012712 Chicago Maroon

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FRIDAY • JANUARY 27, 2012

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

CHICAGOMAROON.COM

Old fraternity pushes for new chapter After 75 years, Delta Tau Delta seeks to reestablish campus presence

Student input to shape richer Uncommon Fund Joy Crane News Staff

Third-year Sam Peterson speaks with Timothy Gaffney from the Delta Tau Delta fraternity last week at Reynolds Club. DARREN LEOW | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Crystal Tsoi Associate News Editor A fraternity that first bade farewell to the U of C during the Great Depression is back on campus, chancing the addition of three new

Greek letters to University Avenue. For the past two weeks, representatives from the Delta Tau Delta (DTD) fraternity—which left the University in 1935—have been tabling in Reynolds

Club hoping to attract enough students to start a new chapter. After their first week of tabling, second-year Michael Reinhard signed on as the first of the chapter’s 24 “founding fathers.”

“It’s always interesting when you got guys from all over campus who don’t know each other,” said Doug Russell, one of three chapter consultants who has led recruitment efforts GREEK continued on page 3

ISSUE 23 • VOLUME 123

The Uncommon Fund, which this year will dole out $75,000 to a range of student projects, is opening up to more outside input this year and simplifying its first-round application process. In an effort to increase its publicity and broaden the involvement of the entire campus, the Fund will now allow students to “thumbs-up” their favorite projects on its new Web site between February 6 and 18. The push for more student input, new to this year’s Uncommon Fund, was a condition of Dean of the College John Boyer’s $25,000 contribution to the fund, according to Fund board member Hannah Loftus, a third-year. However, the decision of how to distribute the $75,000 fund will lie ultimately with its eightmember Board and not with student voters, according to SG Vice President for Administration and second-year Forrest Scofield. “The voting component will play a role in the board’s decisions, but we’re not being explicit as to exactly how much weight it will play,” Scofield said. “It’s going

to be important, but it’s going to be just like all the other factors that we are going to consider.” Students will vote on minutelong video submissions from applicants, the second new component to this year’s application. The shift to this more creative format was a response to criticisms from applicants last year that the first-round application required too much numbercrunching, according to Scofield. “We’re not asking for a feasibility summary, not for a budget—for the first round, at least,” he said. “We just want the idea. If they move on to the second round, then, we’re going to ask for all those sort of things. A lot of people last year felt that it was unfair that they had to submit all of this material, do all this work, and then, ultimately, not move on to the next round.” Given the reduction in upfront busy work and the nearly doubled financial purse of the fund, some students expect Uncommon Fund 2012 to draw a larger and more varied pool of applicants than in years past. “From what I understood and observed as an undergrad, the Uncommon Fund supported FUND continued on page 2

College applications jump Female faculty put careers under the microscope 16 percent to record high Mina Kang News Staff

Sam Levine News Editor The College received a record high 25,271 applications this year, a 16.1-percent increase from last year’s numbers. The percent increase was one of the biggest in the country and the largest in the University’s peer group. Applications to the College have increased by 85.8 percent in the three years since James Nondorf took over as Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid in 2009. University spokesperson Jeremy Manier said that it was “pretty clear” the admissions rate would fall this year, but he expects the yield rate—the number of students accepted who choose to matriculate—to increase. Only Grinnell College (52.07 percent), Ramapo

College of New Jersey (29.63 percent), the University of California, Los Angeles (17.98 percent), and the University of California, Berkeley (16.52 percent) saw higher percentage increases in application volume than did the U of C, according to data on The New York Times’s “The Choice” college admissions blog. Of those schools, only UC–Berkeley and UCLA received more total applications than the U of C. According to “The Choice,” the U of C received fewer total applications than most peer schools, including Stanford (36,744), Harvard (34,285), Northwestern (32,016), Columbia (31,818), and Yale (28,622). However, the University did receive more applications than Dartmouth College (23,052) and Johns Hopkins COLLEGE continued on page 2

FRI

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33° 25°

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Temperatures in Fahrenheit - Courtesy of The Weather Channel

A joint effort between the U of C and Northwestern University to foster collaboration among female faculty in the sciences and mathematics is in full swing, aiming to combat perceived under-representation of women in those fields. The program, the Chicago Collaboration for Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), began last fall. High on its list of goals are professional services for female faculty and a system of support for those who feel alienated in their divisions. “A huge issue in the sciences is the sense of isolation,” said Mary Harvey, the University’s associate provost for program development and member of STEM’s organizing committee. The program has two tracks. One is “Navigating the Professoriate,” which intends to strengthen skills understood to be crucial to the early careers

Assistant Professor Erin Adams (standing) and Louise Scharf (Ph.D. ’10) collaborate in a new venture for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO NEWS OFFICE

of female faculty without tenure. The first workshop in the program, titled The Art of Negotiating, offered advice on how to plan an academic career 10 or 15 years in advance. The second track, “Beyond Tenure,” aims at future development and career advancement for associate professors and academics.

An additional byproduct of the program is a network for women in STEM that they may not have had otherwise. Melina Hale, associate professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, is one participant in the “Beyond Tenure” program. “Being able to get together

in these University-sponsored events—these STEM events— to get to talk about common issues, potentially, or concerns, gives us a new community of women in similar circumstances to have more support,” she said. The Office of the Provost compiled a Faculty Climate Report STEM continued on page 2

IN ARTS

IN VIEWPOINTS

Collegiate collectibles

It’s not all relative

Glass opera lacks transparency; that’s the point » Page 7

Knowing pains

» Page 6

» Page 12

» Page 12

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | January 27, 2012

2

Booth grads see increase in job offers

One-fifth of applications come from outside US COLLEGE continued from front

University (19,400). This fall, the College received a record high of 8,698 early action applications, a 25-percent increase from the previous year. Harvard and Princeton both reinstated early admissions policies this application cycle, a move that Manier said did not affect the number of applicants here significantly but may result in an increased yield for the College. The wider range of early admission options, Manier said, could mean that students for whom the U of C was not their top choice would apply elsewhere, while those who did apply to the College were more likely to accept an offer of admission. The diversity of applicants also continued to increase, Manier said. One-fifth of this year’s applications came from outside the United States, with the The Booth School of Business is reporting that a majority of its graduating class have already secured job offers. Scheduled internship interviews are up 13 percent this year over last year. JAMIE MANLEY | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Lina Li News Contributor More than two-thirds of the Booth School of Business’s graduating class has already secured post-graduate job offers, according to an administrator there. Julie Morton, Associate Dean of Career Services and Corporate Relations at Booth, said that the strong showing by the school’s recent graduates indicates a robust improvement in the job market, among other things. “The two-thirds is significantly ahead of where we were last year at this time, which is a statement about the overall market for freshlyminted MBA talent; the experience, strength, and job search readiness of our students; and the school’s

ongoing efforts to open new employer doors,” Morton wrote in an e-mail. There was also a 13-percent increase in scheduled on-campus interviews at Booth. Talking to Bloomberg Businessweek earlier this month, Morton reported a jump in interviews for internships at consulting firms, investment management firms, and marketing firms. However, Morton cautioned that scheduled interviews do not necessarily mean that job offers will increase. “While scheduled interviews do not correlate precisely to offers or hires, it’s a good indicator of a firm’s appetite,” said. “Early indicators are good. Companies are pleased with candidate quality and

preparedness.” Morton attributes the success to extended utilization of alumni networks and expansion of services provided through the second-year on-campus recruiting process. “Booth has many employer development ‘feet on the street,’ with folks on the ground in Chicago, London, and Hong Kong,” she said. Olga Serhiyevich, a second-year MBA student at Booth, said that she can tell that Booth has put in effort to help students get jobs, and that the number of job offers has seemed particularly promising in the midst of economic uncertainty. “With career prospects being so dependent on the volatility of the business cycle, it can be tough to get any job at all,” Serhiyevich said.

greatest number of applications coming from China, followed by Canada, India, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. “Part of the whole culture of the U of C is that it’s a very welcome environment with people of diverse ideas,” Manier said. “Diversity of backgrounds helps bring in diversity of thought.” Domestically, the College saw the greatest number of applications from California, followed by Illinois, New York, Texas, New Jersey, and Michigan. Manier said that the distribution of applicants followed national population distributions but was also evidence of an increased awareness of the University. “It’s less and less the case that students outside of Illinois are not hearing about the University of Chicago,” he said.

Lesser-known RSOs encouraged to apply for funding FUND continued from front

very ambitious and large-scale projects that were developed by larger teams,” said Shiraz Gallab (A.B. ’11), a former vice president of the arts RSO Beats & Pieces. “Beats & Pieces has remained a much smaller organization than many other RSOs, and during my time on the board we did not want to coordinate very large events…The Uncommon Fund’s purpose didn’t really appear to line up with what we were doing.” This year, however, smaller and lesser known RSOs like Beats & Pieces are the sorts of groups that the Fund is encouraging to apply, with changes to the application process sweetening the deal. “I think the first-round application this year, so far, is very exciting,” Beats & Pieces Co-President and fourth-year

Michelle Bentsman said. “I love the thought of just having your idea out there before having to deal with all the heavy, burdensome budget itemizations.” In response to allegations of board member bias in last year’s application process, further policy changes have been instated to circumvent the possibility of partisanship. As of last Sunday, board members must now forfeit their vote if they feel they have a personal stake in an application. However, Scofield said that determining whether someone has “a personal stake” in the project will be left to the individual board member to decide. Loftus said she was unaware whether any board members would have a conflict of interest because they have not yet received the first round of applications.

