040612 Chicago Maroon

FRIDAY • APRIL 6, 2012

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

CHICAGOMAROON.COM

Pierce residents to get thousands in total compensation

ISSUE 35 • VOLUME 123

Preference to go to undergrads for Law School aid Madhu Srikantha News Staff

ditions,” the e-mail said. Residents will be informed about compensation details at a town hall meeting on Monday.

The package, announced about a week after spring break renovations, was greeted enthusiastically by first-year Jared Lenner, who was vocal in early demands for com-

A new program exclusively for undergraduates and alumni of the College will allow students to apply early and to get a leg up on financial aid in U of C Law School admissions.

The Chicago Law Scholars program invites fourth year undergraduate students at the College and alumni to turn in their law school application by September 1, the first date when regular early admission and regular admission candidates can submit their applications. The Law Scholars receive a binding decision by November 1.

The project has been in the works for about a year under the guidance of Debbie Chizewer, the Chicago Careers in Law (CCIL) advisor, and Ann Perry, associate dean of admissions of the Law School. Chizewer and Perry said that they conceived the program out of conversations on how to continue to build a relationship between the Law School and the College.

“The law school shares [the College’s] philosophy of critical

PIERCE continued on page 2

LAW continued on page 2

The breezeway in Pierce Tower received new furniture, rugs, televisions, and tables during spring break renovations, as part of the administration’s response to student complaints about quality-of-life earlier this year. Students will receive bookstore credit and house funds as compensation.

JULIA REINITZ | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Lina Li News Staff Pierce residents secured individual and house funds from the administration as compensation for multiple plumbing and elevator outages this year, an arrangement they have been negotiating since late February.

Home and abroad, profs ‘nudge’ policy

Individual residents will each get $500 to spend at the campus bookstore, Seminary Co-op, and campus computer store. Each of the four houses in Pierce Tower will receive $25,000 in community funds, and the Pierce Tower Council will receive $10,000—one-time allocations to be partially preserved for future house activities.

Associate Vice President for Campus Life Karen Warren Coleman and Assistant Vice President for Campus Life Katie CallowWright notified the residents that they would receive compensation in an e-mail earlier this week. The funds are meant to “help foster community development...and allow for creation of new House tra-

Water conservation vital to Lake, students and experts claim Celia Bever News Staff

Tiantian Zhang News Staff Since their 2008 book on psychology and behavioral economics excited nerves among policymakers in Washington and overseas, two U of C professors of law and economics have found major new applications for their theories, including at the White House and in the British government.

Booth School of Business professor Richard Thaler and former Law School professor Cass Sunstein wrote Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness, explaining that by framing choices for each individual in a certain way, people would be “nudged” toward more optimal and efficient decisions.

In 2009, Sunstein was appointed Administrator of the White House Office of Information NUDGE continued on page 2

FRI

SAT

56° 37°

66° 46°

SUN

MON

63° 43°

51° 40°

A panel of local conservation experts addressed the need to conserve water and the negative effects of privatization of public utilities at the Environmental Law and Policy Center downtown on Tuesday. The talk was organized by UChicago Students Against Bottled Water, along with allies from Loyola University and Columbia College.

Chicago’s water comes from Lake Michigan, a larger and less immediately threatened source than the groundwater sources on which many other communities depend, according to Aaron Durnbaugh, director of sustainability at Loyola.

“We are sitting in probably one of the most envied positions globally with [the Great Lakes] at our doorstep,” Durnbaugh said.

This abundance, according to Tom LaPorte, Assistant Commissioner at the Chicago Department of Water Management, has its drawbacks. “It’s very hard to persuade people that this is a big issue

Temperatures in Fahrenheit - Courtesy of The Weather Channel

Aaron Durnbaugh (left), Director of Sustainability at Loyola University, and Emily Carroll, with Food and Water Watch, spoke at UChicago Students Against Bottled Water’s “World Water Day Panel” at the Environmental Law and Policy Center downtown.

JULIA REINITZ | THE CHICAGO MAROON

here,” he said.

LaPorte noted that residents are not motivated to conserve water because the resources proximal surplus makes prices “unrealisti-

cally low.” However, the average depth of Lake Michigan will drop about a foot and a half over the next century, according to Durnbaugh, making conservation in-

creasingly important.

LaPorte said that one way to conserve water is to install a water meter in private homes. Water WATER continued on page 2

IN SPORTS

IN ARTS

Rekindling a lost love: A baseball story » Page 11

Hot Pink Mess: Minaj’s latest album lacks focus » Page 7

On holiday weekend, Chicago’s best gather at Stagg » Page 12

James may not be Meyer, but chains and whips excite her » Page 8

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | April 6, 2012

2

Student pressure brought admins to negotiating table PIERCE continued from front

pensation and impressed by the commitment administrators made to fix the dorm.

“All the improvements that have been made are fantastic,” he said. The renovations included a new pump for the water system, new furniture in common areas, repainted walls, new shower heads, renovated kitchens, and additional pianos.

The renovations and compensation are the result of months of student-administrator negotiations and student pressure as they felt their living conditions worsen due to several building issues, including plumbing, elevator, and heating problems “Throughout the process, student representatives and University leaders have been involved in planning and guidance,” University spokesperson Steve Kloehn wrote in an email. “All of those voices, including student voices, have helped shape the outcome.”

During an open forum with Pierce residents on February 29th after plumbing malfunctions sent quality-of-life spiraling, repeated calls for compensation were met with applause by students in attendance.

Individual compensation initially seemed impossible, as it would interfere with student financial aid packages, so administrators offered each house $50,000 in community funds.

Even so, some students still felt that that method of compensation would not be fair to graduating residents and residents who were planning on moving off-campus but still lived in less-than-desired conditions.

The working group then proposed individual compensation through offering credit toward purchasing books. Administrators supported such a compensation package, and reduced the community fund accordingly.

“I don’t know if the University would have proposed individual compensation, had it not been for student demands, but they certainly didn’t oppose the idea, when we suggested it,” first-year and Working Group member David Goldfeld said. “They were very generous with the compensation.”

Owens also felt the administrators did their part in the end. “It’ll really go a long way, as the average house fund is only about five grand per year,” he said.

Despite the compensation, resident uncertainties and speculation continue. According to Goldfeld, the University has committed to continuing investigations of Pierce infrastructural problems during the summer, yet the specific details of the summer renovations are still unknown.

Bike rental company pedals its way under 53rd street Metra tracks Marina Fang News Staff As part of its efforts to revitalize East 53rd Street, University officials have unveiled plans for a bike center underneath the Metra viaduct at 53rd Street and Lake Park Avenue.

Scheduled to open in May, the 53rd Street Bike Center will be operated by a Chicago-based bike sharing company, Bike and Roll, which manages bike-sharing ventures around the city, including locations at Millennium Park and Navy Pier.

The University is leasing “approximately 2,000 feet of space” from the Metra to develop the bike center, according to University spokesperson Steve Kloehn.

The space, formerly a cigar store, has been vacant for 15 years.

Hyde Park riders will be able to rent from a fleet of several dozen bicycles and return bikes to the Center and other Bike and Roll locations. Bike and Roll will also lead neighborhood and architectural tours and offer monthly memberships and storage space for at least 30 commuter bikes.

Additionally, the Center will take part in the University’s Recycles bike share program, which

currently has stations at Ratner Athletic Center, South Campus Residenc e Hall, the Regenstein Library, and IT Services.

According to Kloehn, the Office of Commercial Real Estate and the Office of Sustainability led the efforts to establish the Center. Also involved are University officials guiding the 53rd Street revitalization project, which has already brought Five Guys and Clarke’s to Hyde Park.

Kloehn said the University hopes that by allowing the Hyde Park community to use the bike center’s amenities, it will encourage more sustainable transportation. “The Center will help promote bicycle use among community members, by visitors and by commuters,” he wrote in an email.

The bike center corresponds with the City of Chicago’s attempts to make Hyde Park more bike-friendly, according to the Hyde Park Herald. The Chicago Department of Transportation recently announced plans to add bike lanes to East 55th Street between Cottage Grove and Dorchester Avenues and buffered bike lanes from South Dorchester to Lake Park Avenues, the Herald said.

The University is planning to construct a new bike center in the underpass below the 53rd street Metra.

JAMIE MANLEY | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Collaboration with Law School puts Behaviorial economists seek optimal undergrads first in line for scholarships regulations through ‘smart disclosure’ LAW continued from front

thinking and our students come to the Law School very wellprepared for the rigor as well as the discourse in the Law School classroom,” Chizewer said.

The program is a way to streamline the application process for students who already know that Chicago is the place for them and who want to stay in Hyde Park, Perry said.

“They know our product,” she said. “We want to keep the very best and brightest in Hyde Park.”

The program will also give accepted students an advantage in securing financial aid. The applicants will be the first to be considered for the scholarships already available to Law School students, including the David M. Rubenstein full-tuition scholars program, which awards 60

full-tuition merit scholarships at the discretion of the admissions board. The incoming Law class of 2014 last fall was the first class to be eligible for that award.

Perry and Chizewer said that they are excited to see the program kick-off and have only received positive feedback from both students involved in CCIL and alumni who have fond memories of their time at the College.

Perry also predicted that early admission would make the rest of their final year at the College less stressful.

Second-year Alida MirandaWolff, who helped start the Undergraduate Law Review this year, is excited to see the program start for the security it gives to students. “At least you know you’re in somewhere and somewhere good,” she said.

NUDGE continued from front

and Regulatory Affairs, where his ideas about how to encourage people to pay their taxes, for example, have already found nationwide applications.

Meanwhile, Thaler has been advising policymakers in several countries since the book’s publication, including Denmark, France, and Britain where Prime Minister David Cameron established a Behavioral Insights Team, nicknamed the “Nudge Unit.” Thaler and Sunstein are currently working with the government to implement an initiative of “smart disclosure.”

“Basically, the idea is that disclosure comes in the form of electronic files uploaded on companies’ websites, making markets more transparent and easily accessible to the public,” Thaler said.

Behavioral economists have found that various psychological and neurological biases cause people to make choices that seem contrary to their best interests, according to an article in The Economist last month. Using this assumption, policy makers can subtly persuade people by structuring choices in such a way that they make decisions beneficial to society.

In a presentation at the Law School earlier this week, Sunstein used the Department of Agriculture’s newly redesigned “food plate” to illustrate this idea. The old food pyramid confused people trying to make healthy decisions about what to eat; by providing a clearer diagram of a healthy diet, Sunstein said, the government is encouraging people to make healthier decisions.

Privatization of water meters leads to price hikes, advocacy group claims WATER continued from front

meters measure the amount of water consumed in each household and charge the residents for that amount. Without one, water bills are calculated by an “arcane” formula, LaPorte said. Water meters would provide an incentive

for individuals and households to conserve.

The city installs water meters in homes for free, and all residents that have added them have seen a decrease in the cost of their bills, LaPorte said. However, according to LaPorte, Chicago is the last large

CORRECTIONS » The April 3 article “As Harvard Divests, U of C Sticks With HEI” misstated Harvard’s actions. They decided not to invest further, rather than to divest.

city in the country to not mandate the use of water meters.

