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Shirts, Frats, Pizza, and Lampposts: USG Election Cycle Punctuated by Three-Hour Complaint Hearing

By KATHERINE WEAVER | Senior News Reporter

The Golden Slate Warriors ticket are set to become the next leaders of Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at UChicago in an election cycle involving multiple protests and vote deductions for several candidates. Both during and after the voting period, several complaints were filed against each of the three executive tickets for campaign violations, resulting in vote deductions for both the upLIFT and Chicago tickets after a hearing on April 17.

Golden Slate, comprising third-year Jefferson Lind as president and second-year Ariana Ukaonu as executive vice president (EVP), earned 421 of the 1164 bal-

lots cast in the 2023 USG elections. Lind is currently USG’s EVP, while Ukaonu serves as USG’s vice president of advocacy. Results became official on April 21 at 4 p.m., which marked the end of the one-week period in which appeals and complaints can be submitted to USG’s Elections and Rules (E&R) Committee.

After a complaint of a rule violation is submitted, the E&R committee notifies the defendant via email and sets a date for a public hearing. Within these hearings, complainants are able to present evidence supporting the allegations and respondents’ evidence to the contrary.

Both parties are then able to speak in the rules’ interpretation discussion, which determines the basis for and severity of the infraction. After this, E&R enters private deliberations and creates a ruling to be publicized after the hearings conclude.

The runner-up, upLIFT Slate, received 328 votes, though the total was reduced to 324.72 after the ticket incurred a 1 percent vote deduction for violating the University Posting Policy by placing a campaign poster on a lamppost. E&R conducted a hearing for the violation three hours after voting closed on April 14, but neither presidential candidate Julia Brestovitskiy nor EVP candidate Elijah Jenkins was present, nor were the complainants, the Chicago Ticket.

Commonly referred to as Chicago for U, the Chicago Ticket received 307 votes before complaint hearings held on April 17. The ticket was comprised of second-year presidential candidate Ben Vacher and third-year EVP candidate Alex Norton.

The first complaint against the Chicago Ticket alleged that its members violated Article II.1 of E&R’s spring 2023 election policies by exceeding the $200 cap allotted for campaign spending. After voting concluded on Friday afternoon, the Chicago Ticket posted the email notification of the violation, sent by E&R chair R. E. Stern on Friday, to its Instagram story. The text “Stop the Steal” was overlaid on a screen-

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Up to Half of Incoming Med School Students to Receive Full-Tuition Scholarships Starting Fall 2023

By ANUSHREE VASHIST | News Editor

The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine will offer full-tuition scholarships to up to half of all incoming students starting in fall 2023, according to an April 12 press release. Pritzker will also roll out its new Pritzker Phoenix curriculum at the same time.

“The new scholarship funds will be granted based on need and a candidate’s potential to succeed,” the release read. “The new curriculum will focus on empowering students to serve as patient advocates and enhance small-group learning and community engagement, while continuing UChica-

NEWS: Library Fails to Notify Student Workers About Hazardous Materials in Books

go’s tradition of rigorous inquiry.”

Per the release, more than 90 percent of current Pritzker students receive partial financial aid, and about 40 percent have been supported through full-tuition scholarships or grants.

The news comes after Mark Anderson— the dean of Pritzker, executive vice president for Medical Affairs, and dean of the Biological Sciences Division—told The Maroon in fall 2022 about his goal of reducing medical school tuition and student debt ahead of the medical school’s centennial in 2027.

“Diversity is an essential part of a mean-

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ingful medical education and a vital focus of ours as we envision the future of healthcare,” Anderson said in the April 12 release. “While the changes being made represent another important step in the journey toward increased equity in medical education and in healthcare, we also have a goal to create a tuition or debt–free scenario for all Pritzker students in need.”

A 2018 analysis by the Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC) found that almost a quarter of medical students in the United States come from the top five percent of the country’s wealthiest households.

“The high cost of medical education literally makes it a barrier to entry for all

but the wealthiest students. Increasing our tuition support allows us to recruit and support talented students who deserve to access medical education but simply cannot afford it. They are also the same students who are more likely to serve their communities,” Dean for Medical Education Vineet Arora told The Maroon in an email.

Pritzker’s new Pritzker Phoenix curriculum will debut this fall, with the first cohort of students on the curriculum set to graduate in 2027. Per the release, the new curriculum will increase students’ access to clinical opportunities beginning their first year while also providing time for self-di-

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“Increasing our tuition support allows us to recruit and support talented students who deserve to access medical education but simply cannot afford it.”

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rected learning, research opportunities, and community engagement.

“The redesigned curriculum’s name was selected to symbolize rebirth following the COVID-19 pandemic and pays homage to UChicago’s coat of arms, a shield displaying

a phoenix,” the release read.

“It is literally a rebirth of knowledge that we learned in the pandemic on how to best teach and also support our students [in] learning using concepts pioneered here, such as learning by doing, experiential learning, and small group teaching,” Arora

Vice Provost

said.

Additionally, the new curriculum will give students more time to study for Step 2 of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), which has become increasingly important for matching into residency programs after USMLE Step 1 became pass/fail in 2022.

“One additional benefit of our new curriculum is students will have more time so they can prepare for USMLE Step 2 and receive coaching as well as skill-building to continue to successfully succeed in an increasingly competitive residency match and in their residencies,” Arora said.

Melina E. Hale (Ph.D. ’98) Announced as Next Dean of the College

By AUSTIN ZEGLIS | Senior News Reporter

Melina E. Hale, a vice provost of the University and professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, will be the next dean of the College, according to an email sent to the University community from President Paul Alivisatos and Provost Katherine Baicker on Wednesday, April 12.

Hale will succeed John Boyer, who will continue teaching in the College and transition into the role of senior advisor to the president at the end of the academic year. The move will be made official on July 1.

“Melina’s commitment to a liberal arts education, renowned research and schol-

arship, and history of academic leadership make her exceptionally qualified to advance the College into the future, while stewarding our legacy of providing a transformative educational experience for our students,” the email said.

Hale received a Ph.D. in Biomechanics from the University of Chicago in 1998. She completed her undergraduate degree, a B.S. in Zoology, at Duke in 1992. Before joining the UChicago faculty in 2002, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook.

A recipient of the University’s Wayne C. Booth Graduate Student Prize for Excel-

lence in Teaching, Hale is also a member of both the Committee on Neurobiology and the Committee on Computational Neuroscience. From 2013 to 2016, she served as Dean for Faculty Affairs of the Biological Sciences Division.

In her previous roles, Hale has led projects such as chairing a task force to offer suggestions on enhancing the undergraduate STEM education through creative media and increasing institutional engagement among the University’s emeriti faculty. Hale has also spearheaded initiatives on campus pertaining to environmental research and sustainability, budget modernization, and administrative system improvements.

“Melina will oversee a strategic vision for the College’s next chapter. She will play a crucial role in upholding and advancing the University’s and the College’s fundamental values, including our deep commitment to fostering a thriving intellectual culture that values freedom of expression,” the email said. “Melina will champion our dedication to rigorous inquiry and to developing in our students the habits of mind and character instilled by our core curriculum and a liberal arts education.”

The College Deanship Advisory Committee, chaired by professor of philosophy Gabriel Lear, facilitated the selection process.

Library Fails to Notify Student Workers About Hazardous Materials in Books

By KATHERINE WEAVER | Senior News Reporter

Undergraduate library workers across the University of Chicago library system were not warned about the presence of poisonous elements in the bindings of books in the University’s collection, The Maroon has learned.

Full-time staff in the University of Chicago library system received an email on Friday, March 31, notifying them about the potentially poisonous materials in the bindings. Undergraduate workers only learned about the contamination on

Wednesday, April 5, when a staff member independently posted a flier in the Regenstein Library’s bookstacks department.

The Maroon received a copy of the March 31 email titled “Planning for Handling 19th-Century Cloth Covered Books with Copper Arsenic Compounds” sent out to the University’s “All Library Staff” email list by Associate University Librarian for Collections and Access James R. Mouw.

It read, “A team from Conservation

and the Special Collections Research Center led by [Head of Conservation] Ann Lindsey is developing a protocol for identifying and handling this material.”

Per the email, the proposed protocol includes sealing books that meet the color identification criteria in polyethylene bags until testing can be conducted as well as training staff on identifying and handling such materials.

The University of Delaware’s Winterthur Poison Book Project, which was cited in the University’s email and the staff member’s flier, aims to identify and cata-

log books that contain known poisonous substances, particularly books from the 1840s and 1850s containing the pigment Paris green.

Paris green, also known as emerald green and Vienna green, is an arsenic-based pigment found in the book cloth, illustrations, and labels of certain antique books. Book cloth is the material used to create a textile effect on the covers of books, and it became popular in the 1800s as an alternative to expensive leather binding. More than 50 percent

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“We really just don’t get that much direct communication from the University.”

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of the 19th-century cloth-case bindings analyzed by the Winterthur Poison Book Project had book cloth containing lead.

The danger in exposure to these books comes primarily from the pigment’s tendency to shed arsenic flakes. While contact with skin can cause small amounts of arsenic to be absorbed, ingesting or inhaling flakes containing arsenic poses more concerns. The project found that conservators could be exposed to arsenic pigment dust levels can be “several times higher than the OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration]

exposure limit.”

Full-time and undergraduate staff workers say that the lack of communication regarding the books reflects a pattern of excluding student workers from important workplace conversations while also disregarding their contributions to library operations.

“There is a consistent pattern of treating student library workers as not full staff,” a full-time staff member told The Maroon. “The University has argued in court that students are not really workers and [has] routinely denied the existence of the student worker union for years

after their [National Labor Relations Board] election.” Student library workers voted to unionize in 2017 and, after a set of appeals by the University, were granted recognition in 2018.

“More troubling is a tendency from management to treat student workers in an infantilizing way, claiming for example that discussing work conditions when student workers are present is somehow inappropriate,” the staff member said.

“Considering the NLRB has upheld the right of student workers to form a union, that is likely an unfair labor practice.”

Third-year Caitlin Lozada, a staff

member at Regenstein, believes that there is a lack of communication from the University to undergraduate workers. Lozada is also a copy chief at The Maroon

“We really just don’t get that much direct communication from the University about work in general, such as pay raises, new contracts, staff events, et cetera,” she said. “I hear all the info from the [fulltime staff] who tell us about important emails or events that happen in the Bookstacks department. If it weren’t for them, I would not know much about anything that is happening internally in the library, especially the copper arsenic email.”

University Purchases Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and McCormick Theological Seminary Campuses

By PETER MAHERAS | Deputy News Editor

The University has completed the purchase of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) and the McCormick Theological Seminary (MTS) campuses. The agreement between the University and the two schools was first announced in May 2022 and was officially completed this year on March 9, according to University spokesperson Gerald McSwiggan.

The 3.5-acre property is located on the block bounded by East 55th Street, East 54th Place, South Greenwood Avenue, and South University Avenue, which is across the street from Campus North Residential Commons. The buildings

currently on the property include approximately 172,000 gross square feet of space.

The University did not announce exact plans for the site, but the University said the purchase was not related to residential planning.

“Although a specific long-term use has not been finalized, the University anticipates the adaptive reuse of the buildings that will support its educational and research mission,” McSwiggan said in a statement to The Maroon

In the May 2022 announcement, the University said LSTC and MTS would have the right to lease the space from the

University for a “limited period of time.”

The agreement also said the University would allow students and faculty of the two institutions to utilize the University’s shuttle services and dining halls.

