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NEWS: #CARENOTCOPS PROTESTS BOEING PAGE 2

MAY 12, 2022 SEVENTH WEEK VOL. 134, ISSUE 24

Campus Unions Commemorate May Day and Protest Gentrification at Rally in Nichols Park

Ralliers marching west on 55th Street during a May Day commemoration event organized by the UChicago Labor Council. nikhil jaiswal

By NIKHIL JAISWAL | News Editor The University of Chicago Labor Council (UCLC) organized a rally on Sunday, May 1, in Nichols Park in commemoration of International Workers’ Day. Organizers and members from several unions with bargaining units at the University of Chicago—including National Nurses United, Graduate Students United (GSU), and Faculty Forward—attended the event alongside community activists from #CareNotCops (CNC), UChicago Against Displacement (UCAD), Tenants United Hyde Park/Woodlawn, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and the UChicago chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA).

The event ran from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.,

with groups setting up tables where they distributed flyers and signed up new members. There, newly-elected GSU co-presidents Neomi Rao and Andrew Seber spoke to The Maroon. “We have an amazing ecosystem of folks who are all engaged in struggles that are deeply connected, so I think this rally is really about building power together, building solidarity together, and celebrating,” Rao said.

Speaking about GSU in particular, Seber said, “We have a number of things that we’re involved with. First and foremost, we’re interested in bringing democracy to the workplace. We do a lot of work in this university, and they refuse to ever speak with us as an organization

VIEWPOINTS: The RDI Department Reflects the UChicago Principles of Dissent and Criticism

ARTS: The First Vietnamese Coffeeshop in Chicago Highlights History and Culture.

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Posters lying on the ground in Nichols Park during the UChicago Labor Council’s May Day commemoration event. nikhil jaiswal or acknowledge us. But we’re just trying to improve working conditions, increase funding for graduate students, and get some legally enshrined rights to bargain with the University.”

The main event of the rally, a march through Hyde Park, began at 2:30 p.m.

Ralliers marched east on East 53rd Street and then south to the Hyde Park Shopping Center on South Lake Park and 54th Place, where a UCAD member named Jasmine addressed the group. “[The University] has a long history of racial discrimination, such as supporting racially restrictive covenants and urban renewal projects in Hyde Park that have displaced Black people.

The University has continued to do this. The Obama Presidential Center is a great example. The University’s bid

SPORTS: The Chicago White Sox Monthly Review PAGE 11

to host it on the South Side will only increase displacement without proper protections,” Jasmine said.

Ralliers then stopped in front of the Starbucks on East 55th Street, where a GSU member named Irene spoke about GSU’s struggles and victories in its fight with the University, notably the cancellation of the Student Services Fee for Ph.D. students.

The group then marched north up Woodlawn Avenue and then turned east towards Nichols Park. University of Chicago Police Department vehicles followed ralliers when they marched on the street, separating them from the cars backing up behind. The march was originally supposed to end in front of the offices of Mac Properties at the inCONTINUED ON PG. 2

ARTS: A night for Emotional Resonance at Lucinda Williams’s Unity Temple Performance

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“[W]e’re interested in bringing democracy to the workplace. We do a lot of work in this university.”

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tersection of East 53rd Street and South Kimbark Avenue, but it instead ended at its starting point in Nichols Park.

After the march, Andrew Basta, the communications secretary of UChicago’s chapter of YDSA, told The Maroon, “We’re here to support labor first and

foremost. Our goal is to be in solidarity and the bring power of labor back, so we have a relationship with the Nurses Union now, we have a relationship with Graduate Union.”

The Maroon also spoke to Anna Lendabarker and John Hieronymus, registered nurses working at UChicago

Medicine who attended the rally. Hieronymus noted that UCLC had organized May Day commemoration events in 2019 and 2020. “This is a time for all the different unions, community, and student groups on campus to get together, show support for each other, and get word out about what’s going on with our partic-

ular bargaining units and the things we’re working on,” Hieronymus said.

Lendabarker added, “It’s a nice event where unions can show support for fellow causes and union causes as a whole.”

Campus COVID-19 Cases Decline Amid Increase in City of Chicago’s Risk Level

By PETER MAHERAS | Senior News Reporter The University reported 268 new cases of COVID-19 and 311 close contacts over the period of April 29 to May 5, according to a UChicago Forward email sent on Friday, May 6. The case count represents a decline of nearly 23 percent from the previous week, when the University reported 347 new cases and 395 close contacts.

Between April 28 and May 4, voluntary surveillance testing detected 41 new cases for a positivity rate of 5.77 percent. This represents a significant decline from the previous week’s positivity rate of 9.25 percent. There are 53 students isolating on campus and 166 students isolating off campus, down

from 114 on campus and 217 isolating off campus last week.

As in previous weeks, the email cited social gatherings as the source of most new cases and reminded anyone experiencing symptoms to stay home. The University announced no changes to COVID-19 policies.

“The University’s [mask-optional] policy was adopted in consultation with experts at UChicago Medicine (UCM), and with consideration of public health guidance at the city, state and national levels,” the email read. “The University’s COVID-19 precautions, including masking policies, take into account many factors, including local case numbers

and positivity rates, as well as trends in COVID-19 hospital admissions and our contact tracing team’s latest observations concerning transmission on campus.”

The email included a notice that Chicago’s Community Risk Level had been elevated to “medium.” According to Chicago’s citywide COVID-19 dashboard, as of Tuesday, May 10, the city’s positivity rate is currently at 4.1 percent. The city experienced a 29 percent increase in cases this week relative to last week, but cases remain well below earlier peaks.

During the initial Omicron surge in early January, the city reported a rolling average of nearly 7,000 new cases each day.

The city’s current rolling average is 939 cases per day.

The University said it would continue sending UChicago Forward updates “as needed.”

In last week’s UChicago Forward update, UChicago announced that it would limit voluntary testing to twice a week.

According to the University, test results are typically released within 48 hours, so there would be “little diagnostic benefit” to additional testing within such a short period. The email reminded community members not to seek testing on successive days.

