Thumbs down to…Low voter turnout for ASG
ASG elections have come and gone. In a whirlwind of A’s and multi-colored hands, Austin Young and Ash Jaidev defied The Daily’s endorsement of Mat Bellassai and Jazzy Johnson and emerged victorious Wednesday night. Both parties ran clean campaigns and Young and Jaidev’s 53.57 percent majority was hard fought. Most troubling in this year’s election, however, was the measly 3,035 votes cast. Voter turnout has seen a steady decrease since the 4,292 cast in the 2009 election. When ‘turnout’ consists of sitting in front of your computer and knowing your netID and password, not voting is pretty inexcusable. The hour-long period when the website was down may have deterred some students, but the election minions remedied the problem by extending the 7 p.m. deadline to 8 p.m. Sure students may be uninformed about ASG, but that’s what Daily coverage is for. At the very least, apathetic students should give an indication of their lack of confidence by logging on and voting ‘No Confidence.’
Thumbs up to…Jaeschke is first NU player to be drafted to WNBA
Big ups to Amy Jaeschke on becoming the first women’s basketball player in school history to get selected in the WNBA Draft, going 27th overall to the Chicago Sky. While most seniors are scrounging for work after college, the 6-foot-5-inch center is well on her way to playing in world’s most elite women’s basketball league. She’ll have to earn her spot as one of 11 players on the Sky’s roster, which isn’t yet guaranteed, but considering that no NU player has ever made the league – and no men’s player has made the NBA since Evan Eschmeyer in 1999, and no offense to Juice Thompson, none are likely to this year – it’s a big accomplishment for NU. Hopefully, this could convince other WNBA prospects that NU – a school that’s pretty irrelevant in terms of women’s basketball, as the Cats, much like their male counterparts, have never made the NCAA Tournament – is a viable stop on a path to getting paid to play after college. Best of all for Jaeschke, she doesn’t have too far to move – the Wilmette native will get to play close to home, and her former school as the Sky play at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.
Thumbs down to…Women’s lax loses first conference game since 2004
It’s hard to fault a team for not being perfect, but that’s what we’ve been led to expect from women’s lacrosse. The Cats started off the season looking dominant, downing 10 ranked opponents to start off the season a perfect 12-0 and earn the nation’s No. 2 ranking, but that momentum screeched to a halt Thursday against No. 6 Florida. NU went down 9-4 by halftime, and although they fought back to make the score 12-11 with a few minutes left, they wouldn’t score again and ended up having to finally put a tally in their L column. Obviously, one loss to another very good team isn’t the end of the world, but this first conference loss since May 2004 still stings. Things don’t look good for the Cats’ chances of knocking off No. 1 Maryland – who, by the way, are still undefeated and have won their last 24 games – and reclaiming the national championship for NU. They’ve struggled in the past, needing a late goal against then-No. 3 North Carolina to take it to overtime and trailing then-No. 3 Duke before coming back for the victory – this doesn’t seem to be the same team that won five-straight championships before last year.
Thumbs up to…Sex Week keeps coming
Northwestern’s fifth annual Sex Week comes to a close on Saturday. Given the recent sexually charged public relations fiasco that was Bailey-gate, it was great to see that College Feminists had the support of the school in creating a healthy dialogue about sex. Organizers of Sex Week had originally intended for there to be a panel about the Bailey controversy, but after speaking with Dean of Students Burgwell Howard, they decided against it.
Even without the panel, the week has been filled with engaging and informative events featuring everything from a speech by Medill graduates who founded “Stuff Hipsters Hate” (everything) to an Erotic Bakeoff. Even prospective students and their parents attending Monday’s Wildcat Days were greeted by a prominently displayed ‘Sex Week’ banner in Norris. The College Feminists have shown that sex and talking about it continues to be alive and well at NU.
Thumbs up to…NU buys gas for Evanston
Northwestern has pledged to buy 30 precent of Evanston’s natural gas usage starting May 1 saving the city roughly $8,000 monthly. Northwestern is one of the biggest users of natural gas in the state and is able to buy the gas at a cheaper wholesale price, meaning the deal will come at no extra cost for the school. This will power 16 city-owned buildings, including the police department, fire stations and community center. The purchase comes at an especially important time with Evanston facing a huge budget deficit. While they’v been able to hold off on raising property taxes for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, this may not be the case considering the lukewarm economy. Saving money for the city at no extra cost to the school is the ideal kind of win-win solution for town-gown relations.