LSTC was established in 1962, when four separate theological schools were consolidated into one. The school opened its Hyde Park campus in 1967. LSTC announced that they would move from their 55th Street campus to the Catholic Theological Union, located on 54th Street and South Cornell Avenue, this summer.

“This move is a pivotal moment in our history as we position our school to be a thriving global seminary that forms leaders sent into the world,” LSTC President James Nieman said in a video post-

ed on the LSTC website. “Our school will be on stronger financial footing, able to invest in strategic areas while opening the door for innovation and growth.”

MTS was founded in 1829. In 1974, the school moved from its Lincoln Park campus to Hyde Park due to declining enrollment and difficulty of maintenance.

“We look forward to exploring new avenues of engagement and cooperation with LSTC and the University, and especially look forward to working with our wider McCormick community as we continue to transform and prepare for our third century of service to the church and the community,” MTS President David Crawford told UChicago News in May.

Johnson Defeats Vallas for Mayor; Yancy Wins Fifth Ward

By RICHARD DAVIS | Senior News Reporter

Brandon Johnson defeated Paul Vallas in a hotly contested mayoral runoff election on Tuesday, April 4, to become the 57th mayor of Chicago. The Associated Press called the race in Johnson’s favor just after 9:30 p.m. CDT.

As of midnight Wednesday, with 99.61 percent of the vote in and five precincts out of 1,291 missing from the final count,

Johnson earned 286,647 votes and Vallas 270,775 for 51.42 percent and 48.58 percent of the total, respectively. At the time of print, the totals stood at 319,481 votes for a 52.16 percent share for Johnson and 293,033 votes for a 47.84 percent share for Vallas.

Johnson will succeed outgoing mayor Lori Lightfoot, who failed to make the

runoff after finishing third in the first round of voting on February 28. Johnson will take office on Monday, May 15. Johnson, who is a current member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and a Chicago Teachers Union organizer, was widely considered the progressive candidate in the race. He ran on a platform of raising taxes on big businesses and the wealthy as well as increasing police accountability and

supporting mental health services.

Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), ran on a more moderate platform than Johnson. He called for bolstering public safety by investing in police, as well as improving education by creating a school voucher program and cutting bloat in the CPS budget.

On election night in the runoff for

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“Turnout for the race as of April 18 was 38.67 percent.”

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Fifth Ward alderman, community organizer and activist Desmon Yancy, a South Shore native, held a narrow lead over Tina Hone (A.B. ’84), who previously served as the City of Chicago’s chief engagement officer. With 100 percent of precincts reporting at the time, Yancy accumulated 5,700 votes and 51.79 percent of the total to Hone’s 5,306 and 48.21 percent.

However, the Hyde Park Herald re -

ported that on election night, more than 1,700 mail-in ballots were still to be counted. In a follow-up email to The Maroon on Friday, April 7, after 200 more ballots were added to the total and the gap winnowed slightly to 368, Hone wrote that conceding “would not be fair to the people who have been supporting me.”

On Monday, April 10, Hone notified The Maroon that she had conceded the race. With 689 ballots still to be counted,

the gap between the pair was 423 ballots, with Yancy on 6,140 votes and Hone on 5,717.

Yancy will replace outgoing alderman Leslie Hairston, who is retiring after 24 years in the position, on May 15.

In the Fourth Ward, with 100 percent of precincts reporting and 750 outstanding mail-in ballots as of April 10, Illinois State Representative Lamont Robinson has earned 8,820 votes for 66.34 percent of the total, soundly defeating opponent

Prentice Butler (A.B. ’02, M.A. ’20), who earned 4,476 votes for a total of 33.66 percent.

Robinson will replace outgoing alderman Sophia King, who ran for mayor but failed to make it past the first round.

Turnout for the race as of April 18 was 38.67 percent with 613,795 ballots cast, an increase from the 566,973 ballots cast and 35.85 percent turnout in the first round. A total of 33,173 mail-in ballots remain unaccounted for.

Jon Stewart and Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks Discuss the Impacts of Military Service at Inaugural War Horse Symposium

By JUSTIN WALGREN | Senior News Reporter

The Harris School of Public Policy and The War Horse News hosted a conversation between comedian Jon Stewart and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks on the relations between civilians and the military and between veterans and the Department of Defense (DOD). The event was hosted at the David and Reva Logan Center for the Arts on April 6.

The conversation was the closing event of the inaugural War Horse Symposium, a collaborative project by the Harris School and The War Horse News dedicated to exploring the human impact of military service through a series of panels and public conversations. The War Horse News is a nonprofit media outlet that covers veterans’ affairs and military issues.

Stewart is best known for hosting The Daily Show, a comedy show satirizing national news, between 1999 and 2015. He garnered an enduring reputation for his social criticism and political commentary, and he strongly advocates for improving the lives of veterans through an increase in healthcare benefits and social assistance programs.

Hicks currently serves as the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense and previously served two terms as an undersecretary in the DOD under the Obama administration.

After an introduction by Thomas Brennan, the executive director of The War Horse News, Stewart began the con-

versation by asking Hicks a series of questions about the relationship between the DOD and the press.

Hicks denied the assertion that the DOD has a strained relationship with the press. Stewart disagreed. He suggested that despite claiming to welcome good journalism, the DOD’s conduct says otherwise.

As an example, he cited the scandal surrounding the U.S. military’s use of burn pits to dispose of chemical waste in combat zones, which exposed many U.S. soldiers to toxic substances and resulted in Congress passing the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 to ensure veterans exposed to these substances receive necessary healthcare. The military resisted media efforts to report on the issue, Stewart argued.

Hicks plainly responded, “I don’t accept the premise.” She conceded that the DOD’s extensive bureaucracy can sometimes complicate efforts to retrieve information about military operations but said, “Taking care of people, specifically the PACT Act issues, is front and center for the Secretary of Defense, front and center for me.”

Stewart asked Hicks what issues the DOD would like to see covered by journalists, and she responded, “I think the personal stories and personal experiences are really important.” She added that coverage

of these stories could help repair a “disconnectedness” between the military and civilians, referring to the military’s falling recruitment numbers in recent years.

Stewart’s next set of questions focused on the DOD’s recruitment issues. Both Stewart and Hicks agreed that military service has lost value to many Americans, but they disagreed on the cause of this lost value. Stewart pointed to the perceived lack of support for veterans by the DOD, citing the lack of a common electronic recordkeeping system between the DOaD and the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) as an example.

“I was in Afghanistan, sitting in a tent, watching eyes in the sky, with drones that looked over a three-mile period that could pick a guy off of a motorcycle without knocking over a street sign next to him. And so, the idea that we have enough money to make those toys but not enough money to make veterans coming back from American wars, who are suffering toxic exposures, have an IT system that works—somebody is responsible for that,” Stewart said.

Hicks countered that the DOD is actively working with VA to merge electronic healthcare records. “The care of veterans is vital to our ability to have a social compact with anyone who serves. Absolutely uncontested, absolutely true.”

The topic of DOD recordkeeping also led to questions about the department’s financial transparency. Stewart mentioned that the budget for the VA has increased

in recent years and that this increase has drawn scrutiny from many political commentators. In contrast, he claimed, the budget for the DOD has faced comparatively little scrutiny despite the fact that the department has never passed an audit. He asked Hicks why this was the case.

“DOD doesn’t have the kind of backbone business systems that collect data in a way that can allow you to pass an audit,” Hicks said. “That’s a high priority for me. We’ve been making sure we’re investing in those systems. It’s probably a 10-year process.”

“I understand, but you do realize to an audience of Americans, that’s crazy,” Stewart responded. He returned to the DOD’s relationship with the press, stating, “Don’t you think that that does speak to the larger point we’re trying to get at, which is [that] good journalism uncovers corruption?”

Hicks challenged Stewart on whether he understood the implications of an audit. “The fact that the DOD has not passed an audit is not suggestive of waste, fraud, and abuse,” she said. “It suggests that we don’t have an accurate inventory that we can pull up of what we have where.”

Stewart responded, “I think most people would consider that somewhere in the realm of waste, fraud, or abuse because they would wonder why that money isn’t well accounted for. I may not understand exactly the ins and outs, and the incredible magic of an audit, but I’m a human being

talk to Tom Brokaw about calling

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who lives on the Earth and can’t figure out how $850 billion to a department means that the rank-and-file still have to live on food stamps. To me, that’s fucking corruption.”

The conversation concluded with a note about current advancements and challenges to veterans’ benefits. Hicks

addressed the food insecurity Stewart mentioned and named it as a priority issue for the DOD. She added that she would be happy to work with VA to add more benefits to the PACT Act.

After an audience Q&A, Stewart stressed the importance of spreading awareness about the challenges facing veterans.

He offered an anecdote about working with veteran service organizations (VSOs) to draft the PACT Act. Stewart proposed taxing defense contractors to create an additional fund for veterans’ healthcare, and all VSOs loved the proposal but ultimately could not implement it. “Why?” he asked. “Because guess who funds the VSOs? Defense contractors.”

“I think that speaks to the structural issues that we have in the country,” Stewart said. Later, he added, “If I’m addressing those who are gonna be a part of this system, it doesn’t have to be this way. This is what we made of it. But we fucked it up big. So, it would be nice if you could fix it for us, and I’ll talk to Tom Brokaw about calling you the next greatest generation.”

UChicago Law and Other Top Law Schools Are Producing Disproportionately Large Numbers of Fossil Fuel Lawyers, Study Finds

By SHINJINI CHAKRABORTY | Senior News Reporter

Law Students for Climate Accountability (LSCA), a national group of law students against climate change, released a report on March 9 showing that elite law schools are producing fossil fuel lawyers at high rates. The report details why this phenomenon is occurring, its impact on the climate crisis, and what actions law schools and students can take to address the issue of climate change.

In the report, the LSCA found that seven of the top 20 (T20) law schools per US News & World Report produce fossil fuel lawyers “at over three times the rate of the average US law school.” The University of Texas produces the most fossil fuel lawyers, at 12.9 times the rate of an average school. The University of Chicago Law School produces fossil fuel lawyers at 3.7 times the rate of an average law school, the sixth-highest rate of the T20 universities.

The LSCA claims that the high rate of fossil fuel lawyer production at elite law schools is harmful because these lawyers “use their legal skills to advance extraction of and dependency on the primary cause of the climate crisis: fossil fuels.” Specifically, these lawyers “litigate to protect polluters from climate accountability lawsuits and to strike down environmental regulations. They also lobby to weaken environmental regulations.”

In addition to noting the harm that fossil fuel litigation and lobbying cause to the environment, the report warns that entering the field of fossil fuel law may have consequences for prospective lawyers.

“As the energy transition unfolds and the fossil fuel industry faces an increasingly precarious future, law students whose career prospects ebb and flow with the fate of the fossil fuel industry could face serious financial costs,” the report states.

The report also offers explanations of forces that drive law students to work for fossil fuel companies. “Top-ranked law schools produce disproportionately more fossil fuel lawyers…because they send graduates to elite corporate law firms at high rates,” states the report. It then goes on to assert that these top “Big Law” firms are often characterized by law schools as distinguished and desirable despite also being the ones engaged by fossil fuel companies.

Another pressure that drives students towards these careers is the massive amount of debt that they face. The report states that “the average law school graduate owes $180,000 in student loan debt, and [71 percent] of law school students graduate in debt.” An urge to pay off these loans as fast as possible might drive students to work for Big Law firms that pay their incoming associates “over $200,000 before tax annually, while most public interest jobs pay just about one third of that.”

