The Daily Northwestern — March 3, 2015

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SPORTS Men’s Tennis Arvid Swan takes coaching beyond the court » PAGE 8

Students discuss misappropriation of black culture » PAGE 3

THE SPECTRUM Montalvo Financial instability rarely discussed at NU » PAGE 4

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The Daily Northwestern Tuesday, March 3, 2015

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Prof’s column sparks backlash By OLIVIA EXSTRUM

daily senior staffer @olivesocean

Sean Su/Daily Senior Staffer

FEMALE FILMMAKER Golden Globe winner and creator of Amazon’s show “Transparent” Jill Soloway speaks to the Northwestern community about her experience as a female filmmaker. She discussed the challenges filmmakers from minority groups face, sharing advice about pursuing a career in film.

‘Transparent’ creator visits NU By JEE YOUNG LEE

the daily northwestern @jennajeeyoung

Jill Soloway, a Golden Globe winner and creator of Amazon’s show “Transparent,” spoke Monday at Northwestern about her experience as a female filmmaker and the experience of filmmakers from historically underrepresented social groups. About 60 people attended Soloway’s talk in Norris University Center as part of the Contemporary Thought Speaker Series. “We try to bring speakers who have something to say about issues that affect students right now,” Joe

Evanston ranked in top 10 of best downtowns list

Evanston was ranked one of Livability. com’s top 10 best downtowns for 2015, the website announced Monday. The website’s editors concentrated on small to mid-sized cities and focused on growing housing values and populations to find cities that were prospering, according to the website. They also looked for areas with strong arts scenes, walkable streets and construction projects, as those are considered signs of economic and cultural growth. “We’re really in a new golden age of American downtowns,” Livability editor Matt Carmichael said in a news release. “Throughout cities large and small, the energy and resources focused on restoring Main Streets and urban cores is paying off.” According to the website, Evanston’s downtown area has a mix of urban and suburban qualities and social and economic diversity, which led it to put the city in the top 10. It also noted that downtown Evanston has a large cultural scene that attracts a “creative class” and many transportation options, which allow for stress-free travel to and from downtown. Evanston ranked 10th on the list, with Pittsburgh coming in first. — Tori Latham

Eichenbaum, a Weinberg senior and chairman of the series, told The Daily. “There has been a lot of interesting discussions about identity on campus, so Jill Soloway seemed like a great fit.” As she began her speech, Soloway said she wanted to tell the audience about the truth about her experience as a producer, whose responsibility entails the search for directors for television shows. She said she is currently looking for writers and directors who identify themselves as female, queer or people of color. “Diversity is something that I deal with as a producer because there are so many white cis males who are ready to take those jobs,”

Soloway said. Soloway said she thinks about how to bring to the industry people who are not white, male and cisgender, who she said dominate film. “I realized recently that protagonism is privilege, and portrayals of male protagonism are perpetuators of privilege propaganda,” Soloway said. “All art is propaganda for the self.” Soloway said those who identify as female, queer or people of color lack the opportunity to be protagonists in television shows, and the film industry should allow these groups the chance to write narratives representative of their lives. » See SOLOWAY, page 5

In the wake of alleged sexual misconduct between a Northwestern professor and students, an opinion piece written by Communication Prof. Laura Kipnis has prompted strong student reactions, including a letter against the article’s sentiments penned and signed by student representatives from several groups on campus. Kipnis’ piece, titled “Sexual Paranoia Strikes Academe” and published Friday in The Chronicle of Higher Education, criticized university policies that prohibit romantic and sexual relationships between professors and students, arguing the policies give students an inaccurate sense of vulnerability. “It’s been barely a year since the Great Prohibition took effect in my own workplace,” Kipnis, a Radio, Television and Film professor, wrote. “Before that, students and professors could date whomever we wanted; the next day we were offlimits to one another — verboten, traife, dangerous (and perhaps, therefore, all the more alluring).” In January 2014, NU rolled out a new policy that explicitly prohibits romantic relationships between faculty and undergraduate students, reasoning that students are inherently less powerful than faculty members and such relationships carry a “risk of coercion.” In the article, Kipnis discussed the alleged 2012 sexual assault of a thenMedill freshman by philosophy Prof. Peter Ludlow, and referred to the student’s claims as “melodrama.” As of Monday

evening, the article had received more than 480 comments. In response to Kipnis’ remarks about the alleged assault, the public letter signed by more than 40 students says she “spits in the face of survivors of rape and sexual assault everywhere.” “Kipnis’ full-throated support of sexual encounters between faculty and their students is anathema to the safe culture of healthy sexuality towards which the Northwestern community ought to aspire,” students wrote. “Professor Kipnis does not speak for us.” Students from organizations including Men Against Rape and Sexual Assault, Rainbow Alliance, College Feminists and the Asian Pacific American Coalition signed the letter on Monday. Communication junior Zoe Pressman, an RTVF major who signed the letter, said she found the article “absurd, offensive and all over the place.” “Where she mocked students who came to her privately to express discomfort … she mocked them for coming forward and being too vulnerable,” she told The Daily. “Then she flipped it around and belittled some of her friends for not speaking up about their personal sexual harassment.” In an email to The Daily on Monday, Kipnis said she hopes her article sparks discussion. “I completely understand that not everyone’s going to agree with my point of view,” she wrote. In the article, Kipnis mentions two separate instances in which two students — one male and one female — requested to not watch assigned films because they » See CHRONICLE, page 5

D202 board candidates discuss ETHS issues By BEN SCHAEFER

the daily northwestern @BenSchaefer27

The five candidates in the upcoming election for District 202’s school board discussed Evanston Township High School and the problems facing the school in a forum Monday evening. Mark Metz, Anne Sills, Jonathan Baum, Adrian Dortch and Monique Parsons gathered in the ETHS auditorium and answered questions from dozens of parents. Specific issues discussed included common core curriculum standards, the achievement gap in Evanston students and looming threats to education funding that could emerge from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed changes to taxation and funding. The candidates cited their experience in government and community organizing when they addressed solutions to possible funding issues. Sills spoke about her extensive knowledge of the state’s pension struggles, while Baum emphasized the need to audit the efficacy of various programs and cut expenditures when necessary. Parsons expressed concern for protecting funding for children’s centers, which are facing cuts under Rauner’s 2016 budget and an immediate deficit.

Serving the University and Evanston since 1881

Ben Schaefer/The Daily Northwestern

CANDIDATE PANEL District 202 school board candidates discuss their platforms during a forum discussion. The five candidates pitched their plans for Evanston Township High School ahead of the April 7 election.

“We need board members who know the state budget, know its priorities and can stay on top of things in that area,” said Parsons, who is the chief operating officer of the McGaw YMCA. “We need to allow the administration to go through the budget line by line and see how priorities can be met, then meet with elected

officials to give them the ammunition to fight for our schools.” The Evanston/Skokie PTA Council, ETHS Parents Engaged and the League of Women Voters of Evanston sponsored the event. Valerie Krejcie of the latter group moderated the debate. Each candidate commended the

progress of collaborative efforts between Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and D202, and proposed plans to continue and expand on the relationship that emphasized parent involvement, college readiness and collaboration between » See SCHOOL BOARD, page 5

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


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