Emily Carroll (A.B. ’08) of the consumer advocacy group Food and Water Watch spoke about problems with privatization. Private companies are obligated to shareholders, not citizens, she said.

Based on the cases she has seen, water system privatization has come with an increase in prices without improvement in quality. Companies also generally spend less money on water infrastructure than governments do, she said.

While LaPorte said that there are no plans for privatization in Chicago, Carroll is currently lobbying against an Illinois bill that would “guarantee” an increase in privati-

zation. The bill ensures profits for companies that buy water systems, even allowing them to raise prices on customers in one community in order to pay for the purchase of a water system in another.

Fourth-year Lauren Tarpey, the primary organizer of the event, said she and students at the other schools held the panel in recognition of World Water Day, which was March 22. “Because of the work we do, we believe water is a public right,” she said.

UChicago Students Against Bottled Water works to educate students about the hazards of water bottles and is responsible for the hydration stations around campus, among other projects.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | April 6, 2012

3

Does God exist? Gentlemen, you have two minutes Bankruptcy expert to rejoin Law School this summer

Lina Li News Staff

Stuart Hall was abuzz with talk of sin and science Monday evening, as religious and secular community members tackled one of life’s most contentious questions: Are there good reasons to believe in a god?

In a debate hosted by the Spiritual Life Council (SLC), the faithful and the non-believing sparred over the historicity of holy texts and the ethics of religious institutions.

Arguing against the existence of a divine presence were Divinity School student Josh Oxley, whom the Spiritual Life Office brought on as a Humanist Adviser in 2010, and physics graduate student Ben Zalisko, who founded the Secular Student Alliance.

The pair went up against Brad Beier, a pastor at Living Hope Church in Woodlawn, and third-year Junyi Lee, the church’s campus president.

Lee began by presenting human dignity as a product of God’s creation, while Zalisko criticized religion’s monopolization of “moral high grounds,� arguing for ethics separate from religion. Zalisko also examined God’s existence through the scientific method, concluding that believers had not met the burden of proof.

In his rebuttal, Beier defended the validity and historicity of

Anthony Gokianluy News Staff

Junyi Lee, President of the Living Hope Church on Campus, speaks at the “Are There Good Reasons to Believe in God?� panel in Stuart Hall on Monday evening.

BENJAMIN TRNKA | THE CHICAGO MAROON

the scriptures as foundational documents and sufficient proof.

He also characterized God’s existence as necessary in order to explain the social phenomena of sin, evil, and suffering.

However, Oxley asked the audience to focus on the talk’s central question and to avoid distracting questions, like “Is it pragmatic or beautiful to believe in a god?�

The debaters elaborated on the compatibility of religion and science, sources of morality, and shifting interpretations of religious texts, finally coming to a stalemate.

Many from outside the University turned out for the debate.

Khaldoun Sweis, a philosophy professor at Olive-Harvey College downtown, encouraged his students to go to the debate for extra credit. “I wanted my students to be exposed to critical thinking, especially about one of the most important questions of life,� he said.

Andrew Hulede, one of Sweis’s students, appreciated the engaging discussion. “The debate just spurred so many questions, and it just felt so good to know that these thoughts are still alive,� he said.

By Rebecca Guterman

Weekly Crime Report

This series documents 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.

Here are this week’s notables:

Since Jan. 1

 Saturday, 11:36 p.m., Broadview— UCPD was called to find an underage male student who had been drinking heavily and needed to be taken to the hospital. He was transported to the ER and his case is being referred to the Dean’s Office.

Mar. 29 Apr. 4

Bg^S ]T 1`W[S

@]PPS`g

/bbS[^bSR `]PPS`g

$

0ObbS`g

#

0c`UZO`g

1`W[W\OZ b`Sa^Oaa b] dSVWQZS

2O[OUS b] ^`]^S`bg

&

=bVS` `S^]`b

AW[^ZS OaaOcZb

BVSTb

B`Sa^Oaa b] ^`]^S`bg

A :OYS AV]`S

A 6gRS >O`Y

C\WdS`aWbg

#'bV $ bV

$ \R

1]`\SZZ

#%bV

Ab]\g 7aZO\R

1]bbOUS 5`]dS

| THE CHICAGO MAROON

—Additional reporting by Crystal Tsoi. Information according to UCPD spokesperson Robert Mason.

##bV

BELLA WU

 March 20, 5:19 a.m., Green Line stop at 63rd and Cottage Grove— UCPD gave CPD pertinent information regarding a death investigation, which is still ongoing but has not been declared a homicide.

0ZOQYab]\S

3ZZWa

 March 25, 2:30 a.m., Dorchester %% between 50th and 51st and 53rd and Ellis—Persons walking on the side "! walk were robbed of property by suspects, both unknown males. There is a possibility that both robberies were committed by the same per"%bV son, though the descriptions are a bit off and the victims reported both crimes at the same time.

Though there have been more # ab robberies in March than in February, we have had fewer thus far in #!`R 2012 than 2011.

:]QObW]\a ]T `S^]`ba O^^`]fW[ObS

However, Griffin Jackson, a Harris School graduate student, said he wished that the debate had focused on larger issues. “The debate ended up getting trapped in and bogged down by irrelevant details—details that both sides should have just acknowledged as non-falsifiable,� he said.

This followed similar debates from the Christian Fellowship, the Secular Student Alliance, and the Philosophy Club. Still, SLC President Philip, who moderated the debate, said he hopes to sponsor similar events incorporating other religious perspectives.

Edward R. Morrison, a three-time U of C graduate, will return to the Law School on July 1 after nearly a decade at Columbia University.

Morrison (M.A. ’97, J.D. ’00, Ph.D. ’03), noted for his analysis of bankruptcy in law and business contexts, is currently a law and economics professor at Columbia and the co-director of the Richman Center for Business Law and Public Policy at Columbia.

According to Dean of the Law School Michael Schill, Morrison’s interdisciplinary background will be a valuable asset, strengthening a faculty already considered to be “the best in the nation� in empirical law and economics. “Ed Morrison is a dream appointment for the Law School. He is universally considered to be among the most important legal scholars of his generation. It was a real coup for us to hire him from Columbia,� Schill wrote in an email.

Upon his return, Mor-

rison will be charged with developing the Law School’s new business curriculum and strengthening its ties to the Booth School of Business.

Law professor Douglas Baird also said that Morrison’s expertise and contacts will be beneficial. “[Morrison] is comfortable with finance theory and the latest empirical methods in statistics and economics. He works with elite lawyers in such organizations as the National Bankruptcy Conference,�

Baird wrote in an e-mail.

Already a Hyde Park familiar, Morrison taught at the University as a visiting professor in 2008, and previously moved through the ranks of the University’s economics and law programs. Though Schill took efforts to convince Morrison to relocate to Chicago, according to Baird, Morrison looks forward to returning to his alma mater. “I am particularly enthusiastic about helping the school build a new center focused on the intersection of law, business, and regulation,� he said in a News Office press release.

From finance, former sculptor returns to art Jon Catlin News Staff Hydroelectric industrialist John D. Kuhns (M.F.A. ’75) recounted his life’s work of revolutionizing energy business relations between the U.S. and China at International House Thursday evening.

The founder and CEO of China Hydroelectric Corp, Kuhns spoke about his recent novel, China Fortunes: A Tale of Business in the New World, which is loosely based on his 25-year experience as a financier and industrialist in China.

But Kuhns wasn’t always set on business. After playing football at Georgetown and having his dream of playing in the N.F.L. dashed by two cuts, he was without a plan after graduation.

His advisor submitted his sculpture portfolio to the M.F.A. program at the U of C without his knowledge, and he was accepted for sculpture. “I came here because I had nothing better to do,� Kuhns said. “But though it was a fantastic time, I was no Picasso. I knew I had to find something else to do with my life.�

Kuhns went on to get an M.B.A. from Harvard and worked on Wall Street before starting his first company. Kuhns emphasized the importance of his creative

experience in the business environment. “I’ve found that success always demands creativity,� Kuhns said.

Kuhns spoke about his background in the Chinese hydroelectric power industry and led his five companies to successful Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). He started his first company, Catalyst Energy, in 1981 around the time Congress was starting to deregulate electricity and allow Independent Power Producer (IPPs) to compete in the electricity market with contracted plants. “After that first success, I was still young, and all I had to do was do it again,� Kuhns said. In 1988, he founded New World Power Corp., the first wind power company to go public. He continued this business model, but soon left the U.S. market for China.

Kuhns looked to China as a growth opportunity when the Chinese began to open the electricity market up to IPPs, just as the U.S. market had done a decade earlier.

Giving advice on doing business in China, Kuhns said to “sell what the government is buying,� namely electricity, and “be guided by fate,� noting that his company logo, the Chinese character for water, also looks like “JK,� Kuhns’s initials. “That’s when I knew luck

was on my side,� Kuhns said. “In the power industry, as with most commodities, success is about minimizing costs,� he said. “At first, I was the only one using Chinese manufactured technology, which was far cheaper than anything else,� he said.

Kuhns was able to sell electricity from his plants to the Chinese grid for about the same price as electricity in the U.S., but his costs were one third as high. His current business, China Hydroelectric Corp. raised nearly $100 million in its IPO and is now the largest foreign-owned player in China’s hydroelectric power market.

When asked by an audience member why he chose to write a work of fiction, Kuhns responded, “Look, there are thousands of nonfiction books on business in China. I thought, ‘Why should I do that?’� Laughing, he continued, “It’s all true to my story except for the girlfriends. My editor told me the book needed sex appeal.�

Among audience members were a group of visiting students from Beijing, a result of the University’s long foothold in China and the formal establishment of the Center in Beijing in 2010. The talk was sponsored by the Division of the Humanities.

VIEWPOINTS

Editorial & Op-Ed APRIL 6, 2012

A priceless commitment Administrators’ monetary solutions for Pierce fiasco don’t address the larger problem The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892 ADAM JANOFSKY Editor-in-Chief CAMILLE VAN HORNE Managing Editor JORDAN LARSON Editor-in-Chief-Elect SHARAN SHETTY Editor-in-Chief-Elect COLIN BRADLEY Managing Editor-Elect MAHMOUD BAHRANI Senior Editor DOUGLAS EVERSON, JR Senior Editor SAM LEVINE Senior Editor HARUNOBU CORYNE News Editor REBECCA GUTERMAN News Editor GIOVANNI WROBEL News Editor EMILY WANG Viewpoints Editor AJAY BATRA Viewpoints Editor CHARNA ALBERT Arts Editor HANNAH GOLD Arts Editor TOMI OBARO Arts Editor DANIEL LEWIS Sports Editor

The Maroon reported today that the University has agreed to compensate students living in Pierce Tower.

Housing Administrators responded to residents’ outrage over living conditions in the building by replacing the furniture, paint, and carpeting over spring break and plan to make major facilities improvements over the summer. On top of these renovations, each of the four houses in Pierce was given $25,000, effective immediately, with each resident receiving a $500 credit usable at campus bookstores.

