042712 Chicago Maroon

FRIDAY • APRIL 27, 2012

Aramark contract extends line of credit for RSO events Madhu Srikantha Associate News Editor Student groups have gained access to a $25,000 line of credit toward catering their events as part of a new contract negotiated between the University and its food provider Aramark, and the current number is bound to increase as much as fourfold in the coming years.

The line of credit became effective at the beginning of spring quarter, establishing another financial outlet, aside from existing sources like the Student Government Finance Committee (SGFC), for RSOs reaching beyond their annual budget.

The $25,000 line of credit will continue through the end of this quarter. Beginning next year, however, that number will jump to $50,000, then again up to $75,000 the next year, finally landing at $100,000 for its fourth year. The line of credit will remain at the $100,000 level, adjusted for inflation, for following years.

With the catering fund barely a month old, it is still uncertain how the additional $25,000

ISSUE 41 • VOLUME 123

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will shift the balance between different sources of funding for RSOs, according to third-year Law student and SGFC member Pravin Patel.

“The short answer is that it’s great, because the SGFC, as we know, has limited funds,” he said. “As for how the dichotomy between the two [funding sources] will work, I think that remains to be seen.”

Still, Patel said that the spring-quarter timing of the fund has been opportune, since the SGFC typically runs dry before the end of the academic year.

“Right now, it provides the current committee with a little bit of luxury.”

Christopher Toote, the Associate Director for Dining Operations at the University, is excited to see another source of funding available to RSOs. “That was one of the attractive ingredients of the [Aramark] contract,” Toote said. “We were concerned that the interests of our students be acknowledged and recognized.”

RSOs rely on food as a major draw when planning ARAMARK continued on page 3

Connect slate wins with nearly half the vote

Second-year Law student Renard Miller (center), third-year Douglas Everson (left), and first-year Yusef Al-Jarani celebrate their victory as next year’s SG Executive Slate with a slice of cake Thursday evening in the C-Shop.

JOHNNY HUNG | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Lina Li News Staff Editor’s Note: Douglas Everson is a Maroon staffer.

Cruising to victory on a platform of undergraduate and graduate student unity, Connect became executive slate–

elect for 2012-2013 last night with 47.69 percent of the vote, beating ChicagoSpirit and Moose Party by a wide margin.

Overall, Connect received 1253 votes, ChicagoSpirit 704 votes, and Moose Party 568 votes.

ORCSA announced secondyear Rohan Manthani and sec-

ond-year Grace Park have been elected Undergraduate Liaison to the Board of Trustees and Community and Government Liaison, respectively. Secondyear graduate student in Public Policy and Middle Eastern Studies Kathryn Hagerman was voted Graduate Liaison to the Board of Trustees.

Eleven winners of the College Council (CC) race were also announced, although a tie between 2013 College Council write-in candidates Rebecca Kim and Jenn Cohen will be settled by members of SG. The other three winners for Class of 2013 representative are Sarah ELECTION continued on page 3

At embattled Bearing old scars, UN whistleblower Hillel, accusations calls out against torture at home and abroad continue to fly

It’s a wrap: Chipotle to open at Harper Court

Sarah Miller News Staff

James DelVesco News Staff

The firings and dismissals that swept through the Newberger Hillel last month were preceded by long bouts of political and financial brinkmanship that came close to disrupting Jewish student life on multiple occasions, according to insider accounts.

In a public statement released April 19, and in talks since then, former members of the Hillel’s board of directors are claiming that the Jewish United Fund of Chicago (JUF) has been disingenuous about the full extent of its financial support, which the JUF maintains has grown in the decade since it came into ownership of Hillel’s building in 2002.

Meanwhile, the JUF official overseeing Illinois’s Hillels, John Lowenstein, says that the leadership under fired Executive Director Dan Libenson was uncompromising, unrealistic, and risked jeopardizing

international human rights law, then publishing his findings and pressuring nations that perpetrate human rights violations.

“There was once a time when we thought the abolishment of torture might be within our grasp,” Méndez

Chipotle will be joining Five Guys, Clarke’s, and other Harper Court developments on 53rd Street in a little over a year, even as a Qdoba moves into Hutch Commons.

The addition of Chipotle, which was announced Tuesday, is part of the University’s efforts to revitalize 53rd Street and bring new attractions to Hyde Park.

Proposed Harper Court businesses include a movie theater, Whole Foods, a Hyatt Hotel, and an Akira clothing store, among other attractions.

Christopher Dillion, managing director at Vermillion Development, the contracted developer for Harper Court, said he expects Chipotle to open during the summer of 2013. Akira and the New 400 Movie Theater are slated to take their places in Hyde Park

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During a talk Wednesday evening in International House, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan E. Méndez is greeted by a woman demonstrating against prisoner conditions at Illinois’ Tamms Correctional Center.

VARSHA SUNDAR | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Jon Catlin News Staff UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan E. Méndez discussed the obstacles in eliminating the practice of torture at I-House Tuesday evening.

His talk, “Challenges in Combating

Temperatures in Fahrenheit - Courtesy of The Weather Channel

Torture,” gave a pessimistic outlook for the elimination of torture in the near future, drawing on his experience as the UN’s chief watchdog and as a victim of torture himself.

Méndez’s position entails traveling unannounced to detention centers, checking for compliance with

IN VIEWPOINTS

IN ARTS

Preparing to face debt

Jack White goes solo with new genrebending album » Page 9

War is not the answer

With fire and water, Beowulf wages war in Hutch Courtyard » Page 11

» Page 6 » Page 8

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | April 27, 2012

Pritzker students win fellowships after pressing for community health Jennifer Standish Associate News Editor Two first-year Pritzker Medical School students have won $2,500 fellowships for their work bolstering science and health education in Woodlawn schools and recruiting minority students into the medical professions.

Alisha Ranadive and Christopher Castaneda were this year’s recipients of Schweitzer fellowships, which go to 250 medical students each year working on community health care projects.

Ranadive will use her fellowship to expand the work she has done with her RSO, South Side Science Scholars, which received Uncommon Fund money earlier this year. Starting with the Sherman School of Excellence on South Langley Avenue and East 60th Street, she will be reworking the science curricula at local schools, paying particular attention to health education.

“I know everyone at the U of C is really busy, so my project looks at how to make a sustainable afterschool program,” she said. “I’m gonna be developing a curriculum that does two things: It matches the

science curriculum taught at the school anyway, and then it adds a health component to use our expertise as medical students.” She also will create lesson kits for future educators following up on her project in schools around the South Side.

Castaneda will use his fellowship to expand a recruitment program he established for minority high school students interested in medical school. Currently, the workshops he runs on campus through the Student National Medical Association meet only once a month, and Castenada hopes to create something more long-term.

“I want to have a plan in place so that when new medical students come in, they can take the curriculum that we develop and just go with it,” he said.

According to Castaneda, local leaders are enthusiastic about his work.

“I talked to people from the community and different community leaders, and a lot of them were interested in having people from their neighborhoods getting into medical schools and other health professions,” he said. “I thought it would be a good way to help the community, where they thought there was a need.”

For strategist in Obama camp, high technology leads the charge

Pritzker School of Medicine student Christopher Castaneda (left) was recently selected to receive the Schweitzer Fellowship for his work encouraging minority high school students interested in medical school. Pritzker School of Medicine student and recipient of the Schweitzer Fellowship Alisha Ranadive (right) works with younger, middle school students interested in the sciences.

COURTESY OF PRITZKER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Recent years seen as step back in anti-torture crusade TORTURE continued from front

began. “But eradication has proved more elusive than we thought: There are currently allegations of torture in half of all nations and of cruel or inhuman punishment in all 193 nations of the world.”

One of those nations is Méndez’s native Argentina, where, during the so-called “Dirty War” in 1976, he was tortured while in prison for providing legal defense to government opponents. During his 18 months in prison, Méndez was adopted

by Amnesty International as a “prisoner of conscience” and ultimately released.

Méndez cited the global war on terror as a major step backward for the global campaign against torture. “In recent years, powerful nations have relaxed their rules on torture, and this has had a harmful ripple effect on the rest of the globe,” he said.

He also blamed a media culture in which torture is widely regarded as the cost of doing business.

“The main obstacle is that we can live with torture, for it happens to people with names that we

cannot pronounce and faces we cannot see,” he said. “My task has been shaming that culture and the evil of torture by giving a human face to that suffering, including my own.”

Attending the talk were activists from Tamms Year Ten, a human rights group that formed in 2008 to protest the treatment and conditions of prisoners at the Tamms Correctional Center in Southern Illinois. Built in 1998, Tamms is one of few state prisons designated “super-maximum security” and keeps prisoners solely in solitary confinement.

Bearing signs proclaiming, “I am a man” and “I am a mom,” the activists thanked Méndez with flowers for his work on legitimating solitary confinement as a human rights issue when he brought it to the UN General Assembly in 2011.

They urged him to visit and investigate Tamms at a time when Governor Pat Quinn has proposed closing the politically contentious and costly-tomaintain prison, the Chicago Tribune reported February 22.

