THE ANTI-VALENTINE’S DAY | PAGE 16
Vol. # 96, Issue # 11
February 6, 2012
Ethnic boundaries drive remap process By JOHN DICKOW Contributing Writer
PHOTO COURTESY OF CALLIE LIPKIN
FROM LEFT: Burlesque performers Shirley Knot, Jeez Loueez, Cherry Brandi, Red Hot Annie and Trixie Sparx are part of Vaudezilla, a Chicago-based production company, that strives to bring a more theatrical style to the city’s burlesque scene.
Creative striptease
With confidence, burlesque strips away the pounds By IRISH MAE SILVESTRE Contributing Writer Walking through the zebra print door at 3614 W. Belmont Ave. is like stepping into a boudoir. Mirrors and erotic photography line the deep plum walls. Scented candles flicker.
Above a lounge chair, feather on bondage. boas obscure an entire wall. Trumpets blare from overhead This is Vaudezilla Studios, speakers and a class is in full home of the Chicago-based swing. Women in their 20s and burlesque troupe. Here, 40s saunter seductively across you won’t find any celebrity the room in perfect coordination, magazines in the waiting area. black high heels clacking in Instead, you’re more likely unison against the wooden floor. to come across titles such as Black elbow-length gloves are “Photographs Obsession” and an peeled off ever so slowly, hips assortment of coffee table books sway as they turn towards their
reflections with ‘come hither’ eyes. It’s exercise but in a much sexier package – it’s burlesque, the latest fitness trend to sashay into the ranks of popular dance fitness classes such as belly dancing and zumba. “It’s a very creative striptease that’s very female-centric, so
See BURLESQUE, page 20
Politicians, professors don’t go bananas for pajamas By KIERSTEN SINKO Senior Writer Although wearing pajamas while running a few errands in the morning is common, Caddo Parrish District 3 Commissioner Michael Williams, from Louisiana, refuses to understand this phenomenon. While recently taking a trip to Wal-Mart, Williams saw a man wearing pajama pants that easily revealed the man’s private parts. After that experience, Williams is pushing for an ordinance against wearing pajamas in public. He plans on polling his fellow commissioners about the issue this month.
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“I’ve been wearing uniforms in school since preschool, and with this being my first year at college, I finally have the chance to wear whatever I want,” NICKI CLEES, Communications
The creation of laws against pajamas in public may put an end to the disturbing sight Williams saw at Wal-Mart, but it also means the notion of “rolling out of bed and heading to class” will no longer be part of college terminology. “I’m a person that believes that physical appearance is
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everything in the real world,” said DePaul sophomore Sarah Vanskike, a finance major. Some professors believe college should prepare students for the working world, and, as a result, students should be practicing formal presentation. See PAJAMAS, page 10
LISA ARMSTRONG | THe DePaulia
With City Council’s approval of the remap of Chicago’s wards, Lincoln Park residents can rest easy knowing their neighborhood will not be split into five different wards. Not all neighborhoods were so lucky, however. Among those, the 15th ward Ald. Toni L. Foulkes’ predominatly African-American ward on the Southwest Side will now shift to a Hispanic population. Alderman Bob Fioretti’s 2nd Ward, originally occupying the majority of the South Loop, will now stretch along Lincoln Park’s western and southern borders in a spaghetti-like fashion. “Why was this done the way it was done? Who knows. This was controlled from the fifth floor and the silver-haired caucus. It was predictable,” Fioretti told a Skyline reporter. The effort to remap the wards was framed by the interests of individual aldermen versus aldermanic groups, such as the Latino and Black Caucuses seeking more wards with their ethnic majority, according to Larry Bennett, professor of political science at DePaul. “There is a hierarchy in the City Council,” Bennett said. “Some aldermen have more sway than others.” Bennett points to Ald. Richard Mell of the 33rd Ward and Ald. Edward Burke of the 14th Ward, who are among the elite aldermen. It was Mell who introduced the new “Map for a Better Chicago.” “I would take everything Alderman Mell says with a grain of salt,” said Bennett, who calls the map’s name “just a nice framing for a bad map.” Bennett said elite aldermen use the remapping process to preserve their seats in City Council. “[The new map] is not very pretty from the standpoint of representing the local interests in a coherent way,” he said. See WARD, page 5