Thumbs up to… Spring weather in February
After “snowpocalyse” and a week of knife-stabbing subzero wind chill, warm weather is a beautiful thing. The past week has been what some meterologists called a delayed “January fall,” when there’s a sudden burst of warmth in late January for about one week. Many Northwestern students got a bit overeager and shed their parkas for a few days of flip flops in February. SafeRide waits were shorter, students looked happy again and murmurs of Dillo Day creeped through the grapevine as if it was just around the corner. Sure, the weather’s supposed to drop back down to the thirties again next week, but it was nice while it lasted.
Thumbs down to… Huge puddles around campus
Aside from the fact that all of this warm weather feels like a serious sign of global warming, this “January fall” does have another downside: massive puddles and flooding around campus. Proceed with caution on the sidewalks. If there aren’t five inch puddles at every crosswalk, there are mini-ice rinks that from the overnight chills. Rain boots may seem like a good idea in the morning, but those smooth-bottomed, traction-less wellies will do you no good when you’re walking down the ice-covered Norris hill at 2 a.m. – take it from us.
Thumbs down to… Borders closing in Evanston
Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Saturday, a tragic day for booksellers in Evanston and in the U.S. The Evanston branch at 1700 Maple Ave. will be closing its doors by the end of April, leaving students with Barnes & Noble as the main bookstore in town. Evanston is now facing 37 fewer jobs and 22,000 square feet of empty space. As a tiny silver lining, maybe this closing will mean a huge spring sale at Borders.
Thumbs up to… Day of service added to Welcome Week
In an attempt to further reconcile ties with our Evanston neighbors, a day dedicated to community service in Evanston has been added to Wildcat Welcome Week. Hopefully, this will allow the incoming Class of 2015 to leave a positive first impression on the Evanston community, especially after town-gown relations recently tensed up again after the “brothelgate” fiasco. Students will ideally continue working for some of these service organizations after Welcome Week ends because one day of service is not enough to change some Evanston residents’ views of NU students. This initiative also shows promise because a hands-on community project will be much more beneficial for freshmen than just forcing them to go to hours of Essential NUs.
Middle thumbs to… Men’s basketball beating Iowa by 3
On the bright side, Northwestern avoided complete embarassment at home, holding off Iowa in a contest that was all too close. The Wildcats benefitted from balanced scoring, as four players finished in double-digits. They also appear to have found a cure for their recent three-point shooting woes. On the other hand, NU nearly blew a 22-9 lead, and its defense once again looked porous, allowing Iowa to shoot 52 percent from the field. In short, the Cats won, but it’s not time for anyone to start buying NIT tickets, or NCAA Tournament tickets for that matter.
