030315 Chicago Maroon

TUESDAY • MARCH 3, 2015

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ISSUE 31 • VOLUME 126

What does Aramark’s Purple Menu mean for UChicago Dining?

Natalie Friedberg Deputy News Editor

Grad students share their thanks with UCPD and Allied Barton Security Students from the Master’s of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS) distribute care-bags to over 80 UCPD officers at the MAPSS LOVE event last Monday. The event was coordinated by the Social Sciences Graduate Student Activities Committee (SSG-SAC) representatives from MAPSS, who decided to use allotted funds left over from their student life fees to make the care-bags for safety officers to show appreciation for their work throughout the winter months.

MARTA BAKULA | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Uncommon Interview: Serial’s Sarah Koenig (A.B. ’90) Marina Fang Senior News Editor Last fall, journalist Sarah Koenig became a household name thanks to the explosion of her podcast Serial, a deep investigation into the 1999 murder of Baltimore teenager Hae-min Lee. Koenig has been a journalist for almost 20 years, most notably as a producer on the public radio show, “This American Life,” where she has worked since 2004. Before that, she worked as a reporter for The New York Times, the Concord Monitor, and the Baltimore Sun. She talked to the Maroon about her days on campus, what makes a great radio story, and what she thought of the many Serial parodies.

This interview has been edited and condensed. For the full interview, go to chicagomaroon.com.

Chicago Maroon (CM): Were you always interested in journalism? Did you do it when you were here on campus?

Sarah Koenig (SK): Nope, not at all. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was there. I think I wanted to be an actor more than anything.

CM: What did you major in?

SK: Technically political

science, but Russian history and literature basically were most of the classes that I took.

CM: Did you do theater, then, if you wanted to be an actor?

SK: I did. I was in OffOff Campus for years, and then I was in plays, and we performed as an improv group that performed at Jimmy’s once a week, I think. A bunch of us moved to New York and performed there for a while. And I was in the same generation of Off-Off, with people who, some of whom stayed in theater and became very prominent, like Dave Auburn.

CM: So how did you get into journalism? When did that start?

SK: A couple of years after college. I needed a summer job, so I applied for a job at the weekly paper where I grew up and just started that way and never did anything else after that. I’m trying to think what year that was, because I worked for at least a year or two after college just kind of doing a little this, a little that, and finally was like, “I gotta have a job, a proper job.”

CM: What made you decide to move from print to radio?

SK: I didn’t know anything about radio, really. I

had done, when I was at the Concord Monitor, I had started freelancing stories for “This American Life,” just a few. I did maybe three or four stories over the course of a couple of years. It was such a different way of doing journalism and a different way of working because it’s super, super collaborative at “This American Life.”

Everybody was smart and young and super interested in what they were doing, and I just really liked it. When a producer job became open, I just went for it. It wasn’t like I thought my dream was to work in radio. I can’t even think of it as going into radio exactly. I think I just thought of it as, “I just want to do this kind of journalism because it’s much more exciting to me.” It was sparking my imagination in a way that the work that I was doing kind of wasn’t.

CM: What do you think makes a good radio story?

When you come up with an idea, or someone pitches you something, what makes you go, “OK, that’s a good story for the radio?”

SK: There are some really wonderful stories that just don’t lend themselves to radio because there’s nobody to tell it, you know what I mean? I’m very interested KOENIG continued on page 2

At the beginning of winter quarter Aramark implemented a new winter menu, called the Purple Menu, in University dining halls and other locations across the Midwest, which reduced the variety of foods available and was intended to cut food costs. The menu has since been adjusted in response to student feedback.

The new menu means that the corporate side of Aramark has more control in setting the menu in Arley D. Cathey Dining Commons and Bartlett Dining Commons, rather than independent decisions being made

by University officials. The Purple Menu includes more

casseroles, more rice and pasta dishes and fewer protein and vegetable dishes. Additionally, individual packets of cream cheese and peanut butter were cut in favor of more cost-efficient large tubs, according to University spokesperson Mary Abowd and Kirsten Wiard-Bauer, a third-year and the Booth House student dining hall representative.

“UChicago Dining and Aramark work together to create a new menu each quarter. The one which was developed for winter quarter was not particularly well received by students,” Natalie David, a fourth-year and the president of Inter-House Council (IHC), wrote in an e-mail. “The ‘Purple Menu’ is simply a collection of food

offerings/recipes developed

by Aramark. It’s one of their many color-named menus (which are modified for the many university campuses Aramark serves).”

IHC is a student representative body overseen by UChicago Housing that is composed of one representative from each House and an eight-member executive committee.

According to WiardBauer, the Purple Menu was never officially reported to the dining hall representative committee, but it did come up “casually” in discussion.

“We were all sitting in a really large table and the dining hall representatives were like, ‘My house members said this,’ and we bounced off of ARAMARK continued on page 3

Aramark head Neubauer (MBA ’65) new Board of Trustees chair Adam Thorp News Staff Joseph Neubauer (MBA ’65), a former CEO of the ARAMARK Corporation and serial donor to the University of Chicago, was elected as the next chair of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees last Thursday.

Neubauer will replace Andrew Alper after the Board’s next annual meeting on May 28.

Neubauer takes over the role after working at the head of the University of Chicago Campaign: Inquiry and Impact, which aims to raise more than four billion

dollars. (Alper also came into the office after running a large capital campaign for the University.)

Neubauer has been on the board of trustees since 1992 and became vice-chairman in 2012. He is a member of the board’s Alumni Relations and Development Committee and its Executive Committee, as well as the Council on Chicago Booth.

Alper served two threeyear terms as head of the board of trustees starting in 2009—a period that saw both the ramifications of a significant economic downturn for University finances and, in 2014, the Univer-

sity’s best fundraising year to date.

Joseph Neubauer and his wife, Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer, donated millions of dollars to establish programs that provide scholarships and support for Hispanic and international students at the College in the past year.

In 2012 they funded the establishment of the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, which provides grants for international conferences and fellowships for visiting scholars to research at the University. They have also established several other scholarships and professorships.

NEWS IN BRIEF Burglars hit apartments near East 53rd Street and Drexel Avenue The Chicago Police Department’s Second District issued a community alert following several home invasions and burglaries, mainly occurring around East 53rd Street, west of campus.

On February 17, burglars broke into homes on the 5300-block of South Drexel

Avenue at 6:55 a.m. A similar incident occurred on February 21 and February 24 on the 800rd block of East 53rd Street at 7:45 a.m. The homes on South Drexel Avenue and East 53rd are apartment complexes, and their addresses are within the boundaries of University of Chicago Police De-

partment (UCPD) patrol.

In each incident, multiple suspects broke in, threatened the people inside and stole property, according to DNAInfo. Police have not yet released a description of the suspects or any other information.

–Wendy Lee

IN VIEWPOINTS

IN ARTS

IN SPORTS

Actions speak louder than words

South Side Senegalese satisfies stomach » Page 5

Wrestling: Richter takes first, earns bid to nationals » Back page

Monumental women » Page 4

Shaham plays six unaccomopanied sonatas Bach to Bach » Page 6

Women’s basketball: Loss to Bears doesn’t diminish strong season

» Page 4

» Page 7

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | March 3, 2015

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National Adjunct Walkout Day Graduate students protest unites professors across nation “ballooning” student life fee Wendy Lee Maroon Contributor Adjunct professors at the University of Chicago, and across the nation, participated in National Adjunct Walkout Day on February 25th, which aimed to raise awareness about the unfair treatment of adjunct professors by university administrations.

