The Daily Northwestern - February 9, 2023

The Daily Northwestern

AUDIO/NU Declassified

Built This: Student startup Caped Clinicians tackles new leadership

Students with physical disabilities have spent years calling for better accessibility on campus. They say NU is not doing enough, leaving them in search of justice — and community.

By NICOLE MARKUS

daily senior staffer @nicolejmarkus

After his wheelchair flipped over on one of Northwestern’s uneven sidewalks last spring, Alec Cabacungan broke his hip.

The Medill junior has osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease. The condition causes Cabacungan’s bones to break easily, making

getting around difficult. NU’s bumpy, uneven terrain is unforgiving for those with physical disabilities — and the problems with the sidewalks are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to accessibility concerns on campus.

This was not the first time Cabacungan had an experience like this. He said he took a leave during Winter Quarter 2022 after his wheelchair flipped during break last fall.

“I was just so excited to come back. And then I flipped over again,” he said. “I had to go

Mirkin lab leads nanotech industry

has helped propel NU to become a global leader in nanotechnology.

Modern nanotechnology

through physical therapy again, which sucked.”

Cabacungan said problems with navigating campus have been the most frustrating part of his time at NU. And he’s not the only student facing these issues.

Students with physical disabilities make up 3% of students registered with AccessibleNU — the University’s accessibility office — according to its 2016 accessibility council report. Cabacungan and others said the University is not doing enough to remove access barriers around campus for those

students. From challenges communicating with administration to difficulty entering buildings and attending class, he said it has been an uphill battle to find justice — and belonging — on campus.

“On top of dealing with the social pressures of college, and on top of the academic stress with each class, it can get extremely stressful also having to worry about what’s compliant and what’s accessible,” Cabacungan said.

» See UPHILL , page 4

Experts say 988 needs to be robust After national crisis line launches, advocates call for expanded resources

By MAIA PANDEY daily senior staffer @maiapandey

By FIONA ROACH daily senior staffer @fionaroach03

Throughout his 31 years at Northwestern, chemistry Prof. Chad Mirkin

— a field in which individuals study materials smaller than 100 nanometers — is just a 42-year-old industry, according to National Geographic.

“One of the fundamental

Before the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline launched nationally last July, experts often dubbed it 911 for mental health crises: a short, easy-toremember emergency number that any person could phone.

Seven months after 988

went live, advocates and mental health professionals say the crisis line is a significant step in expanding mental health services. However, they also say the crisis line still needs more local staffing and services to become a robust mental health care resource — including in Evanston and Cook County. When someone calls 988, they can connect with a

trained crisis counselor. But if a situation calls for an inperson response, the operator can refer the call to a local mobile crisis service. The 988 lifeline currently operates six call centers in Illinois, only one of them in Cook County.

In a July 2022 release, Illinois officials emphasized the significance of the launch as the COVID-19 pandemic has continually eroded people’s

mental health. Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in Illinois and the third among people ages 15 to 34, according to the release.

Though 988 is meant to mirror 911, the crisis line aims to avoid sending police responders to mental health crisis calls.

“988 will help people across

» See 988, page 10

Candlelight vigil in Alice Millar honors Tyre Nichols

Illustrations by Gemma DeCetra

District 65 to implement new literacy curriculum

By KUNJAL BASTOLA the daily northwestern @kunjal_bastola

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 is updating its K-8 literacy curriculum to emphasize necessary foundational skills, including word recognition and language comprehension, needed to read complex texts.

Last August, the district hired Shyla Kinhal as the director of literacy to restructure the curriculum to focus on introducing strong instructional literacy resources and high quality professional learning for teachers.

“We want to make sure that all students in District 65 leave our buildings knowing how to crack the alphabetic code,” Kinhal said. “We want to make sure that they can comprehend complex texts and engage in really strong text-based discussions and are equipped as strong writers as well.”

According to District 65, the current curriculum assigns many students to work below their grade level when they can be just as successful on gradelevel tasks. The district gave students in marginalized communities, particularly those from low-income families, the most work below grade level.

Nationwide, schools are considering updating their literacy curriculum to include more phonics instruction. Discussions revolve around consistent gaps between the research, classroom instruction and reading policy. Calls for updated curriculums have focused on the need for student-centered instructional practices and more training for teachers.

During District 65’s Jan. 17 Curriculum and Policy Board Meeting, Kinhal said 95% of students are cognitively capable of learning to read, yet nationwide data suggests that many students are not getting the support they need to develop these skills.

“I think these data sort of suggest a need to more deeply examine our literacy practice and the need to shift to a new resource,” Kinhal said at the Board meeting.

The proposed timeline suggests new resources, which will begin to be implemented in the 2023-2024 school year. District 65 literacy and

curriculum leaders are hoping to have the resources decided upon and brought before the Curriculum Advisory Committee by the end of March.

The district currently uses the Lucy Calkins Reading and Writing Units of Study in kindergarten through fifth grade and the Phonics Units of Study in kindergarten through second grade. Kinhal said the curriculum lacks explicit, systematic and diagnostic foundational skills instruction, as well as assessment strategies to meaningfully assess grade-level content.

Now, District 65 is meeting with families and administrators to decide on which resources to help all students with literacy skills. In the meantime, however, Kinhal said the district is working on grade-level specific practices.

One initiative is Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling training, a two-year training program for teachers.

The training is based on the Scarborough Reading Rope, which emphasizes word recognition and language comprehension as the foundational skills needed to ease students’ transition into reading more complex texts.

Furthermore, the LETRS training provides teachers with the skills — such as phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and written language — needed to master reading and writing instruction. The training is targeted towards teachers of kindergarten through third grade to build those skills in younger students.

Shira Schwartz, a founder of Dyslexia Connection of Evanston, said the state is failing at its core mission to teach students to read. Consequently, she said students struggle with academics, drop out of school and face mental health challenges.

“What teachers really need is more foundational skills to provide structured literacy to students,” Schwartz said. “LETRS training can help provide that.”

To support students in grades four through eight, Kinhal said District 65 is looking to implement a resource called Improving Reading for Older Students for the upcoming school year. She also said this resource uses research-based

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strategies to help students who are still struggling with reading complex texts.

Kinhal said she hopes teachers will be able to support all students in reading.

However, Stacy Beardsley, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said some students need extra support, at which point they receive a lower tier of instruction, which include small group or one-on-one work.

“So if we can really align our intervention practices with our tier one instruction, we’ll be putting all kids in just a much better place,” said Kinhal.

District 65’s new literacy curriculum hopes to provide resources for students who show early symptoms of dyslexia, Kinhal said. The district has struggled to identify and support students who may be dyslexic.

The district currently screens students for potential signs of dyslexia three times a year and has further diagnostic testing to assess a child’s need, Kinhal said. With improved foundational skills instruction, she said tier one

instruction will support all students.

The district will supplement by providing an aligned intervention to students receiving lower tier instruction.

“I think over the last several years, we’ve built a lot of stronger practices on how to identify and respond to students that are dyslexic,” Beardsley said.

Leaders said they are hopeful their work will be less repetitive.

Kinhal wants to prioritize making literacy equitable for all students and is excited about her work in D65.

“I think what I’d like to bring more into the foreground is the vision for equitable literacy instruction moving forward and how we can build on the current strengths of the districts to really empower teachers and learners in classrooms. It’s just a really exciting moment,” said Kinhal.

kunjalbastola2026@u.northwestern.edu

Illustration by Aviva Bechky

Candlelight vigil honors Tyre Nichols

By OLATUNJI OSHO-WILLIAMS daily senior staffer @osho_olatunji

Content warning: This article discusses police brutality, racism and death.

With song, prayer and performance, members of the Northwestern community gathered in a candlelit Alice Millar Chapel on Tuesday night to honor the life of Tyre Nichols.

“We did not know him, but we know him as a brother, a friend,” said assistant University Chaplain Rev. D’ana Downing, who gave the opening prayer at the vigil.

The Black Health and Wellness Collaborative organized the vigil as a space for community healing following Tyre Nichols’ death after he was stopped and beaten by five Memphis, Tennessee police officers, who have since been charged with second-degree murder.

The vigil was a space for Weinberg freshman Caleb Snead to sit and unpack their emotions following the national tragedy.

“We often have the problem of intellectualizing our experiences, rather than moving through them or allowing ourselves to actually experience them,” Snead said. “I didn’t quite realize I experienced a trauma until I got here.”

BHWC was founded Fall Quarter 2022 to provide communal support and resources for Black students. The organization has since hosted weekly meetings and workshops on boundaries, stress management, intention-setting and healing one’s inner child.

For Weinberg senior and BHWC co-Chair Jem Feuilladieu, he wanted the vigil to be a space for community dialogue and music.

“We just really wanted to make it a space that involved celebration through music and honoring through music,” said Feuilladieu. “Music is just a big part of Black culture in general, like music through healing, so that was definitely something we had in mind at the beginning of planning.”

The vigil featured vocal performances of “Free” and “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” by NU’s premiere

Black student a capella group Soul4Real, as well as a piano-accompanied duet of “You Know My Name” by Bienen junior Olivia Pierce and SESP sophomore Michaiah Ligon, BHWC’s External Relations Advocate.

