unbreakable - Alexis N. Sanchez

NORTH BY
FALL 2012
introducing
RELIGION’S
SCIENTIFIC
MYSTERY MAN
father
JOHN
KARTJE
unbreakable
BONDS
How the Wildcats came
to embrace a young girl’s
fight against cancer
PLUS:
Bailey in his own words
A road trip through time
5 ways to transform your dorm
Make your oatmeal the breakfast of champions
YOUR FAVORITE COLD WEATHER BREWS
SPIKED pg.8
hookah THE NOT-SO-SAFE ALTERNATIVE
pg. 14
q
u d
a
49
33
23
SWEET BEATS
SEEK OUT YOUR
SPIRITUAL
JalenMotes
with
PG. 23
}
SC
O OP
UNCOVERING
GENIUS
8
SIDE pg. 20
chicago's
hidden
pg. 33
musical
gems

busted?
A GUIDE FOR
GETTING
AWAY WITH IT
pg. 46
BODY
This Is Spinal Stance
Keep Up Your Necks-ercise
Preserve your posture with these ergonomic
positions. B Y SH IRL E Y L I
T
he ideal studying position calls
for a straight spine, elbows bent
at an angle of 90 to 110 degrees,
feet flat on the floor and eyes
pointed directly at your reading material. Quick: How many of these are
you doing correctly?
According to Dr. Carolina Carmona, a research physical therapist
at the Feinberg School of Medicine,
this posture helps lessen the stress
on lower back muscles and the neck,
the two most commonly affected areas of a student’s body.
“Poor posture while studying changes the natural curves in your spine,”
Carmona says. “Over time, muscles
and soft tissues are going to be overloaded and then inflamed. Blood flow
may be compromised. Pain will manifest as headaches—and anywhere in
the back or upper extremities.”
But if you’re not a stickler for
proper posture, there’s no need to
overstretch yourself trying to follow these rules. Using a few objects
around your dorm or apartment and
making some adjustments to your
workstation can make all the difference. After all, who consciously and
repeatedly tells themselves to sit up
straight? You’ve got other things to
worry about. Instead, we’ve got you
covered with some expert tips to
help ease that studying strain.
Shun The Shisha
Hookah’s harmlessness is all smoke and mirrors.
BY M A R K O L A LD E
Forget Facebook
Take your lecture to the next
level with these video games.
B Y CO NNO R SE A RS
illustration: alexis n. sanchez
14 | F A L L 2 0 1 2
water only cools the smoke and makes it
more palatable, not safer. Statistics from
the American Lung Association show that
a hookah smoker inhales about 100 to
200 times as much smoke as a cigarette
smoker in one session, and hookah contains many carcinogens and toxins found
in cigarettes.
“There’s not only the nicotine, an addictive substance, but also the products
of combustion which contain chemicals
that are harmful as well, as many of them
are carcinogens,” says Eileen Lowery,
senior director of programs for the Respiratory Health Association. “So then the
health concerns are the same as they are
for any inhaled tobacco product ... It’s really kind of scary because it is so popular
and the tobacco industry is very aware of
ways that they target the 19 to 24-yearold population in as many as ways as they
possibly can."
But Hanif and the hookah community
continue to bill the pastime as mostly free of
health risks. “Just don’t order a bad flavor,”
Hanif warns.
photo: sunny kang
I
nside Argila Hookah Bar in Morton Grove,
Ill., green party lights dance on the walls and
hip-hop beats pump in the background. A
fruity smokiness hangs in the air.
Hookah smoking is a growing trend among
college-age Americans, and more than 50
lounges are scattered throughout the Chicagoland area. But the biggest reason why
young adults smoke hookah is the false belief
that hookah is a safe and more social alternative to cigarettes.
“It’s something you do with a group of
friends,” Communication sophomore Josh
Schwartz says. “It’s not about the act of smoking. It’s about the act of doing it with people.”
A hookah works by heating tobacco with
charcoal, and then the smoke is drawn
through water and inhaled. The owner of Argila Hookah Bar, Saboor Hanif, says many of his
clients keep coming back because they believe
hookah is safe.
“It’s a more healthy choice to go with—if
you really want to smoke—than a cigarette or
a cigar,” he says.
Doctors disagree. It’s a common myth
that the hookah water filters toxins. The
Start wasting time in class the fun way—
with these lecture-safe video games.
These types of games require no sound,
no conspicuously furious clicking and
can easily be glanced up from at any time
to at least pretend like you’re paying attention. So next time you’re stuck in your
two-hour lecture, give these games a try.
An “S” Curve is the Best Curve
“When you sit, especially over desks,
that arch in your lower back goes
away, and you put a lot of load on
your vertebral disks,” says Dr. Mark
Sleeper, a physical therapist at the
Feinberg School of Medicine. “Because of a flat back or flexed back
posture, the disks can get injured.”
Sleeper says the key to protecting the lumbar spine (lower back)
from chronic posture problems
is to help maintain the small arch
that appears when you’re sitting. To
keep the lower back comfortable,
try the following:
If you use an office chair, adjust the
height so your feet are flat on the floor
and you’re not straining your back to
bend over your work. Sit with your back
all the way against the chair to help
maintain the arch.
If you can’t adjust your chair, use pillows or blankets to pad the seat and
back, forming an “S” curve to guide
your posture.
Use an exercise ball as a chair.
“The ball really forces the use of
the muscles to support yourself,”
Sleeper says.
The neck, or cervical spine, is often
hurt as well, but this is mainly because “a flat top desk is really not
designed for good body mechanics,”
Sleeper says. “Basically, if you’re over
your laptop, or you’re over a book,
you bend your neck forward and that
puts strain on the disks and the muscles of the neck.”
Instead, find ways to reposition
your reading materials. For example:
Use other objects to prop up and hold
your book so it’s tilted toward you
like a laptop screen. This helps you
look straight at the book instead of
looking down.
Pad your keyboard with something
soft so your wrists aren’t pressed
against a hard surface.
Give Yourself a Break
“The ideal situation is to have a good
balance between exercise, building
muscle strength and flexibility,” Carmona says.
Sleeper recommends taking twoto three-minute breaks every 20
minutes. Stand up, stretch and even
jump around if you want to, because
any activity will help move the lubricating fluids in your joints. You could
be in the middle of reading the most
fascinating paragraphs ever printed in
a textbook, but these breaks will keep
your joints healthy in the long run.
Keep your textbook or laptop in the
same spot in front of you, not off to
the side. Carmona suggests keeping
your laptop screen about 18 to 24
inches away from your eyes.
Rest Your Wrist
Hand cramps are a common side effect, especially
if you’re endlessly tapping
away at your keyboard or
taking notes by hand. Though
you can adjust your chair to accommodate the recommended
elbow angle, you can also:
Purchase pads or use pens and
pencils with bigger grips that are
about three-fourths of an inch in
diameter, according to Sleeper.
GAME TYPE
BEST TITLES
DESCRIPTION
Point-and-click
Crimson Room, Escape the
Car, Gateway, Warbears,
Hapland, Submachine
These games are played solely with the
mouse. To make up for the lack of complex
controls, they often involve a lot of strategizing and out-of-the-box thinking.
Arcade-style
Flash
Crush the Castle, Penguin Baseball, Wolf Games Apple Shooter,
Ragdoll Cannon, Bloons
These games are all about repetition, performing the same actions again and again
in different situations. They’re simple.
They’re manipulative. And they’re fun.
Turn-based
RPG
Pokémon, Fire Emblem,
Final Fantasy, Earthbound
All of the action happens in a no-rush menu
setting. And with the magic of emulators,
almost any old RPG can be played right on
your desktop with just a couple downloads.
