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University Police has interviewed friends, co-residents and family of a missing Northwestern student but has still not located him after following up on all leads from the community, the university said in a statement Wednesday (which is reproduced below).

Trever Boehm was reported missing on Sunday after having not been seen since a week ago.

“University Police officers have interviewed students in the residence hall where Trevor lives, other friends, his family and other persons who may have relevant information,” Director of Media Relations Chuck Loebbaka said in Wednesday’s statement. UP has also searched campus and its buildings.

Boehm, 20, a freshman in the School of Communication from Monument, Col., has not been seen in classes or used his WildCARD at dining halls since Wednesday, said Al Cubbage, vice president of university relations. He was not able to confirm who had last seen Boehm, a South Mid-Quads resident, but said there was no indication of foul play.

Communication freshman Trevor Boehm was last seen on Wednesday.

Cubbage said Boehm’s parents came to visit for Parents’ Weekend. When they discovered he was missing, they filed the missing person report with University Police on Sunday.

“I’ve never known somebody who knew him who didn’t like him,” McCormick sophomore Tyler Boschert said.

Boschert has known Boehm since high school, and they entered Northwestern in the same year — although Boehm left school part of the way through last year and is still considered a freshman.

Boschert recalls getting a surprise phone call from Boehm during his senior year of high school, when Boehm was accepted to Northwestern under Early Decision. Boschert said the joy in Boehm’s voice was palpable.

“You could just tell how happy he was,” Boschert said.

Boschert urged fellow students to “keep the chin up” and “stay optimistic,” as the search is now in the hands of people who know what they’re doing.

Boehm has been an uncommon presence around his South Mid-Quads dorm room this quarter, according to fellow residents.

Boehm, a theater major who lives in a single on SMQ’s fourth floor, rarely spoke to others in the dorm, several residents said. Some students said that they did not frequently see him in the small residence hall.

“I’ve seen him once or twice,” said Weinberg freshman Eric Mayo, who lives across the hall from Boehm’s room. “The [fourth] floor is kind of anti-social,” he said, adding, “No one really talks to each other all that much.”

Though few of the SMQ residents interviewed knew Boehm well, many are concerned. Kelly Kreft, a Weinberg freshman who lives two doors down from Boehm, says she hasn’t spoken with him since the second week of school. But, she added, “He seemed like a nice guy. I hope he’s all right.”

South Mid-Quads, the residence of missing NU student Trevor Boehm. Photo by Darren McRoy / North by Northwestern.

SMQ community assistant Benedict Lim declined to comment, saying CAs are prohibited from speaking with media.

A missing person report has also been filed with a national police database. University Police is partnering with Evanston Police Department in its search for Boehm. University Police searched campus on Sunday and Monday, also looking for Boehm’s bike, a green Schwinn, Cubbage said.

“We are very concerned,” Cubbage added.

Boehm is described as a white male, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing approximately 145 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. On his right forearm, he has a small birthmark.

According to University Archives, the last major disappearance of a student was in 1921.

Cubbage urged anyone with information to contact Northwestern University Police at 847-491-3254. Evanston Police and University Police have yet to respond to calls for comment.

Wednesday’s statement from the university is below:

FOR RELEASE: Nov. 12, 2008
CONTACT: Alan K. Cubbage at 847-491-4886 or a-cubbage@northwestern.edu

Statement by Alan K. Cubbage, Northwestern University Vice President for University Relations Regarding Missing Student

The Northwestern University Police Department continues its investigation into the missing persons case of Trevor J. Boehm, a Northwestern University freshman who has been missing since late last week. University Police officers have interviewed students in the residence hall where Trevor lives, other friends, his family and other persons who may have relevant information. University Police also has searched the Northwestern campus and buildings on campus. In addition, University Police has contacted the Evanston Police Department and Chicago Police Department, as well as field information with state and national missing persons databases.

Northwestern University Police are following up on all leads received from the community, regarding possible sightings of Trevor or his bicycle, which also has been reported missing. None of this information has led to his being located.

Anyone with information that may help locate Trevor should contact Northwestern University Police at 847-491-3254.

The University remains in contact with Trevor’s family. We continue to hope for the best in this difficult situation.

Alex Campbell, Chloe Benoist and Amanda Litman contributed to this report.

About six to eight Kellogg School of Management students were involved in “inappropriate” behavior at a party held last month at the Field Museum for 700 new students, said Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations.