An adjunct professor is a part-time faculty member who is hired on a contractual basis. Unlike tenured professors, adjunct professors are less costly to hire and are not entitled to the same benefits as those with tenure. As a result, many universities

have significantly reduced their hiring of tenured faculty in favor of more adjuncts as flexible, part-time staff.

In 2013, 41% of UChicago faculty taught on the tenure track. However, not all nontenure faculty positions are adjunct professorships.

Last Wednesday, several UChicago faculty participated by speaking with their students about the casualization of academic labor and the impact this has had on access to quality education.

Professor Ashton Lazarus, an adjunct professor in the humanities, who participated in Adjunct Walkout Day, discussed his reasoning with his students.

“For National Adjunct Walkout Day, I spent some time talking with my two sections about some of the major shifts in higher education over the past several decades: primarily the rapid increase in tuition and administrative personnel, and the decrease in tenured and tenure-track faculty,” he said. “So although the event was called National Adjunct Walkout Day, and many adjuncts across the country did indeed walk out, I think many of us saw this as a great opportunity to start a conversation with our students about the direction in which the academy is heading.”

Serial’s Koenig is an Off-Off Campus alumna

Isaac Stein Senior News Writer More than 50 members of Graduate Students United (GSU) assembled in protest on the Quad on Friday to demand that the University abolish the Student Life Fee (SLF) GSU is an independent student organization that seeks to raise graduate students’ stipends and health benefits—and reduce student fees—via bargaining with the University. Following a rally last month where GSU members voiced their opposition to the SLF, and support for measures to reduce costs for international students and student-parents, GSU published an online petition, titled “Unfeesible,” which as of press time had 484 signatures.

Basil Salem, a fifth-year graduate student in history, read the petition aloud as part of the protest, which also featured lines of GSU

members holding balloons to “symbolize ballooning fees,” he said. According to information in the Chicago Maroon archives, the SLF for graduate students has increased by 87.5 percent from academic year 2004– 2005 to the present.

“Where does the Student Life Fee go? We don’t really know, since our bills are not itemized…The Student Life Fee is just one of many fees that add to the financial burden of attending graduate school and erode graduate students’ quality of life,” Salem said.

Eric Powell, a third-year graduate student in English literature, said that while he objects to the dollar amount of the SLF and supports increased University transparency about how it is spent, his primary goal is to see University officials discusses these issues with GSU directly.

“It really depends on how information is released.

Usually, in response to [protests], the University sends out a campus-wide e-mail. I would be willing to hear out proposals to perhaps tie the [SLF] to the rate at which graduate students’ wages increase, or to freeze increases in the [SLF]. But whatever they come up with will not be satisfying unless there is some kind of dialogue,” Powell said.

Powell also said that the protest and petition were also intended as a means of bringing the University to recognize the GSU as a representative of graduate students’ interests.

“The University has been particularly unwilling to engage in any kind of conversation with [GSU], which is a clear attempt to say that we have no authority, and no legitimacy,” Powell said. “If we don’t receive a response to the petition within a week, then we will consider our next steps.”

Five University professors awarded Sloan Research Fellowships Kelly Zhang News Staff

Journalist Sarah Koenig (A.B. ‘90) is host and executive producer of the hit podcast Serial.

COURTESY OF MEREDITH HEUER

KOENIG continued from front

in fracking and the Marcellus Shale development that’s happening here in Pennsylvania, where I live. I did a whole hour of radio, a “This American Life” story, some years ago, on fracking. It took me a really long time to find a story for the radio about it because it’s a policy story.

For us, why do it on the radio? Well, if you can find somebody to tell it, besides the reporter. That’s a big requirement. You can do a lot of print stories where you really don’t need other people to be your characters, you know. You can just compile your information, and that’s that. And obviously anything that has archival sound, that has, like the story we just did for Serial, where we had interview tapes, we had trial tape, and so that kind of thing lends itself really beautifully to the radio, and it communicates a lot of things that are harder to communicate without hearing it.

But I’m not someone who thinks there’s only one way to do things, you know what I mean? Talented people can make wonderful stories with whatever they’ve got.

CM: One of the things that I found really interesting [about Serial] was you were figuring it out at the same time as we, the listeners, were. Was that intentional? Why choose to do it that way?

SK: Yes. It was a choice, for sure. Certainly we could have reported out the whole thing in advance, made all the episodes in advance and release them week by week or all at once or whatever, I don’t know.

But I think we wanted it to feel kind of alive, the whole process, and if you think about it, a story like this, we didn’t know what we didn’t know, and we didn’t know what we were going to find. And if we had cut off any possibility for people to bring us new information, think about what that would have meant. It would have

meant that people would have come forward afterward, and said, “What about this? What about that?,” and we would had to say, “Sorry! I’m already done.”

So we wanted this story to change as we went. It was important to our reporting, certainly, for my reporting.

It really helped. I mean, it hurt in the sense that it was a really ridiculous production schedule.

CM: Did you see any of the Serial parodies? Is it weird seeing yourself parodied?

SK: Of course it’s weird!

It’s weird to hear other people I don’t know say my name. It’s not as weird as you think, somehow, because it doesn’t [feel] like it’s me, exactly. There’s a remove. It’s a tiny bit surreal. It’s kind of like they’re saying the name Sarah Koenig, but I’ve never met them, so they’re obviously referring to this person on the podcast. It’s almost like I’m the character Sarah Koenig that they’re referring to. It’s all odd.

Five UChicago faculty members were recently awarded the 2015 Sloan Research Fellowship which recognizes young scientists and academics for outstanding research and potential. The fellowship, which is organized by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, awards early-career researchers approximately $50,000 over a two-year period. Research must be completed in one of eight fields: chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean science, and physics.

This year, 126 Sloan fellows were chosen from universities across the United States and Canada. Since 2011, four to six UChicago faculty have been awarded the Sloan Research Fellowship annually, and since 1955, hundreds of UChicago faculty have been awarded the Fellowship, particularly in the areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and economics. Faculty are nominated for the award by fellow scholars and are chosen based on their past research achievements and their potential to make substantial contributions to their field.

UChicago’s 2015 fellows are two economists, a statistics professor, a biologist, and a geophysicist.

Jian Ding is an assistant professor in statistics. Ding’s main research interests are probability theory and statistical physics. In his research,

he has applied theories regarding probability to problems in the areas of physics, biology, machine learning, and social networks.

Magne Mogstad is an assistant professor in economics.

Mogstad researches applied microeconomics, particularly labor and public economics.

He is currently working on a project using data from Norway to examine the causes and consequences of the rise in disability insurance receipt.

“A striking pattern over the past 50 years has been the large and steady rise in participation rates in sickness and disability related programs,” he said. “Of particular interest is the rise in the disability insurance receipt. This is in part because disability insurance is the largest social insurance program in most industrialized countries, but also because … few individuals who go onto disability insurance re-enter the workforce at a later date.”

Eric Budish is an associate professor of economics at the Booth School of Business and a microeconomist and game theorist who studies market design. He has published papers about investments in long-term health care research and matching problems, such as assigning students to course schedules or workers to shift schedules.

Budish is currently working on a study of high-frequency trading and market design.

He is an advocate for market design change so that stock trading can only happen in discrete time intervals, rather than in continuous time. His

research has shown that trading in continuous time, which involves immediate execution of transaction orders, leads to the high-frequency trading arms race, allowing for a large amount of arbitrage in the stock market.

Stephanie Palmer is an assistant professor of organismal biology and anatomy. She works with a group of theory and computational neuroscientists and is currently collaborating with a group of experimental scientists both at the University and at the Marine Biology Lab in Woods Hole, MA. “My research aims to understand a ubiquitous and complex computation in the brain: prediction. We use the visual system to explore how the brain, even as early as the retina, encodes best estimates of the future positions of moving objects in the world,” Palmer said.

