TUESDAY • APRIL 15, 2014
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ISSUE 38 • VOLUME 125
Barnes’s cause of death released William Rhee News Staff Third-year Nicholas Barnes died of alcohol poisoning according to an e-mail from the Cook County Bureau of Administration. The manner of death was ruled an accident. An autopsy had already taken place on February 16, and early results showed no sign of foul play
or suicide. But the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office initially said that the cause and time of death would not be definitive for four to six weeks, after evidence had gone through a toxicology screening. The full toxicology report has not yet been submitted to medical records, according to the Bureau’s Public Information Officer Frank Shuftan. Barnes was found in his dorm in International House on Satur-
day, February 15, at around 4:15 p.m., according to Chicago Police Department spokesperson Hector Alfaro. Barnes was pronounced dead that same day at 4:50 p.m. A memorial service was held on campus shortly after the discovery of Barnes’s death. Friends of the family have started a fund for the Nicholas Brastins Barnes Prize at Shady Side Academy, his high school alma mater.
Hip-Hop and academia jive at panel Raymond Fang News Staff
Slam Dunk! Catcher in the Rhyme teamed up with the Logan Center for the Arts to present the Chicago GrandSLAM, connecting Catcher with poets of all ages from all corners of the city. FRANK YAN | THE CHICAGO MAROON
Oriental Institute wins lawsuit, keeps Iranian tablets Natalie Friedberg News Staff In late March, the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute won the right to keep a collection of Iranian tablets in a court case that marked the latest chapter of a 17 year–long dispute. The conflict over the tablets originated in 1997 when a shopping mall in Jerusalem was the target of a Hamas-led terrorist attack. A group of nine American survivors filed successfully in U.S. courts for over $300 million for damages against the Republic of Iran, which has funded Hamas periodically. Iran refused to pay the damages, and the plaintiffs have since tried to get their compensation elsewhere, including by claiming a right to a collection on loan from
Iran at the Oriental Institute. The same group has also unsuccessfully attempted to seize Iranian artifacts from the Field Museum and from museums in Massachusetts and Michigan. The case has now gone to court a total of three times. In 2003, the plaintiffs won the case, but the University appealed and has won twice since then, both in 2011 and now in 2014. According to Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute, the courts shifted in favor of the defense after the fact-finding portion of the process ended and the court began to focus on legal analysis. “While it’s a tragedy what happened to the victims of this bombing in Jerusalem, [the] specific remedy that the plaintiff is trying to get is not the proper pathway to justice,” Stein OI continued on page 2
Three faculty named Guggenheim fellows Marta Bakula Maroon Contributor Last Thursday, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded three University of Chicago professors the Guggenheim Fellowship, a prestigious grant that enables professionals to take career hiatuses and pursue creative side projects. Dr. Lainie Ross, Professor Joseph
Thornton, and Professor Haun Saussy were awarded three of the 177 fellowships issued by the Guggenheim Foundation this year. “There is a lot of competition in receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship,” said Saussy, a professor in the Department of Comparative Literature. “This is definitely one of the biggest honors I’ve received.” GF continued on page 2
Prominent scholars, activists, and hip-hop artists discussed the social implications of hip-hop culture during a panel titled “America’s Most Wanted: Hip-Hop, the Media, and the Prison Industrial Complex,” held at International House on April 12. Discussion focused on Chicago’s role in shaping hip-hop, as well as how that influence affects wider constructions of “blackness” and urban life. The panelists also suggested that black communities can create counter-narratives to resist the violent image of blacks that major record labels, radio outlets, and news channels propagate in American media. Drill and trap music—subgenres of hip-hop that feature aggressive beats and violent lyrics—were featured as examples of contemporary hip-hop that have shaped public perceptions of the South Side. The panelists questioned its truth value as a reflection of inner-city life. Che “Rhymefest” Smith, co-
founder of Donda’s House, a Chicago youth arts and music program, said that drill and trap music presents an incomplete image of life in Chicago, and is mostly a moneymaking vehicle for corporate record labels. “The young people say ‘Man, this is how we are gonna get on. This is how we’re gonna get Jimmy Iovine from Interscope to come to our neighborhood, like he did for [Chicago native and trap music artist] Chief Keef, and find us. This is what’s gonna make us have an opportunity in a city where black teenage unemployment is at 92 percent,’” Smith said. The panelists also discussed ways of influencing the media. According to a Pew Center poll cited by moderator and hip-hop activist Jasiri X, 86 percent of the time that black men appear on the news, they are represented as violent individuals. Marc Lamont Hill, a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, argued that the way to change this is for blacks to represent themselves in
a positive light, as a means of countering negative portrayals in media. “When you look at the way black people are represented in the media, it is often through the lens of violence,” Hill said. “The media becomes the way in which people develop norms for how the world works…and we have a huge responsibility to counter-narrate these stories of black people being criminals and black people being violent. We frame the crack addict as not someone with a medical problem, but as a bad person. We construct the sex worker as a bad person, such that when they get incarcerated, it makes sense for the crack addict or sex worker to be in jail, and for the CEO on cocaine to be somewhere else. We have to shift that consciousness.” Dr. Beth Richie, a professor at UIC of criminal justice and of gender studies, also indicated the need for blacks to use opportunities to engage and expand the representation of black women in the media. Richie cited Marissa Alexander, who PANEL continued on page 2
Study links early childhood programs to long-term health benefits Kelly Zhang Maroon Contributor A new study by Nobel Prize–winning University economics professor James Heckman claims that early childhood programs can help prevent the onset of chronic disease in adulthood. The study was based on data collected in a follow-up to the Abecedarian Project, an early childhood intervention experiment that comprised over 100 children from low-income families in North Carolina. The Abecedarian Project began in 1972 and was run by a group of researchers who monitored the children from birth through age five. The treatment group children received high-quality childcare that consisted
of playing educational games, as well as nutritional supplements and health screenings. The control group of children left parents to find whatever child care the parents thought was appropriate. Thirty-five years later, University of Chicago researchers found that the children who received these early childhood interventions grew into healthier adults when contrasted to control group children whose parents organized childcare on their own. The children who received the Abecedarian treatment had a lower risk for coronary heart disease in adulthood. Women in the treatment group were less likely to develop pre-hypertension and suffer from obesity; men had lower blood pressure, higher levels of “good” cholesterol, and reduced
risks for hypertension, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Treatment group adults also had healthier lifestyle behaviors: they exercised more, ate more fruit, and began to drink and smoke at older ages. Heckman believes that the discipline that the project instilled in its subjects is what led to the greater health outcomes. “[Abecedarian] offers a different way to fight costly adult chronic diseases; investing early in the development of children to build the knowledge and self-regulation necessary to prevent chronic disease and help them lead healthy, productive lives,” he said in a University press release. When University of North CaroSTUDY continued on page 2
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House of avante-garde
OLAS celebrates Latin American culture, diversity, and dance » Page 7
Fierce weekend yields split doubleheaders
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Krob’s walk-off single spurs only win of three-game homestand » Page 10
THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | April 15, 2014
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NEWS IN BRIEF Sally posthumously wins inaugural mathematics award
OI will continue to digitize tablet collection OI continued from front
Professor Paul Sally was posthumously recognized for his work targeting K–12 education on April 10. COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
The late mathematics professor Paul Sally, Jr. was posthumously awarded the inaugural American Mathematical Society (AMS) Award for Impact on the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics, the AMS announced on Thursday. Sally was notified of the honor shortly before he passed away in December. The award honors “significant contributions of lasting value to mathematics education,� according to the AMS website. It prioritizes work with teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade to enhance their impact on achievement and contribu-
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tions to improve mathematics education in the first two years of college. Sally taught for nearly 50 years, and in addition to serving as director of undergraduate studies for the University of Chicago’s mathematics department, he authored a number of research papers and books in the field of harmonic analysis. He also established a number of programs targeted towards teachers and students in kindergarten through grade 12, notably Seminars for Elementary Specialists and Mathematics Educators, a first-of-its-kind program for el-
ementary school teachers from Chicago Public Schools, and the Young Scholars Program for talented high school students from underprivileged backgrounds. “Paul was an excellent mathematician and legendary for his contributions to mathematics education,� Professor Shmuel Weinberger, chair of the mathematics department, wrote in an e-mail. “He felt that problems worth doing are larger than one person or one lifetime, and so he has served as a model to generations of mathematicians.�
studied by researchers. Stolper and a team of about one hundred professors, post-doctoral students, and students have been working on the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, which is a project to digitize the entire collection of tablets and put the catalog up on the Internet for worldwide access. According to Stolper, the Institute hopes to digitize approximately two-thirds of the collection by the end of the year. However, a thorough record and catalogue of the collection would require a much longer period of time to complete, and Stolper would like for the Oriental Institute to have the artifacts for as long as possible. The official terms of the loan with Iran are flexible and allow the Oriental Institute to keep
the collection as long as they decide is necessary. The loan only requires that the artifacts be returned “gradually and soon.â€? “We return them when we are done recording, analyzing and publishing them,â€? said Stolper. University spokesperson Steve Koppes wrote in an email that the University will continue to support the Oriental Institute. “The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is committed to preserving and protecting a collection of Persian artifacts on loan from the Iranian government.‌We welcome the court’s ruling and will continue our efforts to preserve and protect this cultural heritage,â€? Koppes wrote.