The LSCA also made several recommendations to law schools and students. They encouraged law schools to “ensure their career offices devote at least as much time and resources to promoting careers in public interest law as careers at corpo -

rate firms” and suggested that they lower the amount of debt that they put on their students. The organization also encouraged law students to raise awareness about “the role of lawyers in the climate crisis” and to urge their schools to become more environmentally friendly.

Tim Hirschel-Burns, who graduated from Yale Law School in 2022, is a lead author of the report and a cofounder of the LSCA. In an interview with The Maroon, Hirschel-Burns said that the LSCA was formed in 2020 following protests against Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (Paul, Weiss), the firm that represents ExxonMobil in climate accountability lawsuits.

Hirschel-Burns and other law students from around the nation protested the receptions that the firm hosted at their law schools. “Major law firms doing work to exacerbate the climate crisis was something that we were uncomfortable with and wanted to work against. Seeing these protests showed that there was a larger group of students out there who felt the same way across the country,” Hirschel-Burns said.

He and his fellow students acknowledged that ExxonMobil and Paul, Weiss were not the only organizations contributing to the climate crisis, and launched the LSCA in an effort to learn more about what groups were aiding this issue and to what extent they were doing so.

While the LSCA had focused on studying the impact that law firms had on the climate crisis in the past, Hirschel-Burns stated that the group also wanted to understand the role of law schools in the

matter. “Law students feel that—in a very visceral way—that their law schools make it far easier to get jobs at elite law firms that also do lots of fossil fuel work than law schools make it easy to find jobs at other types of employers. We wanted to look at which law schools are playing the biggest role in the trend, [what were] some of the practices that are contributing to this and make some recommendations about what law schools should be doing,” he said.

Hirschel-Burns emphasized that law students should think twice before entering fossil fuel law. “We understand, especially given the debt pressures, why students feel that pressure. At the same time, we’d say [that] this work is not morally neutral…lawyers are causal actors, they are the ones in court making arguments for fossil fuel projects to succeed… so lawyers can’t just say that’s not on us; they do have more responsibility there.”

Hirschel-Burns also had a message for law schools themselves: “The choices law schools are making are actually having effects. We don’t see a lot of top law schools going as far as they should, but there is certainly variation [in the rates at which these schools create fossil fuel lawyers], and I think that points to the improvements that law schools can make.”

Speaking on behalf of the LSCA, Hirschel-Burns said, “At the very minimum we think that [T20 law schools] should not be producing fossil fuel lawyers at a much higher rate than even the average US law school.”

The University of Chicago Law School declined to comment.

“‘I’ll

you the next greatest generation.’”

University Announces Death of Second-Year Niv Sparkes

By ERIC FANG | Deputy News Editor

The University announced this afternoon that Niv Sparkes, a second-year in the College, had passed away.

In an email to members of the College community, Deans John Boyer and Jay Ellison wrote, “We extend our heartfelt sympathies to his family, his fellow students and all other members of our community affected by this loss.”

The initial email did not provide additional information about the time or circumstances of Sparkes’s death, though a subsequent email from Boyer and Ellison sent Monday morning confirmed that he had “passed away over the weekend.”

The second email confirmed that a re-

ception for Sparkes’s friends and family would take place on Tuesday, April 18, from 5:30–7 p.m. in the Resident Deans East Commons on the second floor of Campus North Residential Commons.

Sunday’s email encouraged community members affected by Sparkes’s death to reach out to Student Wellness counselors, who are available at the UChicago Student Wellness Center at 840 East 59th Street. Students can book an appointment by calling (773) 834–9355. Walk-ins are also accepted between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. A clinician can be reached by calling (773) 702–3625 at any time.

Other campus and city resources can be accessed by calling the Dean-on-Call via the University of Chicago Police Department at (773) 702–8181.

“This is an extremely difficult time, and we hope that all members of the College community support one another as we navigate this tragedy together,” the email read. “Please don’t ever hesitate to reach out for help.”

Kehillah, an RSO dedicated to celebrating Israeli culture, announced on Instagram that it would be hosting a separate reception and dinner with UChicago Hillel in honor of Sparkes, a Kehillah board member. The event was on Monday, April 17, at 8 p.m. in the foyer of the Hillel building on South Woodlawn Avenue.

“When we founded the organization, Niv, being Israeli, quickly became an indispensable leader in our events. He served on our board since our founding and was very passionate about his Israeli identity,” Kehillah copresident Aaron Wineberg wrote in a statement to The Maroon. “We want to invite anyone who wants to honor his life and heal together.”

Editor’s note: We hope to follow up on this article with an obituary memorializing Niv’s life and his time as a member of the University community. We ask anyone who has memories they want to share to contact us at editor@chicagomaroon.com.

USG Launches Pilot Program to Provide Free Menstrual Products

By CASEY KIM | Deputy News Editor

Undergraduate Student Government (USG), in collaboration with Campus and Student Life (CSL) and Graduate Council (GC), launched a pilot program in the beginning of spring quarter that provides free pads and tampons in vending machines on campus.

The menstrual products, which will be available throughout spring quarter, can be found in six locations: Harper Memorial Library, Ida Noyes Hall, John Crerar Library, Ex Libris Cafe, Gerald Ratner Athletics Center, and Henry Crown Field House.

According to Associate Vice President for Student Life Michael Hayes, the performance of the pilot program will be evaluat-

ed by CSL, GC, and USG, who will collectively determine the future of the program based on student interest and usage.

“During winter quarter, we explored the possibilities, feasibility, and potential methods to distribute products in an efficient manner, and we are piloting the program now,” Hayes said. “Campus and Student Life is happy to work with students on ways to improve life on campus for students.”

The project was spearheaded by USG President Summer Long (A.B. ’23), who was approached with the idea by Maria Bautista, Assistant Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy. Soon after, Long reached

out to GC and eventually CSL, which is currently funding the initiative.

“[Bautista] had asked her students what kind of problems they were facing on campus, and a lot of them had shared that there wasn’t a lot of access to menstrual products on campus,” Long said. “So this prompted her to send an email to both Undergraduate Student Government’s health and wellness committee and Graduate Council’s health and wellness committee, just to get some action on the issue.”

When deciding on which locations to place the menstrual products, Long said the team tried to target the most trafficked areas on campus—libraries and gyms. Although a similar program had been implemented in 2017, it failed to continue due to

technical restocking issues. Thus, Long said it was important for the team to develop the new program with the previous initiative’s shortcomings in mind in order to ensure its sustainability. In the current pilot program, products are monitored and replenished by a contracted vending partner. It is also larger in scope with additional locations and with unprecedented cooperation with CSL.

“The impression I had gotten before is that there wasn’t necessarily a contracted process for restocking the pads and tampons in the previous attempt,” Long said. “So I’m more optimistic this time about [the program] being sustainable, because it’s basically been incorporated into a different workflow.”

UCMed Receives $300,000 Grant From

American Cancer Society for Patient Navigation Program

By JENNA MOOR | News Reporter

The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) received a $300,000 Navigation Capacity-Building Initiative grant from the American Cancer Society (ACS) to create an accessible and centralized

navigation system for adult cancer patients with a wide range of needs, as announced in a January 11 press release.

The ACS describes patient navigation as a patient-centric healthcare delivery model in which patients and their

families receive individualized assistance to help overcome barriers to high quality and timely care. These barriers may include insurance status, language differences, and health literacy.

Gynecologic oncologist Nita Karnik Lee is the principal investigator for the ACS grant and the cancer center’s assis-

tant director for community outreach and engagement. In an interview with The Maroon, she stressed how patient navigation requires the cooperation of a diversity of teams and departments.

“If we think about the cancer care continuum, we think about risk reduc -

Michael McClure contributed reporting.

“Norton left the Zoom meeting, stating that the Chicago Ticket would ‘plead the Fifth’ to

CONTINUED FROM PG. 1

shot of the email. The Chicago Ticket received an additional complaint for publicizing the first complaint in violation of the E&R confidentiality rules found in House Rules Title IV(J). This email notification was also shared on the ticket’s Instagram with the caption “#fairelections,” eliciting another confidentiality violation.

The April 17 hearings were attended by the E&R Committee members, all candidates from the Golden Slate and upLIFT tickets, and Alex Norton of the Chicago Ticket. Chicago Ticket presidential candidate Ben Vacher was not present. Proceedings began with the two E&R complaints against the Chicago Ticket for the confidentiality violations. The Chicago Ticket was assessed a 3-percent vote deduction for the first incident and an additional 10-percent deduction for the repeated infraction.

The E&R Committee proceeded with the upLIFT ticket’s complaint against the Chicago Ticket for exceeding the $200 spending cap and for failing to declare pizza and T-shirts on their official budgets. While E&R found no evidence that the Chicago Ticket had brought pizza to campaign events or failed to declare pizza-related expenses in its campaign budget, the committee found that the ticket’s failure to disclose the cost of T-shirts worn by students staffing the Chicago ticket’s campaign booth violated the spending cap. The ticket received an 8-percent deduction for this violation.

Shortly before private deliberation began, Norton left the Zoom meeting, stating that the Chicago Ticket would “plead the Fifth” to all future allegations.

The Chicago Ticket also filed complaints against both upLIFT and Golden Slate Warriors of defamation and unwarranted personal attacks in violation of Election Code Article III, specifically citing quotes from both tickets identifying the Chicago Ticket candidates as members of the UChicago chapter of Delta Upsilon (DU), now known as the Order of the Iron Key. On LinkedIn, Vacher lists “Recruitment Chair - Delta Upsilon Fraternity” on a set of “Activities and Societies” describing his time at the College; Norton claimed not to have been a full member due to failure

to pay member dues.

After polls closed, the Chicago ticket changed their Instagram bio from “A Vote for Chicago is a Vote for You - Vote Now” to “Moose Party,” the name associated with the satirical ticket historically run by the Delta Upsilon fraternity. The Moose Party has been a longstanding staple of the USG election cycle; a 2017 Maroon News article reported the end of its 23 consecutive years of running. The Party’s last official election bid was in 2018. Since 1994, these campaign platforms have featured “joke” proposals, such as 2010’s moat and dragon guard installation proposal, 2012’s “make the Midway a trailer park,” and 2006’s proposal to turn the Regenstein A-Level into a brewery. In many years, the Moose Party has been the only opposition to the ticket which was elected, something previous iterations of the ticket have taken pride in.

The Chicago Ticket’s defamation complaints against the Golden Slate Warriors did not meet the burden of proof according to E&R. Evidence against upLIFT, presented by the E&R Committee after Norton’s departure from the hearing, fell short of a full infraction but incurred an official warning. After all hearings concluded, the Chicago Ticket held a vote count of 242.53, incurring a cumulative 21-percent deduction.

According to E&R chair Stern, the number of complaints was surprising, but not unexpected, given the highly contested race. “USG elections usually feature some amount of 1% vote deductions for late budget submissions, but this has not been well publicized in the past,” Stern wrote in an email to The Maroon. “To my knowledge, 6 well-formatted complaints is a high number but not unprecedented.”

Cabinet members and College Council (CC) representatives were also elected on Friday, with results to be confirmed April 21.

For cabinet, first-year Tim Lu received 685 votes for vice president for advocacy. Third-year Nina Hafner received 670.23 votes for vice president for campus life, though she received a 1-percent deduction for “failing to submit a budget in a timely manner.” The same penalty was given to first-year Meera Dasgupta, who received

663.3 votes for vice president for student affairs. All three candidates ran unopposed.

Third-year Evelyn Li, the current vice president for campus life, is set to become the next trustee and faculty governance liaison with 476 votes. Third-year Jackson Lee, her sole opponent, received 228 votes.