The fifth Fellow is Tiffany Shaw, an assistant professor in the geophysical sciences specializing in the physics of weather and climate. Shaw came to UChicago from Columbia University and the Courant University of Mathematical Sciences. Specifically, she researches the transportation and interaction of moisture with large-scale flow patterns.

The Sloan Foundation funds a number of other programs focusing on science, technology and economics, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Encyclopedia of Life and STEM Higher Education.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | March 3, 2015

UChicago Dining: ‘We have readjusted the menu over the past few weeks’ after student feedback each other. And then at one point the Aramark representative [Eric Young] was like, ‘Well, a lot of these things are because of the new Purple Menu that corporate has introduced,’� Wiard-Bauer said.

Richard Mason, the executive director of UChicago Dining, attests that changes have been made since the initial rollout of the Purple Menu in response to student comments. “UChicago Dining listened to some comments we received from students who did not like the changes, and we have re-adjusted the menu over the past few weeks in response. Dining committees and students have given us positive feedback about these changes,�

Mason wrote in a statement.

In addition to the responses from student committees, student feedback has also come in the form of comment cards written in the dining halls. The information on these cards is aggregated and analyzed on a regular basis in order to gauge student response to changes in services. However, this data is not made available to the public, according to Abowd.

Chamberlin House’s IHC representative and second-

year Elizabeth Lipschultz put in a request for someone from UChicago Dining to talk to IHC about the general decline in food. In response, Mason attended a recent IHC meeting and urged students not to focus on the details of the Purple Menu. Instead, he explained decline in food quality by Aramark’s sustainability requirements, which requires the dining halls to purchase 35 percent of the food that it serves within a 130-mile radius of the University. “A lot of animals, a lot of produce aren’t great in the area right now because of the weather and it’s hard to make a menu that works around that. They tried to switch to things that were more like soups and casseroles and stuff like that. That didn’t go over well, obviously,� Lipschultz said. “But they said that it’s not a financial thing, not a sustainability thing, or that’s what they claim. A lot of people are trying to figure out whether it’s been a financial decision. It seems like they try to deny or at least deflect from that.�

Changes have already been made to the menu to bring back popular food items, such as spinach. Additionally, there will be a new menu for spring quarter that

is expected to include larger amounts of locally sourced fruit. The color associated with the upcoming menu was not available. “Sometimes the quality is a little underwhelming.

Like I’ve come here before and not found anything that I wanted to eat because there’s only so many times you can have the same salad and sandwich. I understand that there’s not much they can do in terms of those options, but you know I’d love it if the quality of the food were a bit better,� Caroline Newman, a first-year student recently eating at Bartlett Dining Commons, said.

Aramark Corporation was founded in 1959 and now operates in 22 countries, and supplies food and facilities to universities, federal and state prisons, businesses, sports facilities, and healthcare institutions. Last November, Aramark reported an approximately 10 percent increase in revenue, from approximately $13.5 million to $14.8 million and quarterly dividends have been increased by 15 percent. The new chair of the University Board of Trustees, Joseph Neubauer (MBA ’65), has been the chairman of the board of Aramark since 1984.

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As part of nationwide movement, campus remembers the disabled

Students and community members gather for the Chicago Day of Mourning last Sunday. The vigil was organized to mourn, remember, and honor disabled victims of filicide and caregiver murder in the Chicago area.

YEO BI CHOI | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Isaac Easton News Staff 30 people stood at a candlelight vigil outside the Regenstein Library to remember disabled people killed by their caregivers Sunday evening.

First-year Steph Ban, who is Vice President of the Organization for Students with Disabilities at UChicago (OSD), offered introductory remarks about togetherness in the face of adversity, especially in regards to the media, who, she claims, often shows bias in their coverage of the issue. Ban concluded her remarks with a slogan echoed by placards carried by fellow mourners: “Mourn the dead and fight like hell for the living.�

Over the past 15 years, 72

people have been murdered by their caregivers, according to the website of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), the organizing body for these vigils. ASAN asserts that the media’s coverage has tended to portray these murders as a response to the violence of people on the autism spectrum.

After Ban’s remarks, a list of names of the dead was passed around and read aloud. The list was compiled by ASAN communications and publications coordinator Ianthe Belisle Dempsey, who also attended the vigil. It included the victims’ names, ages and dates of death, as well as methods of execution, which Ban did not read aloud.

The vigil was a part of a nationwide series of March

1 remembrance ceremonies sponsored by the ASAN that occurred all over the world from Tempe, Arizona to Budapest, Hungary.

Ban, a self-identified disabled person, was inspired in a meeting to host the vigil. “I had the epiphany that what would be really beneficial for the community would be to have [a vigil] here.� She added, “We’re obviously a well-established university. We have, I don’t want to say a sizable disability community, but we have a strong one, and we have support from [members of the administration].�

The Organization for Students with Disabilities is a RSO geared toward making the University a more accessible place for people with disabilities. “The goal is not disability awareness;� Ban said. “It’s acceptance.�

Ban decided to host the vigil at the University as it is an established institution in Chicago. “[When] I was thinking about organizing this I looked online and I found that one of the goals of the people who organized the vigils on a national and international level was to hold the vigils in politicized places and places of power and that really sealed the deal for me,� she said. “What more of a place of power than one of the old, elite institutions?�

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Editorial & Op-Ed MARCH 3, 2015

Actions speak louder than words Zineb El Rhazoui champions her own free speech while discouraging that of others Xin Tian Young Maroon Contributor Last week, I attended the Who is Charlie? event hosted by the University’s French Club, and I found Zineb El Rhazoui’s “defense of satire and free speech” problematic on two fronts. Firstly, El Rhazoui seems committed to a narrow vision of “free speech,” one that suppresses rather than supports alternative opinions. Secondly, this narrow vision is based on flawed assumptions about what constitutes a valid opinion.

Contrary to the expected conception of free speech, in which all people have the right to express their own opinions, El Rhazoui seemed dismissive of any opinion other than her own. During the Q&A session on Thursday, a Muslim student Aseal Tineh claimed to feel threatened and asked whether she could condemn the Charlie Hebdo killings without saying “I am Charlie.” El Rhazoui dismissed the question entirely, instead insinuat-

ing that Tineh did not have “the balls to die for [her] ideas.” Not only was this response irrelevant to Tineh’s question, it was also an unnecessary personal attack on Tineh’s bravery. El Rhazoui did not appear concerned about ensuring that others felt safe enough to express dissenting opinions, and the organizers and moderators gave someone in a relative position of power—El Rhazoui—free pass to make condescending attacks on a member of the University, making it more difficult for other members who felt marginalized to freely voice their opinion without fear of dismissal.

The fact that so many people in the audience applauded such offensive vitriol only aggravates this problem: It hints at the unwillingness of a majority in the University community to provide marginalized voices the safe space they desire to speak up, something that works against the freedom of expression El Rhazoui claims to strive for.

Further, El Rhazoui’s view appears to be founded on a number

of flawed assumptions about what constitutes a valid opinion. In particular, El Rhazoui seems to think that any type of free speech, no matter how immoral or hateful, should be allowed, as long as it is under “French law.”

By implying that the law should be the sole determining factor for what is acceptable free expression, El Rhazoui conflates the law with what is in society’s interest. In reality, the law is not always able to represent the interests of everyone in society. Recall that just last year, the grand juries in Ferguson and New York failed to indict two white police officers for the murders of two black men, allowing the suspects to escape standing trial despite evidence of wrongdoing. In this case, the U.S. judicial system failed to represent the interest of a particular minority in American society.