Program has inspired professor to speak up about need to hire women STEM continued from front

in 2006, asking professors in the Humanities, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences Divisions and the Divinity School to assess the openness of their academic environment and their quality of life, including factors regarding gender. The percentage of faculty, both male and female, who cited the “Climate for Women” as a negative factor in their desire to remain at the University was lowest in the Physical Sciences division. Seventy five percent of female respondents said that they agreed with the statement, “You do a great deal of work that is not formally recognized by your department,” versus only 58 percent of men.” Women were also more likely to say that they felt isolated socially (38 percent versus 29 percent for men) and intellectually (34 percent and 30 percent) in their departments, although this difference was not as statistically significant. The program has the potential to bridge that gap of isolation, Harvey said, as well as to raise the level of academic collaboration

among female scholars. “[STEM] isn’t just about what [female faculty] can learn about the presenter or panelist. It’s also very much about the opportunity to network with scientific women colleagues both at UChicago and Northwestern,” Harvey said. Erin Adams, assistant professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, said she agrees with the perceived lack of women in those fields. “There aren’t a lot of women faculty in my department. There’s only one other woman,” she said. To remedy the problem, “Navigating the Professoriate” includes dinners with senior female faculty, along with presentations by U of C and Northwestern faculty in the science and education fields. “Beyond Tenure” involves panel discussions and workshops that present a range of career paths. “The ideas are sort of percolating,” Hale said. “There are definitely interesting ideas presented…on imagining your career and thinking forward about

what your interests are in different aspects of being a scientist, such as administration.” The coordinating committee will keep track of STEM’s progress by asking faculty to answer pre- and post-program evaluations. “We really want to understand whether this is having an effect on those who are participating,” Harvey said. For Adams, the program has already taken effect. “I’ve become more vocal about the need to hire more women in our department. I’ve spoken with my chair. I’ve brought these things up in faculty meetings,” she said. Generally, many participants have reacted positively to the program. “I think the women are really enjoying what they’ve experienced and enjoying the opportunity to get together with other women in science,” Harvey said. The program is currently working to reach out and expand its participation. “We’re growing and we’re interested,” Harvey said. “We need to do more to reach our faculty and get them involved in our program.”

How much do you agree or disagree that... Agree: Men

Agree: Women

You have a voice in how departmental resources are allocated

72%

62%

You feel excluded from an informal network in your department

30%

36%

You feel comfortable voicing opinions, complaints, or ideas about departmental policies

79%

77%

You do a great deal of work that is not formally recognized by your department*

58%

75%

You feel as if you “fit” in your department

75%

67%

You feel intellectually isolated in your department

30%

34%

You feel socially isolated in your department**

29%

38%

You feel isolated on the U of C campus overall

26%

25%

* Differences by gender significant at p < 0.01 ** Differences by gender significant at p < 0.10 Data collected in the Office of the Provost’s 2006 Faculty Climate Survey

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | January 27, 2012

3

Fraternity starts on-campus competition to increase recruitment community [before starting a chapter],� Burns said The motivation for coming to the U of C was two-fold, Russell said, explaining that the fraternity had been waiting for the “right opportunity� from both Delta Tau Delta and the University. Russell also said that the “prestige� of the University was a factor, particularly regarding its fifth-place national ranking in this year’s U.S. News and World Report. DTD are still currently meeting with organizations such as the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club and on-campus RSOs such as Global Brigades to better focus their philanthropic efforts. Talks about bringing the fraternity to campus began when Siron spoke to the Director of DTD at a Greek event and initiated the process last quarter. The reasons behind DTD’s departure in 1935 are not clear, according to Russell. “It’s really funny. You would think we would know the answer to that. Times were a lot different then, too,� he said. Before leaving the U of C, DTD’s chapter here produced notable alums like Harlan “Pat� Page (A.B. ’10), the hall of fame basketball coach and early powerhouse on the Maroons, Paul Hoffman (A.B. ’12), president of the Studebaker Corporation and an administrator of the Marshall Plan, and Fowler McConnell (A.B. ’16), president of Sears Roebuck.

GREEK continued from front

ZBT DTD isn’t the only fraternity putting down roots on campus. Zeta Beta Tau established a colony here January 7, hoping to broaden its membership beyond its traditionally Jewish identity. Like Delta Tau Delta, representatives from the Zeta Beta Tau national organization have reached out first to a select group of students—four of whom responded enthusiastically to efforts to start a chapter on campus. Third-year Justin Burns, third-year John Gallagher, second-year Jared Hinkle, and first-year Jeramee Gwozdz have brought the colony up to 12 members with 20 pledges this quarter. They’re still looking to expand further, however. “It’s going to be a slow process,� Burns said. Burns noted that the fraternity was “not just one group of people, of one sports team,� but instead includes a wide cross-section of students across the University. Zeta Beta Tau has chosen the Chicago Miracle Network as its philanthropic partner. The colony is currently holding a clothing drive for a women’s shelter in the Ingleside area, working with student coffee shops after the administration barred it from placing collection bins in the dining and residence halls, Burns said. —Crystal Tsoi

on campus. “It’s been fun to watch the guys get to know each other through the different events we are having and forming a cohesive bond.� Although the fraternity no longer owns its former fraternity house located at 5607 University Avenue, the national organization is optimistic that DTD will reestablish its presence on campus, focusing first on bringing the number of quality recruits up to the campus chapter average of 30 by year’s end. Russell, along with chapter consultants Tim Gaffney and Matt Stein, have been recruiting aggressively, reaching out to other Greek life organizations and even hosting a competition among the University’s sororities, offering $250 in philanthropic giving to whichever one can refer the most potential pledges. “We’re going to be working with all the sororities,� Russell said. In particular, the appointment of Kirsten Siron as assistant director of student activity and Greek life has been a helpful development, coinciding with the hiring at DTD of a new director of growth, who is responsible for the establishment of “colonies� (precursors to chapters) at different universities. “Kirsten [has been] helpful in linking us with sororities. It’s honestly been great, and it’s because we have a connection to the Greek

The old Delta Tau Delta fraternity house at 5607 South University Avenue. The University of Chicago Delta Tau Delta chapter closed in 1935, but has recently started recruiting on campus in hopes of reopening. COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ARCHIVES

By Rebecca Guterman

WEEKLY CRIME REPORT

Graduate Student Housing Residential Services

Since Jan. 1

Here are this week’s notables :

Âť Saturday, between 8:10 and 8:28 p.m. 54th Street and Woodlawn—Male suspect sprayed victim with a “chemical agentâ€? and took female victim’s purse and fled. Victim was treated for minor injuries related to the chemical agent. Âť Reported Sunday, 8:17 a.m., Pierce Hall—UCPD took possession of an “air softâ€? pellet gun. They were notified by Residential Housing staff because it is against policy.

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Data courtesy of UCPD incident reports and Diane Ziarno, UCPD Executive Director of Management Operations.

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 Friday or Saturday, between 11 a.m. and 12:30 a.m., Madison Park and Dorchester— Unknown suspect(s) took multiple pieces of jewelry from a residence.

 Two suspects were arrested in the past week for outstanding warrants from other counties— one with warrants out of Willowbrook and Dupage on Saturday and one out of Will County on Tuesday.

Jan. 19 Jan. 25

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rs.uchicago.edu

This is a weekly series the Maroon publishes summarizing weekly 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 39th to 64th Streets and South Cottage Grove to Lake Shore Drive.

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VIEWPOINTS

Editorial & Op-Ed JANUARY 27, 2012

A net gain New online course doesn’t take the U of C education out of the classroom The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892 ADAM JANOFSKY Editor-in-Chief CAMILLE VAN HORNE Managing Editor MAHMOUD BAHRANI Senior Editor JONATHAN LAI News Editor HARUNOBU CORYNE News Editor SAM LEVINE News Editor EMILY WANG Viewpoints Editor CHARNA ALBERT Arts Editor DANIEL LEWIS Sports Editor VICENTE FERNANDEZ Sports Editor DOUGLAS EVERSON, JR Head Designer KEVIN WANG Web Editor ALICE BLACKWOOD Head Copy Editor DON HO Head Copy Editor GABE VALLEY Head Copy Editor DARREN LEOW Photo Editor JAMIE MANLEY Photo Editor REBECCA GUTERMAN Assoc. News Editor LINDA QIU Assoc. News Editor CRYSTAL TSOI Assoc. News Editor GIOVANNI WROBEL Assoc. News Editor

The University recently launched Open Climate 101, an online version of Global Warming : Understanding the Forecast, the largest class offered at the U of C. The content of the course is now freely available online in the form of video lectures, quizzes, and online models. The only caveat is that one can’t get University of Chicago credit through Open Climate, though one can receive a certificate signed by Global Warming professor David Archer. Similar courses at other universities have elicited a variety of responses. Current students, in particular, have asked why they are paying thousands of dollars for the same content that others access for free. However, this concern does not take into account the value of a traditional college experience, which can’t be replicated in an online format. Overall, online courses benefit both

the public and the University, and moving forward with a larger initiative would be in line with the University’s educational mission. Digital content cannot yet replace key experiences afforded by the traditional classroom model. For example, a video lecture series, currently the most widely used tool, can never provide a student learning Spanish with the conversational skills necessary to become fluent. Discussion-based classes and writing workshops, for instance—two key components of the U of C’s Core Curriculum—derive much of their value from intangibles like faceto-face interaction, which cannot be translated to video. Open Climate 101 follows in the footsteps of Yale’s “Open Yale Courses,” a program that boasts content from 25 past Yale courses in a wide range of departments. Harvard, which also has its own

“Harvard Open Courses,” goes further, offering actual online courses for credit. M.I.T. recently announced plans to launch an interactive online learning platform this coming spring. “M.I.T.x” classes will give students access to online laboratories, self-assessments and online discussions. Access will be free but there will be a small charge for students who demonstrate mastery of content and wish to receive a credential. Though parts of all of these programs are worthy of emulation, the University should steer clear of credentialing students in the process of developing its own online efforts. Obtaining a University degree should require a deep engagement with professors and peers as well as rigorous course work. If online education is set to become a larger feature at this University, it should do so in a way that ensures enrolled

students remain the focus and the primary benefactors of the University’s resources. That concern aside, the University would do well to advance its commitment to the public interest by encouraging other departments to follow Open Climate’s lead. Simply put, the University would be doing the public a disservice by not putting additional courses online. Open Climate 101 is a step in the right direction and signals the University’s willingness to take part in the evolution of higher education. In the future, however, the University should strive to be at the forefront of educational innovation rather than simply following in the footsteps of peer institutions.