During a segment for reflection, NU community members spoke on how Nichols’ death affected them.

For some Black students such as Ligon, it can feel difficult to find time to deal with the trauma of Tyre Nichols’ death.

“I don’t even think I had the space to actually sit down and reflect on what happened,” Ligon said. “I also think that we as a community have become desensitized, it’s just another video — mine was on my for you page. I don’t think it’s as recognized as traumatic as it initially used to be.”

Former Daily staffer and Medill senior Onyeka Chigbogwu read an untitled spoken word poem he wrote in response to Nichols’ death.

Chigbogwu said he often writes to process events

in national news, and the media’s response to Nichols’ death moved him to share this poem.

“I noticed the way that people weren’t mourning Tyre Nichols as much as they were obsessed with the spectacle of another police killing,” Chigbogwu said. “Just considering those things, I wanted to write about the way that there hasn’t been a solution to these issues brought up.”

Downing said that, as the first Black woman and person to be assistant university chaplain, representation in her role is significant for holding space and providing a “ministry of presence” during times like this. They praised the students of BHWC for leading the effort to create healing spaces for their peers.

In the vigil’s closing prayer, Downing called for a charge to action.

“Let us commit ourselves to being people who stand for truth, fairness and collective justice,” she said. tunjiosho-williams2025@u.northwestern.edu

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Olatunji Osho-Williams/Daily Senior Staffer

The vigil featured vocal performances of “Free”and “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” by Northwestern’s premiere Black student a capella group Soul4Real.

Navigating campus

Adrian Ray-Avalani, a second-year Ph.D. candidate, said he came to NU excited to study linguistics and be on a new campus. However, he quickly realized many buildings on campus are not navigable as a wheelchair user. Ray-Avalani said his most glaring issue is the inaccessibility of the linguistics department. The building, located on Sheridan Road, does not have an elevator.

When Ray-Avalani brought this up to University administration, ANU quickly gave him a private office so he could meet with faculty as needed. Ray-Avalani said while he has been “more or less” functionally accommodated, he still struggles emotionally.

“I don’t like it,” Ray-Avalani said. “I just don’t like the idea that the official department building is not somewhere I can get (to).”

With the main campus covering more than 230 acres, NU has a lot of terrain and a variety of buildings. But without proper infrastructure, students with mobility conditions often face challenges accessing them.

Cabacungan said for him, Norris University Center, Deering Library and Locy Hall are some of the least accessible buildings on campus.

During his first inperson quarter, Cabacungan said he struggled to learn which buildings were accessible and which were not. He recalled one incident that discouraged him from returning to Deering.

“Someone at the student help desk at Deering told me there wasn’t an elevator in the building, so I never went back there,” he said. “And then I found out in the spring that there was an elevator, so that was frustrating.”

At Norris, steep hills require immense effort to enter the facility, he said. Even though there is an accessible entrance on the north side of the building, Cabacungan said accessing it is difficult because he comes from South Campus. He must cross a street to use the accessible entrance.

Streets and sidewalks throughout campus are not any easier to cross. Cabacungan said the uneven pavement often forces him to take alternative routes that are often longer and more inconvenient.

Cabacungan said he does not blame the University for the natural elements that make navigating campus difficult. However, he wishes NU would do more about the infrastructure it has the ability to change.

“You can’t do anything about the natural hills, so whatever — keep the hills,” Cabacungan said. “But just fix the sidewalks, fix the buildings, fix the policies. I mean, it’s head to toe.”

‘A segregated environment’

ANU features three federal laws related to accessibility on their website: Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.

The ADA aims to prevent discrimination against those with disabilities, according to its website. Title III of the act requires all buildings erected after Jan. 26, 1992 to be “readily accessible” by meeting certain building specifications. The 2010 Standards for Accessible Design added additional guidelines for buildings constructed after March 15, 2012, such as the steepness and edge protection of provided ramps.

However, most of NU’s buildings were constructed before 1992. Though NU Facilities has completed a number of renovations that improve access in older buildings, some have not been updated in decades. One of these buildings is Locy. The building’s multiple entrances require climbing stairs, and there’s no elevator inside, so students must walk up and down stairs to access classrooms in its four stories.

ANU will relocate a class if a student is unable to physically access the classroom.

During Spring Quarter 2022, Cabacungan said a professor had to move one of his final exams from Locy to Kresge Hall.

More classes have been moved out of Locy for accessibility reasons than any other building, according to a 2016 article published in North by Northwestern.

The ADA’s Safe Harbor Provision states buildings constructed before 1992 that do not comply with either the 1992 or the updated 2010 standards must be modified when “readily achievable.”

Several factors inform whether renovations are seen by legal authorities as “readily achievable” for an organization, including financial capability, the building’s historical significance and the feasibility of the construction, according to Clinical Director of the Nova Southeastern University College of Law Disability Rights Clinic Matthew Dietz. Generally, the more financial resources an organization has, the more it is expected to remove barriers.

Dietz said under ADA Title III, NU is required to provide an accessible entrance to every building. Locy, in that case, would not be considered compliant due to its lack of a ramp.

Dietz said while NU’s policy to move classes allows disabled students to attend class, it is still discriminatory and does not comply with the law in cases where disabled students cannot physically enter a building.

“You actually have a segregated environment,” Dietz said. “There’s no reason why a whole class has to move for one person. It may be nothing for the administrator or the teacher, but for the student that has to go and say ‘I’d like to take that class, you have to move it…’ It shouldn’t be that way.”

Laura Conway, associate director of NU ADA compliance and ADA coordinator for the Office of Equity, did not comment on which of NU’s buildings — if any — were not ADA compliant. Projects are “ongoing,”

she wrote to The Daily.

“The Office of Equity, Facilities and ANU reply to known issues as they arise, in addition to conducting systemic reviews and larger projects as needed,” Conway added.

Despite these “larger projects,” Cabacungan said he does not feel the University is doing all it can to improve physical accessibility for students.

Just because a building is technically compliant does not necessarily mean it is fully accessible, Cabacungan said.

“They’re doing the bare minimum,” he said.

Kresge underwent a major renovation that was completed in 2017. During this renovation, many of its classes were moved to Locy, creating a barrier for students who could not access the building. Alexander Darragh, NU’s vice president for facilities, wrote to The Daily that Kresge is part of the University’s “strategic” set of renovations by the University to improve campus access.

While Kresge is now far more accessible than other buildings, Cabacungan said it still has its issues.

The wheelchair ramp at Kresge’s main entrance includes a sharp turn that does not have a railing, according to Cabacungan. This could be dangerous for wheelchair users, he said. In the event they are unable to stop the chair, Cabacungan said the lack of railing could cause the wheelchair to flip if it comes too close to the ramp’s edge.

Ray-Avalani also said renovation and construction sometimes cause major barriers to navigating campus.

Last fall, the University worked on construction outside Allison Hall, so students had to take an alternate path to cross Sheridan Road to the dining hall. Cones delineated a path around the construction, but Ray-Avalani was not able to use the alternate path since it required stepping over a curb.

“I’m lucky in that I can stand up and pull my chair over a thing, if necessary,” he said. “But not everyone (in a wheelchair) can do that.”

Seeger Gray/Daily Senior Staffer

The ramp leading to Kresge Hall includes a sharp turn bordered by bushes rather than a railing.

Seeger Gray/Daily Senior Staffer

A large bump in the sidewalk makes it difficult for wheelchair users to access a ramp outside Annenberg Hall.

Seeger Gray/Daily Senior Staffer

Medill junior Alec Cabacungan has osteogenesis imperfecta. Side effects of the condition makes it difficult for him to get around NU’s campus.

Administrative barriers

While ANU and other campus offices are open to assist students, some with physical disabilities say they have struggled to figure out where to go for help.

Ray-Avalani said he has faced some confusion regarding who to reach out to if he encounters an inaccessible part of campus. Three NU offices — ANU, Facilities and the Office of Equity — are responsible for different elements of accessibility.

According to Conway, the Office of Equity is responsible for providing guidance on physical access requirements. Facilities is responsible for removing structural barriers that may prevent NU community members from accessing parts of campus, while ANU coordinates academic accommodations.

Despite these offices’ various functionalities, RayAvalani said he has never been directed to the Office of Equity or Facilities, leading to unclear messaging for students who need access to NU’s resources. Accessibility issues do not only affect students with permanent mobility challenges. Students with temporary injuries may not know who to turn to when having difficulty getting around campus.

According to ANU, temporary medical conditions are “generally not regarded as disabilities” because of the degree of impairment. Its website directs students with “academic concerns that arise related to temporary conditions” to Northwestern Medicine Student Health Service Evanston.

After injuring her leg in October, Medill freshman Emma Manley said she needed crutches. The injury made it difficult for her to navigate the school, she said, especially in buildings like Allison that don’t have an entrance elevator readily available to students who are not registered with ANU.

According to Manley, she didn’t register with ANU because she was confused about who to reach out to.

“That information isn’t really widely available,” Manley said. “Even when there is an elevator, (it is) still more difficult to use. I think for a lot of things, the lesser of two evils is to struggle with the stairs.”