NORTHBYNORTHWESTERN.COM | 15
Street Smart, Book Smart
Professor John Márquez revamps racial discourse by
bridging his perilous past and his academic present.
BY JORDYN WOLKING
H
e reached into his backpack to
grab a history book and remembered he had stowed his pistol
there as well. That moment, for
Professor John Márquez, changed
his life.
“Everybody had a weapon all the
time. That’s an element of how we
survived,” he says. “I realized that I was
probably the only person in that classroom that was living that kind of life,
and I was embarrassed by the moment
… It shook me.”
Márquez, who grew up in an impoverished, working-class family in subsidized housing in Houston, was taking
community college courses as part of
his involvement in a gang violence prevention program. He had borrowed the
gun after receiving threats from men in
a rival neighborhood.
Fourteen years later, Northwestern
hired Márquez to help build its Latina
and Latino Studies program with
other experts. Since beginning the
program in 2006, he has taught Intro
to Latino Studies, The Social Meaning of Race and other related courses,
including the Capstone Seminar for
students in the program.
Sonia Hart (SESP ’07) was part of
the student organizing committee
that pushed for a Latina and Latino
Studies program. She says Márquez
was the type of faculty member they
26 | F A L L 2 0 1 2
were looking for, active and eager to
improve relations with other student
groups and help develop the new program and curriculum.
“We wanted someone that was
going to be involved in the development of a very robust type of
student-of-color scholarly community,” she says. “It was one of the few
classes that I felt really challenged
me to think critically about an issue
and not just kind of be a receptacle
for other people’s ideas and accept
them automatically when it comes
to race and ethnicity, from both the
historical and psychological perspectives. More than teaching us a
subject matter, he was teaching us
active scholarship.”
Many students enter Márquez’s
classes with the idea that race no
longer has social meaning, he says. He
often struggles to balance intellectual
arguments about race in a social context with providing “the language and
the kind of support and the inspiration
that students of color might be looking
for.” But he says he finds these conversations rewarding.
Márquez has been on sabbatical for
the past year, and he will resume teaching in the winter. During this time, he
finished a book and started a new one,
as well as bonded with his two sons and
played soccer.
He also works on community initiatives, including the NU Campus Violence Prevention Committee, which
collaborates with such programs as
Chicago’s Operation CeaseFire, as
well as other violence prevention and
immigrant justice campaigns in his
neighborhood. CeaseFire is similar to
the gang violence prevention program
Márquez worked on as a teen, so he
hopes his experience can be a useful
contribution to the organization.
Recruited by social workers into the
short-lived Gang Activity Prevention
program at 18 years old in 1992, he
was “identified as a person who had
street cred in [his] neighborhood but
that also had a mind that was attuned
towards politics.” He was trained to
work as a violence interrupter, talking to his peers and organizing afterschool activities for at-risk youth.
Márquez pinpoints the moment he
found the pistol in his backpack as one
of a series that highlighted the sense
of hypocrisy he felt. “A part of me is
fronting, acting like I’m part of the solution,” he says about the experience.
“The other part of me does not trust
the solution to the extent that I feel
like I got to protect myself.”
That realization, along with the
death and incarceration of several
friends and an incident involving a fellow GAP member murdering another
young man, led Márquez to leave GAP
and seek other answers.
He says CeaseFire faces similar issues now, as volunteers occasionally
struggle to distance themselves from
crime and gang activity. Such programs focus on a lack of jobs, mental
health facilities and educational op-
portunities, but they are often reluctant to address broader histories of
colonialism, racial segregation and
violence. He says that no solution will
be sustainable without addressing
these broader issues.
“I saw the limitations firsthand
of how much those programs could
actually work, and the issues that
weren’t being addressed within those
initiatives,” Márquez says of his work
with GAP and CeaseFire.
After that, Black nationalism introduced him to the historical background
of intraracial violence the world over,
in most colonized areas. But that still
couldn’t answer all of his questions.
“I began to realize that it was insufficient,” he says. “To really be able
to address these issues in the most
productive way is to appeal to our
solidarity between [sic] all of us as
human beings.”
Márquez says he hopes to continue
addressing issues of race and ethnicity at the university and community
levels. He says that diversity—be it
related to race, class or sexuality—is
a constant issue at Northwestern, and
he encourages his students to think
about qualitative diversity or the social climate, rather than the statistics.
“[Northwestern has] the people
who are experts on this issue, we have
students who are interested and eager to learn about such things, so we
should be better than society at large
in terms of our thinking and conversations we have about this,” Márquez
says. “That should be reflected in the
way that the student body and the
faculty looks, appears, speaks, is perceived, is judged, is supported.” o
illustration: alexis n. sanchez
PROFILE
TOWN
Mapping Mark
Professor Loren Ghiglione follows the course an American hero’s lifelong odyssey. B Y A LEX N IT KIN
L
30 | F A L L 2 0 1 2
fortuitous accident, were as varied as
their stops across the country.
“The diversity of experiences we
had is just so hard to describe … but
the whole trip opened my eyes to this
world I hadn’t seen or even given any
thought to,” Karas says. “It was like
collecting a bunch of puzzle pieces—
we met so many people doing so
many things on a small scale just to
make a difference.”
The issue of identity surfaced in
every encounter, whether it was with
an immigrant in a big city or a local
politician in a rural town.
This led the group to the Louisiana
State Penitentiary, an institution that
records all of its 5,000 inmates as
“black” or “white,” where Ghiglione,
Karas and Tham interviewed those
who didn’t fit the racial binary.
“A lot of them talked about feeling alienated in prison … in a big way
it’s like they were total outliers in this
community,” says Tham, who used his
knowledge of Vietnamese to interview
a Vietnamese-American nicknamed
“Hop Sing” serving a life sentence. “If
I live in a white community I can move,
but these guys have no choice—
they’re forced to make friends with
guys they may not like. It doesn’t get
more surreal or intense than that.”
Other stops included a mostly Hispanic town in the white-dominated
state of Nebraska, a former slave
plantation in Tennessee and a selfgoverned homeless encampment
near downtown St. Louis.
But despite troubling, sometimes
disturbing experiences, Ghiglione and
his students say they were inspired by
the people they encountered.
“There are some absolutely terrible things still going on in this country in the way of discrimination and
hatred, but [the trip] really showed
me that America is a place where
anything can happen,” Karas says.
“It’s this wild and beautiful place
where, when people work together
closely in their communities, they
can accomplish anything.”
o
New York, N.Y.
Ghiglione’s team interviews
Occupy Wall Street protesters
in Zucotti Park
3
Unionville, Nev.
Twain attempts a career
as gold prospector
St. Louis, Mo.
Ghiglione’s team visits a
self-governed homeless
encampment
Florida, Mo.
Twain’s birthplace,
Nov. 30, 1835
7
8
1
San Francisco, Calif.
Twain works as a
journalist
4
Philadelphia, Pa.
Twain works as a
printer
5
2
Cincinnati, Ohio
Twain begins a career
as a riverboat pilot
6
photo: kerri pang; illustration: alexis n. sanchez
ast September, while the Wildcat world welcomed the Class
of 2015, Medill professor Loren
Ghiglione packed a rented black
Dodge Grand Caravan full of cameras,
computers and enough clothes to last
him through the new year.
His mission? Retrace Mark Twain’s
travels as a young man through the
1850s and 1860s, town by town by
town, to explore the country the 19th
century author came to embody.
Three months, 125 interviews and
14,063 miles later, he and his two
student sidekicks had collected hundreds of unique American stories.
