January 20, 2005

The digest

Northwestern people, events and things

Early Braff work at Block Cinema / Studio 22 Shorts Night at 8 p.m. Jan. 20 (tonight) features quality films by former Northwestern students. The highlight is Lionel on His Sun Day by Zach Braff, who won acclaim by starring in Scrubs and directing Garden State. Also shown will be The Gary We Know and Love, a satire of celebrity culture in which the celebrities are grocery clerks, and Buskin’, a tale of two street musicians on a mission to rock out.

Movie Boy’s local talent / Radio/TV/Film student Jon Lefkovitz will premiere his first feature-length film Jan. 28 at Block Cinema. The autobiographical film — Movie Boy — tells the story of 13-year-old Frank Pollack, who decides to make his own film. Pollack is played by Eastman Presser, son of law professor Stephen Presser. See Editor’s Pick on page 8.

Joey goes NU / The theatre department enjoyed prime time limelight recently when NBC’s Friends spin-off Joey used Northwestern in a storyline. In the episode, Joey seeks acting work by impersonating a Northwestern alumnus, and infiltrating the so-called “Northwestern Mafia,” a network of well-connected alumni. To see Joey star Matt LeBlanc in Northwestern gear, go to www. nbc.com/Joey/photo/15.html.

Students win ‘Fed Challenge’ / Northwestern students won a national competition and a share of $47,000 in scholarships and awards, testing their knowledge of how the Federal Reserve creates policy to foster a strong and stable economy. The winning team of Aditya Damani, Alexander Leung, Rosa Li, Derek Moeller and Josh Plavner was coached by Mark Witte, senior lecturer in economics.