The four CC candidates on the ballot from the Class of 2024 are all set to be reelected to their posts. Darya Foroohar received 154 votes, Ash Arian 152, Aman Majmudar 100, and Aaron Wineberg 81. Write-in candidate Greg García, who received 11 votes, is currently slated to take the final seat.

Second-year Aya Hamza, a current CC representative, was the only candidate from the Class of 2025 to run for a CC seat. She earned 196 votes. The leading vote-getters among the write-in candidates are Ezinne Mba (20 votes), Danielle Lopez (13

votes), Jake Fritts (seven votes), and Sean Moore (seven votes).

Jenkins received the most votes from the Class of 2026 but earned a 1-percent deduction for failing to submit a budget in a timely manner. His provisional total stands at 215.82 votes. Lu received 137 votes but would be unable to accept a CC seat because of his election to vice president of advocacy, meaning the remaining seats are set to go to Juan Simon Angel (135 votes), Logan Toé (121 votes), Sebastian Davis (119 votes), and Surya Chinnappa (114 votes).

Dasgupta ran for CC in addition to vice president for student affairs and received another 1-percent deduction for not submitting a budget on time. Regardless, her total of 107.91 votes would not have given her a CC seat unless upLIFT had won the race for executive slate.

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all future allegations.”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 6

tion, screening, follow-up from screening, access to quality treatment. Once you’re on treatment, are you getting navigated for financial, social, and physical needs? Are you getting navigated for survivorship and psychosocial needs?” Lee said. “The ACS grant is meant to help us design our whole program around the needs of the most vulnerable.”

The program intends to standardize patient navigation across the UCCCC and streamline the way patients are connected to the resources they need.

One of the first steps being taken to build this program is gathering feedback from community members and partners about the current gaps they see in cancer care. As an assistant director for the cancer center, Lee works with key stakeholders, community members, and partner organizations to better understand and meet patient needs.

“Our feedback from our community partners, much of which is through our Cancer Center Community Advisory board, is that there’s a lot of fragmentation in the care of somebody who is diagnosed with cancer,” Lee said. “And it’s worsened when they don’t necessarily have as much support, or they require very complex care, like needing to see surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.” Fragmentation in this case refers to a lack of coordination and connection between different healthcare provid -

ers and organizations, affecting quality of care, cost to the patient, and patient outcomes.

The Community Advisory Board is a group of volunteer members from the area who act as representatives for their community and regularly advise the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCM) on matters of interest. Clinical teams in the cancer center also recognize this disconnect, and the ACS grant is one resource that the hospital is utilizing to fill this gap.

Though the grant’s funding period is spread over 30 months, from July 1, 2022, through December 31, 2024, Lee explained that this process started before the ACS grant. The UCCCC has an existing supportive oncology unit, offering outpatient services during cancer treatment, and will benefit from increased visibility to the public and additional staff thanks to the grant funding.

“We showed that this was something that was going to enhance our vision of what navigation could be and that we were going to take the money and make an institutional commitment to sustain it,” Lee said. “Part of the grant hires social workers and specific navigators, increasing our central capacity for having a higher-level navigation team that can handle patient needs that go beyond the capacities of a patient’s core group of caregivers.”

Thirteen other hospitals received the ACS patient navigation grant, and the UCCCC team has been in monthly communication with them through Zoom meetings and engaging in learning communities. “We have group sessions on different topics related to navigation, and it’s very, very helpful to think about how different models of navigation may work,” said Lee.

The UCCCC team is currently planning to make sure that the right framework is being built. Different components of the patient experience are being mapped in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current system. All the moving parts of the patient experience must be coordinated, so that it becomes more continuous.

Breast cancer, the most common cancer diagnosis in the United States, is being used as the first model, with a focus on designing effective and comprehensive screening procedures so that each patient will be “automatically triaged into social work or another downstream thing that they need,” Lee said.

Another essential part of the ACS patient navigation program will be found in UCM’s future freestanding cancer hospital planned to open in 2027. “The patient navigation office is going to have a central and visible role, where we have space for supportive oncology and potentially community education,” Lee said.

Don’t Forget to Write VIEWPOINTS

A physical space for patient navigation will increase awareness of available resources and serve as a hub for the entire program. Lee sees the work being done now as “a precursor of building the behind-the-scenes infrastructure that’s going to be necessary for our new cancer center.”

The UCCCC team is also interested in integrating the NowPow system, founded by Stacy Lindau, one of UCM’s practitioners. This platform, which is already built into UCM’s electronic medical record system, works to refer patients to resources outside of what UChicago offers, Lee said, and is just one digital resource that patients may not know exist.

“We are responsible for anybody who lives in our area. And that’s actually a five-county area, not just the South Side,” Lee said. People across Chicago face many barriers to healthcare, such as insurance cost and coverage, and Lee sees the new cancer center as a tremendous opportunity to combat this.

“A navigator needs to be able to navigate through U of C, but they also need to be able to navigate to any free screening program and other hospitals. This is an important area that the navigation grant is not necessarily specific around, but at the same time it is really important to think of UCM as one element of all these navigations as part of a larger system,” Lee said.

I have a love-hate relation-

ship with writing. As a kid, I would spend summers writing in the heat, letting my hands get

stained with smudges of lead as my eyes grew tired from staying up late. I wrote about ev-

erything I knew at the ripe age of seven: stories about earnest friendships, subplots involving

fictional monsters and witty detectives. The words became

CONTINUED ON PG. 9

“‘If we think about the cancer care continuum, we think about risk reduction, screening, follow-up from screening, access to quality treatment.’”

As you brave the end of winter and settle into the grooves of this quarter, remember to write—and recollect—for yourself.

By RACHEL ONG

CONTINUED FROM PG. 8

unintelligible, with lines of dialogue crawling into any blank space.

Now, I type into the Google Doc void. My writing process becomes engulfed in waiting anxiously, procrastinating until some flash of motivation seizes me to begin. I scribble handwriting on Post-it notes and let old sheets of paper collect dust on my shelf. With heaps of papers and discussion posts and lab reports, writing can feel like a last resort—but it doesn’t have to be.

When you inevitably find yourself indoors as wintry weather continues into spring, I urge you to find the time to write.

Here, at college, writing is about satisfying criteria. We write to receive validation, a checkmark, to simply get to the end of the week. Removing these lingering associations with writing, however, can transform it into a practice for yourself.

Among the constant demands of university life, there is often little space to exercise creative will for yourself. Even the tweets

in your drafts that truly should not see the light of day are crafts of your own. Carving time out of the day to write for yourself can help reaffirm your identity as you wade through the academic and professional world.

As we launch further into the age of three-second-long attention spans and digital avatars, physical writing has become archaic. We’ve all heard of studies demonstrating that writing on paper generates stronger brain activity than typing on a tablet or computer, but how often do

we actually take notes on lined paper in class or study with flashcards for an exam? Perhaps writing as a hobby doesn’t appeal to you: start, then, with stepping away from your blue light display to scribble meaninglessly in a journal, a planner, or even on that stack of neon-colored sticky notes you haven’t touched since first year. Even if you don’t plan to spontaneously pick up a pen anytime soon, it may at least be helpful to reflect on the process of writing itself, to consider the messiness of writing in all its

glory.

I recognize the irony in the fact that I am typing into a Google Doc right now and that this piece will eventually be polished and edited for the public. Nevertheless, throughout the process, I allow myself to bask in the uncertainties. Let the sentences run on, and embrace the occasional grammatical error. If we can only think of writing as escapism, it’s time to reevaluate.

Rachel Ong is a third-year in the College.

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Midway?

By JESSICA ZANG

One thing I’ve noticed about me? I’m a chicken.

As in, when it comes to the cold Chicago weather, I’m a bit of a coward. (My excuse—although not a great one—is that I’m from California.) Because of my fear of freezing, this winter quarter has seen me evolve into adopting a Woodlawn-class-Woodlawn routine. My friends joke about my unwillingness to leave the comfort of my own room and about how I often disappear for days at a time. We never see you north of the Midway anymore!

But all jokes aside, my absence across the Midway has caused me some grief this winter. Throughout autumn quarter, my lovely north campus friends had crossed the Midway to come share a meal with their south campus counter -

parts. It became a comfortable routine for us, sharing meals and studying together. But this quarter, I noticed that—little by little—they’d stopped coming as much, stopped asking where we were having dinner, stopped reporting on where they were studying for the day. It worried me—I wondered if there was some inherent flaw in our friendship, or in me as a friend. What if their lack of reaching out meant that our friend group was doomed, like many O-Week friend circles, to fade into oblivion?

Simultaneously, I found myself getting closer to people who lived near me. My friends, similarly enough, found company within their own dorms. The relationships I had with people seemed to be shifting—I was getting closer to new people and seemingly drifting away from others. But even

as I was making new connections, I couldn’t help but worry about my ability to maintain my friendships from autumn quarter. I’d known these people since my very first days at UChicago; when I think of my time here so far, they’re undeniably the people that made it first feel like home.

I’ve come to realize, though, that as obvious as it probably is, the problem lies neither with them nor with me: it’s the weather, which neither I (nor my friends across the Midway) are eager to brave while walking across campus. My friends had sacrificed for me last quarter, and due to the cold and increasingly busy workloads, things had changed this quarter. It wasn’t personal, just as none of my absences north of the Midway were due to the company that awaited me there. We didn’t talk less this quarter

because of an inherent flaw in our friendship but because of our mutual unwillingness to mobilize in the icy conditions. Perhaps the reason my friends weren’t reaching out wasn’t that they didn’t want my company anymore but rather that we had a mutual understanding to not force someone else to make the trek that none of us wanted to make.

We’re rounding the corner towards longer days and sunnier skies; I’m sure that at the very least, we’ll see a little more of each other during spring quarter. But even recently, as the weather’s gotten better, I’ve found myself more willing to make that once-dreaded walk across the grassy strip that divides us. I’ve realized that to maintain my friendships, I need to put in some effort— even if I still have an incredible fear of the cold.

So, why does the chicken cross the Midway? To spend some lovely time with her lovely friends. And as this dreadful winter quarter comes to a close, you might be seeing this chicken crossing the Midway a little more often.

“Among the constant demands of university life, there is often little space to exercise creative will for yourself.”

Jessica Zang is a first-year in the College.

Columnist Jessica Zang reflects on the strangeness of her first winter quarter and the very ‘okay-ness’ of north campus-south campus friendships.

ISABELLA LIU

Break Out of the Box

By LUKE CONTRERAS

The University of Chicago markets itself as a community of “out-of-the-box” thinkers, but in practice, the rigor and packed schedule of UChicago academics don’t take me out of the box—they put me in one (my room, that is). The quarter system squeezes semester-long courses down to nine weeks, fills my schedule with a never-ending sea of deadlines, and steals away hours of my sleep. All this work locks me in certain spaces—my room, the library, or a classroom—for long periods of time. But amid the stress of the quarter, it’s important to find activities that will occasionally draw you out of your box and help you take care of your mental health.

About a month ago, I stood on the lakefront by the Adler Planetarium with my camera mounted on a tripod facing the skyline. The sun had set several minutes earlier, and a faint glow

in the cloudy sky painted the crowd of glass skyscrapers with shades of blue, indigo, and purple. I hoped to get several shots of the city during twilight, especially in a location from which I had never taken photos. As I snapped several long-exposure photos, I enjoyed the tranquil scene of families and friends walking along the shoreline. The sound of their voices and laughs floated into the air over the lake like bubbles, rising in random directions until they disappeared. “This is much better than sitting in my room,” I thought.

