NEWS On Campus Icona Pop, Earl Sweatshirt headline A&O Blowout » PAGE 3
SPORTS Field Hockey Cats earn road sweep in Ohio » PAGE 8
OPINION Wang NU should not target parents with donation requests » PAGE 4
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The Daily Northwestern Monday, October 26, 2015
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See more coverage on page 8 Bobby Pillote/Daily Senior Staffer
Aldermen talk tax increases, budget By JULIA JACOBS
daily senior staffer @juliarebeccaj
Aldermen began discussing Saturday morning the 2016 budget and this year’s proposed tax levy increase of about 2 percent. At a special City Council meeting that included public hearings on the proposed budget and tax levy, Ald. Jane Grover (7th) asked if city staff would consider reducing the tax levy, which was proposed at $800,000 more than last year. Although staff will return to council with the new scenario mapped out, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz told aldermen the city must prepare for a possible cut to state funding and a potential property tax freeze across Illinois. “It’s the specter of the state of Illinois that’s over us,” Bobkiewicz said. “We want to make sure that the city of Evanston is positioned in such a way that we have the least impact possible should a freeze come to pass.” Because the state has been without a fiscal year 2016 budget since July, Evanston staff built into its proposed budget a series of recommended cuts amounting to $1.5 million. Aldermen voted unanimously to introduce the $28.5 million tax levy, which will be up for adoption at the Nov. 23 City Council meeting along with next year’s budget. Marty Lyons, the city’s chief financial officer, said Evanston was
challenged by increased payments to police and fire pensions based on modified recommendations from the state. This administrative change to pension payments contributed to the 10 percent growth of next year’s proposed budget. There was also a 4 percent proposed increase in the tax levy for Evanston Public Library, which asked the city for additional funding to expand programming and maintain the two-decades-old Main Branch. In contrast, Lyons said the tax levy for the city’s General Assistance Fund — which provides financial help to residents who are not eligible for other state or federal financial programs — has plummeted because the Affordable Care Act now covers participants’ prescription drugs, reducing the financial burden on the city. The tax levy for the fund, which was about $1.35 million last year, dropped to about $800,000 this year. Evonda Thomas-Smith, director of the Health and Human Services Department, said the department is now focused on reducing the cost even further by finding medical homes for the participants in the program rather than relying on emergency care. “Acute care is more costly than maintenance and wellness care,” Smith said. City staff also presented to aldermen a capital improvement plan of about $56 million, over half of which » See COUNCIL, page 6
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Activists protest Peter Singer’s talk By DAVID FISHMAN
the daily northwestern @davidpkfishman
Demonstrators lined up outside Norris University Center on Saturday to protest Princeton philosopher Peter Singer, who spoke on effective altruism and animal equality for the 26th annual Chicago Humanities Festival. Singer, a bioethics professor at Princeton University, is a utilitarian philosopher who approaches issues from a secular viewpoint. But it wasn’t Singer’s stance on animal rights or charitable giving that prompted the protests; it was the contention made in his books that severely disabled babies should be euthanized, a topic not covered in his speech. “Everybody is entitled to human life,” said Michael Grice, a quadriplegic and longtime disability rights activist. “Even if I was 5 months old, just a newborn, why would you say that I should be killed?” Grice was joined by more than 10 other people — many of whom were disabled — boycotting the event. The protest was led by Access Living, a Chicago-based disability rights and services organization. Speaking to a sold-out audience of more than 350 people on Saturday, Singer laid out the framework for his arguments. “We ought to be living so that at least a significant part of what we do is concerned with making the world a better place,” he said. “Why do less good than we could?” Most of the lecture was dedicated
to “effective altruism,” an evidencebased method of charity popularized by a TED talk Singer gave in 2013. At one point, Singer proposed working on Wall Street rather than at a charity, because, he said, making more money means making a bigger difference. In his speech, Singer also criticized a number of philanthropists and organizations for supporting the arts, including the very group that brought him to Northwestern. “It’s great that there are cultural festivals and events,” he said. “But I do feel that if there are over 6 million kids dying from preventable poverty-related diseases that seems
to be more critical. If somebody asked me to donate to this festival, I would say: ‘I’m sorry, that’s not where my priorities lie.’” Singer concluded the session by encouraging people to become effective altruists to “increase our own feeling good about ourselves.” Amber Smock, director of advocacy for Access Living, said she doesn’t think Singer should be allowed to publish his ideas about euthanizing disabled babies anywhere. “You run the risk of NU and Chicago Humanities Festival appearing » See SINGER, page 6
Joseph Lamps/The Daily Northwestern
PROTESTING PETER A woman protests outside a talk by Princeton Prof. Peter Singer, who in the past has advocated for euthanizing disabled babies. Singer arrived at NU on Saturday as a speaker for the Chicago Humanities Festival and was met by a group of protesters.
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