While Pierce residents are right to feel vindicated, the University’s decision to assuage students monetarily sets a somewhat risky precedent and is an insubstantial gesture given the scale and nature of the problem.

The value of compensation per resident is about $850, which is the

approximate cost of a Pierce room for one month. Although this compensation has been provided to redress student anger at Pierce’s relative state of disrepair, physical comfort is not the only aspect of life in Pierce that has suffered. One cannot help but think this gesture, in part, assigns a monetary value to the kind of good housing experience the University promotes, yet feels Pierce students have lost out on. The decision to remunerate those unhappy with housing therefore sets a troubling precedent for any similar problems which may arise in the future. Given the University’s negligence of Pierce, there is little evidence to suggest it will steer clear of all such issues down the road. The messy issue of assigning monetary values to housing grievances is now a possibility.

The University also said yesterday

that Pierce will remain open next year. Prior to this announcement, it was mooted that Pierce houses might be transferred wholesale to other residence halls—namely, IHouse or New Graduate Residence Hall. While it is at least positive that Administrators have revealed a short-term answer to the question of what the future holds for Pierce, students are still left wondering whether the dorm will be around in the coming years.

The University, with its continued lack of answers and unwise decision to put a dollar value on how sorry it is, has lost sight of what should be its real focus: re-instilling trust in its house system. If anything, these solutions are even more unsettling, as they perpetuate the sense that the Housing office would rather throw

money at problems after they occur than work proactively on long-term maintenance issues.

As a new set of admitted students prepares to matriculate in the fall, the University should do all it can to restore faith in housing. Administrators should be open and expeditious about formulating their plans for on-campus housing after Pierce, whatever they involve. If the University can demonstrate a commitment to the quality of housing by showing not only that the Pierce fiasco will not be replicated, but also that there is a suitable plan in place for future housing construction, it will go a long way toward fixing a problem that can’t be swept aside for the price of a few textbooks.

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

VICENTE FERNANDEZ Sports Editor BELLA WU Head Designer KEVIN WANG Web Editor ALICE BLACKWOOD Head Copy Editor DON HO Head Copy Editor JEN XIA Head Copy Editor DARREN LEOW Photo Editor

Hitting close to home

The right prescription

U of C students should take themselves out to the ballgame

GOP fixation on repealing Affordable Care Act misses its market-friendly qualities

JAMIE MANLEY Photo Editor BEN POKROSS Assoc. News Editor LINDA QIU Assoc. News Editor CRYSTAL TSOI Assoc. News Editor DAVID KANER Assoc. Viewpoints Editor EMMA BRODER Assoc. Arts Editor ALICE BUCKNELL Assoc. Arts Editor SCOTTY CAMPBELL Assoc. Arts Editor DANIEL RIVERA Assoc. Arts Editor SARAH LANGS Assoc. Sports Editor MATTHEW SCHAEFER Assoc. Sports Editor DEREK TSANG, Assoc. Sports Editor

By Adam Gillette Viewpoints Columnist

JAKE WALERIUS, Assoc. Sports Editor TIFFANY TAN Assoc. Photo Editor TYRONALD JORDAN Business Manager VIVIAN HUA Undergraduate Business Executive VINCENT MCGILL Delivery Coordinator SONIA DHAWAN Designer ANDREW GREEN Designer ALYSSA LAWTHER Designer SARAH LI Designer CATIE ARBONA Copy Editor AMISHI BAJAJ Copy Editor JANE BARTMAN Copy Editor MARTIA BRADLEY Copy Editor ELIZABETH BYNUM Copy Editor LISA FAN Copy Editor ALAN HASSLER Copy Editor NISHANTH IYENGAR Copy Editor MICHELLE LEE Copy Editor KATIE MOCK Copy Editor LANE SMITH Copy Editor ESTHER YU Copy Editor

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. © 2011 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

I’ll admit that I’m hopelessly biased, but here in these early days of spring, I’d like to make a humble proposal: University of Chicago students should love baseball. All of us.

If you’re reading this in today’s Maroon, baseball season started two days ago, with Wednesday night’s official Opening Night game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins.

And if you missed it, fear not—the season’s not over until late October. You’ve got plenty of time to catch up, and I’d like to make the case for why you should.

This is a brainy place with brainy people who tend to like brainy things, so for the less sports-inclined among us, consider the ways baseball intersects with the things we study. There’s something for everybody, so be sure to find your way to a game this season.

History. For obvious reasons, baseball is most closely associated with American history and domestic stories like labor, women’s, and civil rights. (But for more international flavor, check out the surprisingly unimperialistic way an American game took root in East Asia and the Caribbean.) Baseball labor showdowns used to be more interesting than unionized millionaires petitioning billionaires for more money. Women have been organizing professional baseball leagues since the late 19th century, but for something more recent, look up Kim Ng, A.B. ’90, who’s been shattering glass ceilings in Major League Baseball ever since she left Hyde Park. And though the game, like the rest of the country, has an ugly history of segregation and

racism, Major League Baseball was officially desegregated before the U.S. Military or public schools.

Mathematics. There’s a movie about a book about a baseball team that made a lot of noise last year: Moneyball. It’s entertaining and digestible, whether you’re a sports fan or not, but it’s also about how math—statistics and economics— changed the game. Moneyball is about the Oakland Athletics, who upended generations of baseball knowledge about a decade ago.

They found that baseball isn’t really about having the conventionally “best” players; it’s about scoring more runs than the opposition. So they used sophisticated, often-esoteric statistics to find players they could afford—ones bigger, richer teams had overlooked—who could get on base and score runs. Instead of buying “players,” they adopted a practice of buying “runs,” and in 2002, they won 103 games—as many as the New York Yankees, who outspent them 3 to 1. I advise reading the book (the Reg has a copy), but go to any game today to see the new statistics of baseball at work. After the Athletics’ success, every team started spending money the new, smarter way.

Natural Sciences. Admittedly, all sports break down to this, the building blocks of human life. But take it from one of baseball’s legends, Willie Stargel: “They give you a round bat and they throw you a round ball and they tell you to hit it square.” The physics of baseball are astonishing— balls pitched at 100 mph, bats swung at 80 mph, with less than half a second for the hitter to make a decision before exercising the hand-eye coordination required to operate the fast-twitch muscles that connect the round ball to the round bat. The chemists among us will remember that baseball’s steroid scandals were first made possible in the lab.

Humanities. If baseball were a BASEBALL continued on page 5

By Ajay Ravichandran Viewpoints Columnist The oral arguments at the Supreme Court last week about the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) have brought new prominence to the fierce debate over the 2010 health care law, which President Obama sees as his signature domestic policy achievement. A defining feature of that debate, in those proceedings and on the campaign trail, has been an insistence by prominent conservatives on treating their opposition to the law not as an ordinary political disagreement, but rather as a heroic stand against a monstrous example of federal overreach which must be repealed entirely.

This position could generate serious problems, especially if the high court strikes down provisions needed to prevent the rest of the measure from disrupting the insurance market and Republicans who lack the votes for repeal are unwilling to help replace them. However, the GOP’s view of PPACA is misguided. Despite its flaws, it addresses an important problem that the right has long been concerned about in a relatively market-friendly way, and those aspects of it which do conflict with conservative principles could be removed without wholesale repeal.

The central conservative critique of our health care system is that its high costs are the result of government-created distortions that prevent market forces from

lowering prices. Many on the right tend to identify two main culprits. One is the Medicare program, which pays for much of the health care consumed by the elderly. Since Medicare charges no or minimal premiums (depending on the type of care in question) and seniors generally use supplemental insurance to deal with its modest cost-sharing requirements, they bear very little of the cost of the care they receive.

The other culprit is the stipulation in the federal tax code that the value of the insurance coverage that many companies buy for their employees does not count as taxable income, which has generated similar problems by creating a situation in which most working-age Americans get insurance through their employers. This makes it difficult for them to figure out how much their care costs, since they pay for it through a complicated system of intermediaries rather than dealing with insurers and doctors directly. Both policies, then, give consumers little incentive to comparison shop, and, in turn, health care providers have little incentive to make themselves more efficient. Under these conditions, the main mechanism a market economy uses to make goods and services less expensive over time cannot operate.

However, the health care law includes two major provisions that promise to eliminate these distortions. First, one of the main funding sources for the programs the law creates is a tax on the value of employer-provided insurance plans, which effectively phases out the exemption just discussed over time.

Since it will likely be too expensive for many companies to provide coverage once the tax subsidy is removed, their employees will enter the individual market and so will face the incentives to economize HEALTH continued on page 5

THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | April 6, 2012

Letter: Israel-Palestine coverage misinformed I am writing to express my concern about The Maroon’s journalistic integrity in tackling the Israel-Palestine issue. How can the University of Chicago foster the free and fair spread of ideas if its very own student newspaper does not dare to deviate from a set of unrelated and skewed “talking points”?

This past Monday, students from the University of Chicago and the surrounding community gathered to protest Michael Oren’s idea of peace in the Middle East, which includes, among other things, the continued rejection of international law, the denial of Palestinian civil and human rights, and a full-scale war

on Iran. The protesters, chanting for equality and accountability, held signs highlighting how Israel’s financial and military ties to the United States have done more to hinder peace and justice than to guarantee it.

Towards the end of Oren’s talk, a reporter with The Maroon met with me and one other participant to ask what the purpose of the protest was. We explained how Oren’s position endangers the security of millions abroad and in the United States and that we sought to raise awareness about his openly discriminatory platform.

Without following up with a related question, and although we explicitly detailed the pur-

pose of the protest, the reporter asked if we were protesting Israel’s right to exist. Later, she asked if the protestors were calling for a one-state or a two-state solution.

It was clear from the start that the interview was less about the protest’s message and more about following a series of overused talking points that discourage any legitimate discourse.

The Maroon’s reporters need to understand that not everything is as urgent as a geopolitical endgame. We are dealing with the abuse of human rights. Although the University of Chicago insists on providing platforms to those who, like Oren and Ehud Olmert in 2009, seek to justify human

rights violations against the Palestinian people, it is crucial—for the sake of the “rigorous inquiry” this University aims to promote—to maintain levelheadedness, objectivity, and a sense of journalistic integrity.

In other words, if The Maroon is going to cover a protest that demands rights for the Palestinian people, the campus community should expect reporters to focus on those rights and not to pander to accusations or assumptions that have nothing to do with the issue at hand.

Sami Kishawi is a third-year in the College majoring in political science.

Letter: Response to “An unhealthy Constitution” “One beautiful fact about the United States is that the founders were scared of absolute power and sought to guarantee as much freedom for the citizenry as possible. This slow expansion of government power, at the expense of the individual, is a danger to American society and goes against the original intent of the Constitution.”

As much freedom for the citizenry as possible? Is our idea of freedom such that freedom from curable disease and freedom from the burden of hospital bills are not freedom? The “individual

mandate” is really no more than a tax-incentive, like many other mundane tax-incentives: If one does not buy healthcare, one is penalized, and so one has an incentive to buy healthcare. This does not represent a radical break from the standard practice of public policy.