The Editorial Board consists of the Editor-in-Chief, Viewpoints Editors, and an additional Editorial Board member.

AJAY BATRA Assoc. Viewpoints Editor TOMI OBARO Assoc. Arts Editor MATTHEW SCHAEFER Assoc. Sports Editor TYRONALD JORDAN Business Manager VIVIAN HUA Undergraduate Business Executive

It’s not all relative Republican candidates’ attempts to portray themselves as relatable “Everymen” are misleading

VINCENT MCGILL Delivery Coordinator HAYLEY LAMBERSON Ed. Board Member HYEONG-SUN CHO Designer SONIA DHAWAN Designer ALYSSA LAWTHER Designer SARAH LI Designer AUTUMN NI Designer AMITA PRABHU Designer BELLA WU Designer KELSIE ANDERSON Copy Editor CATIE ARBONA Copy Editor AMISHI BAJAJ Copy Editor JANE BARTMAN Copy Editor

By Jane Huang Viewpoints Columnist

MARTIA BRADLEY Copy Editor ELIZABETH BYNUM Copy Editor NISHANTH IYENGAR Copy Editor MICHELLE LEE Copy Editor KATIE MOCK Copy Editor LANE SMITH Copy Editor JEN XIA Copy Editor ESTHER YU Copy Editor

George W. Bush was known as the presidential candidate with whom people wanted to drink a beer. Since I am indifferent to drinking and am not acquainted with any presidential candidates, I don’t base my vote on whether

I’d like to have the candidate as a drinking buddy. Judging from the rhetoric of the current Republican presidential candidates, however, my resistance to choosing someone I can “relate to” must be unusual. I am referring, of course, to the somewhat amusing spectacle of three wealthy men attacking one another for being rich. Politico reported that Rick Santorum said, “When you see my tax returns, you will note that I do not have the riches that other people have in this race.” While his statement is accurate, Santorum’s income in 2010 exceeded $1 million. Santorum is not exactly living a hardscrabble life, even if he isn’t

the private jet–owning kind of wealthy. (Come to think of it, I have no idea how much money one needs to own a private jet. I wonder if this makes me more relatable.) When Newt Gingrich mocked Mitt Romney for making a $10,000 bet during a debate in December, Mitt Romney retorted, “If you have a half-a-million dollar purchase from Tiffany’s, you’re not a middle class American.” Given that the median US household income in 2010 was $49,445, I suppose Romney is correct. However, I would not be the first to point out the absurdity of Mitt Romney, a former executive whose 2010 income exceeded $20 million, criticizing someone for

not being middle-class. To be fair, the two candidates’ incomes are not of the same order of magnitude. However, the distinction between a candidate who earns more in one year than I expect to earn in a few decades and one whose annual income exceeds my expected lifetime earnings is really not that important to me. I would not oppose a candidate merely because he was wealthy, especially since all the recent GOP nominees are in the top 1 percent. I am much more bothered by each candidate’s attempts to prove to voters that he is an everyman. By presenting themselves as what they believe to be “ordinary” AmeriEVERYMAN continued on page 5

BEN ZIGTERMAN Copy Editor

Halftime adjustments Midway through the academic year, take time to evaluate what’s gone right and what still needs work

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. © 2012 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: Douglas@ChicagoMaroon.com Copy: CopyEditors@ChicagoMaroon.com Advertising: Ads@ChicagoMaroon.com

By David Kaner Viewpoints Columnist Next week is a milestone, of sorts, in our lives. Wednesday, February 1, is the halfway point of the year. Hard as it is to believe, it’s been nearly 129 days since the beginning of Fall Quarter, an academic lifetime and about 60 degrees Fahrenheit ago. And it will be another 129 until that first, magical day of summer break. It is an ancient and hallowed tra-

dition at the University of Chicago to complain about this time of year. It’s cold. It’s dark. While Fall Quarter comes with the excitement of the new year, and Spring Quarter offers warm days and rising expectations for summer adventures, this funny in-between time has many of us tiring of the bad weather and uncertain about the path ahead. In fact, the midpoint of the U of C year aligns almost exactly with “Blue Monday,” fêted annually in the press as the most depressing day of the year. Calculated with a formula that includes variables like “time since Christmas,” “time since failing our New Year’s resolutions,” “low motivational levels,” and “debt,” it’s actually pure pseudoscience. Even its creator has admitted it’s meaningless bunk, dreamed up as a way for a travel agency to push tickets to sunnier climes. But

doesn’t the perennial willingness of the media to believe it anyway point to the truth of just how bad this time of year can be? So this is a period made for staying inside. For brooding. For applying for endless numbers of internships and jobs and programs and scholarships. We wake up to slate-gray mornings and work well into freezing nights, and all the while wonder if we’re even on the right track. But don’t let this time of year own you. Rather, you should be using it to your advantage. These are natural moments of introspection. So slow down. Take a deep breath. Take stock. You’ve already seen grades from your first quarter. Are you satisfied, or is there room for improvement? Where? Classes are in full swing. Perhaps a change of study habits is

in order? Choose a new study spot or a new study partner. Find a better way to keep track of dates and to-dos. Is there something you need help with? Figure out what it is and who or what can assist. Then don’t delay; get what you need and get it now, while there’s still time. What about your life outside of classes? First, double-check to make sure you have one. Next, figure out if that routine is or isn’t working. Just because RSOs start up in September doesn’t mean they won’t welcome you and your free help with open arms in January. There’ll be events to plan, performances to give, and budgets to fudge all the way until June. So take the plunge. You might even make a few new friends in the process. But as important as it is to work up the energy to add, it’s even more WINTER continued on page 5

THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | January 27, 2012

5

Knowing pains Despite believing to know it all at every age, reflection on getting older brings profound sense of ignorance

By Chris Stavitsky Viewpoints Columnist When I was one of them, we would line up early outside of our classes in small gaggles by the wall and talk with one another about things that were important. We would talk about what we did downtown last weekend and how Durkheim was the best or the worst thing we’d ever read. We would boast about how much food we could eat at the dining hall, and we would discount the professors we didn’t like because they were only grad students. We would walk to the Point at midnight because we could and we would argue over whether Harper or the Reg was better.

None of us had cars, and we would walk to the faraway bus stops so we could explore the unknown and find streets named Herb Kent the Cool Gent. The Magnificent Mile made us feel like real Chicagoans, and we’d chuckle to ourselves about the tourists holding shopping bags as we walked down the steps to the AMC River East. We’d go to the Giordano’s downtown because the one in Hyde Park was being renovated, or we didn’t know about it, and we thought it was the best deep dish, no matter what anybody said. We knew everything there was to know. Now I am one of us, and, if we are early to class, we don’t speak to the people waiting in the halls unless we know them. Before class, we text other people about things that are important. We don’t talk about what we did downtown because we didn’t go downtown, and we don’t talk about Durkheim because he doesn’t excite us anymore. We don’t have meal plans, so we cook our own food or order delivery, and we don’t have professors who are grad students. We don’t walk to the Point at midnight because Jimmy’s has a better view, and

A gross overstatement The pervasive misuse of violent and self-deprecating expressions on campus indicates a disturbing lack of sympathy and respect Tomi Obaro Maroon Staff Midterm season is upon us. Welcome, sleepless nights, long stares at blinking cursors, hastily scribbled flashcards, the pervasive stench of unwashed bodies…and the rape-as-ametaphor-for-my-failed-exam Facebook statuses. You’ve seen them: “Every night of finals I feel like I need a rape kit for the failure.” “THAT BIOCHEM EXAM JUST RAPED ME.” (The more caps the better.) Such statuses are usually followed by a dozen “LOL” or “LMAO” in the comments section. There’s a collective sense of pride, a sharing of the schadenfreude. The statuswriter feels accomplished. He may have failed that midterm abysmally, but at least he’s been commended for his adroit turn of phrase. (I say he, but I’ve seen girls do the same.) I want to get a larger point across here, but first, let me be very, very clear. These statuses are offensive. They are not funny. They reflect glaring obtuseness, a dearth of creativity, and, most disconcertingly of all, a fundamental lack of sensitivity. I mean, really? Really? Failing your midterm because you decided to study two nights before the exam is like being sexually penetrated against your will? The default argument, of course, is that it’s all willful exaggeration. Obviously, failing an econ midterm is not like getting raped. But we exaggerate because it’s funny. And if we can make jokes about murder, what’s wrong with a little rape humor? It’s the same faulty premise that fuels the concept of “equal opportunity offending.” Usually white, usually straight, these fearless comics mock blacks, gays, Jews, trans folk, immigrants, Muslims, and the like, because everybody deserves to be insulted—it’s only fair. How these usually white, usually straight “comedians” factor in their own societal privilege—well, they don’t. In a country where most sexual assaults still go unreported, where rape victims often have to be nothing short of Mother Theresa to get their day in court, where our university’s own sexual assault policies have been historically problematic, must we indulge in this sort of silliness? Furthermore, these Facebook statuses, which are usually born five minutes after a horrific exam, told to a friend, and then immortalized forever on the Internet, are emblematic of a troubling U of C culture—one that thrives on describing collegiate life in the most overblown, histrionic way possible.

