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The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Friday, October 10, 2014
Find us online @thedailynu
Genocide survivor speaks on Rwanda By Shane McKeon
the daily northwestern @Shane_McKeon
When he was 5 years old, Daniel Trust watched Hutu men hack his mother to death. Today he lives in the United States, working as a motivational speaker and LGBT activist focused
on inspiring high school and college students. “I choose to focus on the future,” he said. “The future is bright.” Trust, an openly gay Rwandan genocide survivor, spoke to 16 students at University Hall on Thursday as part of Rainbow Alliance’s Rainbow Week, an annual beginning-of» See RAINBOW, page 10
Nathan Richards/Daily Senior Staffer
visitors welcome The University will open the new welcome center at the corner of Sheridan Road and Campus Drive on Friday. Construction began in the summer of 2012.
New NU visitor center opens on lakefront Sean Su/Daily Senior Staffer
sharing experiences Rwandan genocide survivor Daniel Trust speaks to students during his Rainbow Week talk. Trust came to the United States in 2005 and now works as a motivational speaker and LGBT activist.
Beginning Friday, prospective students visiting Northwestern will start their campus tours at the new lakefront Visitor Center. The building, perched beside Lake Michigan on 1841 Sheridan Road, now houses the undergraduate admissions department and the University parking office.
It includes a 160-seat auditorium, offices, meeting rooms and a twostory reception area. Built with a combination of glass and stone, the center is about 170,000 square feet. In addition, a parking garage that opened over the summer is attached to the building. The parking garage includes a geothermal cooling and heating system, as well as an electric car charging station. Staff members moved into the Visitor Center’s offices last week, said Sue Budinsky, the building’s
project manager. “We still have some odds and ends to finish in both buildings but … everybody’s moved in, and they’re operational,” Budinsky said. The Visitor Center began construction in the summer of 2012 as one of South Campus’s main building projects. The new Music and Communication Building is still under construction and expected to be completed in early 2015. — Jeanne Kuang
City gathers data on Metra proposes fare increase diversity, inclusion By Rebecca Savransky daily senior staffer @beccasavransky
By Paige Leskin
daily senior staffer @paigeleskin
An Evanston subcommittee has released a survey for residents to take that One of our will help biggest things members design a is to promote three-year diversity and plan for the future that inclusion in promotes Evanston. diversity and Jonathan Williams-Kinsel, inclusion Human Relations throughout the Commission community. member The city’s Human Relations Commission is in the process of creating a work plan that will outline the group’s direction in establishing initiatives and goals from 2015 to 2017, commission member Jonathan Williams-
“
Kinsel said. Williams-Kinsel, a fellow from the International City/County Management Association who is working with Evanston, said the survey serves as an overall evaluation of the status of diversity and inclusion in the city, making it a better place to live for all. “One of our biggest things is to promote diversity and inclusion in Evanston,” Williams-Kinsel said. “It’s really what makes Evanston Evanston.” The survey, which closes Nov. 14, consists of general demographic questions, which will tell the commission what kind of diversity exists, and questions that ask users how they feel about the state of inclusion in the current community. The commission aims to use the responses to first assess and then address whatever the questionnaire shows, whether it’s the need for more volunteer opportunities or better access to city committee meetings, Williams-Kinsel said. » See Inclusion, page 10
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
Metra may be increasing its average fare prices by more than 10 percent next year to help fund its modernization plan and cover other business costs, the organization announced Thursday. The increase would add 50 cents for a one-way trip from any Evanston Metra Station to Chicago’s Ogilvie Transportation Center, 500 W. Madison St., raising the cost from $4.25 to $4.75. The 2015 budget, which includes the fare increase, will be voted on by the board on Nov. 14. The proposed $2.4 billion modernization plan, which the increased fares will help fund, details the organization’s efforts to replace old rail cars. With the extra funds, the agency would purchase new, modern passenger rail cars and locomotives and rehabilitate older engines and trains. “Folks may love nostalgia, but it makes a powerful statement when our oldest cars date from the Eisenhower administration,” Metra Chairman Martin Oberman said in a news release. “The majority of our rail cars are older than the majority of our daily commuters. While nobody ever likes
Source: Creative Commons
ticket to ride One Metra train moves alongside another near the Loop. Metra recently announced a plan to begin raising fares in 2015, culminating in a more than 50 percent increase over the next decade. fare increases, Metra’s fares are significantly lower than our peer railroads in major cities and have not kept pace with inflation.” The money would also help Metra implement the federally mandated Positive Train Control, a system established to avoid collisions by automatically slowing or stopping trains if crashes are imminent. Following the plan, the organization would continue to raise fare prices over
the next decade. In the proposed budget, Metra also announced it would bring back a discount on 10-ride tickets, which stopped in 2013, a grace period on the first day of the month for monthly ticket purchasers and an extension on the life of one-way tickets. The 2015 budget, which includes $749.1 million for operations and $328.9 million for capital needs, will be voted on after public meetings are held to discuss the budget. The new changes would take effect Feb. 1, 2015. Some funds will likely come from state and federal funding sources in addition to Metra earnings. Metra will pursue additional federal and state funding and devise new financing strategies to cover extra costs. “We are only asking our customers to pay about 16 percent of the total cost of this program, but that is an important component of our plan,” Oberman said in a news release. “Metra believes that by taking the lead to fund its capital needs through financing – which will largely be paid by Metra riders – we will convince government leaders to step up to the plate to provide the additional needed funding.” rebeccasavransky2015@u.northwestern. edu
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