Far more Orwellian than an “individual mandate” is propagating an idea of freedom under which the citizenry is freer when it is sicker, when it is less able to care for itself, when essential services are inaccessible or scarce for millions of people, so that pre-

Simple pleasures of baseball are a good remedy to student stress BASEBALL continued from page 4

major, it would fall in the humanities department.

Sportscasters frequently and energetically praise the poetic rhythm and calm of pitchers’ craft and the musical crack of the bat or slap of the glove. And that’s not even counting literal baseball poetry like “Casey At The Bat” or music like “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” (which is actually about a freeloading girl trying to get a boy to take her to see some baseball). But little can compete with baseball’s anthropology.

Here are some baseball players: Oil Can Boyd, Dice-K, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Goose Gossage, The Big Cat, Whitey Ford, El Guapo, Lefty Grove. And in a single baseball play, the game’s lingo will tell you that the ace throws gas to the slugger who hits it on the screws and sends a frozen rope past the hot corner and into

ALICE BUCKNELL THE CHICAGO MAROON

t h e alley and in a bangbang play the guy with wheels crosses the dish.

Baseball’s language and mythology is unparalleled, and every spring is an opportunity to celebrate its timelessness.

That opportunity is available to you. Walk to East 55th Street, catch the 55 to the Red Line. Headed toward Howard, stop at Sox/35th for the Chicago White Sox, continue onto Addison for the Chicago Cubs.

Sometimes at this place we forget that things can be good on the surface, without reflection or deconstruction. If you want to forget your studies and just enjoy a day at the ballpark, do that. Buy a cold beer, munch on a hot dog, sit in the sun, and enjoy the plodding rhythm of pitch after pitch. Yes, it’s a slow game. All the better to savor.

Adam Gillette is a fourth-year in the College majoring in history.

cious resources and energ y that could be used by individuals to improve their lives are lost to the behemoth of rising healthcare costs.

Our government is a democratic-republic—by the people.

The people elected a Congress, and that Congress passed a law that benefitted the people. Why does this represent a frightening expanse of government “at the expense of the individual”? Rather, this law is a victory for democracy and for government that responds to the demands of the people. It will be a blow to our democracy

if this law is overturned, a blow to our elected Congress by an exceedingly small, unelected body of judges (who all have excellent healthcare) and ultimately a blow to the Court itself, who by defying the will of the people—in favor of an idea of freedom so narrow as to resemble horse blinders fastened to the dispossessed and suffering populace—will show itself the true institutional home of arbitrariness and tyranny.

Michael McCown is a secondyear in the College majoring in philosophy.

PPACA can achieve its goals without violating conservative principles HEALTH continued from page 4 that will ultimately lead to cheaper health care. While many on the right have sensibly questioned the idea that the Obama administration will actually be willing to implement this highly unpopular measure and criticized the exceptions that have been made for some Democratic interest groups, their points would seem to constitute an argument for strengthening the administration’s spine by promising Republican votes for the phase-out rather than attacking the law that includes it. It would be very difficult for those workers to find affordable coverage in the individual insurance market that currently exists, since insurance companies are generally free to deny coverage or vary prices for any reason and so do their best to identify people who might be health risks, whom they either refuse to sell to or charge exorbitant premiums. PPACA attempts to deal with this problem by requiring insurers to offer coverage to anyone willing to pay and placing limits on how much they can increase a policyholder’s premium if he or she has a pre-existing health condition.

Of course, these rules create the risk that many might wait until they are sick to buy insurance, thereby driving insurance companies out of business by depriving them of the steady revenue stream they need to pay claims.

The law addresses this problem through the infamous individual mandate to purchase health in-

surance, but conservatives who share the broad goal of creating a functioning individual insurance market could easily do so in a less coercive way. For instance, they might add an amendment that only requires insurers to accept all comers during certain fixed periods of time, which recur every few years.

The same is true for most other features of PPACA that the right dislikes; there are ways of achieving those provisions’ goals without violating conservative principles. These changes could be made through amending the law while leaving its basic structure intact. And that structure, which will eventually make it possible for all working-age Americans to pay for health insurance with their own money (with subsidies for the less well-off ), advances one of the right’s key health policy goals. Indeed, if a viable individual insurance market could be established, it might be possible to integrate Medicare (which was created because the elderly have higher health risks and so could not afford their own coverage) into that system as well. Therefore, while conservatives should of course continue to oppose specific features of the law that they dislike, their overall aim should not be to reverse the halting steps their opponents have taken in their direction, but to build on them.

Ajay Ravichandran is a fourthyear in the College majoring in philosophy.

5

Drawn together The Logan Center needs to be a space where disciplinary lines intersect rather than divide Meaghan Murphy Viewpoints Contributor This quarter marks the student opening of the Logan Center, and, really, the chaos of the space is the least of my worries. I’ll take anything over the fallen-in dance floor of Ida Noyes and the ruinous beast of a “theater” that is University Church. The new space is a gift, just one that needs to be broken in a little. Personally, I’m more concerned about the way “the arts” are viewed in this community and how the Logan Center fits into that image.

As the College is a liberal arts institution within a research university, there is naturally some of that classic strain between the arts and the sciences, the humanities and economics. It’s in our reputation. The Universty of Chicago, aside from being known as the place “where fun comes and die” or whatever, is known for being a champion of neoclassical thought as well as a bastion of intellectualism. I mean, when you look at the list of our Nobel Laureates, the overwhelming majority are for Chemistry, Economic Sciences, Physics and Physiology, or Medicine. In fact, there are only four Nobel Laureates outside those fields: three for Literature and Barack Obama for Peace. This is a legacy that a lone building can only begin to contend with.

But the strain in our college goes beyond University prestige and new construction. I’ll be blunt: The way certain non-humanities students react when you even bring up an arts assignment is downright problematic.

Example: A girl in my dorm was carrying a traffic cone. I asked her what it was for. She said it was for a visual arts assignment. She needed to collect a number of orange objects. This response was immediately followed by the expected sarcastic, “Ohhhh life as an arts major is sooooo hard,” response from another student (a pre-med).

I’m sorry, but why can’t collecting orange objects be just as meaningful as your problem set? I know it’s easy to hear this and immediately think of your labs and discussions and exams and see collecting orange objects as wasteful and, well, stupid. And that’s fine.

But to dismiss art so completely is a dangerous thing.

The attitude that an arts assignment is somehow insignificant because it does not require time spent in the Reg is dangerous. The attitude that a major in English or TAPS or visual arts is somehow less “useful” than a degree in the sciences because it does not funnel directly into professional school is equally dangerous. And building a “Center for the Arts” that both condenses the many artistic disciplines into one space and removes them all from the central hub of campus does, in some ways, enhance these dangers.

To make something of a reducARTS continued on page 6

THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | April 6, 2012

6

University community must bridge the gap between the arts and sciences ARTS continued from page 5 tive comparison, our University did not build one building for all of the sciences.

Each branch is given its own space and its own identity as well as its own place in the Core. Though, of course, this is done to accommodate the sizes of these departments, it does make me question why we need to localize all of “the arts” on campus, both in the physical space they take up and their place in the Core.

It will be interesting to see what the Logan Center does for our community as a whole.

It is truly a fantastic building and will provide many people with new opportunities.

But its place in the culture of our campus has yet to be determined. Will it simply entrench the arts as a sphere of thought and learning separated from the rest of the college by old attitudes and the physical buffer of the Midway, or will it promote interdisciplinary learning?

It is my hope that with the Logan Center, we can work towards a more interdisciplinary culture. I hope that we can move towards a new attitude, where we carry artistic approaches to the BSLC and scientific approaches to the Logan Center. But culture is hard to change; it will take a lot to convince everyone that TAPS 101 and Math 151 are even remotely related. With the Core, we study broadly, but that doesn’t always lead to interdisciplinary thought. Interdisciplinary learning begins with exploring different subjects, but beyond that it asks you to make connections between not only the content of these subjects, but also the ways of thinking which unite them.

The Logan Center will certainly enrich the already vibrant artistic community at U of C, and I can even see it going some way toward quelling the stereotypes of artists as dilettantish or somehow unserious in their studies. But it is ultimately up to us, the members of the University community, to actively bridge the gap between the arts and sciences—to connect the life of the artistic and the scientific mind—on an individual level.

And that may well start with collecting orange objects inside a shiny new building.

Meaghan Murphy is a first-year in the College majoring in English.

CLASSIFIEDS Classified advertising in The Chicago Maroon is $3 for each line. Lines are 45 characters long including spaces and punctuation. Special headings are 20-character lines at $4 per line. Submit all ads in person, by e-mail, or by mail to The Chicago Maroon, Ida Noyes Hall, Lower Level Rm 026, 1212 E. 59th St., Chicago, IL 60637. The Chicago Maroon accepts Mastercard & Visa. Call (773) 702-9555.

5430 S HARPER

562 E ST LAWRENCE Student Housing.3 Bedroom owner occupied apt. Fully furnished. All paid utilities plus cable ready Shared bathroom. Will house 6 students.$600.00 per student. Call Ms. Franks 773-266-1715./ 562 e.50th pl.(St.LawrenceAve)

SHORT-TERM RESEARCH ASST NEEDED Short-term research assistant wanted for historical book project. $15/hr. Contact ianz90@yahoo.com

YOUR AD HERE advertise in the maroon ADS@CHICAGOMAROON.COM

5430 S. Harper, Unit 2S Brand new renovation.

Beautiful Two (2) Bedroom One (1) BA plus Sunroom completely renovated apartment in attractive six (6) unit building featuring: New cabinet kitchen with all new appliances, including dishwasher and microwave, new bathroom, central air cond., and prewired for internet and cable. Beautifully refinished hardwood floors, and good natural light.

Building features: on-site laundry, bicycle room and storage lockers in basement and large private back yard for barbequing. Great location near Treasure Island shopping center and university shuttle. $1250 Call Jerry 312608-1234, jettinger@hallmark-johnson.com

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.

John Wesley and His 18th Century Context dinner & conversation with

Kyle Rader Is religious fervor fundamentally at odds with rationality? The socalled Age of Reason would seem to suggest as much, but some of the same people who explored the possibilities and limits of reason and experience were also part of great revivals whose effects linger to this day. Come learn about one such person, and see if his way of reconciling seeming opposites offers us a lesson for today.

Wednesday, April 11, 6:00 pm A vegetarian meal is served. Bring your friends! Your RSVP is helpful: office@brenthouse.org, 773-947-8744 or the Facebook event.