I get it. Studying is hard. Failing a midterm, or feeling like you failed a midterm—which is usually the more likely scenario—sucks. But must we indulge in that most pathetic of pissing contests, the my-life-is-worse-than-yours competition that rears its ugly head every examination season? Simple questions that should provoke simple answers garner instead interminable lists of all the exams, all the papers that students have due in the upcoming weeks. “Fuck my life,” they groan to begin and end every conversation. But the truth is that naked arrogance is currently unfashionable, so we cloak our feelings of superiority under the guise of brutal self-deprecation. Like the ‘humble brag,’ standup comedian Harris Wittel’s phrase for corny faux humility (sample: “I’ve grown accustomed 2 helping so many folks ova the years that’ i’ve become their crutch. There will come a time when I need help. Who will?”—NFL Wide Receiver Chad Ochocinco on Twitter), this sort of self-deprecation is incredibly disingenuous. For example, take those t-shirts:

The problem with our incessant need to denigrate ourselves is that it belies our extremely good fortune. “Where fun comes to die.” “If I wanted an A, I would have gone to Harvard.” “Where the only thing that goes down on you is your GPA.” What’s supposed to be endearing self-deprecation translates into crippling self-consciousness. Are you that insecure? Do you really struggle with such a massive inferiority complex that the whole world needs to know how much harder the U of C is than those Ivy League schools you probably weren’t admitted to? The problem with this incessant need to denigrate ourselves is that it belies our extremely good fortune. All of us, merely because we attend this school, are extremely lucky, and not in a U of C–exceptionalism kind of way, but in a straight-up, facts-are-facts, unemployment-is-4 .6-percent-among-the-college-educated, greatswaths-of-the-world-live-on-less-than-a-dollara-day kind of way. So let’s stop with the piss-on-ourselves contest. Please. Tomi Obaro is a fourth-year in the College majoring in international studies.

we don’t talk about the libraries because there is nothing to talk about—they’re just libraries. Anyway, the A-Level is gone now. Lots of us have cars and GPS, so we don’t look at street signs except for the ones that say things like I-90 and I-94. Our taste in pizza has matured, and we know Gino’s East is the best, and we watch our movies on Netflix, not at the AMC. We know everything there is to know.

We’ll have priorities. We’ll have a career and a home, and we’ll know everything there is to know.

tell everyone what we did downtown, in the same way that we won’t talk about the food at our favorite restaurant, at which we’ll eat every few days. There will be nothing more to talk about after we’ve been there a few times. The fries will be crispy like they were the last three times, and we will still like the way they put the lettuce and tomato on the side so the bread doesn’t get soggy before it should. There will be no Point and no libraries to sit in and no homework to do. We might have cars or might not, but it won’t matter because we’ll have money, and that’ll be why the world is our oyster. We’ll have priorities. Work will be important. Finding the right person for us will be important. These two things will take up a lot of time, so we’ll be really busy, and our schedules will be too full to do anything we think won’t be important. We’ll have a career and a home, and we’ll know everything there is to know. We don’t know anything, do we?

I’ll be one of a different them soon enough, and we won’t line up anywhere. We’ll talk to people by the coffee machine, but it won’t matter—everything interesting is put online in real-time anyway, so everyone’s already heard it. We won’t talk about Durkheim, not even once. We’ll be downtown so we won’t

Chris Stavitsky is a third-year in the College majoring in English.

Candidates should focus on understanding, rather than ignoring, differences

One’s mental health deserves as much attention as one’s academic goals

EVERYMAN continued from page 4 cans, the candidates are implicitly excluding Americans who don’t fit their conception of the everyman. Based on a composite of Gingrich, Romney, and Santorum, the everyman is a middle-aged, married, church-going Caucasian man who has several children. There are a lot of Americans who fit that description. Then again, there are a lot of us who don’t. If we are not part of the “mainstream,” do we matter less? The media has commented on how unusual it is to see Republicans waging class warfare, but it seems to me that, this year, class just happens to be a proxy for “authenticity.” This would be entirely consistent with the kind of “real Americans” shtick we heard from certain politicians in the last presidential election. To me, what’s more important than a candidate’s ability to “relate” to people is his ability to recognize how other people differ from him. Most of the recent mainstream presidential candidates, for example, had no firsthand knowledge of what it was like to be female, second-generation, a racial minority, or a millennial. That’s fine. Given the diversity of the US, it’s impossible for anybody to be able to relate equally to all voters. However, if a candidate believes that he is an everyman and that the job of the president is to serve the interests of the everyman, then the logical conclusion is that acting in his own best interests is tantamount to acting in the best interests of all Americans. This is obviously not the case. As much as I loathe the phrase “skin in the game”—a phrase used to describe individuals with a stake in the corporations they lead—I think it’s appropriate to say that presidential candidates usually do not have “skin in the game” when it comes to issues that matter to a lot of “other” people. For instance, it seems that very few of them rely on essential services like mass transit or public education. However, I believe that it is possible for politicians to make good decisions about policies that don’t affect them directly as long as they are aware that not everybody is in the same position as them. Politicians need to listen to people with different perspectives from their own, but that won’t happen until they acknowledge the validity of those different perspectives.

WINTER continued from page 4 critical to know when to subtract. You’re an undergrad, not God (sorry, first-year Nietzsche fan boys and Goldman Sachs job offer recipients). Your time and energy, not to mention your enthusiasm, are limited. If you feel like one of your activities is more burdensome than enjoyable, or that it is getting in the way of other commitments, drop it. Perhaps it’s a testament to the skewed priorities of most U of C students that I’ve mentioned taking care of your academic and extracurricular activities before the most critical area of all: your personal life. A fair amount of stress is normal; constant panic is not. Holding off on going out once in a while might actually be helpful to your mental health; locking yourself in the Reg or your room seven days a week almost certainly isn’t. As much as we pride ourselves on our rigorous academics, remember that there should still be time in your week to be alone with your thoughts or hang out with friends. If that A comes at the cost of 10 weeks of constant mental and emotional anguish, you might want to ask yourself if it’s worth the damage you’re doing to your college experience. Of course, these are just a few friendly suggestions. Maybe some of them apply to your life, or maybe none of them do. But however things are going, take a second to reassess and, if needed, to reboot. You have the experience of half a year behind you. Use it to shape an even better second act.

Jane Huang is a second-year in the College.

David Kaner is a second-year in the College majoring in Law, Letters, and Society.

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.

ARTS

Trivial Pursuits JANUARY 27, 2012

Collegiate collectibles: Exhibit charts student history Tomi Obaro Associate Arts Editor Here’s an unforgettable image: A few fingers wandering under a pair of black panties in magnifying close–up. It’s a provocative photo to be sure, the sort of thing that one can easily imagine made waves in 2004, when it was first published as the cover of Vita Excolatur, the University’s resident sex magazine. It’s also one of a number of items currently on display in We are Chicago: Student Life in the Collections of the University of Chicago Archives, a retrospective exhibit of University life and culture at the Special

“WE ARE CHICAGO” Regenstein Library Through March 23

Collections Exhibition Gallery in the Regenstein Libary. “Tracking student life at the University of Chicago can be a daunting challenge,” reads one of two identical introductory text panels. (There’s one by each entrance

of the gallery.) “Collecting and preserving this diverse and fascinating student history is part of the mission of the University of Chicago Archives,” the text continues. “We are Chicago: ” displays some of the most fascinating documents, photographs, and artifacts from the archival collections. Some were donations presented by individual alumni or their families. Others were responses to appeals in the alumni magazine or gifts of student organizations, fraternities, and clubs.” The resulting exhibit, curated by Eileen Ielmini, Kathleen Feeney, Ashley Locke, Isabel Gonzalez and Judith Dartt, is an interesting recollective, encapsulating over a century of University student life. The exhibit is divided into eight sections. Six display cases contain artifacts pertaining to certain aspects of student life, with panel cards displaying the themes: amusements, athletics, film and theater, etc. A larger case embedded in the back wall contains the more uncategorizable stuff—mannequins dolled up in Peter Pan adornments, an old varsity sweater, five rows of different U of C–centric t–shirts, including a personal favorite—“You

This cartoon map of the University’s campus can be found in both the exhibit and the C-Shop. PHOTO COURTESY OF RACHEL ROSENBERG

are Here” with an arrow pointing to a swirling black hole on a plain white T, with the words ‘University of Chicago,’ scrawled underneath. On the far right wall, a projector screens photos of U of C students

In Mamet’s Race, nobody wins Gabriel Kalcheim Arts Staff There is perhaps no issue that has been more central to the fabric of American society than the one David Mamet has decided to tackle in his aptly-titled play Race, which opened this past Monday at the Goodman Theatre. Mamet is to be congratulated for giving us a work that never falls into cliché and explores the problem of racial prejudice in America in as sensible a fashion as any theatergoer is ever likely to see. The entire play takes place in the office of the highly successful legal firm of Jack Lawson (Mark Grapey), a white, acerbic,

no-nonsense attorney, and his black partner, the pessimistic and equally commandeering Henry Brown (Geoffrey Owens). The legal team has a new prospective client in white, middle-aged

RACE Goodman Theatre Through February 19

Charles Strickland (the excellent Patrick Clear), a billionaire accused of raping a black woman in a hotel room. Strickland’s feeble remonstrance of innocence, met by Lawson’s “Nobody cares,

nobody fucking cares,” bring us into Mamet’s world. Lawson admonishes his prospective client for holding the trite idea— at least so far as this play is concerned—that a legal investigation should center around the facts of the case; “ There are no facts of the case,” says Lawson, “…[only] two fictions which each side will attempt to impress upon the jury.” In this way, again and again, David Mamet introduces us to his America. It’s a place where racial prejudice is a mere extension of a more deeply-seated social problem—a tendency to rely too much on cultural assumptions about groups of RACE continued on page 9

spanning several decades. A soccer player takes a hit to the head, hatted gentlemen watch a homecoming football game, a blond hippie scrawls something on the sidewalk. In one display case, the original

maroon ribbon selected to sway votes from students and administration away from the grey– and– gold that were the University’s original colors of choice, is embossed in REG continued on page 8

American fairytale exploits more than enchants

Thomas Horn, surrounded by posters of the missing, takes a moment of silence. PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

Eliza Brown Arts Contributor

Tamberla Perry, Geoffrey Owens, Marc Grapey, and Patrick Clear take on a tricky subject. PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIC Y. EXIT

Although I cried through the entire film and then for some time after the credits finished rolling, upon reflection, the only word I can think of to describe Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is exploitative. A good music selection and shots of the burning Twin Towers led to an almost Pavlovian reaction in my tear ducts, but the actual heart of the movie speaks more to the American compulsion to create an unrealistic fairytale than to the actual tragedy of September 11. The film is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer, which

received mixed reviews and was also criticized for using 9/11 as an exploitative plot device. Although it’s mostly loyal to the book, the film loses several

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE Stephen Daldry Amc River East

plotlines, characters, and a general sense of magical realism in favor of a more sentimental and concise style (though the film, at two hours and nine minutes, feels anything but concise). The film pivots around 11-yearLOUD continued on page 9

