011014 Chicago Maroon

FRIDAY • JANUARY 10, 2014

CHICAGOMAROON.COM

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

ISSUE 18 • VOLUME 125

Hitchcock residents report four stolen laptops Joy Crane Associate News Editor Four laptop thefts took place in Hitchcock Hall Wednesday around 8 p.m., the second such occurrence in Snell-Hitchcock within the last two years.

“I was here hanging out at eight, and we went out to get shakes because, well, it’s dollar shake day, and we came back at 8:45, 8:50. So 45 minutes later, and it was gone,” said secondyear Rachel Ferree. She said that her door was unlocked, which residents said is fairly normal due to the close-knit house culture.

Both Snell and Hitchcock residents reported interacting

with a black male in a royalblue hoodie who knocked on multiple students’ doors asking for Emma Goldberg, a first-year student in Snell, throughout the day Wednesday.

“It’s a little creepy for me because this guy was just walking around asking for me, and it’s a guy that I’ve never seen before,” said Goldberg.

An hour before the thefts were reported, second-year Griffin Cox spoke to the unrecognized individual, who was charging his phone in the Snell Tea Room.

“I asked him, ‘Are you in Snell?’ And he said no. ‘Are THEFTS continued on page 2

Too cool for school The University canceled classes Monday after Chicago experienced polar temperatures with the wind chill below –40 degrees Fahrenheit, temperatures unseen in two decades.

JAMIE MANLEY | THE CHICAGO MAROON

A night with the HP Knights Wait Wait... coming soon Marina Fang News Editor UChicago students will be able to hear Carl Kasell’s inimitable voice echo through Mandel Hall when it hosts a taping of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! (WWDTM), NPR’s weekly current events quiz program, on Thursday, January 30.

The show, based at Chicago’s NPR affiliate WBEZ, is typically taped at the Chase Bank Auditorium in the Loop, but the Institute of Politics (IOP), which is spearheading the event, invited the show to venture south to Hyde Park for a taping on campus, according to IOP Executive Director Darren Reisberg.

“We reached out to WWDTM about the

Students behind the UChicago Crime Feed follow a tip from the UCPD scanner.

JAMIE MANLEY | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Sam Levine Editor-in-Chief Editor’s Note: Names have been changed to protect the safety of the sources.

Something about the way a man is pacing along East 52nd Street doesn’t look right to Alex. He thinks that the man is looking into cars for something worth stealing. Not wanting to give himself away, Alex tells Ben, who is driving the car that they are both inside, to circle the block. He says that if he sees the man looking into car windows again, he is going to call the suspicious activity in to the police.

“We might even catch a criminal tonight, guys,” Alex says.

Alex and Ben, students in the College,

experience moments like these regularly.

They run the Twitter handle @hpknights and the Facebook page UChicago Crime Feed, where they send out snippets of what they hear happening locally on Chicago Police Department (CPD) and University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) radio frequencies. They drive to the scene of crimes that they think are notable in the UCPD patrol zone, which extends from East 39th Street to East 64th Street and from Cottage Grove Avenue to Lake Shore Drive and South Stony Island Avenue. Armed with their smartphones, two police radios, personal cars, and no formal law enforcement training, they have over 1,300 followers on Twitter, nearly 2,000 on Facebook, and have become one of the most consistent, real-time, KNIGHTS continued on page 2

possibility of having a taping down here on campus. While WWDTM does invariably go on the road outside of Chicago to do tapings, they generally do not do tapings anywhere in Chicago other than at the Chase Auditorium.

That said, they were really intrigued by the idea, and after some back and forth about scheduling, we were able to land on the January 30 date,” Reisberg said in an e-mail.

Hosted by Peter Sagal, the show invites listeners to call in and answer questions about the week’s news. Radio veteran Carl Kasell is the show’s official judge and scorekeeper, and participants can win a recording of his famous voice for their answering machine or voicemail.

WAIT WAIT continued on page 3

Univ. remembers $90 mil given Sally’s dedication for cancer research William Rhee News Staff

Family, close friends, colleagues, and students of math professor Paul Sally, Jr., congregated on Saturday to cherish Sally’s life and accomplishments in a memorial service held at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Hyde Park.

Sally passed away on December 30 at the age of 80. A professor at the University since 1965, Sally served as chairman of the mathematics department from 1977 to 1980 and was the department’s director of undergraduate studies for 30 years.

His brother, Francis, viewed Sally as a “true Renaissance man” who could be described

Christine Schmidt News Staff The University of Chicago’s Ludwig Center will receive $90 million to further fund studies in the spread of cancer, recruit expert scientists, and fill other holes left by a lack of federal funding for research initiatives.

The money is part of a $540 million gift from Ludwig Cancer Research, a nonprofit international community of researchers, to six academic centers funded by the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR), based in New York.

SALLY continued on page 3

CANCER continued on page 2

IN VIEWPOINTS

IN ARTS

IN SPORTS

Don’t write off the future of journalism » Page 4

Everything’s made up, and the points don’t matter » Page 7

Offensive stars to lead charge into first conference battle » Back Page

The struggle is real » Page 5

With new series, Doc aims to reel in community » Page 8

Warm-weather training ends with return to cold, pool » Page 10

2

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | January 10, 2014

“I’m not a vigilante, I’m not a cop. The best tool With new funding, researchers hope to I have is my phone. Or my Twitter account.” uncover the “genesis and progression of cancer”

Weekly Crime Report This is a series the Maroon publishes summarizing instances of campus crime. Each week details a few notable crimes, in addition to keeping a running count from January 1. The focus is on crimes within the UCPD patrol area, which runs from East 37th to 65th Streets and South Cottage Grove to Lake Shore Drive.

Here are this week’s notables:

Since January 1

Jan. 1 Jan. 7

» December 31–January 1, 5747 South University Avenue (Fraternity House)—Between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., an unknown person entered the fraternity via an unsecured window and took property. The CPD is investigating.

0

0

Robbery

0

0

Attempted robbery

1

1

Battery

1

1

Burglary

0

0

Criminal trespass to vehicle

1

1

Damage to property

3

3

Other report

0

0

Assault

3

3

Theft

0

0

Trespass to property

1

1

Arrest

0

0

Traffic Violation

» January 2, 947 East 58th Street (Abbott Hall)—Between 4:10 p.m. and 4:35 p.m., an unknown person took an iPhone left on a desk top of an unsecured office.

47th

51st 53rd

55th » January 7, 1116 East 59th Street (Harper Memorial Library)— Between 2:30 p.m. on January 4 and 8:15 a.m. on January 7, an unknown person(s) gained unauthorized entry to the reading room and hung a banner.

57th

59th 60th

62nd Source: UCPD Incident Reports

S. Lake Shore

» January 1, South Dorchester Avenue between East 61st and 62nd Streets, 10:10 p.m.—During the course of an argument, a male suspect struck his girlfriend with his fists. He was arrested by UCPD officers.

Type of Crime

S. Hyde Park

A UCPD officer spoke to eight residents within a few hours of the cases having been reported, but did not take formal statements, according to Cox. “We had eight people in here ready to testify or whatever. He did not want to take our statements. And my RH, Mary, got pissed at him.”

But Ferree said that it was the best outcome of a bad situation.

“To be fair, the reaction time of everyone was great. This experience obviously sucks, but five minutes after I got back, looked for my laptop and Tom [the RH] and the police were already downstairs.”

By Alex Hays

University

you in Hitchcock?’ And he said no. And I said, ‘do you know anyone in Snell or Hitchcock?’ and he didn’t answer. So I was like, ‘you gotta go.’”

The building was outfitted with surveillance cameras and ID scanners on the front doors following similar thefts in October 2012. But there is no front desk security presence at the main entrance to Snell, through which one can access both dormitories without an ID. “I don’t want them to close the Snell doors, but that might solve the issue, because if everyone went past the front desk like they do in, say, South, then there’s a filter,” Cox said.

toward comprehending metastasis in the breast. His co-director of the center, Ralph Weichselbaum, studies the phenomenon of oligometastasis, which results when a cancer metastasizes in one or a few particular organs.

Although researchers knew that this gift would be coming once the Ludwig estate’s assets were sold off, a process that concluded last month, they were not certain how it would be appropriated, according to Greene.

“There was some potential competition [among the centers] to try to gain some favor, but it turns out they were very equitable [in distributing the Ludwig funds],” he said.

Ultimately, each center received the same amount of money.

Greene hopes the gift will be used to strengthen ties and collaborations between the various branches of Ludwig Cancer Research, which includes various international branches of the LICR and the six academic centers.

“The whole idea is to have that occur more frequently now with this new funding, to have us all interact,” he said. “[The Ludwig Cancer Research organization] is set up now to show us all as part of a large entity with a common overall goal.”