Panel discusses media’s role in perceptions of hip-hop PANEL continued from front
was controversially denied immunity under Florida’s “stand your ground� law, as an example of one such case. “We don’t see all of the cases of the black women who go missing and are just gone,� she said. “We see case after case of white women who disappear in other countries, and the media is just riveted by their stories. And every day, black
girls and women are just gone, and not only do the police not care, but the media doesn’t care.� In addition to critiquing what he sees as mainstream media’s negative portrayal of blacks, Hill also emphasized the need for blacks to speak for themselves by supporting black-owned and -run media outlets, such as the Chicago Defender.
“What black media outlets end up having to do just to stay in business is to sell black people out to politicians— just to stay alive—while we give all our power to people who don’t have our best interests in the media,â€? Hill said. “We have our own media outlets‌and we have to realize that we have power, and to stop giving our power away and asking why.â€?
—Darien Ahn
th
Policy implications of childhood study still unclear
SEASON
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lina at Chapel Hill experimenters began the Abecedarian Project, they originally hypothesized that the intervention would raise the children’s IQ by 30 to 50 points. The treatment group had only modest singledigit increases in IQ, but at age 30, researchers found that treatment group individuals were four times more likely to have graduated from a four-year college and 50 percent more likely to have been consistently employed for the last two years. Rodrigo Pinto, a researcher who has worked with professor Heckman for about 10 years, said that the success of individuals from the treatment group
is attributed to “non-cognitive skills� they developed, such as executive functioning, the ability to create and execute a plan, as well as skills like being open to new information and the ability to comply to norms and rules. Heckman and Pinto study the economic effects of the development of human capital. “Early childhood [interventions are] one of the rare [types] of policies that promote equality, and are economically efficient. In typical welfare programs, the benefit people receive is strictly monetary, but early childhood programs invest in kids and their skill development,� Pinto said. “If
you compare early childhood intervention with welfare, early childhood intervention is much more economically efficient.‌ For each dollar that we invest in these kids, we turn more than one dollar to society.‌ If you invest in those kids later on, you are less likely to get this return.â€? Pinto is still unsure about the exact policy implications of their work. “[Our research] does not say that all early childhood intervention is good. It only said that some early childhood intervention operates through some specific times [for] children. [The] work of fine-tuning policy interventions that actually work well is one of our challenges,â€? he said.
Fellowship awarded to 260 UChicago scholars
Patrick Quigley: conductor
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said. According to Stein, the plaintiff ’s case was rejected because the Oriental Institute’s collection is classified as noncommercial property and therefore not subject to seizure. It is unknown whether the victims of the bombing will appeal the decision again, but the Institute is preparing for further litigation. “I will be surprised if there isn’t an appeal to this judgment.‌ I’m not ready to breathe a sigh of relief yet,â€? said Matthew Stolper, professor of Assyriology at the Institute, who is involved in heading the cataloging and study of the tablets. The collection is currently not on display but is being
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Saussy was awarded the fellowship based on his proposal to write Zhuangzi Inside Out: Translation as Citation, a book about the early Chinese philosophical book Zhuangzi and its use to help assimilate foreign texts into Chinese culture. Thornton, a professor in the Department of Human Genetics and the Department of Ecology & Evolution, plans to use his fellowship term to write a book on “the conceptual and historical foundations of function synthesis,� in which he will study the relationship between evolution and molecular bi-
ology and its incorporation throughout history. Ross, professor of Pediatrics, Medicine and Surgery, will be using her fellowship year to research the relationship between ethics and genetics for an upcoming book, titled From Peapods to Whole Genomes: Incidental Findings and Unintended Consequences in a PostMendelian World. “I’m honored to be following in the footsteps of two of my mentors, Paul Ramsey [of Princeton University] and Jay Katz [of Yale University], who have both previously received Guggenheim Fellowships,�
Ross said. “It’s a true privilege to receive this award.� Since the program’s establishment in 1925, 260 University of Chicago scholars have received Guggenheim Fellowships . The fellowships were established by the former Senator Simon Guggenheim and his wife to “add to the educational, literary, artistic, and scientific power of this country, and also to provide for the cause of better international understanding,� according to the foundation’s website. The foundation receives around 3,500–4,000 applications each year.
THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | April 15, 2014
VIEWPOINTS
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Editorial & Op-Ed APRIL 15, 2014
House of avante-garde Being partial toward art simply because of its obscurity hampers enjoyment and discussion
Andrew Young
Young, Wild, and Skeptical I discovered House of Cards by accident. Browsing through Netflix on a lazy summer day, I stumbled upon the series and decided to watch the first episode. Then I flew through the first season and could not wait for more. That is, until I got here. After passing under Hull Gate last September, it felt as if, along with the
reading packet, House of Cards was an O-Week assignment that I had accidentally completed. It seemed impossible to meet someone who had yet to watch the show, much less someone who hadn’t heard about it. This craze amplified as the second season premiere neared. I was having dinner at Medici with a few friends the day after,
and amid the collective praise of the show, I decided to voice my opinion: House of Cards has become too mainstream. I’d lost all interest in the show after the casual mention at the IOP, the stream of excited Facebook posts about spending entire days watching the show, and the texts from friends asking if I had started the new season yet. The show itself hasn’t changed, and had House of Cards not been a popular topic of discussion among students here, I would probably be watching the second season right now (instead of writing this
article). But within my seemingly irrational reaction to others’ enjoyment of the show, perhaps there lies something intelligible. My sentiments stem from the feeling of ownership over the art that I experience. Regardless of form, art evokes personal feelings, associations, and interpretations that inevitably become bound up with the art itself. And if I’m not reading about a band in The New York Times, then the feelings and experiences I associate with said band are not colored by anyone else’s—my sense of ownership is heightened.