Additional reporting by Gustavo Delgado.

In Millennium Park, #CareNotCops Stands in Solidarity Against Boeing

By HUGO SMITH | News Reporter Members of UChicago #CareNotCops (CNC) joined students and activists in Millennium Park on Thursday, April 21, to protest aerospace manufacturer the Boeing Company and its relationship with the City of Chicago, claiming that Boeing profits off war and enables oppression globally.

About 25 people participated in the #BootBoeing rally, including activists

from environmental group Rising Tide and Kashmiri solidarity group Stand With Kashmir. Students from UChicago and other Chicago-area universities, including Loyola University Chicago and Northwestern University, were represented among the activists. The protesters gathered in Wrigley Square and then marched to Boeing Gallery North, less than 500

feet from the Cloud Gate sculpture.

Activists carried large banners, one saying, “Boeing Kills With Chicago Bill$ / End The Contract” and another calling the Boeing Galleries the “Boeing Arms Genocide Galleries.” A set of posters outlined Boeing’s alleged involvement in war and oppression in regions around the world including Palestine, Kashmir, Yemen, the U.S.–Mexico Border, West Papua, and the Philippines.

The Boeing Galleries, which sit on the north and south sides of Millennium Park, were named for the company after it made a $5 million donation to fund the creation of the art spaces.

At Boeing Gallery North, activists spoke about Boeing’s ties to the City of Chicago. They then distributed chalk to write anti-Boeing messages on the pavement while security guards and Chicago CONTINUED ON PG. 3

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“[T]hey’re still manufacturing weapons that are used to bring harm, violence, and death to every corner of the planet…No amount of jobs is worth that.”

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Police Department officers watched from a distance. The speeches were interspersed with chants like “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop Boeing’s war machine.”

CNC organizer and UChicago thirdyear Warren Wagner spoke at the protest on behalf of CNC. Wagner’s calls for the abolition of the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) were met with cheers from the crowd, and they then spoke in support of the movement to “boot Boeing off Earth and send the UCPD with them.”

Wagner criticized the University’s financial investments, which, as The Maroon revealed in 2020, have ties to weapons manufacturers like Boeing, deforestation, and fossil fuels. They also

stressed the importance of connecting CNC’s aims to movements like #BootBoeing. “We see how a lot of the same tactics used in the occupation and policing of the neighborhoods surrounding the University parallel warfare abroad,” they told The Maroon.

One of the organizers of the #BootBoeing campaign was Josue, 23, who declined to give his last name due to privacy concerns. He studied at UChicago before dropping out this fall, at the beginning of his third year.

Josue celebrated the City of Chicago’s choice not to renew a recently expired 20-year contract that offered Boeing tax credits in exchange for the relocation of its corporate headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in 2001. Ending this contract

had been the initial goal of the anti-Boeing campaign.

The City’s choice not to renew the contract was not, as Josue noted, directly attributable to the #BootBoeing movement. Changing business priorities and the COVID-19 pandemic had reportedly left Boeing’s riverfront tower increasingly empty.

Protesters insisted that the expiry of the contract was not enough. They shared demands for Boeing to end its arms manufacturing as well as for the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois to cut ties with the company entirely. Pamphlets distributed at the rally took issue with the construction of a Boeing drone manufacturing facility at MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, more than 250

miles south of Chicago. Defense and space contracting, primarily with government agencies, made up more than 42 percent of Boeing’s revenue in 2021, according to corporate filings.

In the minds of some protesters, there is no room for compromise with a company they see as evil. “Even if they plopped a giant manufacturing factory in the center of Millennium Park and it [provided] thousands of jobs for working-class Black and brown people, at the end of the day, they’re still manufacturing weapons that are used to bring harm, violence, and death to every corner of the planet,” Josue told The Maroon. “No amount of jobs is worth that.”

Doc Films and Night Owls Collaborate for Movie Screening and Discussion

By SABRINA CHANG | Senior News Reporter On Saturday, April 23, student-run film society Doc Films and philosophy lecture series Night Owls co-hosted a free screening of Asghar Farhadi’s award-winning 2021 film A Hero. After the screening and a brief reception, philosophy professors Agnes Callard and James Conant led a joint discussion on the ethics that drive the film’s plot.

Set in the present day, A Hero follows Rahim Soltani (Amir Jadidi), an Iranian man incarcerated in a debtors’ prison. While on leave, Soltani returns a stolen purse containing gold coins.

When administrators at the prison hear about this act of goodwill, they contact local news agencies, and Soltani’s story becomes infected with half-truths and exaggerations that capture the public consciousness. Widespread sympathies for Soltani grow, but under scrutiny, his half-truths collapse one by one. In the end, there’s no way to reclaim the small good deed that’s been spun into a symbol for moral action.

A Hero won the Grand Prix, the second-highest prize, at the 2021 Cannes Film festival. It also served as Iran’s entry into the 2022 Oscar race for Best International Feature Film.

The Doc Films screening and following reception, with pizza and drinks, were both free for students. Agnes Callard of Night Owls, the late-night philosophy lecture series, then led a discussion on the moral and ethical issues that drive Farhadi’s story—a discussion that began at 9:45 p.m. and continued well into the night. Callard, who spearheads the Night Owls program, joined Conant in the examination and deconstruction of the film.

Conant and Callard focused on the tension between “being good” and “appearing good,” which they isolated as the film’s basic underlying conflict. Within the moral world of the film, Callard argued, “the ultimate goodness is the hidden goodness”; a moral action, like Rahim’s return of the purse, is most moral

when not exploited for public gain. Further, she explained, it’s through the exposure of the good deed to the interests of public groups—charities, news outlets, government administrators—that the deed becomes inseparable from the herd of mistruths and exaggerations that surround it.

“Initially,” Conant suggested, “we’re kind of hoping that…being on the side of the good and being on the side of appearing good can come together.” But when choices become necessary, the film’s characters routinely forgo perfectly moral behavior in favor of maintaining the appearance of being good. Callard argued that for certain groups in the film’s narrative web, like charities and government administrations, this preference for appearances is actually integral; it upholds the cultural and social legitimacy that allows these public institutions, presumably agents of good, to function. “Appearing good really matters,” Callard said. “It’s…this social glue that holds everyone together.”