Cornell

THEFTS continued from front

one of the world’s richest men in the 1960s.

After Ludwig’s death in 1994, the LICR gave money to six academic institutions to establish cancer research centers. UChicago’s Ludwig Center for Metastasis Research opened in 2006.

“This funding is really transformative in the sense that it goes beyond our labs,” said Professor Geoffrey Greene, co-director of UChicago’s Ludwig Center and Chair of the Ben May Department for Cancer Research.

“One of the major uses we really want to apply this money to would be recruitment of senior investigators,…[people] who are complementary to what we have here.”

Greene said the work of the center is focused on metastasis, or the spread of cancerous cells around the body. “That’s really what kills people,” he said. “In the shorter term, our goal is to better understand what’s going on in the genesis and progression of cancer, including metastasis and how to effectively inhibit it in a way that prolongs life and increases quality of life.”

Ludwig researchers at UChicago are trying to understand metastasis from its origin to its prevention, including how the cells escape the tumors and why they establish themselves in particular places elsewhere in the body. Greene’s work is geared

Blackstone

Thefts in spite of increased security measures

CANCER continued from front

Stony Island

and drug dealing and has been on the scene of shootings, murders, burglaries, assaults, and numerous other crimes while reporting for the Crime Feed. Even though he says that there is an “adrenaline rush” and a sense of danger that he feels going to a crime in progress, ultimately what sticks with him is the impact of a crime on the victim.

“Once you really see a few of these happening, you realize that these are people’s lives. This is not a show, it’s not a movie,” Alex said. “For the victim this was terrible, and will likely stay with them for the rest of their lives depending on what happened.”

On that frigid November night when Alex spotted the man walking along East 52nd Street, the UCPD radio, hooked up to the speakers in Ben’s car, was quiet. In just over an hour of driving around, most of the calls that came out over the radio were officers calling in traffic stops. Only one incident came over the radio that Alex was interested in responding to: a residential burglar alarm going off. As Ben drove to the scene, Alex tweeted: “1322 E 50th St: Burglar alarm activated. Kitchen entry door.” After watching police arrive on scene, Alex and Ben waited until a dispatcher radioed that the situation was clear.

Alex carries the radio with him throughout the day and will often plug in his headphones to listen while doing homework at the Reg. He and Ben take their personal car to any incident unfolding that catches their attention. Alex prioritizes his work for the Crime Feed over schoolwork, when necessary.

Given his time commitment to the Crime Feed, it has been difficult for Alex to hide involvement with the Crime Feed from friends. Out of safety concerns, however, he generally prefers to remain anonymous.

“It’s not something where if I’m at a party and a stranger is talking about it I’ll be like ‘Hey, that’s me,’” Alex said. “I didn’t want [Alex] associated with locking up this burglar two weeks ago. And also, I didn’t want someone to think of me when they read the Crime Feed.” While he frequently arrives on scene with police officers, he says that there has not been an opportunity where he needed to introduce himself to them.

Anonymity can have its downsides. Alex says that he has met people who think that the Crime Feed is a parody, and has overheard others who think it’s a UCPD account even though the feed clearly states that it is unaffiliated with the University.

After Alex and Ben circle East 52nd Street three times, the man that Alex found suspicious is gone. The lack of activity on the radio doesn’t seem to bother either of them, and both say that a quiet night for them is a good thing.

Asked whether he might consider pursuing a career in law enforcement, Alex says he is unsure. He does, however, admit that he has long been fascinated by police work.

“Everyone when they were a little kid was enamored with the police, wanted to be a cop,” he said. “I just never lost it.”

Ellis

public sources of crime information in Hyde Park.

It was Alex’s own curiosity about crime happening around him that led him and two friends to start listening to a police scanner that he inherited from a student as an underclassman. Once he started listening, he was struck by the kinds of calls that UCPD received on a regular basis.

“They weren’t bullshit calls,” he said, adding that he listened to police responding to “dangerous situations” such as domestic disturbances and batteries in progress that often had nothing to do with students or the University. Figuring that there might be other people interested in what he was hearing, he began tweeting.

At first, few people followed the Feed, but gradually, the tweets began to gain traction.

As the number of followers grew, the Crime Feed expanded from Twitter to Facebook, reaching an even broader audience. After a while, only Alex ran the Crime Feed, and he began to drive to the scene of the crime as officers responded, sending out real-time updates—including pictures—of what he heard and saw. Alex recruited Ben and one other person this academic year to help him and to take over the Crime Feed when he graduates.

Alex said he considers the Crime Feed an unfiltered “form of journalism,” which provides the public with a more holistic picture of area crime.

“I’m certainly not gonna affect people’s opinions about incidents, but at least I can let them know that these incidents happened,” he said. “Once students become more aware of where these events happen, when they happen, how they happen, maybe students will take greater steps to protect themselves.”

The Feed’s short, direct dispatches offer followers a glimpse of how police respond to crimes in real time, providing a service that the UCPD and the Chicago Police Department (CPD) do not. UCPD posts daily incident reports at least 24 hours after incidents are reported, and CPD publishes crimes a week after they occur.

Alex is quick to note that the Crime Feed is not a substitute for law enforcement.

“I’m not a vigilante, I’m not a cop. The best tool I have is my phone. Or my Twitter account,” he said.

But sometimes the Crime Feed and law enforcement intersect. In November of last year, Alex said he was on the scene of a burglary where police were able to catch two of the three men involved. Listening to the radio in his car, Alex saw a man turn the corner who fit the description of the third man. He quickly flagged down a nearby police car and pointed out the man, who was then arrested. Recently, followers have also started to submit tips to the Crime Feed, but Alex says that he refers them to police detectives.

“I don’t think we can be of much help there. We’re not a detective agency,” he said.

Alex says that he has seen prostitution

Cottage Grove

KNIGHTS continued from front

*Locations of reports approximate

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | January 10, 2014

3

NEWS IN BRIEF

Free weekdays at MSI

After legal issues delayed its opening by eight months, Japanese restaurant Yusho is slated to open this summer.

The Hyde Park version of Matthias Merges’ Logan Square restaurant was originally scheduled to open in February on East 53rd Street and South Kimbark Avenue. However, development was postponed due to a lawsuit filed by Hyde Park residents, which challenged the University’s petition that aimed to overturn an alcohol ban in the precinct in which Yusho is situated.

The restaurant hoped to apply for a liquor license.

According to the Hyde Park Herald, the lawsuit was dismissed on December 17.

The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI), located at East 57th Street and South Lake Shore Drive, is offering free basic admission to Illinois residents every weekday this January.

Illinois residents must present valid proof of residence in order to receive free admission. According to Beth Boston, a public relations manager, students can use University IDs to also receive free admission on these days.

Basic admission includes access to most of the museum’s permanent collection but does not include access to special exhibitions, which must be purchased individually.

The MSI offers free entrance for Illinois residents 52 days per year and says that about 45 percent of its visitors enter this way. It offers at least one Illinois Free Day every month except in April, July, and August. Regular admission to the museum begins at $27 for adults, $26 for seniors, and $18 for children, with a slight discount for Chicago residents.

—Harini Jaganathan

—Sarah Manhardt

Yusho to open in summer

The Museum of Science and Industry will be free for Illinois residents every weekday in January.

JULIA REINITZ | THE CHICAGO MAROON

UChicago Events launches app to complement website Sean Pierre Maroon Contributor Students looking for something to do on a Friday night now have the information they need literally at their fingertips.

UChicago Events launched last spring , has recently created an iOS app to supplement its website, which provides

listings of social events on campus. According the app’s developer, firstyear Samuel Giddins, the new application provides students with an easier and more convenient way to access information.

According to third-year Victor Kung , one of the website’s co-founders, the app allows users to connect to the UChicago

Events web server and find out about events that are occurring on campus during the week.

It also connects to users’ Facebook accounts and allows their Facebook friends to be notified when they decide to attend an event. “When each person logs on, they log in through their Facebook account. The

Free taping courtesy of University organizations WAIT WAIT continued from front

In addition, a panel of comedians discuss and joke about the newsmakers and headlines of the week. The January 30 show will feature three of the show’s regular panelists: comedian Faith Salie, author Tom Bodett, and humorist Mo Rocca.

According to the show’s website, tickets to the regular tapings cost $24.75. However, in this case, University organizations, including the Logan Center for the Arts, the Office of Campus and Student Life, and the Office of

way I like to put it is that it’s like Facebook Events but on steroids,� Kung said. “With Facebook Events, you only see events that you get invited to, but this app shows you everything, and we give you all of the capabilities that Facebook does.�

The app was developed for the iOS platform, since the majority of

70

mobile users who use the UChicago Events website access the site through the iOS mobile platform. “Out of our user base, 30 percent of all of our users are mobile users. Out of that 30 percent, 90 percent are on Apple devices,� Kung said. “Students want this data immediately, and they want it with them all of

the time. We’ve built a solution for that,� Giddins said.