New meal options pull students back for seconds Zhou Fang News Contributor Harper Reed, Chief Technology Officer for Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, speaks about technology’s relationship to a grassroots campaign during a speech in Searle Chemistry Laboratory Thursday afternoon.

JOHNNY HUNG | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Ash Mayo News Staff Harper Reed, Chief Technolog y Officer (CTO) of President Obama’s re-election campaign, spoke about paper, passion, and the role of technolog y in politics at a question-and-answer session with students in Searle Chemistry Laboratory yesterday afternoon.

“Campaigns are about knocking on doors,” Reed said. Technolog y’s role, he said, focuses on making the life of a volunteer easier.

His team works to integrate databases, consolidate information, and “find how to solve the problem the best with the least resources.”

Reed said that his job was not to create a model that replaced paper in campaigns, but rather to allow volunteers to make better use of their time.

“If we have volunteers working eighty hours a week and we find a way for them to get the same amount of work done in 60 hours, they’ll still volunteer 80 hours. And that’s what we want,” Reed said.

At the same time, Reed reminded stu-

dents that campaigns have to be accessible to all. “I know my mom knows how to use paper, and I know I can build a software that my mom can’t use,” Reed said.

Reed then cited the importance of open source software to the campaign, claiming that it made up a bulk of his team’s tools, even though it is not the thrust of his work.

“For me it’s about the concept, not the software,” he said.

“We spend a lot of time thinking about trying to build a concept—campaigns always try to reinvent the wheel. We hope to move that bar just a little bit above zero, and we hope to do that with a concept.

Software will sit and rot.”

Reed said he has not yet considered his plans after the presidential election this November, because he wants to focus on the work that he is doing now.

“I’ve never worked at a place that is as exciting as this is,” he said.

Prior to assuming his position at Obama for America last year, Reed served as CTO of skinnyCorp—better known as Threadless, a homegrown Chicago t-shirt retailer.

Students are increasingly taking advantage of this year’s new dining options, the Phoenix Meal Plan and meal exchanges, implemented fall quarter as a result of the Global Dining Initiative.

The number of students enrolled in the Phoenix meal plan has increased from 183 to 267 since fall quarter, and the number of meal exchanges used has doubled, from around 2500 in fall to about 5000 in winter, according to Director of Campus Dining Richard Mason.

The attendance of fourth meal has normalized to around 300 to 400 each night, compared with the nearly 600 who attended the pilot in Pierce last year.

Mason said that the administrators are still evaluating the new dining program by gathering at least a full year’s worth of data and that they will engage with student groups to talk about the dining options later in the process.

“Meal exchange is new for our campus, and there are progresses that we are both continuing to find in the program itself and also the way we talk about it and describe it,” Mason said.

Meal exchanges currently allow students to get one main entree and one or two sides at locations such as Maroon Market, Midway Market, and academic cafés. Though student-run cafés still do not provide meal exchanges, the dining office is discussing the option with managers, but the final decision will rest on ORCSA and café management, Mason said.

In addition to monitoring the meal plan changes, Dining is also working on improving

the layout of the dining halls. Over the past few quarters, the dining halls have gotten new signs to label each station and TVs that broadcast comments from diners.

This summer, the University will renovate Bartlett Dining Hall, in its 12th year of operation, to improve dining efficiency. The current round tables will make way for new rectangular tables, and a portion of the cooking facilities will move up to the main floor from the floor below.

“We want to create a station much like South Campus where the salad bar can be replenished from inside and be constantly replenished throughout, so it’s fresh,” Mason said.

Student feedback from Campus Dining Advisory Board, which was involved in shaping the Global Dining Initiative this year, has called for more variety and flexibility, as well as local restaurant involvement.

Campus Dining additions such as Jamba Juice at Ratner Athletic Center and Subway at Midway Market aim to address this concern by offering different venues, hours of operation, places, and culinary variation, Mason said.

However, equipment and financial restriction make local vendor involvement in U of C dining difficult, according to Mason. He also said that promoting off-campus dining is contrary to the community-building aim of dining, currently carried out through House tables.

Innovations, such as a new UChicago Dining app for Android and iPhone, will also enhance communication.

“We’re trying to think about ways in which we can make the dining options easier to understand,” Mason said.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | April 27, 2012

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year Law student.

Kalad added that he predicts a smooth transition. “We’ll be working with them for the rest of the quarter…and we anticipate the communication to be stronger than even last year’s,” he said.

Vice President–elect for Administration and third-year Douglas Everson promised further consolidation of campus populations and resources, along with increased communication measures. “As evidenced by the

voter turnout, grad students have really expressed an interest in getting involved,” Everson said.

Everson added that part of increasing communication will include making the campus-at-large aware of pre-existing resources.

“Students have been really appreciative of being made known of initiatives, like free Microsoft Office, or $6 movie tickets through Reynolds,” he said.

Vice President–elect for Student Affairs and first-year Yusef Al-

Raymond Dong

Grace Park

Osama Hamdy

Kathryn Hagerman

Tomás

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Rohan Manthani

Moose

Chicago Spirit

0 Connect

Iqbal, John Anton, and Chenab Navalkha.

In next year’s CC, Steph Mui, Kristina Brant, Ben Hammer, and Krishna Ravella will represent the Class of 2014, while Vidal Anguiano, Raymond Dong, Yusuf Janahi, and Ezgi Cubukcu will represent the Class of 2015.

Overall voter participation increased by 12 percent from last year, with 1824 undergraduates and 803 graduate students casting ballots. Immediately following last year’s spring SG elections, former ORCSA director Sharlene Holly said that one of SG’s challenges was to engage graduate students. Graduate student participation in this year’s election rose by 211 percent, while undergraduate participation in this year’s election dropped by 13 percent, according to figures posted on SG’s website.

Fourteen participants, 12 for CC and 2 for liaison positions, joined the races after SG decided to extend the deadline to turn in election petitions from April 10 to April 18.

“Extending the petition deadline by another week ensured that the races were competitive, which can only be a good thing for students at UChicago,” said Nakul Singh, chair of SG’s Elections and Rules committee.

SG President and fourth-year Youssef Kalad remarked on the novelty of this year’s candidate pool.

“We had a grad run for slate for the first time in a long time,” he said.

Specifically, Kalad identified Presidentelect Renard Miller’s involvement in Graduate Council and College Council as a reason for the high voter turnout. Miller is currently a second-

Slate

Fund’s effect on SGFC uncertain

Jarani also labeled transportation as a perennial concern that the new executive slate hopes to address.

Manthani said that once he takes office, he anticipates difficulty in exercising power on the Board of Trustees, since the position does not have a vote.

However, he plans on trying to meet individually with the board members outside of meetings, frequently blogging to assure accountability, and increasing board transparency.

their events, particularly for cultural groups like the South Asian Student Association (SASA). Catering costs for SASA’s annual show can run into the thousands, according to SASA President and fourth-year Arjun Moorjani, but even food for smaller events can cost as much as $1,000.

“Food is something that’s very important to our organization. It’s a big draw,” he said. However, he added, RSOs like SASA get much of their appeal from cultural fare that would not be available on Aramark’s menu, where salad buffets and taco bars run for seven dollars per person.

“A lot of our food is ethnic food, and it requires a degree of knowledge,” Moorjani said. Still, he said, “The more options we get from the University the better.”

Applications for the credit line are available on the SG and Dining Web sites, and RSOs must submit them at least 10 days before the event.

The nine members of the Student Organization Catering fund committee—comprising undergraduates, graduate students, and members of the dining staff—then vote on the proposal and deliver a response within two days of submission.

“It’s not just a matter of asking for money. There must be a worthwhile ideal for the project that the event is sponsoring,” Toote said.

Cost is also a factor, and, thus far, the requests have ranged from $74 to almost $3,000. Most, if not all, of the 26 RSO applications this quarter have been approved.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | April 27, 2012

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Libenson’s solutions were “nonsense,” says JUF official HILLEL continued from front

the quality of the Hillel’s facilities. Libenson was fired in late March.

In both narratives, a picture emerges of harsh demands and sacrifices that would have had broad implications for Jewish programming at the Hillel.

The reciprocal demands between the two organizations began to intensify in March 2011, when the JUF approached Hillel with demands that it cut $100,000 from its budget for the 2011– 2012 fiscal year.

Instead, Libenson and the board proposed a series of annual budget cuts, totaling approximately $110,000, that drew mostly on savings in the cost of managing the building. Libenson presented competitive bids from different contractors which were cheaper than the JUF’s rates for managing the property. The Hillel also opted not to replace two recently departed staff members.

The Hillel board determined they could save an additional $20,000 by cutting equipment costs, including a copy machine, computers, and an expensive telephone line.

“They showed us proposals that they could do things for less, but they marked a dramatic change in service,” Lowenstein said. “[The board] put this idea forward of not having a building. If we had listened and made cuts of $120,000–$150,000 in the facility costs and management, they wouldn’t have a space, a facility,” Lowenstein said.

“It’s simply nonsense.”

Although the Hillel’s proposals fell flat, former board member and graduate student Adam LevineWeinberg claims that the JUF knew its demands could not possibly have been met.