Manley lives in the Communications Residential College. Because she lives on the only floor with elevator access, she said it was easier to enter and exit the building with her injury.

Her friend, Weinberg sophomore and CRC President Sarah Wachs, was not as lucky. Wachs broke her ankle last year while living on the third floor of CRC. Wachs’ floor did not have elevator access, so she said she had to “hop” up the stairs. Even though she made the University aware of her injury, she said it did not offer her temporary housing accomodations.

“She had to just struggle and add in like 20 minutes to her day every time she wanted to leave and come back,” Manley said.

‘The bare minimum’

Cabacungan said he goes out of his way to meet and befriend other students in wheelchairs because he appreciates the camaraderie and ability to bond over shared experience.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mobility conditions are the most common form of disability, affecting one in seven adults. However, finding other physically disabled students on campus can be a challenge.

This ratio of individuals with disabilities is not reflected in the student population registered with ANU. The University’s Accessibility Council Report, which was last published in 2016, reported that 3% of all students registered with ANU have mobility-related impairments.

This is about 27 students, based on the 2016 statistics listed in NU’s 2020-21 Diversity and Inclusion Report.

ANU declined to provide a more recent estimate of the number of students with physical disabilities currently enrolled at NU.

“In the way that they have Black students association or LGBT students association, some universities have a disabled students association,” Ray-Avalani said. “I know a couple of other grad students with mobility issues, but I would really love for there to be more of a community.”

Cabacungan said other students often

treat him differently, talking to him more slowly or acting as though he cannot keep up in a conversation.

Friendship with these students is different than those with people who understand his disability, which he said is another reason he wishes there was a disabled community on campus.

“I don’t think a lot of these smarter, academically-talented kids have a lot of experience with people with disabilities,” Cabacungan said. “I always try to say a joke or make fun of myself to break the ice.”

Cabacungan described a negative feedback loop: Since the number of students with physical challenges enrolled at NU is so small, University administration does not prioritize fixing the problems affecting these students. But because these issues still exist, students with mobility conditions do not feel comfortable coming to NU, he said.

Cabacungan said he believes the only point at which more students with physical disabilities will enroll in the University is when the administration prioritizes efforts for inclusion.

“A lot more students in high school in wheelchairs would come to Northwestern (if it) was more accessible,” Cabacungan said.

Associate Dean of Students and ANU Director Jill SiebenSchneider said the number of students at NU with physical disabilities was “in line” with peer institutions.

But unlike Cabacungan’s experience at NU, University of Illinois Chicago sophomore Hanna Codreanu said she has seen “quite a few” people around her campus with mobility conditions and in wheelchairs, both manual and electric.

UIC’s emphasis on disability studies and inclusion of a well-established disabled community was one of the main reasons Codreanu, who

like Cabacungan also has osteogenesis imperfecta, wanted to attend the school.

“I saw that (UIC) had a disabilities and human development program, and that really caught my attention, especially since they have a disability cultural center,” Codreanu said. “I always look to schools where you see physically disabled people, and I just wanted to be part of a community.”

Codreanu said she was always apprehensive that the university she would attend might not be accessible. But after looking into UIC, she said she realized it was the best place for her.

While Codreanu said that UIC’s accommodations are far from perfect, they are some of the best she has had access to.

“Even in high school, I didn’t get the accommodations I get right now,” she said.

While NU was Cabacungan’s first choice, he did not feel the same excitement over the University’s accessibility policies. He said he had a role model in high school who was happy Cabacungan got into his “dream school” but had always encouraged him to go to UIC.

According to Cabacungan, the friend said he might struggle at NU. Though he visited the campus and noticed its flaws, Cabacungan said his younger self did not care.

“I wish I had listened to him a little bit more,” he said. “I don’t know if I would’ve changed where I had gone, but I wish I would have taken that into consideration.”

Though Cabacungan recognizes NU’s faults, he said he is not giving up.

“I have a goal to make Northwestern accessible and to use Northwestern as an example for the rest of the country,” Cabacungan said. “Unfortunately, this is a nationwide problem.”

Though he said some University officials have said they wanted to help, he generally has not seen any major changes since his arrival at NU. Cabacungan said that will hopefully change now. He has been working with ANU since December to help survey buildings for potential accessibility issues. Though he said it is not yet clear what changes the University will make based on the survey results, Cabacungan is working to let administration know how to improve conditions for students with mobility-related disabilities.

“The physical obstacles I have encountered on campus put me in an unfair situation,” Cabacungan said in a letter sent to University administrators last April. “I will not get to experience a 100% accessible Northwestern campus as an undergraduate student, but I hope one day someone else can.”

Seeger Gray/Daily Senior Staffer Deering Library’s elevator is located in a hallway that’s not easy to find.

Seeger Gray/Daily Senior Staffer

Locy Hall has four entrances, all of which require climbing stairs.

Seeger Gray/Daily Senior Staffer Norris University Center’s steep slope is difficult, and often dangerous, for physically disabled students to use.

Fu: Growing lust for Asian men is a double-edged sword

And in 2022, “hentai” overtook “twink” as the most searched gay porn term on Pornhub.

This is “Rice Purity,” a column covering all things gaysian America, sex and scandal.

Content warning: This story includes mentions of body dysmorphia.

Asian men are trending!

During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, South Korean soccer player Cho Gue-sung garnered the unofficial title of “World’s Sexiest Player.” His Instagram following shot up from 20,000 to more than 2 million, marriage proposals flooded his comment sections and thirst TikToks of him went mega-viral. He ascended to international stardom overnight and has since graced the covers of Vogue Korea and Elle Man Korea.

The lust for Asian men doesn’t stop there. K-pop group BTS has been the largest musical act in the world since 2020, with billions of streams and legions of horny fans. Most K-pop companies forbid their idols from dating to present them as the ideal love interest and strengthen parasocial relationships with fans. People aren’t just simping for Asian men in the flesh; anime also has the world in a chokehold. I have many friends who say they would never be caught dead simping for any man — except anime men.

Maybe the rise of sexy Asian men is cause for celebration. A couple years ago, if you told me a Korean player was dominating “sexiest World Cup player” lists all across the internet, I would have laughed at you. A wide berth of sociological research shows Asian men at the bottom of the dating totem pole, and young Asian American men are the least likely group of young adults to currently be in a relationship. While Asian women are hypersexualized and fetishized, Asian men are emasculated.

I would like to add another dimension to that truth.

According to a 2018 American Sociological Association paper, comedian Steve Harvey has joked about a book titled “How to Date a White Woman: A Practical Guide for Asian Men.” He claimed no one could possibly like Asian men. He said, “You like Asian men?… I don’t even like Chinese food, boy … I don’t eat what I can’t pronounce.”

The study also reports that gay men on Grindr often hear about how their Asianness makes them undesirable and unattractive.

I think this is true. I get less attention from men on Grindr than white men do: fewer taps, likes, messages and encounters. But recently, phrases like “Asian ++” and “Asian and younger preferred” or “Asian twinks to the front” dominate the Grindr bios I see.

I’ve had a man ask me if I have other Chinese friends he can have sex with because Chinese boys are his favorite. I’ve had a man ask me if he can give me head in the parking lot of a Chinese restaurant

after picking up his takeout. “Eating double Chinese tonight,” he said. I’m unsure if he could properly say “Sze Chuan,” but then again, I doubt he could pronounce my name either.

to do 20 minutes of ab workouts four times a week, hoping it would finally allow my rite of passage into the twink hall of fame.

I think it’s great that the general public is starting to find more Asian men sexy. For starters, it means people are growing a pair of eyes. Asian men are stunning. And I believe the media strongly influences the way we see others and ourselves, especially for young people. I’m glad we’re shifting away from a tired, eurocentric beauty standard and moving toward something else. But, I would also hesitate to call “Asian sexy” revolutionary in any way, since it still mandates being tall, light-skinned, fit and able-bodied.

-

Yes, I acknowledge that part of this is selection bias. Of course I’m going to get messages from people who are obsessed with Asian men. And I probably won’t see profiles that don’t like Asians because they may simply have blocked me.

But the fanbase for Asian men — both queer and straight — is definitely there. And I don’t know how to take it.

Growing up, I wanted so badly to be sexy. And as a gay man, this looked like wanting to be white, toned and over 6-feet-tall. I told myself the day I got a six-pack would be the day I finally make it as a gay. I ran — and I ran marathons to stay skinny. I used

I have gotten pretty close to feeling “sexy” as I had previously defined it. Two years ago, I was skinny, basically had abs and was finally tall enough to lie about being 6 feet tall. But I didn’t feel sexy. And I’m sure if I did more crunches, ate better, literally got plastic surgery, had the most perfect body I could ever achieve, I still wouldn’t have been happy with my body. I would always feel like I would have to change one more thing to be accepted. I was chasing an impossible ideal. It’s like the American Dream of being good-looking. And maybe that means being sexy, fundamentally, is also just a scam.

Yiming Fu is a Medill junior. He can be contacted at yimingfu2024@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

Duda: Military aid to Ukraine threatens nuclear arms race

using nuclear weapons “when the very existence of the state is put under threat.” In a speech last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear he believes the U.S. and its allies are threatening the very existence of Russia and its sovereignty. Since then, the U.S. and its allies have only escalated threatening actions toward Russia.

