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Cusick and Whalen run as co-presidents Tuesday, which will be Platform to focus p.m. livestreamed on The Daily’s social on changing funding media pages. The official voting for the election will be from process for NU clubs period Thursday to Saturday. By JOANNA HOU
daily senior staffer @joannah_11
Shannon Tyler/Daily Senior Staffer
Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights member Patricia Wallin spoke at the downtown Chicago rally Saturday to call attention to the abortion pill decision.
Activists rally for abortion pills
Federal judge suspends FDA’s 20-year-old approval of mifepristone By SHANNON TYLER
daily senior staffer @shannonmtyler
A Texas federal judge issued a decision Friday to suspend the Food and Drug Association’s more than 20-year-old approval of mifepristone — one of two drugs
used together for medication abortion during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. The Donald Trump-appointed judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, is permitting time for an FDA response by allowing his decision to go into effect a week after issuing the ruling for Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA.
A federal judge in Washington state contradicted the decision and blocked the FDA from rolling back access to mifepristone in a separate case decided Friday. An appeal from President Joe Biden’s administration also on Friday did the same. The competing rulings will likely head to the Supreme Court, according to the Associated
Press. “If this ruling were to stand, then there will be virtually no prescription, approved by the FDA, that would be safe from these kinds of political, ideological attacks,” Biden said in a news release.
» See ABORTION PILL, page 6
SESP junior Donovan Cusick and McCormick junior Molly Whalen are running for Associated Student Government as co-presidents in the upcoming election. The two have served in various roles within ASG since Fall Quarter 2020. “We’ve gotten involved in a lot of (ASG) projects, gotten to see a lot of projects brought over the finish line, but also start a lot of things,” Whalen said. “At a certain point, you just have a motivation to see that through.” Whalen is a member of current ASG President Jason Hegelmeyer and Vice President Cusick’s cabinet, serving as executive officer of accountability. She’s also served as policy research chair and a Communication senator. Cusick, also interim chair of the Student Activities Finances Committee, has previously served as chief of staff, an Election Commission chair and a SESP senator. Both will participate in a Presidential Town Hall at McCormick Foundation Center at 8
The slate’s platform prioritizes resource accessibility with a focus on student group funding, as well as community building. “We complement each other very well,” Cusick said. “I think we work incredibly well together. We are both very passionate and excitable, especially about what we do. We each bring skills to the positions that really allow for us to have a strong working relationship.” Improving student group funding, administrative relationships Student group financing is one of the areas where ASG has the most power, Whalen said. While the organization is empowered to distribute money collected from the ASG student activity fee, Whalen said she and Cusick are trying to establish good relationships with Northwestern administration to get as much additional funding for student groups as possible. Cusick said he and Whalen have gotten to a place with NU administrators where they can be “straightforward” when communicating student demands.
» See ASG PROFILE, page 6
Businesses debate Students learn police torture history Ryan Field rebuild One Book One Northwestern arranges trip to Chicago education center Adjacent Central Street storefronts express concerns By KATE WALTER
daily senior staffer @katewalter03
With plans to rebuild Northwestern’s Ryan Field in the works, owners of businesses near the stadium hold mixed opinions on the effects of the project, with some looking forward to its projected revenue and others concerned about increased traffic from concerts and other events. Last September, NU announced an $800 million renovation of the nearly 100-year-old football stadium located on Central Street. The University also suggested hosting concerts and allowing alcohol to be sold there. Permits from City Council are required to move forward with the project and these proposals. Some business owners on Central Street said the venue
Recycle Me
is due for a renovation. Dave Gaborek, vice president of Let’s Tailgate, the official merchandiser of NU Athletics, said while the construction may affect his business in the short term, the “antiquated” stadium needs a renovation. “The move will definitely affect us when they have to leave for a couple of years for the renovation, but in the long haul it’s overdue,” Gaborek said. In terms of how his business will be affected by the absence of game days during Fall Quarter, Gaborek said “that’s just the way it is,” noting the store saw an uptick in business during NU’s basketball season this year. The University announced a target of 35% of spending on local, minority-owned and women-owned businesses in its September announcement. Businesses can fill out a vendor inquiry form on the “Rebuild Ryan Field” website to offer their services during the project.
» See RYAN FIELD, page 6
By KRISTEN AXTMAN
daily senior staffer @kristenaxtman1
Content warning: This article contains mentions of torture and police violence. About 15 Northwestern undergraduate and graduate students traveled to the Chicago Torture Justice Center to learn about the city’s history of police torture Saturday on a trip organized by One Book One Northwestern. CTJC was created in 2015 after the Chicago City Council passed the Reparations Ordinance, granting reparations to torture survivors of Jon Burge, a former Chicago police commander who tortured predominantly Black defendants to obtain false confessions in the ’70s and ’80s. The package funded the CTJC, public school education on torture, $5.5 million in financial compensation and free access to Chicago city college education for survivors and their families, among other initiatives. CTJC co-Executive Director
Aislinn Pulley said the ordinance resulted from a three decade long fight led by survivors, their families, activists, attorneys, artists and scholars. The center practices politicized healing, which she said focuses on grieving through political action. “It’s healing to organize,” Pulley said. “Dismantling these systems that continue to incarcerate our people and continue to murder our people and torture people is healing.” Pulley said Burge received a promotion within the police department due to his historic numbers of closed cases. She said his rise mirrored the politics of the country at the time: Reaganism, the demonization of the Black working class and the war on drugs contributed to the carceral state. CTJC Safety Coordinator Gregory Banks and CTJC community organizer Mark Clements presented at the event. Both are Chicago police torture survivors. A Cook County judge sentenced a 16-year-old Clements to a life sentence without parole in 1981, using a false confession he gave after being tortured. He
Photo courtesy of Heidi Gross
Aislinn Pulley, Mark Clements and Gregory Banks, left to right respectively, during the panel discussion.
spent 28 years in prison. Clements added the fight for reparations is not over. “We have over 100 of Burge’s victims still inside of the prisons, as well (as victims of) disciples of Burge,” Clements. “Well into three to four hundred of those people are languishing behind prison walls.” Banks shared his story of being tortured in the middle of the night in the Chicago Area 2 police station as a 20-year-old. He said the police beat him with a flashlight, held a gun to his mouth and suffocated him with a plastic bag.
It took four days for him to receive medical attention from a doctor. “Every time I talk about my story, it’s really emotional,” Banks said. “Burge was a monster.” Banks said politicized grief has made talking about his experience easier because it allows him to channel his energy. Event facilitator Patricia Nguyen, former NU Asian American studies professor and current American studies professor at the University of Virginia,
» See BURGE AND BEYOND, page 6
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