“The JUF believed we had extra funds to cut from our budget, and that just wasn’t the case,” he said. “I looked at the budget and felt we didn’t have the $100,000 in cuts available without significantly cutting back programs.” Hence, the board targeted facilities.

The budget discussion was put on hiatus for six months until September of 2011. The board proposed the same budget cuts, but the JUF insisted instead that the Hillel ramp up its fundraising intake, from $260,000 to $370,000.

Complicating the matter is the fact that the JUF’s financial contribution to the Hillel has been growing by certain measures. However, according to former board Vice President Segal-Loevy and Levine-Weinberg, the increase in JUF funding has not actually strengthened any programs, as the JUF insists.

Rather, the board claims, the JUF simply has needed to cover the increasing costs of running the facility.

More damning is the board’s allegation that the JUF actually has been overcharging the Hillel for rent, driving up the costs of maintaining the building to such an extent that the JUF’s additional financial support becomes negligible, in a run-around that SegalLoevy likened to a company town. In particular, she cites the doubling of the Hillel’s rent between 2002 and 2006.

Furthermore, the board has accused the JUF of taking credit for private donations to the Hillel’s endowment, which the JUF owns.

Lowenstein refuted the claims.

“Rent is based on actual expenses. The idea that the JUF is enriching itself is simply not factual,” he said, adding that the JUF has been actively involved in fundraising efforts and so has every right to take credit for the endowment.

“The numbers are the numbers.”

The last discussion about the deficit that took place between Libenson and the board and the JUF was last month. Lowenstein had asked Libenson and the board to cut $40,000 from the budget for this quarter.

The board refused, claiming that making a cut in such a short amount of time would require either the firing of two staff members or cuts to important programs like student internships, the popular Mega Shabbat dinners, and Yavneh, an Orthodox student group.

“We desperately wanted to preserve the programs, and we felt these programs were the primary purpose of the Newberger Hillel,” former board Segal-Loevy said.

The March 2011 demand for budget cuts came in response to a growing deficit at the Hillel, which emerged after building renovations in 2002.

The JUF agreed to fund the $1.6 million project through a capital campaign, but their fundraising efforts fell short, and they only raised $896,000.

The JUF agreed to cover the shortfall.

In 2008, however, as an economic recession brought a drop in endowment contributions, the JUF required that the Hillel take on a six-year loan for the deficit. Demands for budget cuts soon followed.

The JUF’s funding for the Hillel for the 2011–2012 fiscal year is approximately $172,000, according to figures provided by the board’s immediate past president, James Cherney. That is a decrease from the $183,000 allocated for the 2010–2011 year detailed in a spreadsheet distributed by Lowenstein and the Hillel’s interim executive director, Paul Saiger, at an open meeting with students two weeks ago.

For Asians in America, finance still the last frontier Stephanie Xiao News Staff Jane Hyun, author of Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling, discussed the cultural challenges to success for Asians in the American workplace and highlighted the broader merits of multicultural understanding among corporate leaders at 5710 S. Woodlawn last night.

Hyun, former Vice President of Human Resources and Talent Development at JPMorgan and Director of Recruiting at Deloitte, currently serves as the founder and president of Hyun & Associates, a firm dedicated to executive coaching and leadership training.

In a talk entitled “Lessons from Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for a Changing World,” Hyun drew upon personal cross-cultural observations and experiences in work and education that underscored the extent of stylistic and value differences between Asian and non-Asian cultures. She especially drew on recollections from her earliest days at JPMorgan.

“Asians were never talked about. I knew they were counted as minorities, but somehow it was never

Harper Court Chipotle will complement Hutch Qdoba next year BURRITO continued from front

this fall, with Whole Foods coming by spring 2013 and Hyatt to arrive by 2014.

U of C Dining and Aramark were in talks earlier this year about how to bring Chipotle to Hutch Commons in response to student demands. That branch would have been Chipotle’s first on-campus location, although they already have many near college campuses, but Hutch did not have the right type of equipment. In its place, Qdoba Mexican Grill will take the current space of Southern Tsunami Sushi next fall.

Chris Arnold, a representative of Chipotle, could not confirm the opening date.

Though some students do not want to trek to 53rd when there are good options on campus, others are drawn by the variety of food. “Chipotle’s good.

I’d definitely go there,” second-year Alex Kolchinski said. “Qdoba’s a good holdover.”

part of the mainstream dialogue,” she said. “We need to consciously do something about it. It’s not going to happen magically.”

Hyun defined the bamboo ceiling as a combination of individual, cultural, and organizational characteristics that impede Asians’ career progress in the corporate world. These factors, which can include a lack of close relationships with higher-ups and timidity in meetings, can be solved through cultural fluency and understanding on both sides, according to Hyun.

“Multicultural thinking brings about a better solution at the end of the day,” she said.

The event was sponsored

by PanAsia as part of Spring Festival 2012, an annual celebration of Asian Heritage Month featuring numerous events around campus.

According to fourth-year PanAsia board member Robert Lin, previous Spring Festivals typically feature discussions about pop culture and portrayals of Asian Americans in the media, but this year the RSO has chosen to focus on and draw more attention to the intersection of multiculturalism and business.

Author Jane Hyun explores her book Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling and offers advice to the Asian community on how to be successful in the corporate world Thursday at 5710 South Woodlawn Avenue.

PETER TANG | THE CHICAGO MAROON

“It’s something that’s definitely not talked about a lot so I think it’s important to draw attention to it.

And there’s an audience for it, especially at our campus where there are a

lot of Asians students who are interested in business.

This year we saw a need to highlight that issue and create a space for this conversation to happen,” Lin said.

Around 1948: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Global Transformation

Rajeswari Sunder Rajan Global Distinguished Professor of English, New York University

“Zeitgeist and the Literary Text: India, 1948, in Qurratulain Hyder’s My Temples, Too and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children” Wednesday, May 2 Workshop: 3:30 — 5:00 pm Workshop texts available at: http://franke.uchicago.edu/sawyernew-events.html

The Franke Institute for the Humanities 1100 East 57th Street, JRL S-118, Chicago, IL Held in conjunction with the course "Postcolonial Intersections: The Middle East and South Asia," taught by Professors Leela Gandhi (English) and Lisa Wedeen (Political Science), and offered by the Center for Disciplinary Innovation.

Co-sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and at the University of Chicago: the Center for Disciplinary Innovation, the Sawyer Seminar on "Around 1948: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Global Transformation" at the Franke Institute for the Humanities, and the Sawyer Seminar on "International Women's Human Rights: Paradigms, Paradoxes, and Possibilities" at the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality.

For more information, please see: around1948.uchicago.edu Open to the public. Persons with a disability who believe they may need assistance are requested to call 773-702-8274 in advance.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | April 27, 2012

5

By Rebecca Guterman

Weekly Crime Report

This is a series the Maroon publishes summarizing 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 : Âť UCPD has put up whiteboards in some central locations on campus at various points this past week, to remind students to keep an eye on their belongings, according to UCPD spokesperson Bob Mason. “There hasn’t been an inordinate amount of thefts. It’s just that we want to keep it fresh in people’s minds,â€? he said. There have been 16 thefts in the past week total, about twice the amount from the week before, 10 of which were the result of unattended property left in campus buildings, from Logan Arts Center to the Reg.

CORRECTIONS Âť The April 24 article “Protesters Join in Prayer for Health Clinicsâ€? incorrectly stated the number of arrests. Ten protesters, including four students and one alumnus, were arrested.

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Mourning and Violence:

 Monday, University Avenue and 56th Street, 3:15 p.m.—Male suspect took a phone from a woman walking on the street.

| THE CHICAGO MAROON

Source: UCPD Incident Reports

BELLA WU

Âť Friday, around Greenwood, early morning—UCPD reported two liquor law violations involving underage drinking. One was in response to a “suspicious personâ€? call and one was in response to an officer finding a male lying on a bench. A third was reported and the person was transported to the ER Saturday morning at 2:30 a.m. from the Booth school.

The Social and Political Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS

Wednesday, May 2, 6pm-8pm HIV/AIDS has devastated low-wealth communities and people of color.

This raises thorny questions: What should anti-racist and anti-classist HIV prevention and advocacy look like? How do we expand our conceptual frameworks of risk to account for the broader psychosocial determinants of health and illness? What hope is there for an HIV/AIDS-free generation in a culture that often overlooks the systemic disparities that are at the root of much human suffering? Join us in open dialogue led by University of Chicago’s Matt Richards and Center on Halsted’s Kimberly Fisher on these and other questions.

Free vegetarian meal is served. Bring your friends! Your RSVP is helpful: office@brenthouse.org, 773-947-8744 or the Facebook event.

773-947-8744

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VIEWPOINTS

Editorial & Op-Ed APRIL 27, 2012

Preparing to face debt The Office of College Aid should more actively engage with students over expenses The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892 JORDAN LARSON Editor-in-Chief SHARAN SHETTY Managing Editor COLIN BRADLEY Managing 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 VICENTE FERNANDEZ Sports Editor MATTHEW SCHAEFER Sports Editor BELLA WU Head Designer KEVIN WANG Online Editor ALICE BLACKWOOD Head Copy Editor

One trillion dollars. That’s the total amount of student debt in the United States as of Wednesday. With good reason, this inauspicious milestone has prompted nationwide protests and events to mark the occasion. While this unprecedented level of debt—it now surpasses the total amount of credit card debt in America— is rightly a cause for deep concern amongst U of C students, it should not be their burden alone.