As the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine approaches, the world still isn’t any closer to a resolution. The United States is only escalating aggressive actions toward Russia, and there are no firm boundaries regarding when the U.S. will reject Ukrainian requests for more powerful weapons. Society seemingly refuses to recognize the ultimate outcome of ever-escalating actions between two nuclear superpowers. Once a nuclear weapon is used, de-escalation is off the table, and society as we know it will end in mutually assured destruction.

President Joe Biden’s nuclear policy limits the use of nuclear weapons to “extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States or its allies and partners.” This doctrine does not significantly differ from past presidential policies of the nuclear age, but in the context of a proxy war with another nuclear superpower, Biden’s policy is leading us toward mutually assured destruction. Russia’s policy is especially frightening, which justifies

Early in the war, the U.S. practiced some discretion by supplying Ukraine only with defensive weapons such as Stinger and Javelin missiles. However, the U.S. — along with Germany and the United Kingdom — recently agreed to provide tanks to Ukraine. Tanks are widely considered offensive weapons, so this action represents an escalating shift in U.S. military aid to Ukraine — a dangerous game to play with a nuclear superpower.

President Biden recently stated the U.S. would not provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, though I am not convinced he will stand by his decision, as France is now considering sending these jets to Ukraine. Similarly, the U.K. has been pushing its western allies to do more to support Ukraine, often breaking from the U.S.’s more conservative policies. Early in the year, the U.S. opposed providing tanks, but after pressure from Germany, Biden agreed to supply the M1 Abrams tanks. If the U.S. also reverses its stance and provides these jets to Ukraine, the country could

fly F-16 jets into Russian airspace. Will the U.S. kneel to pressure from its allies again?

To make geopolitical relations more tense, Finland and Sweden are angling to become part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO is centered around the principle of collective defense — if one NATO ally is attacked, all NATO allies are attacked — but this would enable an incredibly risky environment given Russia and Finland’s shared border. NATO nearly enacted this principle in Nov. 2022 when a missile struck Poland near its border with Ukraine. Immediately after, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy concluded the missile strike was from Russia, but NATO and Poland later agreed the missile was a stray Ukrainian defensive missile. The world was on the brink of a third world war because Zelenskyy urged NATO to invoke the collective defense principle and become fully involved in the war. Zelenskyy has yet to correct himself or apologize for his statement.

I am not advocating the U.S. cease militarily aiding Ukraine, but we need a reality check. Our geopolitical interests in the U.S. do not entirely align with Ukraine — no two countries have the same geopolitical interests. With a large landmass and strong influence over the former soviet bloc, Russia will inevitably remain the largest and most

Mills: Will you, or AI, win the imitation game?

natural language processing, AI is becoming increasingly sophisticated and is capable of performing more complex tasks with greater accuracy.

The imitation game, as proposed by mathematician Alan Turing in his 1950 paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” tasks two respondents, a person and a computer, with answering questions posed by a third person or judge. The questioner must then determine which is human. This has come to be known as the Turing Test.

Turing proposed that if a machine could successfully imitate a person, then it possessed “artificial intelligence.” This notion of AI has evolved immensely since Turing’s original thought experiment, but have we gotten to the point where computers can hold coherent conversations with people? What is artificial intelligence, and could you tell the difference between a person and AI?

AI refers to the creation of intelligent machines that can think and act like human beings. These systems are designed to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as understanding natural language, recognizing images and making decisions.

AI has come a long way in recent years and is now being used in a variety of industries, from healthcare and finance to retail and transportation. With advances in machine learning and

As a person, I believe that AI has the potential to greatly improve our lives. However, as with any new technology, there are also concerns about the impact of AI on our society.

So what do you think of AI? How did you do? I asked ChatGPT by OpenAI to “tell me as humanly as possible what AI is,” and the previous three paragraphs are its answer (lightly edited for AP style conventions and concision). You are the judge, and I am the human respondent. Did you think my intro was AI? Or did you think AI’s description of itself was me? Am I me? Who knows. What I do know is that I am scared of AI. Programs like ChatGPT use machine learning to generate text in response to user input. This means the program learns from existing content to generate new content, which can blur the lines between an original and plagiarized work.

ChatGPT is capable of passing common law exams at the University of Minnesota, as well as an operations management assessment at The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania. It has even “performed at or near the passing threshold” in all three parts of the United States Medical Licensing Exam.

AI as a tool for students and professionals is nothing new. Grammarly, a tool used by over 30 million people, is a prime example of AI’s

usefulness in higher education. The program uses machine learning to catch and correct common grammar mistakes. Similarly, college professors are using AI to try to catch us cheating. Turnitin, a plagiarism software utilized by professors, has been utilizing AI processing capabilities since 2015. Even predictive text runs on machine learning.

Despite these existing tools, new concerns of plagiarism and misinformation are mounting as programs like ChatGPT and other AI technologies use existing writing, art and knowledge to generate human-like work. This opens the door to numerous debates on the ethics of AI, machine learning and the information these programs are learning from. Are these sources biased? Are they accurate? And is the machine learning algorithm committing theft?

It is our job — that is, as humans — to keep AI in check, to ensure its ethical development and usage. But I don’t think we have that quite figured out. In the meantime, AI might not be ready to terminate humanity (yet). But I think it is still reasonable to be wary of AI’s progress. to Ukraine, or else this is the way the world ends.

Kadin Mills is a Medill Junior. He can be contacted at kadinmills2024@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

influential nation-state in eastern Europe. Additionally, Russia’s large population means that Putin, like past unscrupulous leaders of Russia, will be able to throw bodies into the war machine until they win, similar to the world wars. Ukraine is continuing to fight valiantly, but peace talks must be an option before it’s too late.

With every military escalation from the U.S., talk of nuclear war heightens. As the brutal winter subsides, we will likely see more major military offensives. Putin and Zelenskyy are both preparing their armies as we speak, and a spring uptick in battles could provoke the U.S. to provide even more powerful weapons to Ukraine. We are just one escalating action away from Putin deciding to use a nuclear weapon. The U.S. and its allies better choose wisely when providing more powerful weapons to Ukraine, or else this is the way the world ends.

Melissa Duda is a Weinberg first-year graduate student. She can be contacted at melissaduda2024@u. northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@ dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

The Daily Northwestern Volume 145, Issue 9

Editor in Chief Alex Perry

Opinion Editor Kadin Mills

Assistant

Opinion Editors

Loretta David Yiming Fu

Managing Editors

Seeger Gray

Joanne Haner Angeli Mittal Olatunji OshoWilliams

Kara Peeler Nicole Tan

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR may be sent to 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, via fax at 847-491-9905, via e-mail to opinion@ dailynorthwestern.com or by dropping a letter in the box outside The Daily office.

Letters have the following requirements:

• Should be typed and double-spaced

• Should include the author’s name, signature, school, class and phone number.

• Should be fewer than 300 words They will be checked for authenticity and may be edited for length, clarity, style and grammar.

Letters, columns and cartoons contain the opinion of the authors, not Students Publishing Co. Inc. Submissions signed by more than three people must include at least one and no more than three names designated to represent the group.

Editorials reflect the majority opinion of The Daily’s student editorial board and not the opinions of either Northwestern University or Students Publishing Co. Inc.

But the fanbase for Asian men — both queer and straight — is definitely there. And I don’t know how to take it.

Yiming Fu, Assistant Opinion Editor

”

Evanston’s drone program remains on the ground

By CHIARA KIM daily senior staffer @chiarafkim

In 2020, the Evanston Police and Fire Departments jointly purchased a drone capable of thermal image-enhanced search and rescue and crowd management, among other functions.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program is meant to increase efficiency during rescue and other operations, according to a police and fire department presentation from 2020. But three years later, the departments have only used the drone once. Activist groups in Chicago and nationwide have raised concerns about drone usage, though EPD Sgt. Scott Sophier, who coordinates the UAV program, said the city will continue to use it on a case-by-case basis.

Sophier said limited staffing prevents the police department from using the drone more frequently.

“We did deploy the drone on an official call for service in 2021 to assist the Skokie Police Department with a missing juvenile who was believed to have possibly entered the water,” he said. “And we’ve trained with the drone.”

He also said the department deployed the drones to several calls, but it arrived after the issues had been resolved by EPD or EFD.

EPD has no plans to use the drone more or less, Sophier said, but rather intends to keep the drone “ready and available with personnel trained to deploy it if and when necessary.”

Evanston’s drone program follows a national trend of police departments purchasing drones, according to the Atlas of Surveillance, a database documenting surveillance technologies used by law enforcement agencies.

Dave Maass, director of investigations at Electronic Frontier Foundation, led the Atlas of Surveillance project. He said the number of U.S. law enforcement agencies using drones grew from a dozen in 2012 to at least 1,220 to date.

Four winners selected in Evanston’s first-ever joint youth art contest

While Maass said drones can be beneficial for search and rescue purposes and crime photography, he said he’s worried they can also be used haphazardly.

“What I am definitely concerned about is using drones to surveil people engaged in First Amendment activities, (such as) people protesting,” he said.