BRENT House:

The Episcopal Center at the University of Chicago

5540 South Woodlawn Avenue • Chicago, IL 60637 www.brenthouse.org • www.facebook.com/brent.house.chicago • 773/947-8744

The editors of the MAROON would like to offer their

Fundamentals: Issues and Texts

CONGRATULATIONS to

Jordan Larson & Sharan Shetty

Announces a Public Colloquium

The

Elected Editors-in-Chief

Power of Books:

and

Some Personal Accounts

Colin Bradley

Nathan Tarcov

Elected Managing Editor

Professor of Social Thought and Political Science

THE CHICAGO MAROON for the 2012-2013 year

Christopher Wild Professor of Germanic Studies and Theatre and Performance Studies

Wednesday, April 11 4:30 P.M. Stuart 101 Reception to follow They have proven themselves as skilled writers, talented editors, and dedicated leaders and we look forward to the changes they will bring to the University and its newspaper.

This event is recommended for students considering a major in Fundamentals.

More information about Fundamentals will be available at the event.

Persons needing assistance should contact Jonny Thakkar (jthakkar@uchicago.edu).

ARTS

Trivial Pursuits APRIL 6, 2012

Prime time for rhyme: Poetry Month with 57th St. Books Emma Broder Associate Arts Editor Overheard on the quad last week: “Oh, you know it’s April when the squirrels run up the tree like that,” one girl commented to her friend as a squirrel hurled itself, kamikaze-style, from the trunk of a huge maple.

“They’re so cute!” I didn’t think that was a seasonal thing, but then again, maybe she had a point. My dog killed a squirrel that couldn’t get up a tree fast enough, and that happened in November. Some of nature’s mysteries are better left alone.

Another sign that it’s April is the arrival of National Poetry Month, a sixteen-year-old annual nationwide celebration of “poetry and its vital place in American culture,” according to the Academy of American Poet’s website. National Poetry Month has some classic traditions like Poem In Your Pocket Day (April 26), when participants carry a beloved poem in their pocket all day, sharing it with people around them. Since Poem In Your Pocket Day is a few weeks from now, I wandered into 57th Street Books this past weekend looking for a new book of poetry from which, I hoped, I could make my Pocket Poem selection. Instead of browsing the shelves, though, I found myself chatting with 57th Street’s savvy staff, who threw a few suggestions my way. They were so good, I couldn’t resist sharing them. Happy Poetry Month, everyone—and watch out for flying squirrels.

The Trees The Trees by Heather Christle (Octopus Books, 2011) The book I’ve had stuck in my head for the past month or two is Heather Christle’s The Trees The Trees (Octopus Books, 2011). It’s a book of poems without line breaks that have their own weird logic and curious sense of humor. When the book first came out, Christle set up a phone number to whose callers she

COURTESY OF OCTOPUS BOOKS

COURTESY OF SAND PAPER PRESS

COURTESY OF PENGUIN

would read one of the poems. I never did it, but I like that idea. It’s true that the book has one of the most emo lines I’ve read outside of a Saves the Day Song (“I could drive across Nebraska / and no one would notice”), yet it remains hopeful and playful in its oblong resignation (“he is not that kind of man / it is not that kind of snow”). Read this book over and over again until her voice seems to be the only one that could possibly make sense.

—Hannah Manshel is the Children’s Book Buyer at 57th Street Books and a recent graduate of the University of Chicago. Lately she feels guilty for reading more weird poetry than kids’ books.

writer with Mathews’s background, and these poems will remind his readers of his usual preoccupations, as well as the infamous and extraordinary constraints of the Oulipo, the workshop of potential literature that influenced work by Georges Perec, Jacques Roubaud, and Italo Calvino. Here, Mathews also engages with other poets, addressing, paying homage to, and antagonizing Kenneth Koch, Heinrich Heine, and, most successfully, Henry Vaughan. For new readers, this poetry could serve as a brilliant introduction to Mathews’s writing; for his fans, it’s something fresh, imaginative, and, as always, exciting.

—Jeff Waxman is a bookseller at 57th Street Books and a promotions manager at the University of Chicago Press.

Notley’s Disobedience, the winner of the 2002 Griffin Poetry Prize, invites the reader into a world prior to the widespread changes that took place after 9/11. Disobedience reads like a series of journal entries from Notley’s time in Paris but is written in the form of contemporary poetry by the seasoned professional writer, who has published over 30 books. She narrates the work as a woman who’s gotten the hell out of the United States to live as an expatriate. The title of the collection reveals the narrator’s attitude towards politics in America and the Western world (including Europe). Notley’s opinion is that these politics take much of their style from civil disobedience and counter-cultural contempt for authority. Even when she’s talking about deciding whether to accept or reject feminism and exploring the terms on which she wishes to define herself, Notley writes without sentimentality, even with ferocity.

—Rui Carlos da Cunha has been the Receiving Manager at The Seminary Co-op Bookstore since 2003.

The New Tourism by Harry Mathews (Sand Paper Press, 2010) I’ve read and loved every essay and novel that Harry Mathews has in print, so when I saw that he had recently authored a book of poetry I went for it immediately. Arcane and restrictive poetic forms are second nature to a

Disobedience by Alice Notley (Penguin Books, 2001) Dated from July 1995 to August 1996 and published by Penguin Books in 2001, Alice

Hot Pink Mess: Minaj’s latest album lacks focus

Mummies, superheroes, and Taylor Lautner, oh my!

Tomi Obaro Arts Editor

Hollywood’s latest happenings

It’s been an eventful 2012 for New York rapper/singer/provocateur Nicki Minaj, even though it’s only April. Coming off a strong 2011, when her single “Super Bass” catapulted to the top of the Billboard charts and became the go-to anthem for cute white girls with web cameras, Minaj has sung with Madonna, snagged some high profile mag covers, and managed to briefly eclipse one of the defining Grammy moments of our time ( Jennifer Hudson killing it on a Whitney standard the day after Houston died) with a head-scratching exorcism-cummedieval dungeon performance of her new track, “Roman Holiday.”

No doubt about it, Minaj is having a cultural moment.

But trying to be all things to all people—sharp-tongued emcee to the hip-hop heads, muse to the fashion intelligentsia, pop princess to six-year-old British girls— isn’t conducive for an album, where a sense of order, logic, and consistency is necessary. Minaj’s latest record, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded suffers from a lack

Daniel Rivera Associate Arts Editor

Katy Perry + Rihanna + Marilyn Monroe = trying too hard.

COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP

of cohesion, rendering the end result a lackluster, schizophrenic work that ultimately doesn’t mean a whole lot to anyone.

Handicapping the album from the get-go is Minaj’s decision to split it into two halves—one fea-

turing her alter ego, Roman Zolanski, a hard-spitting rapper and the other featuring Minaj as a tepid Katy Perry/Rihanna imitator. This basically means that the first half of the album is actually MINAJ cntinued on page 9

Haven’t seen The Hunger Games? You’re the only one: In only two weeks, the dystopian action flick has racked up an unbelievable international gross of about $380 million. Among the many records Katniss’s arrow has broken, these are some of the most impressive. The Hunger Games boasts the second highest non-sequel opening week and weekend debut (only behind The Dark Knight), the highest non-sequel single day opening, and the top opening weekend in March, ever.

Katniss has no idea of the effect she can have: Before she was pissing off the Capitol with a fistful of nightlock, Jennifer Lawrence was all done up in blue scales for last year’s X-Men: First Class. It ended up being such an unexpected hit that a sequel is in the works, scheduled to start shooting this fall. There’s a problem, though: Catching Fire, the next Hunger Games movie, is set to film this summer and fall, as well. Fox’s deal with Lawrence

would trump Lionsgate’s, meaning it could be a while before audiences get to see Katniss Everdeen on the silver screen again, despite the fact that a November 2013 release date has already been set.

Super Overkill: Tired of superhero movies? Well, then I’ve only got bad news for you. In addition to this summer’s The Avengers and The Amazing Spiderman, as well as the still untitled X-Men: First Class sequel, Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall is set to film this summer and Man of Steel, Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, is in post-production for a release next June. Also coming up next year? Thor 2, The Wolverine, and Iron Man 3. Meanwhile, Green Lantern 2, Captain America 2, and a Daredevil reboot are all in the works for 2014.

Reboots are (Un)Dead: Jon Spaihts, screenwriter of this summer’s Alien prequel, Prometheus, has just been hired by Universal to write a reboot of the ’99’s The Mummy. Little known fact: the original was actually nominated for an Oscar (Best Sound).

MOVIES continued on page 9

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | April 6, 2012

8

James may not be Meyer, but chains and whips excite her What began as Twilight fanfiction ends up an erotic bestseller Lindsay Warren Arts Staff For reasons still unclear to me, and possibly to the rest of the world reading and reviewing it, E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey is currently sitting atop the New York Times bestseller list.

Considering the fact that it started as Twilight fan fiction—albeit with sex (and more sex…and kinky sex) and, possibly, a more intriguing plotline—that’s actually quite impressive. This book is strange, it’s not for everyone, and it should definitely be purchased in e-book form to minimize awkward conversations with anyone who happens to be sitting around you. Yet somehow I flipped through almost 700 of those e-book pages at an unbelievable rate. Now try to quantify that, University of Chicago.

The story begins with Anastasia Steele filling in for her student-reporter best friend at an interview with the very private Mr. Christian Grey, CEO (only under duress, because, hello, she has exams she’d rather be studying for!). You’d have thought Ana would have noticed the gigantic phallic symbol of an office building she was walking into in order to conduct said interview, her being an English major and all, but why ruin the suspense for the virginal, unknowingly beautiful heroine? Instead she gets to walk out of the interview feeling awkward and swoony, because this is the only guy she’s ever met who could measure up to the “ideals and expectations” she’s set based on her favorite “literary romantic heroes.”

Bear through the choppiness of the first few chapters and the little wink-nudge shopping trip Christian makes to the hardware store where Ana works (in search of cable ties, masking tape, and rope…let’s think about this for a minute), because then you get to see them go out on a coffee date.

At the end of said coffee date, Christian saves Ana from death by cyclist, but then says, “Anastasia, you should steer clear of me. I’m not the man for you.” Alas, Christian, she inhaled your scent, so there’s no way that whole avoidance thing is actu-

H U N G E R

ally going to work now.

Especially not if he tracks her cell phone after she drunk-dials him, swooping in to save the day (insert barely existent love triangle here). On the bright side, Ana seems to handle this much more decisively than one Miss Bella Swan and has little fear of calling Christian a stalker. Not that this actually changes anything. Because when you really like a guy, you sometimes have to put up with the little things, like his super-controlling nature and accompanying preference for BDSM. In all fairness, Christian is really open about who he is and what he does (after Ana signs a nondisclosure agreement…and, of course, excluding some secrets in his past because any good fictional relationship needs communication failures). He even goes so far as to write it all down in the contract he wants Ana to sign before they start some kind of “relationship.” Reading through the contract may crush your faith in humanity just a little bit, but it is all there for Ana to see in black and white before she decides to do something crazy.

Still, while Ana seems like she’s definitely enjoying herself, it’s still somewhat disconcerting to read. Also, please do not read this book if you don’t think you can make it through highly descriptive sex scenes. It would be a waste of your time and money now, and possibly later at a therapist’s office.

