NEWS Around Town New burger restaurant to open downtown » PAGE 2
SPORTS Men’s Basketball NU’s 10-game winning streak snapped » PAGE 12
OPINION Folmsbee Why dissertations should be rethought» PAGE 5
High 35 Low 25
The Daily Northwestern Tuesday, January 5, 2016
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Find us online @thedailynu
Illinois IDs fail federal standards
Taken down in Tampa
By ROBIN OPSAHL
the daily northwestern @robinlopsahl
See more coverage on page 6 Sophie Mann/Daily Senior Staffer
THORSON STUMBLES Northwestern fell to Tennessee 45-6 in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day. NU’s offense and defense struggled in the game, with redshirt freshman quarterback Clayton Thorson only completing 8 of 20 passes. The Wildcats finished the season 10-3.
Illinois residents will need more than their driver’s licenses to get into airports and federal buildings, as state IDs will no longer comply with federal law beginning Jan. 10. The Department of Homeland Security denied Illinois an extension on the 2005 Real ID Act in December for not implementing the act’s requirements, such as providing proof of legal U.S. residency when acquiring a driver’s license. David Druker, the spokesman for the Illinois Secretary of State, said that meeting all the requirements of the Real ID Act would cost the state up to $60 million. “We feel that not granting an extension to Illinois is a shortsighted action,” Druker said, “And at the cost of millions, it’s going to make things even harder for the state.” Druker said that costs include implementing a facial recognition system, verifying citizens’ birth certificates, and checking immigration and social security records. “Illinois meets 84 percent of the Real ID Act’s requirements,” Druker said. “This decision was misguided.”
Until the state legislature provides funds toward making these improvements, Illinois state residents won’t be able to use their IDs to get into military bases beginning Jan. 10. Rules for using state IDs in airports will be introduced the same day, but will not go into effect for another four months. To access federal buildings such as airports, Illinois residents will have to provide other forms of identification or follow new procedures, Homeland Security spokeswoman Amanda DeGroff said in an email to the Daily. “Illinois has not yet provided adequate justification to receive an extension on compliance with the requirements of the REAL ID Act passed by Congress in 2005,” she said in an email to The Daily. DeGroff said that Illinois, along with five other states including Minnesota and Missouri, had already received two extensions. States were supposed to be federally compliant by 2009. “Illinois can request an extension at any time if there are new developments or additional relevant information regarding the steps they are taking to comply with the REAL ID Act requirements,” she said. » See IDS, page 9
NU accepts more than 50 percent of class of 2020 By DAN WALDMAN
the daily northwestern @dan_waldman
Northwestern admitted 1,061 students Monday to the class of 2020 — more than 50 percent of the class — breaking last year’s record of 49 percent for the highest percentage of Early Decision applicants to comprise a class. NU received the most Early Decision applications in University history this year with 3,022. “We see other schools around the country that we compete with and how they’re doing,” said Michael Mills, associate provost for University enrollment.
“It seems like we’ve had a good year compared to most, and we’re happy to have such a great applicant pool.” Of the 1,061 new students admitted, 106 were international students — a nearly 25 percent increase from the number of international students admitted through Early Decision last year. Mills said this year’s Early Decision pool was significantly more diverse than that of last year. The University also accepted nearly twice as many students from Chicago Public Schools as last year. Mills said NU focused on accepting more students from underrepresented demographics. » See ADMISSIONS, page 9
Daily file photo by Zack Laurence
MARCHING TO NU New students participate in the March Through the Arch tradition during Wildcat Welcome. Northwestern accepted 1,061 students to the class of 2020 through Early Decision last month.
Construction closes Henry Crown basketball courts By KELLI NGUYEN
the daily northwestern @kellipnguyen
The Henry Crown Sports Pavilion basketball gymnasium and track will be closed for the next two years due to construction. “(Northwestern is) closing the track and the basketball courts to take them down and then lower (them) into the ground, then essentially build them back up and build (Ryan) Fieldhouse kind of on top of them,” said Peter Parcell, associate director of facility operations for the Department of Athletics and Recreation. The new Ryan Fieldhouse and
Walter Athletics Center will include an indoor athletic field, training space, more seating and sports medicine facilities. There will also be locker rooms, a nutrition center, a dining facility and office space, in addition to the newly renovated basketball courts and track. “I truly think this is a groundbreaking and game-changing facility,” Parcell said. To compensate for the lost court space, Fitness and Recreation has added more than 40 total hours this Winter Quarter to both the Patten Gymnasium and Blomquist Recreation Center schedules. “We’ve added extra time earlier in the day and we’ve added extra time
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
later in the day to try to spread out our club needs, our intramural needs, and also for open rack,” Parcell said. Patten and Blomquist have a total of five basketball courts between the two facilities. Parcell said the idea is that the extended hours will offset the effects of closing the Crown Sports Pavilion courts. “It is very difficult to replace three basketball courts on campus,” Parcell said. “There are definitely going to be times of the day when we feel it’s going to be harder to support the need.” As for the inaccessible track, NU Recreation has purchased 10 selfpowered treadmills for Crown Sports Pavilion. The new equipment will be housed in one of the racquetball
courts, which will be turned into a cardio space. “I don’t think it will ever completely satisfy, but it will start to satisfy some of the needs of campus for people to do cardiovascular workouts and things,” Parcell said. The equipment that had previously been set up around the track has been relocated throughout the facility. Weinberg freshmen Karolina Leziak said she used the track at least once a week during Fall Quarter. She said that although the closure has had no effect on how often she works out, it has made exercising more inconvenient. “I go downstairs to the weight room, but all the machines are always taken,” Leziak said.
Weinberg junior Scott Flanzman has been playing basketball at Crown Sports Pavilion since freshman year. He said what frustrates him the most about the construction is the lack of student input that went into its planning. “Maybe it’s just me, but it just seems like it came out of nowhere and for there to be no discussion among the student body and no explanation, it didn’t feel right,” he said. Flanzman said the diminished court space coupled with the upcoming intramural basketball season has made it nearly impossible to play a pickup game of basketball. » See CONSTRUCTION, page 9
INSIDE Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 5 | Classifieds & Puzzles 10 | Sports 12