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Monday, April 17, 2023
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2 Letter from the Editor
Performing groups diversify memberships
Students and faculty discuss artificial intelligence inside the classroom
Explaining our coverage of Wednesday’s shooting
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Residents walk out of town-gown event Campus. NU representatives NU’sTheEvanston University announced refuse to address plans for rebuilding Ryan last September, followRyan Field concerns Field ing a $480 million donation By WILLIAM TONG
daily senior staffer @william2tong
About 40 residents and Northwestern students — out of almost 50 attendees total — walked out of the Northwestern University-City Committee meeting Wednesday night after NU representatives repeatedly said they could not comment on the Rebuild Ryan Field project. Several attendees asked University representatives to answer a question The Daily posed about what actions NU would take if it is unable to obtain licenses and permits for the project. However, committee members representing the University declined to answer because they said the court order that established the committee prevented discussion about Ryan Field. Though the order — a 2004 consent decree — does not mention the zoning district where Ryan Field sits, it encourages discussion on the areas serving as buffer zones adjacent to the stadium and
from the Patrick and Shirley Ryan family in 2021. NU is looking to obtain a planned development for construction, a liquor license and a zoning text amendment to allow fullcapacity concerts. Two of three lawyers the University asked to review consent decree interpretation before the meeting determined discussing Rebuild Ryan Field at the meeting was not “in the spirit of ” the court order, said Dave Davis, NU senior executive director of neighborhood relations. “It was important for Northwestern to be here,” he said. “But we’re only going to comment on things that we believe are consistent with the consent decree.” Vice President for Facilities Alex Darragh and Vice President for Operations Luke Figora responded to residents’ questions similarly. Dave Schoenfeld, a community representative on the committee, said the consent decree’s interpretation shouldn’t be so narrow.
» See NU-CITY, page 6
Illustration by Lily Ogburn
Professors at NU are looking at ways around the traditional form of grading in their classes.
Faculty look beyond letter marks Professors turn to alternative grading to accomodate student needs By LUIS CASTAÑEDA and SAMANTHA POWERS
the daily northwestern @luiscasta220 / @sqpowers04
Political science Prof. Sirus Bouchat tells his students at the start of every quarter that he understands if his class is not their main priority.
Bouchat said they don’t want their students to feel uncertain about their grade when they’re “giving 100%.” Rather, a student’s grade is based on effort, they said. “You might decide that this class is not that important to you, and that you have other classes that you want to give a higher priority,” Bouchat said.
Bouchat implements several alternative forms of grading like “contract grading” and “autonomous grading.” Contract grading, he said, allows students to choose from a “menu” of assignments they think will be the most interesting and challenging for them. Autonomous grading relies on more self-assessment, and he said
he uses it more commonly with his graduate students. In political science classes that incorporate more math and statistics, Bouchat said he aims to make the material more accessible by allowing unlimited attempts on quizzes and leaving
» See GRADES, page 6
‘Rise Up 4 Abortion’ takes Chicago ASG voter turnout Supreme Court expected to decide on mifepristone as early as this week By LILY CAREY
daily senior staffer @lilylcarey
Content warning: This article contains mentions of domestic violence. More than 100 protesters marched through downtown Chicago on Saturday, joining reproductive health advocacy group Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights to call for “legal abortion on demand and without apology.” The protest came on the heels of a recent ruling by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The ruling suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, a type of abortion medication taken within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. First approved by the FDA in 2000, mifepristone is now used in over half of abortions carried out in the U.S. A Wednesday decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit struck down Kacsmaryk’s ruling and kept
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mifepristone’s FDA approval in place, but restricted access to the medication. The restrictions included limiting use of the medication to the first seven weeks of pregnancy and requiring an in-person doctor visit to obtain the medication. On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito temporarily blocked the restrictions imposed by the 5th Circuit ruling until last Wednesday night. However, the court is expected to decide as early as this week whether or not to uphold these restrictions. At Saturday’s protest, advocates called for the federal protection of abortion rights, emphasizing the role of medications such as mifepristone in allowing people to control their pregnancy and reproductive health. “This is all about whether women are going to be treated as full human beings or not,” said event emcee Jay Becker. “This is about whether we’re going to be able to control our lives, our bodies, our destinies, or whether we’re going to be reduced to baby-making machines. And that is already happening.”
reaches 10-year low of the undergraduate stuWhalen and Cusick 2% dent body. ticket wins majority Banal said while ASG “cannot about what led to of 175 votes casted besuchconfident” low turnout, it may have By JOANNA HOU
daily senior staffer @joannah_11
Lily Carey/Daily Senior Staffer
Protesters for abortion rights marched to Millenium Park, where event organizers from Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights addressed onlookers.
The event began in Federal Plaza with a crowd of about 60 people. Protesters then marched up State Street, through Millennium Park and back south to the plaza. The crowd nearly doubled in size during the march, with many passersby stopping to listen and even joining along the way.
Protest leaders also criticized recent decisions made under the majority-conservative Supreme Court, especially the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling in June that overturned constitutional federal
» See WOMENS MARCH, page 6
SESP junior Donovan Cusick and McCormick junior Molly Whalen won the Associated Student Government presidential election, with about 95% of the vote. The two will serve as co-presidents the upcoming academic year. According to Election Commissioner and Communication freshman Enzo Banal, the unopposed slate won 166 of the 175 votes cast, with nine voters casting no-confidence votes. The number of votes cast this year is significantly lower than the 1,950 cast last year and marks a record low in at least the last 14 years. The last uncontested election, held in 2019, brought in 852 votes. Northwestern has more than 8,000 undergraduate students, bringing the turnout to about
been caused by changes in the Division of Student Affairs’ operations. While the division used to send out emails to remind undergraduate students to vote, Banal said its choice to not incorporate election messaging into its weekly Paw Print Newsletter may have reduced turnout. “While we believe the Paw Print is a practical and helpful resource for us to reference details for upcoming events, its usefulness as a medium for outreach is limited, evidenced by this weekend’s turnout,” Banal said. “We could not inspire the degree of civic participation we’ve enjoyed in past years without institutional backing.” Student Affairs has not sent out mass emails encouraging voting since 2021, but Banal said the “contentiousness” of the 2022 election could have driven up turnout last year. Cusick said the fact this year’s election was
» See ASG ELECTION, page 6
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