When others are exposed to an experience I once viewed as my own, though, their interpretations and enjoyment of the art will inevitably differ from mine. Because of this, my already embedded sense that I understand the meaning of the art necessitates that others’ different experiences are less valid than mine. In the end, I didn’t enjoy House of Cards simply because I was able to experience it singularly, but because of the accompanying sense of superiority in discovering something that I thought was obscure, rare, and largely unknown. CARDS continued on page 5
was only 12. That’s the truth of the situation. It is not a pleasant story to tell. Neutral to me, maybe, after repeating it so often. I would imagine it is not a pleasant story to hear, but I have been drummed to death with news of Katrina and the recovery for the past nine years. I can’t succinctly explain the complex situation that is post-Katrina New Orleans. I can’t. Questions like, “Is everything pretty much back up and running?” can’t be answered. Yes. No. Sort of. Who really wants to hear about trees in my roof and the mold under the carpeting? No one, it turns out. What they want is to tell me about when they went to New Orleans to work with Habitat for Humanity and that they remember when it was on the news all the
time. The situation isn’t beyond comprehension, obviously. You can try to understand New Orleans as it was and as it is now. Try to be sensitive to the people whose lives were washed away and who have rebuilt and are still rebuilding. Don’t tell me about the time you wanted to visit New Orleans, but decided to go somewhere else, and said to yourself, “New Orleans will always be there,” only to discover that it wasn’t true and that New Orleans had been wiped off the map for you. New Orleans is so much more than some disaster site. It’s been nearly 10 years since Hurricane Katrina. There are things that have always been there, and there are new things, too. We could NOLA continued on page 4
Not a gravesite Understanding post-Katrina New Orleans doesn’t start with an ice breaker
Kayleigh Voss
So Basically... So I just met you and now you know I’m from New Orleans. Let’s talk about it. The standard reaction I receive is to ask how I fared in The Hurricane. How did I fare in The Hurricane? In late July 2005, my family moved into our new house outside of New Orleans. On August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina put two trees through our roof and filled our house with rainwater. Apparently, we had exceptionally bad timing. We evacuated the same day Ka-
trina hit land—the term “mandatory evacuation” hadn’t intimidated us until that morning. We headed to my grandmother’s house. We spent two days there, bought the last generator in all of eastern Texas, and headed back home. We spent one week without electricity and water, though the most painful part for me was the lack of air conditioning. We all slept together in the living room, with all the windows open. My dad joined the other fathers at night to stand guard with our BB gun next to their hand-painted “You loot, we shoot” sign at the entrance to
our neighborhood. We had some food; we had some water. But there wasn’t any indication of how long we would have to last. Eventually my mom took me and my four siblings to stay with a friend in Alabama, where we enrolled in school. We stayed away until the electricity was back on and the schools were reopened. We were back in our house in October. Our roof was fixed by that summer, though it still leaks intermittently. Everything back to normal, more or less. Some things still closed; some people still gone. That’s it. I was 12 years old and largely protected from the real horror of the situation, from the deaths and the lootings to the financial crisis that coincided with the need to patch a 10 by 10-foot hole in our roof. I
Hobby Lobbying against Obamacare The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892 Emma Broder, Editor-in-Chief Joy Crane, Editor-in-Chief Jonah Rabb, Managing Editor Daniel Rivera, Grey City Editor Harini Jaganathan, News Editor Ankit Jain, News Editor Eleanor Hyun, Viewpoints Editor Liam Leddy, Viewpoints Editor Will Dart, Arts Editor Tatiana Fields, Sports Editor Sam Zacher, Sports Editor Nicholas Rouse, Head Designer Alexander Bake, Webmaster Ajay Batra, Senior Viewpoints Editor Kristin Lin, Senior Viewpoints Editor Emma Thurber Stone, Senior Viewpoints Editor Sarah Langs, Senior Sports Editor Matthew Schafer, Senior Sports Editor Jake Walerius, Senior Sports Editor Isaac Stein, Associate News Editor Sarah Manhardt, Deputy News Editor Christine Schmidt, Associate News Editor Sindhu Gnanasambandan, Associate News Editor Clair Fuller, Associate Viewpoints Editor Andrew Young, Associate Viewpoints Editor Robert Sorrell, Associate Arts Editor James Mackenzie, Associate Arts Editor Tori Borengässer, Associate Arts Editor Angela Qian, Associate Arts Editor Jamie Manley, Senior Photo Editor Sydney Combs, Photo Editor Peter Tang, Photo Editor Frank Yan, Photo Editor Frank Wang, Associate Photo Editor Alan Hassler, Head Copy Editor Sherry He, Head Copy Editor Katarina Mentzelopoulos, Head Copy Editor Ben Zigterman, Head Copy Editor
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Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby is motivated by politics, not religion
Anastasia Golovashkina
Not Impressed Late last month, the Supreme Court heard arguments on Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby. In late June, the court will issue a ruling on the case, deciding whether or not companies “run on religious principles” like Hobby Lobby can be required to offer their employees health plans that cover contraceptives. It’s an intriguing case for a number of reasons, not the least of which will be its implications for female employees of companies like Hobby Lobby, who overwhelmingly oppose allowing corporations to exempt themselves from the birth control mandate. In fact, according to a public opinion poll done by Hart Research Associates, 68 percent of women voters ages 18–55 (including 79 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of independents, and 50 percent of Republicans) oppose such exemptions. But more
on that in a minute. Let’s say a bit more about the case itself. First, bear in mind that Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby pertains only to large, private, for-profit companies. Religious employers like churches and businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employees have been exempt from the get-go, and were more recently joined by “religiously affiliated groups”—church-run hospitals, parochial schools, charities, and the like—following the Supreme Court’s issuing of a “temporary” but potentially permanent injunction earlier this year. It’s also worth noting that even though contraceptives for women have been repeatedly raised as an issue at both the state and federal level, most insurers—including Medicaid, and even Hobby Lobby’s own employee insurance plan—have quietly covered more
than half of all Viagra prescriptions since they first hit the market in 1998. Fun fact: Penis pumps are also covered by all three. Though the issue of religious exemptions has a myriad of intriguing and at times inconsistent precedents, perhaps the only thing that has stayed consistent in the court’s opinion since Sherbert v. Verner (1963) has been the requirement that the government show a “compelling interest” in order to deny an individual or entity a legal exemption on religious grounds. Paying taxes, for instance, is not something you can gain exemption from, even if you’re a Quaker woman who just doesn’t want her money being used to help fund the U.S. military. That’s what’s really at stake here: Can a woman’s boss deny her coverage for medically necessary health care on the grounds of his own religious beliefs? Is women’s healthcare “compelling” enough of an “interest”? Though the Affordable Care HOBBY continued on page 4
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THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | April 15, 2014
“Can a woman’s boss deny her coverage for medically necessary health care on the grounds of his own religious beliefs?” HOBBY continued from page 3 Act does a lot of things— mandate health insurance, provide a marketplace for its purchase, prevent insurers from denying or terminating coverage on the basis of preexisting conditions, etc.—one of its more publicly unappreciated yet truly significant contributions is to women’s health care, which the law makes more comprehensive, affordable, and fair. For about 27 million women, that means lifesaving preventive health care measures without the barrier of outrageous—or any—copays. But the Supreme Court’s ruling on Hobby Lobby has the potential to change all that. For current and future employees of companies like Hobby Lobby, In-N-Out,
Forever 21, and their families, that can be a very scary thought. Beyond its potential implications for millions of women across the country, the Hobby Lobby case exemplifies an alarming trend in conservative thought and Republican rhetoric about the Affordable Care Act and nearly every other issue— immigration reform, gun violence prevention, equal pay—that the president has attempted to implement policy on throughout his tenure. Because, for Republicans, this isn’t really about the Affordable Care Act—or about contraceptives, or even women’s health care— at all. In light of their practically negative approval ratings, it almost doesn’t even
seem to be about winning the public’s support. It’s about making the president look bad. That’s why, despite themselves admitting that defunding Obamacare is unrealistic, House Republicans have wasted hundreds of hours holding no fewer than 54 failed votes to defund some or all of the law. Based on CBS’s estimate of a cost of about $1.45 million per vote, that’s more than $78 million—and counting. That’s also why, despite being inspired by the Massachusetts health reform plan implemented under Republican Governor Mitt Romney, Republican strategists urged Romney to disavow Obamacare—and why, despite being nearly indistinguishable from the policies
proposed by the Republican caucus as an alternative to single-payer in the early 1990s, even those Republicans who took part in that earlier initiative have done the same. Not surprisingly, Congressional Republicans recently filed an amicus brief in support of Hobby Lobby, “ask[ing] the court to reverse the district court’s denial of preliminary injunctive relief.” Among those nine Senators and two Representatives was Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who, back in 2010, declared that the Republican Party’s “top political priority” was to “deny President Barack Obama a second term.” And Hobby Lobby? Prior to filing its lawsuit in 2012, the company’s
employee insurance plan already covered 16 of the 20 contraceptive methods mandated by the Affordable Care Act, including Ella and Plan B, the latter of which Hobby Lobby CEO David Green now wrongly but emphatically condemns as an “abortifacient.” Though it’s those final four contraceptive methods that bring Hobby Lobby to court, financial records show the craft chain holding investments totaling $73 million—three-quarters of its total retirement plan assets—across nine mutual funds, each of which contain holdings in companies that produce and distribute an intriguing array of health care services: drugs commonly used in abortions, insurance companies that
cover all three and surgical abortions, those same “abortion-causing” contraceptive pills, and hormonal intrauterine devices—the last one being one of precisely those four methods it now claims so dreadfully violate its religious freedoms, and are the heart and soul of this whole lawsuit. It wasn’t until Republican criticism of the law entered the picture that Hobby Lobby decided to “re-examine its insurance policies.” Point being: If your “hobby” happens to be hypocritically discriminating against women for vaguely religious, likely very political motives, then boy…do I know the “lobby” for you! Anastasia Golovashkina is a third-year in the College.
“From the myth of Bourbon Street to Mardi Gras shenanigans to food—please, let’s talk about the food” sic. The list goes on. I don’t want to spend a single minute more of my time dwelling on Hurricane Katrina. Even my story, which is so tame compared to others, depresses the hell out of
NOLA continued from page 3 talk about any of them: from the myth of Bourbon Street to Mardi Gras shenanigans to food—please, let’s talk about the food— to the football to the mu-
ALICE XIAO
me. New Orleans is a real, living, breathing place, not a gravesite. Let’s talk about it that way. Kayleigh Voss is a secondyear in the College.