The University should also view this news as alarming and should accordingly take more initiative to ensure that students understand loan and debt policies that will affect them during their college years and beyond.

The University admittedly offers its students respectable financial aid packages, but it could do more to attend to the

well-being of its student community by changing the broken status quo. It has a responsibility to do so and should act swiftly to improve awareness of and access to its financial assistance offerings. Currently, College students wishing to inquire about financial aid have no option other than to wander into the Office of College Aid or peruse its website. While information is available for students to seek it out, this arrangement is not ideal; the University has a duty not merely to make such information accessible, but to disseminate it freely and actively. The Office of College Aid would do well to host and promote events for students with educational materials and administrative support on hand.

Further, as an institution that

sends a large proportion of its students on to higher academia, the U of C should consider it an obligation to educate its students about coping with more than undergraduate debt. O-Week and the house system provide readymade venues for the University to begin communicating frequently about the challenges of paying for a college education. The University must work with students to determine how best to deal with these challenges as they evolve in years to come. Educational programs addressing these oftchanging needs could be put into place and made mandatory—not unlike required quarterly Adviser meetings—within extant infrastructure. This would be an improvement over the optional one-and-done information sessions students get at the start of

their college careers.

As Congress debates a possible cap on student loan interest, the future of student debt in the United States hangs in the balance. It is fitting, then, that the key to minimizing the negative effects of debt on students’ financial futures may indeed lie in finding a more helpful balance between institutional and student responsibility. And the U of C should not shy away from taking a new or innovative approach to finding this balance. After all, it is only right for one of the most expensive schools in the world to pay its students back commensurately with sound and realistic financial advice.

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

DON HO Head Copy Editor JEN XIA Head Copy Editor JAMIE MANLEY Photo Editor LINDA QIU Deputy News Editor CELIA BEVER Assoc. News Editor MARINA FANG Assoc. News Editor BEN POKROSS Assoc. News Editor

Long-term payoff

Putting a cap on grad fees

The student debt debate is an example of our government forgetting our future

Steadily rising expenses place an undue burden on Advanced Residency graduate students

MADHU SRIKANTHA Assoc. News Editor JENNIFER STANDISH 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 DEREK TSANG Assoc. Sports Editor JAKE WALERIUS Assoc. Sports Editor SYDNEY COMBS Assoc. Photo Editor TIFFANY TAN Assoc. Photo Editor TYRONALD JORDAN Business Manager VIVIAN HUA Undergraduate Business Executive VINCENT MCGILL Delivery Coordinator HYEONG-SUN CHO Designer SONIA DHAWAN Designer ANDREW GREEN Designer ALYSSA LAWTHER Designer SARAH LI Designer AUTUMN NI Designer AMITA PRABHU Designer KELSIE ANDERSON Copy Editor AMISHI BAJAJ Copy Editor JANE BARTMAN Copy Editor MARTIA BRADLEY Copy Editor SHANICE CASIMIRO Copy Editor LISA FAN Copy Editor ALAN HASSLER Copy Editor NISHANTH IYENGAR Copy Editor MICHELLE LEE Copy Editor KATIE MOCK Copy Editor ZSOFIA VALYI-NAGY Copy Editor ESTHER YU Copy Editor BEN ZIGTERMAN Copy Editor

The Chicago Maroon is published twice weekly during autumn, winter, and spring quarters Circulation: 5,500.

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By Dillon Cory Viewpoints Columnist As the May 1 deadline for our University’s financial aid application approaches, now is the time to consider the many students on our campus and across the country who are facing the harsh reality of their mounting student debt. While financial concerns weigh heavily on the minds of debt-laden students, this issue extends beyond college campuses, and has recently become a hot topic on the national stage. In the past several days, both likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama have addressed the increasing costs of college loans in an effort to win young voters, who comprise an important demographic in many swing states.

The discussion surrounding this issue was prompted by the upcoming July 1 deadline, when the current 3.4 percent interest rate on federal student loans is set to double to 6.8 percent.

According to the Huffington Post, this rate hike will affect an estimated 7 million students at an average cost of $1,000 per student. The widespread impact of this rate hike is troubling to both parties, who now face millions of voters under 30 with both bleak job prospects and an estimated two-thirds of the $1 trillion in student loan debt now held in the United States.

With this problem at the forefront of election year politics, we get to see a rare moment of ideological harmony between Romney and Obama; both have called for an extension of the current interest rate. While this news may come as a relief to many a debt-strapped college student, it is unclear whether either candidate truly believes on principle that this rate should be extended. All of their carefully crafted decisions should doubted in light of the looming election, and this one is certainly no exception.

Support for the extension DEBT continued on page 7

David Mihalyfy Viewpoints Contributor A recent all-University Committee on Advanced Residence and Time-to-degree convened

by Provost Thomas Rosenbaum validated student concerns that high fee levels entail work and loan “burdens” which unnecessarily delay many Ph.D. students in their programs. When the endowment pay-out begins to increase, the Provost should make it his top priority to draw the high out-of-pocket Advanced Residency (AR) tuition that many Ph.D. students are required to pay beginning in their sixth year

BENJAMIN LANGE | THE CHICAGO MAROON

(currently $2,352 per year in the Humanities and Social Science Divisions and the Divinity School) down to a nominal level.

If action is not taken, combined fees for these students will likely grow from the current rate of $5,670 to over $7,000 per year by 2016–2017, exacerbating difficulties already faced by poor and vulnerable graduate students.

Out-of-pocket AR tuition was intended to be nominal, but a flat yearly percentage increase unintentionally led to an annual rate of $2,241 by academic year 2006–2007. In that year, widespread student concern led in part to the formation of an allUniversity Committee, which was chaired by then–Deputy Provost Cathy Cohen and included deans, professors, and students (including myself ). Due to the economy, however, the Provost could not follow the committee’s recommendation to lower outof-pocket AR tuition, though the amount has remained frozen at $2,352 per year since 2007– 2008.

Unfortunately, Ph.D. students now face an even greater burden because other fees with less flexibility have continued to rise. Of these expenses, health insurance is the largest, but the student life fee is also sizeable. Since the initial outburst of student concern, the total basic bundle of fees has grown 23.2 percent from $4,602 to $5,670, despite AR out-ofpocket tuition remaining frozen.

If basic health insurance and the student life fee continue their average yearly increase, current first year Ph.D. students will encounter $7,013 in fees when they enter their sixth year in 2016–2017— an amount 52.4 percent higher than the $4,602 bundle of fees GRAD continued on page 7

THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | April 27, 2012

7

Short-term policy solutions will rob country, current generation of future potential DEBT continued from page 6 is especially dubious coming from Romney, who has so far campaigned on a platform of limited government, saying in March, “It would be popular for me to stand up and say, ‘I’m going to give you government money to pay for your college,’ but I’m not going to promise that.” This statement seems at odds with his more recently declared support for a measure that would cost the government billions of dollars.

But is an extension on low federal loan interest rates what our generation really needs? As a young voter facing the very real prospect of college debt, I knew what I was getting into when I

decided to go to an expensive college with the hope that my education would someday lead to a lucrative career. I am ready to take on responsible levels of debt and have put in the work to understand what a tolerable level of debt is for my personal situation.

Rather, what our generation really needs is confidence in the government’s willingness to create an environment where hard work and talent will be the main drivers of prosperity in society. We all must confront the economic climate that awaits us upon graduation, and, eventually, we will all face the consequences of the decisions that our leaders make today.

While I will admit my views are evolving, I would like to think that my generation is too politically savvy to be wooed by a simple issue like low interest rates on student loans. I understand that most people have a tendency to call on the government for more benefits when it is personally advantageous, but what we need is a long term, comprehensive reform of policies that trades short term benefits for long term prosperity. I want brave leadership that will tackle impending issues like social security and our inefficient tax code, as well as reform a political system that seems to utterly disregard matters beyond the

present moment. Yes, my hopes are idealistic—but the decisions that politicians make today are going to shape the economic, political, and social environment that I will have to contend with for the rest of my life.

Some of this idealism, however misguided, was captured in Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Sadly, the unrealistically high expectations that swept him into office have yet to be met. As a result, I’d expect that voter participation in younger demographics will be considerably lower this November, since young people, and the country in general, lack enthusiasm for the race or for politics in general.

As the up and coming generation, we must make it known that we will not stand to see our futures squandered by policies that are robbing our country of its potential. I have faith in the intellect and drive of my peers to come up with innovative ideas and to make the big changes necessary to set America on a track to prosperity, but we must start by rejecting the political paradigm that is slowly suffocating our country and let it be known that we are the masters of our future.

Dillon Cory is a second-year in the College majoring in political science.

Ph.D. time-to-degree must be reduced alongside student life and health care expenses GRAD continued from page 6 that students called attention to back in 2006–2007 and that was eventually recognized as entailing counterproductive work and loan “burdens” by the all-University committee.