Another topic of discussion was the

legal controversy surrounding the film; courts in Iran are currently arbitrating whether Farhadi stole the plot of the film from a documentary produced by one of his students at a filmmaking workshop.

“The action and drama of the movie continues through the actual life of the movie,” Callard said. She said that a student had reached out to Night Owls and Doc Films asking that the screening be called off in light of the plagiarism disputes. Yet Callard stressed that A Hero “is the packaged version…of the idea that succeeded,” not the documentary. Regardless of external disputes, she suggested, it’s still a work of art worth discussing.

A public discussion open to audience participation continued after Conant and Callard’s conversation.

Doc Films’s Saturday “New Releases” series will continue with Last Night in Soho and Belfast in the next two weeks.

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VIEWPOINTS

The Line Between Institutional Neutrality and Complacency The proposed Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity will expose gaps in our understanding of race and reflect the University’s commitment to worldly academic inquiry.

By CHERIE FERNANDES In late March, the University announced the creation of a much-anticipated Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity (RDI), backed by the Council of the University Senate, the school’s highest academic body. The department, housed under the Division of the Social Sciences, is designed to serve as a source of “ambitious scholarship on concepts that have helped shape the modern world and continue to

reverberate in contemporary thought, culture and policy.”

It is the latest of four departments the University has created in the past decade, and easily among the most worthy of the designation.

However, many have called attention to how the University’s announcement of the new department minimizes the role of student and community activism in the push for change. The text repeatedly brands the process as “faculty-led” and “faculty driven,”

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making no mention of the years-long student campaigns #EthnicStudiesNow (ESN ) and #CommunityCentersNow that preceded—and likely helped spark—the faculty ’s More than Diversity initiative.

“Five generations of students of color have marched, chanted, wheat-pasted, rallied, banner-dropped, and occupied in the name of a Department whose values are aligned with the Third-World Liberation Front and other radical, multiracial student coalitions,” ESN organizers wrote to the members of the University community on February 23. The announcement, they argue, “erases and co-opts the work of generations of students of color organizing and the radical lineages we descend from.”

The University’s erasure of student activism doesn’t—and shouldn’t—necessarily come as a surprise. UChicago prides itself on maintaining institutional neutrality and thus downplays the role of student activism to avoid the perception that it is bowing to public pressure—the primary source of criticism against the new department. However, accusations of compromising institutional integrity are completely unwarranted; shaping routes of scholastic inquiry based on community interest and current events is not only permissible but expected of a university that intends to create a robust intellectual environment.

Most arguments against the creation of the RDI department point to the Kalven Report, a 1967 statement stipulating that in order to maintain academic freedom, the UChicago administration must uphold social and political neutrality. The University is intended to maintain a community of diverse thinkers, and as such “cannot take collective action on the issues of the day without endangering the conditions for its existence and effectiveness.”

To preserve academic integrity, then, the Kalven Report deems it paramount that the University maintain “independence from political fashions, passions, and pressures.”

Attention is owed to the term “political fashions,” as though questions of history and policy surrounding the racial justice protests of 2020 are akin to whether leather jackets are in vogue. In its treatment of the news, The Thinker—whose writers have reacted to the department’s creation with outrage—frames the situation as exactly that: a “mob” of young people got rowdy about critical race theory, and the University compromised its ideals to placate them. The article cites UChicago Professor of Economics Harald Uhlig, who opposed the creation of the new department. Uhlig tweeted that certain departments at the University were “in flagrant violation” of the Kalven Report when they published “highly

political statements in support of ‘Black Lives Matter.’” He contends that such statements were “clearly triggered” by the 2020 race-related protests, and that the new department would “join that chorus.”

There is a popular sentiment that the University somehow compromises its academic integrity when it engages with social justice issues, that it ought to look on from its ivory tower and avoid embroiling itself in the messiness below.

And highlighting student organizers is just that: messy. It feels like a violation of the ostensibly straightforward commitment to neutrality. But is neutrality appropriate, or even possible, in these discussions?

The principles outlined in the Kalven Report are mobilized in defense of a status quo that refuses to evolve with changing sociological conventions. It’s not hard to see that neutrality is, more often than not, a proxy for complacency.

The criticisms arising from our own faculty and amplified by Fox News, for instance, suggest that the department’s creation violates neutrality by virtue of being “predicated on an ideology.” That is to say, there’s an implication that history coursework featuring politically moderate—rather than liberal or conservative— value judgments is somehow more objective. However, the center of the Overton window CONTINUED ON PG. 5

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“It’s not hard to see that neutrality is, more often than not, a proxy for complacency.”

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isn’t perfect neutrality: it is an ideological median. Take your standard fourth-grade American history textbooks, emblazoned with eagles and stars and stripes. The breadth of the views and values implicit therein reflect the moderate political views of the time: America was righteous and good in its westward expansion, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s non-violent approach was the only appropriate way of acquiring civil rights, and Socialism is Very Bad and poses a threat to our country. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with those statements, it’s clear that this framing of history, despite being nominally non-partisan, is far from neutral or objective.

Ultimately, any discussion of society will necessarily carry value judgements and bounds on the extent to which they can be called into question. Adopting the predominant beliefs in society is hardly floating above “ideology.”

As much as this principle applies to thought, it more crucially applies to action. We find it easy to condemn people and institutions throughout history who looked away as windows were shattered on Kristallnacht or protesters were beaten on the streets in the Freedom Rides—but it was almost certainly a commitment to neutrality that, in their eyes, justified their actions. And when an innocent man is murdered by an officer of the law, and when the fallout exposes a long history of police brutality that disproportionately affects specific communities, an injustice has occurred. To refuse to acknowledge these happenings is not neutrality, but complacency. You cannot abstain; in-

action is a choice.