Honestly though, I sat in my dorm room giggling as I read this book. I went out into the hall to go to dinner and couldn’t stop giggling. I gave it to a friend for dramatic reading purposes and we giggled our way through the dialogue. You can take the utter ridiculousness as seriously or as humorously as you want to, depending on what you’re looking for from the book. There’s definitely the weird sex and the weird relationship dynamic for you to consider (or academically analyze), but I personally liked it better than Twilight. Possibly because Ana seemed a little smarter about what she wanted than Bella. And possibly because Christian seemed to have much more reason for his angst than Edward.

One tie to bind them all: S&M book becomes an unlikely New York Times bestseller.

COURTESY OF THE WRITER’S COFFEE SHOP

Speaking of angst: considering Fifty Shades of Grey is only the first book in a trilogy, it’s safe for you to assume that it ends with a fairly solid cliffhanger featuring Ana’s sexistential crisis (“Bwahaha, now you must buy the sequels!”— The Publisher). And if you happen to be really

enthralled by this story, it’s apparently going to be made into a movie.

Now to see what will be edited out from the book…

But in any case, I bid you happy/hysterical reading and a fond “Laters, baby.”

S T R I K E

A Lure in Chinatown Iliya Gutin Arts Staff Sure, first year, going to Chinatown is all fun and games, an exciting and exotic (albeit University imposed) diversion on a Saturday night; “Oooo, Taro root! The soup is IN the dumplings?! What wizardry is this?!” Second year, it’s more of a practical convenience; “I have $8 to my name and downtown is like in a different time zone.” By third year, it’s kind of like, “Fuck it. I don’t care. Food is food.”

And fourth year… well I really hope it doesn’t have to come to that. So yeah, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m more jaded about the prospect of dining in Chinatown than all of the faux jade dragons for sale in all its dinky trinket shops combined. On second thought, that might not be saying much.

The point is, how many possible times can you go for dim sum or hot pot or Lao-this and Lao-that without going all Oedipus and gouging your eyes out with a pair of chopsticks.

Yet my intention is not to bore you with a hateful diet-ribe, but rather to present a tasteful discourse, a degustation if you will, on Novelty. It’s what I absolutely crave in life, love and, above all, food. Up until I visited Lure Izakaya Pub, I was pretty sure Chinatown had forgotten the meaning of the word.

Surprises abound in this Far East corner of the Chinatown mall, away from Tony Hu’s restaurant empire and the glistening Peking duck window

displays. Elderly Chinatown denizens peek in at you through the tinted windows, trying to make sense of this Japanese intruder in their midst. And themed costume nights, ranging from vampires to Lolita, probably don’t help to alleviate their apprehension. There’s neon lighting, a fish tank, and an awkward “DJ station” in the middle of the room that makes you wonder whose bar mitzvah you just walked in on. Thankfully, there are no usedpanty vending machines in the bathroom. But the biggest surprise is also the best, and the reason you should come here time and time again. It’s the food; small, yet highly shareable plates of Japanese grub that will satisfy the fangirl in all of us.

LURE IZAKAYA PUB 2017 South Wells Street 312-225-8989

The seared zuke salmon is about as straightforward as a raw piece of soy-marinated fish gets, and could have done without all of the random accoutrements in the bowl. Still it was pleasant and refreshing in the way that only sashimi can be. The seaweed salad wasn’t much of a departure from your standard preparation either, and any claims to it having wasabi fell on deaf tongues. Fortunately the Spicy Cat Rice Motoyaki was in many ways

the embodiment of Lure’s fun, almost child-like, approach towards messing with Japanese flavors and ingredients. Though an unfortunate name for the dish, it was basically a deconstructed bowl of sushi… and I assure you the proteins of choice were tuna and rock shrimp. Little flecks of dehydrated seaweed really helped add a necessary crunch factor, and the spicy mayo, while about as standard as they come, bound the whole dish together into nice chopstick-sized chunks of yum.

But if the cat rice is restrained, the hot wings certainly aren’t. The waitress warned us that it was spicy, but the true meaning of this term was somehow lost in translation. Fried in a manner more akin to tempura than say, Harold’s, they puffed up like chicken lollipops and lay in a shallow pool of sauce straight from the Godzilla’s atomic blast. If you’re looking for that mouth-numbing, ma la sensation that brings the noise and the pain (and pleasure for a few sick, twisted individuals), these wings will satisfy your craving better than any mapo dofu or Chongqing hot pot in the area.

The prices, if not the spices, are where Lure shows restraint. An entire grilled squid, while easily at least $20 at any other restaurant in Chicago, was a mere $7 here. And while it came with the typical soy-scallion-ginger, aka “Asian”, sauce, it had a perfect al dente bite and a satisfying charred flavor that fills your mouth like a hamburger at a summer barbecue.

Full disclosure: I had a Groupon that entitled

3.5 out of 5 forks

“

When it comes to choosing dishes at Lure, take a moment to step outside and throw all the caution you can find to the blistery Chicago wind.

”

me to a seven course tasting menu for two at half price. Yet, even without the extra dishes, and at full price, this would have been a more than satisfying meal. Don’t get me wrong; Chinese food is amazing and complex, and Chinatown is still a food Mecca – especially cast against the dim prospects in Hyde Park. But Lure stands out in its ability to break the rules, the unwritten code of Chinatown, wherein even the “new” restaurants and shops are fundamentally old in their culinary approach. I guess what I’m trying to say is, my dinner at Lure was the best meal I’ve had in Chinatown… and it wasn’t Chinese.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | April 6, 2012

CALEND AR 1

7

8

2

3

9 10

4

5

6

11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

9

WITH HANNAH GOLD

Do What You’re Told

Friday | April 6 If you’re tired of playing hide-and-go-seek at the Art Institute, why not try a scavenger hunt through one of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s current exhibits instead? At this month’s hip hop–themed First Friday at the MCA, guests will also have the chance to create their own graffiti art, enjoy live entertainment from DJ Alvin Black III, and engage in some harmless hobnobbing (this should go well with the complimentary Wolfgang Puck hors d’oeuvres). 220 East Chicago Avenue.

6–10 p.m., $14 in advance; $18 at door, 21+.

The Japanese Student Association’s Second Annual Spring Matsuri Dinner and Show is happening on the third-floor theater of Ida Noyes.

Enjoy a catered dinner from Shinju Sushi and fun arts activities like a kimono photo booth and an origami workshop. Then, at seven, the Chicago Koto Group, Judo Martial Arts, and Shin Dancing Troupes, among others, will take the stage.

1212 East 59th Street. 5–8:30 p.m., $10.

Saturday | April 7 You can never be too drunk to brunch. Every Saturday and Sunday for the rest of April, get a plateful of chilaquiles on the house when you order the Mexican hangover brunch at Mercadito. The catch? You have to actually remember in the morning to bring along the receipt from the bar, club, or restaurant where you drank in order to get the free goods. 108 West Kinzie Street. Brunch served Sat. 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m.; Sun 11:30 a.m.–4 p.m., 21+.

How do you jump to the island of conclusions? By deciding that there’s no way you could possibly miss Jules Feiffer, Pulitzer Prize–winning illustrator of childhood classic, The Phantom Tollbooth, at the Jean Albano Gallery. In honor of Tollbooth’s 51st Anniversary, Feiffer will be signing a completely different work— his memoir, Backing into Forward—but you’ll still have time to reminisce about the good old days when every book you read had pictures in it. 215 West Superior Street. 12—3 p.m., free.

Sunday | April 8 When it comes to Mad Men, there’s always a better way to get your fix. If the themed parties and Banana Republic clothing line haven’t been satisfying enough, then I suggest making a trip to Public Chicago (the classy downtown hotel that also houses the Pump Room) for their weekly Mad Men viewing party featuring flights of manhattans, martinis, and gimlets, and DJ spins during commercial breaks. The screening room, with its dark, wood-paneled walls, suede couches and plush carpeting, is the kind of place in which Don Draper has sex all the time.

1301 North State Street. 7–10 p.m., $25, reservation required.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is one of those movies that will always entice and baffle. At the Music Box Theatre this Easter Sunday, you can skeptically revel in a special screening of the 1971 classic film

adaptation that brought you chocolate rivers, edible Mario mushrooms, and purple Gene Wilder. There will also be a preshow costume contest (don your best Veruca Salt, Augustus Gloop, etc.) and complimentary goodie bags for all. 3733 North Southport Avenue. 2 p.m., $12 in advance; $14 day of if available.

Remember when you were an impressionable, imaginative eight-year-old, for whom Hogwarts was just a letter-delivered-in-thebeak-of-an-owl away? Well, you’re here now, so you might as well face the music. University of Chicago Quidditch, which just got off the ground (but not literally) this past year, has invited a genuine wizard rock band.

Harry and the Potters of “Save Ginny Weasley” fame will play at Ida Noyes to hoards of eager and ironic fans, hopefully brandishing twigs and dressed in Snuggies®. 1212 East 59th Street. 7:30–8:30 p.m., $5.

Actors shuffle, MPAA relents, and Adam Sandler comedy gets a sequel MOVIES continued from page 7 Reign of Meyer Continues: Her vampires may have lived for centuries, but it seems like this woman has been hanging around for millennia. Stephenie Meyer, best known as the scribe behind the Twilight novels, won’t be fading away with the release of Breaking Dawn: Part Two this November, despite it being the series’s last film. A trailer for The Host, Meyer’s first sci-fi novel, just dropped, touting a newly-brunette Saoirse Ronan as lead and a March 2013 release date. Ronan has also been pegged for the lead in another adaptation of a young adult novel, Meg Rosoff ’s How I Live Now. Bullied into Submission: After a long and highly publicized battle with the MPAA, the controversial film Bully has an official rating: PG-13. First slapped with an ‘R’ for language (extensive f-bombs), Bully was to be originally released as ‘Unrated,’ which could’ve limited the amount of theaters in which it played. The Weinstein Company finally struck a deal with the MPAA and edited the film, but not without guaranteeing it could keep one particularly traumatic scene in full.

Gordon-Levitt Unchained: Joseph Gordon-Levitt has officially dropped out of Tarantino’s next film, Django Unchained, due to scheduling conflicts with his own directorial debut. Jamie Foxx stars as the titular Django, an escaped slave who, with the help of a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz), sets out to save his wife from

The Mummy is back with a vengeance (but Brendan won’t be).

COURTESY OF JASIN BOLAND

a “brutal Mississippi plantation owner,” played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Little is known about Gordon-Levitt’s film, Don Jon’s Addiction, except that currently he, Scarlett Johansson, and Julianne Moore are all set to star.

Things No One Wants: And to end the column on an off note, Taylor Lautner, whose naked torso you might recognize from the Twilight saga, is in talks to star in Grown Ups 2, the sequel to Adam Sandler’s moderately successful 2010 comedy. The

original cast and director are also on board for the sequel, as is Oliver Cooper of last month’s Project X. One can only hope that the film goes better than Sandler’s megaflop Jack and Jill, which swept the 2011 Razzie’s.

At middle, Minaj loses momentum sounding like her pop peers MINAJ continued from page 7 pretty good and the other half is full of the sort of songs you belt out drunkenly at a frat party.

