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The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Friday, September 19, 2014
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Szot not enrolled for Fall Quarter By ally mutnick
daily senior staffer @allymutnick
The University said Thursday that Michael Szot, a McCormick senior who faces drunk driving charges from a July car crash that killed two, is not currently enrolled at Northwestern. Citing privacy laws, University spokesman Bob Rowley declined to comment on Szot’s case. Rowley could not specify whether the decision was made by the University or Szot, or whether Szot’s enrollment status could be changed in the future. The DUI charges stem from a July 19 car accident in Naperville, Illinois that killed McCormick senior Mihirtej Boddupalli and Indiana University student Sajaad Syed. Authorities said Szot drove the car into a water-filled quarry. He swam to shore but both passengers were pronounced dead at a hospital. The confirmation of Szot’s enrollment status comes a day after his friends rallied around a Change.org petition, urging the University to allow Szot to return to campus this academic year. McCormick senior Nikhil Byanna
created the petition, which had about 650 signatures as of 12 a.m. Friday. Szot’s lawyers did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Friends of Szot said Thursday that he was waiting to hear a final decision from the University on whether he can return to NU. McCormick senior Brad Winters said Szot told him that University administrators said Tuesday Szot may not be allowed to return. Administrators told Szot his presence may interfere with the community’s grieving process, Winters said. “We want to show Northwestern that we want Mike to have an education,” said Winters, who signed the petition and shared it on Facebook. “The student body is standing up.” Friends of Szot and Boddupalli posted comments on Change.org, giving reasons why they support Szot returning to NU. But other members of the NU community posted online that Szot’s return would make them uncomfortable. “There’s not much worse you can do than take somebody else’s life,” » See enrollment, page 14
Tyler Pager/Daily Senior Staffer
gender-open bathrooms Norris University Center officials announced in July the building’s third floor multi-stall bathrooms would be converted to gender-open bathrooms. However, University spokesman Al Cubbage said all the new gender-open bathrooms will be single-person bathrooms.
NU adds gender-open options By Alice yin
the daily northwestern @alice_yin
Northwestern will increase the number of gender-open bathrooms on campus, with two slated to open this month and more planned for
CARE services ‘on pause’ By jeanne kuang
daily senior staffer @jeannekuang
The Center for Awareness, Response and Education is putting its services for sexual assault survivors on hold while the University hires replacements for its two vacant positions. “This is sort of an unfortunate gap in services that we’re going to have for the first two weeks of the quarter,” said Lisa Currie, director of Health Promotion and Wellness. Currie’s department oversees CARE, which provides confidential counseling services to sexual assault survivors and hosts sexual violence prevention programs on campus. Both of CARE’s full-time staff members left Northwestern this year. Laura Anne Haave (formerly Stuart), sexual health education and assault prevention coordinator, left in August to take a position at Carleton College, and survivor advocate Eva Ball’s position has been vacant since July after she resigned for family reasons. Currie said the University hopes to hire Haave’s replacement by October, and may also hire a temporary
survivor advocate while searching for Ball’s replacement. “In the meantime we have wonderful partnerships with the Women’s Center and CAPS,” Currie said. “They have helped students prior to CARE’s existence.” CARE’s website also lists off-campus resources for sexual assault survivors. In an annual report released July, CARE reported that it provided services to 78 students during the 2013-14 academic year, a 44 percent increase from the year before. Weinberg senior Kayleen McMonigal called the lack of services at the beginning of this academic year “disappointing.” “I think it’s really important, especially with incoming freshmen coming in and people who haven’t been on a college campus before,” McMonigal said. “It’s important to have those resources there in case something goes wrong.” McMonigal led a discussion about sexual assault with new students Thursday night and said students should know where to go for sexual assault-related services. “You’re pretty much supposed to highlight CARE, but you can’t really highlight CARE,” she said. “It’s difficult when they’re starting the year without
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resources.” Hiring staff members for CARE can be difficult because of the positions’ unique requirements, Currie said. CARE members work with sexual assault survivors, advise student groups and participate in the Campus Coalition on Sexual Violence to prevent sexual assault and discuss University sexual assault policies. “We seek staff members who have the ability not just to work with individual students or groups, but also have the ability to work with our campus partners,” Currie said. “The ability to work with other departments, this broader work around sexual violence prevention, is part and parcel of this work.” Currie said the gap in services is only a “pause,” and CARE will continue its other campus work in the meantime. “This is not a full stop,” she said. “We’re really committed to making sure CARE continues to exist for students.” Currie said the sexual health education and violence prevention coordinator will be promoted to assistant director of CARE, and the office will develop a survey about sexual assault on campus to be released Winter Quarter to all » See Care, page 14
buildings currently in renovation. The restrooms, which the University calls “all-gendered bathrooms,” will be single-person rooms, said University spokesman Al Cubbage. A gender-open bathroom in the Technological Institute is complete, while bathrooms in Norris University Center and University Library’s first
floor are scheduled to open by the time classes start Sept. 23. The University has planned gender-open bathrooms in Kresge Hall, which will begin a multi-year construction project this quarter, and the Sports Pavilion and Aquatics Center, » See bathrooms, page 14
Supermarket chain buys Evanston Plaza By Paige Leskin
daily senior staffer @paigeleskin
Local grocery chain Valli Produce finalized its $16 million purchase of the Evanston Plaza shopping center Thursday, where it plans to open a grocery store and improve current storefronts. Valli Produce bought the shopping center, located at Dempster Street and Dodge Avenue, after finishing negotiations with former owner Bonnie Management Corporation. The corporation originally acquired the shopping center for $8 million in December 2012. Owners of the supermarket hope to be able to open as early as mid-May, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz said. The city will assist Valli in connecting with local employment partners to find staff, who will be hired closer to the store’s opening, he said. Valli’s owners intend to renovate the shopping center according to a presentation given to the Administration and
Public Works Committee on Sept. 8. The owners’ plans include relocating some of the current storefronts and improving others First and to make the entire shopforemost it’s a ping center big positive for more aesthetthe 2nd Ward. ically pleasing and con- All of Evanston venient for benefits. customers. Valli Wally Produce Bobkiewicz, approached City manager Evanston officials earlier this year to sublease a 70,000 square foot space in the shopping center formerly occupied by Dominick’s, which closed all of its stores in the Chicago area in December 2013. Since Dominick’s closure, Bobkiewicz said the entire shopping center had been at a “standstill” as owners
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» See Valli, page 14
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