He also said the city should maintain transparency around drones, such as keeping a public log of drone activities detailing the times, flight plans and outcomes. The Illinois Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act, however, prohibits EPD from

Council selected four winners in the city’s first-ever youth art contest.

The prompt for the contest was the question, “What comes to mind when you think of reparations?”

The four winners are Maia Faith Hadaway, a UCLA student; Asiah Williams, an Evanston

disclosing information gathered by their drone.

Policymakers need to understand how police drones can affect communities unequally, Maass said, and should evaluate whether drones are a good use of public resources.

“Something, for example, that you would want to know is are they using drones in Black neighborhoods more frequently than in other neighborhoods,” he said. “That could be indicative of using technology to further promote racial inequity in policing.”

Charles Johnson, organizing director of Chicago

Township High School student; and Margo Stonebraker and Javahya Wright, both Haven Middle School students. All four will receive a $200 prize.

Their works — available in the city’s news release — include images of kids playing; someone unlocking doors labeled Education, Housing and Businesses; a heart with a band-aid; and imagery

Area Peace Action, said he thinks the drone program should end.

Johnson said he’d like to see Evanston build trust instead of using technology that steers the police department toward the potential for “control, domination surveillance.”

“(The drone) is being treated like this is the future of safety,” he said. “I would encourage the city to consider all the more holistic and community-based types of safety that are available.”

chiarakim2025@u.northwestern.edu

related to slavery and the Underground Railroad. EAC and the Reparations Committee opened the contest in September, asking Evanston residents and students between 2 and 22 to submit any form of multimedia art in response to the question prompt.

Aviva Bechky

The Reparations Committee and Evanston Arts

Madison Bratley/Daily Senior Staffer

Evanston’s training drone. Worries persist in Evanston about the city’s drone as its future role within public safety remains uncertain.

& E

arts & entertainment

Understudies at Wirtz feel ‘ostracized,’ undervalued

By MAYA SLAUGHTER the daily northwestern

Due to safety concerns brought on by the COVID19 pandemic, theaters everywhere have turned to understudies as a saving grace. Northwestern’s Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts recently began to standardize the incorporation of understudies and swings — an understudy for multiple roles — into their productions after the process dropped off pre-pandemic.

But so far, understudies have had varied experiences.

Communication sophomore Lena Moore served as an understudy in last weekend’s production of “The Revolutionists.” She called it an exciting learning opportunity as she had never been an understudy before.

“It’s sort of strange, because I actually wasn’t called back for the show, so I didn’t think that I was still in consideration,” Moore said. “Then, cast lists came out and I was like ‘Woah! This is exciting, this is cool.’”

Though she felt respected by the directing team, Moore said the most important part of any production process is getting feedback and playing off other actors, which are opportunities understudies don’t receive.

Communication sophomore Gavin Shaub was an

understudy for the first time in last winter’s “peerless” and performed when the lead actor tested positive for COVID-19.

Shaub said he felt like a form of insurance for the production and lacked the preparation other actors received, as neither him nor the directing team expected him to perform. However, he said his experience was positive overall.

“It was really only stressful for the first few hours of knowing I was going to have to perform, but after that it was just exciting,” Shaub said.

Communication sophomore Alex Angrist served as one of the Wirtz Center’s first swings last winter and has since understudied eight to 10 roles in two productions.

“It was my first swing experience ever, but it was actually very pivotal,” Angrist said. “This role specifically is something that you have to learn how to do via doing it.”

Angrist said being a swing is a mentally draining experience due to lack of guidance and needing to learn multiple roles in the show.

Since Angrist has become involved in the Wirtz Center’s bigger productions, she said she has felt less valued: she received ill-fitting costumes and, with no safety training on the “As You Like It” set, Angrist

sprained both ankles.

She said being a swing can be ostracizing, and feeling like a part of the company is contingent on the cast making sure she feels welcome.

“I’m all for implementing swings — I just think if (Wirtz is) going to present themselves as being very progressive and emphasizing the (importance of understudies), then they really have to commit to the bit,” Angrist said.

Moore said having guaranteed understudy performances would improve the experience, giving people more incentive to learn a role and care about their work on a deeper level.

Shaub said this fall’s play, “Be Mean to Me,” utilized the model of including an understudy performance and was very successful.

“Spending so much time in the rehearsal room and then having nothing to show for it doesn’t feel great and should be fixed,” Shaub said.

Moving forward, Tanya Palmer, assistant dean and executive artistic director of the School of Communication, said the Wirtz Center is trying to re-structure each year’s season calendar to include understudy performances and separate the understudy casting process from general auditions.

Moore said she thinks this change is much more considerate of people’s time and commitment, and also suggested implementing guaranteed understudy workshops days or opportunities for feedback.

“We’re doing this with the hope that those understudies will be more self-selecting, so they don’t feel like they’ve been given third prize, but that actually it’s a choice to be part of a process in that way,” Palmer said.

In professional theatre, being an understudy is often the first entry point for students pursuing performance opportunities, according to Palmer. She said being an understudy allows students to form a particular skill set that will give them a leg up in the industry.

Palmer added that the experience allows students to be in the rehearsal room and form relationships with directors, other actors and theatre staff whom they might not otherwise be able to connect with.

The three actors were ultimately grateful for the understudy experience, but would they accept an understudy role with the Wirtz Center again? For now, the answer from all three is a resounding ‘no.’ mayaslaughter2025@u.northwestern.edu

‘Blood Wedding’ touches on desire, forbidden love

By NIXIE STRAZZA theatre critic @nixiestrazza

This piece contains spoilers.

Exploring unlived lives and breaking societal bonds, the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts’ production of “Blood Wedding” illuminated the hardships of forgiveness, love and healing through multilingual communication. The Spanish tragedy, translated from Federico García Lorca’s original stage play, brought forth the destruction of unfulfilled desires while emphasizing the actions needed to forge a new path forward.

Picked from a well-worn book of plays kept from his undergraduate years, director and MFA directing candidate at Northwestern Ismael Lara, Jr. felt a “wild, intense and ferocious” attraction to the play’s themes of forbidden love and coping with loss.

“The soul of the play really speaks to people wanting to break free from the structure of society and follow their hearts,” Lara said.

“Blood Wedding” tells the story of two lovers kept apart by societal obligations in 20th century Spain: a bride from a wealthy family set to marry a wellendowed groom, and Leonardo, a rancher without a fortune to his name married to the bride’s cousin. Unable to deny their attraction, the bride and Leonardo

take to the forest to escape their marital duties as the status quo erupts. The resulting violence forces change on the town, now saddled with enormous grief.

Beyond the element of romance, Communication junior Sophia Talwalkar, who plays both Death and the Maid, said the show is an ode to female resilience and the burden women often bear in the aftermath of destruction. In the final moments of the show, only women dressed in black remain on the dirt-dusted stage. Their decision to bury their grievances over the death of family and lovers ends the cycle of violence.

“Women have historically been seen as the healers, but the play also speaks to women’s strength,” Talwalkar said. “They have to build back their town and build back the relationships that have been broken and heal each other.”

To emphasize this theme of feminine strength, Lara included moments of “seeing one another” — unscripted eye contact between the female characters — as a symbol of both their camaraderie and shared obligation to withstand the storm.

Though told through the perspective of a heterosexual couple, Lara said “Blood Wedding” was influenced by Lorca’s experience as a queer man living in the 1920s. Denied free expression, Lorca was no stranger to the struggles of individuals longing to escape their societal duties. Regardless, “Blood Wedding” captured the universal agony of a yearning heart.

“I want to believe that (Lorca) wrote this play to liberate the queer community at the time and to show

what it’s like to be forbidden to love somebody and to be forced to love,” Talwalkar said.

Choreographer Emily Ann Brooks (Communication ʼ22) worked to build a movement lexicon to physically manifest the characters’ desires. Writhing bodies, labored breathing and Leonardo and the Bride’s inability to stay apart gave power to the couple’s internal struggle between lines of dialogue.

Brooks said the movement-based prologue she and Lara added to Wirtz’s adaptation was integral in introducing the play’s enduring dynamics of forbidden feelings. The opening minutes keyed the audience into the Bride and Leonardo’s history, while establishing the gestures used in later scenes.

“We have this vocabulary to highlight the ways that the Bride and Leonardo are different from their community,” Brooks said. “They’re haunted by this moment of freedom from the constraints of the world around them, and they crave that again.”

The set itself was designed to mirror the couple’s liberation throughout the course of the play, according to Lara. A boxed-in structure containing normal life opens into a dance floor during the wedding reception when the lovers reunite before shattering completely into a light-filled forest when they give into their true emotions.

As part of his effort to increase Latine representation and the use of Spanish on stage, Lara said the cast was given special permission from the translator

to reevaluate some of Lorca’s original text. The interwoven usage of Spanish and English helped create a production more malleable to the interpretations of the ensemble, Lara said.

Lara said having a majority Latine cast further added to the expression of identity through language and fostered an environment of collaboration throughout the rehearsal process.

“Incorporating Lorca’s original text gave the actors who did speak the language the freedom to choose what they felt was important to say in Spanish and in English,” Lara said.

“Blood Wedding” embodies how the characters grapple with pain and frustration, and put truth behind Leonardo’s head to the Bride: “to burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.”