For UChicago as an institution, this means examining whether silence and inaction truly constitute “neutrality,” or an implicit acceptance of an unjust status quo. In the case of the 2020 protests and the long-overdue attention turned to race and racism they precipitated, it is certainly the latter.

It’s high time the University translates its nominal support for Black Lives Matter into tangible change, and opening avenues for nuanced study of race and indigeneity is an excellent step. Not only that, but doing so is in line with the school’s fundamental commitment to inquiry: New developments

KIRA DAVIS

like the killing of George Floyd have exposed gaps in our understanding of race, allowing the University to adjust to new information and investigate topical ideas. Involvement with current events, and the students who engage with and are implicated by them, is the University’s way of engaging with the world, which in turn allows it to be the intellectual powerhouse it is.

The Kalven Report states that “by design and by effect, it is the institution which creates discontent with the existing social arrangements and proposes new ones. In brief, a good university, like Socrates, will be upsetting” by creating a

space for students and professors to serve as “instruments of dissent and criticism.” The creation of the RDI department reflects these principles. It is additive, not restrictive—an expansion of how we study race introduced by student changemakers, equipping scholars to understand and critique the world in new ways.

Academic departments that adopt comparatively novel theories (e.g. the current response to racism in America is not adequate) and frameworks (e.g. we can understand history through power struggles rather than the great man theory) allow us to expand our intellectual horizons. And such

fields of study are crucial at a time when conversations about race and racism are at the center of the country’s collective consciousness; understanding how structural and racial disparities originate and endure in society is crucial to operating as an informed, civically engaged adult. This can often be uncomfortable and personal for students, but if a group calls for the censorship of academic areas because the ideas therein feel radical, they themselves become obstacles to academic freedom.

Cherie Fernandes is a firstyear in the College.

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Caffeinating Chicago UChicago’s culture of caffeine dependence negatively affects student mental health.

By MATTHEW CABRERA As I walked into the Regenstein Library on a Saturday afternoon during seventh week fall quarter, the sight of Ex Libris Café immediately stole both my gaze and my appetite. A wave of relief washed over me as if I had seen a mirage of an oasis in a desert. Coffee! I entered the crowded café and eagerly used my dwindling Maroon Dollars to purchase my usual latte before heading up to the second floor. I had successfully acquired a loyal companion to keep me energized for the large amount of work I was about to delve into. Reflecting on my reaction to the café as I took large sips from my cup, I came to realize how, over the previous few weeks, I had slowly become dependent on caffeine to keep me from feeling drowsy. I rarely drank caffeinated beverages before coming to UChicago, but within a year, switching to decaf would have given me a headache.

My experience with caffeine is just one example of a troubling campus culture surrounding coffee shops and caffeine consumption at UChicago: We normalize and even glorify caffeine dependence. In order to create a campus environment that supports its students’ mental health, the University should spread awareness about caffeine dependence.

Before coming to UChicago, I only drank coffee about once or twice a week, early in the morning.

Though my parents maintained a steady coffee regimen and would offer me a cup every so often—especially after late nights studying—I would usually decline their offer. Not only was I skeptical of how much a cup of coffee would actually help keep me energized, but I genuinely felt that I was able to rely

ZACHARY LEITER on myself to sustain high enough energy levels to perform throughout the day. It is also notable that I wasn’t surrounded by heavy coffee or caffeinated beverage drinkers in high school, so I never felt the urge to pick up the habit and begin consuming caffeine regularly. Back then, due to my lack of experience, I did not yet understand the hold

caffeine has on its frequent consumers.

Walking into one of the many coffee shops on campus, students are greeted with the pleasant aroma of coffee grounds and the chatter of people studying and taking breaks with their friends. For college students, coffee shops are useful social and study hubs where

they can foster peer relationships and, more importantly, purchase their favorite caffeinated beverages. Many students have fallen into the ubiquitous working-adult routine by visiting a coffee shop on their way to class or the library.

With five student-run coffee shops on campus, a variety of other coffee shops on or near cam-

pus, and the ability to order coffee through third-party suppliers, students can easily overcome their fatigue whenever they please. An article from NBC Chicago states that according to data from GrubHub, UChicago students in the 2016–17 academic year were the most caffeinated college students CONTINUED ON PG. 7

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“[S]tudents’ overdependence on caffeine is all too present.”

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in the U.S., ordering an average of 138 percent more caffeinated beverages than the national average. Though it may not come as a surprise to those familiar with the school’s academically rigorous environment, this statistic sheds light on a larger, more sinister phenomenon occurring at UChicago and other campuses across the country.

In my experience at UChicago so far, students’ overdependence on caffeine is all too present. It is not unusual for friends of mine to stop at Hallowed Grounds or Pret a Manger for a quick coffee during the afternoon and return to their dorms late at night to crack open their fridge and raid their stash of Red Bull or Celsius. Fueled by a

constant rush of caffeine, students believe they are receiving the needed amount of stimulus to remain alert and productive during their hectic days, a habit they pass on to successive generations of students.

In many ways, the caffeine-dependent environment students have created is the result of a habit loop to which incoming students succumb each year: Seeing second-years and upperclassmen fill coffee shops or carry around coffee cups entices new students to follow in their footsteps. Once I realized that I, too, had picked up the habit, it was easy to trace my steps back to one of my first days at the College. I was heading into Hutchinson Commons past Pret a Manger when I saw the long line

stretching from the counter to the doorway, and looked down at my ID full of Maroon Dollars waiting to be used. From then on, I began to adopt the coffee shop culture, rationalizing my purchases with my own fatigue and the fact that many people on campus, including close friends, drink caffeine. I had made drinking caffeine into a necessary tool for success.

As for the conclusion that caffeine is a substance needed to remain alert, there are many studies that would refute this statement.

While caffeine does help keep habitual drinkers awake, it is not necessary for those who do not already drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages. A study in Neuropsychopharmacology concluded

that coffee merely helps habitual coffee drinkers gain the alertness that non-coffee drinkers already have. Their ability to remain sharp without substances had been suppressed by their regular coffee intake.

