NU’s turn to seize initiative
Out of a bad situation, Northwestern has a chance to rise to the top. The downtown club incident earlier this month, in which six black students from Washington University in St. Louis were denied entry, stirred support from throughout the NU student body.
Collaborative action to stand up against racial profiling would put the usually apathetic NU at the head of an important issue happening within the bounds of our own city.
But the Associated Student Government, the group that is supposed to represent the interests of the student body, has been slow to act. With two meetings since the Oct. 17 incident at Mother’s Night Club Original, 26 W. Division St., ASG has yet to pass even a symbolic resolution to solidify NU’s stance behind Wash U.
“This is not something that will just go away,” ASG President Mike McGee said. “It’s not something we want to rush right now and go gung-ho in the next 24 to 48 hours … It’s something we need to have a clear sense about what we’re doing.”
NU can take the lead to rally Wash U and Chicago-area universities. With Wash U geographically removed from the situation, NU is best positioned to be the voice to speak up, whether it is raising awareness through boycotts, protests, lecture series or even an educational bar night.
On a campus full of driven students with initiative, NU shouldn’t be sitting back to wait to hop onto someone else’s activism. This ball is truly in our court, and it’s going to require movement from both ASG and the rest of our student body.
Find fix now for busy road
You’re taking your usual route from class back home. You’ve walked this way so many times you’re only remotely cognizant you just walked into the middle of Sheridan Road in complete defiance of that crosswalk a few dozen feet away. We jaywalk without thinking, dodging cars with skills honed from years of sprinting across Sheridan Road, but the pedestrian-car collision Tuesday reminds us of the risk we take every time we step into the street.
Plans proposed in February to renovate Sheridan Road - including three new traffic lights – will take steps in the right direction. But as of this winter, the construction was not scheduled to be completed for three years. And more importantly, stoplights won’t solve everything: No new traffic lights were planned between the existing ones at Sheridan Road’s intersections with University Place and Foster Street, where the accident occurred.
It’s easy to blame just one group – drivers for being reckless, pedestrians for crossing where they shouldn’t, the city for failing to protect pedestrians – but all three are part of the problem and the solution. The city should install temporary signs or flashing lights as a stopgap measure to prevent accidents until the major reconstruction of Sheridan Road is completed in a few years. Construction needs to be expedited with a particular emphasis on improving pedestrian safety.
Drivers and pedestrians must together take responsibility to prevent future accidents. Is the extra minute we save by driving too fast to stop when a pedestrian comes along worth the risk we’re taking? Is it worth crossing at Emerson Street illegally when there are crosswalks a short walk in either direction? Tuesday’s accident probably won’t change our insatiable need to get everywhere as fast as we can, on foot or behind the wheel. But maybe next time you’ll exercise a little more caution so NU’s main thoroughfare doesn’t have to play host to any more unfortunate accidents.