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THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | April 15, 2014
“...the obscurity of a piece of art has no bearing on its quality...” CARDS continued from page 3 Those scenes of the show that I thought were powerful had a sort of precious, scarce quality associated with them—their effect on me gave me the sense that I had access to something valuable. We have all heard the phrases “I liked x before it was cool,” even in reference to sports, such as basketball’s “fair-weather fans.” These remarks are a way of grasping for that ownership. By asserting that you discovered
this band or this film long after I had, by virtue of time, I hold a deeper right to it. But the obscurity of a piece of art has no bearing on its quality, and no matter what form it takes, this propensity to value the obscure over the popular has implications. The first is that it hinders the sharing of meaningful, valuable art with others. Art creates the opportunity for people to bond and grow with each other, regardless of their individual experiences with
the work itself. Should I and others maintain this petty way of viewing art, we may cut ourselves off from enjoying things that have already entered the “mainstream” by discrediting them as not worth experiencing. Because, as I’ve said, House of Cards has not changed. It’s just as good of a show. Or at least, that’s what I’ve been hearing from my friends. Andrew Young is a firstyear in the College.
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Friday of the Passion of the Lord: April 18th, 5pm, Bond Chapel The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night: April 19th, 8pm, Bond Chapel Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord: April 20th, 11am, Bond Chapel and 5pm, Calvert House
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OLAS celebrates Latin American culture, diversity, and dance Daniel Rivera Grey City Editor The large doors burst open. Into the buzzing swarm of prospective students tumbled four women clad in matching workout clothes, all dripping with sweat and yet not without a buzz of their own. These were just a few of the many dancers practicing rigorously in the stuffy grandeur of Mandel Hall last Thursday, from four to midnight, all in preparation for last Saturday’s annual OLAS Cultural Show. This year’s theme was Expresión. OLAS, or the Organization of Latin American Students, is one of campus’s largest and most immediately present Latino RSOs. It’s comprised primarily of a board of twelve, led at present by three third-years: Christian Sanchez, and two interim directors (replacing others who’ve gone abroad), Cristina Ochoa and Joseline Gomez. Sanchez and Ochoa welcomed me with warmth at Thursday’s run-through, but only after I got to see them finish up rehearsal for just one of their many routines. Backpacks, shoes, and laptops were scattered around Mandel, but OLAS was simply making itself known with a freedom that might look like carelessness to the untrained eye. Just like the fluidity of their performances belied the rigor that went into learning them, so this scene masked the carefulness with which Sanchez, Ochoa, and Gomez had been planning the show for a year. “We started planning last spring,” Sanchez told me, still in her black performance dress. She, Ochoa, and I were parked on couches in the basement of Reynolds, above which practice and an RSO Fair thundered on (OLAS was tabling in the latter, of course.). “As soon as the old show finishes, a couple of weeks later we begin working on the new one.” A lot of work for just one night of dancing, I thought. But of course, as I would see come Saturday, the OLAS show stands for so much more. While Sanchez and Ochoa had been involved in OLAS since their first year, they acknowledged its current model had only emerged recently.
Composed of members from all years plus grad students, the OLAS board seeks to represent diversity on all scales. The show featured more than fifty dancers (OLAS members and nonmembers alike), in addition to three or four other UChicago groups and talents and a mariachi band from Northwestern. “The whole point of OLAS is to show inclusiveness. It’s not representing any specific country either, for that matter,” Ochoa said. “Latin America is huge. We try really hard every year to put together a diverse set of acts. And with that, we hope people learn how diverse our group is,” Sanchez said. As perhaps an interesting testament to this, I asked about the board itself: Ochoa identifies as half Puerto Rican, Sanchez as Mexican, and Gomez as Guatemalan. “It’s a pretty diverse board. I don’t even think there are repeats,” Sanchez joked. “Some people who aren’t even Latino are on the board.” That seems particularly important given OLAS’s position as one of campus’s most visible cultural enterprises. Minority representation should not strictly be a minority interest, a sentiment Ochoa and Sanchez echoed. Both also stressed the importance of other cultural events on campus, such as the South Asian Student Association’s cultural show, held the weekend prior, and the African and Caribbean Students Association’s show to be held the weekend after. These events work together to “remind the campus that there are all these different aspects that make up UChicago,” argued Sanchez. Yet sometimes these “different aspects” are brought to attention in less celebratory ways. Following two particularly visible flare-ups last year, Latino identity came to the forefront of campus dialogue. The office of Campus and Student Life slapped together a shiny “diversity awareness campaign” in response, entitled RISE (for “Reflect. Intervene. Speak. Engage”). According to a University News release at the time, the RISE initiative aimed to represent “UChicago’s values of respect and free expression as a University community.”
Members of OLAS perform at this year’s edition of their annual cultural showcase, Expresión. COURTESY OF PHILLIP BROWN
Regardless of its effectiveness, RISE was the product of a pool of resources from which any student could theoretically partake of in pursuit of sustaining campus dialogue in novel and visible ways. OLAS did just this, with intention. “We have a right to express a culture, and we’re always so excited to do it. It’s my opportunity to express that right, and I think that’s political and powerful,” Sanchez said. “We’re given the opportunity and the funding and the space in Mandel, and we take it, and we exercise that and put work into it and express ourselves the way we want to express ourselves. And we make a representation, every year different, but every year we do it.” Hence this year’s theme, Expresión. “That’s powerful because as a minority in primarily white institutions, you might feel silenced, or not at home, or uncomfortable,” Sanchez added. “And this show is a complete burst of our culture. It’s not silent.” And indeed, silent it was not. The OLAS show opened to a vivacious crowd on Saturday. Ochoa estimated ticket sales to be over 200, proceeds from which would go into funding the show next year. Within the crowd were members from all corners of the University and beyond. At least one
Rothenberg performs works at Logan Evangeline Reid Arts Staff Jerome Rothenberg performed samples of his poetry on Thursday evening at the Logan Center. The performance was the final installment of this year’s Reva Logan Poetry Series, curated by Srikanth Reddy of the English department, a tradition that began with the opening of the building in the fall of 2012. Reddy opened the event with warm words of praise for Rothenberg, reading the intriguing conclusion of the visiting poet’s “The Chicago Poem” during
his introduction. When Reddy stepped away, a short man with long white hair knotted behind his head walked to the podium in a black T-shirt and suit jacket. Picking up his own thick book of poetry, Eye of Witness, an anthology collected from his 80plus books of poetry published in 2013, he laughed. “I’ve never thought of myself as a prolific writer…but over 50 years, it accumulates!” The unexpectedly inventive and humorous poet began with the complete version of the same poem with which he had been introduced, but to say that
Career poet Jerome Rothenberg performed works new and old at the Logan Center’s Poetry Series last Thursday. COURTESY OF ALDON LYNN NIELSON
it sounded different would not be enough. He spoke in a lyrical, gruff, and joyful voice. The words flowed out of him and were one with him. His commitment to truly performing his pieces makes sense. Over the course of his career, he pioneered a field known as ethnopoetics, which seeks to transcribe words passed down through oral tradition in a format that captures much of the original presentation. As the poetry reading progressed, he shared several pieces he called “songs without words” that involved Native American instruments, singing, and–in one instance–a string of strange but distinctly human noises. He claims many things as poetry, and in the way he brings them to life, that naming seems apt. Given his prolific career, Rothenberg’s work crosses a wide span of time, but it also crosses many areas of genre, topic, form, and content. When the content was inaccessible, whether through his constant detailed references or the presentation of seemingly unrelated images, he still made it enjoyable. Yet he also performed a small but significant number of deeply moving, profound works, such as a lengthy
poem about human mortality and the approaching conclusion of life for his friend, his wife, and himself. Rothernberg’s reading was a fitting conclusion to a series featuring influential modern-day poets of all different sorts. Having worked for over 50 years writing, translating, and editing poetry and many other unique writing formats, he is experienced and knowledgeable. Even at the age of 80, he remains knee-deep in the field, continuing what seems to be his natural inclination to always move forward and explore. In his accompanying talk last Friday, he spoke candidly about poetry and his work. He discussed the process of re-engaging with one’s own prior work, something he did extensively in putting together the recent anthology of his life’s work. Even as he read his poems, he would sometimes laugh to himself. After performing one older piece written during his time on a Native American reservation in New York, he paused for a minute and remarked, “It’s strange reading these after all this time.” Even a man of such wide and varied interaction with poetry can be surprised by his own words from time to time.
local high school class was present. I asked one of the performers, third-year Inyse Bustillos, what her favorite part was. Her response? “Hearing the reactions that the audience had after the show,” Bustillos said. She performed two dances, Tribal and the Lambda Pi Chi Stroll. “So many people, both that I did and did not know, came up to commend me on my performance. That was great.” Ochoa and Sanchez were back in their black dresses, for at least a number, and it was as though they’d been born in them. Red trains and lilac silk ties, high heels and spoken word, new age kicks and classic dips—it all fused together in a haze of energy and confidence. In a collusion of voices too often reduced to “sassy,” the OLAS show, and all of its constituent parts, took center stage with a heat and strength that felt as richly layered as Latin America itself. “I’ve always had this idea of culture as a powerful, healthy, beautiful thing, that in rough times keeps me going,” Sanchez confessed to me, back in the basement, hours until curtains. “It keeps me going, that I have all these dances, all of this art.” Ochoa agreed. “It’s a nice break, as ironic as that sounds, considering how much work it is.” Both laughed.
