FRIDAY • FEBRUARY 3, 2012
ISSUE 25 • VOLUME 123
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892
CHICAGOMAROON.COM
U of C among city’s Still off campus, ROTC soldiers on worst polluters, EPA says Joy Crane News Staff Recent findings from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show that universities are among the worst contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in Chicago. The report comes at a time when the University of Chicago’s Office of Sustainability is intensifying energy-saving efforts to address long-standing environmental issues on campus. The 2010 findings, published in a recent article by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, indicate that Scope 1 emissions—those directly caused by activities such as the burning of fuel—were higher at universities like the U of C and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) than those from O’Hare International Airport, any of the city’s landfills, and the Finkl and Sons’s steel plant. “That comparison didn’t make sense to me; you’re comparing apples to oranges,” said Ilsa Flanagan, Director of the Office of Sustainability, referring to the Medill report. “If you look at the way we’re doing business, it’s so completely different. We have 200 acres, 200 buildings, and 50,000 people.” However, closer comparisons don’t depict a rosier situation for the University. The U of C is still the largest emitter of greenhouse
gases of all Chicago universities when taking into account emissions indirectly caused by the University, such as electrical and heat consumption, known as Scope 2 emissions. Scope 3 emissions include pollution generated by commuter traffic. Environmentalist Ignacio Tagtachian (A.B. ’11), co-author of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory, which the University has published since April 2010, says that the U of C still emits more greenhouse gases per square foot even compared to other research institutions like Northwestern and Stanford University. Part of the problem, he explained, is Chicago’s cold climate and the high energy cost of doing research. “We do use more than UIC does, but we have more labs. Not all buildings are made equal,” said Tagtachian. “So let’s say we compare our inventory to Stanford’s: They have essentially perfect weather, so of course their heating and cooling costs are much lower than ours. This isn’t meant to be an excuse so much as it is to say that no matter what we do we’ll never be [them]. We don’t have the conditions that a university like Stanford does, so we do the best we can.” The main energy expenditure on campus comes from buildings, as electricity accounted for 49 percent and heating for 26 percent of emissions in POLLUTION continued on page 3
James McKinney (A.B. ’11), an Army ROTC recruiter on campus, fires an M16 rifle. Student enlistment for the officer training program has traditionally been low. COURTESY OF JAMES MCKINNEY
Patrick Fitz News Staff Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) recruiter James McKinney (A.B. ’11) often wonders why more U of C students don’t want to become soldiers. A second-year at the Harris School of Public Policy, he is the Pentagon’s
point man for getting U of C students to commute to Chicago’s only Army ROTC, at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The turnout, as might be expected, is slim. “There are only a few U of C students currently in the program. With all the benefits of involvement, there’s no reason why ROTC shouldn’t be [on campus] and have a greater role in the
Board of Trustees Chair talks tuition, trauma center Rebecca Guterman Associate News Editor Chair of the University’s Board of Trustees Andrew Alper (A.B. ’80, M.B.A. ’81) discussed the University’s financial standing, the demand for a trauma center, and other student concerns at the quarterly Trustee breakfast with 25 students yesterday morning in the West Commons of South Campus Residence Hall. Reacting to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in which he said that schools that did not rein in rising tuition rates would receive fewer federal funds, multiple students asked about the U of C’s financial future. The University’s endowment, now on the rise, did not suffer as much as those of its peer institutions during the recession, Alper said. A buoyed endowment, Alper said, helped the University retain faculty and attract
College,” he said. ROTC trains college students to be future officers in the Army, Navy, and Air Force through academic classes, team-building and leadership exercises, and simulations of live combat situations. It allows students to study at their respective colleges while receiving the same training as full-time military per-
UCPD chief responds on SafeRide, racial profiling Lina Li News Contributor
Chairman of the Board of Trustees Andrew Alper invited students to voice concerns and questions over breakfast yesterday in South Campus Residence Hall. COURTESY OF RENARD MILLER
students. Many students were also concerned about the rise in tuition prices and lack of financial aid. Alper explained
FRI
SAT
45° 38°
44° 38°
SUN
MON
45° 36°
45° 34°
Temperatures in Fahrenheit - Courtesy of The Weather Channel
rising tuition rates using the economic principles of supply and demand; the demand for a U of C education is high, Alper said, so the University
can increase tuition prices. In this situation, he said, the demand is higher than supply. People often voice BOARD continued on page 4
ROTC continued on page 4
Nine University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) personnel responded to student concerns regarding racial profiling, transportation options, and initiatives to decrease on-campus crime at an open forum Tuesday evening at 5710 South Woodlawn Avenue. The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA) hosted the panel in an effort to increase communication channels between students and campus security administrators. “Such forums have previously been hosted by Student Government, but we wanted to reorient issues of campus security to be more broad and more diverse,” OMSA Student Advisory Board member and fourth-year Ian Dummett said. “Given the recent crimes on major streets, we think it’s necessary to voice student con-
IN ARTS
IN VIEWPOINTS
RSO Spotlight: Korean Students Organization » Page 7
Two thumbs down
UT’s Weekend of Workshops is a theatrical grab bag » Page 7
Fallible measures
» Page 5
» Page 5
cerns and talk about safety in a diverse community.” Police Chief Marlon Lynch opened the panel by highlighting UCPD success in the past two years: Calendar years 2010 and 2011 had the two lowest rates of violent crimes in recent memory, and 2011 saw crime rates drop to 14 percent below the Hyde Park-South Kenwood neighborhood’s five-year average. “UCPD efforts are unmatched by those of peer institutions located in Chicago, the Ivy League, or other areas of notable crime,” Lynch said. “We act as an integral part of community culture, as we police both the University and surrounding neighborhoods, with an emphasis on ensuring safety for local charter schools.” With 90 full-time officers and 10 part-time officers, UCPD is the second-largest OMSA continued on page 3