“Mark Twain is a special figure not
only in American literature, but in the
American imagination … He grew up
a racist and a nativist, but as he grew
older and traveled around the country, he reformed his views,” Ghiglione
says. “So we wanted to follow not
only his path, but his transformation
as a person, focusing on hot-button
identity issues in America.”
After personally obtaining $30,000
in grants and donations to fund the
cross-country endeavor, Ghiglione
selected two Medill students to come
along for the journey: 2011 graduate
Alyssa Karas, who managed a blog
and helped conduct interviews, and
senior Dan Tham, who filmed and
photographed the experience.
The trio began at Twain’s birthplace in central Missouri, then journeyed east to St. Louis and through
Philadelphia, where Twain worked
as a printer. After stopping to interview Occupy Wall Street protesters at Zucotti Park in New York
City, they drove along the Mississippi River to New Orleans, tracing
the area where Twain worked as a
steamboat pilot in the 1850s. The
trip then took them to the West,
following Twain’s short career as a
gold prospector in Nevada and his
long career as a journalist in San
Francisco.
The stories they gathered along
the way, some planned and some by
New Orleans, La.
Twain travels the Mississippi
as a riverboat pilot
NORTHBYNORTHWESTERN.COM | 31
DI VINE
story by GABI P. REMZ
photography by DANIEL SCHULEMAN
COSMOLOGY
34 | F A L L 2 0 1 2
T
The room was packed. It didn’t matter that it was 9:30 on a Sunday night.
The students were hooked on the words of the slim priest with graying hair
and glasses speaking at the front of the room.
Suddenly, he pulled out a large power drill and slammed it on the lectern.
“What is this really for?” Kartje asked his audience.
Father John Kartje (KART-chee) does things a bit differently from the
typical priest. That day, Kartje was talking about an incident in which a
man and a woman who performed a live sex demonstration during an optional presentation for the Human Sexuality class at Northwestern made
national headlines.
In addressing the situation at Northwestern’s Sheil Catholic Center, the
47-year-old lifelong Chicagoan, who has a Ph.D. in astrophysics from the
University of Chicago, raised many eyebrows and questions—a similar reaction to many decisions throughout Kartje’s life.
Kartje came to Northwestern in July 2009 after spending six years at
Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he worked in
a doctorate program certifying him to teach. He now teaches in several
places, including Chicago, and over the summer at Creighton University in
Omaha. In that sense, the path to his leadership at Sheil is quite normal.
And normalcy apparently epitomizes his role as a leader at Northwestern. Kartje lives amid Evanston residents and off-campus students in an
apartment on Sherman and Foster (priests often live in quarters attached to
the parish, but Sheil lacks those facilities), and he makes frequent appearances on campus. In fact, Kartje is a huge sports fan and is often spotted at
Northwestern athletic events.
“I go to everything I can possibly get to,” Kartje says. “A number of athletes come [to Sheil], so it’s a nice way to interact.”
Yet, students, administrators and Evanston residents all say Kartje’s unusual approach and background are major reasons why they come to Mass,
despite his apparent ordinariness.
“Father John has a different style,” says Sheil Director of Operations Teresa Corcoran. “I think Father John is really able to communicate with the
students. Most people find his homilies extremely engaging ... there’s usually a challenge in there somewhere.”
Nowadays, Sheil’s community is thriving—in large part thanks to Kartje,
although a strong foundation had been developed several years before he
arrived in Evanston. Sheil just came off a five-year, $1.5 million renovation
project and is working with about half of Northwestern’s 2,000 Catholic
students every year, Corcoran says.
But the leader of Northwestern’s sizeable Catholic community was once
just a boy passionate about science and astronomy. Many people believed
that reason would diminish his faith, but even as a kid, Kartje had tried to
take two important parts of his life—faith and science—and create a more
sensible world.
A LOVE OF THE SKIES
In the 1980s, the Columbia space shuttle program was in full swing, making NASA and the outer realms of space increasingly visible. For many high
school students, it made astronomy relatable; for Kartje, it made astronomy
a career.
By most standards, Kartje had a typical childhood, even though he was
the youngest of seven siblings. Growing up in Chicago, Kartje and his family
went to Mass most weeks, but was not involved in the church much beyond
that. For him, churchgoing was just part of his family’s routine.
“I would just spend hours laying on my back at night looking at the sky,”
Kartje says. “And it was just sheer wonder.”
Kartje dedicated most of his energy to the skies, building his own telescope and waiting eagerly for the newest edition of Sky and Telescope magazine to come out. It never took him long to read it through cover to cover.
Still, he went to Catholic schools his whole life until he reached the University of Chicago, where he finally pursued his passion for the skies by
studying astronomy, mostly of a theoretical nature.
Distinguished Senior Lecturer in Physics and Astronomy Michael
Smutko, who studied experimental astronomy in Chicago and now teaches
NORTHBYNORTHWESTERN.COM | 35
Modern Cosmology at Northwestern, was Kartje’s classmate at the University of Chicago.
“He worked on these really complicated models of what happens when
supersonic clouds of gas collide with other clouds of gas,” Smutko says.
“[Kartje’s work was] totally beyond my mathematic ability.”
Kartje excelled in college, proving to be a promising undergraduate member of the Astronomy department. But as he committed more and more
time to the stars, he had less time to think about the heavens.
“In college, if anything, I got a lot less involved, at least in terms of going
to church every Sunday,” Kartje says. “I didn’t much hang out in the U of C’s
version of [Sheil].”
Instead, he became a man of science, graduating with a Master’s and a
doctorate from the University of Chicago.
It wasn’t until years later that Kartje embarked on a journey that changed
the trajectory of his science-based life.
CHANGE OF HEART, CHANGE
OF FIELDS
While working as an astronomer, Kartje began volunteering in a hospital ministry. He sat and talked with patients week after week, discussing with them
their pain and suffering, their relationships with God and their futures.
The work was important for the patients, Kartje says, but it also started
to become important to him. He says he considered his faith more deeply,
and his science background helped him get there.
“I don’t look at someone having cancer and think, ‘Oh, why did God give
this person cancer?’” Kartje says. “I know that cancer is part of what happens to biological organisms.”
Kartje visited the hospitals for three years. Even though he says he understood the science that could cure them, it was the spiritual side of things
that grabbed him. The science he had known and loved all his life, though
still close to the heart, was not his only calling.
“That for me, I think, was the major transformative experience, being
with people in those situations of vulnerability and really being able to talk
with them about their faith,” Kartje says. “I felt like I needed to seriously
explore [the priesthood], or let it go forever.”
As he closed out his 20s, he realized his decision was clear. At age 32,
with three degrees, including Bachelor’s degrees in physics and math, and
a mind his co-workers in the world of theoretical astrophysics considered
brilliant, John Kartje would become a priest.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF EDUCATION
When Kartje began the five-year seminary program required to enter
priesthood, he was instantly bombarded with questions, because others
thought of him as a “novelty.”
“The typical question was, ‘Did you decide science was wrong?’” he
says. “Some people were looking for affirmation that the Bible was right,
that those are evil scientists.”
But for Kartje, science was key to understanding faith, so he worked hard
to listen to everyone—skeptics, fanatics, anyone with an opinion. Kartje
says he was simply convinced that if someone looked at it from the right
perspective, they could understand and appreciate how science and faith
complement each other.
Still, Kartje explains, sometimes it’s just impossible.
“At the end of the day, if you’re just, it’s the Bible or the highway, nothing
is going to convince you of the contrary,” Kartje says. “And if you’re convinced that any person of faith is just a deluded imbecile, nothing’s going to
convince you of the other direction.”
Smutko says that although he could not have anticipated Kartje’s decision, the move seemed reasonable.