The team behind UChicago Events plans to continue the development of both its website and the app once it receives feedback from its user base, according to Giddins.

The app will be available on the iTunes store within the coming week.

th

SEASON

Civic Engagement, subsidized the cost and made the event free for all attendees. “It was important to us and our campus partners to be able to offer this incredible opportunity to students and community members at no cost,� Reisberg said.

Exclusive tickets for UChicago students will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at the Logan Center for the Arts box office beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday. After that, remaining tickets will open up to members of the public, beginning at noon on Saturday.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESENTS

Students recall Sally’s enthusiastic teaching SALLY continued from front

by the words “courage, determination, perseverance, and honor.â€? Referring to Sally’s battle with diabetes since the age of 15, he said, “How he accomplished everything physically and mentally over the years is a real tribute to his courage and to his determination‌.It carried him through with his intellectual abilities, what he did at the University of Chicago, and what he’s done in the field of mathematics.â€?

In addition to tributes and scriptural readings from Sally’s family, the service featured remembrances from his colleagues, including Diane Herrmann, the co-director of undergraduate studies in mathematics and a senior lecturer at the University. Herrmann co-founded the Young Scholars Program with Sally in 1988, a program that of-

fers free classes for gifted seventh through 12th grade students, mostly from Chicago Public Schools, to enrich and strengthen their understanding of mathematics. “As a teacher, mentor, and colleague, Paul had no peer,� she said. “I know how he cherished his family, how he valued loyalty above all else.�

Herrmann affirmed Sally’s love for basketball, recalling how he expected her to report the scores of Boston Celtics playoff games to him while he was abroad.

Following the service, a reception and luncheon was held in Eckhart Hall, home to the mathematics department. A slideshow featuring pictures of Sally and his family was presented upstairs in Ryerson 352, which Sally had nicknamed “the barn.�

At the reception, several of Sal-

ly’s students shared their memories, referencing his notoriously rigorous classes and his enthusiasm for teaching. “[His] classes were always very hard, but...he always wanted to help you and ran extra office hours,� fourth-year Weston Ungemach said. “He wasn’t just teaching math.

He was teaching an attitude,� fourth-year Benjamin Gammage said.

Sally famously had students address him with “Yo Sally,� which, according to his brother Francis, were his two favorite words. Francis used those words in closing his tribute to his brother: “I will say good-bye, Paul, God bless you, rest in peace, and Yo Sally.�

Sally is survived by his wife, Judy; his three sons, David, Steven, and Paul III; and their families.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 12 / 3:00 PM

3DFLoFD 4XDUWHW Don Michael Randel Ensemble-in-Residence 2:00 PM pre-concert lecture: Associate Professor Steven Rings Mozart: String Quartet in F Major, K. 590 Shostakovich: Quartet No. 7 in F sharp minor, Op. 108 Brahms: String Quartet in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1 LOGAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS PERFORMANCE HALL, 915 E. 60th Street k 3DFLoFD V VXQQ\ YLYDFLRXVQHVV WRQDO FRORULQJ DQG HPRWLRQDO KRQHVW\ EURXJKW RXW WKH PXVLF YLYLGO\ y — Pittsburgh-Post Gazette

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$25/$5 students with valid ID For tickets call 773.702.ARTS or visit FKLFDJRSUHVHQWV XFKLFDJR HGX

A limited number of FREE student tickets are available through the Arts Pass program; visit chicagopresents.uchicago.edu for details.

VIEWPOINTS

Editorial & Op-Ed JANUARY 10, 2014

A better shopping list Office of the Registrar needs to provide interim platform for course information The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892 REBECCA GUTERMAN Editor-in-Chief SAM LEVINE Editor-in-Chief EMILY WANG Managing Editor AJAY BATRA Senior Editor VICENTE FERNANDEZ Senior Editor MATTHEW SCHAEFER Senior Editor EMMA THURBER STONE Senior Editor MARINA FANG News Editor ELEANOR HYUN Viewpoints Editor LIAM LEDDY Viewpoints Editor KRISTIN LIN Viewpoints Editor EMMA BRODER Arts Editor ALICE BUCKNELL Arts Editor WILL DART Arts Editor LAUREN GURLEY Arts Editor DANIEL RIVERA Arts Editor SARAH LANGS Sports Editor SONIA DHAWAN Head Designer KEVIN WANG Online Editor MARA MCCOLLOM Social Media Editor CONNOR CUNNINGHAM Head Copy Editor ALAN HASSLER Head Copy Editor SHERRY HE Head Copy Editor BEN ZIGTERMAN Head Copy Editor SYDNEY COMBS Photo Editor JULIA REINITZ Photo Editor

While first week is generally considered the least busy week of the quarter, it also represents a period of flux, when students are scrambling to add, drop, and switch classes. There is one factor that the Office of the University Registrar could improve upon to expedite the process for many students: ensuring that the information provided for each course on classes .uchicago.edu is thorough for all courses. While some courses provide detailed information on course content and required books, others have virtually no information at all. According to University Registrar Scott Campbell, the website’s current software is not able to host such a large amount of information, which leads to the absence of some course descriptions and reading lists. The Office of the Registrar is currently developing an improved version of the software for autumn 2014. While this is commendable, students should not have to lose out in the meantime. During the wait for the improved software,

the Office of the Registrar needs to provide another means for students to access course information so that they can prepare adequately for their coursework.

The information that each course description provides needs to be detailed throughout all classes, especially given that the quarter system does not allow much time for students to consider many alternatives. Even with the add/drop period, it is difficult for students to take a gamble on, for example, a course with no description—particularly when it comes to the humanities or social sciences, for which course names are often ambiguous. Offering an in-depth set of information to students during the eighth-week course registration process can alleviate at least some of this uncertainty and help students bid more precisely.

Included in this information should be lists of textbooks needed for classes.

Often, students do not have access to reading lists until very close to the beginning of the quarter. Such short

notice is particularly problematic when professors expect students to read for their first week of classes, as students are put under pressure—often monetarily—to acquire the most convenient copy of a book. At least some prior insight into the titles and costs of textbooks can go a long way for students who want to purchase their books in advance, whether to save money or to avoid unforeseen shortages.

Providing reading lists early is convenient for all students, but especially vital for students with disabilities who benefit from electronic versions of texts. Should a student with dyslexia or a visual impairment, for instance, need to convert a text to a format that can be read aloud by a computer, an early reading list can help the student avoid falling behind.

Though the Registrar’s office is currently working on changes to the website, it should also provide a temporary platform to host the course information and reading lists that are not dis-

played on the website. This could be in the form of a temporary website or new entries in the online college catalog. The Registrar could also communicate with professors and ask them to send out their syllabi to students who express interest in the class.

Early availability of this information benefits students during not only course registration, but also first week, when many students are preparing to add or drop classes that they have not yet attended. Having full information can help students gauge the feasibility and fit of a class, as well as alleviate some of the first-week attendance fluctuation that inconveniences instructors. It is probably difficult to define “Painting, Phenomenality, Religion” even after a quarter’s worth of investigation; before a student dives in, she should at least be given a course description.

The Editorial Board consists of the Editors-in-Chief and the Viewpoints Editors.

PETER TANG Photo Editor

particularly nothing

FRANK YAN Photo Editor COLIN BRADLEY Grey City Editor JOY CRANE Grey City Editor THOMAS CHOI Assoc. News Editor ALEX HAYS Assoc. News Editor HARINI JAGANATHAN Assoc. News Editor STEPHANIE XIAO Assoc. News Editor TATIANA FIELDS Assoc. Sports Editor SAM ZACHER Assoc. Sports Editor

When the numbers don’t add up

Don’t write off the future of journalism

Sometimes accepting failure is all you can do

Nonfiction might not be headed for the dumps

TYRONALD JORDAN Business Manager TAMER BARSBAY Director of Business Research SHAWN CHEN Director of Internal Marketing ANNIE ZHU Director of External Marketing VINCENT MCGILL Delivery Coordinator ANNIE CANTARA Designer CARINA BAKER Designer AURNA HASNIE Designer JANE JUN Designer

By Kristin Lin Viewpoints Editor

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The Chicago Maroon is published twice weekly during autumn, winter, and spring quarters Circulation: 5,500.

