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The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Find us online @thedailynu
Codjoe’s joy, smile remembered By Tyler Pager
daily senior staffer @tylerpager
Sean Su/Daily Senior Staffer
Transformative “Orange is the New Black” actress Laverne Cox talks about race, gender and sexual identity on Tuesday to a packed Pick-Staiger audience. The transgender LGBT advocate shared personal stories about discrimination.
Cox discusses transphobia By Matthew Choi
the daily northwestern @matthewchoi2018
Actress Laverne Cox described her path to overcoming transphobia, racism and sexism in her talk, “Ain’t I a Woman,” on Tuesday in front of a packed PickStaiger Concert Hall. Cox, a transgender woman, spoke about her experiences with race, class, gender and sexuality to a crowd of about 1,000 at an event hosted by A&O Productions, One Book One Northwestern and Rainbow Alliance. Cox, who
plays Sophia Burset on the Netflix show, “Orange is the New Black,” spoke at NU as part of her national tour. The talk was followed by a Q&A on topics such as diversity in entertainment and Cox’s own career. Cox discussed the different parts of her identity, including forms of prejudice and oppression she faces. Racism and transphobia are regular occurrences for her in New York, she said, recounting incidents of transphobia, misogyny and racism and explaining the intersectionality of these experiences. Cox talked about the oppression transgender people, particularly transgender people
of color, face from the police. “We are revictimized by the police,” Cox said. “Far too often, the homicides of transgender people go unsolved. I can’t help but think about what’s happening in Baltimore. When a life is taken, someone has to be held accountable.” Cox used the expressions cisnormative, heteronormative, imperialist, white supremacist and capitalist patriarchy to describe the intersecting oppressive forces in the United States and spoke about how these forces are embodied. “Misgendering people is an act of » See Cox, page 6
Benjamin Codjoe’s smile was infectious. His friends say his trademark smile could brighten anyone’s day. It was the epitome of who he was: a kind-hearted, devout Christian. “It was the type of smile that was just magnetic, so no matter what he was going through he always made sure that his smile showed through,” said Merih Ocbazghi, a first-year Kellogg student and co-president of the Africa Business Club. “No matter what you were going through, you could see the genuineness behind it and you couldn’t help but smile yourself.” Codjoe, a first-year student in the Kellogg School of Management, was found dead Friday morning in the McManus Living-Learning Center. The cause of death is still pending. Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan said he had a previous medical condition and there were no signs of foul play. Kellogg Dean Sally Blount notified students of his death Saturday. “Ben was a fantastic student who cared deeply about the quality and integrity of our community,” she wrote. “He always had a giant smile on his face and we will greatly miss his energy and forward-looking attitude.” Codjoe, 28, was from Accra, Ghana, and had previously attended Ashesi University in Ghana and worked for Vodafone in Ghana and India. He was recently selected as the vice president for professional development for the Africa Business Club. Asuquo Mfon, a first-year Kellogg student and co-president of the Africa
Source: Benji Codjoe’s Facebook profile
Benjamin Codjoe
Business Club, said Codjoe was responsible for helping people who were interested in careers in Africa. He said Codjoe wanted to do private equity work in Africa. “He made the point to slow down with all the crazy things that were going on with business school with recruiting all that and do the small things that matter,” he said. “Encourage people when they’re down, congratulate people on the good things they did — just kind of infuse positivity into every situation.” Students gathered for a candlelight vigil Sunday to remember Codjoe. There is also a book at the reception table in the Donald P. Jacobs Center for people to share memories about him. The book will be sent to his family in Ghana, Ocbazghi said. “Across a really diverse group of students, they all said the same things about Ben and they’re all incredibly positive,” Ocbazghi said about the vigil. “Those of us who felt like we knew him really well were surprised by the impact that he had on the lives of people that we didn’t even know he was interacting with.” tylerpager2017@u.northwestern.edu
Former football player City water reach might expand charged with 2 felonies By Julia Jacobs
By Tyler Pager
daily senior staffer @tylerpager