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | January 27, 2012

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Glass opera lacks transparency; that’s the point Scotty Campbell Arts Staff What happened this past Friday night in the University of Michigan’s Power Center theater can’t really be called an opera, at least in traditional terms. But what became apparent during its duration was that the work is as much a mystery as it is an intense sensory experience. As the audience walked into the theater (thirty minutes late, on account of the bad weather), the performance had already begun. A group of singers, all dressed identically in grey pants, white shirts, and suspenders, were standing toward the right side of the orchestra pit. All were motionless, their clownish makeup highlighting bright faces frozen in concentrated stares. Robotically intoning numbers, mouths hardly moving, they seemed to be awaiting the arrival of the confused and excited visitors as they finished filing in. This wasn’t the first time this unusual sight had greeted opera-goers. Philip Glass’s (A.B. ’56) revolutionary opera, Einstein on the Beach, ostensibly about the famous scientist (though it’s open to wide interpretation), debuted in New York in 1976. It’s been reprised twice, with the last iteration in 1992. New York City Opera commissioned a new production for 2009, but the economic recession abruptly halted those plans. Fortunately, Pomegranate Arts, an indpendent production company from New OPERA continued on page 8

H U N G E R

In Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach, avant-garde is the norm. PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY

S T R I K E

For whom the belly tolls Iliya Gutin Arts Staff Bill Kim doesn’t care. He just cooks what he wants. Sure, he might have been chef de cuisine at the “temple of haute cuisine” that is Charlie Trotter’s. And, yeah, that does put him in the ranks of Grant Achatz, Graham Elliot, and Homaru Cantu, as one of the many restaurant protégés that make up the oligarchy of Chicago’s restaurant scene. But lacking a Michelin–starred restaurant, Kim can’t help but be the runt of the litter, the black swan, the Khourtney Kardashian of the Trotter clan. Fortunately, Bill Kim doesn’t give a shit. He’s pretty badass. In a matter of months, Kim’s ever–growing Belly Empire (Urban Belly, Belly Shack) will go up another pants size with the addition of Belly Q on West Loop’s Randolph restaurant row. And you can be certain that the foodie masses will descend on it like a meat–seeking missile. But for the time being, Belly Shack, the newer, more casual restaurant of Kim’s current holdings, represents precisely the kind of over–the– top faux–Asian food that abandoning the world of fine–dining has granted Kim the freedom to create. Abandon all fanciness ye who enter here. Belly Shack is located right under the Western–O’Hare Blue line stop. Unassuming is an unassuming way to describe the space. Inside, you’ll find a large communal table surrounded by smaller seating arrangements on the periphery, all decked out in steel and wood, and some Banksy–esque graffiti on the wall. Get your own damn cutlery, pour your own damn water, and BYOB seems more like a

mandate than a recommendation, as virtually every table was imbibing alcohol in one form or another. Ordering takes place at the cash register, from the small menu above, which can basically be sampled in its entirety during the course of two visits, as I did. But don’t let its size fool you. Big flavors come in small snackages. Overall, this might be a weird way of conceiving the food at Belly Shack, but it’s like having all the fun and innovative kookiness of food truck food in a nice, warm restaurant setting—you know, with chairs and bathrooms and stuff you can’t find outside. Consider some of the sides, for instance, which might as well be appetizers. The “tostones”, which are basically crispy plantains in absurdly addictive lime– zested chimichurri sauce, are gone within 60 seconds of being served. They have the texture of the best hash browns you’ve ever had, while the unassertive flavor of the plantain lets the chimichurri shine in all its garlicky majesty. Is it a Korean influence, or Mexican, or…I have no idea. Not that I mind really, because I want to bathe in that sauce. The same cultural identity disorder goes for the Brussels sprouts and chorizo, mixed together with little shards of tortilla chips, to the point where it’s all one delicious mush, though not a big deal since it’s far more interesting than the generic sprouts and bacon you’ll find elsewhere. I guess the edamame special available on one night is a bit more decidedly “Asian” in its origins, in which the green bean was doused in a sweet soy glaze (the signature Seoul sauce, I GET IT!) and covered with crispy fried shallots. The dish was a pretty ingenious mechanism for forcing you to

consume copious amounts of Seoul sauce as you try to suck the little soybeans out of their protective pods. The mains, however, are decidedly more fusion–y than the rest of the menu—again, not that this gets in the way of the food or anything. I’ll start with the least intriguing option, the organic brown rice bowl, which, while topped with tofu, chicken, or beef, is about as exciting as a bowl of brown rice can be. The Boricua, a piece of hoisin–BBQ–sauced tofu between two plantain chips, is also pretty good for what it is, though I would call its structural integrity into question. Plantains, while a delicious snack on their own, do not make a very good substitute for bread. Fortunately, pretty much every other item on the menu is a winner. The Korean BBQ Beef is a must order, and the presentation of the tender marinated bulgogi, homemade kimchi (spicy, but thankfully reasonably so), and flat bread pitas gives you the freedom to assemble pretty much the best hot pockets imaginable. Admittedly it was a little inconsistent—nice pieces of quality beef on one night, but a bit mushy and grainy, like bad Italian beef, on another. Either way, it’s a surprisingly elegant dish that would not be out of place in a more traditional Korean restaurant. On the flip side, the Belly Dog and Asian Pork Meatball Sandwich represent the overly indulgent and ridiculously rich side of the Belly Shack menu, both of which echo the overstuffed sandwich and hotdog monstrosities of South America. The Belly Dog begins its journey in life as a good quality hot dog, but somewhere along the way, it starts running with the wrong crowd (egg noodles and pickled green papa-

4 out of 5 forks

“Any second wasted thinking about this food is time you could be eating it in a state of blissful ignorance.” ya), and ends up half–eaten in your mouth, with little pieces of noodle dangling from your jaw like Cthulu’s tentacles. Same goes for the meatball sandwich, which is not so much a sandwich as it is a football made of bread, stuffed with some bizarre twist on cold, leftover spaghetti (Somen noodles in this case) and meatballs. And it’s just as disgusting and disgustingly good as that sounds. Authentic Korean or Asian cuisine Belly Shack is not—but it’s not quite high–concept “fusion–y” crap either. Instead, it’s addictively good flavors that work together in magical, mysterious ways. Shake your fist in the air all you want and angrily fume, “Damn you Belly Shack and your crass pandering to my caveman craving for fats and carbs!” Just make sure your other fist is full of Korean BBQ on its way to your mouth.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | January 27, 2012

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For the first time in twenty years, Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach graces the stage OPERA continued from page 7 York, decided to create an international production, bringing in original collaborators Glass, Lucinda Childs, and Robert Wilson. For the first time in twenty years, Einstein on the Beach was performed in its five -hour entirety at the University of Michigan. A world-wide tour, starting in France, will soon follow. Director Robert Wilson originally conceived the idea for Einstein; he gave Glass various set sketches and asked him to write the accompanying music. Glass wanted to do an opera about a historical figure, and the two men eventually settled on Einstein. Lucinda Childs was brought in for the choreography and did narration for the 1976 original. Still

in previews, last weekend’s performance was, nevertheless, virtually flawless, despite the music’s inherent difficulties. The opera is intentionally plot-less. A series of recurring images—a train to represent the theory of relativity, and an on-stage violinist dressed as Einstein—are the only references to the scientist’s life. There are no words, either. Glass’s music is instead set to numbers, with singers chanting the beat or solfÊge. Because of the intense pace of the music, many of these sung words and sounds blend into a ritualistic chant. Even the choreography is abstract. Childs’s own dancers are featured in two beautifully choreographed scenes, but all performers are essentially choreo-

graphed in some way. With stunning muscular control, both dancers and singers carry out specifically timed movements throughout the duration of the opera. In each scene, constant but slowly changing motions carried out by everyone on stage accompany Glass’s similarly hypnotic music, creating an ever-morphing tableau. Because the opera is so long (five hours), and there’s no intermission, attention slips are not only inevitable, but intended. Like Einstein’s theory of time, this opera is relative. No one in the audience pays equal attention, as evidenced by the multiple comings-and-goings of the crowd. Looking up after a period of zoning out can make you subject to

new discoveries—the train has moved, that man has sat down, the light in the background has changed color. Perhaps one point of reference for the audience, even those unused to opera, is the spoken text. Unusual for opera, Einstein includes long strings of speech chanted over the music. Written by the poet Christopher Knowles, these texts include short phrases which are repeated over and over, changing slightly throughout, like the music. To avoid monotony, the cast took care to change their inflection when reciting these texts, lending new meaning and subtlety to almost every repetition. In one scene, a woman lying supine before a judge casually describes a “premature-

ly air-conditioned supermarket.� But when she rises and walks to the right side of the stage, she slowly changes into a criminal, donning a black suit and a gun, which she points at the audience. Her formerly innocent words about supermarkets and bathing caps now become menacing, her voice giving them a provocative flair that had not existed before. At one point toward the end of the opera, the set turns into a two-dimensional picture of a building, a woman “seated� in a room behind it. The ensemble was playing its usual ascetic arpeggios when suddenly, saxophonist Andrew Sterman broke out into a stunning extended jazz improvisation; swirling harmonics and lines of

music carried into the audience, augmented by speakers. His perpetual play was broken only by intermittent intonations from the choir, coming from somewhere backstage, or perhaps below. The audience, which had been coming and going (as allowed by Glass himself ) during the previous scenes, suddenly sat still. Sterman’s saxophone created a palpable power and the onslaught of onstage colors seemed tangible. People were swaying, some tapping their feet; others stared at the stage as if into the void. For an opera without any plot, without any intelligible flow or structure or meaning , the emotional impact was powerful. Glass’s objective, whatever it was, had been achieved.