Furthermore, El Rhazoui privileges her own views over what she considers to be Muslim worldviews.

Consider, for instance, the fact that El Rhazoui thinks that the veil is a

symbol of subjugation and should be banned for government employees. Yet such a measure prevents both Muslim and non-Muslim women from exercising the right to wear what they want. El Rhazoui’s point of view excludes the possibility that some Muslim women choose to wear the veil because they find it a symbol of empowerment.

In Iran, for example, many conservative women have taken advantage of enforced veiling and gender segregation in public spaces to travel independently and gain access to education and employment.

Muslims are not a homogenous social unit with a singular worldview, as El Rhazoui seems to suggest.

She makes the unsubstantiated accusation that Islam “produces criminals [and] terrorists.” Having met Muslims from Morocco to France to Egypt, El Rhazoui surely knows that not all Muslims practice Islam in the same way. Islam does not “produce” criminals or terrorists, no more than Christianity “produces” guntoting white supremacists or Bud-

dhism “produces” self-immolating monks. Indeed, no Muslim should have to apologize for another Muslim’s action on the sole basis that they belong to the same religion.

It thus came as a shock to me that despite these problems, most of the audience appeared to endorse El Rhazoui’s conception of free speech by giving her a standing ovation when the event ended. Ultimately, El Rhazoui has the prerogative to say what she wants, and she did.

Eve Zuckerman, president of the French Club, stated in her introductory remarks that she had never been prouder to be a student at the University of Chicago because it allowed El Rhazoui the safety to exercise her right to free speech. I, on the other hand, after seeing some University members’ approval of such narrowly defined and narrowminded “free speech,” have never felt more ashamed.

Xin Tian Young is a secondyear master’s student in the Division of Social Sciences.

Monumental women Enstating statues in honor of women on campus would combat national patriarchy Asya Akça Maroon Contributor In parks, government buildings, and the streets of any city, we can often see the familiar sight of a statue made of bronze or marble featuring a victorious hero perched on his trusted warhorse. I remember seeing these monuments as a child, all of which dramatically commemorated

the contributions of great men. We rationalize the obvious lack of memorials of consequential women with our knowledge that, historically, men have been the heads of our nations, communities, and households.

However, we have long since moved on from the notion that men are the only capable leaders of society. So, I ask: What is the purpose

The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892 Emma Broder, Editor-in-Chief Joy Crane, Editor-in-Chief Jonah Rabb, Managing Editor The Maroon Editorial Board consists of Harini Jaganathan, Ankit Jain, Nina Katemauswa, Liam Leddy, Mara McCollom, Kiran Misra, Jake Walerius, and Sarah Zimmerman.

Sindhu Gnanasambandan, Grey City Editor Kristin Lin, Grey City Editor Sarah Manhardt, News Editor Christine Schmidt, News Editor Kiran Misra, Viewpoints Editor James Mackenzie, Arts Editor Tatiana Fields, Sports Editor Marina Fang, Senior News Editor Liam Leddy, Senior Viewpoints Editor Sarah Langs, Senior Sports Editor Jake Walerius, Senior Sports Editor Natalie Friedberg, Deputy News Editor Alec Goodwin, Deputy News Editor Marta Bakula, Associate News Editor Raymond Fang, Associate News Editor Nina Katemauswa, Associate Viewpoints Editor Sarah Zimmerman, Associate Viewpoints Editor Andrew McVea, Associate Arts Editor Evangeline Reid, Associate Arts Editor Ellen Rodnianski, Associate Arts Editor Helen Petersen, Associate Sports Editor Zachary Themer, Associate Sports Editor Peter Tang, Photo Editor Frank Yan, Senior Photo Editor Frank Wang, Associate Photo Editor Annie Cantara, Head Designer Sophie Downes, Head Copy Editor Alan Hassler, Head Copy Editor Sherry He, Head Copy Editor Hannah Rausch, Head Copy Editor Emily Harwell, Social Media Editor Amber Love, Video Editor

Megan Daknis, Copy Editor Kyra Martin, Copy Editor Katarina Mentzelopoulos, Copy Editor Rebecca Naimon, Copy Editor Morganne Ramsey, Copy Editor Erica Sun, Copy Editor Amy Wang, Copy Editor Michelle Zhao, Copy Editor Sam Zoeller, Copy Editor Katie Bart, Designer Emily Harwell, Designer Stephanie Liu, Designer Wei Yi Ow, Designer Morganne Ramsey, Designer Elle Rathbun, Designer Kaitlyn Shen, Designer Julia Xu, Designer Jen Xue, Designer Keely Zhang, Designer Andrew Koski, Illustrator Alice Xiao, Illustrator Lenise Lee, Business Manager Nathan Peereboom, Chief Financial Officer Kay Li, Director of Data Analysis Harry Backlund, Distributor Editor-in-Chief E-mail: editor@ChicagoMaroon.com Newsroom Phone: 773.702.1403 Business Phone: 773.702.9555 Fax: 773.702.3032 Public Editor: PublicEditor@ChicagoMaroon.com For advertising inquiries, please contact Ads@ChicagoMaroon.com The Chicago Maroon is published twice weekly during autumn, winter, and spring quarters.

Circulation: 6,800. © 2014 The Chicago Maroon, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637

of statues, busts, and portraits? They commemorate an honor or victory, but almost all indicate exceptionality. They stand as notable monuments to people of particular accomplishment. Their presence asks the viewer for admiration, respect, and emulation. This sense of reverence, embodied in art, is forever embedded upon the eyes of impressionable young boys and girls, from their first teetering walk through the park. Unfortunately, this admiration and respect engendered in our youth is primarily reserved for men. Thus, children are brought up with the idea that leadership and power are primarily a man’s domain.

In an attempt to solve this implicit societal implication, Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s great-great-granddaughter, Coline Jenkins, launched the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony State Fund. In New York City’s Central Park, there are 22 statues that honor men and a few that honor women. However, the women depicted are Alice in Wonderland, Romeo’s Juliet, and Mother Goose. There is not one single statue of a real, nonfictional woman in all of Central Park, while there have been countless women in our nation’s history who deserve recognition alongside their male counterparts.

Today, we are still confronted with the reality that women are largely absent from the forefront of politics, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and executive positions in general. There are infinite reasons for this unfortunate imbalance, such as the media’s negative and objectifying portrayal of women, the lack of recognition for historical female leaders, and a lack of emphasis on women’s history in

our nation’s classrooms and wider culture. There is an unmistakable correlation between the lack of female symbols of leadership in our society (i.e. statues, monuments, memorials) and the lack of female representation in leadership positions. In front of us is a tremendous opportunity to address this broader issue right here, right now.

UChicago is not immune to our society’s broader recognition lag of influential women. It takes only one meal in Hutchinson Commons to become aware of the gender disparity in our commemorative public art.

There are countless statues, busts, and tablets of honorable individuals who have contributed to the University through their great discoveries, leadership, and patronage, but close to none of them are women. In fact, I have only seen three portraits of women on campus: Hanna Holborn Gray, president of the University; Marion Talbot, dean of Women and professor in Department of Household Administration, Ida Noyes, LaVerne Noyes’s wife; and one tablet of Alice Freeman Palmer, dean of Women, located above the fireplace in Hutchinson Commons compared to the hundreds of depictions of influential men around campus.

Of course, it is impossible to change the course of history or he number of female University Presidents that we have had (one); however, it is not impossible to embark on a mission to commemorate women who have made significant contributions to UChicago’s history.

At the University, we need a way to bring to life the accomplishments and contributions of influential women who have either been faculty or alumni of the University, and who have contributed greatly to academ-

ic growth and discovery throughout their lifetimes. Not only would increasing the number of female monuments address a broader national problem by setting a precedent for other universities, but it would also work to encourage and empower women on our own campus.