The show emboldens audiences to chase after desire and live authentically. Despite the hurt they cause, Lara said Leonardo and the Bride remain redeemable characters for their willingness to take a chance on their feelings for the sake of love and self-preservation — a lesson worth internalizing.

“We can’t continue moving through life suppressing what we want,” Lara said. “We have to talk about it, we have to express it, we have to go after it because if we don’t, we’re actually doing harm to ourselves.”

Illustration by Gemma DeCetra

NUXW creates community for crossword lovers

By JESSICA MA daily senior staffer @jessicama2025

For the Northwestern Crossword Team, solving crosswords is a team sport.

Two years ago, SESP junior Abby Nudell and her friends began gathering in a Schapiro Hall lounge to collectively solve crosswords, inspiring the start of NUXW.

“We’d hook up the computer to the TV and project the crosswords,” Nudell said. “Some people would come in and watch us do it … Slowly, we began to realize that a lot of people like to do crosswords at Northwestern.”

Today, NUXW aims to provide a community for crossword lovers.

Nudell, the team’s treasurer, said the idea for the group began as a joke but eventually became more concrete.

Weinberg junior Asher Martin-Rosenthal filled out paperwork to officially register NUXW on the grid as a University-recognized club. He may be the team’s president on paper, but he said he’s more of a figurehead.

Martin-Rosenthal said NUXW was branded as a “team” — instead of a club — for amusement. But, calling the group a “team” also makes its community feel more legitimate, he said.

“It was kind of a satire on the competitiveness of other clubs,” Martin-Rosenthal said. “Also, we thought it sounded cooler … ‘Team’ makes it feel like you’re (a) part of something together.”

Every Monday, NUXW solves The New York Times Sunday crossword. Martin-Rosenthal said figuring out the overarching clue for each week’s puzzle is exciting.

He said solving the weekly puzzle has its highs and lows, like when no one knows the

word. But, the entire experience is engaging, Martin-Rosenthal said.

The team began with five members in 2021 but has grown to about 50 members, Nudell said. With the influx of members, she said the team’s approach changed.

“Now that we’ve gotten pretty big, we’ll split into two groups and race to do the Sunday (puzzle),” Nudell said. “Whoever’s quicker gets bragging rights.”

Nudell enjoys the social aspect of solving the crossword with a group — it’s “teamwork,” she said.

Martin-Rosenthal said he had never worked on a crossword with other people prior to NUXW’s inception. Everyone uses their own knowledge to solve the puzzle, he added.

“We do Sunday puzzles in 20 minutes sometimes,” Martin-Rosenthal said. “I’m like, ‘This would take me days!’ It’s just as fun to hear someone else come up with an answer as it is to come up with your own.”

Every Fall and Spring Quarter, the team runs recruitment cycles to attract new members, aiming for 20 to 30 students each time, Nudell said.

McCormick sophomore Breck Dunbar, a member of NUXW, found the application process entertaining. She was asked to write fanfiction for her application.

“I was like — even if (I didn’t) want to be on the team, I want to respond to these application questions,” Dunbar said. “It was just a funny application.”

Through NUXW, Dunbar met people she wouldn’t have otherwise known, she said. NUXW is a community, which she said drew her in.

Martin-Rosenthal said NUXW deviates from the campus culture of “AND is in our DNA.”

“Northwestern does not have a lot of places where you can find a community focused

Monday.

on something that’s just an interest,” Martin-Rosenthal said. “(NUXW) gets to that part that’s often missed in peoples’ college experiences.”

McCormick sophomore Cate Mathews joined NUXW last spring. She considers herself a “4.5 out of 10” in terms of crossword-solving ability.

Like Martin-Rosenthal, she said NUXW

University President Michael Schill will be inaugurated June 2, Northwestern announced

According to a University press release, the ceremony — which will occur on the Evanston campus — will be open to faculty, staff and students. It will be followed by an in-person “community celebration,” also at the Evanston campus.

Schill, who is the University’s 17th president,

took office about a month after NU announced in August 2022 that he would assume the role. He previously served as president of the University of Oregon from 2015 to 2022.

Schill is also a professor at the Pritzker School of Law and Kellogg School of Management.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to share

brings students from different backgrounds together.

“At its core, (NUXW is) a group of people who get together and do the crossword,” Mathews said. “It’s such a fun mix of different types of Northwestern students who all have a shared interest.”

jessicama2025@u.northwestern.edu

in this community’s passion and vision for Northwestern,” Schill said in the release. “We are beginning a new adventure together. And if we do it right, Northwestern has an opportunity to reach truly rare heights in the coming years.”

Pavan Acharya

Illustration by Seeger Gray

The NU Crossword Team solves The New York Times Sunday crossword each Monday to foster community between members.

President Schill will be officially inaugurated at ceremony this summer

From page 1

rules of nanotech is that everything when miniaturized is different,” Mirkin said. “The second part of nanotech is in figuring out what you do with these differences to create new technologies.”

But, Mirkin said he was lucky enough to join NU’s faculty around the time former President Bill Clinton announced the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which initially invested about $450 million in the nanotechnology field in 2001.

Since the initiative, NU has become an international center for nanotechnology research, due in large part to Mirkin’s work as group leader of the Mirkin Research Group.

Mirkin is considered to be the founder of spherical nucleic acids, a gene regulation method that has potential health benefits, such as causing cancer cells to selectively die.

“Everybody in the world who works in nanotechnology follows (Mirkin’s) work,” said chemistry and biomedical engineering

Prof. Milan Mrksich, NU’s vice president for research. “As Northwestern has risen from a really good university to one of the world’s top

988

From page 1

the state prevent mental health crises from escalating into emergencies,” Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Grace B. Hou said in July.

Trilogy Behavioral Healthcare, a Chicago-based mental health care organization, launched its own crisis line in January 2022.

In addition to fielding calls, its First-response Alternative Crisis Team sends trained responders to people in crisis as an alternative to police.

Chris Mayer, Trilogy’s clinical director, said FACT has recieved relatively few referral calls

research institutions, (Mirkin) has very much led our way on that trajectory. He’s world class.”

Mirkin has received more than 230 awards for his work and discoveries, including the Friendship Award from China in 2018 and the King Faisal Prize in January. According to Mirkin, the accolades are a source of pride for everyone involved in his research group.

Before achieving “world class” status, Mirkin frequently moved across the globe. As the son of Peace Corps volunteers, Mirkin lived in places like Korea and Malaysia before settling down in Western Pennsylvania for middle and high school.

“(Moving) was an important part of growing up in the sense that it does make you adapt very rapidly,” Mirkin said. “You don’t have time for the world to adapt to you.”

Mirkin said the liberal arts education he received at Dickinson College, where he studied chemistry, allowed him to cultivate close relationships with his professors.

After attending Dickinson, Mirkin earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Penn State University and then conducted postdoctoral research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then took on a teaching and research position at NU in 1991.

from 988 since last summer.

Mayer said the 988 line refers about five calls a month to Trilogy — compared to the about five referrals a week FACT receives from the Evanston Police Department. The hotline receives about 400 calls monthly, with most people directly calling Trilogy, according to Mayer.

“It seems like one challenge for (988) has been that the different mobile crisis teams are in different stages of being up and running in different places,” Mayer said. “So we get a lot of requests to go to further away places that aren’t in the area we cover.”

In the long term, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which

Orrington Avenue will be closed through Friday due to a sewer line collapse.

Evanston Public Library’s main location on

The building closed during business hours Wednesday, according to an EPL news release. Cleaning is now underway as the necessary repairs are assessed. Residents should expect some Church Street sidewalk and single-lane

Leslie Harris won the Provost Awards for Exemplary Faculty Service, the University announced.

History Prof. Laura Hein and Organization of Women Faculty co-Chairs Karen Alter and

The award, presented each year by the Office of the Provost, recognizes faculty members who exemplify “good academic citizenship” and provide “outstanding service to the University,” according to a NU press release.

Alter and Harris, professors of political science

Mirkin said he views NU as the perfect combination of a research “powerhouse” and a smaller-sized school that fosters community between students and professors.

“To this day, I have undergrads that write to me from 25 or 30 years ago, telling me what they’re doing now and how their experiences helped form who they are today,” Mirkin said.

Mirkin said he taught chemistry to mostly freshmen prior to this academic year, which he said he enjoyed because new students are typically enthusiastic and curious. He said he learned something alongside the students each time he taught a class, which encouraged him to change and incorporate new teaching techniques into his curriculum.

Today, Mirkin is focusing on writing a college chemistry textbook that will incorporate modern knowledge on nanotechnology.

“There aren’t a lot of good textbooks that introduce young people to nanotechnology,” Mirkin said. “We’re trying to use a lot of the discoveries that we’ve made at Northwestern and a lot of the lessons we’ve learned to create a way of teaching that hasn’t been done before.”

Both Mrksich and electrical and computer engineering Prof. Ted Sargent have conducted

operates 988, aims to develop a mental health care system that provides every person “someone to talk to, someone to respond, and somewhere to go,” according to its website.