At Regenstein’s Special Collections Gallery, student life is on exhibit REG continued from page 6 an elegant display panel. A poster from a prototypical Lascivious Ball, part of the Libertine Arts Conference hosted by satirical student organization “Students for Violent Non-Action,� promises a night of revelry, including a naked dunk in the Ida Noyes swimming

pool, free porn screenings, and a strip show. A menu for the Washington Prom, once an annual student affair, lists fried chicken and caviar among its dishes. Hand crafted Doc film posters, advertising the serious, staid films the RSO was originally known for, hang in another display

case while a cartoon map of the campus—complete with cartoon squirrels saying, “We want cheese--� hangs on the other side. We are Chicago is the sort of collection that vivifies the past, confirming certain suspicions—students appear to have been a lot more lascivious in the ’70s—and occa-

sional fears—there used to be a Dames Club for married female students. They even had their own cookbook. Seminal moments—a poster advertising a debate between Malcolm X and Willoughby Abner at Mandel Hall for the criminally low price of $1—seem especially poignant now that

we know how important Malcolm X turned out to be. Willoughby Abner, unfortunately, doesn’t appear to have been so lucky. On the far left wall, students can leave Post–it notes with their own U of C memories. Some notes are silly: “Three words: Scav, Scav, Scav!� while others drip with

overt self–consciousness: “... the campus quietly echoes all of my feelings in its verbose atmosphere.� Nevertheless, the idea that one day, many years from now, they’ll be part and parcel of a new exhibit, fodder for some fresh–eyed or cynical U of C student, is strangely comforting. We’re living history.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | January 27, 2012

Color becomes a substitute for all social ills in Race

Movie manipulates horror of the Twin Tower attacks for excessive sentimentality

The fact that the play only takes place in the law offices of Lawson and Brown and that there is no climactic trial scene or sobering denouement, in some ways liberates the play from its own genre. The play is not only about one particularly racially-charged rape case but also about the underlying social problems that allow such a case to happen. Chuck Smith has directed a flawless troupe of actors in as good a presentation of Race as we are ever likely to see. Geoffrey Owens is excellent as Henry Brown, he’s an exercise in cynicism taken to the extreme. Patrick Clear powerfully portrays Lawson as a man consumed by the calculating pragmatism which ultimately does him in. Fortunately, the simple observation that we tend to rely on the conventions of whatever sociopolitical group with which we identify, as the characters do in Mamet’s play, does not imply that morality cannot exist. If all the characters in Race chose to rely on their own moral judgments rather than their own pragmatism, they would have come to a much happier end.

RACE continued from page 6 people instead of our own moral judgments. Lawson and Brown’s new, Ivy-Leagueminted African-American clerk Susan (the talented Tamberla Perry) further complicates matters. Her prejudices against the firm’s prospective client are openly acknowledged, and yet, intentionally or otherwise, she effectively hoodwinks the firm into taking the case. Strickland is told that he cannot rely on his prospective lawyers’ honesty in their dealings. On what may he rely, then? On their “desire for fortune and fame.� Morality does not exist, there’s only the ruthless, mercenary calculus of how to get ahead. In such a world, people make use of anything that might place them ahead of others or others below themselves; race, in America, is the prime example. In the hands of a lesser playwright, such a scenario would probably have become an overwrought, racially-charged courtroom drama, of which we already have countless examples. It is much to Mamet’s credit that he does not develop Race in this way.

9

LOUD continued from page 6 old Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn), a quirky child from Manhattan’s Upper West Side who loses his father (Tom Hanks) in the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and doesn’t know how to manage his grief. A year after “the worst day,� Oskar finds a key in an envelope with the word “black� inside a blue vase in his father’s closet. He decides that “black� must be someone’s last name and sets out to find this person. It’s a venture meant to keep him close to his father before Oskar’s memory of him fades away completely—something the film gives away too easily. His journey takes him to every corner of New York and through it, Oskar learns to talk to people, take public transportation, and eventually—inevitably—let go. Oskar also meets his grandmother’s new “renter,� who is in fact his grandfather, Thomas Schell, Sr. (Max von Sydow). Schell lost his parents in the World War II bombing of Dresden and abandoned his son and wife due to his inability to manage his grief. He never spoke again after that, and communicates through written notes and hand signals. It’s a tale meant to weave together another story of loss and the ways in which one deals with it, but doesn’t quite succeed in communicating the complexity of grief. Horn plays a brighter, more child-like Oskar Schell compared to Safran Foer’s depiction in the novel, in a performance that is somehow both earnest and aware of this earnestness. In the book Oskar seems unusual (and like a possible stand-in for the author himself ), but Safran Foer never explicitly declares that the character has Asperger’s Syndrome; the film, however,

all but stamps the diagnosis on his forehead. Though he seems a bit old to play the father of a 9-year-old, the extremely likable Hanks inhabits the archtypal perfect father figure with gusto. Oskar’s mother (Sandra Bullock) plays the parent who was left behind and keeps her expressions of emotion understated, a noble and difficult task in a movie designed to be anything but unassuming. I won’t re vea l the movie’s end ing a n d s a y w h e th e r O s k a r f i n d s th e owner of the ke y or not ( h int : th is movie is a f a ir y ta le‌), but rest a ssure d that lessons are learne d , ap olo g ies are made, and fre quent hug s are g iven . Even the film’s cinemato g rap hy re sts on the underlying prem ise of ma g ica l r e a l i sm — e v er y s o un d i s ma g n i f i e d and e ver y color brig htene d . May b e these choices were meant to preser ve the sense of wh ims y in the orig ina l text, but the y u ltimately ma ke the f i l m s e em e ven m o r e j uven i l e a n d saccharine. Though the Academy doesn’t appear to agree (the film was recently nominated for Best Picture), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close creates a fairytale out of the tragedy of 9/11. It leaves no questions unanswered and doesn’t let the senselessness of the terrorist attacks resonate. One might enjoy the film upon first viewing, but I dare audience members to retain warm feelings for 24 hours. In explaining away our grief through stories with happy endings, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close belittles the magnitude of pain and bewilderment that arose from such a tragedy.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | January 27, 2012

MEN’S BASKETBALL UAA Standings Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

School Emory NYU Washington (Mo.) Brandeis Rochester Chicago Carnegie Case Western

Win % .938 .933 .750 .562 .688 .562 .375 .500

Record 15–1 (4–1) 14–1 (4–1) 12–4 (4–1) 9–7 (3–2) 11–5 (2–3) 9–7 (2–3) 6–10 (1–4) 8–8 (0–5)

Field Goal Percentage Rank 1 2 3 4 5

Player Andy Stein Marcus Williams NateNovosel Rob Reid Dane McLoughlin

Rank 1 2 3 4 5

Player Tana Ryan Vytas Kriskus Derek Retos Kyle Stockmal Nate Vernon

Rank 1 2 3 4 5

Player Matt Johnson John DiBartolomeo Austin Claunch Brayden Teuscher Jake Davis

FG % .636 .615 .583 .568 .554

School NYU Rochester Rochester Rochester Case Western

Three-Point Percentage School NYU Brandeis Brandeis NYU Rochester

3-Point % .553 .550 .485 .480 .475

Free-Throw Percentage FT % .895 .892 .873 .867 .861

School Chicago Rochester Emory Washington (Mo.) Emory

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL UAA Standings Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

School Chicago Rochester Washington (Mo.) Emory NYU Case Western Brandeis Carnegie

Record 16–0 (5–0) 16–0 (5–0) 14–2 (4–1) 13–3 (4–1) 9–7 (1–4) 8–8 (1–4) 7–9 (0–5) 6–10 (0–5)

Win % 1.000 1.000 .875 .812 .562 .500 .438 .375

MEN’S TRACK 200–meter Dash Rank 1 2 3 4 5

School Chicago Washington (Mo.) NYU Washington (Mo.) Carnegie

Runner Dee Brizzolara Ryan Doll Dan McKinney Arthur Townsend Noel Titus

Time 22.91 23.19 23.20 23.28 23.36

WOMEN’S TRACK 200–meter Dash Rank 1 2 3 4 5

School Emory Emory Washington (Mo.) Brandeis Carnegie

Runner Alix Dyer Debora Adjibaba Shannon Howell Michelle Fry Sasha Spalding

100 Breast School Emory Chicago Carnegie Chicago Emory Emory Washington (Mo.)

Swimmer Peter O’Brien Andrew Angeles Austin Bohn Nicolas Santoro Justin Beegle Stepehn Czaja Brian Carpenter

Time 55.93 57.29 57.58 58.09 58.31 59.12 59.33

WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING 100 Breast Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

School Emory Emory Carnegie Emory Emory Carnegie Chicago

Swimmer Jennifer Aronoff Kylie McKenzie Breanna Stillo Renee Rosenkranz Megan Beach Tatiana Duchak Laura Biery

Men’s Basketball Alexander Sotiropoulos Senior Sports Staff Maroons head coach Mike McGrath experienced one of his most devastating losses as a coach for the Maroons on Sunday against Brandeis. “I went into the locker room after the game, and it’s been a long time—it’s been a long, long time—since I felt that way after a loss,” McGrath said. With three losses in the UAA and nine games left in the conference season, McGrath said that wins are necessary for an attempt at the UAA title. Last year, Rochester took the title with only two losses. “Four losses might win our league; three, I think, definitely would,” McGrath said. “If we want to compete for the UAA championship this year, we need to play well this weekend, and we need to get a win on Friday.” For the Maroons (9–7, 2–3 UAA), winning on Friday will be very tough, given that the Emory Eagles (15–1, 4–1) only have one loss on the season. But it is not Emory’s record about which McGrath is mostly concerned; it is the Eagles’ mobility on the court. “In the 20 years I’ve been in the league, they have a very unique style,” McGrath said. “They play faster than anybody who [has] been in our league before.” Emory’s mobility stems from point guard Austin Claunch. The Sporting News 2011–2012 Honorable Mention All-American averages 18.1 points and 6.5 assists per game. “For my money right now, they have the guy who is playing better and will be the MVP of our league in Austin Claunch,”

Time 1:04.37 1:05.01 1:05.96 1:06.08 1:06.15 1:06.91 1:07.35

McGrath said. “He’s a tough matchup for any team.” However, a team ranked fourth nationally must have more than one prolific player, and this is exactly the case for the Eagles. Currently, forward Jake Davis averages 19.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Three other players (forward Michael Friedberg, guard Alex Greven and guard Alex Gulotta) average over eight points per game. McGrath said that the high scoring averages are due to the quickness of the Eagles’ offense. “The speed with which you score and they come right back at you is really pretty impressive,” McGrath said. “It’s a lot because of [Claunch,] and we really need to be ready for that.” Sunday’s match against Rochester (11–5, 2–3) is going to feature another explosive point guard in John DeBartolomeo. The d3hoops.com, Sporting News, and D-III News preseason All-American averages 16.8 points and 5.6 assists per game. “He shoots when he should shoot, passes when he should pass, and drives when he should drive,” McGrath said. At the same time, McGrath said that Rochester does not have the mobility that Emory does. “They don’t play with the same speed,” he said. “It’s kind of a cross between what NYU does and [what] Emory does.” The Maroons are concerned about their own execution on the offensive end. Chicago has averaged 44.6 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from behind the arc at the Ratner Center this season. “I think we’re getting good shots that we can make,” McGrath said. The Maroons tip off at the Ratner Center on Friday at 8 p.m. against Emory and on Sunday at 12 p.m. against Rochester.