“There are a lot of people who see it as, you’re either with us or against us,
you’re a religious person or you’re a scientific person,” Smutko says. “And my
experience has been, I’ve seen scientists on the entire range of the spectrum.”
36 | F A L L 2 0 1 2
A FIGURATIVE IDEOLOGY
There are many times when science and faith seem to directly contradict
each other. For instance, some Biblical scholars have determined the age of
the world to be around 6,000 years old. But geologists have put the age of
the world around 4 billion. The Bible says one thing; science finds another.
Kartje’s balance of the two depends on the key notion that parts of the
Bible must be taken figuratively. He says people’s strictly literal interpretations caused the conflict.
To Kartje, science has the facts right. But at the same time, he says he
doesn’t need to choose.
“The more we learn about the physical universe, the more it prevents us
from having naïve thoughts about God that are ultimately not helpful—that
God is some sort of puppeteer just moving the world around,” Kartje says,
shaking his head.
Kartje says if we can understand how the world actually works, we can
understand God’s role in it all. It is this idea that leads him to believe that
science and faith should coexist.
“When an earthquake happens, that’s the result of tectonic plates shifting,” Kartje says. “It’s not evil.”
“AT THE END OF THE
DAY, IF YOU’RE JUST,
IT’S THE BIBLE OR THE
HIGHWAY, NOTHING IS
GOING TO CONVINCE YOU
OF THE CONTRARY. AND
IF YOU’RE CONVINCED
THAT ANY PERSON
OF FAITH IS JUST A
DELUDED IMBECILE,
NOTHING’S GOING TO
CONVINCE YOU OF THE
OTHER DIRECTION.”
Father John Kartje
Catholic Priest
Northwestern University
THE UNIVERSITY SCENE
Kartje’s uneven path toward the priesthood made him an appealing employee to the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Because of his university background, the Archdiocese sent him to Catholic University of America, where he enrolled in the doctorate program that
would allow him to teach.
Finally, after 11 years of learning in a Catholic setting, Kartje was ready
for his first post, and the Archdiocese of Chicago assigned him to Evanston,
Ill., where he now leads a community split nearly 50-50 between students
and area residents.
But just like in the seminary, a die-hard sports fan with a doctorate and
master’s degree seemed slightly out of place at first.
“At first I was like, that’s a bit strange for a priest,” says Corcoran, who has
worked at Sheil for 23 years. But she says Kartje eliminated any fears with
his ability to tailor his sermons for his contrasting audiences, connecting
particularly well with his younger attendees.
“I think he is able to communicate with the students on a different level
than with what we’ve had,” Corcoran says.
Each Sunday, he celebrates at least two of four different Masses, three of
which—at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.—are typically filled with Evanston
residents and families. Those Masses, Kartje says, make you “feel like you’re
at a typical parish.”
But when it’s time for the last Mass of the day, Sheil becomes a dramatically different scene. Kartje estimates that 95 percent of attendees are students at the 9 p.m. Mass, which he uses to connect with the undergraduate
demographic in ways typical parish priests do not.
“I guarantee you if I had brought out the drill at the morning Mass, people
would have complained,” Kartje says.
The 9 p.m. Mass therefore bears his signature the most. It’s the one during which he showed the drill. It’s the same one, when teaching about the
power of communicating in relationships, Kartje told students to turn on
their cell phone ringers. The stories go on—using Northwestern’s Sex Week
as a sermon topic, chatting about his love of the White Sox—and Kartje,
who never scripts his sermons, saves his most nontraditional ideas for the
last Mass of the day.
Anthony DiMauro, president of the student group Catholic Undergrads
and a Bienen senior, recalls the Masses following the sex demonstration
incident as the epitome of Kartje’s genius. DiMauro went to the 5 p.m. Mass
that Sunday, and witnesses Kartje’s differing approaches.
“Mass was brilliant for me that day,” says DiMauro about the earlier
Mass. “He talked about there being an elephant in the room, or in this case,
a 500-pound gorilla. The big thing I remember getting out of that sermon
was how, even through consent, you can still be objectifying someone.”
Out of curiosity, DiMauro had a friend record the 9 p.m. Mass later that
day. While the ultimate message might have been the same, DiMauro insists the two sermons were “completely different.”
“He definitely engages with everyone over his homilies and that’s something that contributes to the mysteries, because you know he’s this great
mind,” says DiMauro, who attends Mass most weeks. “It’s very clear when
you talk to him that he’s an intellectual, whereas [with priests] at home, it’s
more Catholic rhetoric.”
Kartje can therefore be looser with his language and introduce contemporary ideas using campus culture to show students what they can take
away from it all. In contrast, Kartje says in the morning he “might throw in a
reference to Ed Sullivan.”
Despite his unorthodox path to priesthood, Kartje’s approach is working.
Sheil continues to draw a large portion of Catholic students on campus, and
Kartje says he is intent on continuing his work in Evanston.
Kartje’s path has certainly been peculiar, and his methods are often unconventional. But he says he has no doubt in his faith and that science has only
helped serve him, and he has no plans to change the way he runs his Masses.
He wants to be different, and he wants to challenge the way people think.
“I’m not trying to be the hip priest,” Kartje says. “People don’t want
priests who try to be what they aren’t. It’s just a question of, can you be
frank and open in conversation?”
NORTHBYNORTHWESTERN.COM | 37
CΩNFLICT
OF
Athletes are sometimes discouraged from going Greek,
but some join anyway. Here’s what happens when two of
Northwestern’s most high-profile communities collide.
INTEREST
By Stanley Kay | Photos by Daniel Schuleman
W
hen Stephen Simmons decided to
attend Northwestern
University in 2006,
he knew he wanted to go Greek.
His mother was a member of Delta
Sigma Theta, and his father was a
member of Kappa Alpha Psi; both
chapters are members of the “Divine
Nine,” which are the nine traditionally black Greek organizations that
comprise the National Pan-Hellenic
Council. Simmons grew up around
Greek life and always planned on
going Greek when he eventually
attended college.
One problem: He was on the
football team.
Involvement in athletics certainly
doesn’t preclude one from joining a
Greek organization. Otto Graham, the most illustrious player in
Northwestern football history, was
a member of the Alpha Delta Phi
fraternity. Drew Brees, considered
by many to be the best quarterback
in the National Football League, was
a Sigma Chi at Purdue. Luke Donald
was a member of Sigma Chi at
Northwestern and is now ranked the
No. 1 men’s golfer in the world. And
several players currently playing for
the Wildcats are involved in Greek
life. Simmons, who graduated in
2010, successfully earned membership to Kappa Alpha Psi and eventually became the chapter’s president.
But his involvement in Greek life, and
the time-consuming new member
process, didn’t go unnoticed.
“My coach was pissed,” Simmons recalls, referring to the pledge
process of attaining full membership. “I pretty much lied to him the
whole time and told him I didn’t
know what he was talking about.
But it was kind of obvious that I was
going through some stuff.”
Simmons says the concerns of
his coaches faded after he became
a full member but that his decision
to take on another significant time
commitment was not supported.
“They don’t really support […]
you being involved in a lot outside
of your sport because they feel like
you should put all that extra time
[…] into your sport to make yourself
and your team better,” Simmons
says. “It’s pretty much like how most
teachers think their subject is the
most important and the only one
that matters.”
He acknowledges that he initially
came to school to play football and
understands why coaches would
be hesitant about student-athletes
taking on other commitments. In his
words, the school is “paying you”
to play your sport and represent
the university. But some studentathletes undoubtedly want their
college experience to be defined by
more than their sport, and at Northwestern joining the Greek commu-
4 | WINTER 2012
nity is one way to accomplish that
goal. Going Greek poses a number
of problems for student athletes,
including the possibility of skeptical
coaches. For some, the team is akin
to a fraternity or sorority, so there’s
no need to join a Greek organization.
