williams said.

sophomore Raquel Rossi, who is a member of both Refresh and Fusion, said the intense preparation for the show allows dancers on campus to bond with each other.

Eugenia Cao/The Daily Northwestern

Theatre students discuss dealing with rejection

By MIKA ELLISON daily senior staffer @mikaellison23

Communication sophomore Foster Lehman auditioned for his first musical ever in fall 2021. It didn’t go well.

“I have no idea where I am,” Lehman said, recalling his audition. “I’m off-key. And I forgot all the lyrics, so I started making (them) up. I had another song I was going to do, (but) I just decided to call it.”

He thanked everyone in the room for their time, gathered his things and exited the room.

Lehman didn’t get cast after that audition, but he said that experience prompted him to take voice lessons. As a theatre major, that wasn’t the first time he didn’t get the part, nor was it the last.

At Northwestern, the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts and the Student Theatre Coali tion jointly hold auditions, known as generals, once a quarter. Each audition cycle, hundreds of students audition, and many of them do not get cast. The latest cycle ended Sunday, when Winter Cast Lists were released.

Lehman said the atmosphere at the Wirtz Center during generals is a study in contrasts.

“Some of the more experienced actors, they don’t care,” he said. “They understand that they’re walking in there, they’re putting their stuff down and they’re walking out. That’s as far as they can go. Versus all the freshmen, including myself last year, (are) like, ‘Oh my God, this is gonna decide everything.’”

More than one hundred actors auditioned for generals — and spots are limited. McCormick sophomore Nini Bagundo, the director of “Things I Wish I Said Out Loud,” had more than 70 actors audition for her production’s six roles.

Bagundo said when casting a show, narrowing down candidates can be one of the hardest parts. She said she hoped actors didn’t associate their talent

or their worth with the audition outcomes, as her decisions often came down to other factors.

“(The auditionees are) so kind and bright, and I would love to have them,” she said. “They’re real, they’re perfect. But they’re just simply not what I’m looking for.”

Rejection may be a regular part of life for theatre majors, but it comes with strong emotion. Studies have shown that rejection activates parts of the brain associated with physical pain and is processed in a similar way.

Communication sophomore Lili Tarnopol auditioned during Winter and Spring Quarters last year and did not get cast in any roles. She said coping with the initial disappointment after rejection was difficult.

“It definitely stings a lot in the beginning,” Tar nopol said. “I don’t think there’s any way we can really control that.”

NU’s audition process includes an abundance of student-run productions, meaning students are fre quently casting other students. The theatre program at NU numbers a little less than 400, so candidates often know the people casting them.

Communication sophomore Angelena Browne recalled a time when she hung out with a friend and two hours later was auditioning for them.

“It’s actually very difficult to separate because these are people you hang out with on the weekends and get lunch together,” Browne said. “So you kind of just have to feel separation once you walk into the room.”

Auditioning at NU can include rejection at least once, if not many times in a quarter. But students find ways to cope with rejection, both emotionally and in professional terms.

When Browne wasn’t cast in any shows during general auditions last winter, she started auditioning for student films and smaller productions and was cast in a few. She said those experiences helped her view auditioning itself as a skill.

“I actually spent hours prepping audition material

(this quarter),” Browne said. “Because when I didn’t in the past, it wouldn’t work. It is something that you have to practice and prepare for constantly.”

Despite thorough preparation, it’s possible to still not get cast in any roles during an audition cycle, especially because students can typically only per form in one or two shows each quarter.

Lehman said learning to cope with rejection makes theatre majors more resilient, and encour ages them to become more confident in their own abilities.

After two quarters without getting cast, Tar nopol auditioned for the freshman musical, Heathers, and landed the leading role. That experience taught her that no matter your cur rent situation, there are always new opportuni ties, she said.

“Getting cast in the Freshman Musical last year would not have meant nearly as much as

it did to me if I had been getting cast before that,” she said. “It wouldn’t be as rewarding as it was if failure wasn’t an option.”

Browne added that though emotions may run high during audition season, it’s because of how much actors care about their parts. She added that after generals ended last week, regardless of whether auditionees were cast, everyone seemed happier.

Lehman said he thinks of auditioning as the true job of a theatre major. What helps him, he said, is remembering that in theatre, getting the part is much rarer than the alternative.

“I get up there, I do my thing. I just did my job. And if anything happens, then that’s amazing,” he said. “And (that’s) the exception to the rule, not the rule.”

mikaellison2025@u.northwestern.edu

‘Tuck Everlasting’ explores the magic of growing up

By MAYA SLAUGHTER the daily northwestern

If you had the chance to live forever, would you?

The protagonist of the musical “Tuck Ever lasting,” 11-year-old Winnie Foster, contem plates this very question after the Tuck fam ily offers her eternal life. Presented by Purple Crayon Players, “Tuck Everlasting” will open this weekend at the McCormick Auditorium. Tickets are free and can be reserved via Eventbrite.

PCP is Northwestern’s Theatre for Young Audiences theatre board. Communication soph omore Lili Tarnopol, who plays Winnie, said there will be two main audience groups attracted

to the show: college students and children.

Despite the show’s appeals to younger audi ences, Tarnopol emphasized her personal con nection to the show as a college student feeling her youth coming to an end. As Winnie discovers the magic and importance of growing up, Tar nopol said she wants audiences to realize getting older is a beautiful thing, rather than a scary one.

Communication junior and Director Frances Mary McKittrick believes the musical “shows this level of fun that can be had even when you’re a grown up.”

“You have to pay your utility bill — which is a horror attack and a half — but then you get to have your friends over for wine and cheese at your very first apartment, and that feels awe some,” McKittrick said.

McKittrick said the show also addresses themes of embracing differences. She said the Tucks, the titular immortal family, are shut out because they can’t age.