Value of Jamba Juice overshadows costs COLUMN continued from page 11

Time 26.34 27.18 27.36 27.55 27.59

MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Speedy Emory races to Ratner

deciding to slow down and grab smoothies to make Jamba Juice valuable. It might not be a financially profitable model, but having this option available to students is definitely worth whatever it costs to keep Jamba. “[It is] yet to be seen,” said Weingartner, when asked whether or not Jamba has been a successful endeavor for the University. “We have had other vendors in that space and it has not worked out. We hope that Jamba Juice will be a success in providing food, drink, and a social opportunity for our users.” Jamba is even starting to encourage people to come to Ratner when they aren’t working out. Maclean House has been known to take house trips to Jamba this quarter, as Ratner is now the closest food stop on campus for the northernmost dorm. With all the work being done to make the south side of campus a studentfriendly environment, the administration shouldn’t forget about the students that live north of 55th Street. Jamba Juice is a good step in that direction. Students

should be hoping for Jamba Juice’s success, because its thriving would probably mean more food establishments like it in that section of the campus. While it is great that people are now visiting Ratner on a more casual basis, they shouldn’t forget the primary reason they’re at Ratner, however: to work out. Where Jamba Juice becomes a problem is when people go to Ratner to “work out,” really just wanting to put in five minutes of walking on the elliptical in order to have an excuse to get a smoothie. This might be good for Jamba’s bank account, but it’s not good for the people who already have a hard time motivating themselves to work out. Luckily, Jamba is tucked away in the corner, another good move by the administration. If you walk into Ratner without really looking around, you can barely tell it’s there. Ultimately, building a Jamba Juice at Ratner represents a commitment on the part of the athletic department to making the recreational athletic experience as enjoyable as possible. And that’s not a fruity proposition at all.

C A LE N DA R

WRESTLING UAA Standings Rank 1 2 3

School Chicago New York Case Western

Record 5–5 5–5 0–7

Win % .500 .500 .000

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Friday

1/27

- Wrestling at Wheaton Invite 1 p.m. - Women’s Basketball vs. Emory 6 p.m. - Men’s Basketball vs. Emory 8 p.m.

- Track and Field hosts Chicago Duals 11:30 a.m.

Sunday

1/29

- Men’s Basketball vs. Rochester Noon

Saturday

1/28

- Wrestling at Wheaton Invite 10 a.m. - Swimming and Diving vs. DePauw 1 p.m.

- Women’s Basketball vs. Rochester Noon - Women’s Tennis at Kalamazoo 1 p.m. (ET)

Short memory key to success against DePauw Men’s Swimming & Diving Sarah Langs Sports Staff The popular Disney-Pixar movie Finding Nemo features a character named Dory whose motto is “just keep swimming.” After experiencing their first loss of the season, the men’s swimming and diving team is ready to emulate Dory. Or, in the words of head coach Jason Weber, they are ready to “just keep training hard.” “We learned a lot from the loss [to UW– Milwaukee], and we have put it behind us,” assistant coach Krista Carlson said. With the defeat no longer on their minds, Chicago (4–1) will take on DePauw (5–0) this Saturday with the hope of adding one more to the win column before the UAA Championships on February 15–18. “On the men’s side, the meet will be very close, so it’s hard to say how it will go, but look for our divers to do really well and for [firstyears] Andrew Angeles, Andrew Salomon, and George Gvakharia to have some big wins for us,” Weber said. The meet this weekend is important because it is the team’s last before conference competition begins. “Right now the coaches are doing everything we can to make sure our athletes are mentally and physically ready for conference,” Carlson said. Preparation for the meet included training hard all of this past week to extinguish memories of the loss and looking ahead to this weekend and beyond. “[The swimmers and divers] always tend to do better at home than when travelling for a dual meet,” Weber said. The tendency to swim better at Ratner Athletic Center is something the team must not get used to, given that the UAA Championships and NCAA Championships take place on the road, in Cleveland, Ohio and in Indianapolis, Indiana, respectively. Aware of what they need to work on— namely, training hard and not getting too comfortable at Ratner—the team is ready to swim against DePauw this weekend, with an added bonus for spectators who arrive early. “Should be one of the most exciting dual meets all season for both teams,” Weber said, “plus, it’s our last home dual meet so we’ll be honoring the seniors before the meet starts.” The first swimmers will take to the waters of Myers-McLoraine Pool this Saturday at 1 p.m.

Food, clothing drive to accompany game W. BASKETBALL continued from back

Roussell lauded his team for living up to expectations in big games and tight situations, a trait that is sure to be important as the NCAA tournament rolls around. The games this weekend, despite being only regular season games, will undoubtedly have the edge of a postseason clash. “I know our kids are really, really looking forward to this,” Roussell said last Sunday. “Not that we’re buying into the hype too much. [Any] time that we’ve been in a tough spot or had a big game, our kids have played really well.” The Friday night game coincides with a Women’s Athletic Association raffle to benefit physical education programs at Fuller Elementary and Woodlawn Elementary, two Hyde Park schools, while the Order of the “C” will be hosting its annual food and clothing drive. Tip-off against Emory is set for 6 p.m. tonight at Ratner, while the game against Rochester is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | January 27, 2012

11

Home advantage provides remedy for ailing squad Wheaton boasts

elite competition Wrestling Derek Tsang Sports Staff

Second-years Elise Wummer (left) and Michaela Whitelaw (right) run at the UAA indoor champtionships last year. COURTESYOF DAVE HILBERT

Women’s Track & Field Jake Walerius Sports Staff Women’s track and field has been sick. Literally. “For the last couple of weeks it’s felt like every time I turn around somebody else has the flu,” head coach Chris Hall said. “It’s really been affecting us, and I think we’ve gotten off to a slow start because of it.” The Maroons have been as preoccupied with illness and injury as they have been with any opposing team this year, and they are hoping that their first home meet of the season at Henry Crown on Saturday will be the perfect medicine. Chicago will host nine other schools at the Chi-

cago Duals, a yearly meet that sees all of the competing teams scored head-to-head against each other, and the Maroons have high expectations. “Our main goal is to get ready for the conference championships,” Hall said. “But, in order to make a move forward, we pretty much have to win this meet.” Chicago has had a difficult start to the year, and it is understood that its early season losses mean nothing compared to the conference meet, but it is never a bad time to win. This weekend might even be the perfect time. Currently, the Maroons are lagging behind conference favorites Wash U and Emory, and it is time for Chicago to put its early season misfortune behind it and raise the level of its performances. “I want to see our performances moving up so

Training pace slows for Senior Day Women’s Swimming Liane Rousseau Sports Staff The women’s swimming and diving team is hosting Senior Day this Saturday against DePauw University at the Myers-McLoraine Pool. The Maroons are coming off of a dual meet loss against UW–Milwaukee; DePauw (2–2) just beat Illinois–Wesleyan last Saturday. Despite the loss last Saturday, the Maroons think they’re ready for this meet. “We worked really hard this [past] weekend, especially in the second half of the meet, making sure that, even if we were behind, we weren’t going to just give up,” fourth-year Laura Biery said. “This week we’ve started to back off a little, lowering the intensity while keeping the yardage up.” Even though they are lowering their training intensity, the Maroons aren’t un-

derestimating DePauw. “DePauw is a really good team; we always have a lot of fun racing against them,” Biery said. “We’re pretty evenly matched, but I’d have to say we’re a much better team.” This is the last meet before conference championships and the last dual meet, putting added pressure on the fourth-year swimmers. Even though it will not be their last time swimming in the pool, it will be the last time they are representing the Maroons as a unified team against one opponent. “It’s definitely weird knowing this is my last home meet,” Biery said. “However, it’s also exciting for the fourth-years to be in this place in our swimming career. It’s the culmination of something we’ve been working at almost nonstop for ten or more years.” Biery will be joined by fellow fourth-years Amanda Kim, Kelsey Kubelick, Tara Levens, Anna Schleusener, and Jacqueline Trudeau for Senior Day on Saturday. To catch the action, stop by the MyersMcLoraine Pool at 1 p.m.

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that we feel like we’re going to be in a position to challenge those teams,” Hall said. The home opener will only make that easier. There will be extra support and extra time to rest, and it will be the first time the entire roster has been able to compete together. “We’ll have everyone running, so there will be a lot of bodies in the races and on the sidelines. Hopefully this will help us all perform better,” third-year Julia Sizek said. The Maroons are still missing several athletes due to injury, fourth-year Paige Peltzer and second-year JD Whitman the most notable among them. Other than that, however, health prospects are looking up. It is now time for the performances to follow. The meet starts at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

This Friday, the wrestling team will travel to nearby Wheaton, Illinois to participate in the Pete Willson–Wheaton Invitational, the Maroons’ last tournament-style meet before the UAA Championships in two weeks. “The Wheaton is the strongest small college tournament in the country,” head coach Leo Kocher said. “I’ve told our guys that if they place in the top eight in their weight class, they are, by definition, nationally competitive.” The field of 32 colleges features a handful of nationally-ranked opponents, including third-ranked UW–La Crosse, seventhranked Olivet College, and ninth-ranked UW–Whitewater. It will also be host to several schools the Maroons have faced before this year, such as Elmhurst, ranked at 14, Wabash, at 26, and Augustana. Third-year James Layton, who earned a national Honorable Mention for his strong season at 157 pounds, will lead Kocher’s young team, as he has done all year. Behind him is an improving squad that includes first-year Mario Palmisano, who was on this week’s UAA Honor Roll, at 197 pounds. Kocher expects his squad to “be determined to wrestle better” this week than they did last week. “You don’t want to slide backwards,” he said. The Maroons finished 25th out of 32 teams at last year’s invitational, and are returning all but three of the wrestlers that competed then. One of those three wrestlers, though, was sixth-seeded Ryan Hatten at 285 pounds. The Maroons will try to succeed in spite of a recent spate of illness and injuries. “I suspect it will not be our strongest lineup of the year,” Kocher said. “We just want to finish the season strong.”