But how do those who do take part
in Greek life balance both commitments? Do they ever have to
choose one over the other? What’s
the difference between the fraternal
experience of a team and the similar
bond of a Greek chapter?
Even though a team could be
construed as a type of fraternity,
Northwestern student-athletes from
a number of varsity teams continue
to join Greek chapters. The football
team — which many would consider
the best fraternity on campus —
has several Greek players in both
National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternities and Interfraternity Council organizations. NPHC at Northwestern
includes seven members of the “Divine Nine,” including Kappa Alpha
Psi. Northwestern’s IFC, on the other
hand, consists of 18 fraternities.
Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike), an IFC
fraternity, has a history of attracting
student-athletes as potential members. Within the chapter there are
currently 12 varsity athletes, many of
whom are swimmers. Four football
players that recently received bids
didn’t end up joining the fraternity.
According to former Pike president and McCormick junior Patrick
Schnettler, the four players accepted
their bids and wanted to join the
chapter, but ended up not doing so.
Schnettler, who is now president of
IFC, declined to give the names of
the four players, but says that the
main reason they didn’t join was
because they were worried joining
a fraternity would negatively affect
their time commitments to both
their academics and football.
Northwestern football coach Pat
Fitzgerald doesn’t have a standard
policy on Greek life, according to
spokesperson Mike Wolf. “He does
not have a formal policy on this, but
if a student-athlete is not performing up to academic expectations,
etc., he would likely advise them
not to join a fraternity,” Wolf wrote
in an email. “Several factors go into
such decisions, but Coach Fitzgerald
always wants his [student-athletes]
to enjoy a well-rounded college
experience.”
Like any varsity sport, football
is a huge time commitment, so it’s
understandable that a coach would
be wary of his players committing
themselves to another organization. Simmons admits that trying
to balance both commitments was
“something I would never do again
or wish on my worst enemies,” but
for many student-athletes, there
is still an appeal to find a haven
outside the athlete bubble.
David Nwabuisi, a senior with
one remaining year of football
eligibility, is the president of Omega
Psi Phi at Northwestern and a
starting linebacker for the Northwestern football team. As one of
the Wildcats’ key defenders, there is
extra pressure for him to perform on
the football field. But he has never
had any major issues balancing both
football and fraternity. He says that
Omega Psi Phi has allowed him to
interact with others at Northwestern
he may have never encountered had
he not joined the Greek community,
especially because the football team
is like a fraternity of its own.
“You’ve got so many teammates
you don’t really need any other
friends,” he says. “But once I joined
the fraternity it opened up all these
other lanes to socialize with people
and get to know other people.”
Nwabuisi understands why
coaches would be hesitant about
certain players joining Greek life.
His own ability to balance football,
Greek life and academics was the
only reason he was able to go Greek
successfully.
“Coaches want your focus on
football understandably. They’re
paying you to do it,” Nwabuisi says.
“They just don’t want you to lose
track of what you came here for.”
Despite the heavy commitment
football requires, the team has a
substantial Greek population. A
number of campus leaders are on
the team, so it’s clear that Fitzgerald
wants his players to explore the
many opportunities afforded by
college, as Wolf said. Some coaches,
however, are less open to the idea of
Greek life.
Dominic Greene, the director of fraternity and sorority life
at Northwestern, says that in the
past he has worked with chapters
concerned about potential conflicts
between coaches and athletes who
want to join Greek life. “There has
been a time in the past where I’ve
been asked by a fraternity to send
an email to a coach being like, ‘Hey,
this is OK, they’re a good fraternity,’
because this athlete was afraid the
coach was going to pull his scholarship,” Greene says. However, that
fraternity eventually decided that
it wasn’t necessary for Greene to
contact the coaches.
O
ne male student-athlete, who spoke under
condition of anonymity,
recently decided to
join a Greek organization against
the wishes of his coach. Though the
coach never explicitly told him not
to go Greek, he feels that the coach
wouldn’t have been pleased with his
decision. The student-athlete says
he mainly wanted something in ad-
dition to his team.
“The athletes at this school, they
all hang out together, they all go to
each other’s parties, they all go to
each other’s games,” he says. “It sort
of limits the people you can meet,
and there are a lot of really interesting people at the school.”
When he arrived at Northwestern, he initially figured that
athletes didn’t join fraternities. But
he eventually met students who
were in fraternities and decided he
wanted to join the Greek community. Before he joined, however, he
wanted to make sure a fraternity
wouldn’t interfere with his academics or sport. The student-athlete
says that prior to joining he spoke
to the fraternity’s pledge educator,
who assured him there would be no
hazing or anything that interfered
with his athletic commitment. If
joining a fraternity would have cut
down on his academics or athletics,
the student-athlete wouldn’t have
joined. “These guys know I’m here to
play a varsity sport more than I am
to be in a fraternity,” he says.
He doesn’t expect to keep his
new fraternity a secret forever.
But for now, members of both the
fraternity and his team are keeping
quiet. It’s not the first time this has
happened, either: Greene recalls a
situation where a fraternity didn’t
wish to give him the real names of
student-athlete members, because
they feared a negative reaction from
their coaches.
The aforementioned studentathlete anticipates his coach will find
out eventually, but he is confident
that his coach won’t be upset as
long as he maintains his quality of
play. The athlete also says that he
will likely remain closer with his
team but will be able to more spend
time with the fraternity during the
offseason.
Nwabuisi gives a similar assessment of the situation facing Greek
athletes, some of whom have skeptical coaches. In his mind, it’s all about
time management and handling
multiple commitments.
“At the end of the day you have
to make your own decisions […] you
can’t just disappear from football
if you’re going to decide that you
want to also do this,” Nwabuisi says.
“You’ve just got to make sure you
can balance it all. I decided I was
going to be able to balance it all, so I
went forward with it.”
F
or many student-athletes,
it can be difficult to balance so many commitments, whether or not
the athlete is a member of a Greek
organization. But going Greek did
help one ex-athlete quit her team.
Sophomore Hannah Singer, a former
diver, quit the team during her
freshman year, mostly due to injury
and the intensity of participating in
a varsity sport. But she says having
a group of friends in her sorority,
Kappa Delta, helped make the decision easier.
Mary Grace Gallagher, a senior
member of Kappa Delta, recently
finished her final year of volleyball.
Originally, she was opposed to joining Greek life and even felt like her
mother forced her to go Greek. (Gallagher is from Atlanta, and according
to her mother, “Every southern girl
must join a sorority.”) Gallagher has
been very involved in her sorority
since the end of her sophomore
year, holding positions like assistant
treasurer and treasurer. But prior to
the end of her sophomore year, she
was “absent” from Greek life.
“My team was like my sorority. I had 14 girls who were my best
friends and literally hung out 24/7,”
she says. “So there was no reason
to be involved in a sorority, because
I felt like I already had that through
the volleyball team.”
Toward the end of her sophomore year, Gallagher immersed
herself in Kappa Delta on a spur-ofthe-moment decision. She received
an email stating that the assistant
treasurer decided that she no longer
wanted to hold the position and that
a replacement was needed. Gallagher says she randomly decided to
apply and was awarded the position.
From that moment, Kappa Delta
became a defining aspect of her
college career.
She lived in the Kappa Delta
chapter house during her junior
year and became extremely close
with the girls in her sorority. When
she began living in the house and
became active on the Kappa Delta
council, Gallagher became even
closer with her sorority sisters.
“All of a sudden I would go to
practice and hang out with [my
teammates], but then I’d be really
excited to come home and hang out
with all the girls in KD,” she says.