When people feel insecure about their differ ences, they must open up about sharing them as it’s “often something that someone else thinks is the coolest thing ever,” McKittrick said.

Winnie is one of the first characters to embrace the Tucks’ gift of eternal life, and the Tucks realize they must cherish each other more than they have before.

Tarnopol said “Tuck Everlasting,” unlike some other TYA shows, doesn’t patronize the audience.

“We can be honest to children and be truth ful to them … and they’ll understand it,”

Winnie learns to deal with complicated themes throughout the show, such as life, loss, love and grief that children begin to understand all too well.

Although these themes can be daunting for both adults and children, Lawhead said they are still important to explore. Tarnopol echoed this sentiment by promising that everyone who comes to see the show will resonate with it in some way because its themes are universal.

“I don’t often find myself in shows where I really need to hear the message that it’s giving,” she said, “but this is definitely one of them.”

mayaslaughter2025@u.northwestern.edu

Communication senior and Producer Clay Lawhead said.

Beatrice Villaflor/The Daily Northwestern Learning how to reframe and cope with rejection is important for theatre majors.

neighborhood.

After an initial investigation, the Illinois Depart ment of Public Health barred Albany Care from onboarding new residents in February.

But at a Nov. 1 ward meeting, Ald. Jonathan Nieu wsma (4th) — who represents Albany Care’s resi dents — announced the facility had begun admit ting people again. Albany Care currently houses 223 residents, Marker said in a Nov. 4 email to The Daily.

Local health care and housing don’t adequately support those with mental illnesses, Nieuwsma said.

“You need to be part of a system that is set up to provide treatment and provide services,” he said. “Once you get to Albany Care, you’re part of the system. The problem is the system isn’t good.”

Albany Care’s former director of nursing and three nurses quit on the same day in early November 2021, accord ing to IDPH investigation records obtained by The Daily.

IDPH records showed patients often didn’t receive medications on time. Staff sometimes combined dose distribution times or woke patients at 4 a.m. to give them medication.

On Nov. 15, 2021, an ombudsman told the IDPH, “The whole facility is in chaos.”

Basquin said at one point he didn’t receive medication for days.

- Peter

Marker, the Albany Care interim executive director, did not directly comment on allegations of missing medications. However, she said staff ing shortages have been common throughout the industry since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In any case, we have always maintained a seam less management structure that ensured continuity of care,” she wrote to The Daily.

Barriers to long-term care

Basquin said he’s insured by Medicaid. So are the majority of Albany Care residents, according to Marker.

Medicaid is an insurance assis tance program for low-income patients. Albany Care accepts Medicaid, Medicaid Pending and many private insur ances, according to its website.

Without private insur ance, people generally have fewer options for care, said Northwestern Prof. Charlayne Mitchell, who studies health equity.

“You don’t get to pick and choose when you don’t have … excess money to pay out of your pocket,” Mitchell said.

Chicago area statistics on the cost of long-term mental health care are hard to come by. But total hospital costs for seri ous mental illness in Illinois exceeded $360 million in 2014, according to data presented by the University of Southern Cali fornia. Medicaid accounted for 40% of these hospitalizations, while Medicare paid for 32%.

Mental Health Rehabilitation Facilities across Illi nois. Evanston has two SMHRFs: Albany Care in the 4th Ward and Greenwood Care in the 3rd. Greenwood Care is significantly smaller with only 145 beds.

The IDPH must conduct surveys of SMHRFs at least once a year, speaking with staff members and residents. The department ranks long-term care facilities from one to six, with level six resulting in the revocation of a facility’s license.

In December 2021, the IDPH conducted a sur vey of Albany Care and issued the facility a Level 5 rating on Jan. 31. That rating indicates substantial risk of death or serious physical or mental harm to a consumer.

The investigation reported instances when Albany Care failed to cooperate, saying it refused to provide records on 23 cases reviewed for improper nursing care.

The department fined the facility $12,500. The investigation looked into allegations of lack of staff, improper nursing care and failure to control medi cations. All were “substantiated” in the December 2021 survey.

But another IDPH survey this past April deemed Albany Care to be at a level two, just two months after the facility was restricted from onboarding new residents in February. Still, the survey found nurses were not properly distribut ing medication, and patients’ medication records continued to include blank spaces.

The IDPH continued listing Albany Care at level two following another survey in June. It also noted late medications, blank spaces in medica tion flowsheets, problems updat ing individualized treatment plans and incidents of drinking, smoking and “sexually inappropri ate” behavior.

and they never came back.”

Basquin said he wasn’t able to access a mental health professional consistently until about a month ago, comparing the rate at which they quit to a “revolving door.”

Shannon, the social worker, emphasized that patients need a professional who is knowledgeable about their experience, available in times of crisis and collaborative with other providers. But Shannon said it’s hard to build patient-therapist relationships when facilities struggle with retention.

“Dysfunctional or unhealthy dynamics can impact relationships between staff and clients. That’s really important to consider,” Shannon said. “I imagine there’s very high turnover with staff because they’re underpaid and doing very challenging, stress ful work.”

As of early November, Basquin said he knew of six mental health professionals serving Albany Care’s roughly 220 patients — which would be about one for every 37 residents. Albany Care did not confirm the number of mental health professionals it cur rently employs.

The facility is also now admitting new patients. In her statement to The Daily, Marker said intake numbers vary, and the facility is “fully compliant with the State of Illinois standards.”

Basquin, however, expressed concerns about admitting new residents.

“They are bringing in people every day,” Basquin said. “They are re-admitting people that used to be here that were asked to leave … There are issues that need to be addressed.”

“I had to go to the hospital because I didn’t have my medication,” Basquin said. “There was no nurse to distribute medication to any client here. People were getting sick.”

Stabilizing clients is a central goal for mental health programs like Albany Care’s, said Danielle Shannon, a licensed social worker at the Center for Contextual Change in Skokie.