The scarcity of instances in which women are honored has not been due to the lack of influential female faculty members or alumni who have contributed greatly to “discovery, education, and society” throughout their lifetimes. Instead, this is yet another instance in which we, as a society, have been numbed to the exclusive sight of men in power without questioning the reasons behind this norm. Whether it is the massive sculpture of Walt Whitman in Harper Memorial Library, the Aleko Konstantinov bust on the second floor of the Regenstein Library, or the Charles Darwin statue in the Biological Sciences Learning Center, we have become accustomed to seeing men as the only influential characters in our University’s history without ever considering what may be missing from the wider artistic palate of our campus.

We have to understand that this disproportionality is not an immutable fact of our current world—rather a social construct that can easily be modified by changing the physical perception of leadership, through the implementation of projects such as these. It all starts by readjusting our eyes, and becoming accustomed to seeing powerful women honored on our campuses, in our cities, and in our nation.

Asya Akça is a first -year in the College majoring in political science.

ARTS

What is art?

MARCH 3, 2015

South Side Senegalese satisfies stomach Yassa African Restaurant combines decor, ambiance, and great food Isaac Stein Senior News Writer My idea of a perfect Saturday night is sitting on a sidewalk with a bucket of cheap takeout, growling at anyone who comes too close to my food supply.

No utensils, and certainly no remorse. Unfortunately, I have learned the hard way that this tried and true

survival tactic tends to be unappealing to women, or frankly, to other people in general.

So, this weekend I decided to class it up a notch with a trip to Bronzeville for an experience with Senegalese cuisine at a real sitdown restaurant. Besides, sometimes you just need a fistful of plantains to end a day which would have

Lamb and plantains are piled high in one of the numerous dishes available at Yassa in Bronzeville.

OLIVIA ADAMS

| CHICAGO MAROON

YASSA continued on page 6

DESIGN.

DRAW.

otherwise been totally mediocre.

At 3501 South King Drive, Yassa African Restaurant is a straight shot on the northbound #4 bus.

Upon entering the place, I was immediately impressed by the decor, which includes, but is not limited to, giant wood carvings, canvas-size rugs depicting Senegalese agricultural life, and a quilted world map embossed with Obama’s mug. To complement the furnishings, the maître d’ had Afro-French dance music going at full blast, which was surprisingly easy to bump to. All told, it is a lively atmosphere that draws a mostly full house even at 5:30 p.m., which, while not a guarantor of good food, is always promising.

The menu is largely meat-centric, and filets or kebabs of fish, lamb, beef, and chicken are prominent.

The man at the table next to me asked the waiter for

WRITE.

COPY EDIT.

SEEKING WRITERS, DESIGNERS, COPY EDITORS, CARTOONISTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS Have what it takes to make the Maroon Staff? Contact us: editor@chicagomaroon.com

Will Smith and Margot Robbie steal each others’ wallets (and hearts!) in the new crimecomedy film Focus.

COURTESY OF WARNER BROS PICTURES

Despite its charming leads, Smith's new caper lacks narrative Focus James Mackenzie Arts Editor When teaching Jess (Margot Robbie) the basics of pickpocketing, the one thing Nicky (Will Smith) is most careful to emphasize is the necessity of holding the target’s attention. Keep their fo-

cus, he says, and you control the person. You can do with them whatever you want. He could very easily be talking about filmmaking, where the object is to keep the audience focused on one thing, while setting up another payoff for later. You can’t let them see the seams, otherwise the illu-

sion falls apart.

This is especially important for a film like Focus, which follows in the vein of crime capers like Ocean’s Eleven, insofar as they both follow incredibly clever people doing clever things to make large sums of money while FOCUS ontinued on page 6

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | March 3, 2015

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Shaham plays six unaccompanied sonatas Bach to Bach Hannah Edgar Arts Staff It’s been a busy concert season for Gil Shaham. The Illinois-born violinist premiered a new concerto commissioned by the San Diego Symphony in December, David Bruce’s “Fragile Light,” and the month before that, he embarked on a six-city tour with the San Francisco Symphony to play Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, part of an ongoing project to perform and record violin concertos written in the 1930s.

Now Shaham has added another endeavor to his growing list of recent achievements: For the first time in his career, he has recorded all six of Bach’s unaccompanied sonatas and partitas, and, to coincide with the CD’s March 10 release, he is taking the solos on tour with performances visually accompanied by short films courtesy of video artist David Michalek.

Before dissecting Shaham’s Sunday matinee performance at Symphony Hall, the first stop of his national tour, a word about the sonatas and partitas themselves: They are the closest thing the violin repertoire has to a holy book.

When Bach wrote these works—during a fruitful period that also produced six unaccompanied cello suites— the idea of writing solo works *senza Basso accompagnato* had been toyed with by other composers, but it was Bach’s that best exploited the technical capacities of the instrument for which they were written.

Despite being composed some 300 years ago, the sonatas and partitas present challenges that

rival even the most virtuosic concertos in the repertoire.

The night before the concert, I broke out my own copy of the unaccompanied solos.

Having plugged away at the sonatas and partitas myself, I gaped anew—as I do whenever hearing these exquisite, dearly familiar works—at their otherworldly ingenuity and daunting technicality. To play one in and of itself is a challenge. To play all six? You’d have to be the musical equivalent of a marathoner.

But if there ever was someone to take on Bach’s masterworks, it is the indefatigable Shaham. He swiftly strode to center stage—almost jogged, really—took a deep, gracious bow, and began the G minor sonata with the same athleticism of his onstage entrance.

Shaham’s vigor, in fact, was a common thread throughout the performance: On the whole, his take on the sonatas and partitas were brisk, even bordering on brusque. Shaham has been defensive of his speedy take on the solos, noting in an interview for Classical Voice North America that faster tempi are more faithful to Baroque performance standards. But there were some instances where this particular artistic decision simply did not work. The D minor Chaconne, treasure of treasures, felt unnecessarily hurried at its outset, and the opening bars’ luminance and introspection were muted as a result.

However, there were just as easily moments where the decision clicked and the faster tempi better landscaped the musical contours of the pieces. The crowning achievement of Bach’s violin works is

their ability to draw multiple interlocking voices from one instrument, the solo violin providing its own accompaniment. Shaham’s steady movement through the works backlighted the constant interplay between the macro patterns and micro patterns in the music, eschewing any superfluous rubato that would have otherwise disrupted their natural flow. Often, once the tempo had been established, Shaham would settle into a more natural rhythm for the rest of the movement, and, more often than not, into present interpretations that were gorgeously phrased and executed with finesse.

As for Michalek’s visual accompaniments, they were daring, aesthetically appealing, confounding—and totally distracting. Some of the videos featured inanimate subjects, but most zeroed in on human figures, their movements cast in slow motion.

Since the partitas are essentially dance suites, many of the frames showed their subjects dancing. But the connection between other frames and the movements they accompanied seemed fraught, if not nonexistent. And some frames were just downright bizarre: During the Courante of the Partita No. 1 in B minor, two women grotesquely pantomimed at each other, one clawing at her stomach as though something living were to spring from it and leap on her companion.

I noticed that most audience members kept their eyes fixed on Shaham instead, whose dexterity and stage presence were infinitely more captivating. If Michalek’s films had adhered to their original pur-

“[Smith] looks like he is having fun acting again...”

FOCUS continued from page 5

the audience tries in vain to guess the plot. Focus doesn’t quite succeed in this respect, but the fabric in between the seams is enough to satisfy most viewers.