Relying on caffeine to remain awake can have measurably adverse effects on students’ well-being. For example, a study performed at the University of New Hampshire seems to indicate that daily coffee drinkers’ dependence on caffeine masks their need for sleep. This causes them to stay awake longer at night and substitute a few hours of sleep for another two cups of coffee the next morning, creating a vicious cycle. A strong caffeine dependence could

also lead to caffeine withdrawals, which induce anxiety and irritability. In essence, caffeine releases adrenaline into our bodies and subsequently triggers our fight-orflight response. The added rush of adrenaline causes nervousness and jitteriness, which can lead to anxiety.

While, for the most part, the benefit of being more alert outweighs the costs of drinking coffee, we should all remain aware of our growing obsession with and dependence on caffeine in our time at UChicago.

Matthew Cabrera is a first-year in the College.

ARTS Twice the Caffeine, Twice the Culture: VietFive Brings Traditional Vietnamese Coffee to Chicago

By MIKI MUKAWA | Arts Reporter Walking into this humble coffee shop in Chicago’s West Loop, one will be greeted by the crisp, bright beats of Vietnamese pop music. Despite the rain pelting against the pavement on this particularly gloomy Sunday afternoon, the founder and owner of the shop Tuan Huynh greeted us with a warm smile, making the less-than-ideal weather fade into the background.

VietFive, located downtown on West Madison, is Chicago’s first Vietnamese coffee shop. The menu boasts a range of authentic Vietnamese and fusion options, including cà phê sữa đá (Vietnamese iced coffee, of which non-dairy options are available as well), bánh mì empanadas (Vietnamese/ French fusion), and soft-serve Vietnamese coffee ice cream.

I had my initial reservations—I prefer to be able to taste a hint of bitterness in my coffee, rather than masking it with too

much sugar or milk. Vietnamese coffee, in my experience, tends to fall on the sweeter side. But VietFive’s cà phê sữa đá, made with robusta beans and brewed traditionally through a phin coffee filter, manages to create a low-acidity coffee that balances the bold bitterness of the robusta with the warm sweetness produced by the supporting act (we tried the condensed milk and oat milk options). It helps if you like coffee for its energy-producing qualities: robusta coffee beans contain twice the caffeine that arabica does. Four hours later, I could feel the gentle hum of caffeine running through my body on the bus ride back. If you prefer something a bit more solid, their VietFive soft serve is an exceptional option as well.

But what does it mean to Huynh to open the first Vietnamese coffee shop in Chicago?

To him, it’s about sharing his story and culCONTINUED ON PG. 8

Robusta coffee beans (shown above), which are used and sold at VietFive, contain twice the caffeine that Arabica does. courtesy of vietfive coffee

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“Four hours later, I could feel the gentle hum of caffeine running through my body on the bus ride back.”

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ture. VietFive’s coffee is grown and harvested from his family’s farm in Vietnam, where his family emigrated from in 1981. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, they were displaced from their home and into the central highlands of Vietnam. There, they first came into contact with robusta coffee, a type of bean introduced to the region through French colonization. After the incarceration of his father’s side of the family and their subsequent release in 1981, Huynh’s family quickly escaped the country. “[At three years old,] I was the youngest on the boat of 55 people,” Huynh recounts, sitting across from me at a circular table. After a few months in a Malaysian refugee camp, Huynh’s family finally landed in the United States.

“Growing up from being an immigrant to the U.S…. was difficult,” he tells me. Their family lived in government housing in a low-income neighborhood; they were “a minority within a minority group.” This sense of alienation was a weight Huynh carried on his shoulders throughout his adolescence and was one of the reasons why he ran into his fair share of trouble. While he reflects on this experience with a tone of regret, there is also a sense of pity for his younger self.

“You’re different. You’re poor. You know what I mean?” He makes a grasping motion with his hands, as if to make sense of it all.

“It was hard to come up with the reasoning [as to] why they don’t like you.”

But as Huynh grew older, he began to understand why. “When you don’t understand something, you find that you can respond in a certain way,” he explains. That was the seed that eventually grew to become VietFive—a place where people could not only be exposed to Vietnamese culture for the first time but that would also foster cross-cultural empathy and understanding.

“I’m really looking at community like this,” Huynh says as he interlocks his fingers together, “more of a shared humanity approach. You know, in a transcultural, not a multicultural [way].” You can see it in the way that Huynh interacts with his patrons: welcoming them inside, chatting with them at their tables, creating relationships and connections. It’s also this transcultural quality that is embodied in Huynh’s food.

Here, the bánh mì empanada is a standout,

VietFive, located Downtown on West Madison, is Chicago’s first Vietnamese coffee shop. miki mukawa uniting the mellow flavors of the Vietnamese bánh mì (traditionally a baguette sandwich with pickled vegetables, cucumber, cilantro, and protein) with the soft shell of the empanada.

As for his future hopes, Huynh continues to emphasize that he plans to spread the beauty of Vietnamese culture. “If another Vietnamese coffee shop opens up down the street from me, I’ll be joyous…[as] that means there’ll be more people drinking Vietnamese coffee,” he smiles. His shop is a representation of one of the many unique Vietnamese stories, which he ultimately tells me is something that nobody can truly compete with.

He wants to use the space to host community

events and create access to the arts, inspired by his previous experience as an art director. He muses on potential plans to expand VietFive across the city, or perhaps even to another city. “That’s why I say caffeinate the world with robusta goodness,” he laughs.

At the end of our interview, Huynh scans his eyes around the space and then at the white brick wall behind me. He tells me that I’m welcome back anytime if I ever want a place to study. “You won’t be chased out,” he reassures me, explaining that was why he decided to paint the walls white: to give it an open, welcoming atmosphere. Even as I write this now—sipping on a cup of iced coffee—ironically, I find myself craving the

smooth sweetness of VietFive’s cà phê sữa đá, and I hope I’ll be back soon. If you ever find yourself in the West Loop, in need of some extra caffeine or a study session with the buzz of Asian pop in the background, check out VietFive on 1116 West Madison Street.