“Being able to at least offer medication manage ment and then provide that medication regularly is hugely important,” they said.

But at Albany Care, more than 20 sheets tracking consumer’s medication distribution between Nov. 1 and Nov. 27, 2021, showed blank spaces at mul tiple times throughout the day. The sheets should have documented patients receiving or missing their medications, according to IDPH investiga tion records.

“Friday night, I got medication at 10:30 PM. I was supposed to get it at 5:00 PM,” one resident said to IDPH on Nov. 23, 2021. “On Saturday, I got medication at midnight, and on Sunday, at 10:30 PM. Some people were woken up, some weren’t and they just didn’t get medication.”

Multiple nurses told the IDPH they were over worked and unable to properly distribute medica tion, leaving patients across the facility vulnerable. Many nurses also worked shifts lasting less than less than two hours in late 2021, according to IDPH investigation records.

One-third of people in Illinois with serious psychological distress could not afford adequate mental health treatment in 2017, according to the USC presentation.

That’s because private long-term mental health care facilities are usually much more expensive than state-licensed ones, according to Shannon. Most of Shannon’s clients seeking long-term mental health care go to private facilities because they have the economic means, she said.

But some have taken out loans to access private health care.

“These programs can cost upward of $30,000 for (about a month),” Shannon said. “The average per son doesn’t have that kind of financial resources.”

A substantial risk

Basquin blames Albany Care for his hospitaliza tion, which was caused by suicidal ideation. As a result, Basquin said he asked facility employees to hospitalize him.

“If they had given me my medication, I would not have an issue with that,” Basquin said. “I’m not suicidal, but without taking my medication, that’s what was going through my mind.”

Even before his hospitalization, Basquin had filed a grievance to the IDPH in early 2021. Because the IDPH licenses the facility, residents can submit complaints to the department.

Albany Care is one of more than 20 Specialized

An IDPH spokes person declined to comment on the department’s find ings, citing the ongoing investiga tion and busy staff schedules.

A ‘revolv ing door’ of therapists

Under state health rules, SMHRFs are required to have one mental health professional to lead therapy and group activities for every 32 clients. But Bas quin said he couldn’t access an MHP for extended periods this year.

“I still don’t have a counselor. And it’s been months since I had one,” Basquin told The Daily in May. “The last one I had lasted for, I don’t know, maybe three, three to seven days

Number of Nurses Per Day at Albany Care

Records from the IDPH investigation obtained by the Daily show how many nurses worked each shift at Albany Care during parts of November and December. However, many worked only partial shifts. On Nov. 6, 2021, two morning shift nurses worked 30 minutes and an hour and 10 minutes, respectively. On Dec. 29, 2021, one nurse worked 36 minutes and another 38 minutes.

‘The whole facil ity is in chaos’

I had to go to the hospital because I didn’t have my medication.

Basquin

Residents report racism and violence

Basquin said about two years ago, one of his roommates threw him against a bathroom door handle hard enough that he needed stitches. When Basquin returned from the hospital, the roommate was still in his room.

“I said, ‘I want to press charges. You know, this is assault, battery,’” Basquin said. “(The front desk worker) told me I couldn’t press charges. I said, ‘Why?’ ‘Because you’re in a facility like this.’”

Marker told The Daily incidents like this can hap pen because many patients are fighting serious men tal health or addiction issues. She said residents act “out against imagined threats or (are) acting against perceived enemies who can sometimes include their caretakers.”

Regardless, Marker said all allegations are inves tigated, though she didn’t specify by whom.

Basquin isn’t the only resident who has reported violence from a roommate. IDPH found that one patient got into a verbal and physical altercation with their roommate in January after calling the room mate’s visitor a racist slur.

Staff separated the residents and sent one to a local hospital. However, IDPH records show the incident wasn’t reported to the department.

The clinical director told the IDPH they unsuc cessfully tried to send the reports to the state regu latory agency. The director said submitting those reports to the IDPH had typically been a nurse’s duty.

“I emailed it to myself from the copier where I scanned and sent it to [State regulatory agency],” the director said in the investigation. “I don’t know how to get it from the copier. I’ll forward the email I sent to myself.”

Albany Care did not update treatment plans for either patient after the incident, according to the IDPH survey.

Basquin, who is Asian, said he has also faced rac ism at Albany Care. One worker at the front desk repeatedly called him anti-Asian slurs.

“(The worker said,) ‘Why don’t you go back to your country? Why? Why didn’t you and your entire family move back to Korea? That’s where you deserve to live,’” Basquin said.

Basquin said he filed a complaint with the IDPH.

“Two weeks later, (the worker) approaches me and says, ‘Why did you call Illinois Department of Public Health?’” Basquin said. He said the worker threatened to physically assault him.

The worker was told not to speak to Basquin, though he remains at Albany Care, Basquin said.

Now, Basquin said he just does his best to avoid the worker.

When asked about allegations of racist incidents at the facility, Albany Care did not directly comment on the matter.

Wards split on Albany Care’s future

As IDPH records found Albany Care residents faced staffing issues and missing medications, nearby 4th and 9th ward residents discussed what they called an uptick in panhandling, drug dealing and other problems in Grey Park, across the street from Albany Care.

Katherine Gotsick, the execu tive director of Evanston’s MainDempster Mile, said she’s fielded concerns about Albany Care residents since 2016.

Prior to 2018, Gotsick said she heard fewer complaints. But she said around that year, she noticed an escalation in panhandling near MainDempster Mile.

“(There) was a popula tion that was more aggressive than the previous population,” Gotsick said. “Money was more of a concern for (them).”

City law permits panhan dling but bans “aggressive panhandling.” Evanston defines aggressive panhandling as actions that “a reasonable per son” would see as harassing, intimidating or compelling a contribution.