“That I was more excited to see
them than hang out with my friends
at volleyball was just a very interesting switch for me.”
But during this period, she says it
sometimes became difficult to handle both her athletic commitment
and her sorority responsibilities.
During the fall, when she was often
traveling with the team, she had to
stay on top of her schedule and plan
ahead so she wouldn’t fall behind in
her duties as treasurer. Despite the
extra effort required by her position,
overall she never had a problem
balancing her commitment to both
athletics and Kappa Delta.
B
etsi Burns, who is
currently Northwestern’s assistant dean of
students, worked in the
athletic department for almost 15
years before becoming assistant
dean. Besides being the assistant
director of athletics, the director of
student development and an avid
Wildcats supporter — the walls
of her office are painted purple
and adorned with Northwestern
athletic memorabilia — Burns was
an academic adviser in the athletic
department. In fact, Gallagher was
one of her advisees. When she was
in college at Purdue, Burns was an
active member of Alpha Omicron
Pi, a sorority that does not have a
chapter at Northwestern. She is a
big proponent of the Greek system
at Northwestern and believes it is a
positive influence on campus.
“A lot of the values that our
student athletes hold are also held
by Greek organizations in terms
of academics, community service,
philanthropy and leadership,” Burns
says.
Lots of regular students don’t
join Greek organizations, and Burns
says athletes aren’t any different.
But for those who want to join a fraternity or sorority, it can be a meaningful aspect of college life, just like
it is for Nwabuisi and Gallagher.
“Student-athletes that do decide
to go Greek handle it very well and
take advantage of everything that
the Greek system has to offer,”
Burns says. “It’s a great distraction
for them, to be involved in other
things outside of their sport. It gives
them some balance.”
Greek organizations will often
make concessions to athletes, because they frequently have to miss
chapter events for games, practice
and other athletic commitments.
Former Pike president Schnettler
says his fraternity understands that
athletics can come first, especially
when athletes are in the midst of
their season.
“They are contributing to Pike
by being a varsity athlete and
somebody who is contributing to
the Northwestern community in that
way,” Schnettler says.
Burns expresses a similar view:
“Really, it’s the Greek organizations
that understand and know that
athletics plays a huge part in these
students’ lives. It’s their scholarships. They’ve made a commitment.
So what I’ve found is Greek organizations are very understanding when
they pledge a student-athlete, and
work with that student individually
and understand that there are going
to be concessions.”
Burns says that when she was in
the athletic department, she never
witnessed any coaches openly discouraging players from joining Greek
life. She says coaches generally want
their players to fully experience
Northwestern, including the Greek
system if they choose. But she also
says that some coaches consider the
team to be a fraternal experience.
“Some of them really feel as
though their team is their support
— their friend base — that fills that
void that a Greek organization might
for a student,” Burns says. “So why
would they need that?”
The answer to that rhetorical
question varies for Northwestern’s
student-athletes in the Greek community. For some, joining a fraternity
or sorority was a matter of family
history or cultural bond. For others,
the goal was to find a friend outlet
away from the athlete bubble at
Northwestern. And many don’t go
Greek at all.
Greek organizations — especially
fraternities — tend to value athletics.
Success in intramural sports is generally seen as a significant accom-
plishment by fraternal organizations.
The “athlete” is interwoven with the
notion of an idealized fraternity man.
Pike’s slogan, for example, is “Scholars, Leaders, Athletes, Gentlemen.”
At Northwestern, however, the
athlete’s role within the Greek system seems to be inconsistent and
inexact. Though, according to Burns,
student-athletes are encouraged on
the surface to pursue other interests
outside of sports — and clearly
many do — there are athletes who
are discouraged from pursuing their
interest in Greek life.
In an age when college athletes
across the country have become
high-profile celebrity figures,
perhaps joining a Greek organization provides a sense of normality.
Though the term student-athlete
represents a college athlete’s commitment to both academics and
sport, the concept of being a student
involves more than just taking
classes. The well-rounded student
is typically involved in a number of
activities other than schoolwork, and
for Northwestern students, Greek
life is a common extracurricular. For
student-athletes, finding the balance
between “student” and “athlete”
might be made easier by getting
involved in something like Greek life
or a similar activity.
The time required to excel in the
classroom and on the field might
be enough to discourage many
student-athletes from going Greek.
But clearly it’s still very possible to
maintain involvement in both the
athletic and Greek spheres of Northwestern. For Simmons, participating
in both athletics and Greek life is all
about determination.
“If it’s really that important to
you and something you really want
to do and that you commit yourself
to doing, it can be done.”
Full Disclosure: The writer of this story,
Stanley Kay, was elected president
of Delta Chi earlier this quarter. He
also regularly attends IFC Presidents’
Forum. While Patrick Schnettler is now
IFC President and leads the biweekly
forum, Kay did not know Schnettler
before he interviewed him for this story.
northbynorthwestern.com | 5
drink
The Coffee Snob’s Almanac
How to brew coffee in your own room. By John Meguerian and Anca Ulea
It’s the end of the month, and your wallet is
getting thinner. But that doesn’t seem to affect
the need for caffeine you developed sometime
between your freshman year and last finals
season. It’s not addiction if you enjoy the taste,
right? Right.
Well, coffee philanderer, if you’re still spending
$3.50 per drink at your local Starbucks, it’s time
for a change. The coffee there may seem better
than anything you could ever produce, but the
truth is you can make tasty coffee in the comfort
of your home.
Making your own coffee in a dorm room may
seem daunting, and making coffee shop quality
coffee in an apartment might seem impossible.
But we’re here to help, so stop spending your
money on skinny vanilla lattes. Throw out that
10-year-old drip coffee maker, and check out
these tips on how to make delicious coffee all by
yourself.
The key to making good coffee is freshness.
That means storing your beans in an airtight
container and trying to use them within a week
of purchase. Anything you can do to keep your
coffee as fresh as the day it was roasted will only
improve your coffee experience.
inexpensive blade grinders you can purchase on
Amazon. These tend to produce unevenly ground
particles, unlike their more expensive burr counterparts, but the result is still better than week-old
coffee grounds and won’t burn too big a hole in
your wallet.
Krups 203-42 Electric Coffee and Spice Grinder
with Stainless-Steel blades
$19.95
Amazon.com
Proctor Silex E160BY Fresh Grind Coffee Grinder
$13.08
Amazon.com
Mr. Coffee Electric Coffee IDS77 Grinder with
Chamber Maid Cleaning System
$18.88
Amazon.com
RECOMMENDED PURCHASE:
LOCALLY SOURCED COFFEE
Grinding coffee beans is the equivalent to opening
a soda can. If you open it a week before you drink
it, the soda inside the can will be flat, stale and not
much fun to drink. When you grind coffee, it increases the beans’ surface area, releasing more of
the flavors and oils into the surrounding hot water.
If you ground the beans weeks before you brew
your coffee, they lose the majority of their flavor,
producing a weak and virtually tasteless cup.
Although high quality burr coffee grinders can
run you a few hundred dollars, there are some
Another way to ensure freshness is to buy locally
sourced coffee. Lucky for us, the Chicago area
has a lot of amazing coffee brewers. Here are our
favorites.
2 | WINTER 2012
INTELLIGENTSIA COFFEE & TEA
Founded in Chicago in 1995 by Doug Zell and
Emily Mange, Intelligentsia supplies coffee to
many coffee shops and restaurants in the Chicago
Piendamo blend
1 pound, $24.00, intelligentsiacoffee.com
METROPOLIS COFFEE COMPANY
Metropolis Coffee Company was founded in 2003
and is located in Edgewater, right off the Granville
Red Line stop. You can buy bags of whole bean
coffee at the shop itself, online or at various
Whole Foods stores in Chicago and Evanston.