On my bike ride back to Hyde Park, I reminisced about the many memorable experiences photography has brought me, like meeting a freelance photographer from Canada underneath the El on Wabash Avenue, witnessing evangelism in the form of a minivan driving up and down Lake Shore Drive, and getting stuck in an elevator on my way up to a rooftop with

magnificent views of the city. Without my interest in photography, which only began about a year ago, I would not have these memories.

UChicago’s rigorous academics create a stress that is present throughout all of campus. I know that I am not alone in frequently feeling confined to spaces for long periods of time, held captive by a seemingly endless list of tasks and assignments. Moments like these are inevitable in an environment that is designed to test our resilience, advance our knowledge, and challenge our capabilities. It is sometimes necessary to sit for many hours at a desk diligently working and studying in order to succeed. However, endless cycles of this behavior can become unhealthy, trapping us in our own little box.

In times like these, we need a personal catalyst for change. It is important to find some -

CONTINUED ON PG. 11

Creative outlets are integral to academic success, especially at UChicago.

Capturing the city of Chicago. luke contreras

CONTINUED FROM PG. 10

thing that actively draws us outside of our boxes and creates a space for us to forget about college-induced stress. It can serve as an important reminder to take care of ourselves and live in the world around us rather than existing in one place. Momentarily departing from this stressful environment is

critical for our mental health, and it can refresh and motivate the mind, allowing us to continue working productively.

For me, this catalyst is photography. My hectic schedule doesn’t often allow me to spend time taking pictures, but when it does, photography leads me to new places and gifts me with unique experiences. Beyond

the memories, it pulls me away from the intensity of a UChicago quarter and gives me the opportunity to relax for a short time. Most of all, it draws me out of my box here on campus and tosses me into a new environment.

We may be a community of out-of-the-box thinkers, but I fear that the academically

stressful environment isolates us from the outside world and from each other. The result is a body of students who never allow themselves to take a moment for themselves, each living in their own space and focusing on the endless amount of work that they need to complete.

This is neither healthy nor necessary to succeed at UChicago,

and I believe we should strive to prevent ourselves from becoming trapped in our work. To be fulfilled and keep up our “outof-the-box” thinking without burning out, we all need to find something that will ultimately lure us out of our boxes.

Luke Contreras is a thirdyear in the College.

“In times like these, we need a personal catalyst for change.”

ARTS Chaos Inside of Order

Snarky Puppy’s Michael League talks genre, jam sessions, Grammy wins, and the group’s Around-The-Globe tour.

By NATALIE MANLEY | Head Arts Editor

Michael League, composer and band leader of the self-proclaimed genre-defying instrumental “quasi-collective” Snarky Puppy, sat down with The Maroon to chat about the group’s fifth Grammy win, current tour, and most recent live studio album Empire Central

The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Chicago Maroon : I’m gonna start off [by asking], you know, with four Grammy wins in your pocket with Snarky Puppy and having played all over the world, you guys have already accomplished so much. I’m curious, what’s next for the group? What are you working on? What’s exciting?

Michael League: Right now we’re on—I don’t want to sound like a jerk—but I think we just won our fifth, just so that when you write… But our website probably hasn’t even updated yet. That might be fine. I’ll communicate that to our manager. But, you know, it’s been amazing. This is our first tour, really, since… this is our first American tour since the album’s been out. And this year we’re going to South America, we’re going to Asia and Australia and New Zealand. So it’s a big year for us, mostly playing this new music that came out in September. That’s the goal. Because that music is so fresh, we’re not writing new music yet. But that’s where we’re at right now.

CM: Right. Awesome. And what are you looking forward to most on tour, like where are you most excited to play, for example?

ML: I can’t say there’s a favorite place, because every place is different, every place is cool. We haven’t been to South America in a long time, so I’m excited about going there. I love it down there. Every night for us is a different musical experience. We try to change everything every night. Sometimes the best shows

are in cities that maybe are not thought of as the most amazing places on Earth. But it just depends on how the band’s feeling and what happens on a musical level, you know?

CM: Awesome. Yeah. And I guess on that note, what’s your favorite song or thing to play live, or your favorite thing about playing live?

ML: For me, it’s just seeing how the music changes, seeing what happens.

cold, isolated studio setting where you can get overly focused on perfection instead of on communication, you know?

CM: Right. You mentioned communication, and I think in other interviews, you talked a lot about collaboration— what does that word mean to you and a group like Snarky Puppy?

ML: Collaboration or communication?

CM: Both? Yeah, collaboration is sort of what I was going off of, but communication also works.

ing together with the other members of the band or working together with people who aren’t members, you know?

CM: Right. Do you know off the top of your head how many musicians are featured on Empire Central ? I know it’s a lot. You guys are a big group…

ML: Nineteen.

CM: Yeah, 19. And for that many people, as the bandleader and composer in some ways, what is it like composing for a group that large, but then also balancing individuals’ creativity and ideas and things like that?

That’s my favorite part of playing. There’s no favorite song or anything, because any song has the potential to go in different directions every night.

CM: So Empire Central was recorded in a live studio format, right? How do you feel about that format and sort of capturing something that’s happening live that is just in that moment, as opposed to with a studio recording or something like that?

ML: We’ve found that to be the most representative way of capturing Snarky Puppy on record: combining that very high-quality studio sound—because you have so much control—with the live energy that comes with playing in front of people, versus just playing in a kind of

ML: In terms of collaboration, I think we’re always collaborating. People are always collaborating: whenever there are two people, or more, anywhere, they’re collaborating, you know? I think the word has become very buzzy over the last five years, “collabs” and blah, blah. But it’s like, I’m collaborating with the members of my band. Right? And if we have a guest singer sing with us, they’re collaborating with the band, but they’re also collaborating with every individual member. I don’t see it as so different when someone from outside of the band comes and plays with us; I don’t see that as a different thing. I think that Snarky Puppy’s strength is working together, whether that’s work-

ML: Yeah, that’s the delicate balance in Snarky Puppy. There will always be this idea of “How do we give people enough room and freedom to be themselves and to express themselves while still creating music that is easily accessible and understandable and digestible and kind of like, concise and to the point?” Like, lean in a certain sense. You know? Because it’s very easy when you give a lot of human beings individual freedom that things get kind of convoluted and messy and chaotic. This is our daily challenge. How do we make a 20-piece band—or if we’re onstage, a 10- or 11-piece band—sound as tight and unified as a trio, but with so many more colors available in our palette? Because we have so many different instruments and so many different people. That’s the daily challenge. It’s a blast.

CM: That’s awesome. And you mentioned accessibility… Do you think a band like Snarky Puppy is accessible to people? Have you found that people kind of come to your music from all different places? Or is it more of a certain kind of fanbase or fan group?

ML: No, no, it’s very, very diverse. In terms of age, race, gender, we go to different parts of the world. In some cities, our crowd is 70 percent female. In some cities, our crowd is 80 percent Black, and in other places it’s 80 percent white. And I mean, we go to whatever, Colombia or

Snarky Puppy performs at Riviera Theatre in Chicago. natalie manley

CONTINUED FROM PG. 12

something. And the crowd is very different from when we go to Japan. Obviously. But, yeah, it’s funny. Sometimes in the front row you see people wearing a Meshuggah shirt or a Suicidal Tendencies shirt, and they’re standing next to someone who’s wearing a David Crosby shirt standing next to someone who’s wearing a Tupac shirt. You know? Because we’re pulling from so many different genres in what we do, I think that people who are attracted to those genres are attracted to certain elements of what we do. I think it does reach people.

CM: Right. And you mentioned genre. And I think your website sort of talks about how you as a band—Snarky Puppy as a band—kind of tries to resist genre classification. So I have a fun challenge: If you were to describe either Snarky Puppy or Empire Central as an album without referring to genre or any musical tradition, how would you go about that?

ML: I just wouldn’t. I think there’s a lot of music that’s being made today that is not easily put in a genre. Just anything that I would say would be a lie in a certain moment. If I said it’s funk, it’s like, yeah, but 60 percent of the songs on that record are not actually funk or funky. And if I said it’s rock, 90 percent of those songs are not rock. So it just wouldn’t be accurate. It’s not that I don’t want to be in a genre. It’s not like I think I’m “too cool” for genres. It just wouldn’t be accurate. Because we’re dipping into a lot of different stuff that doesn’t make us any better or any worse than any other band. It’s just what we do. I would just say that it’s instrumental music. Because that’s what it is.

CM: Right. And sometimes it’s not even always that.

ML: Right! Sometimes not even that. Right. You have Family Dinner, [which features] singers too. That’s why I think it’s kind of like an exercise in futility, and it’s just kind of unnecessary! I think the most accurate thing to say would be that we combine various genres of Black American music with influences from different musical traditions from around the world. I think that’s accurate. Sometimes

we think [in terms of genre], sometimes we don’t.

CM: Yeah. A question on that note is: What do you think people love about your music? Or what do you love about your music?

ML: I can’t really speak for anybody else. I have no idea. What I like about it is that the songs can be played with zero improvisation and tell a story. But when we improvise, and when we change things on the fly, that story just gets richer, and that allows us to play songs hundreds of times and not get bored of them—which is important when you’re on tour for seven months in a year, to not get sick of what you’re playing. It’s not like we have one set list that we play every night in the same way. We try to never play the same set twice. If we play one song on Tuesday night and then we play that song again on Wednesday, which doesn’t happen super often, then we make sure that the soloists are different. We make sure the song starts differently, so that kind of combination of having chaos inside of order is what I like most.

CM: I love that phrase: “chaos inside of order.” Cool. And then, as a composer or even a musician, what inspires you or who inspires you?

ML: As a composer?

CM: Or when you’re playing. Either works.

ML: Um, I mean, god. So many. I listen to a lot of music, you know? A lot of people inspire me. Modern artists, oldschool artists. I probably listen to more old music than I listen to new music, but I do listen to a lot of new music too. I think for everybody in the band, inspiration comes from different places and different people. And we have some collective influences, but we also have some individual ones. But maybe one of the bigger ones for this band would probably be… I don’t even want to name anybody because as soon as I name somebody, then I feel bad for not naming another person. So I would just say we listen to a lot of music.

CM: Yeah, nice. I guess this also involves naming people, so if you don’t want to do it, feel free not to. But if you were to put together, with the band and yourself

or whoever, a jam session, who are you inviting? It could be someone dead or alive. You said you listen to a lot of old music, so if you could just get people in a room and play music, who would you want in there?

ML: Well… Oh my god. There’s too many options. Because also I don’t know what kind of session I’d want it to be, you know? Would I invite Mozart and Mingus and other “innovators”? Or would I invite my favorite improvisers? I don’t know! That’s a tough question. Sorry, I’m not giving great answers, but once you open up that door, it gets so hard to be specific, because it inherently becomes exclusive. You know?

CM: I mean, I would love to see Mozart and Mingus in the same room. That’d be crazy. Yeah. And I know we only have 20 minutes—I don’t want to take up too much of your time. But I guess the last question that I have, and this is sort of personal, but in addition to doing all this journalism stuff, I also run a music show with the same co-writer who’s working with me called Stank Face City And we just play songs that sort of have these “stank face” moments in them and

explain what those are, why we felt that way. So I was going to ask, I have my own from Empire Central, but what are some moments off of that album that you would call “stank face moments” or just moments that were super exciting for you?

ML: Stank face moments… maybe the verse groove in “Keep It on Your Mind”? Maybe, “Mean Green” is pretty stank face. Maybe the drum break in “Mean Green”? The Bobby Sparks the solo at the end of “RL’s”? Those are probably the stankiest moments for me.