The film follows Nicky, a con artist, as he attempts to rip off a slew of affluent travelers and compulsive billionaires throughout the movie’s somewhat disconnected plot.

The two halves of the film take place in New Orleans and Buenos Aires respectively, with a three-year gap between the two and nothing to tie them together other than Nicky’s on-again, offagain tutorship and courtship of amateur thief Jess. Smith and Robbie essentially have to serve as both the film’s lead actors and the glue that holds it together. They are given many, many scenes together, and while their verbal sparring feels more like play-fighting than the truly confrontational romance that this kind of movie calls for, they bring wit and energy to each scene and keep the film

moving where the plot sometimes fails.

This is a return to form for Smith, who has not delivered anything resembling a good performance since 2007’s I Am Legend and has not given what could be considered a classic “Will Smith” performance in over a decade. He still seems somewhat wary to dip too far back into that old persona in Focus—in the eyes of his harshest critics, it’s still a significant barrier to him being considered a “serious actor”—but this is by far the loosest and funniest performance he has given in years.

He looks like he’s having fun acting again, which is a good sign for his future endeavors.

Where Smith has been at this since the 1980s, Robbie is only 24 years old and in her second major film role after The Wolf of Wall Street. She is still finding her range as an actress but gives a laudable performance, playing the plucky upstart with such enthusiasm that you wish she would be given more to do than be the recipient of Smith’s wit-

ticisms. Those are something of a guilty pleasure: The film is extremely funny in some parts, though almost always at the expense of Jess.

The actors are both capable, but are forced to weave their way in and out of a plot that doesn’t really make sense.

The film is full of dropped plotlines, forgotten characters, and disconnected narrative arcs. The viewer can’t help but sense that there is a puzzle or some kind of deception at play, some impending revelations characteristic of the crime caper genre. Perhaps the film will all magically come together at the end, and the disparate plotlines will finally make sense. This is not the case. Some twists do come, but it rarely feels as though the characters behind them were in a great deal of control over their outcome.

Rather than perpetrating a masterful plan, it feels as though they are simply making things up as they go along.

In fairness to the characters, though, it feels as though the writers did the same.

Gil Shaham perfomed Bach's solo violin pieces at the Chicago Symphony Hall.

COURTESY OF GIL SHAHAM

pose—as enhancement and not as a second spectacle to compete with the music—they might have offered a provocative yet tactful supplement to Bach’s immortal solos. But in practice, the two were too often diametrically opposed.

There was one instance where the harmony between audio and visuals was successfully struck, at last, to great

pleasure from the audience. In the final partita, the ebullient Partita No. 3 in E major, young children playing the violin were featured on the screen, their arms cautiously pulling bows across the screen, eyes self-consciously fixed on the fingerboard. The circularity was charming: Here, children just learning the violin, if only for a moment, shared the stage

with one of the world’s most famous soloists.

Towards the end of Loure, the second movement, one of the children, upon pulling his bow off the strings, erupts into a silent peal of joyful laughter.

Shaham, knowing what had transpired behind him, smiled to himself in childlike delight before pulling his own bow off the strings.

“The man at the table next to me asked... for the house's vegetarian options and received a hearty chuckle” YASSA continued from page 5

the house’s vegetarian options and received a hearty chuckle in response.

For a representative sampling of of Yassa’s offerings, I went with the grilled fish and chicken kebab entrées, with sides of couscous and plantains, and had some lamb thrown in there for good measure. All of this ran a pre-tip $30.

As an aside, small portion sizes at restaurants have always vexed me.

When Burger King ran the “I am Man” series of advertisements in the late 2000s, which lampooned sit-down dinner options as insubstantial and effete in comparison to The Whopper, I was put off by the blatant sexism. I did, however, see their argument about most restaurants as failing to deliver a solid stomachful on the dollar.

Yassa, in contrast, does not serve small. The back of the menu, which details

the personal immigration stories of the proprietors, Madieye and Awa Gueye, also mentions that the restaurateurs honor their heritage as members of the Wolof tribe of Senegal by “[living ] up to their legacy of generosity with the size of the portions they serve.” I would soon learn that they were not fucking around.

When the fish arrived, I was ecstatic as I was presented with a whole descaled tilapia, which was about a pound of food by itself. The kebabs and sides were similarly massive; both entrees also blessed with a savory onion-andolive-based garnish. More importantly, all of the food was excellent, and was only differentiable in quality by degrees of excellence, which ranged from “excellent” to “Godly.” The kebabs were juicy and well-spiced, but the fish was a step up, and I felt compelled to use my

knife to scrape off the last bits of seasoning from the skin after all of the real food was gone. The lamb, which was perfectly fatty and prepared so that it nearly melted in my mouth, was bar none the best I have ever consumed. The plantains, while not the main event of the evening, could not be ignored. Earthy, fried crisp, and served over a pool of slightly spicy sauce without being drowned in it, to characterize it as “solid” would be an understatement.

As good as the food was, I was rather perplexed after waiting for 40 minutes for the waiter to process my debit card after he handed me the check. But just as we all have those spots where we will keep going no matter how many times they give us food poisoning—because they are just that good—I would volunteer to miss a midterm for another shot at Yassa.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | March 3, 2015

7

Loss to Bears doesn’t diminish strong season Women’s Basketball Ahmad Allaw Sports Staff The Maroons traveled to St. Louis last Sunday to take on No. 9 Wash U (23–2, 12–2 UAA) in what would be their most critical game of the year. Chicago (18–7, 12–2) entered with 12 consecutive wins and first place in the UAA standings. A victory would have given them an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament.

But the Bears had other plans. Wash U had lost only two games heading into the season finale. But those two

losses came in conference play, slotting them right behind their opponents in the standings. Having beaten Chicago earlier in the year, another win would give them the tie-breaker and send them through to the tournament.

In a game that came down to the final seconds, the Bears clawed their way to a 63–56 victory.

The match was competitive from wire to wire. After Wash U took an early 12–7 lead, Chicago responded with 11 unanswered shots to put itself out front. After

trading baskets the rest of the half, Wash U held a slim 29–26 advantage.

Despite the score, Chicago shot much better than its opponents in the first half of regulation, converting nearly 41 percent of its shots to the Bears’ 26 percent. But Wash U pulled down 13 offensive rebounds, allowing it to put up eight more shots than its adversaries.

Little changed in the second half. What had been a competitive game was only more so after the break.

When one team scored, the other always countered. The

teams were never separated by more than seven points throughout the rest of the game.

But with just one minute left on the clock, the Bears held the 57–50 lead. The game looked to be winding to a close.

But first-year guard Elizabeth Nye led an unlikely comeback. After knocking down a pair of free throws, she pocketed a three to put Chicago within just one possession of its opponents.

With 39 seconds left in the game, however, it was the Bears who had the ball and

the three-point lead. Chicago, nonetheless, forced a turnover. The Maroons had a chance to complete the comeback.

But one more three was perhaps asking too much from Nye, who had already willed the Maroons back into contention. After her miss, the Bears iced the game with free throws.

“I couldn’t be more proud of what our team has done this season. We came back from starting the season 1–4 to getting the UAA title.

That takes grit and there is not another team I would

rather do that with,” said second-year forward Stephanie Anderson.

Despite the loss, the Maroons still have much to celebrate. While Chicago could not claim sole possession of UAA conference lead, they share co-champion honors with the Bears. Wash U, though, was the team that clinched an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament. Today, the Maroons were notified that they did not receive an at large bid and will have to settle for ending their season with a share of the conference title.

No. 17 Wash U proves too much for Chicago Restaino and Staab Men’s Basketball Russell Mendelson Senior Sports Staff In a battle for the second best record in the UAA, the Maroons faced off against the Bears of Wash U in what was a tense season finale with a possible playoff spot on the line.