Several Main Street busi ness owners and nearby resi dents shared similar concerns with The Daily.

Mitchell, the global health professor, said language surrounding panhandling often echoes racist stereotypes of “aggressive or angry” Black people. Black and Latine people try ing to access mental health care are often criminal ized, she said.

“We criminalize getting access to mental health versus actually trying to treat the issue,” Mitchell said. “That’s where we get to see where it’s ‘aggressive.’”

Residents also complained about drug use and public urination in Grey Park.

Dan Coyne, a 9th Ward resident, helped start a neighborhood Facebook Group to address concerns around Albany Care. The group, called the Grey Park Community, is composed of 4th and 9th ward residents and business owners seeking a solution to the facility’s impact on their community.

Coyne said he’s eager to develop a better relation ship between neighbors and Albany Care’s residents. He said he worked toward that goal by helping orga nize park clean-ups and the installation of a portable toilet last year.

Still, Coyne doesn’t think it’s possible to improve community interactions while Albany Care operates at full capacity. He said he thinks the facility should cap its patient numbers before hitting its maximum occupancy.

“That’s when we’ve seen some of the increase of some of the crimes and drug activities in the neighborhood,” Coyne said. “I don’t think it’s a sustainable model at 420 residents.”

Neighborhood resi dents brought Nieuwsma into the debate after he was sworn in to City Council in May 2021.

“The more I got involved in it, the more it became obvious that issues in the neighborhood were a direct result of issues inside the building — lack of care, inadequate staffing, inad equate programming and the residents of Albany Care itself … not receiving the care that they need,” Nieuwsma said.

Michael Jones, Evanston Police Department’s commu nity police officer for the 3rd and 4th wards, said he’s worked to address resident concerns about problems like drug use and public urination.

He responded to complaints in Grey Park and worked with the facility to address them, though he doesn’t know if Albany Care residents were respon sible for all of those complaints.

“A lot of the issues are just small quality-of-life issues. But they’re impactful,” Jones said. “Putting out some of those small fires is kind of what my job is.”

Jones receives calls directed to the community

policing unit, not 911. As the number of residents at Albany Care decreased and the facility hired security guards, he said he received fewer calls.

In addition to working with EPD, Nieuwsma approached city officials and state Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) to address concerns about Albany Care.

Because Evanston has two SMHRFs, Gabel told The Daily in an email that long-term mental health care is more accessible in the city than elsewhere in Illinois — but it’s still inadequate. She said she supports measures to prevent risk factors that often impact mental health, especially housing instability.

“Community-based supportive housing appears to be the best way to address long-term mental health needs,” Gabel wrote.

A ‘dysfunctional’ system

John Fallon, a National Alliance on Mental Ill ness Illinois board member and housing stability case manager, said SMHRFs aren’t always the best solution for long-term care.

Fallon said putting hundreds of people in facili ties like Albany Care often works poorly because each resident has individual symptoms, needs and personalities. Instead, he wants to see small, afford able apartment buildings with accessible staff who regularly check in on residents.

“The best thing is to slowly reduce the popu lation (of long-term care facilities), and at some point, each one of these will close,” Fallon said.

State legal precedent requires SMHRFs like Albany Care to support residents who want to move into transitional housing.

“Their moving on program — it’s stellar,” Bas quin said. “They cross the t’s and dot the lowercase j’s.”

However, Basquin doesn’t want to leave Albany Care without income to help him get on his feet. He said delays in processing Supplemental Security Income applications have been common since the start of the pandemic, and he expects his latest application to take about six to nine months.

In the meantime, Shannon said long-term facili ties need to improve patient plans for housing, medical care and financial support.

“There’s limited options for folks who are part of marginalized communities because the way our society is set up is dysfunctional,” Shannon said. “There’s a lack of resources for vulnerable people.”

avivabechky2025@u.northwestern.edu avanikalra2025@u.northwestern.edu

I still don’t have a counselor. And it’s been months since I had one.

- Peter Basquin, in May

Kondabolu talks South Asian representation in arts

By BEATRICE VILLAFLOR the daily northwestern @beaviilla

Before Hari Kondabolu even walked onstage at Lutkin Hall, the audience was abuzz, full of attendees looking to start their weekend with a laugh.

Kondabolu, a stand-up comedian, writer and pod cast host, spoke at Northwestern on Friday as the South Asian Students Alliance’s fall speaker. Several attendees cited his critically acclaimed 2018 Netflix special, “Warn Your Relatives,” as a draw for the event.

Weinberg sophomore Nithin Krishnamurthy, SASA co-director of social affairs, summed up suc cinctly what to expect as he introduced Kondabolu.

“We’re ready to laugh our asses off,” Krishamurthy said.

Referring to himself as an “overeducated clown,” the New York native launched into a set about his upbringing, college experience and role as a new father. Kondabolu also explored a variety of heavier topics in his jokes from identity politics to the pan demic and abortion rights.

Weinberg junior and SASA co-Director of Social Affairs Vik Nandigama said inviting Kondabolu sig nified a new direction for SASA, since the group had not previously hosted a stand-up comedian.

Typically, SASA invites musicians or actors to be its fall speaker, Krishnamurthy said.

Nandigama and Krishnamurthy began planning the event earlier this year and have spent the last three months finalizing the details.

“Everyone we bring in is usually someone who’s defying what the general norms and stereotypes are when you think of ‘South Asian,’” Krishnamurthy said.

Weinberg sophomore Stacy Caeiro hadn’t heard of Kondabolu before SASA announced the event, but she watched his Netflix special in preparation.

Caeiro said she appreciated how Kondabolu’s comedy spoke to South Asians in the audience

NU seeks Civil Rights, Title IX Compliance associate vice president

Northwestern formed a search committee of faculty, staff and students to name an associate

because of the population’s historic underrepre sentation in the media.