An e-mail sent to Kellogg students Oct. 16, forwarded to North by Northwestern, described behaviors that included students throwing objects at exhibits, passing out and vomiting on the floor, among others. The Field Museum shut down the party early because of the behavior, the e-mail said. Cubbage would not confirm specifically what happened, just that the general incident occurred.

“It’s not what we expect of Kellogg and Northwestern students,” Cubbage said late Friday afternoon. “There’s a sense of disappointment here.”

The incident has attracted local and national attention as well. The Chicago Tribune reported the story Friday morning and a Business Week blog posted the e-mail sent to the Kellogg class of 2009 and 2010 listervs.

Officials at Kellogg have apologized to the Field Museum for the disruptive behavior, Cubbage said, and have contacted the students in question as well.

Nine-year-old Grayson King dangles a plastic camera over the railing of the stairs as he swings the toy around from the first landing. His dancing, downy-blond head can barely be seen below. The toy belongs to his two-and-a-half-year-old sister, Samantha, who tearfully wants it back, clamoring at the bottom of the stairs and shaking her dark curls, which match her coffee-with-cream complexion.

Covering his mouth with his hand, Grayson darts up the stairs to his room as their mother, Martha, restrains Samantha from running after him. Meanwhile, Claudia, the mocha-toned, pig-tailed, seven-year-old middle sibling, entertains herself with her own plastic camera, which she proudly says even has a flash.

This is a normal day at the King household. The only thing that might set it apart is that all three children are adopted. Martha was present only for the birth of Grayson, but she met Claudia the day after her birth and Samantha a few weeks after hers. Martha says she and her husband couldn’t conceive and didn’t try fertility treatments for long. This is why she credits The Cradle, an Evanston adoption agency that’s one of the oldest in the country, with helping her create the family that they have always wanted.

“Growing a family is in so many ways similar to doing it biologically,” she says. “After you change sixteen poopy diapers, you feel like a mom.”

Located on the corner of Ridge Avenue and Simpson Street, The Cradle offers an unusually open place for many associated with adoption: newborns whose birth parents are unsure of what step to take next, couples such as the Kings and single women around the world who want to become parents, and seniors who volunteer at the agency’s on-site nursery.

The warm, pink-striped walls of the The Cradle’s lobby give way to huge bookshelves in the living room, crowded with albums of records and pictures of all of the children the agency has helped place. Photos of smiling children at different ages—toddlers, middle schoolers, high school graduates—fill every surface. Just down the hall is the “wall of fame,” where pictures of The Cradle’s more-famous adoptive parents hang: entertainer Bob Hope, former Chicago Bears player Gale Sayers, and film star Al Jolson.

The Cradle was established in 1923 by Florence Walrath, an Evanston resident looking to help her sister find a child to adopt. Walrath assumed that there must be children in hospitals that birth parents wouldn’t be ready to raise, says Joan Jaeger, the agency’s director of marketing and communication. Walrath also wanted to provide a trusting site where people looking to adopt or place a child could connect with each other. Her research turned into her passion, Jaeger says, and the private adoption agency grew into one of the most-respected in the country. “The organization is around 85 years old, and that’s not by accident,” Jaeger says. “More than anything, our commitment to children keeps us steady.”

Each year The Cradle fields 750 to 800 calls from expectant women and about 1,000 calls from individuals looking to adopt, Jaeger says. The agency also offers counseling to both birth parents and adoptive parents–even ones who didn’t adopt through The Cradle. This includes managing crisis pregnancy situations on their 24-hour hotline, counseling to “explain what adoption looks like,” and workshops to help families through the process, on subjects such as the prenatal effects of substance abuse and the mental impact of adoption on the child.

One of the central tenets at the agency is open adoption, when birth parents stay in touch and have a meaningful relationship with their children. The Kings decided to try it, and say it has added a rich dimension to their family’s life.

“People are always fascinated by open adoption. It’s so funny to me that it’s so bizarre of a concept to others,” Martha says. “It so wonderful to have that relationship because it’s great for the kids to have those people in their lives and feel secure that their birth mom really loves them. In adoption, there are never too many people to love a child.”

She says that her family has close relationships with the birth families of her first two children, but Samantha’s birth mother didn’t want to be involved. Martha stresses how non-threatening these relationships are. “We are clearly our children’s parents,” she says. “It’s not a major issue. Sometimes people worry about it, but very rarely do I hear that there is a problem. Probably the adoptive parents want to have more of a relationship with the birth mother, so when that doesn’t happen the adoptive parents are disappointed for their child. In our situations, everyone has done everything they said they’re going to do.”