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, VietFive has partnered with Bucketlisters on an exclusive Coffee and Culture Brunch Event Series the weekends of May 13 and May 20. Coffee and Culture Brunch will include VietFive products, live painting, and performances.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 12, 2022

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Lucinda Williams, Transcendent at Unity Temple in Good Souls Better Angels Tour The country-rock star stirred up emotions and commanded an astounding presence in an intimate, rollicking Oak Park concert.

By ALISON GILL | Arts Reporter On November 6, 2021, I said that live music had been ruined for me forever.

This melodramatic statement came as I walked out of Carnegie Hall, one of the greatest concert venues in the world, after Brandi Carlile, a defining vocalist of her generation, had performed the entirety of Joni Mitchell’s Blue, one of the most influential albums in history.

Surely, nothing would ever compare.

I knew that I would see other great concerts, and I have. But I doubted that I would ever witness such a musical performance again, one so transcendent it becomes elemental, even magical. But on April 12, I felt that same elemental energy as Lucinda Williams performed at Unity Temple in Oak Park.

Williams had an itinerant childhood that traversed the American South, Mexico, and Chile, and her work is just as hard to pin down. She bounces between genres, from blues to country, folk to rock. She counts Tom Petty, Audioslave, Sade, and the poetry of her father, Miller Williams, as inspirations. She has covered The Rolling Stones, and Mary Chapin Carpenter has done covers of her songs. She’s a formidable songwriter, insistent on approaching topics of abusive relationships and complex men with a provocative compassion. In surveying her 40-year career, the only unifying thematic force behind her music is a spirituality of sorts. There’s near religiosity in her devotion to the steel guitar and dusty roads and in her veneration of the “beautiful losers,” as she calls them, at the center of her best work.

There could be no better showcase for this musician than the intimate sanctuary Unity Temple, designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. As soon as Williams began to sing the opening lines of “World Without Tears” from her 2003 album of the

same name, it was clear that it would be a night of emotional resonance and unflinching candor.

The motivation of Williams’s tour is ostensibly to promote her latest release, 2020’s Good Souls Better Angels. That album is overtly political and topical; it’s not too difficult to determine the subject of her stunning and unsparing song “Man Without a Soul.” But after suffering a stroke in November 2020, Williams is using the tour as a career retrospective—even though, at age 69, her voice sounds as good as ever. In fact, I was surprised to find that Williams sounded better today than she did twenty years ago. Emmylou Harris once said that Williams could “sing the chrome off a tailpipe.” Her voice still has its trademark cragginess, but live performance reveals a vocal purity that’s obscured on record.

Prior to the show, there was a near-audible buzz of anticipation among the audience, whose members spanned at least six decades in age. The women next to me were in their 70s and seeing Williams for “the fourth or fifth time”; the girl in front of me was celebrating her eleventh birthday and her first-ever concert. If Williams needed a few songs to settle her nerves, so did the crowd in order to loosen up. The enthusiasm and admiration only grew throughout the concert, and, by the time she got to “Drunken Angel”—my favorite of her discography—the audience was on its feet, singing along.

The 19-song setlist pulled from familiar songs, including “Can’t Let Go” from her breakthrough 1998 album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road and deep cuts like “West Memphis” from 2014’s Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone.

In an unconventional move, Williams eschewed her biggest songs, “Passion-

ate Kisses” and “Essence,” in favor of lesser-known but more personal tracks.

One such example, “Pineola” off Sweet Old World (1992), provided one of the night’s first showstoppers. Spare and brutal, the song depicts the suicide of a friend, and even 30 years after its initial recording, Williams channeled the tragedy with a fresh potency and beauty. Another unexpected standout was “You Can’t Rule Me” from Good Souls Better Angels. Williams’s performance felt more punk than one would expect of a near septuagenarian.

Her backing band, Buick 6, demonstrated remarkable musicianship and adaptability throughout the night, particularly guitarist Stuart Mathis. Given the stylistic medley of Williams’s music, the group aptly met the demands of each song, from the understated “Big Black Train” to the layered, intricate “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.”

But it was still Williams who captured and held the spotlight. Williams studded her performance with stories that introduced each song. If her songs are “like reading [her] journal,” as she said, these stories provided the audience with a glimpse into the process that guides one of America’s great songwriters. Her musings spanned the vulnerable to the humorous, occasionally at the same time. In the lead-up to the bittersweet “Lake Charles,” she spoke of one of those “beautiful losers”: Clyde Joseph Woodward III. “With a name like that, it tells you enough about a guy,” she quipped to the crowd’s amusement.

“But [he] never could get himself enough together,” she added with startling sadness.

As we entered the concert, the venue manager had warned us that we “may weep.” There were certainly moments that threatened tears, like the aforementioned “Pineola” or the gentle “Bus to Baton Rouge.” But by the time

Williams reached the end of her set, the band and audience were rollicking.

Playing to the crowd and to the concert space, Williams closed out the concert with a rendition of ZZ Top’s “Jesus Just Left Chicago” and her own songs “Blessed” and “Get Right with God” from 2001’s Essence. And, as they listened to one of the great songwriters of our time, the crowd was moved to dance.

As Williams’s final songs made explicit, there is a reason that the imagery and language of music and spirituality are so tightly intertwined. Plato once called music “the moral law” that “gives soul to the universe.” Thousands of years later, Frank Zappa declared music “the only religion that delivers the goods.” Musicians are elevated to objects of idolatry. Favorite songs transform into personal hymns. Religious sanctuaries become temporary concert venues. Music at its purest provokes ecstasy, a greater force that seeps into our bones and takes hold of our being, if only for a moment. Its artistry and liveliness compel us to take action and to inhabit our feelings in ways few other undertakings can.

Faith is at the heart of nearly all of Williams’s songs. Her music asks us the questions of where we invest our faith, how we sustain it, and what happens when we break it. But she also supplies us with answers if we look hard enough.

We can assign faith to the sound of car wheels on a gravel road or Howlin’ Wolf on the radio or whatever else we choose.