Exacerbating this greater burden is the fact that many Ph.D. students are being forced into high-interest loans that begin compounding immediately because of the recent federal decision to end subsidized Stafford loans for grad students. At the current rate of 6.8 percent interest on an unsubsidized Stafford loan, loans to cover the projected $5,903 in 2012–2013 fees would start out accruing around $400 per year—and this amount is higher for students who use loan money to live on.

Lowering out-of-pocket AR tuition is the right thing to do, since financially disadvantaged students in AR are the most adversely affected. These students may be in programs with fieldwork or heavy language requirements. They may be parents or suffer from chronic or unexpected illness. Some are international students who cannot afford to stay in the U.S. when they start to face high AR fees. Others are students with little or no access to on-campus teaching positions. Because teaching at the U of C is relatively better-paid and gets one an out-of-pocket AR tuition waiver, students who cannot teach are forced into lowerwage jobs but are expected to pay much more in fees.

Drawing down out-of-pocket AR tuition is also the best way to allocate money in order to lower time-to-degree (TTD). Since the launch of the Graduate Aid Ini-

tiative (GAI) in 2007, increased stipends and summer funding would no longer have significant effects on TTD. An increase in teaching salaries and the number of competitive fellowships only helps students who can access them—not the poorest students in AR, who are being delayed by the high fees. The efforts of current Deputy Provost Deborah Nelson to frontload language and exam study are very important, but, again, will not help all poor and vulnerable students who find themselves in AR. Increasing cohort sizes after the economy-induced reductions may be important to departments’ intellectual vitality, but this action would actually increase TTD since it increases the number of students who face high AR fees, and more students would compete for the same number of teaching jobs.

The GAI and increased teaching salaries have made the U of C more accessible to poorer students and more competitive with peer institutions, but the bad economy cut short the last major piece of the puzzle: the lowering of the “burden” of fees for students who find themselves in AR because of program length or pressing personal circumstances.

All concerned students should contact Provost Rosenbaum, Deputy Provost Deborah Nelson, the deans of their divisions, and their department heads to let them know that the reduction of out-of-pocket AR tuition back to a nominal level should be the top priority when the endowment payout begins to increase again.

David Mihalyfy is a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Divinity School’s History of Christianity program.

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.

Dollars

AR Grad Student Expenses

8000 Total Fees

7000 6000 5000 Basic Health Insurance

4000 3000

AR Tuition (O.O.P)

2000

Student Life Fee

1000 0 2006-7 2007-8 2008-9 2009-10 2010-11

2011-12

2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Past and present fee levels for Advanced Residency (AR) graduate students were determined with help from the Offices of the Bursar and the Deans of Students of the Humanities Division, Social Science Division, and Divinity School. Based on this information, an average yearly rate of increase was determined for basic health insurance and the Student Life fee and compounded annually to obtain the projections given for all academic years following 2011-12.

Basic AR Fee Burden for Select Years (Including Projection) Academic Year

Fee

Fee Level

2006-2007

AR Tuition (O.O.P)

$2241

Basic Health Insurance

$1749

Studen Life

$612 $4062

2011-2012

AR Tuition (O.O.P)

$2352

Basic Health Insurance

$2466

Student Life

$852 $5670

2016-2017

AR Tuition (O.O.P)

$2352

Basic Health Insurance

$3476

Student Life

$1185 $7013

Out-of-pocket Advanced Residency (AR) tuition is the portion of overall tuition that a student is expected to directly pay. Most teaching jobs at the U of C grant a $784 out-ofpocket AR tuition waiver for the quarter in which teaching takes place.

Students are automatically enrolled in the University’s basic health insurance plan unless they have comparable coverage from elsewhere. The cost listed here does not include upgrading to a better plan available through the University or any health-related expenses above the cost of holding insurance.

The Activity Fee and Student Health Fee were combined into the Student Life Fee in the 2009–2010 academic year.

GRAPHICS BY ANDREW GREEN

8

THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | April 27, 2012

A question of character Holding open dialogue can reconcile the College’s changing recruiting approach with its core values

By Taylor Schwimmer Viewpoints Columnist Last week, the University was swarming with prospective students. They were bright and eager to explore campus, but, at the same time, they experienced a hint of apprehension. As high school students, they had little idea how they might fit into the greater University community.

Prospective student weekend was more than just a chance to tour the quad and party in Alpha Delt’s basement—it was the main opportunity for prospies to decide if the U of C is the right place for them to spend their next four years.

It is therefore logical to conclude that it was a critical moment for the University. Administrators seemed to think so; campus security was beefed up and the dining halls noticeably increased the quality of their offerings. However, I would argue that the impact that any Prospective Student Weekend will have on the character of our student body will turn out to be fairly small in comparison to that of another event: the hiring of Dean of Admissions James Nondorf.

The hiring of Nondorf is part of a trend, one of a number of like-minded reforms orchestrated

by Administrators. These changes are being spearheaded by President Robert Zimmer, Chairman of the Board Andrew Alper, and Dean of the College John Boyer, and constitute a veritable renaissance for the entire University.

These administrators have been involved in major efforts to make the University more enticing for prospective students and as attractive an option as its peer institutions. Efforts to improve social and retail offerings around Hyde Park and increase neighborhood security have been most prominent, but the movement has been broader in scope. Even within the College, adjustments have been drastic. Changes like the reformation of Core requirements and the launch of “Chicago Careers In…” programs have improved the student experience markedly. Some applaud this shift, but others see it as the University moving in the wrong direction. I believe the issue is far too complex to easily distill.

But the most important change for the College was undoubtedly Nondorf ’s ascension to the top admissions post, because his office ultimately has the greatest say in determining the character of the student body. Admissions officers are not simply selecting the candidates with the highest GPAs and SAT scores; they are choosing students they think are “right” for the University. As the top admissions official, Nondorf is the one who ultimately defines what is “right”.

For the record, I think his office has done an exceptional job. The Classes of 2014 and 2015 contain some of the brightest, most motivated people I have ever met. But I also believe that these students are fundamentally “different” than others

that have attended this University.

Though these differences are hard to describe empirically, I would say that Nondorf has shifted recruiting to favor students who are, above all, pragmatic. Though they still partake in the intellectual character of this university, these students have interests that lie primarily outside the classroom. I think this assertion is supported by the proliferation of community service organizations, investment clubs, student-run consulting firms, mentoring associations, and advocacy groups on campus. Rapidly increasing participation in the Metcalf Internship program and the genesis of very hands-on classes like campusCatalyst send a similar message. Of course, the University has always had these types of co-curricular activities, but interest in them has ballooned since Nondorf ’s first class was admitted.

On the other hand, the rest of the University maintains its intellectualism. The Core is still almost entirely an exercise in abstraction. By and large, professors view grades as a necessary annoyance standing in the way of greater understanding. Social contract theory continues to be discussed and students still collectively effervesce over the works of Durkheim. The ‘life of the mind’ is alive and well.

But the implications that the arrival of “new” U of C students may have for this philosophy are massive.

As the student body becomes more grounded, so to speak, it will become increasingly frustrated with these very abstract concepts. The once beloved Core will slowly be transformed in the eyes of the student body into an outmoded relic. The quest for greater understanding, which for so long was the integral focus of this institution, will slip into the

background.

It is certainly not the case that the University is recruiting less intelligent students. In fact, I believe the opposite to be true. Instead, Nondorf ’s policies are attracting more students who are fundamentally not interested in purely academic challenges, something which is unprecedented for this university.

There are certainly members of the University community that bemoan this process. They fear that the University is losing touch with its heritage and treat the word “pre-professional” like a vulgarity. There are others that don’t think the process is working fast enough. Thus far, I have chosen my wording very carefully in order avoid favoring one side or the other. For me, assigning value to this shift is as fruitless as cursing the waves coming in from Lake Michigan.

Instead, the University should focus on how it will approach this shift. Something that would help immensely is a more open dialogue between the Admissions Office, the Administration, and faculty about what kind of student the University truly wants to attract. With a better idea of recruiting goals, all members of the community can get a grasp on the future of this institution.

A clearer explanation would help faculty and staff connect with students more effectively. I believe that the real question is not whether the University should undergo this shift, but instead how the University can make this transition in the smoothest possible fashion.

Taylor Schwimmer is a second-year in the College majoring in public policy studies.

War is not the answer Military action against Iran poses too many risks to be a viable means of putting a stop to its nuclear ambitions

By Ajay Ravichandran Viewpoints Columnist As the Republican primary process wraps up and the contest between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama begins in earnest, we will likely hear a great deal about the fundamental differences between the two candidates’ opinions on a wide range of issues.

These differing stances are obviously important, but much less attention will be devoted to an equally crucial position which they share—the view that, if all other options fail, the United States should use force to ensure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. While the slightest hint of bipartisanship is usually a welcome respite from the bitter polarization that now characterizes our nation’s politics, in this case, both sides are united in error: Any military operation with a real chance of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power would impose costs far in excess of any benefit it might achieve.