“Come on a Cone” is one of the good ones. Over a hypnotic, whirling synthesizer beat, Minaj brags about her growing pop culture ubiquity, dropping references to Anna Wintour, Ellen DeGeneres, and Oscar de la Renta while gloating about the six-figure check needed to get her to guest star on a track. Even if she has to resort to phallic imagery to get her point across, (the song ends with, “put my dick in your face”), stupid-smart lyrics like, “and I’m

not masturbatin but I’m feelin’ myself,” make the song an album highlight.

It’s also very easy to imagine “bitches ain’t shit, and they ain’t say nothing” on “Beez in the Trap” becoming a real catch phrase much like “that shit cray’ from last year’s Watch The Throne. On “Beez,” Minaj continues her theme of rap dominance, with a cameo from Georgia rapper 2 Chainz. Lyrically, it’s tight, but it’s really the minimalist, head-bopping production that makes this track stand out.

Unfortunately once you hit track number eight, “Right by my side” featuring Chris Brown and signaling the album’s

transition from rap to pop, the songs begin to run together and sound like they came from the brain of one Ester Dean, the lyricist behind tracks like Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” and “S&M.” Minaj’s singing voice is mediocre, so how the listener feels about the rest of the album depends entirely on his or her penchant for European-influenced, four-on-the-floor dance music.

But even that stuff is tolerable compared to the album’s worst track, a treacle-y, quasi-vulnerable ballad titled “Marilyn Monroe,” in which Minaj sings about feeling like Marilyn Monroe because she’s famous and not a natural blond.

But ultimately, what’s most frustrating about this album, and Minaj in general, is that the gimmicks obscure the talent.

Minaj is a highly skilled emcee. She shines on other people’s tracks, “Monster” from Kanye West’s 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy being her career highlight. But whenever the spotlight falls on her, she always overcompensates.

It’s like the pressure of being a successful female emcee means she has to capture every current trend and placate every viable demographic. Even her album cover has too much going on. Some restraint is in order.

10

THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | April 6, 2012

Behind solid pitching, Maroons look to invigorate offense Softball Derek Tsang Associate Sports Editor The Maroons will face a pair of Wisconsin foes this weekend, visiting Lawrence (4–8) for a doubleheader on Friday before trekking to UW– Oshkosh (12–8) for another pair of games.

For Chicago (13–5), the upcoming road trip preludes an extended run of home games; after this weekend, six of its remaining seven fixtures will be played at Stagg Field. The team will be looking to bring its hitting form, as well as a quartet of wins, back to the South Side.

“Once we get back to the way we were hitting in Florida, I think we will be unstoppable,” said secondyear outfielder Kaitlyn Carpenter earlier in the week.

UW–Oshkosh is the stronger of the Maroons’ opponents this weekend, featuring an offense that

has averaged a shade over five runs a game and boasts a team on-base percentage of .356. The Titans have proved that they can hit for both average and power, blasting 16 home runs over their 20 games.

The Maroons’ pitching should be up to the challenge, though. Third-year Kim Cygan (8–1)— softball’s UAA Athlete of the Week—hasn’t allowed a run in her past 19.0 innings of work. In her last five starts, she’s only allowed a single earned run, and has a 0.73 ERA on the season.

Cygan should start one game in each doubleheader. If Chicago sticks to its recent script, fourth-year right-hander Sarah Neuhaus (4–3) will start the other pair of games. Neuhaus has won two of her last three and boasts an ERA of 2.92. On form, Neuhaus has shown the ability to take over games.

The Maroons have been able to count on 1.5

their pitching staff to consistently keep them in games this season.

“Our pitching will keep us in games, so we need our offense to step up, execute, and finish,” said head coach Ruth Kmak after last weekend’s action.

To that end, Chicago has been focusing on its offense throughout practice this week, looking to squeeze crucial extra runs out of promising innings.

“We intend to work on execution of our bunt offense and our bunt defense this week,” Kmak said, “as well as some of our swing mechanics, to confidently go into the games next weekend.”

The Maroons will attempt to get their offense in gear against two respectable pitching staffs; Lawrence, fresh off of their spring trip to Florida against quality opposition, has a team ERA of 3.59, and Oshkosh has kept teams to 2.05 earned runs a game behind their ace, Courtney Wautier (8–2),

vs. Bethel 4.0 IP, 4 K, 3 ER

1.4

who has pitched fully half of her team’s innings at an ERA of 1.35.

In their weekend games, the Maroons will look to play the same way they have all season: strong pitching, aggressive baserunning, and spectacular defense.

Their offense has been brilliant at times—a four-game stretch in Florida saw them average 11 runs a game—but has left room for improvement, along with a plethora of runners on base in recent games. Against worthy but not elite competition, this could be the weekend where the Maroons finally string together a handful of complete performances.

The Maroons play at 3 p.m. this afternoon in Appleton, Wisconsin and 1 p.m. on Saturday in Oshkosh.

vs. UW-Platteville 7.0 IP, 8 K, 1 ER

1.3

vs. Allegheny 6.0 IP, 4 K, 0 ER

Earned Run Average

1.2

vs. Fontbonne 4.1 IP, 8 K, 2 ER

1.1

vs. Lakefront 7.0 IP, 11 K, 1 ER

1.0 vs. Tufts 7.0 IP, 1 K, 0 ER

0.9 0.8

vs. Illinois Wesleyan - 1 7.0 IP, 4 K, 0 ER

vs. Wheaton 7.0 IP, 6 K, 0 ER

0.7

vs. Union 6.0 IP, 4K, 0 ER

0.6

0.5

vs. Illinois Wesleyan - 1 3.0 IP, 2 K, 0 ER

0.4 0.3 0.2

4/1

4/1

3/31

3/26

3/24

3/23

3/21

3/21

3/20

3/17

3/18

vs. Concordia Wisconsin 9.0 IP, 11 K, 0 ER

0.1

0.0

Game Third-year Kim Cygan has been on a dominant run this season: She’s 8–1 and has a 0.73 ERA. Since March 21, her season ERA has dropped from 1.52 to 0.73.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVE HILBERT, GRAPHIC BY DOUGLAS EVERSON, JR.

11

THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | April 6, 2012

Rekindling a lost love: A baseball story

By Vicente Fernandez Sports Editor Baseball was my first love. Or it was my dad’s.

He came over from Venezuela when he was eighteen and played ball as an exchange student in his newly found high school home. The sport was passed down to me and I really did love it for a while. Looking back, I’m not sure what happened.

In Venezuela, the ballpark is the people’s “Sports Mecca.” Soccer, the arena that reigns supreme in the rest of Latin America, is just an afterthought in Caracas. Sports like basketball and boxing aren’t even on the radar. The country boasts a lineage of Hall of Famers and future HOF’s like Luis Aparicio, David Concepcion, and Omar Vizquel. In today’s game Venezuela hasn’t shown signs of slowing either—check out Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. Maybe I’m a little biased on the topic of Venezuela’s place in the Big Leagues, but my passion is not misplaced. Just ask Ozzie Guillen.

So when I got old enough to hold a bat, kick a ball, or shoot a hoop, you can imagine which field I wound up spending my weekends on.

And my dad was the coach. From a current U of C athlete’s point of view—I play football for the Maroons—I’ve got no problem stating my humble beginnings in little league. Let’s just say I was our team’s last batter back when we hit off the tee.

Sucking at sports way back when actually turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for my growing baseball love, for my sports career, and for my relationship with my dad, though.

When I’d get home from school, as far back as I can remember, my dad was always waiting for me with a crate of baseballs, two freshly oiled mitts—straight from under the mattress—and a pair of caps (usually the Florida Marlins). We’d play until sundown in a lot across the street and

we’d set up the unused glove as home plate.

I’d take swings until the crate was empty and the balls were scattered across the grass and onto the street. Then we’d pick them up, head inside, and talk about how excited we were for Saturday to come. That’s what I loved about baseball. It was the daydream that kept me awake through science class and the birthplace of the nerves that always managed to crawl up my back as I headed for my first at-bat. I don’t really think you can beat those feelings that a sport brings you as a kid.

After a few years of repeating this practice cycle I wasn’t in the outfield anymore—I was at second (all that hard work still didn’t garner me a strong arm)— and I was batting third. My dad was still the tough coach he always was, a real little league Guillen—who in those days was at third base for my hometown team. I’d still hear him scream from the dugout whenever one of those infamous ground balls bounced between my legs and into the outfield or whenever I struck out swinging, but the more he pushed, the less errors I’d commit. And the less errors I’d commit the more I wanted to be out on the field. Sometimes I’d cry and others I’d want to yell, but in the end my dad and I always wound up riding home, smiling. And we’d get back to work on Monday. Looking back those were my most important moments as an athlete.

The passion I had for baseball on the field extended off it. My dad and I would drive to Target after games—to the aisle with all the sports cards, by the register, behind the 16 ounce sodas. I’d look at all of the flashy plastic paper with the big leaguers on them and my eyes wouldn’t know where to look. On the way home I’d open a pack and at the house we’d read off the players and slide them into the seals of a BIG red card booklet. By the time my baseball days were all said and done that booklet had housed more big name players than the Yankees clubhouse.

This thing was so huge its insides looked like a protruding stomach trying to squeeze into a size small shirt. I knew every player, every stat line. I was the kid almanac of baseball in my class.

One day, though, I met a new girl—football.

I picked up the pigskin and it all came naturally.

She was sleek and cool and a little bit rough. I slowly forgot about the baseball diamond. I stopped collecting cards and switched to fantasy

Li: “Going into this tournament, we will not underestimate any team” TENNIS continued from back

In order to prepare for the upcoming matches, the team played in five matches over the break in South Carolina.

They played Charleston and Coastal Georgia on Sunday, and North Carolina Wesleyan on Monday. The Maroons lost to Charleston 0–7 but defeated both Coastal Georgia and North Carolina Wesleyan 9–0.

On Wednesday and Saturday, they faced Carleton and Coastal Carolina. The Maroons defeated Carleton 9–0, but lost to Coastal Carolina 0–6.

“We didn’t play our best at first, but we improved with every match. Though we ended the week with a loss, I think we learned a lot during our Division I matches about the things we need to work on before UAAs and NCAAs,” Kung said.

In past Midwest Invitational tournaments, Chicago has played Denison for the title.

However, both Kung and Tang said they thought the team’s biggest opponent this year would be DePauw.

The Maroons got off to a successful start this season, defeating a string of Division III Midwestern schools, including DePauw.

When the Maroons first played the Tigers, they won 8–1, but lost to DePauw in the ITA Indoor Championships, placing fifth to DePauw’s third. Since the match was extremely close, the team is not willing to discount DePauw as a competitor.

“Going into this tournament, we will not underestimate any team, and each of us will grind hard to win our own match and solidify our team win, especially in doubles,” third-year Linden Li said.

BASEBALL UAA Standings

football. Instead of my Marlins cap, I would wear my “U” apparel. My BIG red binder got placed on the top shelf of the closet, where it’s too high to reach and where it started its dust collection.