Schweik’s blend
1 pound, $13.80, metropoliscoffee.com
ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS
ALTERRA was started in Milwaukee in 1993 by
three friends who needed some good, strong coffee to stay up working long nights. They decided
to start roasting their own coffee, opening the first
ALTERRA cafe in 1994. ALTERRA can be found in
Evanston at Unicorn Cafe (1723 Sherman Ave.).
ALTERRA’s Favorite blend
1 pound, $11.75, alterracoffee.com. You can also
buy ALTERRA coffee beans at Unicorn Cafe for
$13.50 a pound; on Fridays, all bulk coffee is 10
percent off.
photos: john meguerian
COFFEE GRINDER
area. You can find Intelligentsia coffee in Evanston
at Coffee Lab (922 Noyes St.), Dixie Kitchen and
Bait Shop (825 Church St.) and Cafe Mozart (600
Davis St.).
HOW TO BREW IT
So now you’ve got a grinder and some good,
whole bean coffee. Here are some ways to brew it,
including some for those with no access to a stove
or hot water.
FRENCH PRESS
French press coffee maker
Hot water
Stirring rod or spoon
2 tablespoons coffee per 8 ounce cup
NEW ORLEANS STYLE COLD
BREW COFFEE
Cold brew coffee requires some patience (it takes
about 12 hours to steep), but is significantly less
acidic than hot-brewed coffee and will last about
a week in the fridge. It’s perfect for late nights and
early mornings, when you don’t have time to brew
your coffee. The tools you need to make it are also
pretty inexpensive and easy to find.
Mason jar (but any container with a lid will work)
L cup ground coffee (coarse or medium grind)
1 ½ cups room temperature water
Coffee filter (can be replaced by two layers of
cheesecloth or a very fine sieve)
1. In the jar, stir together the coffee grounds and
water. Put cover on lid and let sit overnight (or
about 12 hours).
2. Strain twice through the coffee filter, cheesecloth or sieve.
3. The resulting liquid will be very concentrated,
so mix with an equal part cold water or milk in
your preferred drinking glass. (If you like your coffee stronger, skip this step or add water to taste).
4. Add ice and enjoy.
Note: The above measurements will yield about
two drinks. If you want to make more, multiply
the ingredients, and keep proportions the same.
The longer you let the coffee steep, the stronger
it gets, so when you’ve reached a level you like,
strain it and refrigerate it for up to a week.
POUROVER
Cone dripper
Appropriate size filter
2 tablespoons coffee per 8 ounce cup
Hot water
1. Optional but highly recommended: Set up your
filter in the dripper over your cup and rinse thoroughly with hot water. This gets rid of the papery
taste and heats everything up.
2. Once your water is boiling, measure out 2
tablespoons of coffee beans per 8 ounces of water
(this is the size of a normal coffee mug) and grind
to a sand-like consistency.
3. Put the grounds in the filter and pour just
enough water to saturate the grounds. It will foam
up. This is called the bloom; let it work for about
30 seconds to let off some CO2.
4. After your coffee has bloomed, slowly pour
the rest of the water in a circular motion over the
grounds, and let it drip through.
photo: john meguerian
1. Brewing with a French press requires coarser
coffee grounds, otherwise the mesh filter gets
clogged. To get the perfect texture, grind the
beans until they’re chunky, but still distinct particles, resembling potting soil.
2. Remove the plunger from the press and add dry
coffee grounds to the clean pot, measuring out 2
tablespoons per 8 ounces of water.
3. Slowly pour the desired amount of hot water
over the grounds. Most of the grounds will float
to the top and the coffee will bubble a bit. You can
stir the mixture at this point to push the grounds
to the bottom of the water.
4. Replace the lid on top of the pot with the plunger fully extended. If you didn’t stir the mixture in
the last step, do so after a minute of letting it sit.
5. Let the coffee sit for five minutes before slowly
pushing down the plunger.
northbynorthwestern.com | 3
home
Bitchin’ Bottles
You’ll never have to buy another Aquafina again. By Susan Neilson
Remember winter break, when you were anxiously awaiting the best spectator sport at Northwestern? Unfortunately for its eager audience, rush week was
gorgeous (weather-wise). As a result, not a single sorostitute was punished with frostbitten toes for wearing sky-high heels. Add in the stubbornly liquid consistency of the Norris Ice Rink, and the depressing truth emerges — global warming has taken all the fun out of being at Northwestern. As heavy consumers of
plastics and other CO2 emitters, however, we undergrads are a major part of the problem. Easiest way to begin its solution? Reusable, environmentally friendly
water bottles. And since no one wants to look like a renewable resources enthusiast, here are the sexy ones.
Bobble
It doesn’t often work out this way, but the best
looking part of this minimalist bottle is also the
coolest. That weird-looking appendage jutting
into the transparent, bubble-like interior is a state
of the art filter, designed to keep your tap water
clean and your body running smoothly. The bottle
comes in three sizes and eight colors, so there’s
really no excuse not to buy one unless you hate
the earth.
Size: 13 ounces, 18.5 ounces or 1 liter (34 ounces)
Get it: $9.99 at Office Depot in Evanston | $8.99,
$9.99 or $12.99 on waterbobble.com.
Sigg Design Bottle
Everyone knows you mean business with a Sigg.
The Swiss company has dominated the metal
water bottle niche since 1908 and has been a
favorite of hikers and backpackers for the duration
of its existence. The aluminum bottle is sleek,
lightweight and iconic, so it’s no wonder they’ve
recently been spotted on the lips of superstars like
Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. But the single
coolest part of the Sigg is that it’s customizable.
Go to cafepress.com/designer/sigg/ and make
one with your face on it. What other opportunities do you have to desecrate a classically Swiss
minimalist design in a series of rapid clicks?
Size: Multiple sizes
Get it: $7 at Sports Authority in Chicago | $18-$30
at mysigg.com.
The Bamboo Bottle
The Bamboo Bottle proves once and for all that
green is gorgeous. As its name indicates, the
outer layer of this bottle is made out of bamboo,
one of the most eco-friendly plant resources that
can serve practical purposes like water bottle
construction. It’s totally plastic-free, for all you
cancer-phobes. Instead, it has a glass interior that
together with the bamboo puts one in the mind of
a Zen-inspired living room. It can store drinks of
any temperature, so slurp your steaming chamomile tea or your iced chai tea latte from its beautiful depths with equal impunity. Just remember to
take a cleansing breath first.
Size: 0.5 liters (17 ounces)
Get it: Not in stock nearby | $25 on
bamboobottleco.com
Thermos Threadless Hydration Bottle
Elementary school lunches, meet high school
T-shirts. Threadless and Thermos have partnered
to create a line of lovely stainless steel bottles
with long, elegant necks. My personal favorite is
their version of the iconic astronaut/radio image,
because quality names like “Funkalicious” tend
to grab my attention. But there are some more
intricate designs available as well, with things
like phoenixes and green monsters and such, that
should keep the indie kids happy.
Size: 24 ounces
Get it: Not in stock nearby | $14.99 on
thermos.com
Platypus PlusBottle
2 | WINTER 2012
thinking; hurrah for the Platypus PlusBottle. So,
raise your glasses — or your soft polyurethane
pouches.