“Growing up, I didn’t really see myself on the stage,” Caeiro said. “I kinda looked at other token Hispanic or Black characters as, ‘Oh, this is all I’m gonna get.’”

Kondabolu voiced this sentiment during his set. He said Indian American visibility in the media was rare during his childhood.

He cited the character Apu in “The Simpsons” as an example of how he used to settle for subpar representation. The character led him to create his 2017 documentary, “The Problem with Apu,” which analyzes how the character perpetuates negative

vice president for civil rights and Title IX com pliance, the University announced Friday.

Robin Means Coleman, vice president and associate provost for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, and Stephanie Gra ham, vice president and general counsel, will lead the committee, which includes members like AccessibleNU Director and Associate Dean

stereotypes about Indian American people.

“‘Harold & Kumar’ was my ‘Black Panther,’” he said, referencing the movie series featuring Indian American actor Kal Penn.

He also joked that since the NBA and profes sional sports at large have such little Asian repre sentation, he saw Taiwanese American former NBA player Jeremy Lin as Indian.

After the set, an audience member asked Kond abolu about his journey to stand-up, which he said is the “most honest art form.”

“(As you watch live comedy), you’re see ing edits, you’re seeing decisions, you’re seeing

of Students Jill Sieben-Schneider and Vice President for Operations Luke Figora.

The elected associate vice president will lead the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance, which will replace the Office of Equity. The office’s primary purpose is to ensure community members follow University anti-discrimination and accessibility policy, as

choices,” Kondabolu said.

Despite any on-the-spot changes, he said his humor has always been rooted in his identity as a comedian of color.

Moving forward, Kondabolu said using his plat form to uplift other underrepresented voices is a priority. He also encouraged audience members to create the representation they wish to see in mainstream media.

“No one is restricting you from making (art),” Kondabolu said. “Make your s--t now.”

beatricevillaflor2026@u.northwestern.edu

well as respond to reports of sexual miscon duct, discrimination and harassment.

University faculty, staff, students, alumni and families can contact the search committee with questions, candidate recommendations and feedback.

— Charlotte Ehrlich

Press play on The Daily's video coverage of Northwestern and Evanston.

western daily north

Beatrice Villaflor/The Daily Northwestern Hari Kondabolu answers the audience’s questions in Lutkin Hall after his stand-up set, while SASA co-Directors of Social Affairs Vik Nandigama and Nithin Krishnamurthy moderate.

Evanston Fire Department chaplains provide support

By LUKE JORDAN the daily northwestern @lukehjordan

The Evanston Fire Department doesn’t just have one chaplain, but two.

Monté Dillard and Heath Howe, Evanston Fire Department’s chaplains, started their posi tions in the summer of 2020.

Fire Chief Paul Polep said the chaplains are vital support for members of the fire depart ment. He said they provide a system of support built on trust the chaplains have earned with department members.

“In a fire department or a police department, the more you see the more you can become cal loused to things,” Polep said. “Having a support system, like the chaplains that we have, to be able to reach out and bring yourself back to normal, it’s a good thing.”

Their work is multi-faceted, but centers around building relationships with members of the Evanston Fire Department, Dillard said. Along with other responsibilities, this requires visiting the firehouses and arriving at the scene during crises.

Part of their role as chaplains is also to comfort victims, Howe said. This isn’t a task naturally built into the jobs of other fire department members.

Chaplains are also sometimes called to nonemergency scenes, Polep said.

“It’s not always the house fires, it’s not always the water rescues, it’s not always the … big call,” Polep said. “Sometimes it’s just a call where we could use a little help.”

It’s common for the chaplains to follow up with members of the fire department and vic tims of situations, at times even making hospital visits, he said.

The two chaplains’ relationships with fire fighters aren’t confined to the workplace. Dil lard said he communicates with some depart ment staff regularly on social media, and recently noticed a department member in his congregation.

While their work as fire chaplains is very demanding, both chaplains said their faith keeps them centered.

“At least for Christians, (giving) is a part of our call,” Howe said. “So for me to be able to

give to the Evanston community … that’s a part of why I like it.”

While fire department staff and victims know about the chaplain’s support network, they can choose how much to engage with them. The chaplains said they seek to provide support to whoever needs it across all cultures.

Dillard and Howe filled a vacancy left by Howe’s late husband, David Jones, who served as the department’s chaplain from 2011 until his passing in 2020.

After Jones’ passing, former fire chief Brian

Scott asked Howe if she would be interested in taking up the role. While Jones performed the work as a retiree, Howe worked full time as an Episcopalian priest, which made her nervous about the time commitment.

“Long story short, I said to Brian, ’What if there were two of us?’” Howe said.

Not long after, Dillard was offered the role after several department members, including Polep, heard him speak at a youth mentorship event.

Howe is the rector of Church of the Holy

“One of the things I think we’ve benefited from, Heath and I, is our relationship,” Dillard said. “Both of us are able to depend and lean on each other at times to make sure that ground is covered.”

lukejordan2025@u.northwestern.edu

Comforter in Kenilworth and Dillard serves as senior pastor at First Church of God Christian Life Center in Evanston. Dillard said work ing together allows them to best serve the fire department, their congregations and each other.

File photo by Jorge Melendez

The Evanston Fire Department’s two chaplains offer support to the entire department.

From

in the state’s government and elections. Ahead of the election, the coalition outlined changes they wished to see in the redistricting process.

The organization said it wanted to see more outreach in the community regarding redistrict ing meetings and clear ways to get involved with the process. Syamala Krishnamsetty, former advocacy director at CHANGE Illinois, testified to a redistricting subcommittee meeting in 2021.

“There are a number of community and good government organizations whose representatives have testified and all of us, independently, have said the Senate and House committee meetings need more transparency,” Krishnamsetty wrote. “A fair map doesn’t result from simply holding hearings.”