Chicago (16–9, 8–6 UAA) fell to No. 17 Wash U (20–5, 9–5) by a final score of 84–67. With this loss, the Maroons finished tied in the UAA for third with NYU (17–8, 8–6) and were subsequently eliminated from playoff contention when the at large bids for the tournament were announced yesterday at 11:30 a.m. No. 15 Emory (20–5, 10–4) and Wash U will each be returning to the tournament for the second straight year.

Out of the 43 conferences in Division III, the UAA is the only conference that does not hold a tournament among its members for its guaranteed automatic qualifying bid and instead

awards this to the holder of the best conference record at season’s end. Emory secured its top spot in the conference with an 88–69 win over Rochester (10–15, 6–8) on Saturday while Wash U received one of the remaining 19 at-large bids from the selection committee yesterday.

Saturday’s season finale showed a valiant effort on Chicago’s part. The Maroons fought tooth and nail through the first half as both teams exchanged the lead six times before the Bears pulled ahead in the remaining six and a half minutes, accumulating a 43–30 halftime lead.

“The most challenging part of facing this Wash U team was guarding all the actions of their offense.

They have a great system that complements their personnel,” said first-year guard Jake Fenlon, who came off the bench to go four for six behind the arc in just nine minutes. “They also have counters to all of

their plays, making their offense very difficult to defend.”

On offense, the Bears dominated every category except for offensive rebounds, where Chicago led 18–10. The Maroon’s aggressive offensive presence accounted for them only trailing by one total rebound to the home team by the game’s conclusion.

“The team knew that if we won at Wash and swept them for the year, we would be hard to deny from the tournament,” explained third-year forward Alex Voss, acknowledging Chicago’s 63–43 victory against the Bears in early January.

“We knew it was going to be a dog fight the whole game so the mentality was we needed to go in there and out-tough them, be relentless [in] rebound[ing ] and then knock in a few shots.”

Voss led the team with 13 points and nine rebounds, just one rebound shy of a double-double.

“They sustained their en-

ergy and focus longer than we did, and we put ourselves in a hole. We knew we had the talent to come back and make a run, but Wash was extremely confident at this point and weren’t missing a bunch of shots,” said firstyear forward Collin Barthel on the first half ’s last six and a half minutes, which put the Bears up by 13.

Chicago never let up and played closer to the vest in the second half, though, only conceding an additional four points to the lead.

“We definitely learned we can compete with anyone in the country but if we don’t come to play anyone can beat us,” Voss said on the overall experience this season.

With a relatively young team and all of Saturday’s starters coming back next year, this squad should be able to seal the deal next year as its underclassmen become seasoned veterans.

The hardest part will be the long wait until next November.

South Siders extend win streak to five Men’s Tennis Helen Petersen Associate Sports Editor Chicago extended its winning streak to five after winning a pair of matches at home this weekend. The No. 17-ranked Maroons now have some momentum heading into the toughest part of their schedule.

“The wins give us a lot of confidence going forward which is important since the toughest part of our season lies ahead of us,” fourth-year Deepak Sabada said.

Chicago kicked off the weekend with competition against UIC. The Flames entered the match with a record of (2–7). The Maroons tacked another onto the Flames’ loss

column, upsetting the Division I opponent by a match score of 6–1. After falling by a small margin to DI DePaul earlier in the season, Chicago was eager to knock off a DI team. The South Siders were eventually able to overcome the division divide.

A doubles duo of Sabada and first-year David Liu got the ball rolling with an overtime victory. Sabada and Lui were the only Chicago players of the day to each come away with wins in the doubles and singles category. The Maroons swept singles play and only dropped one doubles match during the entire match.

“Our team was very motivated this week in practice

since UIC had beaten us 4–3 last year,” Sabada said. “We came out with a lot of energy and were able to get the doubles point which gave us a lot of momentum in singles and led to a 6–1 victory overall.”

After putting out the Flames, Chicago turned to another foe: Carroll. Like they did against the Flames, the Maroons swept the singles side and only suffered a single loss on the day as they triumphed by a match score of 6–1.

First-years Peter Leung, David Liu, and Michael Selin all shut out their respective opponents.

“Overall, it shows how far we have come as a team in the past year but at the same time

we understand we need to get better in certain areas in order to achieve our goals for the season,” Sabada said.

Chicago now has a line of top tier opponents in front of them—the first being No. 24 DePaul, followed closely by another DI opponent, the national powerhouse that is the UCLA Bruins. Chicago has eight DIII matches left on the season. All opponents on the docket for the Maroons are ranked in the top 30 in the nation.

“We believe that we are hitting our stride as a team at the right time and are looking forward to the opportunity to measure ourselves against the best teams in the country,” Sabada said.

qualify for NCAA Championships at diving regional Men’s Diving Sarah McNeilly Sports Staff Myers-McLoraine pool in Ratner was host to 59 divers competing in an NCAA regional competition this weekend.

The Maroons sent four divers from the men’s team to the competition, which began on Friday and lasted through Saturday.

Fourth-years Anthony Restaino, Matthew Staab, and Kevin Steffes, along with first-year Dean Boures participated in the central region competition with the hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Championship competition to be held later this month in Shenandoah, TX. This weekend was the only opportunity for the Maroons to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Unlike swimming, divers are not able to qualify for the competition with scores from earlier in the year.

This is the third year with this relatively new format.

The competition kicked off with the women’s onemeter at 4 p.m. on Friday, and was followed by the men’s three-meter at 8:30 p.m. The action continued Saturday, beginning with the women’s three-meter at noon and wrapping up with the men’s one-meter at 4 p.m.

Kenyon College’s Maria Zarka clinched the women’s event title with a score of 524.05. Connor Dignan of Denison University swept the men’s competition, finishing in first place with 557.75 points.

Restaino was the South Siders’ high finisher in two

events for the second time, placing in fourth with a total of 545.00 points. Matthew Staab clinched eighthplace with 495.50 points.

Boures and Steffes placed 15th and 22nd overall, with 438.90 and 417.30 points, respectively.

“I felt great about my performance at the regional qualifying meet this past weekend. I dove incredibly well and put up personal best scores on both boards, which was a great experience to have at my last home meet of my college career,” Restaino said.

Restaino and Staab both were selected to the NCAA Division III Championships after their top-10 finishes this weekend.

Of the team, Steffes said that having four divers compete this weekend shows “how strong a team we are in the region.”

“It was very exciting watching Tony [Restaino] and Matt [Staab] take two of the qualifying spots this weekend, and I look forward to seeing how they compete at NCAAs,” Steffes said. “Tony especially had one of his best personal meets on both boards.”

First-year Dean Boures also commented on the senior divers.

“Diving with this team was easily the best athletics experience I’ve ever had, and I’ll miss Kevin [Steffes], Matt [Staab], Tony [Restaino], and Sofia [Gross] [the four graduating senior divers] very much in the future,” Boures said.

Restaino and Staab will compete March 18–21 in Shenandoah, TX.

SPORTS

IN QUOTES “It’s essentially a sprained ankle. I’ll be fine. They aren’t going to have to cut it off.”

–Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale on his fractured right foot

Women take conference title, men fall narrowly short Track and Field Brad Bozych Maroon Contributor The UAA Indoor Championships this weekend were a tale of two stories for the Maroons: one of success for the women, the other of sorrow for the men, who fell just short of a UAA title. In the seven-team field, the women’s side handily beat second-place place finishers Wash U by 23 points, as the Maroons led the way with 154 points. Some of the top performers for the women’s side were third-year Nkemdilim Nwaokolo, first-year Megan Verner-Crist, and third-year Mikaela Hammel.

