Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) will host a concert in Evanston Saturday night that benefits Acrassicauda, an Iraqi heavy metal band currently living in Turkey. This concert will crown the organization’s conference that day, which will advocate communication and understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim youth leading to a more harmonious vision of U.S.-Muslim relations. AID coordinates events such as these particularly near the anniversary of September 11th as an attempt to break down walls between......

he number 1, 3, 4, and 9 teams in the nation losing? What a crazy week in college football. Northwestern Tops Iowa, Remains Undefeated It's an auspicious start for the Northwestern Wildcats, who beat Iowa 22-17 to advance to 5-0 to start the season and will likely enter the Top 25 this week (hey, if Vanderbilt can do it...). C.J. Bacher had an outstanding day, going 28 for 45 for 284 yards, three touchdowns, and......

Cubs Clip Cards, Clinch Crown As we mentioned yesterday, the Cubs defeated the Cardinals 5-4 and claimed their second consecutive NL Central division title. A bases loaded single by Alfonso Soriano that was misplayed in left field cleared the bases and Ted Lilly later executed a suicide squeeze perfectly to add another run later. Lilly pitched seven innings to earn his 16th win and Kerry Wood closed out the ninth for his 32nd save. Said......

Soriano Earns Contract Alfonso Soriano finally earned his big money contract by belting three home runs Saturday night as the Cubs ended a six-game losing streak and beat the Reds 14-9. Soriano's five RBIs were the difference, though Mark DeRosa continued his career year with his 20th home run, Jason Marquis helped his own cause with a solo shot, and Derek Lee had three RBIs. Marquis pitched a good seven and 1/3 innings to get......

Phils Snap Cubs Streak The Cubs' seven-game winning streak was snapped yesterday as the Phils beat the North Siders 5-2. Ted Lilly only gave up three runs over six and 2/3 inning, but the Cubs just couldn't take advantage of an eighth inning which saw the Cubs load the bases. The Tao of Lou: "We just didn't hit with men on base -- that's the storyline of that game. You can't do it every day."......

Mayor Daley delivered his much-talked-about commencement address at Northwestern this weekend, and....thud. Students said the speech was generic, which it kind of is. From all corners, you’re told that you have to rein in your hopes and dreams – that the problems we face are beyond your control. Well, I’m here to tell you: don’t believe it. You can always do something to make our world better. After he encourage the grads to take an......

Downtown reflections by Timothy State. The Cubs beat the Sox, 11 to 7. Look for Wrigleyville to be a drunk fest tonight. [Trib] A home-built airplane crashed and burned after taking off at Aurora Municipal Airport. The pilot is okay. [Trib] Daley addressed graduates at Northwestern University, and encouraged their active participation in helping Chicago get the 2016 Olympics. [S-T] A naval recruit was struck and killed by a Metra train in Highwood early this......

Today Northwestern University will announce its new accelerated law degree program in which students will be bar exam-ready in two years instead of the usual three. At the heels of the University of Dayton and Southwestern Law School, NU is the third school in the nation to attempt this, but the first that is considered top-tier. The program also breaks from tradition by incorporating practical skills such as leadership, teamwork, project management, and accounting into......

Photo by little pretty The University of Chicago Medical Center will be opening a physicians' office downtown, which the Trib says is "another attempt to compete with Northwestern Memorial Hospital on its home turf." [Trib] A Wisconsin man found what he says is $1,700 in Depression-era currency when he tore down an old shed on his property. [AP] Lisa Van Allen testified today that she had sex with R. Kelly and an underage girl,......

The controversial Northwestern Law School alum Jerry Springer spoke to the graduating law school class last night. He gave a speech that lasted about 15 minutes, and quoted his mother, Winston Churchill, and Socrates. The 1968 graduate told the Class of 2008: "Let's assume that your prime discomfort with me is based on the ethics of what I do for a living. Well, that's a fair question -- worthy of serious response -- because on......

Photo by blue(skied) We'll keep our eyes peeled tomorrow for new designs for the Children's Museum proposed Grant Park digs. [Crain's] The City is going to spend $1.5 million on 1,000 summer jobs for teenagers. It's one of several city-organized plans in place to help curb youth violence this summer. [S-T] Emil Jones wants a pay raise. [Trib] Northwestern has rescinded its invitation to award Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright an honorary Doctorate of Sacred......

Say you've spent tens of thousands of dollars earning your law degree from Northwestern Law School. Who would you want as a speaker to preach a message of hope and good tidings for the new legal graduates? Northwestern thinks it'd be the esteemed television personality and eminent social commentator, Mr. Jerry Springer. The New York Post is reporting that students are none too thrilled about receiving their send-off from Springer, and AboveTheLaw.com has received some......

I really bugged people yesterday when I said I didn't care that much about the dean of Medill possibly making up anonymous sources for a letter in an alumni newsletter, and the conversation that followed has been interesting and persuasive. The story so far: Medill dean John Lavine wrote a letter in the school's spring alumni magazine hyping the school's advertising classes. That letter included an anonymous quote from a student praising the class, saying......

Photo by Nick D. (embiggen) Did the president of Medill use made-up quotes in a newsletter? We...barely care. What really bugs us is journalists citing the existence of Facebook group as some kind of indicator of anything--"students and alumni joined the new 'Save Journalism at Medill' group on Facebook. On Tuesday afternoon, there were nearly 90 members ...." There are 650 fulltime students at Medill. Fewer than 90 of them clicked a button. Agh,......