To avoid legislators determining their own districts, the coalition urged Illinois to adopt independent committees for the redistricting process — a system already used by other states including Colorado. Fine was the sub-vice-chair of the redistricting committee for her district.

Derrick Jordan, a South Evanston resident, said he is concerned about how redistricting serves certain political parties. He pointed to Georgia’s redistricting’s process as an example of gerrymandering, which the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia challenged unsuc cessfully in court.

“I find that a lot of redistricting in the coun try… has been sort of deceptive in how it has been done,” Jordan said. “I’m not saying that is the case here. I am just generalizing a lot of redistricting efforts.”

Derrick said he hadn’t considered his change in state senate representation much, but he hopes Sen. Fine does the “right thing” for his new district.

“Let’s give (Sen. Fine) the benefit of the doubt, but at the end of the day, she is gonna have to do the work, gonna have to produce for the people of the city of Evanston,” Jordan said.

Leading up to the election, Fine said focused on campaigning door-to-door to get to know the voters in her district and learn which issues mattered most to them. She said issues ranged from abortion rights to education and the economy.

The 9th district encompasses Northwest Cook County suburbs including Glenview, Winnetka and Northfield. Fine said she under stands residents in areas closer to Chicago have different needs than those further away from the city.

“I can’t tell you the hundreds of people that I have talked to,” Fine said. “I’ve left their door steps knowing, ‘Okay, this is what’s important to that person and that household, and this is what we can do to work together to make sure that those needs are met.’”

shannontyler2025@u.northwestern.edu

acknowledged the work of past organizers to get to this point.

NUGW co-Chair and fourth-year music Ph.D. candidate Sara Bowden credited depart ment organizers for the accomplishment.

“In large part, this march was to celebrate the efforts of those organizers… (in) achieving an incredible milestone that’s historic relative to organizing on this campus as graduate workers,” they said after the march.

Third-year chemical engineering Ph.D. can didate Kavi Chintam spoke to workers before the march.

She said regardless of the University’s response, the power is in the workers’ hands. NUGW was a support system for her during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chintam said.

“(NUGW) really gave me a safe place during a time of extreme isolation,” Chintam said. “I felt really supported by my peers in an organization that admin didn’t recognize while I felt aban doned by that same administration.”

Seventh-year history Ph.D. candidate and for mer NUGW co-Chair Charlotte Rosen spoke at The Rock and reflected on how far the union has come since she started organizing in 2016.

Rosen emphasized the importance of estab lishing NUGW as an antiracist, feminist and decolonial organization.

“It’s been a long journey paved with a ton of labor, community care and righteous anger to get where we are today,” Rosen said. “We recognize what the Black feminist Combahee River Col lective argued long ago, that none of us are free until the most oppressed among us are free, that true worker power and liberation comes from destroying all systems of inequality.”

Second-year chemistry Ph.D. student Jamie North, who attended the march, said the momentum NUGW has built in recent months has been “incredible.”

He said it was important to him to show up for those who couldn’t attend the march.

“I really believe in what we’re doing here, being able to advocate for ourselves and negoti ate with administration,” North said. “It takes all of us showing up and doing it and standing up for other people.”

Bowden closed out the march with a rendition of “Solidarity Forever,” a labor anthem, on their trombone, inviting participants to sing along.

While the crowd celebrated, Lozier also encouraged attendees to maintain the momen tum as the union moves forward.

“I want you all to celebrate this win, to revel in it, to be joyful in it, but I want you to commit as well to the road ahead of us,” Lozier said. “Take the pride you feel today, the triumph, the joy, and turn that into fuel for tomorrow’s campaign.”

isabelfunk2024@u.northwestern.edu

Minnesota pummels NU in Cats’ ninth straight loss

By JOHN RIKER daily senior staffer @jhnriker

MINNEAPOLIS — Northwestern’s hopes of snapping an eight-game losing streak at chilly Hun tington Bank Stadium relied on holding its ground in a matchup of the Wildcats’ greatest weakness against Minnesota’s greatest strength — the NU rushing defense versus Golden Gopher running back Mohamed Ibrahim.

Ibrahim carried a streak of 17 straight games with at least 100 rushing yards into the contest, while the Cats’ rush defense entered the afternoon ranked last in the Big Ten in rushing yards allowed per game. The absence of junior linebacker Bryce Gallagher, tied for the Big Ten lead in total tackles after NU’s 21-7 loss against Ohio State, further tipped the scales in the Golden Gophers’ favor.

Like all too many of the Cats’ opponents this season, Ibrahim turned his contest against NU into a highlight reel. The standout back accounted for 178 of Minnesota’s 302 rushing yards and scored three red zone touchdowns, leading the Golden Gophers (7-3, 4-3) to a 31-3 win over an embattled Cats defense (1-9, 1-6).

“He’s a great back, so we knew it would take all of us to assist in and help bring him down,” senior defensive back Jeremiah Lewis said. “He made some plays that we anticipated that we would make.”

Without starting quarterback Tanner Morgan, Minnesota made its commitment to the ground game apparent early on. On the first two drives, the rushing attack didn’t amount to much — the Golden Gophers punted after three plays on both drives — but on the third drive, Ibrahim found his groove and made NU pay.

Utilizing a mix of decisive cuts, punishing hits on the Cats’ defensive backs and explosiveness through gaping holes in NU’s defense, Ibrahim powered Minnesota to a nine-play, 82-yard touchdown drive that featured a pair of 14-yard dashes and a six-yard score.

“Early on in the game in the first half, it looked like we fit gaps well, tackled well,” coach Pat Fitzger ald said. “Then they went to their split outside zone game. We were calling plays from the sideline and

it looked like they blocked us and we missed some tackles.”