The opinions expressed in the Viewpoints section are not necessarily those of the Maroon. © 2013 The Chicago Maroon, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 Editor-in-Chief Phone: 773.834.1611 Newsroom Phone: 773.702.1403 Business Phone: 773.702.9555 Fax: 773.702.3032 CONTACT News: News@ChicagoMaroon.com Viewpoints: Viewpoints@ChicagoMaroon.com Arts: Arts@ChicagoMaroon.com Sports: Sports@ChicagoMaroon.com Photography: Photo@ChicagoMaroon.com Design: Design@ChicagoMaroon.com Copy: CopyEditors@ChicagoMaroon.com Advertising: Ads@ChicagoMaroon.com

silver bullet

As a result of some rash decisionmaking at the beginning of my fall quarter, I enrolled in MATH 19620 as a non-econ major. I spent my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays surrounded by classmates who probably cared much more about matrices and kernels than I ever will—or at least they seemed to understand what they are. I, on the other hand, floundered trying to even visualize, let alone master, the concepts that we spent weeks covering in class.

“

Accepting that I was simply bad at math felt like I was simply giving up on myself.

”

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” the few people to whom I talk (read: complain) about this have consoled me. Math classes for social science majors aren’t designed to be challenging.

And yet it was that bad. The first week was difficult for me; the second week, which I thought would

be better, turned out even worse.

I thought it would get better once I sat down and really studied the material. But it didn’t, not really. I attended the problem sessions every week and went to office hours when I could. Every time I was in the classroom, I would glance around and wonder if anyone else was as lost as I was.

I often hear people confidently proclaiming, “I am terrible at math.” Their commentary often ends there, as if the case is closed, and the story is over. I have always wanted to be comfortable with this conclusion for myself, to sell my math textbooks for a modest profit and burn my years of math notes with a lighter, the way smokers light their cigarettes in front of Cobb. I wanted to watch the pages curl in the flames and happily move on to the next chapter of my life.

But I couldn’t do that. Not even as I struggled—in blatant futility— with linear algebra. Accepting that I was simply bad at math felt like giving up on myself. This, regardless of the grades I received on my midterms and finals, was my greatest failure: abandoning my own standards of achievement and settling for something slightly less favorable.

My experience with linear algebra is a story of disillusionment, one of my coming to terms with my inability to cross an intellectual boundary that others seem to master with ease. From this perspective, it’s nothing special—it seems like every new first-year is advised not to expect too much, because “even if you breezed through high school, MATH continued on page 5

Patrick Reilly Viewpoints Columnist I love writing nonfiction. For now, that gratification is enough.

Yet someday, if I want to channel nonfiction writing into a career, it will need to pay.

When that day comes, warns blogger Tim Kreider, I’m in for a rude awakening. In a recent New York Times op-ed entitled “Slaves of the Internet, Unite!”, he laments the plight of “those whose work is easily digitized and accessed free of charge. I now contribute to some of the most prestigious online publications in the English-speaking world, for which I am paid the same amount as, if not less than…when I sold my first piece of writing in 1989.”

Kreider, it seems, has fallen victim to a much larger trend: the devaluation of those who assess and interpret our ever-changing world.

Mere days after his bitter article, The Times’ Bill Keller noted that foreign journalism has become dominated by “a legion of freelancers, often untrained and too often unsupported.” If you’ve been following developments in the Middle East, news of the latest demonstration in Cairo or blast in Aleppo was probably brought to you by one of these “untrained,” “unsupported,” and minimally paid journalists, protected by his own common sense and the hope of another check from Reuters. Even if that intrepid young writer gains the backing of a major newspaper, his long-term prospects are dim: According to the American Society of News Editors’ annual census, the total workforce in Amer-

ican newsrooms has shriveled from 56,200 in 2000 to 38,000 today—a decline of over 30 percent, courtesy of free online news. Why pay The

“

...Journalism isn’t the first form of intellectual property to face an existential crisis.

”

New York Times or The Wall Street Journal for in-depth analysis when you can skim Politico or The Huffington Post for free?

Yet before you write off writing, consider that journalism isn’t the first form of intellectual property to face an existential crisis.

In the early 2000s, the music industry was facing Internet ills of its own. CD sales were plummeting, victims of online, illegal peer-topeer networks that enabled users to download the exact songs they wanted. Why pay Sony or Virgin for an entire album when you could download only the songs you wanted off Napster for free? Record-company executives attempted to defend their obsolete business model by suing prominent file-sharers. Despite their litigation, sales continued to suffer. Then, in 2003, Apple came along with a radically simple notion: Compile all songs in an online store, sell each one individually for 99 cents, and let the customer listen to it anytime, anywhere. Today, music piracy remains a serious problem, JOURNALISM continued on page 5

THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | January 10, 2014

5

The struggle is real Sophomore slump has established an unhealthy status quo that covers up mental and physical health problems Zelda Mayer Viewpoints Staff I am usually able to gauge how my life is going by observing my reaction when I see a baby.

If I want to play with or hold the baby, I am doing just fine. But if I want to be the baby— to be able to fling myself on the ground, throw a tantrum in public, and just be cradled and sheltered from the world—I might need to reevaluate my life.

More and more, I’ve noticed myself wanting to be the baby.

I’ll be honest: Fall quarter was rough for me. Things felt like they were falling apart— academically, emotionally, you name it. And not just for me, but for all my second-year friends as well. We joked about it, developing the struggle bus metaphor more and more until we were strapped to the roof of a struggle Hummer limo headed straight for Strugs City.

But beyond the self-deprecating jokes, it was harder on all of us than we were willing to admit. Instead, we distracted ourselves, ripping open a bag of Cheetos and waiting for the quarter to reset.

All my third-year friends assured me that they too had had trouble navigating the ins and outs of their second year of college. I assumed that this was just the sophomore slump and that the stress eating and drunk crying would soon pass.

College—and life—is stressful, but with so

much going on, sophomore year in particular tends to highlight this fact. As second-years, we are expected to know how to navigate the College, since we’ve already been here for a year. We are no longer required to schedule quarterly meetings with our academic counselors, and our parents stop checking in so much, confident now in our abilities to do our own laundry and pick up our own prescriptions.

But the really scary part is that we are not only expected to do our own laundry, but also to pick a major, figure out a career path, and effectively perform under a rigorous course load while balancing a busy RSO schedule.

We prioritize our future over our present needs, losing much-needed sleep to study for a midterm or apply for a summer internship.

Issues that have been lurking below the surface break through, but instead of addressing them, we assume that they are just part of the package deal, and keep working. “I am fine,” I told myself all throughout first quarter. “Everything’s fine.”

Then the quarter ended, and I’m…not fine.

I’m starting to realize that this might go beyond the sophomore slump. How many days do I have to stay in bed in just my underwear, watching Netflix and feeling sorry for myself, before it’s considered depression and not just the slump? How bad does my self-esteem have to get? How inconsistent do my eating habits have to be before it’s considered an eating

disorder and not just a college student’s unhealthy routine?

There is this notion that you’re not supposed to be a healthy, functioning human being during second year. Instead, you’re supposed to

“

Mental health is just as important as physical health, but as students we often ignore it.

”

be depressed and crazy. Throughout the quarter, I would receive texts that said things like, “Haven’t slept or eaten a real meal in 36 hours.

Running on coffee and tears. The sophomore slump is real,” or, “Just broke down crying in the middle of class. Sophomore slump.”

But it’s exhausting to laugh it off and wait for everything to pass. And if this is just the sophomore slump, I don’t understand how anyone makes it through the year.

Of course, not all moments are bad, and I do occasionally put on pants. Good things do result from hard work: I continuously justify the all-nighters and caffeine headaches with a good grade on a midterm, or numb the pain with a fun night with friends.

Still, because depression, anxiety, and stress are all the second-year status quo, it can seem

like a form of failure to complain too much or to seek substantial help. It feels like my issues have to reach a threshold of urgency before I can go talk to someone about them or reach out for help. One night last quarter, I found myself sobbing at 3 a.m., feeling like I had exhausted my support system in Chicago. I realized that the longer I write off my feelings and attribute them to the sophomore slump, the longer I’ll be preventing myself from living a healthy, balanced life.

It was time to make a change.

This quarter, I’m making a conscious decision to work on my mental health. For me, this means finally making use of our free counseling services. Not because I have reached the threshold of depression or body issues, but because I’ve decided I’m tired of pretending that the things I am dealing with are acceptable aspects of college.

Mental health is just as important as physical health, but as students we often ignore it, casting it aside as “optional.” Instead, we order another latte, do another P-set, and call it a slump. I’m done with this unhealthy lifestyle.

To all my fellow classmates: Just book an appointment with counseling services, go to that yoga class, or take a deep breath and call your mom. Let’s face our issues head-on. Because, quite frankly, this sophomore slump thing is bullshit.

Zelda Mayer is a second-year in the College.

Ambition can become a destructive quality once you hit an intellectual limit MATH continued from page 4 chances are that you will get a low grade on your first Hum paper.” From the start, we are told to expect disappointment, and sure enough, I have already received my guaranteed dose.