Nwaokolo and her fellow shot putters, fourth-year Reecie Dern and first-year Ade Ayoola, took first, second, and third in the meet, with respective throws of 12.58 meters, 11.52 meters, and 11.50 meters.

Verner-Crist, a miler for the Maroons, had a memorable meet as she won her first title, scorching the run in a time of 4:58.58. She was followed a second later by her teammate, thirdyear Brianna Hickey.

Another standout for the Maroons was Hammel, a 400-meter runner for the squad. Hammel broke the school record this weekend by running a 58.08, giving her a second place finish in the meet and putting her on the All-UAA team.

For the men, the conference meet ended in the South Siders falling one point short to rivals Wash U, scoring 113 to Wash U’s 114. The difference between the schools came in the final event, the 4x400-meter relay. While the Maroon squad tallied a new school record of 3:21.44 in the event, they ultimately finished in second place, just shy of the Wash U Bears.

The day might have ended in team loss, but there were individual successes for the Maroons. Third-year Michael Bennett was able to stay healthy this week and shattered his own personal best in the school and conference records for pole vault.

Bennett leaped to a whopping 4.95 meters, capturing his second consecutive conference title. Third-year sprinter Ben Clark dominated the 200-meter dash, setting a new school

record blazing at a 22.27 second finish.

Clark was bittersweet about the meet as a whole when reflecting on it.

While happy and humble about his individual success, he was upset on a team level that the Maroons fell short.

“We’re obviously disappointed with the way we lost. A lot of guys stepped up to put us in a position to win and we couldn’t get it done. It’s devastating and it’s going to sting for a while. Fortunately, we’ll have another shot in a couple months,” Clark said.

As a football player for the Maroons as well, Clark spoke of his inspiration to run track, and what it meant for him to break the school record.

“I started running track because I thought it would make me a better football player. I’ve been on some great relay teams but I never thought I’d have the opportunity to be at that level as an individual,” Clark said.

This weekend, the Maroons will compete at the UW-Stevens Point Last Chance meet for athletes to get their final chance to qualify for NCAA DIII Championships.

Third-year Brianna Hickey runs down the track at the Margaret Bradley Invitational meet last season.

COURTESY OF UCHICAGO ATHLETICS

Indoor season capped off with third place finish at ITAs Women’s Tennis Zach Themer Associate Sports Editor For the past two years, the No. 12 Maroons’ attempts to capture the Division III ITA Nationals title have been thwarted by conference and national foes alike. The Maroons had finished third the two years prior to this past weekend’s tournament.

However, with a tough road ahead of them the Maroons were confident heading into the stacked tournament.

“This weekend, our goal [was] to place better than third, which is how we have finished the past two years,” said fourth-year Megan Tang. “Ultimately [we] want to win the entire tournament.”

But despite their confidence heading into the tournament, the South Siders fell short of that elusive title

yet again. They again finished third.

The first match on the docket for the Maroons (6–3) was against the No. 11 DePauw Tigers (3–3) on Friday evening. The Maroons and Tigers have been familiar foes over the years, frequently meeting in various indoor and outdoor tournaments across the Midwest and the rest of the country.

Perhaps using that familiarity to their advantage, the Maroons were able to jump ahead of the Tigers early, taking two of the three doubles matches to open the day.

When singles play came up, the same tune was sung as the Maroons snagged four of the six singles matches, led by the performances of firstyear Ariana Iranpour, Tang, first-year Jasmine Lee and second-year Tiffany Chen. The Maroons snared the Tigers by a match score of 6–3, and had

set a date with No. 4 John Hopkins (3–0) in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

Heading into the match against the Blue Jays, the Maroons knew they had the toughest and strongest opponent in the tournament standing before them. The Blue Jays were the top ranked team in the tournament and the favorites to take home the championship. To topple John Hopkins, it was going to a take a team effort with contributions from everyone.

“We want to remember that we are playing for each other and to cheer one another on after every point,” Tang said.

With this attitude in mind, the Maroons stepped into the metaphorical “ring” against the Blue Jays.

However, after dropping two of the

three doubles matches, the South Siders found themselves in an early hole. Regardless, they were not shaken, and in singles play, they were able to win the top two seeded matches.

Top singles player Iranpour was able to snag a win, as was second-in-command Megan Tang.

However, while the South Siders were also bolstered by a win from third-year Lucy Tang, they were not able to knock off the Blue Jays as the Maroons ultimately fell by a match score of 5–4. With this, the Maroons were relegated to the third-place match for a third straight year, this time against chief rival, No. 8 Wash U (3–2).

While the Maroons had missed out on the national championship, they had an opportunity to stake a claim as one of the top teams in the

country heading into the outdoor season.

The South Siders came out with some intensity and were able to take two out of three doubles matches to open up play.

On the singles side, the Maroons were able to protect their lead. They managed to win four out of the six singles matches. Led by the efforts of Megan Tang, Lee, Chen and thirdyear Stephanie Lee, the Maroons took home the overall match by a score of 6–3, sealing the third place title.

With the ITA Indoor National Championships wrapped up, the Maroons will have a change of pace as the outdoor season begins. The season opens up this Sunday with a matchup against familiar foe DePauw in Greencastle, IN at 9 a.m.

Richter takes first, earns bid to nationals Wrestling Katie Anderson Sports Staff First-year and UAA Rookie of the Year Devan Ritcher qualified for nationals this past weekend as the Maroons took eighth out of 12 teams at the 2015 NCAA DIII Midwest Regional on Saturday at Wabash College.

The UW–Whitewater squad took first with 133.5 points, while Chicago finished eighth with 48 points. It should be noted that the top three individual wrestlers in each of the 10 weight classes qualified to advance to nationals.

Ritcher, who came into the re-

gional meet seeded fifth at 125 pounds, upset his opponents by taking first in his weight class. He had a pair of pins in the quarterfinals and semifinals to take him to the final round, where he dominated 17–4.

“It felt great taking first in our region and qualifying for nationals despite being seeded fifth at 125,” Ritcher said. “It just goes to show that anything can happen on competition day and while seeding a bracket may give a general idea of how good people are, in no way does it tell you who is going to come out on top. Anyone can win, so you have to take tournaments

one match at a time and not overlook anybody. I think my competition may have underestimated my ability, which worked to my advantage.”

Despite major success this weekend, Ritcher also acknowledged that he has room to improve during the two weeks before nationals.

“My coaches and I mainly want to focus on just refining the tools I already have,” he said. “I am a fairly solid wrestler, but working on my technique with my coaches during the next two weeks will give me an edge at nationals.”

Although Ritcher was the only South Sider to qualify for nation-

als, many of his teammates also had standout performances. Almost every Maroon wrestler either achieved or exceeded his initial seed in the regional meet.

Fourth-year Mario Palmisano went 2–2 on the day, advancing as far as the semi-finals, where an injury to his knee prevented him from advancing to the final match.

He went on to lose in the consolation match 8–6 to take fourth at heavyweight.

Second-year Paul Papoutsis also went 2–2 at 165 pounds, and won in the fifth place match by virtue of a 10–6 decision. First-year 141-pounder Elliot Henderson

collected a 2–3 record to place sixth.

“Overall, I would say the team was pleased with its performance at regionals, although there were some guys on the team who were disappointed,” Ritcher said. “That being said, everyone showed up to wrestle their best which is all you can hope for during the regional qualifying event. We had a lot of teammates who were close to going, which I’m sure will motivate hard work, so that more of the team can qualify for nationals next year.”

The NCAA DIII National Championships will take place March 13–14 in Hershey, PA.