More than anything, Williams’s music shows us that true faith is found and maintained only in one another.

So it felt fitting that, under Williams’s spell, the night ended with the audience dancing among the pews in a sanctuary.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 12, 2022

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Good Music, Better Company: Wilderado Plays Chicago

By JED WHALEN STEWART & SOFIA HRYCYSZYN | Arts Reporters In between songs, the lead singer smiled into the crowd, taking a moment to thank his audience for being such “good company.” Max Rainer’s southern accent embodies the charm of Wilderado, an alt-indie band with roots in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Wilderado is composed of lead singer and guitarist Rainer, bassist and vocalist David Arthur Stimson, guitarist and vocalist Tyler Wimpee, drummer Justin Kila, and multi-instrumentalist Jack Malonis.

On April 14, the band played at Schubas Tavern, located a few blocks south of Wrigley Field. Schubas’s performance space, nestled behind a doorway after a quick walk past the bar, provides a secretive atmosphere. Red arches framing the stage create an intimate and enjoyable setting. The opening band, Flipturn—a young indie rock group from Fernandina Beach, Florida—brought an electric energy to the stage. Their hit “Chicago” especially enlivened the crowd, their stage presence much more dynamic

and powerful than their recordings. After successfully warming up the crowd, Flipturn exited, making room for the headlining band.

Wilderado entered through a side door, fresh out of a crisp Chicago night.

They stepped onto a darkened stage in front of a vibrant crowd. The opening notes of “Stranger”—the first song on their debut album, Wilderado—echoed across the room. As the song progressed, the audience got their first good look at the band: just four guys and their instruments. No flashy outfits, minimal special effects, and a feeling of rustic, homely simplicity.

The band finished “Stranger” and moved on to “Astronaut,” continuing to play their way through the album. The audience grooved with every chord. As the closing beats of “Astronaut” dispersed through the room, Rainer stepped up to the mic to introduce the band. He said they were super excited to perform for this audience as Schubas was the first

venue on their tour to sell out. Rainer wore a nondescript red Chicago Bulls T-shirt that he said he purchased on Etsy.

Additionally, he said that during the tour, he had been saving it in his suitcase for the band’s performance in Chicago.

Rainer’s Tulsa accent was extremely apparent in conversation, less so while he sang. When he spoke, audience members greeted every sentence with cheers and responses. This support continued through the night as fans reveled in interactions with one of their favorite bands.

Despite lacking an overly dynamic stage presence, Rainer and his supporting cast kept all eyes on their audience through a mix of striking emotion and a clear love for performing with one another. In fact, the dynamic between singer and band was one of the most captivating parts of the show; not only were the musical aspects of the performance extremely tight, but the band’s chemistry was palpable.

Oftentimes, guitar solos turned into intimate jam sessions between members on stage.

The band ramped up with “Head Right” before playing through Wildera-

Members of Wilderado at their sold-out concert at Schubas Tavern in Chicago. jed whalen stewart

do, almost in its original order. The audience swayed, jumped, and danced as the room’s energy shifted from song to song but never lapsed. In monologues between songs, the band described their appreciation for being able to do what they love along with their hope to pass that same perspective on to their kids. Much of the band’s music describes fatherhood. In the best way possible, the “cool dad” vibe was apparent throughout the whole show.

“Help Me Down” started completely acoustically, with Rainer singing on his own in the spotlight. After the first chorus, the whole stage erupted in color and the rest of the band joined in. Audience members sang along with each song’s every word and swayed to the melodies as the show rolled to a close. They finished their set with “Sorrow” and exited back into the Chicago night.

After a few minutes, much to the glee of the audience, the door cracked open and the band reappeared, accompanied by their opening band. Flipturn mingled by the door while Wilderado retook the stage and played their most popular song, “Surefire,” for which fans had been clamoring all night.

It was almost impossible to imagine an ending to the concert that would leave every listener feeling wholly satisfied, but somehow the band delivered. Every member of Wilderado stepped forward to the mics at the front of the stage. Rainer began to address the crowd, mentioning how he always gives a short, impactful speech about their next and final song, “Rubble to Rubble,” which describes the process of becoming a dad. However, the concertgoers, who had been voicing their desire to hear “Rubble to Rubble” all night, were so eager that Rainer skipped his speech. Instead, the audience received a beautifully raw performance of one of Wilderado’s best songs, which culminated in their bringing Flipturn on stage for the last verse and chorus of the song as every person in the room sang along to every word. The bond between the two bands was evident on stage, and the show ended with emotional embraces between members of both bands.

Then, just like that, it was over. Wilderado walked calmly off stage, unfazed by how the entire room commended the band for a phenomenal night of music.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 12, 2022

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SPORTS Agony in April: The Chicago White Sox Monthly Review

By DHEERAJ DEVARAJAN | Sports Reporter They say that it’s better to be lucky than to be good. In the month of April, the Chicago White Sox were neither of those things. At the time of writing, they sit third in their division with an 8–13 record and one win in their last nine games against divisional opponents.

The Sox went on a run of eight straight losses near the end of April, highlighted by an unlucky and unproductive offense, a series of injuries to key players, and some serious pitching liabilities. Let’s talk about it.

Two players are emblematic of the White Sox’s failure thus far in 2022: Leury García and Dallas Keuchel. After finishing 2021 as one of the worst pitchers in the American League, Keuchel has unfortunately continued that trend into this season. After giving up 14 earned runs in his first four starts, Keuchel is currently posting a horrendous earned run average (ERA) of 8.40, a walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP)of 2.33, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio less than 1.

Simply put, the former Cy Young Award winner just can’t seem to find the zone as he could two years ago, and every time he does, the ball seems to end up either in the outfield or in the bleachers. With Vince Velasquez putting up an impressive showing in his last start against the Los Angeles Angels, Johnny Cueto completing his ramp up to the season in Triple-A, and Lance Lynn recovering

rapidly from a knee injury he sustained in spring training, this may be the end of the road for the 34-year-old Keuchel on the South Side of Chicago.