Jaeger describes open adoption as “a commitment to a meaningful, ongoing connection with the birth and adoptive parents that holds the child’s best interests above all else.” While the policy is neither legally binding nor mandated, she says it’s something that The Cradle suggests to all birth parents as an option, whether it takes the form of e-mails, letters, or visits.

The Cradle is also the only private adoption agency in the country to have an on-site nursery, Jaeger says, and every baby it receives in its care gets adopted. Consisting of a 24-hour staff and pre-screened volunteers, the nursery allows the agency to “establish a quick picture” of the health and needs of each child, as well as provide a haven for babies whose birth mothers may not know what to do next, according to Victoria Brooks, who’s in charge of nursing.

Located on the third floor, the nursery accommodates several white cribs, the walls delicately painted with vines and leaves curling over the heads of sleeping newborns. In the middle of the room stands a counter with a sink where staff and volunteers must wash up to their elbows before donning hospital gowns and after handling each infant. The nursery typically cares for six to seven babies at a time, and each usually stays about 17 days–although the room can accommodate up to 20 babies if necessary.

To keep the nursery running all day, volunteers serving as “cuddlers” help the nurses hold and feed the babies in two-hour shifts. There are about 50 cuddlers altogether, and although some time slots need more, in general there’s a two-year wait list to even be considered, background-checked, finger-printed, and interviewed for the job, which isn’t paid. “It’s a real popular program,” says Lynne Firestone, The Cradle’s volunteer coordinator. “It’s very soothing and pleasant to stop and hold a baby. I think people just want to hold babies.”

Winnetka resident Janice Russ, 70, says that’s why she volunteers. She used to drive by The Cradle on her way to work every day thinking she’d apply to the program when she retired. About a year ago, Russ got in contact with the agency and now has a regular shift every other week—and has even placed herself on the substitute list. She calls it the best job she’s ever had. “I usually come five to eight times a month, but that’s hardly enough,” she says. “It puts you in a zone: It’s peaceful and I get more out of it than the babies do. I like to put my nose in their neck and smell that sweet, sweet smell. The babies touch your face and you have that fragrance of a baby.” When she leaves, Russ says, the first thing that goes through her head is, “When can I come back?”

Samantha Ptashkin, a 22-year-old Northwestern student who has worked at The Cradle for two years, says a co-worker once suggested she pass by the nursery when she was having a bad day. Though the Medill senior’s job mostly involves entering data on who donates and adopts, a recent interview Ptashkin did for a journalism class led her to a birth mother who gave up her baby 14 years ago. “It was a really compelling story to hear, and she was crying a lot when talking to me,” Ptashkin says. “It was the first time I realized, wow, they’re making an impact on people’s lives. People need The Cradle. What would she have done without it?”

Increasing awareness of adoption in the black community is another priority, Jaeger says, since The Cradle gets twice as many calls from blacks looking to place a child compared to parents looking for a baby of that race.

Martha and her husband decided early on that they would be open to transracial adoption, meaning they were willing to adopt children of other races. That, among other factors, shortened their time on the wait list. The King parents are white, while their son is part Asian and their two daughters are half-black and half-white, but the family talks about it comfortably.

“My daughters have questions but they go to school with people that look like them, where they talk about race all the time,” Martha says. “Typically, kids notice skin color at age three and our middle child goes through phases where she wants to talk about it. It comes up when we bring it up so if she has questions, she can ask.”

The Kings speak at agency workshops about both transracial adoption and children with special needs—such as Grayson, who has mental retardation. “We didn’t know about it when he was born and didn’t figure out he had major issues until he was three,” Martha says. “We believe it’s something that happened at birth, like birth trauma.”

Still, everyday life doesn’t center on adoption, Martha says, because raising three children in a house that’s being renovated, with construction workers hammering through parts of the day, and two dogs underfoot has its challenges enough. When it’s time to feed Ginger (“Bad Dog”) and Kaylee (“Good Dog”), Martha enlists Samantha to help. “Here,” Martha says, handing her a cup with dog food. Samantha trots over and empties the cup into the dogs’ dishes as Ginger and Kaylee begin to eat. One of the construction workers emerges from the kitchen to say that he’s leaving, and Martha wishes him good night. Samantha climbs onto the living room sofa, pulling a blanket over her body and sucking on her pacifier as she watches the kid’s TV show Arthur.