But I think my experience also opens up the bigger question of what failure is, beyond the letter grade that a professor assigns to you or where you fall on the curve. And it’s a question I believe many people on this campus have on their minds: What does it mean to fall short of your own standards of excellence in such an intellectually demanding environment?

Two voices seem to ring equally clear on this issue. On one hand, there’s the idea— or perhaps the fact—that we’re at one of

the best academic institutions in the country. Not many people get the opportunity to surround themselves with such bright minds; even being on this campus is a success in itself. Failure, then, doesn’t mean so much—especially when you give something your best effort.

But then there’s another voice that charms our more ambitious sides. It whispers in our ears that this isn’t enough, and that mediocrity—regardless of subject, and even among the most excellent students—is unacceptable. This second voice may not tempt you, dear reader, but it tempts me and, I’m sure, many others who walk the Quads. It is this second voice that would keep me up for an extra hour the night before a problem set was due, or prompt me to wake up early in

the morning to get a head start on studying.

I feared failing—failing to reach my own standards and my desired grades—more than anything else. And hard work would protect me from failure.

Until it couldn’t. I realized this one cloudy afternoon while I was working on linear algebra in my room. It wasn’t really an epiphany so much as the final straw in a series of small moments: a single problem that was frustratingly difficult for me, yet probably relatively simple for most other people. I just couldn’t solve it, and that made me not want to solve it. There was nothing to motivate me past my inability.

I am gradually accepting how bad I am at math, but it is an unsettling process. Giving up math simply because I did not enjoy doing

it seems almost petty. It feels like a justification for the fact that I just wasn’t disciplined enough to force myself to read through the textbook and review my notes after class.

Maybe I did completely disappoint myself.

But I have thought this through many times already, and any excuse I conjure will only ever appear like an inadequate rationalization.

But I’m starting to be OK with that. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, but it’s something I want to share because it’s not shared enough. We champion our victories and we share our successes, but our vulnerabilities we hide under layers of clothing and veneers of confidence.

Kristin Lin is a second-year in the College.

In the age of free content, The Magazine has found a way to compensate writers JOURNALISM continued from page 4 but the industry can at least counter it with a sustainable business model.

A decade after iTunes revolutionized the music industry, Silicon Valley just might have something in store for us nonfiction writers as well. In October 2012, Instapaper co-founder Marco Arment created an onlineonly, ad-free, subscription-based publication entitled, simply, The Magazine. For a $1.99 monthly subscription, I got access to a gripping account of a glitch on a Mercury-bound space probe, a Canadian’s musings on eclectic

Dutch holiday traditions, and an introduction to the world of indie video game design.

Americans have supposedly stopped paying for this high-quality online nonfiction, yet The Magazine racked up 25,000 subscribers in its first four months of operation. Not surprisingly, The Magazine quickly turned a profit—and found the cash to pay writers about $800 per article.

Could this mark the start of a much-needed revolution in journalism? When I emailed Glenn Fleishman, The Magazine’s Editor-inChief, he urged caution. “There’s zero proof

SUBMISSIONS

The Chicago Maroon welcomes opinions and responses from its readers. Send op-ed submissions and letters to: The Chicago Maroon attn: Viewpoints 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 E-mail: Viewpoints@ChicagoMaroon.com The editors reserve the right to edit materials for clarity and space. Letters to the editor should be limited to 400 words.

Op-ed submissions, 800 words.

that this is anything but a fluke,” he explained.

“We’re still an experiment, in that I can’t reliably predict whether the future will continue to bring success….Readers have more than enough to consume without paying, so it’s a hard sell. In the near future, I expect a drop in the number of ad-supported sites and more print publications shuttering or shrinking.

This may reduce the amount of interesting things to read enough that readers finally are persuaded to start subscribing.”

Not exactly the confident, Steve Jobs–esque vision that an aspiring nonfiction writer had

hoped for, but Fleishman’s pragmatism is, well, pragmatic. He’s attempting to charge Americans for a service they’ve snapped up free of charge for over a decade. Although deeply entrenched, that paradigm is unsustainable. UChicago students know as well as anyone that the task of assessing a complex issue, forming an opinion, and coherently expressing that opinion is arduous work. It’s time that those who have taken it up as a living make a living wage.

Patrick Reilly is a first-year in the College.

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THE FALL/WINTER 2014 ISSUE IS ARRIVING

Tuesday, January 28th

GREY CITY

THE SISTER MAGAZINE OF THE

CHICAGO MAROON

THE CHICAGO MAROON’s Quarterly Magazine

Spring 2013

UNDER THE TABLE Inside food culture at the University of Chicago » Page 14

PLUS Q&A with Dean of College Admissions and Financial Aid, Jim Nondorf » Page 19

The State of the Humanities (And why you shouldn’t double major) » Page 2

Through The Portal: The Maroon Rabbit Revealed » Page 22

and Pierce’s last stand » Page 7 GREY CITY | 1

GREY CITY Volume 2 Issue 1 Autumn 2008

40 YEARS

LATER: The sit-in PLUS:

»

Austan Goolsbee goes to Washington

»

Q&A with Bert Cohler

»

U of C bankers:

Staying afloat A Ch Chic Chicago iccag a o Ma M Maroon roon ro on Publication Pub u liica ati tion on V l 2I 1A t 20 2008 008

IN THIS UPCOMING ISSUE: Leaves of absence • Safe Passage • Changes in Reynold’s • Disabilities & Accessibility • University Politicking

ARTS

Heartlandia JANUARY 10, 2014

Everything’s made up, and the points don’t matter Will Dart Arts Editor Wayne Brady is an award-winning actor, musician, and comedian who is most famous for starring on the hit show Whose Line Is It Anyway? His improv show Making Shit Up comes to the Chicago Theatre on February 28th.

Chicago Maroon: First off, would you prefer to be called Wayne, Mr. Brady, Wayne Brady…

Wayne Brady: ...Who wants to be addressed by their full name in a conversation?

CM: Right. Wayne, sometimes the show is called Making Shit Up, and sometimes it’s Making It Up. Which do you prefer?

W: It can’t always run in the newspaper, but it really is making shit up.

It’s about improvisation, about pulling stuff out of nowhere to make something cool. In that way it’s a lot like what we did in Whose Line.

CM: Do you follow any kind of script at all while you’re up there?

W: No script. From the time I get up on stage to the time I walk off, it’s completely improvised. I make skits and music up on the fly using suggestions from the audience—someone yells out “Rod Stewart” or “Justin Bieber,” and we’ll take one of their songs and turn it into something else. You’ll have an impersonation, on top of a song being made up on the fly, on top of an audience member’s suggestion, so you know it’s completely improvised. And with a live audience stuff always comes out of the blue, so you never know where it’s going to go.

CM: Whoa. Do you have any help

up there at all?

W: It’s just myself and my keyboardist.

CM: That sounds pretty grueling. Post-show, how do you chill out?

What’s your relaxation routine?

W: Since I expend so much energy on this one, afterward I just really need to take some time for myself and recoup. It’s not necessarily the rock-star lifestyle, but I find that as a performer you really need to protect your body, your mind, your voice, the whole thing.

It used to be like, “Hey, let’s go out for a night on the town, stay out ’til four in the morning, let’s get drunk, eat everything in sight, etc.,” and that’s not always the best way to protect your instrument.

I’ve got a glass of wine and my PlayStation 4 and I’m good to go.

CM: And being an extremely funny person like yourself, do you find it difficult to “turn off ” when you’re not on stage?

W: No. When I’m on stage, that’s my job. But as soon as I step off my job’s finished, so I’m off.

CM: Fair enough. Wayne, you’ve won several Emmys, you’ve been nominated for a Grammy, you’ve even dabbled in comedy…

W: Dabbled?

CM: So as a wearer of many hats, how would you describe yourself as a performer?

W: I would say I’m a performer who’s worked hard to be a triple threat. That’s sort of the old-school way of being a creative person.

CM: And having worked on so many projects, is there any one thing that you could say was your favorite, or provided you with the most valuable experience?

W: I try to look at a lot of the things

I do as being the best experience at the time, in that moment. As a performer I’ve had so many highs that I really love each one individually. When I was nominated for a Grammy that was the best thing in the world for me. When I made my Broadway debut in Chicago that was the best thing. Things like being on stage and performing with Stevie Wonder, at the White House… that’s a real high. But getting to have fun on stuff like How I Met Your Mother was another. I’m still always looking for that sort of “ultimate”...but until then, I’m just digging everything that I do.

CM: Is Neil Patrick Harris as great as everyone says, or better?

W: He really is one of the nicest guys out there. We had a great time making the show, and he’s been nothing but awesome to me. So yeah, to be able to work with him was pretty cool.

CM: Besides NPH, who are some of your other favorite people who are working right now?