In order to establish this conclusion, we need to first dispel some widespread illusions about the types of military operations that could actually forestall the development of an Iranian bomb. Most advocates of military action tend to assume that it would take the form of targeted airstrikes on the country’s major nuclear facilities. While many questions have been raised about the technical feasibility of such bombings, even a successful air attack could not prevent Iran from going nuclear if all other options had failed. To see why, assume—as most observers seem to—that the country’s rulers want a nuclear weapon for one of two reasons: Either they are rationally self-interested and thus worried about the risks posed by the many nuclear states in their region and the large numbers of our troops on their borders, or they are anti-Semitic fundamentalist zealots who want to use that capability against Israel and America.

If the former is the case, then a bombing would presumably deter the Iranian regime from continuing to pursue a weapon since its leaders would fear further strikes. However, if they respond to incentives in this way, then our vast nuclear arsenal would presumably prevent them from using any weapons they did acquire to threaten our interests; consequently, there would be no need for a strike. Many supporters of military action ground their defenses of it in the latter view, claiming that the rulers’ religious zeal renders deterrence inoperative. However, the same zeal would

presumably lead them to redouble their efforts to obtain a weapon in response to an assault by one of their most hated enemies. Furthermore, military attacks of any kind tend to make a nation’s population identify more strongly with its government, so most Iranians would likely become even more supportive of the regime’s nuclear program (which is already quite popular).

Therefore, if all other options have truly failed, any military effort with a real chance at preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon could not stop at destroying that country’s nuclear facilities; it would also need to dismantle the regime that would otherwise rebuild them. This would, of course, require a full-scale ground invasion of Iran that could involve several months of combat, as well as a military occupation, in order to rebuild the country and ensure that the regime we left behind would not have nuclear aspirations. It seems unlikely that an army still recovering from extended conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan would be up to such a task, and both of those wars suggest that Americans are not especially good at running other countries. Yet again invading a nation which hadn’t attacked us would also impose immense diplomatic costs, both regionally and internationally. In light of these considerations, we would be wiser to respond to the failure of negotiations and sanctions by trying to develop a workable form of containment.

Some might argue that even these costs are worth bearing because a nuclear Iran would pose a uniquely deadly threat to the United States.

They would likely claim that even if most major Iranian political leaders could be deterred, a major branch of the country’s security services, the Revolutionary Guards Corps, would still effectively operate as a terrorist organization. The somewhat chaotic and haphazard structure of the Iranian state would make it easy for the Guards to get access to nuclear weapons, which they could use themselves or distribute to the regime’s wide network of terrorist proxies.

However, the United States in fact tolerates (albeit uneasily) a nuclear state with more or less the same features: Pakistan. The Pakistani military has long employed terrorist organizations against India, and important figures within it sympathize with their ideological aims; furthermore, the Pakistani state is at least as dysfunctional as the Iranian one, having suffered three coups during its sixty-five years of existence. But while Pakistan presents a variety of thorny problems, no serious person thinks we could improve the situation by invading and occupying it.

So, it is past time that both presidential candidates realized that war with Iran would be just as futile.

Ajay Ravichandran is a fourth-year in the College majoring in philosophy.

Letter: Overheard at UChicago founder responds to criticism As creator and sole moderator of the Overheard at UChicago Facebook group, I felt an obligation to respond to the recent op-ed, “Going Overboard on Overheard.” I will defend the group but avoid lecturing on the theory of humor, leaving that to Ted Cohen, whose class I highly recommend. I won’t waste anyone’s time explaining why the content of the group is funny, just that it is, and that should be enough.

The author of the article frets that posts in the group might be in bad taste because full context and intent are purposefully excluded or distorted. Well, I’m happy to report that at least she grasped the concept of the group.

Since when have true intent and context been

necessary for something to be rightfully funny?

Would anything even be funny anymore?

Even if someone were successful in making the case that out-of-context quotes (for the sake of humor, not to win an argument) are cruel and unfair to identified speakers, this would not be a reasonable criticism in this case, since Overheard at UChicago is strictly anonymous. To that end, it’s not even possible to reach Student A, Student B, Parent, Child, and “Prospie”—regulars quoted in the group—for comment on the matter. A joke with a hypothetically fictional character must be the least base form of mockery.

The article begins with something the author

overheard: “Sorry man—why don’t you just eat some fruit or some shit.” Now that is funny!

Without consideration for the diagnosis of a “really serious nutritional problem” that the author completely invented for the recipient of that comment, I am laughing out loud. For all intents and purposes, the quote could never have been said. Nonetheless, here I am laughing as I ponder in what sort of situation “fruit” and “shit” are acceptable edible substitutes.

There are topics that are legitimately inappropriate, but Facebook censors those. I intervene on comment threads that become too politically or emotionally charged, but beside that, the group is self-governed. And, to this day,

no one has ever contacted me complaining that a posted quote has personally offended her.

I suggest that everyone browse the group and take the quotes and comments not as “ammunition,” but rather as expressions of our school’s distinct personality. I promise that one’s time at the College will be made more enjoyable if you are able to laugh, lightheartedly and guiltlessly, at these unattributed quotes. Hopefully, one day each of us will be able to laugh at the silly-sounding things we say ourselves as well.

Richard Grenis is a graduate of the College in the Class of 2010..

ARTS

Trivial Pursuits APRIL 27, 2012

At Logan, a theatrical method to an artist’s madness Hannah Gold Arts Editor An authoritative teacher, a stuckup know-it-all, a political prisoner, an earnest student and a crazy axe murderer. According to University Theater’s world-premiere production of An Actor Prepares, which debuted last night in the East Theater of the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, these are all Stanislavski. Each actor wore a grey suit, a white shirt, and a red tie. They also had caps, spectacles, and fake moustaches at their disposal. Stanislavski 1 (Colm O’Reilly), the greatest of the eight because of his many lines, everyman appeal, and unique ability to detect irony, was the first to walk the stage with his wild eyes and staid enthusiasm. “I am Stanislavski,” he said gruffly, “and I need a cigarette.”

AN ACTOR PREPARES Logan Arts Center Through May 5

Konstantin Stanislavski, author, director, drama theorist— and protagonist, as it turns out— wrote An Actor Prepares in 1936 as a handbook for aspiring thespians. This famous method, in a dangerously reductionist nutshell, advocated a method wherein actors truly believe what they are doing on stage. It is not uncommon now to see droves of actors feeling their feelings as they await auditions

with tearful smiles and serve up engorged burgers at Planet Hollywood—but in the ’30s, when highly academic style, expertly separated from true emotion, was so dearly cherished, this system was revolutionary, in every sense of the word.

This is not to say at all that Stanislavski’s method wasn’t technical; it was painstakingly so. It is this quest for discovering structure and reason, both on stage and off, that motivates much of the show.

Mickle Maher adapted Stanislavski’s book for the stage, and he seamlessly weaves the master’s words into his own creation. The play starts with Stanislavski, the smoker, and moves quickly to Stanislavski the starry-eyed student (Mildred Marie Langford), who, in his effort to hone an honest craft, rubs chocolate on his face to faithfully portray Othello in his drama class. Desdemona is played by a small silk cushion that materializes out of Stanislavski’s little brown briefcase.

Maher does a brilliant job cranking out these witty little theater jokes that had all the English professors in the audience in constant titters.

This play may contain the quick, questioning sentences of Beckett and the meta-theatrical fun of Pirandello, but it also occupies itself with a certain level of specificity of place and time that these absurdist works often lack. From the beginning, it is very clear that we are in Moscow circa 1935. Stalin is in power, we are hiding from the terrible political forces that plague Russia—but since we are in exile, we are also isolated, and there is a very real curtain between ourselves

Stanislavski quadruplets Jason Shain, Evan Garrett, Eleanor Davis and Alexandra Matthews stare at the fourth wall in An Actor Prepares. COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO TAPS

(Stanislavski and the audience) and the rest of the world.

This curtain, however, slowly and wonderfully deteriorates as the play progresses, and its focus concentrates more on Stanislavski’s inescapable ties to that outside world and the political crimes committed against those who were dear to him. Diana Slickman (Stanislavski 5), Stanislavski’s former student who was murdered many years later by the government, is bone-chillingly dry and

Jack White goes solo with new genrebending album Tomi Obaro Arts Editor For a crash course on Jack White’s musical idiosyncrasies, just watch the YouTube video of White’s SNL performance from earlier this year. Decked out in cowboy regalia and flanked on all sides by six female musicians wearing diaphanous Little House

Jack White in blue.

COURTESY OF THIRD MAN RECORDS

on the Prairie–inspired pastel dresses, White and backup singer Ruby Amanfu croon over his soft, acoustic guitar, “I want love to/ Roll me over slowly/ Stick a knife inside of me/And twist it all around.” Though the lyrics only get more gruesome from there (among other awful things, White wants love to “murder his own mother”), the mid-tempo

pacing, the plaintive violin, the pedal steel guitar (proof we’re in country music territory), and Brooke Waggoner’s supportive piano suggest that, if love sounds like this, then it’s actually kind of wonderful. By the time drummer Carla Azar really goes in during the instrumental jam session at the end of the song, it’s clear White and the girls are having a ball.

