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Thursday, October 20, 2022
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM 8 SPORTS/Women’s Soccer
3 PHOTO/Restorative Justice
4 OPINION/Mills
Wildcats’ lossless streak ends against MSU
North Lawndale Restorative Justice Community Court graduates 80
The Supreme Court threatens Indian Country
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Study finds disability discrimination pattern Feinberg research shows physician inequities in care By ERICA SCHMITT
daily senior staffer @eschmitt318
The Feinberg School of Medicine recently published a study revealing physician discrimination toward people with disabilities. The study, which was published earlier this month in Health Affairs, focused on people with intellectual disabilities, as well as disabilities related to mobility, hearing, vision and mental health. Researchers also asked broader questions regarding attitudes physicians have about people with disabilities, finding many held explicit biases against them. Feinberg produced the study in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts and Harvard Medical School. Co-author and Feinberg Prof. Tara Lagu said she wasn’t surprised to learn some physicians deny health care to people with disabilities, but was surprised by the underlying ableist attitudes
of some health care workers. Some doctors in focus groups for the study made statements about how disabled people are an “entitled population,” are “too demanding” and providing them care takes “too much time,” Lagu said. Lagu said one of the research staff members who had to rewatch the interviews for transcription purposes struggled listening to them. “At one point, she came to me sobbing because she was so upset that doctors were sitting in a room saying these things and I agreed with her — I was very upset,” Lagu said. Co-author and Feinberg Research Assistant Prof. Carol Haywood said medical education perpetuates bias in medical trainees, leaving physicians inadequately prepared to provide care for people with disabilities. Haywood was displeased by some physicians’ unwillingness to conduct standard practices with patients with disabilities — a complication that doesn’t exist between physicians and people without disabilities.
» See DISABILITIES, page 7
Shannon Tyler/Daily Senior Staffer
The Evanston dog beach was Evanston’s only dog park until it closed in 2016 due to high lake levels, now dogs are running freely along its shore.
Residents call for return of dog beach After unsafe conditions forced a closure, residents push for reopening By SHANNON TYLER
daily senior staffer @shannonmtyler
After six years without access to the Evanston dog beach, furry friends ran along
the shore, dug in the sand and jumped into the lake Saturday morning. They accompanied their owners at a rally to support the reopening of the area as a dog beach. The strip of sandy land just south of Clark Street Beach
first closed in 2016 due to high lake levels and unsafe conditions. As water levels have receded and conditions have improved, residents created a petition calling on the city to reopen the beach. “There was a good reason to
close it down, and now there’s a good reason to bring it back,” resident and rally organizer Mike Meyers said. “Mother Nature said it’s time to bring the dogs back to the beach.”
» See DOG BEACH RALLY, page 7
Students pole dance with Polerize Organizers discuss
New club aims to make dance form accessible, enjoyable, affirming
Advocates call for more accessible emergency services
By JESSICA MA
the daily northwestern @jessicama2025
The bass dropped as Beyoncé’s “Cuff It” echoed across the Louis Room in Norris University Center. From pirouettes to climbs, students took turns moving their bodies around three gleaming poles to the beat of the song. Polerize, NU’s pole dance organization, hosted an open pole jam Sunday for students to practice their moves. Weinberg senior Dani Zhang, Communication senior Kate Lee and Bienen junior Greta McNamee founded the club, which launched this fall. “A pole studio is essentially a space where any person can explore their body away from the male gaze,” Zhang said. “We’re feeling ourselves, and no man has to be there to see us to feel good about it.” Zhang said she posted a video of herself pole dancing on Facebook chats last winter, inviting students to sign up for classes with her. Through
Recycle Me
wheelchair policy By ZELLA MILFRED
the daily northwestern @zmilfred
Kate Lee/The Daily Northwestern
Pole dancing club Polerize’s co-founders pose before the launch party in September.
Facebook, Zhang came into contact with Lee and McNamee, and the three worked to turn the idea of an NU pole dancing club into a reality. So far, the club has hosted events including parties, workshops and pole jams.
W hereas workshops are more structured, pole jams provide a casual atmosphere for students to practice tricks, McNamee said. The club also plans to host a Q&A panel with sex workers and social activists, who will share their
experiences. Weinberg senior Isabel Azpiroz, who attended the pole jam, said Polerize makes pole dancing more accessible. Azpiroz said she enjoys seeing
» See POLE DANCING, page 7
For local disability rights activist Michael Grice, having his motorized wheelchair with him is essential. His ability to move freely determines his independence. Because ambulance vehicles lack the space to carry assistive devices such as wheelchairs, walkers and speech boxes for patients with disabilities, many people who are taken to the hospital are forced to leave their wheelchairs behind. Motorized wheelchairs are especially difficult to transport due to their large size and weight. But some people, like Grice, who only has use of one of his arms, can’t use the manual wheelchairs provided at hospitals. Grice, who lives in Oak Park, said he is separated from
his motorized wheelchair in emergency situations about two to three times a year, and is left immobile as a result. “We’re stuck,” Grice said. “That’s not just a problem for me, it’s a problem for my friends and other colleagues … There’s no way to get (my wheelchair) into the ambulance … It’s very discouraging.” Depending on the location of the health emergency, mobility devices could be left anywhere from patients’ residences to the side of the street. Patients with disabilities must coordinate with friends and family to keep track of their mobility devices. Grice is working with the local disability rights organization Access Living to address these concerns in Chicago through an effort called the Emergency Services Campaign. After months of communication with the Chicago Office of Public Safety Administration, the office told Access
» See WHEELCHAIRS, page 7
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