Smoothies spark social life at the gym

By Mahmoud Bahrani Sports Editor

The Ratner Athletic Center is undoubtedly the center for physical activity on campus, regardless of what fans of the Henry Crown Field House might say. It’s where the offices of the athletic administration are located, it’s where the Everyman goes to work out, and it’s where most of our varsity athletic teams play. Ratner hasn’t changed much since it was first constructed in 2000, a testament to the vision of the people who built it. It was done correctly from the start, so there hasn’t been much to improve on. This quarter, however, to the delight of fruit lovers everywhere, the Athletic Administration decided to open a Jamba Juice near the main entrance of Ratner. The goals of the new establishment were relatively simple according to head athletic director Tom Weingartner: “We had designed space to provide some modest food and drink for our members and create a more social space within the Ratner lobby.” So far, it’s safe to say that Jamba has

been a success in that regard. Even in its architectural design, Ratner encourages sociability, from the wide-open atrium entrance to the liberal use of glass instead of drywall. The minute you walk into the g ym, you can already see people working out on treadmills and ellipticals. Once you get past the front gate, there’s basketball to your left and weightlifting to your right. Ratner’s plethora of options encourages those who want to work out, no what form of exercise they prefer. Jamba, like the atriums and the glass walls, encourages sociability. When you’re done with your workout, you’re usually rushing home to get something to refuel. Having Jamba Juice nearby means that instead of heading to your apartment or your dorm immediately, you’re hanging out with the friends you just made working out. Personally, I love the idea of having a place where casual and serious athletes alike can gather after a hard workout. A lot of the time, I’ll learn the names of guys I’m playing basketball with, but as soon as the game is over, I don’t talk to them again. The bonds of friendship that we make are only temporary. I’m not saying that having a smoothie joint inside Ratner is going to ameliorate this situation completely, but at the very least it’s a step toward getting people to talk to their fellow athletes as they relax after a hard workout. Maybe it won’t always happen like this, but it only takes one instance of a group COLUMN continued on page 10

SPORTS

IN QUOTES “Rock out with your cock—ooh, never mind. Never mind! It’s a family show.” —Cuba Gooding, Jr. attempting to imitate Allen Iverson on Sportscenter.

Rochester to arrive for battle of unbeatens Women’s Basketball Mahmoud Bahrani Senior Editor The times, they are a-changin’. Especially in the UAA. Once one of the most dominant programs in the country, Wash U (14–2, 4–1) is sitting third in the conference behind the new kids on the block, Chicago (16–0, 5–0) and Rochester (16–0, 5–0). The two new titans in the UAA, ranked second and fifth in the nation, respectively, face off on Sunday in what is sure to be an epic duel between two of the best teams in the country. Head coach Aaron Roussell, sticking true to his one-game-at-a-time mantra, was adamant that the focus, first and foremost, would be on defeating Emory tonight. “I think Rochester knows that they have a really tough game on Friday; I think we know that we have a really tough game on Friday,” said Roussell, whose win over Brandeis last Sunday marked the 150th of his relatively short coaching career. Fourth-year forward Meghan Herrick said that depth will be key in defeating a tall Rochester squad, which features three six-footers in its starting line-up. “The challenge with playing our team is that everyone is a threat and a scorer,” said Herrick. “It's difficult to guard and lock down five people all game long, so hopeful-

ly we can break them down from different positions throughout the game.” Before then, Chicago will play Emory, another up-and-comer in the UAA. Emory is the only team in the UAA that scores more than Chicago, at 74.4 points per game. Much of that scoring comes from prolific sophomore guard Hannah Lilly, who is averaging 19 points per game, nearly four points more than the rest of the league. She will have to earn all her points tonight, as she will be defended by perhaps the most high-energ y defender in the UAA in Herrick. Herrick made it clear that she is not at all intimidated by Lilly’s offensive prowess. “I look at it as a goal; I look at it as a challenge,” Herrick said on Sunday of the task of guarding one the best scorers in the country. “[It] doesn’t scare me. She hasn’t maybe felt the presence of a great defender yet, so that’s my goal, to make her know that maybe you scored against some other teams, but you’re not going to score against us.” Although Herrick will be the primary defender on Lilly, the Maroons will throw multiple defensive looks her way. “I know Meghan’s fired up, but it’s not going to be just Meghan,” Roussell said. “Other people are going to be guarding her, and it’s not just a one-person job, either, Second-year Taylor Simpson dribbles down the court during a home game in the Ratner Athletics Center earlier this season. when you’re out there on the floor.” W. BASKETBALL continued on page 10 JAMIE MANLEY | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Jamba Juice blends on campus

Jamba Juice workers Michael and Naomi prepare a smoothie at the new Jamba Juice in the Ratner Athletic Center. JAMIE MANLEY | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Charles Fang Sports Staff Since opening in the lobby of the Ratner Athletic Center last November, smoothie giant Jamba Juice has experienced has made a splash on the U of C campus. With its prime location and sweet, healthy product, Jamba Juice has students and athletes “living fruitfully.” “Our company sat down with the University, and we decided that this was something [both of us] wanted to bring onboard,” Jamba Juice manager Michael McClendon said. McClendon believes that the establishment offers a lot to University of Chicago students. So far this quarter,

the smoothie shop has been a huge hit, building a reputation among the general population and some of Chicago’s top athletes. “It’s nice to see a popular, healthy food choice on campus,” football star and third-year Dee Brizzolara said. According to the 2011 Zagat FastFood Survey, Jamba Juice was voted the third-best smoothie/frozen yogurt chain in the country and is recognized for its natural flavors. The benefits of the smoothie shop go beyond just taste, however. Their blend of fruits, supplements, and vitamins make them a healthy alternative for everyone. “A Jamba Juice drink can replace a meal,” McClendon said. “When you are

done working out, or you’re hungry and have to make it to class, [Jamba Juice] will have you in and out in three minutes. It’ll carry you until your next meal.” Location is prime for any business and Jamba Juice’s Ratner residency was a strategic marketing move, taking advantage of an unused space on campus in high need of pre-and-post-workout supplements. “The gym is a perfect spot for Jamba Juice. We offer protein drinks for your workout and other drinks conducive to dieting,” McClendon said. In fact, Jamba Juice is so good at boosting performance that student-athletes have been warned not to add one supplement, “Energy Boost,” to their smoothies because it contains NCAAbanned substances. Two athletes who do consistently buy from Jamba Juice, though without “Energy Boost”, are third-year swimmer Joyce Du and first-year swimmer Andrew Angeles. “I am a huge fan of the classic mango smoothie,” Du said. “It’s just a great frozen drink that I can enjoy conveniently after practice.” “My favorite smoothie is a tie between Peach Perfections and Pomegranate Paradise,” Angeles said. “Jamba Juice is really sweet and tasty, which is why I enjoy it.” According to McClendon, however, the shop’s most popular flavors are strawberry and mango. There has been one complaint against Jamba Juice. People simply want more of it. With students asking for the smoothie shop to stay open later, McClendon says that is one problem they are working on fixing, going forward. One thing is certain: if they fix it, we will come.

Dual meet hosts ten teams, head-to-head match-ups Men’s Track Matthew Schaefer Associate Sports Editor The format of this weekend’s Chicago Duals is altogether fitting for the Maroons’ first home meet of the season. It’s bold, it’s different, and it’s one hell of a competition. Ten teams—eight from the Chicagoland area, Beloit (WI), and St. Ambrose (IA)—will face off in Saturday’s meet at the Henry Crown Field House. “Our primary goal is to continue to make progress,” head coach Chris Hall said. “The team has had a lot of sickness and is getting a little healthier right now so we would like to see some performances this weekend that place us higher on the conference honor rolls.” For each individual event, a team’s score is determined by its performance compared to each other team as though they were only competing against each other. That means there is a potential for nine Maroon wins on the day—or nine losses. This structure makes the Chicago Duals all the more important for the Maroons, as their new record will heavily reflect their performance on Saturday. “I am looking forward to seeing our kids step it up and show everyone what they are really capable of at home,” associate head coach Laurie McElroy said. In the first two meets of the

year, at UW–Oshkosh and Illinois Wesleyan, the team focused on preparation for the conference level—placing less emphasis on winning, and more emphasis on health, experience, and lineups. Look for that trend to continue, to some extent, at home. “The key thing we are working on right now is getting everyone healthy and injury-free,” McElroy said. “Although I have only been here a short time, it is apparent that we have a tremendous amount of talent across the board, and I think that will be one of our biggest advantages at the conference level.” “We have had a couple of really difficult meets in terms of the competitive level of the teams we have competed against this year,” Hall said. “Our goal is to be ready for the UAA championships and winning this meet is not overly important, but we would like to come out on top this weekend.” For the Maroons, there is one more advantage of hosting the Chicago Duals: the atmosphere. The crowd, the convenience, and the comfort of competing at home will provide the Maroons with a competitive edge over the other teams that it has not had in previous weeks. Chicago will look to capitalize on having the upper hand at the meet. “It is always nice to compete at home,” Daniel Matam, a first-year sprinter, said. “Especially when you have fans supporting you.” The Chicago Duals start on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

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