sports Football NU improves to 3-0 with road victory over Duke » PAGE 20
George R. R. Martin to speak on campus in November » PAGE 3
opinion Kirkland Giving to elite universities — enough is enough » PAGE 4
High 70 Low 55
The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Monday, September 21, 2015
Find us online @thedailynu
City copes with state budget cuts By JULIA JACOBS
daily senior staffer @juliarebeccaj
Source: Cody Warner
IN HIS HONOR John Thumel, a McCormick senior, died in July after suffering injuries in a car crash. The crash occurred in Texas, where Thumel was working as an engineering intern.
Funds raised to honor Thumel By PAIGE LESKIN
daily senior staffer @paigeleskin
A scholarship for members of Sigma Chi fraternity is in the works following the death of member John Thumel in July. Representatives from the Sigma Chi Foundation, 1714 Hinman Ave., Thumel’s family and Sigma Chi’s Northwestern chapter are collaborating on a $1000-a-year scholarship in memory of the McCormick senior. Thumel died from injuries sustained in a July 24 car crash in south Texas. The scholarship is being created to honor Thumel and “keep John’s name alive for years to come,” said Tom Van Winkle, the foundation’s associate director of development. He said $25,000 has to
be raised to endow the scholarship before it can be awarded in the spring. So far, $20,000 has already been donated, said Communication senior Dan Rufolo, a friend of Thumel and a member of Sigma Chi. Rufolo is one of five students who, along with Thumel’s father Mike Thumel, serve on the board of directors for the scholarship. In regular meetings every other week, the team has worked to solidify the principles that applying Sigma Chi members should have. The tentative requirements include both academic criteria — such as being a science, technology, engineering or mathematics major and having at least a 3.0 GPA — and devotion to the “3 F’s:” friends, family and faith, Rufolo said. “My wife and I are overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness of the fraternity and
the speed at which they (established) it,” Mike Thumel said. “It’s more of a testament of who my son was. He could do good even in death.” Mike Thumel said he continues to hear new stories about Thumel’s compassion and humor, which assures him that his son “did things right.” To raise the funds, Sigma Chi members and Thumel’s family have reached out to relatives, friends and NU Sigma Chi alumni. The board is also looking into holding a fundraiser at Bat 17 in late fall or early winter — hockey-themed to commemorate Thumel’s love for the Chicago Blackhawks and the sport. Although the scholarship will not go into effect until the full $25,000 is raised, Rufolo and the board already have their » See THUMEL, page 13
After nearly three months without a state budget, the Illinois government is forecasting a growing pile of unpaid bills that will impact the ability of human services agencies to deliver care to vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly. There have been a variety of legal and legislative avenues keeping the state government running without a budget since July 1 — including court orders, consent decrees and continuing appropriations freeing funds to pay about 90 percent of the state’s bills, Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger said at a press conference earlier this month. However, without an agreement between the General Assembly and Gov. Bruce Rauner, the backlog of bills will exceed $8.5 billion by the end of December, Munger said. Without state payments, many social services agencies in the state will end up depleting their cash reserves by the end of the year, said Jack Kaplan, director of public policy and advocacy at United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. As a result, those agencies are facing cuts to staff and services, Kaplan said. “Starting in September and October, you’re really starting to see a threat to the capacity of a lot of providers to operate at the same level they have been,” he said. In a survey administered to social service providers in mid-July by UWMC, a nonprofit that provides financial support for local organizations, one third of more
