THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 3
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2015
On Campus ASG seeks new speaker, begins work on fall plans By SHANE MCKEON
daily senior staffer @shane_mckeon
Associated Student Government Senate prepared for a speaker race and began work on its second 100Day Plan in its first meeting of the year Wednesday. Weinberg senior Matt Clarkston, usually the body’s parliamentarian, served as interim speaker during the meeting, stepping in for Noah Whinston, the previous speaker. Whinston announced Oct. 7 he was resigning from the position and dropping out of Northwestern to take a job in Los Angeles as the CEO of a professional gaming franchise. “This is not my day job,” Clarkston said. “Obviously, we need a permanent replacement for the rest of the term.” Last week, Clarkston told The Daily he planned to run for the speaker position, which will be elected by
Senate at next Wednesday’s meeting. The meeting was the first official Senate meeting since ASG released its 100-Day Plan for Fall Quarter. In part, the plan says student government will investigate McCormick students’ workload and how it affects mental health, as well as if reducing the school’s credit requirement could address the problem. McCormick junior Jason Arkin killed himself in May and his mother, Karen Arkin, told The Daily her son said McCormick’s academic requirements were a major stressor in his life. ASG President Noah Star said ASG was pushing for reform in the school before Arkin’s suicide. “It’s been front and center for a while,” the Weinberg senior told The Daily. “It’s important that students in any school on this campus are mentally healthy.” The plan also says ASG will work with University departments to expand its mental health campaign, Take Time. McCormick junior Wendy Roldan, ASG vice president for student life, spearheads Take Time
and said the program aims to help students navigate their options for seeking mental health support. “It’s more to raise awareness and to help improve the state of mental wellness on our campus,” she told The Daily. The plan also says the accessibility and inclusion committee will work to conduct trainings for senators and ASG executive board members focused on “identity-based social inequality.” SESP junior Matt Herndon, ASG’s vice president for diversity and inclusion, said the committee hopes to expand the training to student group leaders in the future. “We want it to be mandatory,” he told The Daily. “We need to target communities that have been historically not accessible for students of marginalized identities … I’d like to see most student groups do it.” Senators also discussed their goals for the year, and Clarkston encouraged senators to write and introduce their own legislation.
Tyler Pager/Daily Senior Staffer
OATH OF OFFICE Weinberg senior Matt Clarkston, Senate’s interim speaker, swears in new senators Wednesday.
“We don’t want (senators) to be intimidated by introducing your own legislation,” Clarkston said. “You should very much feel empowered to do so.” shanem@u.northwestern.edu
NU to add official study abroad program in Taiwan By MERCY YANG
the daily northwestern
For the first time, Northwestern study abroad locations will expand to Taiwan, with three affiliated programs eligible for financial aid debuting in Fall 2016. The faculty-led study abroad committee approved affiliations with two Taiwanese universities on Oct. 5 after about two years of planning by the Study Abroad Office, the Asian Studies program and the Department of Asian Languages and Culture. Previously, students studying abroad in Taiwan only attended unaffiliated programs, which are not eligible for financial aid. Paola Zamperini, DALC chair, said students learning Chinese should explore Taiwan to fully understand the Chinese language and culture. “I felt very strongly that our majors and minors should have the possibility to study abroad in both mainland China and Taiwan,” she said. “It’s impossible
to know what the adjective ‘Chinese’ means, including language and culture, without going to Taiwan.” While the two countries use the same spoken language, Taiwan generally uses traditional characters in writing, as does Hong Kong. China, Malaysia and Singapore generally use simplified characters. NU students in Chinese language classes have the option of studying either set of characters. Alicia Stanley, the associate director of the Study Abroad Office and adviser for its programs in Asia, said the office saw a gap in their program options after a few students expressed interest in Taiwan but ended up attending unaffiliated programs. NU financial aid policy states that students attending unaffiliated programs are not eligible for any kind of type of financial assistance. Students will now be able to use their financial aid awards in Taiwan. The three programs provide options for Chinese learners of all levels to experience one semester or a full academic year in Taipei, the nation’s capital. The
International Chinese Language Program, hosted by National Taiwan University, provides a full academic year of intensive language training to serious students with at least an intermediate Chinese proficiency. The two other programs, hosted by National Chengchi University through the Council of International Educational Exchange, offer language training and content courses in business, communications and political economy to students with varying levels of Chinese proficiency. In the 2014-15 academic year, China was the fourth most popular country chosen by NU study abroad students. Students currently have the option of attending affiliated programs in Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Hong Kong. Conducting a thorough review of the programs, Zamperini and Stanley visited Taiwan in April this year. After speaking with faculty and staff, sitting in on classes, visiting housing options and learning about student services, they returned with high
recommendations for all three programs. “We were thrilled to propose them to the faculty-led study abroad committee,” Stanley said. “Our next step is to formalize our agreements with CIEE and ICLP. They are eager to have Northwestern students who are so brilliant and hardworking.” Alumna Kayleigh Madjar (Weinberg ’14), who studied abroad in both China and Taiwan as an undergraduate, moved to Taiwan after graduation to pursue a graduate degree at National Taiwan University of Arts. She encourages students to view Taiwan as a viable option for learning Chinese. “It’s good to have more options, but more than that, Taiwan is a wonderful place,” Madjar said. “Everything you would want in a country is here in microcosm.” Applications for Fall Quarter 2016 and the 2016-17 academic year programs are due Feb. 10, 2016. mercy@u.northwestern.edu