FRIDAY • JANUARY 31, 2014
CHICAGOMAROON.COM
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892
ISSUE 23 • VOLUME 125
University at risk of lowered credit rating Joy Crane Associate News Editor
Wait, wait...tell me more Panelists talk with students after a taping in Mandel Hall of NPR’s “Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me” on Thursday night. From left: Mo Rocca, Tom Bodett, Faith Salie, Carl Kasell, and Peter Sagal. KRISTIN LIN | THE CHICAGO MAROON
Students to petition changes to Summer Links William Rhee News Staff Students will deliver a petition this afternoon in response to recent changes made to Summer Links, a social justice internship program run by the University Community Service Center
(UCSC). Alumni of the program penned the petition, addressing it to UCSC Director Amy Chan, and Assistant Vice President for Student Life Eleanor Daugherty (A.B. ’97). They plan to deliver it to the front of Levi Hall at 3 p.m. today. The petition
has surpassed its original goal of 1,000 signatures, and approximately 80 people said on the event’s Facebook page that they would attend the delivery. Summer Links, a paid, selective internship, was previously a 10-week program offered to both undergraduates and gradu-
ates that paired students with nonprofit organizations in Chicago. According to the petition, changes slated for the program include reducing the program by one week, adding for-profit internship sites, and more than LINKS continued on page 2
Two major rating agencies lowered the University of Chicago’s outlook on debt to negative, placing the institution at risk of a credit downgrade. Standard & Poor’s rating service put UChicago’s $2.6 billion rated debt on watch yesterday, mirroring the action of Moody’s Investor Service on January 28. A report by Moody’s cited declining operating performance, forthcoming new debt, and the cost of rising debt. The University’s current credit rating of Aa1, Moody’s second highest grade, is lower than that of Northwestern University. Big-ticket construction projects over the next five years—including the expansion of the Laboratory Schools, housing for the molecular engineering program, and the construction of the Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics—will rack up $1.46 billion in expan-
sion costs for the University, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. Long-term debt is projected to grow by 21 percent to $3.37 billion by the end of fiscal year 2018, according a five-year financial plan for the University presented on June 6, obtained by Crain’s. In a University press release, the financial report was described as the latest scenario projection as of June 2013, and stated that the plans were not binding. Moody’s Aa1 rating of the University has stayed constant since at least 2001. The shift of the outlook of the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) to negative in November of last year was listed as a top concern, given that the hospital’s “surpluses have funded the University’s own deficits” in the past. S&P, which has not revised its outlook for the UCMC, flagged the University’s longterm debt as at risk of losing its AA rating, the second-highest CREDIT continued on page 2
Alum returns as VP University of Chicago doctor advances for finance and admin child abuse pediatrics, raises awareness Alec Goodwin Maroon Contributor University of Michigan administrator Rowan Miranda has been appointed as the new senior associate vice president for finance and administration and treasurer of UChicago, the University announced last week. Miranda will lead the central financial and treasury operations of the University. Miranda has served as the associate vice president for finance at the University of Michigan, where he has also been an adjunct professor since 2009. He will start in his new role this March. He will oversee financial processes like accounting, purchasing, and payroll management. “Like other administrative leaders, my role will be to support the work of our faculty and stu-
dents, and help sustain the long-term eminence of the University,” Miranda said in an e-mail. Miranda has held a number of faculty appointments in the past and also has business experience. Before his time at Michigan, Miranda was an executive partner at the consulting firm Accenture, according to a University press release. Not unfamiliar to the University, he obtained his M.A. and a Ph.D. in 1992 in public policy analysis from the Harris School. “I consider it an honor to come back to a university that has been so critical in my development as a professional, [as] a teacher, and as a person,” Miranda said. “What makes the University of Chicago so special to me is the intellectual life on campus and the intensity of focus on advancing knowledge.”
Preston Thomas News Staff For Jill Glick, M.D, who specializes in child abuse pediatrics, social work goes hand in hand with medicine. Glick works at Comer Children’s Hospital and has devoted her career to pushing the young subspecialty of child abuse pediatrics toward full legitimacy within the medical profession. In addition, she has worked to improve communication between doctors, law enforcement officers, and social service workers from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). When she began her career in 1985, child abuse pediatrics did not exist as a subspecialty. A child abuse pediatrician is, in her words, “someone who has had clinical experience and training in the identification, then the evaluation, and most importantly interven-
tion with children [exhibiting] abuse or neglect.” Equally important is child advocacy work. “Going to court is a big part of what we do,” Glick said. “It’s really kind of an interesting merger of legal interest, medicine, and social services.…The real work of a child abuse pediatrician is often policy, working with state legislatures.” Glick established the Child Protective Services (CPS) team at Comer in 1993 and has spent the past 20 years helping develop the field. Child abuse pediatrics achieved subspecialty status from the American Board of Medical Specialists in 2009 thanks in large part to her efforts. She realized the consequences of poor communication between doctors and law enforcement early on in her career. While working as an ER physician, she met four children with abuse-related
injuries that were mistakenly labeled as accidental. Three of those children died as a result of further abuse and neglect. “That was a wake-up moment. There was no communication between what doctors were saying and what police officers were finding,” Glick said. To solve this problem, she envisions child protection centers similar to trauma centers, but with a particular focus on child abuse. “There would be a medically directed interdisciplinary team: child abuse pediatricians, social workers, and subspecialists who all internally collaborate on cases. We’d have our own DCFS investigator, our own liaison or police assigned,” Glick said. In trying to actualize this vision, she has run up against frequent regime changes within the DCFS as well as the pervasive problem of limited funding for state programs.
“You’re faced with budgetary constraints and limited resources,” Glick said. “But now we’re in a great place to really get legislation.” She advocates for a statewide digital database of patient files, which would eliminate the inefficiencies caused by outdated modes of communication among social service workers. Critics of her program often point out its costs. She firmly believes, however, that the initial investment would reduce inefficiency and save money for the state in the long run. With a new DCFS director, Arthur Bishop, installed last Friday, Glick recognizes the challenges ahead but is optimistic. “We’re going to have to reeducate and get his endorsement,” she said. However, she also notes that Illinois has an impressive record in child welfare programs. “We could clearly be a leader again.”
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Letter: A broader perspective of social justice » Page 3
At Harris Theater, Deavere Smith bids goodbye with Grace » Page 5
Club sports spotlight: Squash » Back Page
Close to home » Page 4
In Lasky’s voice, poems take flight » Page 5
Tough competition awaits at UW-Whitewater Invitational » Page 7