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The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Friday, May 15, 2015
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Evanston Animal Shelter rebuilds By Julia Jacobs
the daily northwestern @juliarebeccaj
Alisa Kaplan and Vicky Pasenko like to say they’re the Swiss Army knives of Evanston Animal Shelter. During their approximate 25 hours a week at the shelter, they may be found in their office bent over paperwork and answering phones. But they might also be found in the trenches doing the grunt work of animal care: cleaning soiled cages, walking stir-crazy dogs and feeding fast-growing kittens. Without formal titles, the two volunteers have managed the shelter ever since Community Animal Rescue Effort departed a year ago. On May 9 of last year CARE, the nonprofit that previously ran the shelter, left the building to the city — with its shelves and bank account empty. That weekend, there was an outpouring of support from the community, with Northwestern students planting flowers in the garden and holding a donation drive to replenish supplies, Pasenko said. “We were doing a lot in that first month, but at the same time we were also able to put into practice the changes that we felt strongly need to be made here,” Kaplan said. “Being in a position to do that and watching it actually work was a very exciting time.” Under the supervision of the Evanston Police Department, the shelter, 2310 Oakton St., has adopted out about 200 cats and 70 dogs, Kaplan said. But it’s the corps of volunteers who have kept the shelter thriving, Evanston police Cmdr. James Pickett said. The volunteers who
remained after CARE left recruited and trained 100 more volunteers, additions the shelter needed to deal with its never-ending demand with animals being dropped off on the doorstep on a daily basis, Pasenko said. After an interim of informal leadership, Kaplan and Pasenko are preparing to officially take over under their nonprofit organization called Saving Animals for Evanston. The Human Services Committee unanimously approved SAFE’s application two weeks ago, and with six out of nine City Council members on the committee, the aldermen will likely vote in SAFE on May 26. The duo was also central to raising initial objections to CARE, the most contentious of which was a canine euthanasia rate of 45 to 50 percent — a statistic CARE continues to dispute. Kaplan and Pasenko — the two co-presidents — along with another volunteer initially created SAFE in 2013 to fund the livelihood of dogs CARE slated for euthanasia. Trying to avoid a feud between the new organization and CARE, which they were still involved in, the small-scale non-profit was primarily funded by friends and family of volunteers, Kaplan said. CARE took with it an excess of one million dollars when the organization left the shelter, severing their contact with the city completely, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz told The Daily in April. CARE volunteer Karey Uhler said that the organization was justified in keeping the money because it was their volunteers who raised it. Although Kaplan said she’s wary of » See Shelter, page 7
Julia Jacobs/The Daily Northwestern
shelter dog Smokey, estimated at 3 years old, awaits his morning walk in his run at the Evanston Animal Shelter. The shelter currently houses about 12 dogs and 40 cats, adopting out an animal each day on average.
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
Sophie Mann/The Daily Northwestern
popular science Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks about the rise of science in popular culture on Thursday night. The host of the popular TV show “Cosmos” spoke to a packed Ryan Auditorium.
Neil deGrasse Tyson talks at NU By Peter Kotecki
the daily northwestern @peterkotecki
Astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson spoke Thursday night about the prominence of science in popular culture and the United States’ decreasing leadership in scientific research. The popularity of his Emmywinning show, “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” has indicated science is trending in the world, Tyson
NU works to revise sexual misconduct policy
Northwestern is revising its sexual misconduct policy to reflect new guidelines from the federal Violence Against Women Act and feedback from members of the university community. The updated policy consolidates the University’s Sexual Misconduct, Stalking, and Dating and Domestic Violence Policy and its VAWA policy and procedure, Title IX Coordinator Joan Slavin told The Daily in an email. VAWA was reauthorized by the federal government in March 2013. The new policy replaces “sexual penetration without consent” and “sexual contact without consent” with the term “sexual assault.” Sexual assault is then divided into four subsections: sexual penetration without
told a sold-out audience in Ryan Auditorium. Tyson has received honorary doctorates from 18 American universities and is the recipient of the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award granted by NASA to a non-government individual. His lecture was the sixth installment in the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics’ Annual Public Lecture Series. Tyson talked about the presence of science in movies and the evolution of the portrayal of fictional scientists
in film. Recent movies, such as “The Theory of Everything,” “The Imitation Game” and “Interstellar,” have featured scientists and become commercial successes, Tyson said. “Interstellar” was filled with science, Tyson said. One of the advisers to the film, theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, participated in the making of the film and was an executive producer, Tyson said. “All the leading characters are scientists and engineers in a blockbuster
consent, sexual contact without consent, incest and statutory rape. Slavin also she is gathering student input on ways to improve the definition of incapacitation in the section on consent. Weinberg junior Erik Baker, an Associated Student Government senator who represents four sexual health and assault-related groups, said bolstering the definition of incapacitation should be the most important takeaway for students. “Alcohol is a tool that rapists use on college campuses to sexually assault people,” he said. “That policy is important and definitely does affect the lives of college students that do drink.” Additionally, the draft includes new definitions of dating violence and domestic violence, with more specific examples of types of abuse. The procedures section of the policy includes detailed information on privacy, the option to seek
medical treatment, and how to report incidents to law enforcement and University offices. Slavin said the draft also gives examples of interim protective measures people who have experienced sexual misconduct can request and a list of sanctions that can result from violations of the policy. Baker said the University’s efforts to update the policy reflect the growing conversation around issues of sexual assault on college campuses nationwide. He added student activism and new University employees working on sexual assault issues, including Carrie Wachter and Erin Clark at the Care for Awareness, Response and Education, also played a role in catalyzing the changes. Slavin said she aims to have the new policy finalized by July 1, 2015, when the new VAWA regulations become effective.
» See tyson, page 7
— Tyler Pager
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