“This is a way to form your family. Once you have all your kids, it’s about school and getting homework done,” Martha says. “I’m an only child. It was a quiet family, so I probably sought this out. It’s chaotic, but that’s sort of how we like it.”

It may be Block 9 of DM but Weinberg sophomore Brooke Weitz still has plenty of energy.

Swinging her arms around and jumping up and down, Weitz bounced to “Come on Eileen” with Weinberg freshman Max Brock and SESP sophomore Kelly Lynch in Club DM.

“The closer to the end you get to the end, the more [pumped up] you get… except for in the middle,” Weitz said.

“It’s all about adrenaline,” Brock yelled.

How late into DM it is does player a factor, Weitz said, but not how you would think.

“The more tired you get, you stop caring how much your legs hurt,” Weitz said.

Weinberg sophomore Kahn Fukui was a lot more optimistic about his hurt ankle at 2 a.m.

Almost 15 hours later, the story is a little different.

“My ankle is hurting a lot more,” he said. “Through out the night my condition deteriorated. It got a lot worse than I expected.”

To combat his discomfort, Fukui said he’s been taking several breaks and icing his ankle a lot.

Balancing on his one crutch during a quieter moment during DM, Fukui reflected on how his injury might’ve actually left him better off than most.

“It’s a long marathon, but I have it easy compared to the other dancers,” he said.

“I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” by Wilco

I wrote a paper on this song for class last spring. That’s how well front man Jeff Tweedy nails the stormy emotions involved in talking to an ex… especially while drunk. The swirling feedback and his tired, gravelly voice mimic drunken ramblings, and the refrain that ends each verse with “what was I thinking…” poignantly captures the mix of desperation and questioning behind his lyrics. Take it from Jeff: Don’t drunk-dial your ex this V-Day, especially if you think you can try to break their heart.

“Hands Down” by Dashboard Confessional

OK, OK I know this inclusion is kind of emo, but the bridge really gets what it’s like in those perfect, bittersweet moments right before you leave. There is simple guitar strumming in the acoustic version and a power ballad rock out in the other version, but both provide fantastic backgrounds to Chris Carrabba’s emotional outpouring. The line “Hands down this is the best day I can ever remember” resonates with anyone who’s ever had that tingling feeling as you start to fall for someone and the image of “And you stood at your door with your hands on my waist, and you kissed me like you meant it” just sends shivers down my spine. Oh, new love is so sweet.

“If You Don’t, Don’t” by Jimmy Eat World

Everyone knows how much mixed signals suck. Driven by a brisk melody fueled with anguish, this song pleads for clarity. “If you don’t don’t know, why would you say so? Would you mean this please if it happens?” We all know that it hurts when you think people mean things that they don’t, but the song’s strength comes from admitting that sometimes you just can’t get past limbo. This song works really when driving at twilight, just saying. Lesson of the day: Don’t lead people on. It’s a bitch.

“Evenstar” by Howard Shore

The best theme I’ve ever found for that Hollywood-type love story comes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Scored by the esteemed Howard Shore (he won three Oscars for the Tolkien films), “Evenstar” is a sensual journey pulled straight from the scene in The Two Towers where Arwen and Aragorn are professing their love to each other in a dream sequence. Sung in Tolkien’s fictional Elvish language, this song’s haunting vocals and sorrowful strings pulls you deep within their love, one that stretched across the centuries, defying mortality and evil. Yeah, maybe I’m a LOTR nerd, but I bet you wish you could have a love that epic too.

“The Luckiest” by Ben Folds

Love supposedly has something to do with finding someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, right? (Right? Right?!) Ben Folds might say so. Backed by his signature piano, “The Luckiest” is his simple love letter about being flawed but so in love that he can’t help but be humbled by it all. “And where was I before the day that I first saw your lovely face? Now I see it everyday.” There are a million ways to say “I love you,” but Ben Folds nails some especially heartfelt ones. Le sigh, indeed.

“Your Ex-Lover is Dead” by Stars

Any song that starts with a grown man growling “When there’s nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire” deserves to be included on this list. A surprisingly mature take on the next time you see your ex awhile later, the song is also smart enough to realize that sometimes there’s nothing left to discuss. Twinkling at times with soft vocals, the song’s best moment comes with the clarity of the lines “I’m not sorry I met you, I’m not sorry it’s over, I’m not sorry… there’s nothing to say.” If only we could all be so sage.