A former Northwestern football player was charged with two felonies in connection with possession of multiple weapons. Xavier Menifield, 19, was charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon after an unloaded rifle was found in his car near Ryan Field and a stun gun was found in his Foster-Walker Complex room, police said. Menifield, a former sophomore running back, is no longer enrolled at NU or a member of the football team. University Registrar Jaci Casazza said he was last enrolled during Winter Quarter. Police met with Menifield on March 16 after receiving a call from football staff members, University Police Deputy Chief Dan McAleer said. Police found an unloaded rifle and an 18-inch machete in Menifield’s car. The police then searched his residence hall room and found a loaded stun gun, a canister of mace, two four-inch knives and 19 Winchester metric caliber bullets. Menifield admitted the weapons were his and was subsequently arrested,
McAleer said. Police also charged Menifield with two misdemeanors, one for possession of firearm ammunition without a firearm owners’ ID card and one for possession of brass knuckles. Athletic department spokesman Paul Kennedy declined to comment for this story. Menifield appeared in one game during his two years with the football team. Police noted Menifield had visible injuries on his face March 16, McAleer said. Menifield said he suffered injuries to his head March 13 after falling out of his bed and woke up in a pool of blood. He sought medical attention at Evanston Hospital where the staff determined he suffered fractures to bones under his eye, McAleer said. “We were not able to determine whether the injury to his head was inflicted by the fall or whether there were other people involved,” McAleer said. Menifield was released on a $25,000 bond and received permission to leave Evanston, a clerk in the Skokie Courthouse said. He is originally from Valencia, California. His next scheduled court appearance is May 28 at the Skokie Courthouse. tylerpager2017@u.northwestern.edu
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
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Evanston’s long-time goal of selling more water to surrounding cities is gaining traction as suburbs are hit with the rising price of Chicago’s supply. The cost of Chicago water has reached $3.81 per thousand gallons, compared with Evanston at $0.92 per thousand gallons. Chicago’s price has risen a minimum of 15 percent per year for the last five years, prompting cities like Morton Grove, Niles and Park Ridge to talk more seriously about switching to Evanston resources. “There’s been more activity now than there’s ever been to try to get some conclusions and clarity to what we’re going to do,” Evanston city manager Wally Bobkiewicz said. Park Ridge officials have been asked to decide by July 1 whether they want to join Morton Grove and Niles in constructing a pipeline to deliver water from Evanston. The system would have to be ready before Morton Grove’s water contract with Chicago expires in 2018, project manager Bill Balling said. “When you (plan the schedule for) the construction, the design, the
financing, you really have to get the engineering authorized by the end of 2015,” he said. But Park Ridge is still working to ensure lower water costs outweigh the investment in a $115 million pipeline, Park Ridge city manager Shawn Hamilton said. It’s unclear whether Park Ridge’s City Council will have enough information to make a decision in the next two months, he said. Balling said he has projected dramatic savings for Park Ridge over the long-term life of the project, but the exact figure will be determined by the rate of Chicago water price increases, which the city said should drop to 2 to 5 percent per year after 2016. Because Park Ridge is the farthest city from the potential Evanston water source, it would shoulder a larger amount of the construction costs, Balling said. With all three cities participating, Park Ridge would provide approximately $47 million toward the project and was projected to save $113 million over 40 years. Niles and Morton Grove would save even more over the fourdecade period. “It almost makes sense to put in the capital expenditure and we can still save money in the long run,” Park Ridge public works director Wayne Zingsheim said.
Although it’s an option for only two cities to share the pipeline, the most cost-effective plan is for all three cities to establish a water commission and connect to the Evanston water treatment plant on the lakeshore. However, Morton Grove is also considering purchasing water from Glenview instead of Evanston, Zingsheim said. If either of the cities backed out of the project, they would have to reevaluate the cost for a system serving only two cities, he said. “It might change the entire structure to the point where we wouldn’t go forward,” Zingsheim said. If the three cities agree to the proposal, the Evanston water treatment plant — which can supply up to 108 million gallons per day of drinking water — would only have the capacity to supply for an additional small municipality, Bobkiewicz said. The city has been in talks with Lincolnwood since last summer to fill that role. But the city is also considering the option of expanding the plant to serve a group of seven communities farther west that are looking to establish a new water commission, Bobkiewicz said. In this case, a tunnel would be built to transfer water to those western » See Water, page 6
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