than 400 respondents reported that they had already cut the number of clients they serve. In Evanston, the impact of the state budget crisis on human services providers depends largely on the portion of the organization’s own budget that is supported by the state. Youth and Opportunity United, which receives 3 percent of its funding from the state, has been able to avoid services reductions entirely, said YOU’s executive director Seth Green. But Shore Community Services — which is 70 percent state-funded — has been at risk of major programming cuts, said Johanna Garsenstein, the organization’s director of administrative services. During the past few months, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz has been working to secure Evanston’s own financial future by introducing remedies such as fee increases for residents and a furlough day for city employees. Since the beginning of July, Bobkiewicz said Evanston human services providers have sought alternatives to replace missing state funds through private donors and lines of credit. “They have begged, borrowed and done what they’ve needed to do to keep their doors open,” Bobkiewicz said. “My sense is that their ability to do that is coming to an end.” In the past few months, Andrea Densham, executive director of Childcare Network of Evanston, said she has seen a ripple effect of eligibility cuts to the state’s Child Care Assistance Program. While CCAP used to be available to families living up to 185 percent above the poverty » See BUDGET, page 13
Elder lunch cut, sales tax added in dining hall changes By EMILY CHIN
daily senior staffer @emchin24
Students will no longer be able to eat lunch at Elder Dining Hall and those without a meal plan will be charged a sales tax at dining halls as part of Northwestern Dining changes this year. After feedback from a survey Spring Quarter, NU Dining decided to eliminate lunch at Elder and replace it with Late Night Dining, available using a non-equivalency meal swipe. This decision, made late June, is because students do not have time to walk up to Elder for lunch
Evanston man dies 3 days after shooting
The 45-year-old man who was shot in central Evanston earlier this week died Friday afternoon from a gunshot wound to his head, police said. Cesario Cox Sr., an Evanston resident, was shot Tuesday at about 5:20 p.m. while on the back porch of a
during the day, said Rachel Tilghman, director of communications and engagement for Sodexo. Communication sophomore Julianne Lang, who was a Sodexo marketing intern last year, said Sodexo was noticing people did not like Elder and wanted to change it. She said she believes serving late-night at Elder will be popular among students. “I lived in Willard last year and I really loved being able to go to Fran’s late at night,” she said. “I think Elder will be just as successful,” she said. Those on a meal plan who pay for all or part of their meal using a meal swipe, equivalency meals, points or Cat Cash do not have to pay the 9
percent sales tax, which took effect Sept. 1. Previously, all purchases at NU Dining locations were tax free. NU Dining made the change to match Illinois tax laws and billing procedures, Tilghman said. “It would make us be in compliance with what every other business does,” said Ken Field, director of dining. “We are open to the public and we are competing with other businesses. … It’s just good businesses practices and we want to make sure we are operating with integrity and paying our fair share to the state.”
house in the 1900 block of Emerson Street, a block away from Evanston Township High School, Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan said. Cox was with several other individuals when four men approached through an alley and opened fire, Dugan said. Cox died in Evanston Hospital. This is the third homicide in Evanston this year. Investigators do not believe Cox was the intended target of the shooting, which may be in retaliation to a gun-related homicide in north
Evanston on Aug. 31, Dugan said. Police have found that multiple individuals who were with Cox at the time of the shooting are linked to a gang opposing the one allegedly involved in the Aug. 31 incident, he said. “The most likely assumption is that they were targeting those individuals,” Dugan said. The residence targeted in Tuesday’s shooting was also the location of shots fired in the early hours of Sept. 1, Dugan said. An officer heard
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
» See DINING, page 13
Daily file photo by Annabel Edwards
SLICING HOURS A student eats at Fran’s Cafe. Northwestern Dining cut lunch hours from Elder Dining Hall this year.
several gunshots in the area at about 1:40 a.m. but found nothing on the scene, he said. At about 10:30 a.m., a resident of the 1900 block of Emerson Street reported to police that she had found bullets inside her vehicle. In response to the trend of gunrelated crimes following the Aug. 31 shooting, the Evanston Police Department has implemented a program aimed at reducing violence in Evanston, particularly in the locations of shots fired reports, Dugan said.
Starting this past week, two officers have been deployed each day to those hotspots with the intention of recovering firearms. The officers are tasked with using tips from confidential informants and social media to locate offenders and conduct investigative stops. To address community concern, police will also visit the affected areas — including schools, businesses and parks — to discuss gun violence in the city. — Julia Jacobs
INSIDE Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 16 | Sports 20