Death of a Salesman: The end of Mad Men Dan Ackerman Maroon Contributor If you’ve ever described yourself as a Mad Men fan, or if you’re a professional television critic, odds are that you saw the first five seasons of the show plotting a consistent upward trend in quality. The energy and the stakes of the characters rose with those of their decade, and every successive season premiere and finale seemed to improve upon the last. For those of you who forgot, season five was the one that ended with Peggy’s departure from the agency and that surreal shot of a woman asking Don Draper, “Are you alone?” For those of you who don’t watch the show, Season Five was the reason so many of your Facebook friends posted links to a bizarre, upbeat French music video called “Zou Bisou Bisou.” Season six broke that trend. Disorder entered the fan camp. Outside of the A.V. Club’s glorified Chalk posts
(which they call “reviews”), longtime lovers of the show in every level of cultural forum declared that Mad Men had “jumped the shark.” And whether you liked the last season or not, this next one seems like a continuation of this new pattern in every way. By Mad Men standards, the time jump between seasons is small, springing from Thanksgiving of 1968 to Richard Nixon’s inauguration on January 20, 1969. The characters are all pretty much where we left them, and the slow-burning dread established last year continues to smolder. With this final season broken up into two parts à la Breaking Bad (the second of which will air in spring 2015), and a consistent arc between parts one and two, the tone set by Season Six might very well continue through to the end of the show’s run. This is not to say that I expect this coming season to be hopelessly mired in MAD continued on page 8
THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | April 15, 2014
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“...the show’s brief moments of glamour are nothing more than a glitzy facade...” MAD continued from page 7
the faults of the last. It may turn out that season six felt meandering and anti-climactic because it was only the set-up for a longer game. The bones of the show are still there, and they still impress. Mad Men season premieres tend to start slow, but this time the dialogue is as quick as ever. The show has lost none of its deft and surprising comedy, which is on full display in oneeyed Kenny’s failure to toss Joan her earring for lack of depth perception, as well as Roger Sterling’s hilariously self-centered refusal to let his daughter have the moral high ground (“No, Daddy, I forgive you.” “And I forgive you.”). Joan and Peggy’s story lines were easily the most dynamic this episode, but then they were also the only ones grounded in business. Does Roger even show up to work anymore? Then, just when you think you’re seeing the reintroduction scene to beat them all— Don’s slide past the color-
blocked tiling of LAX to the Spencer Davis Group’s “I’m a Man”—Megan one-ups him with a slow-motion glide toward the camera in her most glamorous late ’60s–actress outfit yet. It can be hard to tell when Mad Men is taking itself seriously, but California Pastel Pete and Megan’s oily David Geffen–wannabe agent are just a few of the self-deprecating moments which prove the show’s brief moments of glamor are nothing more than a glitzy facade thrown over vast, existential emptiness—another instance of the show’s ability to build something up only to cut it down. Another staple of Mad Men premieres is the ingenious full-circle scheme of their direction, a trick that Sunday’s episode might have pulled off better than any in the show’s history. Think of the arresting opening shot: the long zoom out from Freddy Rumsen’s brightly lit face, Don Draper’s words coming out of his puppet-
like mouth without music to compete with the practiced monologue of the ritual pitch. Now compare that initial scene with the heartbreaking closing zoom out from Don’s lowest moment yet; character seated and centered in the same position, but this time dark and precarious against the New York skyline, the unspoken pain on his face drawn out by Vanilla Fudge’s swelling psychedelic cover of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” These are the poles of Don Draper, of the show, and, in some sense, of the ’60s as a pop culture historical object: seduction and disgust, the cruise ship and the train wreck. If the coyotes baying through the canyons outside of Megan’s L.A. home or the ominous night-time intrusion of Frank Capra’s Lost Horizon opening are any indication, the train wreck will determine this season’s path. That may mean we have to watch the wheels slide off the tracks in slow motion right before the big collision.
Incense and peppermints: Don Draper travels even further down the rabbit hole this season. ALICE XIAO
| THE CHICAGO MAROON
NORTH SIDE WEEKLY ARTS, CULTURE & OVERPRICED BEER ਂ SINCE 2014 Eating burritos and watching Lifetime in Logan Square Rohan Sharma Maroon Contributor It’s time to burst this Hyde Park bubble. We’ve read of a particular Northwestern student’s terrifying Red Line experience, and we have a plethora of resources on South Side happenings. But how does the other half live? What are their weekday watering holes? Where is their cash-only, President-endorsed restaurant? I ventured to the north, specifically Logan Square, to investigate and to experience. I began my night at 2 Amigos, where I had the fortune of consuming the most generously portioned taco salad I have ever eaten, dwarfing any tortilla-wrapped food I have had at Chipotle, or rather, dwarfing any plate of food I have had for a mere $6. This meal itself revealed to me that the North Side is a land of plenty, a place where the word “burrito” roughly translates to “dense brick of food,” the margaritas refuse to be diluted with weak lime juice, and sour cream rests atop your meal like the frosting of a decadent meat cupcake. Following this hurriedly consumed meal, my party traveled further north on Milwaukee Avenue—a journey during which we navigated through many plaid-clad crowds as we headed toward the recently restored Comfort Station. The Comfort Station dates back to the trolley riding days of the early 1900s when the station’s purpose was, as the name suggests, providing shelter for those looking for rest after a hard day of trolley transport. However, on this night, the Comfort Station’s purpose was to provide a venue for a screening of the Lifetime Original Movies made-for-TV gem, Fifteen and Pregnant. Natalie Jose, Candy Lawrence, and
Katie McVay, three Chicago comedians, offered live commentary on this film, which somehow manages to capture Kirsten Dunst in the afterglow of Jumanji and prior to her roles in The Virgin Suicides and Spider-Man. Kirsten Dunst is very 15 and very pregnant, and the film itself is very funny. However, we can all watch Lifetime Original programming in Hyde Park, too, albeit without the distinct pleasure of listening to comedians make gentle fun of Kirsten Dunst’s character’s overweight sister. Being at the screening was not unlike attending the first house movie night of one’s first year, when everyone thinks watching Teeth and Zoolander is a good way to get to know each other and really create lasting, fond memories. It is a relief to learn that our brothers and sisters up north operate on a familiar level of irony in regards to their taste in Friday night crowd-pleasing flicks. What’s more unique to the Logan Square neighborhood is the Comfort Station space itself and others like it. Hyde Park suffers from a dearth of community spaces where, if you so desire, you can perform at an open mic one day and attend a smartphone symphony the next. Perhaps Universityprovided amenities and sponsored organizations are the appropriate substitute, but they don’t properly fill that gap. Don’t get me wrong; Hyde Park is not without its charms (I have learned of the benefits of the South Side on a weekly basis), but I think that if we trade yet another Asian food restaurant ending in “55” for a non-University space designed for community organization and enjoyment, we could stand to benefit. After watching Dunst grap-
ple with the very real difficulties of teenage pregnancy and a flaky greaser boyfriend in the ’90s, I visited Revolution Brewery (of Drinking Buddies fame). As one would expect, the beer was fantastic, the selection was expansive, and tap handles neatly lined the bar as far as the eye could see in the crowded room. The brewery’s aesthetic was just like most other moderately upscale Chicago eateries, by which I mean lots of exposed brick and polished wood. I thought for sure I could get valuable insight into the North Side community by way of eavesdropping and conversing with inebriated locals; you know, really get a chance to witness the excess that popularly characterizes any space north of the Loop. Disappointingly, no one was interested in joining in my own conversation with friends about Kirsten Dunst’s career. Instead the room was mostly buzzing with references to booze, sports, and inside jokes. Perhaps there is nothing incredibly special or different about living in Logan Square, at least as far as hanging out on Friday night goes. In that way, the city could be more homogenous than we think. Maybe there isn’t a huge disparity between a ramshackle second-story house show joint up north and what’s buzzing on 54th and Woodlawn. In short, go north for the generous portions and unique community arts spaces, leave because the beer is eight bucks and you probably don’t own enough plaid and raw denim to compete. Either way, it’s important to know that even after your deadbeat boyfriend and fair-weather friends desert you, you’ll always have your catty mother to turn to in case of an unexpected pregnancy.