Two drives later, the sixth-year back continued punishing the visitors through the mist of snow flurries. Ibrahim rushed nine times on the posses sion, converting three first downs and collecting his 50th career rushing touchdown on a one-yard punch-in.

Ibrahim finished the half with 116 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Along with 50 rushing yards from Trey Potts, Minnesota asserted its will through the running game, outgaining the Cats 170-6 in rushing yards and building a 17-3 lead despite just 17 passing yards. NU junior running back Evan Hull, a graduate of nearby Maple Grove in suburban Minneapolis, couldn’t find space against the Golden Gopher front seven and didn’t pick up more than three yards on any of his first half carries.

“It starts up front,” Fitzgerald said. “They’re patient, they bleed the clock and so when you give them a lead, you need to try to play up-tempo because they’re going to try to shorten the game.”

Though Ibrahim headed to the tunnel at the end of the first half a couple minutes early, he returned in the second half to etch his name onto more records and put the Cats away. Another one-yard touchdown to open the fourth quarter gave him his 18th of the season to tie the Gophers’ single-season mark and boosted the Minnesota lead to 24-3.

NU knew exactly the challenge that it faced in lining up against Ibrahim, whom the Cats played in 2018 and 2019. But the defense’s inability to fill gaps and make crucial tackles allowed Ibrahim and the Golden Gophers to play to their strengths and control time of possession.

“You’ve got to out-execute them,” Fitzgerald said. “When you make them have to throw the ball and be multi-dimensional, it gives you a chance to make some big plays. But when they get a lead and can just pound it and shorten the game, it plays into their hands.”

After holding No. 2 Ohio State to its least pro ductive offensive performance of the season to start November, NU’s defense regressed and gave its fans another familiar result — a noncompetitive Big Ten loss on the road.

johnriker2023@u.northwestern.edu

Scan this QR code with Snapchat or your smart phone camera to listen as Northwestern students debate which of the University’s late-night food options, Fran’s or Lisa’s, is better.

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Cats qualify for NCAA Championships after 20 years

By KATE WALTER daily senior staffer @katewalter03

Time to lace up the spikes and the dancing shoes.

No. 30 Northwestern is going to the big dance for the first time since 2002. The Wildcats placed second at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, auto matically qualifying for the Nov. 19 NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country Cham pionships in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Graduate student Rachel McCardell crossed the line in 20:22 in the 6k, placing eighth and leading NU’s historic perfor mance with an All-Region finish.

“It was honestly the best moment with this team of my entire four and a half years so far — just the collective sigh and pride and joy that we all felt in that moment,” McCardell said.

Four Cats achieved All-Region recogni tion by placing in the top 25 — the most in program history. Graduate student Ari Marks, (20:29) senior Kalea Bartolotto (20:31) and sophomore Ava Earl (20:44) finished in 13th, 15th and 25th, respectively.

In her fourth season as head coach, coach Jill Miller has led the program to the type of success it hasn’t experienced

since the early 2000s. After finishing 13th at Regionals in 2019, the Cats climbed 11 places to take second and punch their ticket to the NCAA Cham pionship. Teams must place in the top two of their region or receive an at-large bid to qualify for Nationals.

“I’m sure some people from the outside would think we were crazy three years ago to see that we wanted to turn this into a pro gram that consistently qualifies the national championship,” Miller said. “But my staff, and the athletes included, have just stayed really steadfast to that goal, even during some really hard moments.”

Beginning the season ranked fourth in the Midwest Region, the Cats steadily climbed to a second place ranking after a win at the Bradley Pink Classic last month. The win also propelled NU to break the national rankings for the first time in 20 years, coming in at No. 29.

The Cats then kicked off a postseason for the history books with a fifth place finish at Big Ten Championships — the team’s highest since 1986. McCardell and Bartolotto achieved All-Big Ten honors for their seventh and 11th place finishes, respectively.

NU finished behind No. 3 Oklahoma State, the 2022 Big 12 Champions. Bradley University was 11 points behind the Cats

in third place. NU finished the highest out of any Big Ten team, placing ahead of Min nesota, Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa.

The Cats will tackle their final leg of the postseason next week at the NCAA Championship, toeing the line along side 30 of the nation’s top teams.

Miller said NU isn’t letting up before then.

“We do not want to be a team that is satisfied with just qualifying,” Miller said. “We want to see what we can do to over achieve and surprise some teams out there in Stillwater next Saturday.”

Last season, McCardell qualified indi vidually for NCAA Championship with a third place finish at Regionals, the highest finish for an NU runner in recent history.

Ahead of Saturday’s meet, McCardell said she remembers when Miller took over the program with her vision of the team qualifying for NCAA Championships.

“To us, those were just monumental goals that we couldn’t fathom,” McCa rdell said. “She (Miller) just really seeded that idea in our head and eventually, as we started to see the progress being made, we started to believe it. But again, believ ing is only so much — it actually happen ing is so much bigger.”

katewalter2025@u.northwestern.edu

WOMEN’S SOCCER

NU advances in NCAA bracket, wins to SIUE

By LUCAS KIM daily senior staffer @lucaskim_15

When a team allows only one shot total in a match, that’s impressive on its own. Considering Northwestern did that while firing 24 shots — and three goals — of its own, there wasn’t much stopping the Wildcats on Saturday.

Fourth-seeded NU (15-4-2, 7-2-1 Big Ten) handily defeated SIU-Edwardsville (8-6-4) 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, allowing a seasonlow one shot in a game.

The Wildcats entered Saturday’s match having already beaten SIUE in late August with a 5-0 win, their largest margin of victory this year.

Despite the comfortable victory in the early season, NU did not dwell on its previous result.

“We pointed out an example of another team that won 7-0 against a team the last game of the season, and met them again in the NCAA Tour nament and lost in penalty kicks,” coach Michael Moynihan said. “We talked a lot pre-game about how we have to be clinical, focused and just keep going.”