CM: Yeah, absolutely. I was going to add the bass clarinet solo on “Cliroy.”

ML: On “Cliroy,” right. Yeah.

CM: Awesome. Well, do you have any last things that you want to say to readers at the University of Chicago? Any last thoughts or anything like that? No? Well, I’m excited to see you on Friday at your show in Chicago.

ML: All right, I hope to see you there. Come by the merch table at the end and say hi!

CM: Absolutely! Will do. Thank you so much. Have a great rest of your afternoon.

“Sometimes the best shows are in the cities that maybe are not thought of as the most amazing places on Earth.”

Snarky Puppy guitarist Bob Lanzetti (left) and Bandleader Michael League (right) performing at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago. natalie manley

Ber’s Ultimate Breakup Music

Arts reporter Sofia Hrycyszyn covers opening night for Ber’s Halfway Across America Tour.

By SOFIA HRYCYSZYN | Arts Reporter

On March 15, Ber walked on stage at Chicago’s Schubas Tavern with a huge smile. She jumped into a performance of “Boys Who Kiss You in Their Car,” an upbeat indie pop song that draws on the mediocre men she’s gone on dates with. Dressed in patterned pink pants and an oversized leather jacket, she made eye contact with members of the audience, gesticulating and making faces as she sang. She cringed at “It’s always the boys with the beanies.” She rolled her eyes while singing “I still don’t wanna hear about your band.” She shifted to a more jazzy beat with the song “I’m Not in Love.” Her soft vocals drifted across the intimate venue, and as the audience swayed to the rhythm, she matched our energy with movements of her hands and hips. As the song faded, she tucked her hair behind her ears and looked into the crowd. She introduced herself as Ber, pronounced “bear.” Turning to her “best friends in the world,” she introduced Brian Jost on the guitar and Erik Bear (“yes, that’s really his name”) on the drums.

Ber picked up a sticker-covered mason jar and explained that she had a problem with using the word “slay,” hence the “Slay Jar.” After slipping in a dollar for an accidental “slay” during her introductions, she offhandedly asked the crowd if anyone happened to be on a Hinge date. Someone in the middle of the crowd shouted and raised a hand. After getting over her initial shock, Ber held a brief exchange with the couple and decided to dedicate the next song, about the best Hinge date she ever had, to Steve and Samantha. “Feels So Easy” has a gentle rhythm marked by the soft shaking of a maraca. The uplifting vocals reflect the hope that comes with a good first date, especially in contrast with the emotional turmoil of the bad breakups she detailed in the previous songs of her set.

After moving through a couple songs off her 2023 EP Halfway, Ber explained that her recent work is heavily influenced by being ghosted by her long-term boyfriend upon moving home to Minnesota

during the pandemic. As she was healing, Ber found that most songs she listened to were too extreme—too “I hate you” or too “I still love you”—for the complex emotions she was experiencing. She made Halfway with that version of herself in mind, and the result is breakup music that is relatable and realistic, hitting a range of feelings. For her next song, drummer Bear moved to the keyboard, and Ber sat next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Same Effect” has slow, steady guitar plucking, gentle keyboard notes, and melodic humming. The plaintive vocals and slow rhythm combine for a heart-wrenching expression of the urge to reach back out to someone even when that distance is necessary.

“I know pettiness isn’t pretty, but allow me to be petty for this next one,” she remarked as she stepped back up to the microphone and Bear moved back to the

drums. “Your Internet Sucks” opens with a conversational address to her ex over a quick indie guitar riff. As the drumbeat picked up for the chorus, Ber’s anger rose and the audience joined her in shouting, “I hope when you think of me it hurts.”

Riding the wave of energy and anger, Max Leone, the opener, joined Ber on stage for a cover of Katy Perry’s “Hot n Cold.”

Through his opening set, Max Leone was anxious but extremely likable, engaging the growing crowd with his catchy songs and energetic dancing. With Ber, Max’s anxiety seemed to have lifted, and the duo bounced around the stage, their voices mixing with those of the audience.

Taking center stage again, Ber addressed the audience in her typical conversational tone: “I was going to pretend to leave and make you wait for the encore, but I’m not going to do that to you guys.”

She then moved into her top-ranking song on Spotify, “Meant to Be,” a mellow track that was a stark change from the fast-

paced anger of the previous songs. With the repeated refrain “We were meant to be, just not meant to last,” it expresses the experience of losing a relationship that still contains a lot of love—letting go of something you wish you didn’t have to.

Turning to her Chicago audience, she remarked that hitting a deer is a rite of passage in the Midwest, as we all surely knew. She taught us a refrain that isn’t in the recording of the song, “You flew over my car, and you flew so far,” in which the two halves of the crowd were meant to harmonize. Even before Ber had introduced the harmony, a voice rang out from a woman in the front row, and Ber, shocked at the quality of her vocals, laughed and said, “You already know what I’m going to do!” With the crowd’s role established, Ber began “Dead Dear (Deer),” a comical song with an aggressive drumbeat that draws parallels between hitting a deer and hitting one’s “dear.” Smiling to herself, she joined the audience in moving through the lyrics and rhythm.

Given the seeming intensity of our need to hit our exes with our cars, Ber looked into the crowd and acknowledged that most of us appeared to have “been through a lot of shit.” “I wish I could learn each and every one of your names,” she said and welcomed anyone to stick around after the show and talk to her. Grabbing the microphone for the final song, she began “Slutphase,” a fan favorite. Upbeat with steady drums, “Slutphase” is easy to dance to and easy to belt. It chronicles the common experience of distracting yourself from your ex with a series of rebounds while assuring us that’s kind of OK. As the song drew to a close, sharply dropping the volume and losing the drums, the audience joined Ber in saying “everybody needs a slutphase while they’re young and hot.” She smiled and waved in her friendly, personal way, and stepped off the stage, leaving the audience feeling as though they had met someone who got it: someone who understood the process of moving through a breakup and who produced her music, in part, with people going through shit in mind.

With her huge smile and relatability, Ber is an incredible show. sofia hrycyszyn

Associate

Lost Kings on Finding Their Rhythm

By LAINEY GREGORY | Associate Arts Editor

On February 17, EDM duo Lost Kings made a stop at Chicago’s Concord Music Hall as a part of their I Think I Think Too Much tour. Just before the show, The Chicago Maroon sat down with Lost Kings DJs Robert (Rob) Abisi and Nick Shanholtz to talk about their creative process and the development of their music style. The pair arrived donning their new merch: LA Dodgers-style baseball jerseys with “Lost Kings” stitched onto the front.

Abisi recounted meeting Shanholtz through a mutual friend at his twenty-fifth birthday party, where the two spoke about plans for collaboration. He stated that they both had many “skills to learn from each other” and that their strengths were complementary, eventually leading to the formation of Lost Kings. The duo rose to popularity through their remixes of hits from artists such as The Killers, Disclosure, and Sam Smith in addition to their experimental house music. Abisi shared how the pair’s shared goals shape decision-making throughout their creative processes. “You can be a fan of anything and enjoy what we do,” he stated. In the duo’s early days, the primary goal was to sign with a dance label. The pair made music that was fun and relatable to a wide audience, thus launching them into their early success in the music industry.

When asked about the evolution of Lost Kings’s music, Shanholtz laughed and remarked that he thinks he and Abisi have improved over time and tapped into deeper emotions. Shanholtz shared that the lyrics of “I Miss The Future” relate the trials of the pandemic and the grief of losing a loved one—two topics not generally explored in dance music. The pair noted that they want to be transparent with fans about their personal lives, as they hope to be both “inspiring and relatable.” In a genre like EDM that often fails to produce relatable music, Lost Kings stand out.

Looking to the future, Lost Kings want to continue making music that is true to themselves, with an emphasis on energy and emotion. They want their listeners to find an escape in the music. “We will not be tied down to a certain sound,” Abisi told The Maroon. “Trends come and go, but we want to prioritize feelings over sound in our songs.” The pair’s refusal to cater to trends has allowed them not only to make art that withstands the trials of time, but also to build a diverse fan base.

Abisi and Shanholtz bid me farewell and made their way backstage to prepare for the show. When I joined the rest of the audience in the main hall, I was met with a

large crowd standing in front of a sprawling stage. There were clusters of people hovering around one of the venue’s four bars who were clearly already enjoying the night. The room was filled with a wide variety of fans, ranging from seasoned concertgoers decked out in Lost Kings merch to EDM newbies (like myself).

The opener, Cheyenne Giles, had already begun his set. Giles specializes in remixes of party classics blended with newly released music, a combination ensuring that all in attendance found something to appreciate. The wall behind the stage projected wild, disorienting, AI-generated art. Perfect for the occasion.

After successfully exciting the crowd, Giles introduced the duo we had all been waiting for. Abisi and Shanholtz stormed

onto the stage to greet the audience, and their entrance was fittingly accompanied by explosions of smoke and flashing lights of all colors. The pair shared with the crowd their excitement to be back in Chicago, where they had not been since Lollapalooza in 2021. The set began, and I instantly understood what the two meant by creating “relatable” dance music; audience members jumped in sync to popular hits “Broken In All The Right Places” and “Phone Down.” Everyone cheered when Shanholtz climbed on top of his turntable, ripped off his jersey, and tossed it into the crowd. Whether it be the dancing of the crowd, the liveliness of the music, or the sentiment within the lyrics, Lost Kings truly did provide something for everyone.

Arts Editor Lainey Gregory sits down with EDM DJ duo Lost Kings to discuss the evolution of their sound, their relatability, and plans for new music.

Whether it be the dancing of the crowd, the liveliness of the music, or the sentiment within the lyrics, Lost Kings truly did provide something for everyone. lainey gregory

UChicago Alum Sarah Langs Continues to Inspire Fans Around the Nation

By MARCOS GONZALEZ | Sports Reporter

There are so many words that can be, and have been, used to describe Sarah Langs. Ask anybody who knows or follows Langs, and they will tell you that she is kind, inspirational, and one of the most passionate voices in baseball. I was fortunate enough to have a conversation with her about life, journalism, and the one thing she characterizes as “the best”: baseball.

Growing up, Langs was like many sports fans across the nation. Born into a sports-loving household, conversations about sports were commonplace at her family’s dinner table. “We would ask these questions that we didn’t really have a way to answer. We didn’t have phones next to us, and I didn’t know about Baseball Reference [a popular stats website founded in 2000]. It was kind of a different time.”

Though she may not have known it as she was growing up, these discussions were a precursor for what was still to come in her career. By middle school, Langs said, she knew that she wanted to pursue a career in sports journalism. In her eyes, she always had a strong curiosity when it came to sports, and baseball, being so rich in history, was the perfect

way to unleash it. Surely enough, Langs wasted no time when she arrived at UChicago. She began writing about sports as a member of the The Maroon during her first year at the University and eventually worked her way up to head editor of the sports section.

Her pursuit continued when she began to work as an intern with the New York Post, Newsweek, and The Daily Beast. Though none of these gigs allowed Langs to write about sports, she was able to get her feet wet in the field of journalism before eventually taking a job as an editorial intern with SportsNet New York (SNY). Though Langs could not pinpoint an exact moment at which this dream started to become a reality, she mentioned her time at SNY, where she first got the chance to speak to MLB players, as a key moment. During her time at SNY, Langs had the chance to write a research-based piece for the first time in her career. Before she knew it, she was pitching ideas for research-based stories about the Mets.

