Men’s soccer team preps for » PAGE 8 NCAA Tournament
ARTS The Current Behind the scenes of Ben Huh’s Bravo series » INSIDE
OPINION Muller Black Friday should stick to its name » PAGE 4
High 48 Low 30
The Daily Northwestern Thursday, November 15, 2012
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Find us online @thedailynu
Brockovich urges environmental care Tisdahl talks of NU-city relations By LAUREN CARUBA
daily senior staffer
Mixing elements of activism with motivational stories, environmental advocate Erin Brockovich encouraged students Wednesday night to take responsibility and become more involved in their local communities. An esteemed veteran in environmentalism, Brockovich helped launch the investigation of Pacific Gas & Electric Company in the mid-1990s for contaminating the groundwater of the cancerriddled town of Hinkley, Calif. The case eventually developed into the largest direct-action lawsuit in U.S. history, culminating in the payment of $333 million in damages to more than 600 residents. Playing off the film “Erin Brockovich,” which gave her national recognition, Brockovich shared she is often confused with her movie character in everyday life when she opened her talk to about 250 people in Cahn Auditorium. She joked she did not end up marrying “the biker dude.” “In case you didn’t already know, I’m not Julia Roberts,” she said. “I had no idea that this would be so confusing to
Mayor addresses town-gown tensions in talk with students By MEGHAN MORRIS
the daily northwestern
Melody Song/The Daily Northwestern
PLANTING SEEDS Environmental activist and lawyer Erin Brockovitch discusses her current projects to a crowd of about 250 students Wednesday. Presented by SEED, the talk focused largely on environmental and health issues.
so many people 12 years later.” Throughout her hour-long speech, sponsored by Students for Ecological and Environmental Development,
Brockovich talked about the “real disconnect” between people and the environment, as well as between residents and their own communities.
The global “water crisis” demonstrates how the problem stems from a » See SEED, page 7
City history mural painted over Beloved paintng was accidentally covered earlier this month By CIARA MCCARTHY
the daily northwestern
A beloved mural painted on a Metra retention wall on Green Bay Road was unexpectedly removed in recent weeks, according to a news release sent out by the city of Evanston on Wednesday. The 110-foot mural depicted scenes and figures from Evanston’s history. It was painted on a viaduct near the intersection of Green Bay Road and Emerson Street by Theodore Boggs, a graduate of Evanston Township High School. Evanston’s Public Art Committee was alerted to the mural’s removal at their meeting Monday evening, and the news surprised some members. “It kind of came as a shock to us that the whole thing was painted over,” said the committee’s chair, Ryan Hall. Although the committee learned of the mural’s disappearance Monday, people who lived and worked in the
Daily file photo
A COLORFUL CHRONICLE The mural, pictured in 2009 before the recent re-painting, depicted the history of Evanston, composed by an ETHS graduate.
area said that the mural was painted over at least two weeks ago. Mario Sanchez, the manager of Pep Boys Auto, 1911 Green Bay Road., said he was unsure exactly when the mural was painted over but guessed that it had been between three and four weeks ago. Sanchez recalled he saw two men covering the mural with gray paint and approached them to try and intercede, but the men persisted. “I tried to tell them, ‘You’re destroying part of the history of this place, ’” Sanchez said. High-Resolution PDF - PRINT READY At their meeting on Monday, the
Kaitlin Svabek/Daily senior staffer
MURAL MISTAKE A man walks past the newly painted walls. The Green Bay Road mural was painted over by a landlord who mistook it for graffiti.
Public Art Committee discussed what of the mural. to do with the void left by the mural. “It was a mistake,” Hall said. “He Although details of its removal is didn’t realize what he was doing.” unknown, Hall said that the landlord Hall added that although Hertz’s of a building occupied by Hertz at Green Bay Road business is new to 1901 Green Bay Road ordered the Evanston, the property landlord is not. mural’s cover-up because he mistook it for graffiti. The mural was a Among the options the Public Art timeline of Evanston’s history and Committee considered is asking the featured writing, images and graffiti mural’s artist, Boggs, to re-create his as part of its artistic representation. work. Hall said the landlord did not realize “All the options are on the table that the graffiti in the mural was art. right now,” Hall said. According to Hall, the landlord was Boggs created the mural, entitled very apologetic for his mistake Output On: November 14, 2012and 1:41 PM has offered to pay for the replacement » See MURAL, page 7
NORTHWESTERN N NORT CHICAGO’S BIG TEN TEAM
TM
NUSPORTS.COM | @NUWILDSIDE Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl spoke Wednesday afternoon about towngown relations to a small group in an event organized by the Northwestern University Political Union. The 45-minute discussion drew only seven people to Norris’ Lake Room to talk about the tensions between the city of Evanston and NU. Political Union co-president Steven Monacelli, a former Daily staffer, said he hoped students engaged more personally with the mayor in the small setting. “Typically we only hear sound bites from her on the news or from some official event,” the Communication senior said. Monacelli said low attendance was likely due to the event’s mid-afternoon timing, post-election political apathy and busy schedules. Tisdahl opened the discussion by talking about city’s recent decision to approve a building permit for NU’s proposed visitors center next to the Clark Street beach. She said the Evanston community rallied against the University, sending hundreds of emails protesting the building and the planned lease cost. “There was a lot of Northwestern bashing at the city council meeting,” she said. The mayor then touched on various strains between the city and the University, including the over-occupancy rule, colloquially known as the “brothel law,” which prohibits more than three unrelated people from living together. She said she supports legislation allowing higher occupancy rates, which she said would help low-income residents as well as students. However, she said no students or residents have been evicted under the occupancy rule. “The idea that cities go around evicting people is fascinating to me,” Tisdahl said. “Cities go around trying to find housing for people who don’t have it.” In addition to housing, the mayor discussed student alcohol use and subsequent disruptive behavior in neighborhoods. She » See TISDAHL, page 7
MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE TONIGHT AT 7 P.M.
VOLLEYBALL VS. MICHIGAN TOMORROW AT 7 P.M. ALL STUDENTS RECEIVE FREE SOUVENIR CUP AND POPCORN
INSIDE Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Forum 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 5 | Sports 8