Fortunately for the Cats, focus did not seem to be an issue. NU tallied 12 shots in the first half, with seven com ing from junior midfielder Josie Auli cino. In the ninth minute, Aulicino hit a rocket of a shot that seemed destined to put the Cats ahead, but it ricocheted off the crossbar.

After several other missed opportu nities, the Cats finally converted on a 37th minute goal from junior midfielder Meg Boade, the team’s eighth shot of the game. Receiving a through ball on the left side of the box from junior forward Ella Hase, Boade sidestepped a defender and snuck the ball past the keeper to put NU on the board.

“Once our first goal came in the first half, then it was like, ‘Okay this is how we can score. This is how we gotta do it,’” Aulicino said. “Then it just kept going.”

Only eight minutes later, Aulicino possessed the ball well outside of the box — the same spot where she had

hit the top woodwork — and notched another banger that, this time, found the back of the net.

The second half was more of the same: another 12 shots from the Cats as SIUE failed to pull off one.

The game’s final goal came off an Aulicino free kick, which was deflected directly toward junior midfielder Ingrid Falls and subsequently hit into the top left corner of the net.

Overall, NU was able to accumu late scoring chance after chance due to a stellar defensive showing, made all the more impressive with the absence of Second Team All-Big Ten selection Emma Phillips. Phillips left the Cats’ Big Ten semifinal loss against Penn State earlier this month with a leg injury and was unavailable for Satur day’s match.

As a result, senior Danika Austin shifted from left back to center back, and Hase shifted from left midfielder to left back — a position she played through her sophomore season. Falls filled the vacancy at left midfielder to make her first start of the season.

In addition to the lineup change, nearly below freezing conditions marked a stark contrast from a week of practicing in warm weather. But, for the team, that didn’t matter.

“It didn’t even feel like it was cold,” Boade said. “We were just like, ‘We’re in the NCAA Tournament.’ None of us have been here before. It didn’t matter if it was snowing or raining or anything.”

With the win, NU will move on to face Vanderbilt in the second round on Friday at University of California, Los Angeles. The Commodores upset fifth seed Clemson to advance, and the winner of Friday’s match will play the winner of University of Central Florida and first seed UCLA.

Moynihan credited the SEC for its athleticism, saying Vanderbilt will be “no exception.”

“They’ve had a lot of success over the last few years, and it’s an experi enced team that’ll put up a good fight,” Moynihan said. “But we’re pretty con fident in what we have and what we bring to the table.” lucaskim2025@u.northwestern.edu

FIELD HOCKEY

Wildcats continue to Final Four

By SKYE SWANN daily senior staffer @sswann301

For the second year in a row, North western is dancing into the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Final Four after defeating Iowa 4-3 in penalty shootouts Sunday.

Sixty minutes of regulation, two com petitive overtimes and a shootout later, the Wildcats cruised past the Hawkeyes to book their tickets to Storrs, Connecticut.

“These guys have no quit in them,” coach Tracey Fuchs said. “I’m so proud of them and fighting back not once but twice … couldn’t be happier that they’re getting a second Final Four.”

But the Cats (19-4, 5-3 Big Ten) didn’t have it easy on Sunday, battling their way through a high-pressured Iowa (12-8, 4-4 Big Ten) defense. Graduate forward Bente Baekers, senior midfielder Ana Medina Garcia and junior midfielder Lauren Wadas were key players in the victory, lifting NU to victory.

The entire contest was a battle between both groups’ midfield units as they traded possession back and forth in the center of the field. The Cats couldn’t score until early in the fourth quarter off of a penalty corner. NU’s attack sparked after Iowa took a quick, one-goal advan tage in the 46th minute.

Junior goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz said the team’s adversity this season with key losses in the middle of the season inspired a quicker response when they trail in the game. The adversity, she said, made the group stronger and prepared them to play tough, all-out matchups, like Sunday’s semifinal and Friday’s quarterfinal.

Skubisz stood as the backbone of the Cats’ defense despite not receiving much action until the later half of the contest. She finished the game with the life-saving stop against Iowa forward Annika Herbine in penalty strokes to continue NU’s postseason run.

Although she remained calm on the field, Skubisz said there was extreme pressure during those final minutes to attempt to save every shot.

“The biggest thing is knowing how much my teammates believe in me is super helpful,” Skubisz said. “I just try to control the circle as much as I can.”

Despite low temperatures, fifthyear defender Kayla Blas was unfazed

— playing without any cold gear and still unstoppable on the field.

Blas moved with poise inside the Cats’ sixteen, limiting the Hawkeyes to only two corners throughout the entire game. Fuchs said her all-around athleticism on the field and big gamechanging plays have assisted NU in their success this season.

Those offensive rebounds came up big for the Cats towards the end of the fourth quarter, when the team was rushing to put another goal away and avoid heading into another overtime situation. Wadas, Baekers and junior midfielder Maddie Zimmer kept the ball inside Iowa’s circle, trying to force more corner opportuni ties to no avail.

After two competitive overtime peri ods, NU headed into penalty strokes, with a chance at returning to the Final Four on the line. Regardless of the reign ing champion status, Wadas said every

game is a reset for the squad. There is a chip on the program’s shoulder, but she said the girls are only focused on playing their best form every game.

Wadas was one of the five players Fuchs selected to take strokes for the team at the end of the second overtime. Although she missed, her hustle and grit in the game gave Iowa immense trouble during transitions in the midfield.

In their second straight Final Four appearance, the Cats are facing another Big Ten foe in Maryland. After losing to the Terrapins in overtime during the regular season, the squad looks to get revenge in Storrs.

“Sharing our experiences with the younger girls on the team (has made us more confident),” Wadas said. “Sharing our experience with being in the Final Four last year will help us as a team.”

Photo courtesy of Megan Slamkowski

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