While White also performed “Sixteen Saltines,” which has the crackling electric guitar riffs and schoolyard imagery we’ve come to expect from the creative engine behind the erstwhile White Stripes, “Love Interruption” is more indicative of where Jack White’s musical mind seems to be at the moment. All the key elements of the Jack White mystique are there—his love for an old, Vaudevillian type of theatricality (the cowboy aesthetic popped up repeatedly in the White Stripes’s work even if White himself no longer adheres to their famous red, white, and black color schematic), his affinity for contradictions, (“Fell in Love with a Girl” may sound cheery, but it’s hardly an innocent love song ), and his love/hate relationship with women in general.

All those themes are in full force on White’s excellent new album Blunderbuss, his first JACK WHITE continued on page 12

quite effective, whereas Jason Shain’s portrayal of his assassinated nephew is nonchalant and shockingly brief. In other words, not very believable.

However, most of the play is remarkably easy to believe, though what the audience sees is technically unbelievable.

Maher could have easily turned Stanislavski’s text into a “three-legged giraffe,” (the term Stanislavski gives to his own manuscript once it has been butchered by his slicing-and-dicing editor), but,

instead, it is a graceful and well-balanced four-legged giraffe, which aims high and gets there. The audience wants to believe what Stanislavski’s method teaches them just as badly as Stanislavski wants to light up his cigarette. For this reason, after just half an hour of this imaginative, impactful work, it seems perfectly acceptable that a woman smashes into view through the Styrofoam back wall of the stage, grins through the mushy wreckage, and says, “I am Stanislavski.”

Undergrads read winning pieces on Windy City Emma Broder Associate Arts Editor Despite the gloom Wednesday’s weather cast on the city, the Performance Penthouse in Logan Center was aglow for a reading by the three winners of the Undergraduate “Writing About Chicago” contest, fourth-year Michael Lipkowitz, third-year Naseem Jamnia, and fourth-year Caroline O’Donovan. Introducing the winners, David Hays, an assistant director at the University Community Service Center, said they had been chosen from dozens of entrants. A whiteboard behind the podium read, “Where are the lights?” It could have been a line of poetry, or an honest question.

When someone erased the board just before the beginning of the reading, the audience gave a collective sigh.

After arriving several minutes late, Lipkowitz read a story narrated by two different students at Von Steuben, a high school on the North Side. One narrator is a social outcast whose sister is mugged and shot in Lakeview.

She loves relating strange and gruesome stories from around Chicago— “A pit bull ran onto a CTA bus in Bronzeville,” “They found a cat walking around with an arrow in its head downtown,” “They found a human foot in Lake Michigan.” Through the

teens’ eyes, Lipkowitz finds the city’s effect on personal connections, a theme all three readers were interested in exploring.

Hays, who grew up in Oak Park, said, “The contest is a great way to encourage students to write about what’s around them in a broader way. People come to the University from all over the world, and the city presents them with amazing opportunities. The Logan Center has been so intentional about being a way for the arts to connect with a broader community—we’re excited to have it as a resource and as a symbol. We want to see what will come from that.”

Jamnia’s poems were a series of ghazals, rhyming couplets that originate from sixth century Arabic verse. Persian mystics and poets writing in Urdu popularized the obscure form, Jamnia explained. She composed seven poems called “Chicago Ghazals.”

“They make me feel connected to my heritage,” Jamnia said.

“I wrote these last June in a Core creative writing class—they actually came out of a mimicry piece.

I usually don’t submit poetry to contests. I’m really nervous!”

Jamnia’s poems tackled both childhood history and contemporary experience. Though she touched on early places and relationships, her lines also comCHICAGO continued on page 12

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With fire and water, Beowulf wages war in Hutch Courtyard Charna Albert Arts Editor Beowulf is a strange tale. The basic premise of this classic Anglo-Saxon text revolves around its hero saving a bunch of Danes from a monster who’s been terrorizing a mead hall (now there’s a barroom tale that makes the most drunken U of C frat parties seem tame by comparison). Put the classic story in the hands of the U of C Classical Entertainment Society, the Dance Council, and members of Le Vorris & Vox circus troupe, and the epic poem becomes a unique amalgamation of dance, circus, and shadow puppetry. Set it in Hutch Courtyard on a frigid April weekend, and you have a recipe for a pretty unusual performance.

BEOWULF

6 p.m. tonight and Saturday Hutch Courtyard

And unique, it is. The play begins with the citizens of Denmark dancing around the courtyard dressed in black, recounting the tale separately and in unison as the threat of Grendel, the monster hell-bent on vanquishing the innocent Danes, looms ever closer.

Be prepared for a good amount of shrieking and grunting when a fierce and determined Beowulf, played by fourth-year Steffi Carter, finally vanquishes the monster. While Grendel, sporting Wolverine-esque plastic claws, may not be fearsome enough to warrant the terror of the Danes, she certainly makes up for it in enthusiasm and stagefighting prowess. Other notable moments include a dramatic battle between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother and her cadre of hellbound demons and ghosts (props to the cast for jumping, splashing, and dancing

Fourth-years Jessen O’Brien and Steffi Carter fight to the death in Beowulf.

COURTESY OF CLASSICAL ENTERTAINMENT SOCIETY

in the Hutch Courtyard fountain and not getting hypothermia in the process), and the final showdown between Beowulf and a giant scarlet dragon puppet. While the dragon may not have actually been breathing fire, fire spinners added to the dramatic effect of the fight, thanks to members of Le Vorris & Vox. (Note to the U of C acting community: Fire makes everything sexier.

From now on you should try to include it in as many productions as possible.) The fire and water effects are one of the perks of having performances outside.

any regular theater.

The symbolism of performing Beowulf right now shouldn’t be lost on U of C students. It’s fifth week of spring quarter, midterms and BA proposals are looming on the horizon, and we’re probably all wishing for a hero to bound into our lives wielding a sword. But while we’re more likely to be slaying academic than literal demons this weekend, Beowulf offers a satisfying, if temporary, respite from our quotidian problems. Don’t be afraid to join the battle.

Hyde Park location

Canon Fodder Introducing a new column that critically examines established works in music, film, literature and television.

Peter Ianakiev Senior Arts Staff If I had to construct a generic white college student, the one attribute I’d give them would be a passionate love for Radiohead. More than any other band in existence today, Radiohead is the common ground for people who care about guitars.

Hell, they’re my favorite band, too. And they are the critics’ favorite as well. When music publications were coming out with their end-of-decade lists in 2009, everyone from Stylus to Pitchfork to Rolling Stone agreed that Kid A was the greatest album of the past decade, the definitive musical statement by the most important band in the world.

Even though music publications like the ones above have made enormous strides when it comes to covering non-rock music, it’s still pretty clear that rock remains the default genre. This is partially because most of the people who write for Rolling Stone or for Pitchfork (which is our generation’s vintage Rolling Stone) got their start as music critics writing about rock.

So even though a music magazine today is more likely to take genres like mainstream R&B and hip-hop more seriously than it would have in the late 1990s, on some level, there’s still a basic preference for rock music. To put it bluntly, it’s fine to put a rap album at number two on your decade retrospective (as Pitchfork did with The Blueprint on their “Best of 2000–2004� list), but number one is always reserved for a rock band. I don’t want to beat this point into the ground, but it took 12 years for Pitchfork to put a non-rock album

Normally, performing in Hutch Courtyard has its risks; it can be hard to hear, particularly when the play in question is an epic poem or in Shakespearean English, as the case may be. But second-year director Eric Shoemaker and the cast of Beowulf utilize the space so well that it makes up for any dialogue lost to the capricious Chicago wind or droning of helicopters. The cast simply couldn’t have pulled off epic battles, fire tricks, or even something as simple as Grendel slinking moodily in the background of a scene by the fountain in

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on top of one of their lists (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy). And sure, Rolling Stone may have given Kanye West albums five star ratings and end-of-the-year honors, but they still ended up placing Wilco, The Strokes, and Radiohead ahead when it came time to compile the best music of the 2000s.

Pop critics have a way, perhaps unconsciously, of associating “classic� and “masterpiece� with “rock.� This bias becomes more difficult to maintain as time goes on, partly because we do gradually become more open-minded to other genres and styles, but also because the state of rock music today is rather deplorable—both in terms of cultural significance and aesthetic quality. And, as I said before, Radiohead is a great band, without question. But because there’s a possibility that they’re the only great band, their significance has beCANNON continued on page 12

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | April 27, 2012

Album highlights White’s contradictory attitudes about women and relationships JACK WHITEcontinued from page 9 solo effort, although, much like Beyonce, White has been such a driving force in all his music groups that the “first solo album” conceit feels more like an affectation than anything else. His evident love for the midtwentieth century, coupled with his recent move from native Detroit to country music mecca Nashville, has clearly influenced the songs on this album. They’re indebted to their predecessors but still sound like bona fide 2012 originals. “(Hip) Eponymous Poor Boy” has the jingle-jangle jauntiness of a Tin Pan Alley tune, but it’s also one of the most searingly personal songs in all of White’s oeuvre.