W: I love the Paul Rudds of the world and the Will Ferrells; I think that whole club is great. I also love Key and Peele, and there’s this group out in L.A. called The Black Version, which is a group of all-black improvisers who’ve been making a lot of noise lately. Definitely check them out.

CM: Will do. Lastly, any advice for the intrepid young comedian who wants to be the next Wayne Brady?

W: Get up on stage! No matter what route you want to try, you’ve got to start somewhere. No one just walks on stage and immediately makes it happen. I started in musical theater, and things just progressed from there. It helps to find an established group, or put one

ALICE BUCKNELL

| THE CHICAGO MAROON

together yourself, but no matter what, you’ve gotta get on stage so that people know you’re out there. It doesn’t matter where it is, or how many people are in the audience. One night my group performed in front of 10 people, and five of them were drag queens. But I loved

the experience, because I had a chance to work out my stuff, and by the time I got to do it in front of a real audience I had it down.

CM: So just get your foot in the door, then?

W: Make your own door!

Fall quarter retrospective: I’ve fallen and I can’t get up

The zombie we’ve become from too much TV binge-watching is begging for your help.

COURTESY OF AMC TV

James Mackenzie Arts Staff Fall quarter was supposed to be easy.

That was the notion I had going into my second year at UChicago. It’s not a thought shared by many students at this school, but a beginning political science major taking a light physical science class and a first-quarter for-

eign language ought to manage pretty smoothly. And the quarter had mostly gone fine, but perhaps being surrounded by so many fellow students who seemed ready to disappear into the wilderness (or drop their physics major) under the weight of their academic endeavors inspired me to make things a little harder on myself.

And what better way to put off

studying and suck away valuable time than to aggressively binge-watch TV shows on the Internet? My greatest vice didn’t come from Kimbark Plaza or some shady guy with an affinity for herbs. It instead came from the laptop that sat in my very room, an enemy within of sorts, tempting me away from the work I knew I should be doing.

I have been a late adopter throughout my life: I did not own a smartphone until my senior year in high school; my parents barred me from watching R-rated movies for far longer than any of my peers; and I’ve rarely become a regular viewer of any TV show since my teens. In other words, I’ve spent a lot of time in recent years catching up on things in my life, so I suppose it’s only natural that I do it with TV shows, as well.

This year it was AMC that had it out for me, starting with an August binge session of Breaking Bad in anticipation of its ridiculously hyped final season. Once school started, it was on to Mad Men and The Walking Dead, which nearly crippled my midterm productivity. And now, just when it seemed I was going to steer clear of distractions for a little while, Avatar: The Last Airbender swoops in to mess with my push toward finals.

All high-quality shows, to be sure, but that was really never the reason I went after them with such reckless abandon. They each had some degree of time pressure attached to them: Breaking Bad had its final season; Mad Men airs half of its final season this year; The Walking Dead was entering its fourth season at the height of popularity and relevance; and The Legend of Korra’s recent second season had just happened.

My binge-watching had plenty of

resemblance to an actual addiction: I compulsively watched even when it interfered with a pretty hard deadline.

I take a “one more hit” approach with each new episode until I tear myself away. I do it in solitude with only my roommate’s occasional condescending head shaking to keep me company.

Most of all, doing this started to feel like work in and of itself. I never stopped enjoying the shows, but after a while each episode started to feel like another assignment for me to complete. It’s not so much that I wanted the shows to be over, but rather that I wanted them to be complete, another feather in my cap or a notch on my belt. Does watching all of those episodes of Mad Men really make me significantly more cultured and smart?

Probably not, but it was worth pretending it did while putting off more class readings.

After I finally hit the books, watching some of these shows on a weekly basis became an even stranger experience. With Breaking Bad, a lot of joy was gained with the self-induced time pressure gone. Yet with The Walking Dead, I now actually find myself several episodes back, having not gotten around to watching the last few weeks.

Maybe I’m just not suited to weekly viewings. I opt instead to put it off until the clock’s ticking, just like that paper I should be writing. Good thing I’m a political science major.

8

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | January 10, 2014

With new series, Doc aims to reel in community Robert Sorrell Arts Staff As the temperature edges closer to absolute zero in the upper Midwest, there is only one reason for Hyde Parkers to go out their front doors past 4:30 in the afternoon: Doc Films.

This quarter the more-than-75-year-old film society, famed for delivering existential dread via the French New Wave, seems to have taken a slight turn from its normal fare. In the 80-odd films they’ll screen over the quarter, there isn’t a single work by Truffaut, Godard, Lang, Bergman, or even academia’s favorite auteur, Woody Allen. The selection instead samples more female directors, more comedy, and a bit less snobbery.

That isn’t to say that this quarter Doc is all bark and no bite. The names of renowned directors such as Scorsese, Coppola, Antonioni, and Hollywood’s new favorite art director Alfonso Cuarón still appear across the calendar. Programming Chair and thirdyear Daniel Frankel noted that the main difference this quarter is a revival of “the Doc tradition of community engagement.” It is this involvement that transforms Doc from a Registered Student Organization into, in Frankel’s words, “a Chicago cultural institution.” And this quarter, the feelers stretch toward a host of student organizations from the Hong Kong Economic Trade Alliance in New York all the way to First Aid Comics on 55th Street.

Perhaps the most intriguing series is Sisters in Cinema: African-American Women Filmmakers, programmed by fourth-year Brittany Williams. The series highlights two huge blights on the face of mainstream cinema: the extreme gender disparity at the top of the film industry, and the misguided notion that black cinema is a monolith presided over by Tyler Perry and Spike Lee. Though Williams notes she is not morally opposed to the work of either of these two film giants, she insists that the goal of her series was truly to show the “black experience in a new light.” The masses of movie-going Americans have probably not yet seen moviegoing in this light.

The series is Williams’s first, and the first time that she has been involved with Doc. A biological chemistry major, she couldn’t stress enough how easy and unintimidating the whole process was, even for someone who is “not a film buff.” Williams knew there were a few films she wanted to include, such as Dee Rees’ 2011 film Pariah, which focuses on a lesbian black teenager grappling with her identity. However, Williams and the programmers also embarked on a long process of research and movie watching to ensure the series was full of top-notch films.

Another innovative series is Sunday’s Neighboring Sounds: Contemporary Latin American Cinema, programmed by Chicago writer and filmmaker Mojo Lorwin and neuroscientist Hugo Fernandes, both of whom live in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood on the northwest side of the city. The duo decided to pitch the series after revelatory experiences at the Siskel Film Center downtown watching Filho’s Neighboring Sounds and Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux, both of which appear in the lineup. The films showcase Latin America’s prominent “slow cinema” movement, which is, according to Lorwin and Fernandes, “extremely naturalistic” and “more interested in close observation than traditional narrative structure.”

Also appearing is Cuarón’s achingly beautiful road tale Y Tu Mamá También. And if the opportunity to see these films on the big screen isn’t enough, the screening of Neighboring Sounds on Sunday January the 19, is completely free thanks to the Center for Latin American Studies and the Katz Center for Mexican Studies.

The rest of the calendar includes Brian de Palma, Tim Burton, and Nicholas Cage retrospectives, early Katharine Hepburn films, and The Innovative Kung-Fu of Lau

kar-leung, whose first, highly entertaining film Dirty Ho I saw on Tuesday. The titular Ho Jen is a brash young man who becomes a pupil of a Kung Fu master and not a prostitute. In the words of A.V. Club critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, who gave a brief talk preceding the screening, Dirty Ho is “a great film with a terrible name.” Vishnevetsky’s appearance highlighted Doc’s continued interest in connecting with both the Chicago community and the film world at large. On January 24, Doc will host Batman screenwriter Sam Hamm.

As always, Doc has reserved Saturday nights for recent films that you saw over the summer and secretly loved enough to see again (The World’s End); films you can’t stop hearing about (12 Years a Slave); and films you’ve probably never seen but shouldn’t miss, such as Haifaa al-Mansour’s 2012 film Wadjda, which is not only the first film to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, but also the first directed by a Saudi Arabian female.

Doc’s winter lineup may seem at first glance a new direction for the film society, but if so the change is coming from the volunteers and organizations who are now a key part of the organization, and not Doc higher-ups with a

Loren Hankin and Pernell Walker in writer/director Dee Rees’s Pariah, a Focus Features release.

COURTESY OF FOCUS FEATURES

view toward the future. Even though they can dish out the most delightfully obscure, and often amazing, flicks, Williams insists that the programming group is “not an exclusive club of film snobs.”

As the winter doldrums hit, trade in your SAD lamps for a few hours in front of the silver screen. Max Palevsky Cinema will be the warmest place to spend an evening, or many, this winter.

Become a

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Resident Heads live in the College Houses to provide guidance, advice and direction to members of the undergraduate House communities. Advanced graduate students are encouraged to apply. Single, domestic-partnered, or married persons who are at least 25 years of age can apply. Applicants with children are welcome to apply.

