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The Daily Northwestern Friday, October 19, 2012
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DAILY DECISION
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NU expanding online courses By LAUREN CARUBA
the daily northwestern
Rafi Letzer/Daily Senior Staffer
CANDIDATE CONVERGENCE Glenn Farkas, the Republican challenger for the Illinois 9th district state senate seat, speaks at a debate-like forum hosted by the Central Street Neighbors Association on Thursday.
Illinois House, Senate candidates met for a forum in Evanston By AMANDA GILBERT
the daily northwestern
The Central Street Neighbors Association hosted a forum Thursday night for several Illinois House and Illinois Senate candidates in an Evanston middle school. Nearly 50 people met at Haven
Middle School for the forum featuring candidates vying to represent the districts that contain Evanston. Both the Democratic and Republican candidates for the 17th and 18th Illinois House districts attended the debate. The Republican candidate for the 9th Illinois Senate District also attended, and Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl spoke on behalf of Democratic candidate Daniel Biss, who was unable to attend the event. CSNA president Mark Sloane said the association hosted the event to give candidates an opportunity to speak to Evanstonians directly and
get their opinions out in the open. “Tonight is about hearing diverse opinions,” Sloane said before the event. “Our mission is informing, educating and activating citizens in Evanston.” In the debate’s opening statements, some candidates focused on their personal lives and past accomplishments, while others discussed their hopes for the future. Regardless of their introduction, all the candidates said they had concerns about the economic state of Illinois. » See FORUM, page 10
New efforts by University administrators and the School of Continuing Studies will help add Northwestern to the growing list of universities looking to expand online course offerings. Last week a newly formed committee comprised of faculty from across the University’s graduate and undergraduate schools began reexamining policies regarding online courses. The committee, headed by Mary Finn, associate dean for undergraduate academic affairs of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, is tasked with evaluating how online courses and educational tools can be better incorporated at NU. Although NU does offer several online masters programs, the University does not currently have online courses for undergraduate students. Additionally, Weinberg does not allow undergraduate students to count any online course credits toward their degrees. However, that could change in the near future based on the results of the committee’s discussions this school year. “This is a rapidly evolving area, and Northwestern very much wants to be part of the group of institutions that helps shape online education,” said Provost Daniel Linzer, who initiated the committee’s formation in late September. Linzer said the University’s examination of online education stemmed from conversations he had with NU deans and faculty members toward the end of last year. Because each school at NU is responsible for forming its own curriculum and policies, the committee includes faculty from across the schools to address
potential concerns about expanding the University’s selection of online courses and tools. A new educational technologies committee within Northwestern University Information Technology is also assessing what types of resources the University will need to support future online initiatives, Linzer said. “We want to be careful that whatever we do retains the quality of learning and the quality of experience of an in-classroom course,” he said. “However we do it, we want to be sure that students interact with other students.” University registrar Jaci Casazza said there is not an “organizing force” for NU’s online course offerings. Online programs at NU are confined to graduate programs and primarily offered through the School of Continuing Studies, she said. The School of Continuing Studies currently offers four fully online masters programs in medical informatics; information systems; predictive analytics; and public policy and administration, said Joel Shapiro, associate dean of academic programs for the School of Continuing Studies. Recently the school has been working to expand its selection of online programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. While Weinberg and the other undergraduate schools continue evaluating their online credit policies, the School of Continuing Studies is developing online accounting courses geared toward undergraduate students, Shapiro said. The courses could constitute a new undergraduate certificate if Weinberg decides to change its policy for online credits, he said. The school is focusing on a discipline like accounting first because online platforms lend themselves well to » See ONLINE, page 10
NU Law attorneys petition to reopen Burge case By ZACHARY ELVOVE
the daily northwestern
Attorneys from Northwestern’s MacArthur Justice Center filed a class-action petition Tuesday asking a judge to grant hearings to more than 15 incarcerated men. The men claim they were tortured into confessing to murder by former Chicago Police Cmdr. John Burge. The petition was announced at a press conference held at the NU School of Law in downtown Chicago. Family members, freed victims and attorneys spoke in support of the filing, which seeks to have the cases of Burge’s alleged victims reexamined. Burge allegedly tortured more
than 200 suspects from 1972 to 1991 to force their confessions. He was acquitted for torture due to an expired statute of limitations but was later convicted in 2010 on two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury for lying in written testimony during hearings in a 2003 civil lawsuit about his involvement in the torture of criminal suspects. Burge was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. “What do you do about the prisoners who are still in prison?” said Locke Bowman, executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center. “Those who have always said that they were victims of torture and confessed to crimes as a result?” The victims’ repeated torture
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I want justice. And my son wants justice too. We all want justice for torture victims.” Jeanette Plummer, Mother of named victim Johnny Plummer
accusations against Burge prompted a series of investigations dating back to the 1990s. The investigations ultimately led to Burge’s conviction. Many of the victims have been behind bars for decades. Bowman, an NU Law professor, is one of the attorneys involved in the class-action petition. The center is a privately funded public interest law
firm that became a part of NU School of Law’s Bluhm Legal Clinic in 2006. NU has been involved with the cases of Burge’s victims for over a decade. Former Medill prof. David Protess and students of the Medill Innocence Project discovered evidence in 1999 exonerating death row inmate Anthony Porter, who was convicted based on a witness testimony. The witness said he named Porter as the murderer after officers threatened and intimidated him. Fifteen men named in Tuesday’s petition are currently serving prison sentences. However, Bowman said there could be additional inmates who have evidence that Burge coerced their confessions. Jeanette Plummer, mother of
named victim Johnny Plummer, spoke at Tuesday’s press conference. “I want justice,” she said at the press conference. “And my son wants justice too. We all want justice for torture victims.” This is the latest in a series of revelations regarding Burge torture victims, but the petition is the first of its kind in Cook County. Bowman is asking the court to recognize that each of these men is entitled to a hearing. Criminal Court Judge Paul Biebel will read the petition and determine whether to reopen the cases. “Each (man) ought to have their case reexamined,” said Bowman. zacharyelvove2016@u.northwestern.edu