After finishing her classes and graduating, Langs took a job with NBC Sports Chicago in a similar role to the one she had at SNY. She continued to express interest in writing these research pieces about the

Cubs and the White Sox. “I [knew] there [were] people covering these two teams, but there [was] something else I could add.” Langs’s different approach to baseball coverage turned her into a star in the field rather quickly. ESPN quickly took notice and hired Langs to their stats and information team before Langs moved on to MLB.com and MLB Network, where she has made history as a journalist. On July 20, 2021, Langs participated in the first all-female MLB broadcast, along with Melanie Newman, Lauren Gardner, Heidi Watney, and Alanna Rizzo. With that game, Langs secured herself a spot in Cooperstown; a baseball signed by the women on the broadcast was sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately, in October 2022, Langs announced that she was diagnosed with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that weakens muscles and reduces physical ability. Regardless, Langs has refused to let the news get in the way of her love for journalism or baseball alike. Following her announcement, Langs continued to spread her love of baseball, taking part in coverage of the MLB playoffs and tweeting interesting facts and stats about every game. During the offseason, Langs covered free agency and contributed to MLB Network’s rank-

ing of the top ten players at every position. Her recent 2023 World Baseball Classic coverage continued to showcase just how passionate Langs is about baseball, as if her hourly tweets signed off with “baseball is the best” were not enough proof of that.

It is clear that the game’s love for her, however, has grown even stronger. Those in the baseball world have shown an outpouring of love for Langs. The New York Mets paid tribute to her in between innings of their 2022 playoff run by displaying a message to Langs on the jumbotron. Mandy Bell, Langs’s co-host on their podcast Baseball Dimensions, ran ALS marathons for Langs. Rob Friedman, better known as the Pitching Ninja on Twitter, teamed up with Rotowear to design a shirt with the messages “End ALS” and “Baseball is the best.” Proceeds from this shirt were donated to Project ALS, an ALS research organization working towards finding a cure.

Sarah Langs is many things. She is a tremendous reporter, a lover of baseball, and an inspiration to all. To Langs, baseball is the best. To baseball, Sarah Langs is the best.

To donate to Project ALS, please visit ProjectALS.org.

Back to Basics: The 2023 Chicago White Sox Season Preview

By DHEERAJ DEVARAJAN | Sports Reporter

Last season was an absolute disaster for the Chicago White Sox. Practically every media outlet picked the White Sox to comfortably win the AL Central, and they did nothing but disappoint, finishing the season at 81–81—11 games behind the division-winning Cleveland Guardians. The off-season brought major changes in the organization, with manager Tony La Russa retiring and Kansas City Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol taking his place. Along

with Grifol has come a revamped coaching staff; pitching coach Ethan Katz, bullpen coach Curt Hasler, and first base coach Daryl Boston are the only holdovers from the previous regime. In the various interviews that he’s given since becoming the manager, Grifol has talked about wanting his team to be “fundamentally sound,” whether that’s hustling to first base, taking a more balanced and patient offensive approach, or simply being consistent with

effort and intent on a day-to-day basis. All of these points have been music to the ears of White Sox fans after the undisciplined play they’ve had to watch over the last couple of years. Talk, though, is nothing if the players are not able to execute on the field, so let’s take a look at the collection of athletes that general manager Rick Hahn has assembled at each of the position groups.

Yasmani Grandal has had a stellar career in the big leagues and was one of the best catchers in the league leading into the 2022 season, but last year was a

major letdown for him. In 99 games, he had career lows in almost every offensive category, barely hitting above .200 and only having 12 extra-base hits in 327 at bats. The same held true defensively, with Grandal putting up a career-low negative 5 defensive runs saved (DRS) in 2022. There is optimism that he will be able to turn things around after recovering fully from the back injury he suffered in the middle of last season that caused him to miss almost two months of action, but at

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34 years old and in the last of year of his four-year, $73 million contract, Grandal can’t be expected to produce at the same level he was at in his prime. His backup at catcher is the quietly effective Seby Zavala, who had an excellent 2022 while filling in for Grandal. He had three defensive runs saved behind the plate in just 60 games, and hit .270 with a .729 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), encouraging signs that the 29-year-old is fitting nicely into his role as one of the more valuable backup catchers in the majors. Expect Zavala to take on a more prominent role at catcher if injuries begin to pile up; Grandal could also be expected to be a designated hitter (DH) or play first base on occasion.

Andrew Vaughn will be expected to fill some massive shoes as he takes on one of the most vaunted positions in Major League Baseball: playing first base for the Chicago White Sox. For over 30 years, legends have been occupying that spot on the south side of Chicago: Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko, and José Abreu collectively have over 1100 home runs, 3700 runs batted in (RBIs), and almost 6000 hits in 33 years as Sox first basemen. With Abreu leaving in the offseason for the World Champion Houston Astros, the responsibility of succeeding those names has fallen onto the broad shoulders of Andrew Vaughn, who has spent the last two years playing in the outfield, at second base, and as a designated hitter. Now, he returns to his preferred position, where he will be expected to provide a Gold Glove–level defensive presence and live up to his intimidating offensive potential, which led to him being picked third overall in the 2019 draft out of the University of California. Vaughn had a decent season last year, with a .750 OPS and a weighted runs created plus (wRC+) of 113, but this season, he is expected to take a massive jump into one of the premiere first baseman in the major leagues. Now that he is back in a comfortable defensive position and has a solidified position anchoring the heart of the batting lineup, his offensive production and power numbers should see a major jump; it wouldn’t be surprising to see him cross the 30–home runs threshold, especially with the way

that he dominates left-handed pitching. Backing Vaughn up at first base will be Gavin Sheets, who has also spent the majority of the last two years in the outfield and at designated hitter. The strapping 26-year-old comes off a season where he was perfectly average as a hitter; he posted a wRC+ of exactly 100. He will be expected to be an effective power bat off the bench, especially against right-handed pitching and will likely occupy a larger role as the designated hitter against righties and as the season progresses and injuries begin to pile up. Sheets’s role should be far more defined this season: just hit the ball out of the park. If it is, I’d expect him to put up much-improved power numbers and provide another option for Grifol in the lineup as a left-handed hitter.

Second base will likely be the position in the most flux for the White Sox as the season goes along. Two players will probably platoon at second: Elvis Andrus and Romy González. Andrus was signed to the White Sox late last season when shortstop Tim Anderson was injured and was an outstanding offensive addition. The two-time All-Star hit .271 with a .773 OPS and nine home runs in just 43 games for the White Sox, and while he isn’t expected to recreate the same level of production, anything resembling those numbers would be a major upgrade from what the Sox have had at second base for them since the departure of Nick Madrigal in 2021. González has played sparingly for the Sox in his two short stints as a part of the major league team, but was promoted to the Sox’s major league roster after an outstanding Spring Training; he had an OPS of over .950 and has shown clear development in his power hitting abilities, with six home runs. Andrus has mostly been occupying the position during these early months of the season, but if things start trending the wrong way, don’t be surprised if González gets a shot at becoming the Sox’s everyday second baseman.

There’s not much that needs to be said for shortstop: it’s Tim Anderson, the Sox’s superstar and de facto leader after Abreu’s departure. Anderson is coming off an excellent showing at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for Team USA, where he

showed off his abilities on both sides of the ball, making highlight-reel plays at second base while hitting .333 with an .881 OPS and five RBIs in six games. This came off the back of another stellar offensive season for the White Sox in 2022, where Anderson hit above .300 for the fourth consecutive year in spite of the injury troubles he faced in the middle of the season. TA is as consistent as they come at the plate, and I would expect him to produce at the same level he has been producing at for the majority of his career while taking on a greater leadership role and showing improvements in his defensive game. The signs were all there at the World Baseball Classic.

Another player who shined at the WBC was Yoán Moncada, who will be the everyday third baseman for the Sox in 2023. Frankly speaking, Moncada had a turbulent 2022 season offensively, barely hitting above .200. However, there have been plenty of positive signs since the end of last season, as Moncada made the All-Tournament Team at the WBC with an average above .400 and an OPS above 1.200 against some of the best pitchers in the world. More than the numbers, it was the eye test that told the fans that Moncada was back to his usual self: his short, sweet, easy swing looked as effortless as it did in the 2019 and 2021 seasons, when he was stellar, and the confidence was back on both sides of the ball as he flashed the glove on multiple occasions and showed off the swagger White Sox fans have come to associate with him. I expect this season to be a major bounce back for Moncada, and I would not be surprised to see him return to form as an A-tier third baseman in the major leagues.

After 10 years with the White Sox, utility player Leury García will reportedly not be breaking camp with the Southsiders. While García is not a bad player by any stretch of the imagination, he was grossly misused by La Russa in his two years with the Sox, played as an everyday second baseman in 2022 and occasionally hitting at the top of the lineup at the expense of players like Moncada, Vaughn, and Grandal. Instead of García, the Sox will likely be employing the services of Hanser Alberto, who was signed for close to nothing and

will likely break camp thanks to an otherworldly Spring Training performance, where he hit over .400 and had an OPS of over 1.200 in 41 at bats. He will obviously not be expected to replicate these numbers in the regular season, but he is a career .270 hitter and a decent defensive player who can play all over the infield. Despite his lack of power, he will be good value to the White Sox as a bench piece.

The infield for the 2023 White Sox consists almost exclusively of returning players, but the outfield is almost the exact opposite, with center fielder Luis Robert Jr. likely being the only returning starter. Robert simply did not live up to his immense potential in the 2022 season. His season was above average, but for a player of his ability, a .284/.319/.426 slash line with 12 home runs in 98 games and a DRS of negative 4 is simply not good enough. Robert is a five-tool player who has everything you could possibly want from a baseball player on a physical level, and with some injury luck, minor adjustments to his offensive approach and a little more effort and focus on the outfield, he could easily be an MVP-caliber player on both sides of the ball. Robert has a high floor in terms of his production, so even at his worst, he will be a very effective major league player. Getting the best out of him will be Pedro Grifol’s most important individual coaching job, and it could make the difference between the White Sox being also-rans and making a deep playoff run.

The White Sox made the biggest free agent signing in franchise history when they signed left fielder Andrew Benintendi to a five-year, $75 million deal this offseason. Benintendi is an excellent addition to the team: he’s a good hitter, can run, and is a reliable defensive presence in the outfield. He also provides some much-needed experience to the team as a World Series Champion with the Boston Red Sox in 2019, and is the gritty, consistent player the Southsiders needed so badly at the top of the order and in the outfield. Last season, Benintendi ended early with a broken hand, but in over 120 games, he hit .304 with a .772 OPS and 122 wRC+. Grifol has experience working with Benintendi

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“All of these points have been music to the ears of White Sox fans after the undisciplined play they’ve had to watch over the last couple of years.”

“There’s a lot to be said about 2023 free agent signing Mike Clevinger.”

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in Kansas City. The left fielder will likely have an important leadership role with the Sox as the season goes on and will be vital to the team’s chances of making the playoffs.

In right field, Chicago has called up 24-year-old Cuban rookie Oscar Colás to the big leagues. Colás signed with the Sox in 2021 and had an outstanding 2022 season in the minor leagues, with a .314/.371./.524 slash line and 23 home runs in 117 games. His power swing is striking at first glance, and so is his speed in the corner of the outfield. Colás is projected by most statistical projections to break the 20–home run mark in his rookie season, and when you throw in his ability to make plays in the outfield, you’re looking at a potential Rookie of the Year candidate in the American League.