MCA curates Genzken showcase worth returning to a-Genzken Alice Bucknell Arts Staff It’s 10 a.m. on a sunny Friday morning, and I’m on the fourth floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) downtown, standing among a crowd of older news reporters and a bunch of mannequins dressed in what looks like the regurgitation of Tumblr’s wild night out. Razor scooters and Hula-Hoops, park ranger uniforms and knock-off Burberry blazers, and plastic Easter eggs and sheets of synthetic hair coat these otherwise naked plastic models, who are scattered in clusters along the entryway of the soon-to-open Isa Genzken retrospective. They seem to be sort of engaging in half-baked, awkward conversation with one another, floundering around in their own self-conscious appear-
ances. I take another look around at the heap of press representatives and notice the same thing. Michael Darling, the MCA’s chief curator and number-one proponent of this whole exhibition, arrives dressed impeccably in an oxblood corduroy blazer. He excitedly taps on his microphone, and we all gravitate around him as he starts to describe the 200-piece, 40-yearlong body of work that comprises Genzken’s first show in the United States since her installation at The Renaissance Society in 1992. Without further ado, we veer into the first gallery on our right and try our best to disperse throughout its small space. Five colorful and sleek woodworks hover just off the ground on a subtle plinth, pointing perpendicular to the straight path ISA continued on page 9
Isa Genzken’s Oil XI is on display at the MCA as part of their retrospective on the artist through August 3. COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | April 15, 2014
the Sketch Arts, Briefly.
The Abominable Crime
A member of Sister Spit: Next Generation, pictured here in street clothes. The troupe came to the Logan Center Penthouse on Monday. COURTESY OF SISTER SPIT
Sister Spit The spoken word and performance art collective Sister Spit: Next Generation performed in the Logan Center penthouse last night, featuring an amalgamation of performances by artists, scholars, writers, and educators. Initially a space for radical feminist artists, Sister Spit began in 1997 with the launch of the first Sister Spit tour after being established as a weekly, all-female open mic series in San Francisco. The group has since expanded their territory to feature performers both male and female. Current Gray Center artist-in-residence Chase Joynt opened the evening for the touring lineup with Beth Lisick, Dia Felix, Chi-
naka Hodge, Virgie Tovar, Lenelle Moise, Rhiannon Argo, and Jerry Lee Abram. Their titles and accolades blur together as each has published books, a few have made films, many are poets, and all of them seem to be really great at these things; and people are noticing. The subject matter ranged from feminism, sexuality, and body image, to Michael Jackson and Eminem. The range of emotional response was likewise scattered. Some poems called forth tears, some received yells of support, and nearly all warranted laughter. In commemoration of their final night, the show closed with a poem from Hodge that she wrote while watching the others perform.
“We’re not saying that gay people should be obliterated from the face of the earth. I don’t hate homosexuals. I detest them, for their filthy ways,” intones Jamaican lawyer and politician Ernest Smith in Micah Fink’s documentary, The Abominable Crime, on homophobia in Jamaica. Few U.S. citizens venture past the sandy beaches and expansive resort-hotels that cling to Jamaica’s shore like a cancer, and even if they did, they probably wouldn’t find a story that’s staring the world in the face: In Jamaica, nearly a third of the gay male community is currently infected with HIV, anti-sodomy laws are in place and widely en-
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forced, and gay citizens are targets of violent abuse and discrimination. These and other factors have led major outlets like Time and The Guardian to label Jamaica as the most homophobic place on earth. Fink’s documentary, The Abominable Crime, studies homosexuality in Jamaica from the inside, examining the tense relationship between gay Jamaicans and their country of origin. Fink travels to Jamaica, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States to follow Simone, a Jamaican lesbian single mother brutally attacked and shot on the street for her sexual orientation, and Maurice, a human rights activist who fled the country after challenging
an anti-sodomy law. Along the way, Fink chronicles the psychological struggle between national and personal identity. This Thursday, Fink will bring The Abominable Crime to the University of Chicago’s Film Studies Center for a screening. Fink, who has garnered three Emmy nominations among other accolades, will be present for a brief Q&A session after the film. The Abominable Crime is presented on campus by the Center for International Studies and the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. Thursday, April 17 at 7 p.m. Cobb Lecture Hall, Room 307. Free. —Robert Sorrell
The experience of their tour seemed to be in that poem. If you watched the evening in reverse, the poem seemed like the perfect introduction or encapsulation of talent, friendship, and power of the group. Although they’d been touring for weeks, the energy at Logan was that of a first show. One performer said she was missing the start of a Passover Seder dinner for the first time and another her anniversary. After living in close contact for a crosscountry tour across the U.S., the performers positively sparkled; they were all sad to admit that this was their last night on the road together. —Kristin Zodrow
Maurice, a Jamaican human rights activist, in Fink’s new documentary on homophobia in Jamaica. Fink will be present for a screening and Q&A session at Cobb Lecture Hall Thursday. COURTESY OF COMMON GOOD PRODUCTIONS
“The work seems comfortably settled in its predictable unpredictability.” ISA continued from page 8
between the room’s entrance and exit. Using a neat, gridlike thrust, these objects effortlessly disrupt the space of a room otherwise too easy to slip through. The sculptures thrust out, parading in a flurry of desert hues and neat cuts of expert craftsmanship that complicate their generally elliptical shape. Despite their sharpness and size, the group doesn’t quite register as a threat, nor are they exactly human. By some shared association, I suddenly want to lie down among them: maybe to narrow the gap, or an effort to dilate my body like theirs. It’s somehow more relieving than surprising when Darling reveals an anecdote of Genzken’s studio practice: in her own efforts to warp space in ways that real human bodies just can’t, she was known to lie on her studio floor for hours at a time. For every smooth con-
tour and polished surface the first room offers, there’s a raw imbalance to counter it in the next. The warmth and clarity of her ellipses vanishes under a series of sculptures started in the mid 1980s, made with welded metal, dyed resin, and cast concrete— it feels like a bunch of skeletons bumping elbows. But the chaos isn’t all there is, and once you begin to navigate the loops of movements created by their positioning , the structures all start to stitch together. What is at first suggestive of abandoned architectural models and scraps of debris soon evolves into cities, bodies, and homes. Indeed, as her practice rounds the bend of the ’80s and enters the next decade, Genzken’s “Pile of Rubbish” morphs into “Diana” and other named subjects. As her technical skills improve, her cast concrete works flesh themselves out and expand to gain an unprecedented stability: The
growth is as formal as it is symbolic. The room splits off into smaller functions that offer up a variety of material: A photographic series, a short film, and even a lightbased install ation feel like little whispers of an artistic practice growing outwards, not just along. Framing sculptures near the back of the gallery is “Basic Research”: a series of large mounted paintings, unanimously earth-toned and somber, that look vaguely like fossils and very much like carefully rendered topographical illustrations. I’m shocked to learn that they’re all mucky byproducts of Genzken’s studio work: As she lined the floor with canvas, debris from her welding and casting activities fell, solidified, and was then stamped onto separate canvases by a phototransfer technique. Genzken washed over each image with thick but transparent paint, and the end result offers all sorts of
gorgeous textures and contours that project from the wall yet maintain an air of muted contemplation. I enter into the next room and awaiting me there is her take on the 9/11 tragedy: “Empire/Vampire—Who kills death?” (2001–2004), composed of six motley sculptures, kitsch abound, and—get this—four scraps of airplane window frames mounted side-by-side, the last one drenched in a spasm of synthetic polymer paint. Making my way around the fake wall at the next room’s center, I’m met face-to-beak with a chrome spray-painted Donald Duck figurine: Clenching a fistful of money, hot-pink eyes ablaze, he looks like the spitting image of the villainous Corporate Boss. I turn around to see what, for me, is the most successful and simultaneously inexplicable installation in the show: Oil XI (2007), a piece all about control in the post-9/11 world immersed in the
War on Terror, which is so fantastic because the work isn’t. Over a dozen tagged suitcases covered in laminated images of domestic animals, most housing a fake plastic owl, are scattered beneath three fullscale fabric-and-plastic space suits that hover like gods. The abandoned suitcases are spooky, no doubt channeling some graveyard vibes, but I sense with a bit of embarrassment my own relief in the absence of people: the noise of screeching babies and sticky, tearful goodbyes; and all other elements of the general chaos of a bustling airport. The final room is a come-down for me and I couldn’t be more grateful, or impressed: The panoptic astronauts and horrific middle school flashbacks generated by pictures of kittens and Daschunds (I can’t be the only tween to have cleaned out entire stocks of Office Depot Prrs and Grrs notebooks in one swoop) pulled the exhibit
to a fever pitch. The works here in many ways return and add bulk to the motifs that Genzken experimented with in earlier decades: From architectural sculptures made from pricy and stable furniture to a video surveillance piece of Ground Zero, she harkens back but isn’t going in circles so much as spiraling upward. The work seems comfortably settled in its predictable unpredictability. I leave the gallery feeling more engaged than burdened, on a buzz from newfound appreciation for Genzken’s work, and mixed with awe. Her “Actors” (2013) are still lined up along the outside, looking like her number-one fans, and again—like so many other works in the show— I find myself drawn into their world. The exhibit is immaculately staged: Darling and Co. have crafted a perfect performance, one that can be seen again and again.
THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | April 15, 2014
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Krob’s walk-off single spurs only win of three-game homestand Baseball
Fourth-year outfielder Brett Huff slides safely into third base during a home game against Hope College on April 1. COURTESY OF UCHICAGO ATHLETICS
Eirene Kim
Maroon Contributor The Maroons’ victory over Beloit (12–9) this Saturday afternoon broke their threegame losing streak. The victory was shortlived, however, as Chicago lost its second game to Beloit and its third game of the weekend to Carthage (13–11). The South Siders (5–17) came out victorious in their 10-inning game against Beloit, beating the Buccaneers 4–3. A solid pitching performance kept Chicago steady throughout the game. “We got an outstanding pitching performance from our captain, [fourth-year] Alex Terry. He pitched deep into the game and well throughout and really put us in a great position to win,” said third-year second baseman Nate Wagner. Terry tossed eight out of the game’s 10 innings. First-year pitcher Thomas Prescott got himself onto first and advanced to second base with the help of third-year outfielder Edward Akers’ single. Then, it was firstyear infielder Ryan Krob who brought in Prescott with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the tenth. Chicago’s win was a product of its combination of offense and defense. “We came out really strong and excited to be playing in front of our home crowd on such a beautiful day,” Wagner said. “We put
together a pretty complete game against Beloit in game one to get the win with timely hitting alongside our pitching and fielding.” Unfortunately, game two against Beloit was characterized by Chicago’s many errors and a weak performance in the top of the seventh inning. The Maroons were unable to answer Beloit’s improved performance to get a second win. “We fell apart when they scored nine runs in the seventh inning. We gave up a lot of walks and made too many errors in the field,” said first-year outfielder Nicholas Toomey. “In the second game, Beloit came out stronger and really wanted to get the game two win, and so they were a bit sharper and more focused, and it led to a better executed and more mistake-free game,” Wagner said. In the contest against Carthage, despite the strong pitching performance from Prescott, Chicago’s errors allowed the Red Men to increase their lead by three runs in the top of the ninth to end in a 4–0 defeat for Chicago. “We had a fantastic pitching performance from Thomas Prescott, who really carried us and kept us in throughout the ballgame. He was also a big emotional leader in the dugout for us and got us focused on trying to help him out offensively,” Wagner said. In its upcoming games against North Park and Rockford, Chicago hopes to imitate the focused mentality and energy that made
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game one against Beloit successful. “Most games come down to one or two plays that affect how the rest of the game goes, both mentally and physically. As long as we can control these plays and set the tone early, we’ll have good games against both of those good teams [North Park and Rockford],” Wagner said. The Maroons are optimistic that when they are able to put together all aspects of their game, their season can take a turning
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point. “We’ve got to find our stroke [with hitting ]. In general, we just need to be more consistent. If we played the way all of us are capable of, defensively, pitching-wise, and offensively, there is no reason our 5–17 record couldn’t be 17–5 right now,” said second-year catcher Tim Sonnefeldt. Chicago takes on North Park at home Tuesday at 3 p.m. It will then face Rockford on the road on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | April 15, 2014
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Bhargava shines as Maroons beat Kohawks, lose to No. 2 Bears, No. 10 Spartans Men’s Tennis Zachary Themer Maroon Contributor After surging to a No. 17 national ranking, Chicago endured an up-and-down weekend home stand these past few days before postseason play begins next week. The Maroons opened up their three-match stretch this past weekend with a grueling fight against No. 10 Case. Rankings held true, as the South Siders weren’t able to come out on top against the Spartans in a 7–2 loss but were nonetheless able to claim victories in singles and doubles. Third-year Ankur Bhargava picked up two wins at No. 2 singles and No. 3 doubles with second-year Gordon Zhang. While the Maroons’ record dropped to 7–7 following the loss to Case (13–5), the team was able to maintain a positive outlook heading into its Saturday matchup against Coe (21–6). “We learned a lot from the match and are looking forward to playing them again at the UAA tournament in two weeks’ time,” thirdyear Deepak Sabada said. Facing Coe College this past Saturday, the South Siders were able to change their fortune, improving to 8–7 as they put together a 7–2 victory over the Kohawks in dominating fashion. The Maroons decisively swept doubles matches, which were played in single supersets, requiring eight matches rather than the traditional three-set format, requiring six matches. “Sweeping doubles 3–0 established the momentum needed to win the match,” Saba-
da said. Specifically, doubles tandems of Sabada and first-year Brian Sun, fourth-years Krishna Ravella and Zsolt Szabo, and Bhargava and Zhang came out victorious. In singles, the Maroons were able to count Sabada, Bhargava, first-year Peter Muncey, and Zhang as victors on the day, adding up to the 7–2 victory, as the team began to look forward to their Sunday showdown with rival Wash U. Against the Bears, the Maroons faced their stiffest test thus far this season, as No. 2 Wash U entered the match with an impressive 14–2 record. While Chicago eventually came up short on Sunday, it was able to take home three matches that day, resulting in a hard-fought 6–3 loss. In singles, the Maroons were able to boast winners in the first and third slots, as Sabada and Bhargava each came out on top over their opponents. Notably, Bhargava was able to endure an opening set defeat to eventually win out against Wash U first-year Jeremy Bush by a score of 4–6, 6–1, 6–2. Furthermore, the second-slot doubles team of Ravella and first-year Max Hawkins won in the superset by a score of 9–7. “I think the team is developing very well. We are becoming closer as a team, and the team dynamic really helps us become better, collectively and individually,” Sun said. With an 8–8 record in hand, the Maroons will be wrapping up their regular season campaign this Thursday against Wheaton at home at 4 p.m. before heading to the UAA Championship in Altamonte Springs, FL, from April 23–26.
Third-year Ankur Bhargava knifes through a backhand during a match against Wash U. COURTESY OF UCHICAGO ATHLETICS
In the Chatter’s Box with Sarah Langs Jordan Poole is a second-year pitcher from Austin, TX. We chatted with her to get some insider info on the life of a Maroon athlete. experience and my college experiences have been competitive and driven to win, which I enjoy. That’s what sports are for. You have fun while winning and being competitive.
Hanelin: We “knew...we’d be facing two strong opponents. We put up a good fight.” SOFTBALL continued from back
Fourth-year outfielder Kaitlyn Carpenter hit a solo home run to center field to give the Maroons a 6–5 victory. It was the team’s second walk-off homer in two days. Later in the afternoon, Chicago started strong in game two when third-year outfielder Raechel Cloud smacked a home run to straightaway center field to lead off the bottom of the first inning. The Warhawks then went ahead 3–1 in the third inning thanks to a three-run homer. Whitewater continued to score six runs on two homers and two RBI singles. The Maroons fought back with three runs, consisting of a homer from first-year infielder Maggie O’Hara
and RBIs from Cloud and Carpenter. In the end, the Maroons came up short and lost 9–6 while totaling 13 hits with three errors on defense. Although the previously 15–1 Maroons weren’t used to splitting multiple doubleheaders, this is a confident team. “As a first-year, I feel lucky to be on such a strong team, mentally and athletically,” Hanelin said. “Our team goes into every game hungry to win, and we should bring home the Ws Tuesday and Thursday.” The Maroons face Wheaton away Tuesday at 3 and 5 p.m., and they play Hope College at home on Thursday at 3 and 5 p.m.
COURTESY OF UCHICAGO ATHLETICS
Chicago Maroon: When did you start playing softball? Jordan Poole: My parents forced me to start playing at the age of five. I didn’t want to play. My dad thought it was a good idea for me to play a team sport, so I ran into the closet and hid because I thought that was a good idea. And then they dragged me out and made me.
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CM: Did you ever play other sports, or was it always just softball? JP: I played basketball through sophomore year of high school. CM: So how did you end up playing softball in college? JP: It was always my plan. That was the path that I always really followed. I always wanted to use my softball to be a catalyst to get me into a school that was good academically, so I wanted to use the 15 years I’d spent playing softball to make sure I could get a good education as well.
