Thumbs Down to bad Defense
Late Saturday night, while students were sleeping, the Arizona State Sun Devils were burning the lights out on the Sun Devil Stadium scoreboard.
Who do they have to thank?
Our Northwestern Wildcats defense, if you can call it that.
Giving up 773 yards of total offense, 52 points and letting a quarterback starting his fourth career game put up 409 passing yards isn’t getting it done.
Did the defense somehow confuse Brett Basanez for Peyton Manning?
This takes “the best defense is a good offense” way too far.
Hopefully the defense will show up tomorrow.
Defense, in case you forgot, the address is: Ryan Field, 1501 Central Street, Evanston, Ill. Arrive around 11 a.m. You can get in free with your WildCARD!
Thumbs Down to “going Up”
“Going Up?”, the new installation piece that has turned the left elevator in the Norris University Center into a claustrophobic four by four foot gallery. The creepy music, the mumbling voice track, and the pretentious essays put the elevator at the top of the “Campus Oddities to be Avoided” list. Debra and Dave Tolchinsky, the creators of the piece, describe their work as a “site-specific synchronized multimonitor elevator installation inspired by recent limb-lengthening procedures.”
According to one of the essays, the artists are critiquing the “widespread acceptance of modification of the human body.” OK. But as one administrator said just after stepping into the elevator: “I wanted to go up, but not necessarily with Fido.”
Thumbs UP to Kanye West –
– for agreeing to come to Northwestern for a November concert at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Clearly one of the biggest rap artists around today, West has successfully blossomed from producer to platinum-selling rap artist. A Kanye West concert is the kind of event college students nationwide clamor for. NU students will show up in droves to see the “college dropout.” And what could build community better than that?
Thumbs UP to Administration –
– for giving Hurricane Katrina refugees a place to call home for 12 weeks. They embraced displaced New Orleans students and at least one faculty member for the quarter, offering spots on the Evanston campus and the School of Continuing Studies. Even more admirable, the school is sending all tuition dollars to the students’ home schools. And while The Keg might not compare to the bars in the French Quarter, at least students from affected universities can continue their education while their schools are closed for the semester.
Thumbs down to City Council –
– for trying to play fairy godmother. A proposed ordinance would not only raise fines for fake IDs, but would forbid those under 21 from being in bars after the strike of midnight and call the parents of those who violate these laws.
This proposed ordinance, which the city council will vote on Monday, was influenced by the shooting of, just for the record, an over-age Evanston resident at the Keg in June. It goes without saying that this was a tragedy (but as to not appear heartless, we’ll say it anyway) but this ordinance seems like another attempt to punish students.
Furthermore, forbidding the under-21 crowd from Evanston bars will cut into bar-night profits for the slew of campus philanthropies, including Dance Marathon. And we all know, when you hurt Dance Marathon, you’re only hurting the kids.
Highs and Lows reflects the opinion of The Daily’s editorial board.
