Local
The dean of Feinberg School of Medicine is moving to the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine, while the former dean of Northwestern Law School, who served in that position for 17 years, is settling into his new job as the president of the New School. Both officially stepped down on Jan.1.
Northwestern received more than 30,000 applications for the first time, including 1,000 from Chicago Public Schools students. The number of applicants to the class of 2015 increased more than ten percent from a year ago. Some peer schools have also seen the number of applications go up.
After fleeing the country to evade illegal drug sale charges and being arrested in New York, an Evanston store owner who allegedly sold crack cocaine in his store is being charged with ten counts-among them are unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, and public aid wire fraud.
The women’s basketball team won 64-53 at home to No. 24 Ohio State. The men’s basketball team recorded its biggest ever win in Iowa City on Wednesday. Coach Bill Carmody, in his 11th year as NU coach, penned a contract extension.
The Daily Beast rated Northwestern the smartest college sports team.
Evanston has partnered up with NU to encourage volunteer work among students and other Evanston residents. Volunteer Evanston’s website will be up next month.
Chet Hanks released a single, White and Purple (Northwestern Remix) (video).
National
President Obama spoke (video) at a memorial service at the University of Arizona in honor of the shooting victims in Tucson, Ariz. His 30-minute speech, written in part by a Northwestern graduate, was widely acclaimed. House members also paid tribute to the victims. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords can breathe without a ventilator and open her eyes. Her doctor said she has a “101 percent chance of surviving.”
House majority leader Eric Cantor’s office said lawmakers would resume work next week, including voting on the repeal of the health care law.
The Illinois state Senate voted to abolish the death penalty in the state, already in a 11-year moratorium, putting the bill on Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk. It is not yet clear whether Quinn, who supports capital punishment but has upheld the moratorium, will sign the bill into law. State Rep. Roby Gabel (D-Evanston) said the Medill Innocence Project has shown lawmakers that the death penalty is not perfectly applied.
Pat Quinn was sworn in as Governor for his first full term on Monday. On Thursday, he signed into law a financial package that, among other revenue-expanding items expected to raise $6.8 billion a year, increases the income tax rate from 3 percent to 5 percent and the corporate tax rate from 4.8 percent to 7 percent. Illinois has at least a $13 billion dollar deficit, about half the size of its budget. Moody’s Investors Service rates Illinois’ bonds the worst in the country, making borrowing expensive for the state.
In another state in dire financial straits, California’s not-really-new Governor Jerry Brown unveiled a budget that includes $12.5 billion in spending cuts. California has a $25.4 billion deficit.
Former House majority leader Tom Delay was sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering in the 2002 Texas state races.
The Republican National Committee has a new chairman. Michael Steele was replaced by Reince Preibus, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. The RNC is $20 million in debt.
International
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said sanctions on Iran are succeeding in slowing down its nuclear program. She did not say how long it would take Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. The departing director of Israel’s intelligence service said Iran would take at least four years. Iran’s nuclear facilities were struck last year by a computer worm, whose origin is still unknown.
China’s military tested a new stealth fighter jet while Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with China’s defense minister in Beijing,. President Hu Jintao told Gates the timing had nothing to do with Gates’ visit. Gates played down talk that the test showed China’s military leadership asserting itself over its civilian leadership, with U.S. officials saying the tests caught Hu by surprise. On the trip, Gates warned that North Korea could be able to strike the U.S. with an intercontinental ballistic missile within five years. Hu will meet President Obama at the White House next week.
For the first time as vice president, Joe Biden visited Afghanistan, where he ass
ured Afghan leaders of America’s long-term commitment to the country. On the same trip, he went to Pakistan and Iraq, where he reiterated that U.S. troops would leave the country by the end of the year. The U.S. ended combat operations in Iraq last August, but close to 50,000 non-combat troops remain.
Following a month of violent demonstrations calling for jobs, political reform, and an end to corruption, Tunisia’s president fled the country after dissolving his government and declaring a state of emergency. The prime minister took over as president.
Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from Lebanon’s cabinet on Wednesday, putting an end to the coalition government. A United Nations-backed tribunal will likely find the militant Shia group Hezbollah guilty of killing former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, whose son is the current prime minister. Hezbollah has urged him to reject the tribunal’s verdict.
The Basque separatist group ETA in Spain announced on Monday that its ceasefire announced in September was “permanent” and “verifiable.” The Spanish government remains skeptical; ETA’s last “permanent” ceasefire in 2006 lasted 10 months.
South Sudan’s turnout in its referendum on seceding from the North crossed the 60 percent threshold of voters needed for the result to count. The biggest hurdle remaining is drawing borders peacefully with the north.
Flooding and mudslides killed over 400 people in Rio de Janeiro and at least 15 in Brisbane, Australia.
Ivory Coast’s leader Laurent Gbagbo still refuses to step down, with his supporters attacking UN troops. The United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and the African Union have recognized his opponent Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the presidential election held in November.