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For married persons, the value is increased by the meals and health benefits provided for spouses and children and has been estimated to be as high as $32,000. Compensation consists of a cash stipend, furnished apartment for 12 months of the year, meals when the College is in session, and University student medical insurance for full-time registered students and their dependents.

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9

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | January 10, 2014

DESIGN.

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10

THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | January 10, 2014

Warm-weather training ends with return to cold, pool Swimming & Diving Charlotte Franklin Maroon Contributor Seven-time gold medalwinning Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz once said, “If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail.” Fortunately for them, the South Siders have been preparing intensely.

The team’s first week of winter break was spent in San Diego for seven days of grueling practice and conditioning. The athletes made it through this season’s toughest week of training.

First-year freestyler Maya Scheidl was excited and slightly nervous in anticipation of her first college training trip, but ultimately enjoyed the demanding exercises. “It was definitely the hardest week of training we have had this season, and each and every practice was a new challenge,” Scheidl said.

Though the swimmers weren’t able to do any long-course training, this did not deter them during their intensive workouts.

Head coach Jason Weber was thrilled with his team’s discipline, believing it to be one of the best training trips they have had in several years.

“Overall, the team performed exceptionally well during the week and posted some impressive times in our relay meet versus DI San Diego State,” Weber said.

“With the training from that

trip, I believe we’re set up to perform very well the second half of the season.”

The training trip also provided the swimmers and divers with more than just the opportunity to improve their backstrokes; the time away from campus also gave them a chance to strengthen their team dynamics. Out of the pool, the athletes spent their time bonding with one another at team dinners and at the hotel.

“As a whole, we all left San Diego mentally and physically stronger and I felt even closer to my team,” Scheidl said. “Since we were all feeling sore and tired together, the tough training brought us closer together as a team.”

Now that the team is back on their home turf for practices, it is crucial that they maintain their focus and intensity.

Weber explained, “[The Chicago Invitational] will give everyone the opportunity to race again. We haven’t really had a competition since November since the San Diego State meet was more of a fun relay meet, so we’ll be able to work out any kinks from a long layoff from competition and be ready to go versus our two toughest dual meet opponents the following two weeks.”

Since this weekend’s invitational is the team’s last invite before conference, both

Swimmers jump off at the start of a race during the Phoenix Fall Classic in November.

FRANK WANG | MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

their mental and physical approaches must be at peak caliber.

To break the monotony, this meet usually includes races the swimmers would not normally perform to give them a chance to step outside their comfort zones. The unfamiliar races will present a challenge, and likely leave the athletes sore and tired.

In addition, they have only had one week of training after winter break to prepare for the meet.

The athletes appreciate all these factors, and as a result, realize that sustaining team morale will be critical.

“All of this is still relatively new to me so I definitely look up to my teammates for support and guidance as they have helped me out so much this year in making me feel like a true part of the team,” Scheidl said.

Both swimmers and divers agreed with third-year diver and team captain Sofia Gross,

who said, “How you perform at the Chicago Invitational is motivating for how you want to see yourself perform at conference. The second half of the season brings high intensity and everyone brings their A-game.

It’ll be very fun to watch.”

The Chicago Invitational will take place at Myers-McLoraine Pool. The meet starts this Friday at 6 p.m., followed by two swimming sessions on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Chicago to run, throw, and Maroons to test 2014 undefeated record as UAA play begins jump into indoor season Track & Field Isaac Stern Sports Staff Chicago track and field will have its first official meet of the season this Saturday, hosting the Phoenix Invitational.

Eight teams are expected to compete, ranging from club level to DI. The South Siders began practicing early in fall quarter in preparation for what they hope will be a very successful season. With the graduation of dominant figures in Chicago track and field history, such as sprinter Dee Brizzolara (A.B. ’13) and distance runners Billy Whitmore (A.B. ’13) and Julia Sizek (A.B. ’13), there are a lot of deep holes the Maroons will need to fill.

However, with a promising incoming class and some star-studded returners, the Maroons do have the talent to make noise this year.

“I feel that both teams are very complete and will be competitive within the UAA and our regular season meets,” head coach Chris Hall said.

At the end of last quarter, the Maroons held an intersquad meet to see where they stood as a team. The results looked encouraging. Secondyear Michael Bennett would

Women’s Basketball have set a new school record in the vault had the meet been official, and did set a new meet record of 4.75m, defeating his own previous record of 4.41m. He also would have qualified for nationals with that height according to last year’s national rankings.

Other strong performances came in the triple jump from third-year Pam Yu, who has been recovering from injuries over the past year, and from second-year Mikaela Hammel, who set a meet record of her own in the uncommon 300-meter run.

“We [also] have returning UAA champions in [secondyear] Nkemdilim Nwaokolo in the shot and weight throw, [third-year] Semi Ajibola in the high jump,” Hall said.

In addition, a strong cross country season holds promise for the distance runners. With both the men’s and women’s teams having made the national championship last quarter, the distance runners look as good as ever. Fourthyear Dan Povitsky led the men’s pack throughout the fall and should do the same this winter. Second-year Catt Young earned All-American honors in cross country and will attempt to replicate that

feat for the indoor track season.

“A number of [distance runners] appear to be ready for a good track season. We had a number of top runners from the fall,” Hall said. “Expect all of them and more to have wonderful track seasons.”

The Maroons’ largest concerns for the meet this weekend will include conditioning and injury. Some athletes find conditioning difficult to maintain over long breaks, despite workouts throughout the time period.

Numerous members of the team fell prey to injury last year, and staying healthy will be key to a successful season.

“This meet is a starting point,” Hall said. “We really want to know what we have to work on and the early season meets show us where we are at. As coaches, we need to see where everyone is in terms of fitness, etc., so we can get a good gauge on how to train them moving forward.”

The Phoenix Invitational will start at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and will be Chicago’s only home meet until February. Additional details, such as event times, will be posted later in the week on athletics.uchicago.edu.

Adam Freymiller Sports Staff The Maroons (6–5) defeated the Loras Duhawks (5–6) this past Sunday by a score of 73–68, putting on a dynamic offensive display to wrap up their non-conference schedule in style.

Although the game began sluggishly for Chicago—the Duhawks jumped out to a 14–5 lead within the first five minutes—the Maroons fought back by creating an offensive spark from a series of Loras turnovers. Although the teams swapped leads in ensuing possessions, Chicago entered halftime with more to cheer about as they ran off a 16–2 lead in the final six minutes, largely thanks to clutch shooting in the form of four three-pointers, to build a 38–26 cushion heading into the interval.

The South Siders maintained this doubledigit lead for most of the second half as both teams exchanged points across several possessions, but the Duhawks began to get into foul trouble later in the half as the Maroons maintained their offensive poise, opening up a 67–52 lead with 5:39 to play.

While the Duhawks staged a late comeback bid by drawing several fouls and capitalizing on Chicago turnovers, Loras was unable to convert from the foul line late on and the Maroons hung onto their lead for the remainder of the game.

Fourth-year guard Maggie Ely continued her stellar season with a 15-point, fiveassist performance, tied as the game’s top scorer with first-year forward Britta Nordstrom. Julie Muguira, a fourth-year guard, gave a performance that demonstrated why she was named Chicago’s Athlete of the Month in November, providing 13 points, six rebounds, and four steals for the Chicago cause. While the Maroons did allow the Duhawks back into the game, their collective offensive performance, including shooting an extremely impressive 42.9 percent from behind the arc and 47.2 percent overall, is something the team can hang their hats on as they enter the final stretch of conference games on their schedule.

“I think a lot of our runs can really be attributed to stops on the defensive end. When we’re playing well defensively

it makes the offensive part of the game a lot easier,” Muguira said, reflecting on the squad’s ability to pull away.

“I think we have good players who work hard in practice and have developed a confidence in the offense and the shots they take within the offense. They are patient and play as a team and that lends itself to a strong team shooting percentage,” said head coach Carissa Sain Knoche, regarding her team’s offensive progress throughout the season.

The team remains optimistic in its conference ambitions.

“Ever since deciding to come to Chicago, I’ve wanted to win the UAA Championship and go on to the tournament. If we play our game, we’re going to be a tough team to beat, and I think we can surprise the conference this year,” Nordstrom said.

Chicago’s next game will be a January 11 road matchup against Wash U (10–1), as the Maroons look to break their rival’s six-game winning streak and send a message to the rest of their conference matchups.

Tip-off is at 1 p.m. Saturday in St. Louis.

11

THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | January 10, 2014

McNulty: “We were able to boost team morale” WRESTLING continued from back

with three pins in the three highest weight classes to garner some points against the South Siders.