Size: 1 liter (34 ounces)
Get it: $16.95 at Moosejaw Sporting Goods store
in Chicago | $17.65 at rei.com
photos: priscilla liu
It’s flexible, lightweight and compact — 80
percent lighter than a solid bottle of the same
volume. It’s also damn convenient, both in terms
of weight and accessibility. You can loop it to your
backpack, and it won’t clang in that embarrassing
way that Nalgenes do. Most importantly, however,
it looks like a grown-up version of a Capri Sun
bottle. Hurrah for innovation and outside-the-box
Old Town For The Young Folk
Take the Brown Line to travel back in time. By Arpita Aneja
For only $2.25 and a ride to the Brown Line’s Sedgwick stop, you can experience a neighborhood different from other parts of Chicago. With areas untouched
by the Great Chicago Fire, the buildings in Old Town have a distinctly 19th century feel to them. Architecture aside, it’s also home to several restaurants, boutiques and quirky shops worth checking out.
CHICAGO HISTORY
MUSEUM
THE SECOND CITY
ZANIES
If you’re over 21 and love stand-up
comedy, Zanies is your Old Town
destination. This comedy club
features acts every night
of the week with professional comedians
including Michael
Palascak and Mike
E. Winfield.
This improv-based sketch comedy
theater was once home to comedy
gurus like Tina Fey and Steve Carell
and still hosts shows featuring upand-coming comedic actors. Who
knows, you might even see the next
Stephen Colbert.
Learn a little more about the city just
south of Evanston. A $12 student
admission charge comes with
an audio tour and access
to a wide range of exhibits
about historical icons like
Abraham Lincoln as well as
more contemporary topics
like Chicago’s LGBTQ community.
A RED ORCHID THEATRE
THE SPICE HOUSE
An intimate venue that seats only
80 audience members, this theater
has unique contemporary plays
running every week. With preview
tickets at $15 and regular season
tickets at $30, you can experience
theatre in a way you may never have
before at a fraction of the cost of a
Broadway show.
The first thing that’ll greet
you upon entering this shop
is the robust smell of spices
from all over the world. The
Spice House has almost every kind
of spice imaginable. Whether you’re
looking to expand your culinary expeditions beyond the realm of Easy
Mac or you just love the smell of
spices, it’s definitely worth a visit.
THE FUDGE POT
BISTROT MARGOT
photos: arpita aneja
STRING A
STRAND ON WELLS
For the crafty college student, this
shop offers countless beads from all
over the world. From plastic to glass
to stone to semi-precious, there are
enough beads in this shop to satisfy
any amateur jeweler. Customers
can even create their own custom
jewelry inside the store.
Looking for an afternoon or evening
in Paris? You don’t have to travel
very far. Bistrot Margot, a French
restaurant in the heart of Old Town,
will satisfy your Francophile needs
with its turn-of-the-century
Parisian décor and its
entirely French
menu (not
to mention
they make a
killer Eggs
Benedict).
The name is enough to make your
mouth water before you even enter
the shop. This store sells several
different types of fudge with flavors
ranging from chocolate marshmallow walnut to vanilla peanut
butter. The store also offers
other sweet snacks like
candied apples and
chocolate-covered
strawberries.
northbynorthwestern.com | 3
slug
Think picking up one package is bad? Try eight. Read about Ezra’s experience at northbynorthwestern.com.
Mailroom Mayhem
Where did your care package end up? By Ezra Olson
How long does it really take for your dorm’s mailroom to deliver your care package? North by Northwestern sent a package to each of Northwestern’s eight
mailrooms and tracked their respective travel times. The U.S. Postal Service says each package took two business days to reach a mailroom, but in some cases,
the long-awaited package slips took their sweet time.
ALLISON
Sent: Mon. Sept. 19
Received: Fri. Sept. 23
PLEX
Sent: Mon. Sept. 19
Received: Wed. Sept. 21
WILLARD
Sent: Mon. Sept. 19
Received: Wed. Sept. 21
BOBB
Sent: Mon. Sept. 19
Received: Wed. Sept. 21
ELDER
Sent: Mon. Sept. 19
Received: Wed. Sept. 21
KEMPER
Sent: Mon. Sept. 26
Received: Fri. Sept. 30
Oh, I hope you
didn’t actually
plan on reading
for that class.
SARGENT
Sent: Fri. Sept. 23
Received: Tue. Sept. 27
Sent: Mon. Sept. 19
Received: Thur. Oct. 6
1
2
3
4
5
TIME (IN DAYS)
2 | FALL 2011
6
7
. . . 17 days later. . .
ILLUSTRATIONS: ALEXIS SANCHEZ
HINMAN
G
Warm Drinks For A Cold Winter
Stave off the shivers with these hot cocktails. By Joe Drummond
It’s easy to get carried away with mixed drinks, but there’s really no need to turn them into a production — even the most basic can be memorable and satisfying. Hot drinks are a welcome pleasure after any amount of time spent outside in the cold. They’re also delicious, impressive-looking and easy to make. The
following drinks only require basic kinds of alcohol, along with a few other ingredients that you probably have lying around. There’s no need to search for
obscure liqueurs and garnishes that you’ll only use once. These drinks will do a better job of warming you than those crappy heat lamps at El stops.
SNOG (STOUT + EGGNOG)
MULLED WINE/CIDER
BUTTER RUM
Perfect for: Reading week experimentation
The riskiest — but most pleasantly surprising —
of all these drinks. More like beer with a hint of
eggnog than eggnog with a hint of beer. If you’re a
sadist, test this one out on your friends.
Perfect for: Autumn gatherings
A great recipe for when you’re having people over,
this one is easy to double or triple. It’s spicy, fruity
and not too intense — a crowd pleaser.
Perfect for: Post snowball fight or Lakefill romp
A drink with butter might sound strange if you’re
not Paula Deen, so you’ll just have to trust us on
this one. It’s smooth, sweet and caramel-y, so
don’t accidentally drink too many.
1 bottle of creamy stout (Guinness is a good bet, don’t
go too trashy)
1 shot of bourbon
1 egg
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 orange or lemon
Nutmeg and/or cinnamon
Heat the stout, citrus and spices for 15 minutes.
While it’s heating, beat the egg with the brown
sugar. When the beer is hot, pour a little into the
bowl with the egg and stir. This will keep the egg
from scrambling. Combine the beer-egg mixture
with the rest of the beer in a tall mug. Add the
shot of bourbon and drink immediately. As you
can imagine, a lukewarm beer-bourbon-egg combination is a little gross.
MINT IRISH COFFEE
1 bottle of red wine (the cheaper the better) or a few
cans of hard cider
1 orange
1 lemon
Cinnamon and cloves
Cut the citrus fruits into quarters, put all ingredients into a big pot and simmer on medium-low
heat for 15 minutes. Serve hot. If you don’t want
to keep the stove on, you can make this recipe in
a slow cooker instead. Put the wine, citrus and
spices in, turn the heat on low and wait 15 minutes
to drink.
1 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1 shot of rum (spiced is preferable but not necessary)
Sugar (white or brown) to taste
Bring the water to a rolling boil. While it’s boiling,
put the butter in the bottom of a mug with the
rum. Pour the boiling water into the mug. Wait
until it’s not too hot, and then add sugar until it’s
sweet enough for your taste (we used about two
teaspoons, but we like it sweet).

Perfect for: Tailgating
A slightly sweet twist on a morning-drinker’s
classic. Bring all the ingredients and mix it when
you arrive.
¾ cup hot coffee (or tea or hot chocolate)
1 shot of whiskey (Irish Whiskey is traditional, but it
doesn’t make a big difference)
Mint chocolate chip ice cream (take it out of the
freezer a half hour beforehand)
PHOTO: JOHN MEGUERIAN
Fill a cup with coffee ¾ of the way, then add a shot
of whiskey. Put a spoonful of ice cream on top. It
will melt slowly and give the drink a wonderful,
smooth texture.
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