“Leury Legend” had the most memorable moment in 15 years of White Sox baseball last postseason, and I feel the need to present that fact every time I mention him because there don’t seem to be many positives to discuss nowadays. After signing a new three-year deal with the club this off-season, Leury has had a miserable start to the year, hitting .118/.151/.216. In addition to his offensive woes, he has been found lacking on the defensive side as well, and his defensive versatility has not been put to effective use as of yet. Another element of Leury’s failures thus far has been manager Tony La Russa’s insistence that he hit higher in the lineup than needed, at the cost of pushing offensive stalwarts such as José Abreu and Yasmani Grandal down the order. The difference between Keuchel’s and Leury’s situations is that there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to García’s play.

La Russa has started putting him back toward the lower end of the order, and he has come up with a couple of big hits as of late. Hopefully this short resurgence is a more accurate sign of things to come.

While the Sox’s injury situation is improving—Lucas Giolito, Joe Kelly, A. J. Pollock, Yoán Moncada, Luis Robert,

Josh Harrison and Lynn all have either returned or are on the verge of returning to the roster—a big part of the offense in Eloy Jiménez is still out. On a routine ground ball against the Minnesota Twins, Jiménez suffered a torn hamstring after stepping onto first base awkwardly. He is expected to be out until July.

Jiménez’s play until his injury was also a good example of the White Sox’s sheer lack of luck to begin the season.

In three key offensive metrics (weighted on-base average, slugging percentage, and batting average), the White Sox lead Major League Baseball by a wide margin in the difference between expected numbers and actual numbers. Essentially, the offense is hitting the ball hard and with good elevation but has been extremely unlucky when it comes to where its players are hitting the ball. The law of averages would dictate that their luck should turn soon enough, and if it does, the offense should return to its rightful spot on the top of most leaderboards.

Abreu, Grandal, Tim Anderson, Robert, and Andrew Vaughn are all squaring up the ball extremely well, and soon enough, their production will match the quality of their at-bats.

The White Sox’s pitching has been good overall despite some shaky April appearances. Giolito, Dylan Cease, and Michael Kopech are all off to outstanding starts to the season, while Velasquez showed a glimpse of his potential in an

outstanding start against a loaded Angels offense. Closer Liam Hendriks has had a difficult start to the season, but I wouldn’t worry about him. He is really, really good at his job and will figure it out. Off-season addition Kendall Graveman has been fantastic thus far, and while Joe Kelly’s return will be a welcome sight for La Russa, Tanner Banks, José Ruiz, and Matt Foster have all done an outstanding job of filling in as bullpen arms. Aaron Bummer still has one of the nastiest sliders in the major leagues.

Overall, the Sox’s pitching has been decent, and with Lynn and Kelly returning soon, I would only expect it to improve.

I opened this piece with a proverb, and I’d like to end it with another one: Tough times never last, but tough people do. The month of May will test the Chicago White Sox’s championship pedigree, their ability to overcome adversity and find their winning formula. If things even out the way that they usually do in the Major Leagues, the cream will rise to the top, and the Sox will return to their rightful place at the top of the division. But although it is far too early to be worried, it is not too early to develop a sense of urgency. Let’s see if the Southsiders can find a way to win and win consistently.

CROSSWORD Ab Workout

By PRAVAN CHAKRAVARTHY and HENRY JOSEPHSON Across 1. Whichever 4. Canvas submission option 7. Quick punch 10. Life of Pi director Lee

13. “___ to be true” 15. Number that’s usually two digits 16. Thing in a golf bag 17. Bambi’s friend named for his foot-tapping habit

18. Group for dukes 20. Not dark, like hair 21. ___ Nicolae, UChicago Statistics Department chair 22. What the ancient Greeks called Mars 23. It comes straight from the horse’s mouth

24. Favorable 26. Haul (in) 27. It’s fumbled by mistake 28. Sand hater of sci-fi legend, for short 29. A torn one ends a season 30. Choices CONTINUED ON PG. 12

THE CHICAGO MAROON — MAY 12, 2022

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CONTINUED FROM PG. 11

32. How to do a crossword bravely 36. Major Aquinas work 39. Groom 40. Scandalous energy corporation 41. “You’ve got mail” service 42. Respectful address 44. Leader of four U.S. states?

45. Palindromic name anagramming to a palindromic bread 46. A triangle with two angles of equal measure 50. Teleporting fireplace powder, for Hagrid 51. Fashioned 52. Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ___ You Get Enough” 53. Six in San Salvador 54. Call

56. UChicago staple... hinted at by the circled squares (and their locations in the words!)

59. “Easy A” mentality 60. Exclamation by Homer 61. RSO with a general assembly 62. Python built-in list function 63. Anagram of “Neo” 64. Often mis-apostrophed word 65. Canada’s most populous prov.

Down 1. Competitor of Verizon 2. Theater tradition from 7-down 3. “Hear what I’m saying?”

4. Drop by 5. Productive person 6. Prez who gave fireside chats 7. Country with 2-down and 10-down

8. It means “things to be done” in Latin 9. Insect with stripes 10. Game Boy game maker 11. Desert overlooked by the Fortress of Masada 12. Honkers 14. What modern people use instead of 41-across 19. “Now this is pod___!” (28-Across quote) 21. Where you can pick up some pointers 23. Go again and again 24. Apt rhyme for “stash” 25. See 55-Down 26. Emulate a zombie’s voice, maybe 27. Small storage unit 30. Word on some car keys 31. Herpes symptom 33. Spotlight for Vijay Iyer or McCoy

Tyner 34. Prefix associated with Saieh Hall 35. Mother of Simba, in The Lion King 37. Bungled (up) 38. Song with apple bottom jeans and the boots with the fur (with the fur) 43. Change the past, as in a TV narrative 45. Author Walker of The Color Purple 46. Urge forward 47. Squad leader 48. Ancient Greek theater 49. Limber 50. Things to doomscroll 53. Photographed 55. It marks a 25-down at an altar 56. Oversharing acronym 57. Skedaddle 58. Treebeard, e.g.