The fourth outfielder for the Sox, who has said on several occasions that he would like to be an everyday player in left or right field, will be their best offensive player: designated hitter Eloy Jiménez. Jiménez is spectacular to watch at the plate when he’s in his groove, and towards the end of last season, he was in his groove. Over 54 games in August and September, he hit .328 with an OPS of close to .950, 11 home runs and 37 RBI. He was spectacular to watch, and if he can put together a full, injury-free season at a similar level of production from the four-hole in the lineup, he will be in MVP consideration. The issue of injuries is often discussed when Jiménez plays in the outfield, which he will be doing for some periods of time this season. It will be up to manager Grifol to manage and limit his outfield play and make sure that he is able to stay on the field for the majority of the season. When he is healthy and on the field, he is a sight to behold.

Now, let’s talk about the pitchers. The starting rotation is set: Dylan Cease, Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, Mike Clevinger, and Michael Kopech. The top two in the rotation are as sure as they come. Dylan Cease is coming off a second place Cy Young finish in a fantastic season where he posted a 2.20 ERA and a 3.1 field independent pitching (FIP). Cease has always been nasty and has a fastball in the high 90s to go along with the nastiest of sliders and a very good curveball. Last season, he found the

one thing that was keeping him away from being an elite pitcher: control. The placement of his fastball is impeccable and his offspeed pitches are tight and have great movement. The next step Cease needs to take is to pitch with efficiency and go deeper into games. Perhaps the only flaw in his game last season was the limited number of innings that he pitched, which averaged out to less than six innings a start. If he

but what the ceiling represents is one of the top number two starters in the MLB. Lynn throws four pitches, all of which are variations on fastballs. This could be an issue against teams in the playoffs who usually excel at countering the fastball, but in the regular season, Lynn is a sure thing, and the expectation should be for him to pitch close to 200 innings and have an ERA somewhere in the threes, both of

ities between his expected and actual numbers and an extremely high batting average on balls in play given up, he didn’t seem to have the same juice in his fastball and changeup that he was known for. His strikeout numbers were way down from the previous season, dropping below 10 K/9 for the first time since 2019, and his walk numbers increased from 2.62 BB/9 to 3.4 BB/9 from 2021 to 2022. It’s pretty

can pitch with greater efficiency, there is no ceiling to Cease’s game.

The second sure thing for the Sox is Lance Lynn. He is coming off a season where he was quite unlucky, with his expected numbers for ERA (3.62) and FIP (3.44) being markedly lower than the actual numbers, 3.99 and 3.82 respectively. Lynn was also coming off a major injury he suffered in spring training and only started 21 games last year, with his numbers steadily improving as the season went on. Lynn is almost 36 years old, and at this point, his game has hit its ceiling,

which he has hit or come close to hitting in practically every season of his career as a starter.

After Cease and Lynn, there’s Lucas Giolito, who at his best could win a Cy Young and at his worst looks like a rookie pitcher making his first start. After three excellent consecutive seasons where he established himself as the ace on the South Side, Giolito had a miserable 2022, putting up a 4.90 ERA and a walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP) of 1.44 in 27 starts. The reality of 2022 is that while Giolito was unlucky, with major dispar-

difficult to predict where Giolito will end up this season, but there is some hope that his numbers will regress to the mean this season, although the eye test from 2022 may not reflect the same positivity.

There’s a lot to be said about 2023 free agent signing Mike Clevinger. The off-thefield allegations that come with him make the signing by Rick Hahn at the very best questionable and at the very worst simply inexcusable. On the field, Clevinger has pitched poorly in both of his last two full seasons, with xERAs of 4.77 and 4.65

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The White Sox take on the Baltimore Orioles in April 2023. finn hartnett

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and xFIPs of 4.18 and 4.76 respectively in 2020 and 2022. Even if we were to ignore the domestic violence and child abuse that Clevinger’s 10-month-old daughter’s mother accused him of in this offseason (which is impossible to do), Clevinger really hasn’t shown much promise on the field, which makes the signing even more puzzling. He’s only crossed 120 innings pitched once in his career, he doesn’t strike guys out, and he is highly prone to giving up home runs and leaving pitches hanging in the zone. I would not be surprised in the least if Davis Martin, who spent last season as an occasional spot starter for the Sox and showed promise towards the end of the season, were to replace Clevinger in the rotation as the season went on.

The fifth starter for the Sox is Michael Kopech, for whom 2023 is a make-orbreak season. After arriving in Chicago in the Chris Sale trade as a flamethrowing young gun, Kopech has been through a lot, dealing with adversity with both his health and his personal life. Last year, he didn’t quite make the large jump most expect-

ed him to make when he stepped into the starting rotation, and even though he put up a decent 3.54 ERA, his walk numbers were way up, his strikeout numbers were way down, and his xERA, FIP and xFIP were both sky-high. He also only threw 119 innings, and the injury issues that plagued him in the minor leagues and earlier on in his major league career returned again. With that being said, I simply can’t give up on Kopech’s immense talent and occasional brilliance. I keep believing that he will be able to put it all together, a thought that might be more emotional than it is logical. 2023 needs to be the season that Kopech puts it all together. If not now, then when?

The last piece of the White Sox is its relievers, a group for which there should be high expectations and major reasons for optimism. Fan favorite and All-Star closer Liam Hendriks has the support and goodwill of an entire league with him as he continues to recover from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The signs seem to be extremely encouraging as he was not even placed on the 60-day injured list, and according to reports, is expected to return before June.

Recent Results

Softball lost two games against Calvin University on Saturday, April 15, dropping the first game 7–6 in 10 innings and the second 7–2. Their doubleheader on Sunday against Elmhurst University was postponed because of weather.

Baseball won a barnstorming game at Grinnell College on Monday, April 17, 21–14. Second-year Jack Goldstein hit two home runs and drove in six for the Maroons. UChicago dropped the second game 18–14.

No. 9 Men’s Tennis upset No. 2 Wash U–St. Louis 6–3 on Saturday, April 15. UChicago won four of six singles points and two of three doubles points during the match.

No. 16 Women’s Lacrosse eased past Lewis University 24–7 on Saturday, April 15. Lulu Hardy led the Maroons with five goals.

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field both took home first-place finishes at the outdoor Wheaton Invitational on Saturday, April 15. The women finished first among 14 teams, while the men topped a group with 13 other teams.

In his absence, the Sox’s bullpen will be led by the trio of Kendall Graveman, Joe Kelly, and Reynaldo López, all of whom pitched extremely well in 2022. Joe Kelly was one of the most unlucky pitchers of 2022, posting an ERA of 6.08 in spite of having an xERA of 3.15, a FIP of 3.06 and an xFIP of 3.16, and should be expected to his usual level of production this season. López broke out last season after getting Lasik surgery in the offseason and bloomed into one of the best relievers in all of baseball, with an ERA of 2.76 and a FIP of 1.93. He is extremely versatile, having the ability to be a spot starter, serve as a long reliever, a setup man, or even close games, which will be extremely useful to the manager. Graveman has been a high-level major league reliever since 2021, and after signing with the Sox on a three-year, $24 million deal in the 2022 offseason, he will be expected to close games and serve as the setup man once Hendriks returns to the team. Looking beyond Kelly, Graveman, and López, Aaron Bummer, José Ruiz, Jimmy Lambert, Jake Diekman, and Gregory Santos will complete the White

win

Sox bullpen while they wait on the return of Hendriks and Garrett Crochet, who is coming off a Tommy John surgery and will probably return to the team around the same time that Hendriks will. At full strength, the Sox have five extremely reliable bullpen arms, and the most expensive set of relievers in the MLB should be expected to perform to their price tag.

2023 is a big season for the Chicago White Sox. They are in a good spot: Expectations aren’t high, but at their best, this team can easily win a division title and make a deep playoff run. A lot of that will depend on how Pedro Grifol manages this team—both physically and mentally— and while he may not have a track record, the way he carries himself, preaching consistency; toughness; and playing smart, situational baseball is exactly what Sox fans have been waiting to see from their manager. After predicting 95 wins and an ALCS appearance last year, I will be staying away from making any predictions for the upcoming White Sox season, but Sox fans should feel cautiously optimistic about what lies ahead in 2023.

Upcoming Games

Softball

Chicago @ St. Mary’s (IN), Friday, April 21, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.; Lake Forest vs. Chicago, Sunday, April 23, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Baseball

Chicago @ Cornell (IA), Saturday, April 22 , 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Women’s Lacrosse

Chicago @ Illinois Wesleyan, Saturday, April 22 , 4 p.m.

Men’s Tennis

Chicago vs. Carnegie Mellon @ Altamonte Springs, FL, Saturday, April 22, 7:30 a.m.

Women’s Tennis

Chicago vs. Rochester (NY) @ Altamonte Springs, FL, Friday, April 21, 7:30 a.m.

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field

Chicago @ UAA Outdoor Championships, Saturday, April 22, 10 a.m.; Sunday, April 23, 10 a.m.

“Expectations aren’t high, but at their best, this team can easily

a division title and make a deep playoff run.”

ACROSS

1 Turquoise and jade, for two

5 Nope

8 Steady guy

12 ____ unrelated note...

13 Tabloid duo

15 Ogles

16 To be, in Toulouse

17 Moroccan metropolis

19 *British Netflix teen series featuring Tanya

21 Pulitzer, for one

22 The fourth Bennet sister in Austen

23 Obamacare, briefly

26 Feel bitterly toward

28 *Action film starring Ryan

30 Agatha Christie’s “N ___?”

31 Solver’s cry

33 It runs around a foot

34 Kid-lit piglet

37 Marion follower

38 *1952 movie musical starring Debbie

43 Tar Heel State: Abbr.

44 Prefix with sphere

45 Virgil’s pious protagonist

48 Say ___!

49 Book between Gal. and Phil.

52 *Long-running Western featuring Burt

55 City where an eponymous creed was created

57 × Family popular 2022 anime)

58 Sixteen oz.

60 Conveniences on a course

61 Group that the actors referenced in four clues in this puzzle might be a part of

63 Development period

66 Top-notch

67 Salsa relative

68 ¿Cómo ____ usted?

69 Tony’s cousin

70 Where an Illinois-shaped cornflake once sold for $1,350

71 Self starter?

72 John, in Ireland

DOWN

1 Enters the draft, perhaps

2 Person providing input

3 School without classes?

4 Reaction to sunlight, for some

5 Area for premature deliveries

6 Sharp as _____

7 “______, ‘Let’s get out of this town...’” (Taylor Swift lyric)

8 Conk

9 Poetic period

10 ___ reactor (MCU power source)

11 2028 Olympics host

14 Lipstick option

15 London insurance firm

18 Snapped toward

20 Highest peak in North America

23 It comes from the heart

24 Ring-tailed mammal

25 Austrian or German (but not Italian) peaks

27 Watery

CROSSWORD

59. Prêt à Résoudre

By MAZIE WITTER | Associate Crossword Editor

29 Wing: prefix

32 Orléans opinion

34 Fairy tale monsters

35 Counterpart of str and float

36 Razor brand

38 Hose problems

39 Freeze over

40 Billy’s partner

41 Cole ____ (shoe brand)

42 Subject for philosophy majors

46 It multiplies through division

47 Natasha’s cousin in War and Peace

49 Place for a hoop

50 Harry Potter’s aunt

51 Fading star

53 Ghanaian textile

54 Precocious Plaza

Hotel resident

56 Seeds that were used as Aztec currency

59 Rorschach test components

61 Color of Dorothy’s slippers in the movie (but not the book)

62 Spiral molecules

63 Wrath

64 Well-used pencil

65 Org. that hasn’t named a female Entertainer of the Year in more than a decade