The Daily Northwestern — Oct. 20

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The Daily Northwestern Serving the University and Evanston Since 1881

Thursday, October 20, 2011

DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM

Wind causes city power outages By Chris Meyer

the daily northwestern

Campus

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Olympian, civil rights activist talks about leading movements.

City

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US Bank willl not follow national trend of raising debit card fees.

Forum

Severe weather conditions swept through Evanston on Wednesday, causing power outages and prompting University officials to cancel outdoor athletic events and alter shuttle schedules. “Members of the Northwestern University community are advised to use caution in areas near Lake Michigan due to high winds occurring this afternoon and tonight,” the University said in an email statement Wednesday afternoon. “High waves are expected on the lake as a result of the strong winds. Members of the Northwestern community are encouraged to stay away from the lakefront

area.” The warning came a few hours before the National Weather Service issued high wind and lakeshore flood warnings for the Evanston area, saying winds up to 60 mph were likely. The conditions were reportedly the result of a “powerful low pressure system,” which produced winds exceeding 50 mph over Lake Michigan, according to the Chicago Weather Center. Both students and Evanston residents experienced brief power outages after the wind downed a Commonwealth Edison utility pole on the corner of Orrington Avenue and Clinton Street, according to statements by both

Northwestern Facilities Management and the City of Evanston. “This has nothing to do with the school’s electrical system. It has to do with outside utilities,” said Gary Wojtowicz, director of operations for Facilities Management in Evanston. Commonwealth Edison reported that the storm left more than 700 Evanston residents without electricity. Workers resolved the outages, which began just before 3 p.m., by approximately 8 p.m. Some students were asked to evacuate affected buildings until the issue was resolved. “At first, the staff at Sargent just told

us to stay there,” said McCormick freshman Bruno Peynetti, who was eating lunch when the power went out. “They told us it had never happened before and they didn’t know what to do. We eventually had to evacuate the building.” Other students noted similarities between Wednesday’s incidents and more protracted North Campus blackouts over the summer. “There were at least three separate instances where the power would go out for one, two, three days at a time,” said McCormick sophomore Andrew Boston, who spent part of the summer working in a lab on campus. “There would be signs posted on the door of frater-

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chris.meyer@u.northwestern.edu

Matt Zeitlin Occupy highlights systemic flaws

nities saying that no one could enter until such-and-such date.” Jason Vanderlinden, a Weinberg sophomore and former Daily staffer, spent the summer doing research on campus and experienced a power outage that lasted two days. “I think a lot of it had to do with the heavy winds we were experiencing,” he said. “We had a tornado warning one night, during which the power was out.” University officials also canceled Wednesday’s men’s soccer game against Loyola Chicago, citing Lakeside Field’s proximity to Lake Michigan as the determining factor. Although service times were altered in response to the weather, Northwestern Shuttle Services could not be reached for comment.

Rafi Letzter/The Daily Northwestern

Stormy waters: Winds gusting at more than 50 mph swept through Evanston on Wednesday night. More than 700 city residents experienced outages throughout the day, according to Commonwealth Edison.

Maeve Wall Midterm pro offers tips for survival

Sports

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NU can’t conquer topranked Illinois in heated matchup at Welsh-Ryan.

Weather

Potential grant could fund bike lane By Marshall Cohen and Patrick Svitek the daily northwestern

Local cyclists welcomed the possibility Wednesday of a protected bike lane in Evanston, despite the highly competitive federal grant required to fund it. If Evanston were to receive the nearly $12 million it could land

from a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery III grant, Church Street would be revamped with upgraded sidewalks, new pedestrian features and a protected bike lane similar to the one recently built on Kinzie Street in Chicago. But the popular grant is far from guaranteed, as Director of Public Works Suzette Robinson noted

Patrick Svitek

daily senior staffer

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Friday

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Saturday

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Classifieds Crossword Sudoku

the protected lane as an exciting prospect in the wake of Monday’s council discussion. “Cars and bikes would finally be safely separated,” said Heidrun Hoppe, an Evanston resident and Evanston Bike Club member. She pointed to the recently finished Kinzie project as a prime example of what Evanston could offer if it secured the federal grant.

Local anti-immigration graffiti resurfaces

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at Monday night’s Evanston City Council meeting. “It’s a very competitive process,” she said. “There were only two projects that received the grant in the state from TIGER II. We’re hopeful, but we still have to plan what happens if we don’t get it because the odds are not necessarily in our favor.” Regardless, city bikers hailed

The seventh known instance of anti-immigration graffiti in two months surfaced Wednesday in a familiar location — the Metra underpass at Ridge Avenue and Lincoln Street. The new message reads, “You can’t have a 1st world Nation with a 3rd world Population.” Evanston Police Cmdr. Tom Guenther said a vandalism report had not been filed as of early Wednesday afternoon. The department’s daily crime bulletin for Wednesday did not include any graffiti-related incidents. Graffiti implying a similar senKaitlin Svabek/Daily senior staffer timent was spray painted at the Graffi ti: The anti-immigration graffiti at Ridge Avenue Metra same spot in early October. Output On: October 13, 2011 4:40 PM High-Resolution PDF - PRINT READY was removed shortly after its discovery Wednesday. The anti-immigration graffiti

is currently under investigation by the department, which recruited a crime analyst last month to examine the incidents more closely. At Monday’s Evanston City Council meeting, Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) said the “time has come where we take (graffiti) more seriously” and suggested the city should pilot a reward program for citizens who report offenders. Steve Griffin, community and economic director, told Rainey he would discuss her proposal with EPD Chief Richard Eddington.

NORTHWESTERN FOOTBALL

Kimeberly Railey contributed reporting patricksvitek2014@u. northwestern.edu

THE SEASON IS RIGHT

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Hoppe recalled a “very comfortable” experience while riding that protected lane over the weekend. “It was really wonderful,” she said. “It felt so amazingly different to not worry about the threat of doors opening into you and throwing you into traffic.” Neal Ney, a board member of See BIKELANE, page 6

Obama picks NU prof for education board

President Barack Obama announced his appointment of Northwestern professor Larry V. Hedges to the National Board of Education Sciences Wednesday. Hedges will be working with Southern Methodist University professor Dr. David J. Chard and Hirokazu Yoshikawa, an academic dean from Harvard, whose appointments were also announced in a statement from the Office of the Press Secretary. Hedges is NU’s Board of Trustees Professor of Statistics, and has worked as a Faculty Fellow of its Institute for Policy Research since 2005. He is also the president of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness. — Safiya Merchant

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