Mayer said while 988 acts as the primary response and resources like FACT as the secondary, localities like Evanston and Illinois still have to work on creating the “somewhere to go”: robust facilities for people seeking mental health care.

Jen McGowan-Tomke, chief operating officer at the National Alliance on Mental Illness Chicago, said SAMHSA plans to develop its own mobile response teams in the long term.

Before 988’s launch, 81% of Illinois calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline were transferred

street closures through Friday, the release said.

In an email to The Daily, EPL Marketing & Communications Manager Jenette Sturges said she anticipates the library will reopen Saturday, assuming no delays. The cause of the collapse is currently unknown, Sturges said.

While the main location is closed, in-person

and history, respectively, are being recognized for their efforts to support women faculty as co-chairs of OWF, the release said. They incorporated survey results of the pandemic’s impact on women faculty into an OWF report.

Hein has advocated for non-Western history within her department, according to the release. She also spearheaded the effort to

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research with Mirkin and described him as a positive presence who is always seeking new perspectives.

Sargent said his group of researchers often work with Mirkin and appreciate his insight as they explore the intersection of nanotechnology and sustainability.

“He’s very energetic and active, full of ideas, full of knowledge based on his experience,” Sargent said. “He’s a very inspiring person.”

Sargent also said Mirkin is an internationally celebrated expert and a pioneer in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Despite many achievements, Mirkin said he is most proud of the people he has worked with and trained who have made discoveries and become leaders in the chemistry field.

“No matter what we do, what discovery we make, that ultimately gets dated,” Mirkin said. “The people you train are kind of like your DNA — it’s what’s passed on. If you train them well, which I think we’ve done, they go off and have great careers in their own right, and end up winning big awards and making big discoveries and just keep giving and giving and giving.”

fionaroach2025@u.northwestern.edu

to out-of-state call centers. In August 2022 — a month after its launch — the in-state answer rate jumped to 85%, according to state reports.

Still, McGowan-Tomke said 988 is not meant to be “the full system.” States and localities still need to make concerted investments to expand mobile crisis teams, mental health urgent care systems and long-term facilities, she added.

“I really do see this as a multi-year effort to build the mental health crisis system that we should have and that people deserve,” McGowan-Tomke said. “And there’s still a lot of work towards that vision.”

maiapandey@u.northwestern.edu

programming will be canceled and materials on hold are unavailable, according to the release. However, the Robert Crown Branch at Robert Crown Community Center will be unaffected by the sewer line collapse.

— Aviva Bechky

establish the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures.

“(Hein) worked tirelessly to make Asia — and the non-Western world beyond Asia — a presence on our campus,” a nominee said in the release.

— Pavan Acharya

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Faculty members granted Provost awards for their impact on the University

Benji Hart talks abolition through queer, Black lenses

By KAAVYA BUTANEY the daily northwestern @kaavya_butaney

Freelance educator Benji Hart spoke about police and imprisonment abolition through a queer lens Wednesday as part of the Women’s Center’s quarterly trans programming and Black History Month.

“Having this type of conversation at Northwestern is something that I’ve always wanted to do, and (I want to) just start getting the ball rolling on some of these conversations,” said melisa stephen, event organizer and Women’s Center program manager.

Hart, an artist and author, is also an educator of Black radicalism, queer liberation and prison abolition.

At the beginning of the workshop, Hart set community guidelines for speaking and told attendees to use “I” statements and respect others’ experiences.

“When we are using the term policing, we are talking about a massive network of systems and structures that is not limited to any one nationstate and targets the same groups of people wherever it is operating,” Hart said.

Hart spoke with participants throughout most of the workshop and asked questions about how, who and why certain people are targeted by the police.

They said the majority of people are targeted by police, including Black and brown people, Indigenous people, unhoused people and nonChristians, which means the institution was never created to protect most people.

“When we talk about abolition, we are not

Four Northwestern professors were named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the University announced Jan. 31. The association, which is the world’s largest general scientific society, honored chemistry Prof. Teri

talking about some radical idea,” Hart said. “We are talking about poor and working-class (people) getting the same treatment (that) rich people get. We are talking about Black and brown people getting the same response to their crises as white people get.”

Hart then discussed how police use stop-andfrisk methods and the war on drugs as excuses to imprison marginalized people. They highlighted quality-of-life crimes, which they said criminalize

Odom and Feinberg Profs. Luisa Iruela-Arispe, Murali Prakriya and Linda Teplin (Weinberg M.A. ’72, Doctorate ’75).

Odom is chair of the chemistry department and holds a materials science and engineering professorship in the McCormick School of Engineering. Her research interests include engineering materials at the nanoscale and designing nanofabrication tools.

Iruela-Arispe is the chair of the Feinberg School of Medicine’s cell and developmental biology

people for being poor and punish everyone that breaks the peace of middle-class life.

Many participants verbally agreed with the premise that the policing system exists to uphold white supremacy, the patriarchy and the upper class. Women’s Center Associate Director Njoki Kamau said she specifically noticed how those systems continue to stay in power, no matter what people try to do.

“I couldn’t watch the Tyre (Nichols) video,”

department. Her lab specializes in vascular biology, having made pioneering discoveries in areas such as blood vessel expansion and genetic defects in vascular cells.

Prakriya is a professor of pharmacology and medicine at Feinberg. He was among the first to identify store-operated Orai channels, a group of calcium ion channels that facilitates signals to the brain and immune system.

Teplin is Feinberg’s vice chair for research in the psychiatry and behavioral sciences department

she said. “I feel traumatized by the violence over time … it’s so clear why it’s not changing, it doesn’t matter what we do, and until we defund the police or capitalism collapses.”

After discussing the methodology of overpolicing, Hart introduced a timeline of queer and trans police resistance with an emphasis on Chicago-based efforts. The timeline begins with Mary Jones — the first documented Black trans person arrested for sex work — and ends in 2019.

Hart gave participants Post-its to put new history or personal anecdotes on the timeline, which they have been asking participants to add to since 2019. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people never had the chance to contribute.

“There’s a lot of things that have been left out of that (mainstream) narrative,” Schnaude Dorizan said. “That includes a lot of the Black and brown queer and trans events … a lot of that has been left out of Black history, and it is Black history.

The timeline, Hart said, shows how while laws can change, the same groups are targeted by police.

After some participants contributed to the timeline, Hart invited them to offer further steps toward police abolition. Participants mentioned relying on their community, mutual aid and reinvesting in social programs and education as potential solutions.

“Folks who have access to these very privileged institutions that are very much a part of maintaining a lot of these systems and structures that we’re talking about … (should) think about how they can leverage their power to raise these demands,” Hart told The Daily.

kaavyabutaney2026@u.northwestern.edu

as well as a professor of medicine in infectious diseases. She has led the NU Juvenile Project, a program studying health and psychiatric needs in incarcerated juveniles and adults, for more than 25 years.

AAAS’ 2022 fellows class includes more than 500 scientists across two dozen disciplines. The organization will formally commemorate the class in Washington this summer.

Russell Leung

The Daily Northwestern

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As part of the workshop, Benji Hart presented a timeline of queer and trans history in Chicago from 1836 to 2019.

Four chemistry, Feinberg professors named AAAS fellows for science work

Northwestern prowling for payback at Ohio State

By ALEX CERVANTES daily senior staffer @cervantespalex

At the turn of the year, Ohio State waltzed into Welsh-Ryan Arena and comfortably beat Northwestern 73-57. It was a dismal offensive showing from the Wildcats, who shot 28.4% from the field, 29% from distance and 58.8% from the charity stripe in the loss.

However, the two teams’ paths have diverged since that Jan. 1 game.

NU has been one of the Big Ten’s biggest surprises, currently sitting in a three-way tie for fifth place. The Buckeyes, meanwhile, have also shocked folks, though in large part due to an incredible downward spiral that’s placed them 12th in the conference standings. Round two now sees Chris Collins’ bunch traveling to Columbus on Thursday to face Ohio State.

Here are three questions to keep in mind as the Cats take on the Buckeyes.

1. Will the NU frontcourt produce against Ohio State this time around?

When these two teams met on Jan. 1, the Cats’ frontcourt — senior forward Robbie Beran, junior center Matthew Nicholson and graduate student forward Tydus Verhoeven — combined for more personal fouls than points.

The trio shot 2-of-16 from the field. Nicholson was particularly troubled around the basket, missing all of his attempts from

the field and from the free throw line.

Following the defeat, Collins said that the trio has to be more “opportunistic” offensively, especially with the good looks at the rim.

“We have to continue to get them the ball in the right spot,” Collins said in January. “So when they get it, they’ll be able to finish in the future.”

NU’s offense can be fairly one-dimensional, with much of the production resting on the shoulders of redshirt senior guard Chase Audige, senior guard Boo Buie and their ability to create off the bounce. If an opponent takes one or both of them away, they likely win.

It’s a hefty load to carry, but involving the frontcourt offensively can lift some of that weight. For Beran, catch-and-shoot opportunities from the wing and corner are a must, while Nicholson needs to convert lobs and second-chance looks at the rim. Similarly to Nicholson, Verhoeven needs to be a force on the offensive glass and get touches that way.

The Cats don’t need otherworldly production from their frontcourt, but they will need more than eight points in Columbus if they want to leave with a victory.