When Mayfest Director of Concerts Liz Korutz found out Tuesday that a band dropped out of the Dillo Day lineup, she said she stood up in class, told the professor that Motion City Soundtrack had canceled and walked out of the room. She arrived at Mayfest’s office on the third floor of Norris to find a room full of staffers ready to find a solution.

“It was totally chaotic, it’s our nightmare,” said Korutz, a Medill senior. “[But] all these people came in to brainstorm.”

After compiling lists of potential acts and checking Ticketmaster and Pollstar to see who was touring in the area or who could make it, “we crossed off who wouldn’t work and it looked like The Roots were the best option,” Korutz said.

Mayfest organizers announced Tuesday evening that they verbally confirmed that hip hop group The Roots would play on Dillo Day mid-afternoon. Based out of Philadelphia, the Grammy-award winning group headlined the A&O Ball in 2004. Korutz said the contracts officially booking the concert would “hopefully” be sent to the band tomorrow.

Mayfest was already in the process of contacting three other lesser-known bands to add to the Dillo Day lineup when Motion City Soundtrack canceled, Korutz said. Since these three bands were “more niche-audience” and it was easier to pursue one contract instead of three, Mayfest organizers decided to pool the money to pursue The Roots, “simply because it was the week of [Dillo Day] and it was a good option,” Korutz said.

“We would’ve been unable to secure The Roots if Motion City Soundtrack didn’t cancel, so we’re looking at it as a blessing,” said Mayfest co-chair Hillary Robbie, a Communication junior.

Robbie said Mayfest started hearing rumors around 3 p.m. on Tuesday that they were likely to book The Roots for Dillo Day. When the band verbally confirmed around 6 p.m., the packed office erupted into an “instantaneous roar,” Korutz said.

“The Roots complete a lineup that represents campus and [fill] out the day,” Korutz said.

Confirming a band so close to Dillo Day doesn’t leave producers and others with much time to make necessary preparations, said Weinberg sophomore Diana Richter, Mayfest’s co-producer for The Roots concert.

“A lot needs to happen in three days — hopefully in one day, so we can have it all set,” Richter said. “Because of the size of the group and the numbers of individuals they travel with, it’s a challenge production-wise, because organizing that many people is always a challenge. It would’ve been a challenge with three months but with three days… [But] The Roots are pros; they’ve played at tons of colleges.”

Richter also emphasized how well she thought The Roots would work as Dillo Day performers.

“They put the cherry on the sundae,” Richter said. “For festivals, you kind of deserve to have a jam-type of atmosphere. They blend hip hop with rock, which spans fans across the genres.”

Still, Korutz said the time crunch makes preparations stressful.

“We’re still reeling, there’s still work to do,” Korutz said. “The process usually takes us months, one to two usually. To do it in a week… I keep telling committees ‘It will get done because it has to.’”

“The Roots have a broad-based appeal, and it was a band that we were already interested in,” said Hart, a Medill sophomore.

The act was announced after Motion City Soundtrack, one of the bands recently added to Dillo Day, canceled on Monday, Hart said, although The Roots aren’t necessarily a replacement. Mayfest organizers expect to receive the contracts on Wednesday.

“[There was] a lot of finagling and praying,” Hart said. Because of the limited time left, Mayfest was willing to spend much of its remaining money on The Roots.

Mayfest is also sending out another offer to a local band that has a “good buzz” about them, Hart said.

Updated at 2:30 a.m.: Mayfest organizers are “hopefully” sending out the contract booking the band on Wednesday, said Medill senior Liz Korutz, Mayfest director of concerts.

Updated at 3:15 a.m.: The Roots are tentatively scheduled to play mid-afternoon, several Mayfest organizers said.

Related: A look at how Mayfest booked The Roots and how that presents production issues with Dillo Day less than four days away.

Photography by Dagny Salas and Annalise Flynn.

Thirty hours of dancing is a lot to get through for anyone, but dancing with a significant other can certainly make the experience more fun.

One couple, Communication sophomore Amanda King and Weinberg sophomore Tim Ullmann, said that dancing together made doing DM even better.

“It’s nice because when you get really tired, hugs are perfect. It makes it more fun [because] we like being together so we can be together for 30 hours,” she said. “And because we know each other, we can ask each other if everything’s okay instead of just ‘are you tired?’”

Ullmann agreed that spending so much time together was enjoyable.

“And it gives you someone to dance with,” he said. “Plus it’s good motivation because you can’t wuss out before your girlfriend can.”