Against Manchester, Chicago pinned five of their opponents en route to a sevenvictory win. Banaszak, Franke, and firstyear Mike McNulty all went undefeated, contributing heavily to a major success for the team this year.

“It definitely feels good. I’ve had some ups and downs so far this season, and it was really rewarding to have such a successful day,” McNulty said. “We were able to see some good competition and get some matches, as well as boost team morale.

We’ve had a bit of a rocky start, and it was great going 3–0.”

Complementing Chicago’s success was Banaszak’s second UAA Athlete of the Week award this year. He earned his first honor on November 25, and has had consistent success throughout the season, garnering a 15–4 record.

“It has been really nice to have personal success this season, but having a successful team is much more gratifying as an athlete,” Banaszak said.

With the new year beginning, the team has been putting in tremendous amounts of

work, hoping to turn their season around.

“I think we’ve made a lot of progress as a team,” Pennisi said. “At the beginning and end of break, we stayed on campus and had practice with no other distractions.

Being able to focus exclusively on wrestling really sharpened us up, and it showed last Saturday. We don’t have any more duals for a while, but we’re looking to continue this growth through the next couple of tournaments.”

Continuing to progress will be a key focus for the Maroons as they move forward.

“I have not been unhappy with how our guys have competed this year, but I think we needed these wins,” head coach Leo Kocher (M.B.A. ’87) said. “It is part of the process of developing a belief in ourselves and each other. I am looking for this team to be consistent, healthy, and pull together as a unit.”

The Maroons have five meets remaining in the season, culminating in the UAA Championship. Chicago came in second last year to the defending champs, NYU. “If we can build on this success and keep working, we’ll have a strong dual team that has the ability to knock off all of these teams come competition day,” Smith said.

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SPORTS

IN QUOTES “I think the last time I had eight months off I was still in the womb.”

—L.A. Lakers’ Kobe Bryant jokes about his recovery time from an Achilles injury In December.

Offensive stars to lead charge into first conference battle Men’s basketball Samuel Zacher Associate Sports Editor

Second-year Jordan Smith attempts a free throw in a game against Rochester last season.

COURTESY OF UCHICAGO ATHLETICS

Royce Muskeyvalley and Charlie Hughes have taken over this season for the Maroons.

Chicago (7–4) defeated Washington and Lee (4–7) last Saturday by a score of 86–74, on the backs of third-year point guard Muskeyvalley’s 22 points and five assists and fourth-year forward Hughes’s 17 points.

Even though the Maroons missed their first nine field goals, the home team only found itself down 6–5 in the early minutes.

When the second unit subbed in, Chicago outscored the visiting Generals 11–3, taking a 16–9 lead. However, Washington and Lee fought back, finishing the first half with a 42–41 lead.

Even though the Generals only had a one-point lead, they outshot the South Siders 57.1 percent to 41.7 percent in the first half.

“In the first half our shots weren’t falling, but we were getting good looks, and we knew it was just a matter of time before they started falling,” said second-year shooting guard Jordan Smith. “Defensively, in the first half they made a lot of crazy shots, and we gave them a few too many open looks.”

At the half, Muskeyvalley had 14 points and Hughes had nine, together accounting for over half of the team’s points.

Both teams battled back and forth in the second half, exchanging runs. Once the Maroons gained a 73–70 lead, though, they didn’t look back. In the final six minutes, Chicago hit seven of eight free throws and held Washington and Lee to just four points, sealing the 86–74 victory.

“We executed really well at both ends of the floor in the second half and gradually pulled away. I think getting stops down the stretch was big for us,” Hughes said.

Defensively, the South Siders have struggled a bit at times this year. They allowed the Generals to shoot 54.9 percent from the field (to Chicago’s 47.6 percent) and 58.3 percent from the three (to Chicago’s 36.7 percent). The Maroons’ opponents have scored 70 points in eight of 11 games this season, and Chicago has allowed 80 in four of them.

“Our team needs to do a better job helping each other on defense,” Hughes said. “We tend to get lazy off the ball, but we’ve been working on it lately and are improving.”

However, the South Siders have only allowed 68.3 points per

game in the last four.

Offensively, this well-rounded Chicago team continues to have success, with Muskeyvalley and Hughes emerging as stars.

Hughes has paced the Maroons the entire season, leading the team with 13 points per game.

Muskeyvalley has shined at particular moments, scoring 20 points in multiple games this season along with a game-winning buzzer beater, and averages 10.5 points and almost four assists per game. Smith also averages 10.1 points per game. Impressively, all three of these players shoot over 43 percent from three-point land, with Muskeyvalley converting a ridiculous 53 percent of his treys.

The Maroons now prepare to take on the No. 7 Wash U Bears (9–2), who will be as challenging as ever. Wash U won 84–80 against Wheaton, a team that defeated Chicago 84–61 in early December.

“I think there was a bit of rust after break, but we’ve been practicing very well lately and have overcome it,” Hughes said. “We’ll be ready to go against Wash U this weekend.”

The Maroons tip off against the Bears in St. Louis at 3 p.m. on Saturday, in Chicago’s first UAA matchup of the season.

Team sweeps Chicago Duals, turns page on season Wrestling David Gao Sports Staff After a rocky first two months of their season, the Maroons appear to have gained some momentum, winning all three

of their matches in the six-team Chicago Duals.

Chicago (3–8) hosted the meet, facing Trine, McDaniel, and Manchester. The Maroons triumphed with scores of 40–6, 29–21, and 36–12, respectively.

five for FRIDAY Swimmers and divers return to water at Phoenix Invite After an intense week of training in sunny San Diego at the beginning of winter break, the South Siders are back in Chicago and ready to compete. The team already has two wins in dual meets and a first-place finish at the Phoenix Fall Classic under its belt, and will be looking to deliver another strong performance after a hiatus from competition as hosts of the Chicago Invitational this weekend. Though the team has been competing since October, the most important stretch of their season is fast approaching with UAA Championships in just over a month.

The Maroons hope to see the results of their rigorous training and keep dropping times as their competition season picks up starting tonight.

Women’s basketball looks to carve up Wash U women’s The Maroons (6– 5) take on Wash U (10–1) in both squads’ first UAA competition of the year this Saturday in St. Louis. Chicago enters the game coming off a 73– 68 victory over Loras (5–6). After completing the nonconference portion of their schedule, the South Siders now play within the UAA through the end of the season. They had a brief break for the holidays between December 19 and January 4 but are now in for a full slate of games that stretches into March. Keep an eye on fourth-year guard Julie Muguira, who leads the team with an average of 14.4 points per game.

Against Trine, eight of the 10 wrestlers representing Chicago won their match-ups. Fourth-year Sam Pennisi and third-year Mario Palmisano secured their wins by pinning their opponents, while first-years Charlie Banaszak and

Paul Papoutsis and fourth-year Jacob Smith won by technical falls.

Facing McDaniel College, Chicago found more of a challenge, edging the Green Terror by winning six of their

10 matches. Two forfeits at the top of the lineup and four outright wins, including a pin by second-year Steven Franke, gave the Maroons their six victories.

McDaniel wrestlers followed WRESTLING continued on page 11

taking a look at the week’s key storylines Back on track: Men’s track and field opens season at home Chicago hosts the Phoenix Invitational, its only home meet this month, on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. There are storylines aplenty to start the season, as the athletes look to fill holes left by a number of graduated fourth-years from last year. The meet should serve as a good survey and overview for the Maroons, who will compete against seven other teams, including at least one DI squad.

Second-year pole vaulter Michael Bennett established himself last year by topping the UAA in his event with a vault of 4.68m at the indoor championships last February. Look for him to continue his dominance.

Men’s basketball to do some long-range hunting against Bears men’s

This season Chicago has epitomized the saying “live and die by the three.” The Maroons (7–4) rank 33rd nationally in three-pointers made per game (8.9), but there is a stark difference between this statistic in their wins and losses. In Chicago’s victories, the team shoots 45 percent from beyond the arc compared to the 29 percent in losses. The South Siders journey to St. Louis to take on No. 7 Wash U this Saturday, so Chicago will be relying on hot shooting from third-year Royce Muskeyvalley (53 percent on threes), second-year Jordan Smith (46 percent), and fourth-year Charlie Hughes (43 percent) to have a chance to beat the Bears in their den.

Indoor season begins in Crown for women’s track and field Chicago opens up its indoor track and field season this weekend at home with the Phoenix Invitational.

Seven teams will be coming from around Illinois and the Midwest, including Northwestern, Aurora University, and Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Second-year Nkemdilim Nwaokolo will be a key returner for Chicago, as she was crowned UAA Champion in the shot and weight throw last season. Additionally, second-year Catherine Young will surely make an impact this season since she recently finished ninth at the cross country NCAA DIII Championship.

—the Sports Editors