2. Amid slide, can Ohio State get back on track with a sweep against the Cats?

Following their dismantling of NU, the Buckeyes looked like a well-tuned machine. They were 10-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten. Advanced analytics

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and metrics adored Ohio State: Bart Torvik’s rankings had coach Chris Holtmann’s team as the seventh-best team in the country, one spot behind the current No. 1 team nationally, Purdue.

But oh, how the tables have turned. Since then, the Buckeyes have dropped nine of their last 10 games and are currently amid a four-game skid. Granted, all but one of those defeats was by single digits, though that provides little in the way of comfort.

At present, the Buckeyes have more questions than answers. Holtmann’s offense is in a slump, having eclipsed 73 points just once in January and February. That could all turn around against the Cats.

Mired by its own offensive struggles, NU’s defense took a hit and Ohio State took full advantage in their first tilt, racing out to a 35-17 halftime advantage. Four Buckeye starters finished with 11 or more points.

Maybe another compelling first-half performance against the Cats is just the medicine the doctor ordered for Holtmann and company.

3. Can Collins get Ty Berry involved once more?

From Dec. 29, 2022, to Jan. 11, 2023, junior guard Ty Berry rattled off five consecutive games of at least 11 points. Since then, Berry has hit double-digit scoring just once: his career-high 26 points against

Cats cut down by Cornhuskers

By JAKE EPSTEIN the daily northwestern @jakeepste1n

After a rough road trip to University Park, Northwestern returned home to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Monday, looking to return to the win column against Nebraska. The Wildcats (8-15,1-11 Big Ten) refused to go down quietly but ultimately fell 78-66 to the Cornhuskers (149, 6-6 Big Ten).

Junior forward Paige Mott entered the matchup off five consecutive double-digit scoring displays. Mott began the quarter on an especially sour note, picking up fouls on the game’s first two possessions.

“That was a tough way to start the game, when somebody who has gotten 23 points in a game for us, gets two fouls in 35 seconds,” coach Joe McKeown said.

Mott’s early missteps appeared emblematic of the battle’s beginning.

Nebraska tallied the contest’s first seven points before senior guard Kaylah Rainey put NU on the board with a threepointer. The Cornhuskers then piled on four more points, causing McKeown to call his first timeout with 6:43 left in the first frame.

The pause in play did little to slow Nebraska, and it converted three-pointers on three consecutive possessions. Down 20-3, the Cats needed to quickly change the tide before things got out of hand. A 7-0 run, capped off by sophomore forward Caileigh Walsh’s outside jumper, gave the Cats a glimmer of hope.

With a minute left in the opening period, Mott picked up her third foul. Making matters worse, Cornhusker forward Annika Stewart knocked down a triple, extending Nebraska’s lead to 30-15 as time expired.

While Nebraska opened the scoring in the second frame, Walsh hit right back with her second three-pointer of the game. The Cornhuskers’ potent offense, which converted six first quarter three-pointers, subsequently went ice cold. NU held coach Amy Williams’ squad scoreless for over five minutes before Cornhusker guard Sam Haiby worked her way to the charity stripe and sank two free throws.

Despite converting just 2-of-14

second-quarter field goals, Nebraska held the Cats to a marginally better 4-of-16 shooting clip and entered the half up 37-25.

“We’ve got to find ways to make contested shots,” McKeown said.

Freshman guard Caroline Lau kicked off the second half with her fourth assist on a dish to Mott, but NU’s offensive engine wouldn’t ignite. Entering a media timeout with under five minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Cats had made just one shot in the period. The team’s defense and poor Cornhusker shooting kept the game within reach, but NU’s lack of offensive firepower proved concerning.

After Nebraska forward Maggie Mendelson hit a turnaround jumper to extend the margin to 18 points, McKeown signaled for a timeout with 59 seconds to play in the third quarter.

The Cornhuskers closed the quarter in dominant fashion, and Haiby’s buzzerbeater three put the Cats in a 56-34 hole.

Graduate student forward Courtney Shaw opened the final frame with an and-one conversion, followed by

a smooth driving layup. Just minutes removed from a 16.7% field goal conversion rate in the previous period, NU drilled its first two shots of the fourth quarter.

The early offensive sparks failed to generate significant energy, and the Cats missed their ensuing ten shots from the field. However, just when all appeared done and dusted, NU unleashed a relentless full-court press that forced four turnovers in 40 seconds, and the Cats clawed back to a 60-53 margin with 4:06 remaining.

While NU poured in 30 fourthquarter points, Nebraska fended off the late scare, closing out a foul-filled final frame with a 78-66 road victory.

No. 8 Maryland will be the next conference test for the Cats in a Thursday home tilt. McKeown’s squad must improve upon its 31.8% shooting percentage to keep the contest competitive.

“We’re really close to being really good,” McKeown said.

jacobepstein2026@u.northwestern.edu

Nebraska. He has just 12 points over the last four games.

After the loss to Michigan, Collins said he needed to get Beran and Berry more touches offensively.

But in the following game against Wisconsin, Berry saw just 16 minutes of action and failed to hit a shot on four attempts. The decrease in playing time was a direct result of impressive production off the bench by sophomore guard Brooks Barnhizer and freshman forward Nick Martinelli, who were huge components in NU’s win.

Still, Berry’s ability to space the floor provides another dimension to this offense. He has to hit shots — that’s a no-brainer — but he also needs to receive a greater degree of volume. He’s attempted more than six shots in just one of the last seven games. If the Cats are truly going to compete within the upper echelon of the Big Ten, Berry’s shooting can be instrumental in that effort, and Collins should try to get him more looks against the Buckeyes.

alexcervantes2024@u.northwestern.edu

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Buie and Audige keep composure in Madison

By AAYUSHYA AGARWAL the daily northwestern @aayushyagarwal7

MADISON, WI — Northwestern (167, 7-5 Big Ten) escaped the Kohl Center with a down-the-stretch 54-52 victory over Wisconsin (13-9, 5-7), avoiding a loss-filled week. Sunday’s victory was the first time the Cats won both of a season’s games over the Badgers since 1995.

Senior forward Robbie Beran’s deep pull-up three opened up scoring for the Wildcats. In the subsequent possession, redshirt senior Chase Audige’s driving layup late in the shot clock put NU in a 5-0 lead.

The Cats continued to convert on the offensive side early on in the game. Junior center Matthew Nicholson’s layup followed by senior guard Boo Buie’s pull-up three allowed the team to reach double digits within the first four minutes of the game. By the first media timeout, the Cats saw their lead reach as high as eight points, courtesy of Beran’s alley-oop layup.

As the first half went on, the Cats played tight defense. Blocks from both graduate forward Tydus Verhoeven and Audige forced shot clock violations for the Badgers, allowing NU to remain in front even when their offense started to slow down. NU held Wisconsin off the three-point line, limiting the Badgers to 4-for-15 from deep.

Coach Chris Collins commented on the team’s ability to perform at a high defensive level.

“Our defense has been able to win games for us,” Collins said. “We matched (Wisconsin)’s physicality, and it came down to those final two minutes and fortunately, we were able to make enough plays to win.”

While the Cats did not see many offensive contributions outside of Buie and Audige in their recent home loss to Michigan, bench players proved to be an asset against Wisconsin. Freshman forward Nick Martinelli’s and-one layup and running floater, along with Verhoeven’s block, ensured Sunday’s victory was a collective effort.

Audige had it going early offensively,

ensuring the team kept ticking the scoreboard, courtesy of a bank layup and pullup jumper. The redshirt senior guard rebounded nicely from a tough performance a couple of days ago, becoming the team’s top scorer with six points by the intermission.

Down the stretch in the first half, the Cats’ offense went cold, failing to score for over five minutes. A once-eight-point lead was diminished to a one-point lead late in the first half. Sophomore guard Brooks Barnhizer’s off-balanced jumper and three consecutive offensive rebounds on NU’s final possession gave the Cats a three-point advantage entering the locker room.

“Getting the extra possessions is huge because they have to play defense for another 30 seconds and that adds up,” Barnhizer said. “Over the course of the game, we can get more field goals and shots up, so the extra possessions are really everything.”

The Cats’ veteran backcourt duo had a tremendous impact on the team’s success down the stretch. Buie’s turnaround hook shot and consecutive possession running layup, along with Audige’s turnaround jumper and three, made up nearly half of the Wildcats’ second-half points.

At the same time, both Buie and Audige excellently distributed the ball across the bench.

Despite Sunday’s continuous and collective contributions, the Cats looked like they were on their way to yet another heartbreaking loss. After the Badgers’ 7-0 run and a one-point deficit with less than a minute left to play, Buie’s poise in a deafening Madison crowd saved the day.

On the defensive end, though, Barnhizer’s block on a potential Badgers layup eliminated any chances of a late comeback for the opponent.

Martinelli said the Sunday victory was crucial for NCAA tournament contention.

“Especially after the last two losses, we’ve come together so well,” Martinelli said.

Avery Levinson/The Daily Northwestern Graduate student guard Sydney Wood shuffles defensively. The Maryland native tallied 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting against Nebraska.

Angeli Mittal/Daily Senior Staffer