I never hated the game, like so many of my friends claimed, but it didn’t catch my eye like it used to. I’d turn on a Marlins home series, but I’d never make it through a full inning without flipping the channel. And as such, my baseball knowledge became outdated. When I turn on a game now, I don’t know a soul, except some of the old timers who are fighting retirement—the Chipper Joneses of the League.

Thankfully, my dad made the transition with me from baseball. He still watched all my games—still does—I’m just in the backfield, instead of the infield. He still yells just as loud, though by this time there isn’t as much to yell about. Even though my obsession with his first love has faded, the relationship it created between him and me hasn’t, and that’s why I never had an urge to go back.

I’m not sure what it is this year, though. I’m not sure if it’s the Marlins bringing back Ozzie or getting Reyes. I’m not sure if it’s the new straight-out-of Back to the Future ballpark. I’m not sure if it’s my little brother hitting the heart of his little league career. Actually, I think it may be the latter. But I miss baseball.

Whenever I go to his games, I feel a lump rising in my throat, a yell that’s trying to make its way out, like the ones my dad used to give. I feel an urge to drive my brother to Target after the ninth and to put his mitt under the mattress.

I watched my first season opener this week, the Marlins in Miami Marlins Park—yup, I’ve been gone so long they even changed their name. And for my little brother’s birthday—it just passed—I went and bought him so many cards that he sat there confused not knowing what to do with them, since he couldn’t plug them into his PS3.

When I go home this summer, I think I’m going bring down that BIG red binder and dust it off. I may head out to a game or two when the Phillies are in town. And when my little brother is on his way home from school, I’ll be waiting with a crate of baseballs. Because I want to find that game I lost and I want to introduce him to it.

Top five, six the target in meet’s weakened field

Rank School 1 Emory 2 Washington (MO) 3 Case Western 4 Rochester 5 Brandeis 6 Chicago

THIS COULD BE YOUR WORK. Join the MAROON Photography staff.

Win % .704 .778 .625 .250 .185 .647

Batting Average Rank Player School 1 Jack Cinoman Chicago 2 Brandon Rogalski Washington (MO) 3 Andrew Goldstick Washington (MO) 4 5

Brandon Hannon Brett Ossola

Emory Case Western

AVG .466 .457 .372 .371 .370

Home Runs Rank 1 1 3 3 3

Player Sam Alexander Paul Pakan Alex Caghan Daniel Iturrey Matt Keen

School Case Western Case Western Rochester Emory Case Western

HR 3 3 2 2 2

Runs Batted In Rank Player School 1 Brandon Rogalski Washington (MO) 2 Jay Page Emory 2 Zack Kessinger Washington (MO) 4 Sam Alexander Case Western 5

Daniel Iturrey

Emory

RBI 27 25 24 23 21

SOFTBALL UAA Standings Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6

School Emory

Record 25–3 (6–2)

Win % .893

Rochester Washington (MO) Case Western Brandeis Chicago

12–7 (4–4) 15–9 (4–4) 15–89(3–5) 12–8 (3–5) 13–5 (0–0)

.632 .625 .621 .600 .722

Wins Rank Player School 1 Bridget Holloway Emory 1 Rebecca Taylor Case Western 3 Kim Cygan Chicago 4 Olivia Cook Washington (MO) 5 Lena Brottman Emory

Wins 13 13 8 7 6

ERA Rank Player 1 Kim Cygan 2 Lena Brottman 3 Sarah Wayson 4 Madeleine Skellie 5 Bridget Holloway

School Chicago Emory Rochester Rochester Emory

ERA 0.73 1.04 1.47 1.53 1.74

Strikeouts Rank Player 1 Rebecca Taylor 2 Caroline Miller 3 Kim Cygan 4 Bridget Holloway 5 Lena Brottman

TRACK continued from back

considered a success—but perhaps the biggest impact on the competition will come from the holiday weekend, which Hall feels might just take a little away from the event.

“It’s not as good a meet as it has been in past years, and I think that’s because of Easter weekend,” he said. “Some teams are not competing because of the holiday, and some who are competing may not be at full strength. We do compete, and we do try to go full strength because we have so few opportunities before conference. It’s going to be a really good meet, but not quite as good as the past few years.”

The Chicagolands get underway today at 1 p.m. for the women. The men start tomorrow at 9 a.m.

Record 19–8(7–1) 21–6 (5–3) 17–10 – 1(4–4) 4–12(3–5) 5–22(1–7) 11–6 (0–0)

School Case Western Case Western Chicago Emory Emory

Ks 126 65 63 55 42

MEN’S TENNIS UAA Standings Rank School 1 Emory 2 Carnegie 3 Case Western 4 Washington (MO)

Record 13–0 (0–0) 10–5 (0–0) 11–6 (0–0) 8–5 (0–0)

Win%

5

NYU

2–2 (0–0)

.500

6

Rochester

5–9 (0–0)

.357

7

Brandeis

3–6 (0–0)

.333

8

Chicago

1–3 (0–0)

.250

1.000

.667 .647 .615

WOMEN’S TENNIS UAA Standings Rank 1 2 3 3 5

School Brandeis Case Western Chicago Carnegie Emory

Record 10–1 (0–0) 13–2 (0–0) 5–1 (0–0) 13–3 (0–0) 10–3 (0–0)

Win% .909 .867 .833 .812 .769

5

Rochester

6–2 (0–0)

.750

7

Washington (MO)

7–3 (0–0)

.700

8

NYU

0–3 (0–0)

.000

SPORTS

IN QUOTES “I’ve got music going all night to kind of cheer me up after I’ve gone up there and struck out...

It keeps me from having to listen to knuckleheads in the upper deck.”

—St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holiday, referring to the nightclub in the Miami Marlins’ new stadium.

South Siders split home games; Hope lies ahead Baseball Sarah Langs Associate Sports Editor The South Siders’ (11–6) two games this week can best be described as polar opposites. Poor pitching and little offense characterized Tuesday’s game, a 17–2 loss to Concordia Chicago (15–5). A day later, the Maroons banged out 19 hits en route to a 15–5 win over Benedictine (8– 10).

Though these two games brought out very different strengths and weaknesses in the Maroons, the discrepancy can be explained relatively easily.

In Concordia, the Maroons were facing perhaps one of their toughest opponents yet this season. On the flip side, Benedictine was the first squad that had a losing record heading into the game that the Maroons have faced since returning from Florida.

One bright spot in the Concordia game was thirdyear outfielder and pitcher Jack Cinoman, who continues to hit at a torrid pace. He is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak.

Another encouraging element that emerged from the week’s contests was Chicago’s resilience.

Instead of dwelling on their tough

loss, they came out swinging against Benedictine, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looking back.

Fourth-year Alex Garcia (2– 1) pitched eight solid innings to hold Benedictine in check.

“Our game against Concordia was a major letdown, but we showed quite a bit of tenacity to come back strong and beat Benedictine,” third-year infielder Steven Schwabe said. “We were like a totally new team [on Wednesday].”

The team’s rebound hinged on the execution of fundamentals.

“We were able to put everything together for the win against Benedictine,” first-year infielder Kyle Engel said. “We played good defense, our pitching was impressive as usual, and we began to take better approaches at the plate and hit as well as we know we can.”

With their rollercoaster ride of a week now over, the Maroons have two games to look ahead to, against Aurora and Hope. “[Garcia’s] quality pitching performance combined with a much-needed offensive outburst has put us in a good position going forward into the game against Aurora,” fourth-year

Third-year Steven Schwabe slides into first after an attempted pickoff by Benedictine University in Wednesday’s home game.

SYDNEY COMBS | THE CHICAGO MAROON

catcher Stephen Williams said.

Aurora enters today’s game with a 13–4 record and only one road loss. “In the past few years, the games against Aurora have been good games, so we’re ready to take on this next challenge,” Engel said.

Last year, Chicago beat Aurora 5–4.

Hope is currently sitting at 7–10 on the season, but that does not mean that the South Siders should look past Monday’s game.

The two teams faced off last year in Florida, with Hope winning 11–6.

“The next few games against Aurora and Hope will be very

On holiday weekend, Chicago’s best gather at Stagg Track and Field Jake Walerius Associate Sports Editor The Maroons host the annual Chicagoland Championships today and tomorrow, playing host to 20 other teams from the area.

As usual, the event has attracted a strong, large field, and the team hopes its role as host will give it an extra edge.

“As host of the Chicagoland Championships, the Maroons are looking to take advantage of such great competition,” third-year distance runner Billy Whitmore said. “Many will seek to improve upon their previous marks in preparation for UAAs, while a few others hope to post qualifying standards for the NCAAs.” The most notable teams visiting this weekend will be 2011 men’s NCAA D-III champions, North Central, as well as several D-I teams including DePaul, UIC, and Chicago State. The level of competition is a step above last week’s Ted Haydon Invitational, where the Maroons finished second on both the men’s and women’s sides.

Head coach Chris Hall has arranged his team accordingly.

“We’re getting more of our athletes in their primary events,” Hall said. “We look at this meet and recognize that the competition should be very good. We’re hoping the elevated level of competition and bringing people into their

primary events might spark some really great performances for us.”

However, track and field is often a balancing act. In an outdoor season that is characterized by its brevity, Hall is very aware of how his decisions in these early-season meets can affect his team at conference.

“We know the competition’s

going to be good. I think of some specific workout groups, like our long distance runners,” he said. “We just can’t put them into a 5k or a 10k every week because the events are pretty abusive, and they can’t come back from them every week.

“When I put together meet schedules, I look at this [meet]

and feel like this is a time where we need to get them in their primary events so they feel like they’re really pushed.”

The Maroons, both men and women, expect to be among the front-runners this weekend—any finish in the top five or six would be TRACK continued on page 11

The women’s track team pushes forward in a track meet at Henry Crown Field House during the indoor season.

JAMIE MANLEY | THE CHICAGO MAROON

difficult,” Schwabe said. “We need to stay positive and keep our confidence if we want to come out on top.”

First pitch in Aurora, Illinois this afternoon is scheduled for 3 p.m. The Maroons will return home on Monday to face Hope at 4 p.m. on J. Kyle Anderson Field.

Maroons aim for Midwest fourpeat Tennis Sarah Miller Sports Staff The Maroons’ tennis squad will compete in the Midwest Invitational on Friday and Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Maroons have recently been very successful at the invitational, winning the team title each of the past three years.

Fourth-year and co-captain Jen Kung said the Maroons’ biggest opponents in the Midwest Invitational are Denison, DePauw, and Washington University in St. Louis, the other top-ranked teams in the region.

“Going into this tournament, we want to maintain our competitive mentality no matter who we play. We want to close out matches when we are ahead, and stay especially aggressive in doubles play,” first-year Megan Tang said.

In terms of strateg y, Kung said the team does not plan to do anything differently than they have in the past. For the last few weeks, the team has been playing outdoors, but they will have to re-familiarize themselves with indoor courts for the Midwest Invitational. Nevertheless, they plan to play aggressively and focus on doubles.

TENNIS continued on page 11