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CM: Very respectable. Now, what are the differences between playing softball at age five, in high school, and here, in college? JP: Obviously, when you’re young and you’re playing any sport, it really is just for fun, which I think is stupid. I think both my high school
CM: Speaking of your own winning and competitive nature, how did you pull off a walk-off homer the other day, just a few weeks after a no-hitter? JP: The walk-off…I’d given up a solo home run in the seventh, and so it was my fault that we were in that inning. I was just glad to be able to get it done and not have to continue playing. I thought I could make up for my own mistake with that. The no-hitter was a lot of fun. It just happened to be against Carthage, which was a really fun game for us. Florida was a really good time for the team. Also, the thing about no-hitters that nobody realizes: So, yes, there’s pitching to it, but also, the defense has to be impeccable. The defense has to make routine plays and also great plays, so no-hitters go to the entire team, more than just the pitcher. CM: Do you follow professional softball? JP: So I don’t follow NPF, which is the National Pro Fastpitch League; they have, like, four teams. I do love DI college softball. I’m a huge fan. I will be constantly watching it in May. It’s a lot of fun. I know a lot of the girls that play…from high school. It’s a lot of fun to watch. CM: Do you have one school you root for? JP: I’m a huge Alabama fan. I just have a lot of respect for their head coach. I think they just embody everything I believe the sport to be about. I love Alabama softball. CM: Do you follow professional baseball? JP: I was a huge Yankees fan when I was younger, but mainly because I’m a Derek Jeter fan. So that’s my reasoning. I love Derek Jeter. Also, I’m now a Cubs fan since I’m in Chicago. CM: Do you have any personal heroes, either in softball, or baseball, or from the Maroons team? JP: Derek Jeter is probably, like, my one guy. I’ve read all his books. I just think he’s a classy guy and lives the dream and is really respectable, and he’s just great. I love Derek.
SPORTS
IN QUOTES “Please, God, hit it somewhere else.” —NY Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran on playing first base for first time in career
Women finish third, men fourth at Chicagolands Track & Field Russell Mendelson Sports Staff With their conference competition just around the corner, the Maroons headed to Lewis University in Romeoville for the Chicagoland Championships. With a total of 22 events scored for each group, the women finished third with 95 points while the men slotted in at fourth place with a total of 60 points. The women shone in the 4x400-meter relay, in which they took the top spot with a time of 4:00.87, almost 10 seconds ahead of the next school to finish, which was Lewis. “Like last year, this was a very windy meet. Despite the challenging weather, many people were still able to run well, and some even came away with new personal best times,” secondyear Alison Pildner said. She started the race for Chicago. “The most challenging part of the meet so far was definitely the winds we were
dealing with,” first-year Michelle Dobbs said. “For any race over 200m, the portion of the race going into the wind was a large factor in slowing down the times.” Besides running in the second position of the 4x400-meter, Dobbs also took first in the 800-meter with a time of 2:17.72, more than a second ahead of fourth-year Alex Muller of DePaul, who clocked a 2:18.97. “[My] 800 was more about race strategy than time due to the extreme winds,” Dobbs said. “With this in mind, I was able to get behind other runners for the first portion of the race and make them do the work, which left me with the advantage in the end.” For the men, the pole vaulters stole the show. Second-year Michael Bennett led the way with a jump of 4.45m while second-year Nicholas Lyon finished right below him, coming in with a 4.30m jump. “It was really cool seeing Nick and I [take] the top
two spots,” Bennett said. “We both had jumped in weather similar to this at this meet last year, and we both were able to put it together.” Wind played a role for those running on the track as well as in other events, forcing competitors to make adjustments. “The worst part of the weekend was the wind. When we have cross winds, it is very difficult for vertical jumping events to cope,” Bennett said. With UAAs fast approaching, Pildner summed up the importance of the remaining meet at Wheaton College this Thursday. “We only have one more meet to work out any kinks in our events and relays before this important two-day competition. Everyone is working hard in practice to be ready for this meet, and I am sure we will perform well,” Pildner said. The Maroons will go to Wheaton on Thursday for the outdoor Twilight Meet beginning at 1 p.m.
Second-year Michael Bennett competes in the pole vault at the Chicagoland Championships over the weekend. Bennett took first place. COURTESY OF ROGER KLEIN
2–1 showing provides last challenge Fierce weekend yields before UAA Championships split doubleheaders Women’s Tennis Helen Petersen Maroon Contributor Although the Maroons don’t play in Kansas, there was still “no place like home” for No. 12 Chicago this past weekend. The Maroons ended their weekend play at 2–1, bringing their record to 9–8. With wins over Case (9–9) and Coe (16–5) and a loss to UAA rival Wash U (15–3), Chicago will head into postseason play next weekend. The South Siders opened the weekend with a hard-fought win over Case. No. 1 doubles duo first-year Tiffany Chen and third-year Megan Tang began the day by winning their opening match against third-year Marianne Bonanno and second-year Sara Zargham. Tang, at No. 1 singles, defeated Bonanno (6–2, 6–0) a second time, while Chen knocked off Zargham in three sets (6–4, 2–6, 6–3) at No. 2 singles. Third-year Kelsey McGillis came back against second-year Surya Khadilkar in three sets (4– 6, 6–4, 7–5) to help the Maroons clinch the win. “After losing the first set, I knew I could still beat this girl, so I just focused on one point at a time in the second, and the results came with it,” McGillis said. “Although I wasn’t playing my
Softball best tennis, I knew we needed as many wins as we could get after getting down 2–1 in doubles, so I fought hard to not let my team down and hopefully make it a little easier for everyone else still on the court. At one point, I was down a match point in the third set, which would have cost us the match, but I played big and offensively to dig myself out, and it worked.” Between McGillis’s and Chen’s huge wins, the Maroons were able to secure the victory over Case. Saturday’s match against Coe proved to be an easy day for the South Siders. The Kohawks were not able to recover after dropping all of their doubles matches to begin the day. Tang and Chen continued their dominant campaign, collectively winning five of their last six matches in both in doubles and singles. Doubles partners McGillis and third-year Maggie Schumann won both singles and doubles to help secure a 9–0 sweep. Sunday saw the Maroons’ weekend success end, as No. 9 Wash U proved to be too much of a challenge. The Bears walked away with an 8–1 win and dominated from beginning to end. Even though Chicago is nationally ranked only three slots lower than Wash U, the Bears held control throughout the entire match.
The Bears swept doubles for the eighth time this season and remain 14–0 when leading after doubles. In contrast, the Maroons have struggled in that area of their game, winning only 11 of their past 36 doubles matches. Tang earned the only win of the day. “In doubles, I felt that Tiffany and I were neck-and-neck with Wash U. It really came down to who put the ball away faster at the net and who made less errors,” Tang said. “In singles, I kept the mindset of making more balls than my opponent, and that paid off, especially in the second set. As a team, we definitely fought hard. It was simply a matter of who played more aggressively in doubles at the crucial points and who made less errors in singles.” Both teams will advance to postseason play next weekend in Altamonte Springs, FL. Heading into the UAA Championship, Chicago knows what it needs to work on to be successful in the postseason. “We will focus on playing the big points more offensively and cutting down on unforced errors. If we work on these two things, we should do very well in postseason play,” Tang said. The NCAA Championship opens on Thursday, April 24 in Altamonte Springs, FL.
Jenna Harris Sports Staff Chicago proved itself a legitimate contender as it competed and snatched victories against two talented teams this past weekend. “Facing North Central and Whitewater this weekend, the team knew…we’d be facing two strong opponents,” said first-year pitcher Alexa Hanelin. “We put up a good fight.” The Maroons (17–3) knew that these two doubleheaders against the No. 18 North Central Cardinals (22–4) and the UW–Whitewater Warhawks (20–5) were going to be tough, but they fought back from behind in each of their games to split both doubleheaders, exiting the weekend with two wins and two losses. Chicago opened Saturday with its first game against North Central. The Cardinals’ higher ranking and the noise coming from their dugout did not deter the Maroons. The first five innings of game one featured a pitching duel between Cardinal fourth-year Vlasta Mangia and Maroon second-year Jordan Poole. At the end of the fifth, Chicago got its first run from first-year second baseman Anna Woolery. The game continued until the teams went into extra innings, tied 5–5. With two
outs in the eighth inning, Poole jacked a home run over the leftfield wall, giving the Maroons the 6–5 win. Game two against North Central saw a more tragic ending for the Maroons, as the Cardinals won 7–3. Chicago came out strong with an RBI double by fourth-year third baseman Maddie McManus to put the home team ahead 2–0. The South Siders made it 3–0 in the third inning thanks to an unearned run that followed two errors in the second inning. The Cardinals, however, scored two runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Two home runs and two RBI doubles did the bulk of the damage, giving Chicago its second loss of the season. The Maroons totaled eight hits and two errors. Sunday saw another doubleheader at home, this time against Whitewater. The Warhawks started strong in game one, scoring four runs on seven hits in the opening two innings. In the third inning with the bases loaded, second-year first baseman Kathleen Kohm looped a two-run single to left field, bringing the score to 4–2. McManus doubled and then scored on an RBI single from Poole in the fifth. Kohm followed up by blasting a long two-run homer that traveled well past the left-field fence to tie up the score. SOFTBALL continued on page 11