“And I’ll be usin’ your name, but they’ll be yellin’ at me ‘Poor boy, the poor boy,’/ But I’ll be happy for you, ‘cause you got nothin’ to do /And I’ll be singin’ the blues, walkin’

around singin’ ‘Poor boy, the poor boy’” is a pretty incisive jab at Meg White, whose last name, as any ardent White Stripes fan knows, Jack took as his own when they married. And just in case that jab goes over your head, White sings on the last stanza, “And you’ll be watching me girl, takin’ over the world/let the stripes unfurl, gettin’ rich singin’ ‘Poor boy, poor boy.’”

Of course, veracity has never been Jack White’s strong suit, and it’d be foolish to take any of his lyrics too literally. Speaking of lyricism, some of White’s finest wordplay is on this album. From the painful contradictions of “Love Interruption” to the title track’s elegiac ode to an illicit love affair, White is a gifted and perennially underrated songwriter. Maybe too good a songwriter.

Some bored music journalists have at-

track on the album, “Take me with you when you go,” is a thrilling, genre-defying mash up of potential. Over a swinging piano ostinato, White and company sing in woozy three-part harmony, “Take me with you when you go, girl.” It sounds vague, beautiful, and inconsequential. But then, around the two minute part, the whole song changes, exploding into a flurry of hard-edged, almost mathematical, guitar rock, with White practically spitting the lyrics, while singer Ruby Amanfu revs up the soul quotient to exponential levels, the electric guitar squeaking and squawking.

It’s a thrilling song, encompassing a number of different music genres in under five minutes.

It’s also a fitting end for a great album.

Certainly, wherever Jack White goes, he’s worth following.

tempted to call White a misog ynist because so many of his songs on the album are about beautiful, careless women who amputate him (“Missing Pieces”, “Freedom at 21”, “Sixteen Saltines”), make him cry (“Weep Themselves to Sleep”), and leave him trembling (a fun, arch cover of Little Willie John’s “I’m Shakin’”). But that’s a hard point to make, given the numerous opportunities he gives to female musicians on the record. From Brooke Waggoner’s thundering piano and Lily Mae Rische’s sober violin, to White’s ex-wife Karen Elson’s ethereal soprano, the women are everywhere, and they’re rocking.

Fans of the White Stripes’s gritty rock minimalism will be disappointed to find very little electric guitar on the album, but for those of us interested in watching one of rock’s great talents evolve, the last

Reputation of iconic rock albums prevents new audiences from critical listening CANON continued from page 11 come extremely over-stated. Critics and rock fans want to have a rock band that they can deify and place at the top of the contemporary music pyramid. Because there just aren’t that many choices, Radiohead becomes the natural candidate.

As a consequence, no one ever makes obvious criticisms about Radiohead’s music.

You could justly call their music emotionally one-note, but I’ve never heard someone who isn’t Robert Christgau (himself no Radiohead fan) make this claim. Albums like Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief are perfectly good and worthwhile, but if they were made by a band other than Radiohead, I just don’t think they would have gotten anywhere near the same kind of critical attention. A lot of fuss is made about Radiohead’s originality and innovation (essential components of being the only band that matters), but much of that comes from the basic fact that Kid A and Amnesiac were many rock fans’ first exposure to electronic music.

I had planned for the first installment of this feature to be about The Beatles until it was pointed out to me that nobody in our age group really cares about The Beatles anymore. To some extent, their music has become a kind of museum piece. Rock critics decided a long time ago that The Beatles are as good as pop and rock music ever got, so when a young person in 2012 listens to Sgt. Pepper, what she hears isn’t a rock album, but “the greatest album ever made.” It becomes almost impossible to have an authentic connection with an album that is so mythologized; it becomes impossible to think clearly about that mu-

sic when it comes with so much baggage and context.

I’m worried because the same thing might end up happening to Radiohead. At some point, if it hasn’t happened already, someone listening to OK Computer or Kid A for the first time won’t just be listening to a rock record, she’ll be listening to “the last great rock record” or “the greatest album since 1967,” or something equivalent.

Because I feel strongly about the merit of Radiohead’s art, because it has meant so much to me over the years, I hope that we never get to a point where the band’s reputation and canonical status end up eclipsing their music. But maybe it’s inevitable that this will happen, and maybe writing this article has, in its own infinitesimal way, contributed to this inevitability.

Nevertheless, I think that if we can come up with a more contemporary notion of the canon (be it cinematic, musical, or literary), one that is less stifling, less oppressive, and less totalizing, then we owe it to the art we love to try to do so. In future installments of “Canon Fodder,” we will attempt to take a beloved member of a particular canon and consider anew its claims to originality, quality, and importance.

Once in a while, when feeling particularly brave, we’ll make the case for a neglected or maligned artist or artwork’s rightful place in the canon. Our hope is that, by the end, we’ll have come up with a way to rethink the purpose of canons and why we bother even having them.

Of course, we may fail. And, if so, we’ll settle for getting you to experience ABBA’s music in a new light.

“Writing about Chicago” opens dialogue between Logan and citywide arts community CHICAGO continued from page 9 mented on life in Chicago. “They say the city is ripped in half. I’ve lived both sides,” she wrote, and, “In other cities, looking up is a sign you don’t belong.” The poems were ultimately enmeshed in a struggle to understand personal relationships and, fittingly, ended on this note: “I hoped she [a friend] would find someone to love beyond herself in me.”

O’Donovan, meanwhile, shared an excerpt from her BA thesis, a work of longform journalism. An English and political science double major who interns at WBEZ, the local NPR station, she chose to focus on a friend of hers who, at age 24, decided to run for state legislature against an established seat holder in Cook County.

“As I got more into writing , I started to learn that on Sunday morning you don’t just laze around, you get up and go into

the city. It’s not always a pure joy, but reporting is very different from our traditional idea of scholarship, where you’re just in a library, absorbing a lot of text.”

Of her thesis, O’Donovan commented, “I wanted to get to the bottom of notions about, well, why do you run for office?

Why does a candidate win or lose? What is that world like?”

The novelty of the Logan Center instilled a feeling of slight disbelief in the audience. Nancy Gilpin, an advisor in the College, was excited. “I think it’s going to be an arts magnet for the city,” she said.

Her husband Clark, a former Divinity School professor, said, “I’m purely here for the curiosity of the building.” The students who read were deeply interested and involved in Chicago. And along with the audience, they partook in the process of integrating the new space, story by story, into the city.

Left: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was critically acclaimed, but it wasn’t enough to top many ‘Best of the Decade’ lists.

COURTESY OF ROC-A-FELLA RECORDS Right: Can you listen to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band objectively anymore?

COURTESY OF PARLOPHONE

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | April 27, 2012

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Friday | April 27 Alison Bechdel—who you may know from her long-running comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For,” or, perhaps, from your “Comics and Autobiography” creative writing class—will present her second graphic memoir, Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama in Rosenwald 405. Check out the Fevered Archives exhibit at the Center for Gender and Race Studies on campus, through May 18th, for more of Bechdel’s work. 5801 South Ellis Avenue. 5 p.m., free.

Earth Fest on the quads means lots of free stuff (because the Earth is free, man).

There will be complimentary samples of local and organic food, the chance to plant your own herbs (please, god, not near Cobb), free bike tune-ups, discounted U of C Bookstore bike gear, and sandwiches and SAGE totes on the house when you bring your gently used garments to the clothing swap—all under the mysterious white tents that have been going up on campus since yesterday. Main Quad. 11 a.m., free.

Wait, what just happened? If the answer isn’t tattooed to your body, then be sure to check out “Off Off Presents: Memento Maury,” the second installment of the 26th generation’s spring revue “Boning John Malkovich,” (and, thus, a new Doc Films series is born). The schedule is as follows:

Preglow of R Kelly songs, Off Off backs it up, and an Afterglow entitled “Bad Porn Plots.” It’s all happening in the Third Floor Theater of the Reynolds Club. 5706 South University Avenue, 8:30–10:30 p.m., $4.

Saturday | April 28

Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, which is based on dozens of interviews with women and gets added to every year, will be performed in the Reynold’s club in celebration of V-Day, a movement begun by Ensler to promote awareness about and put an end to violence against women and girls.

This year’s focus is on violence against women in Haiti, which has increased steadily since 2010’s devastating earthquake.

5706 South University Avenue.

Performances start at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., $8 with UCID.

Lets give three cheesy cheers for the 2nd Annual Pastoral’s Artisan Producer Festival at the French Market.

Pastoral has upped its cheesemonger count from last year, bringing the grand total to 24 creameries, including Chicago favorites like Zingerman’s, PraiSunday | April 29 rie Fruit Farms, and Rogue. Brews, wine, BENJAMIN LANGE | THE CHICAGO MAROON Bar hop like it’s 1926 at the Chicago History Muspirits, confections, charcuterie, and crackers in their many ar- seum’s “Booze, Bars, and Bootlegging” pub tisanal iterations will also abound, in addi- crawl. Immerse yourself in the rich history tion to French Market staples like Saigon of Chicago’s most famous speakeasies, while Sisters and EJ Sushi. 131 North Clinton simultaneously dousing yourself in drink.

Food (In)Security Series Access, Equity, Frameworks

Hunger & Nutrition Addressing Food Insecurity in the United States & Protecting the Programs that Protect the Hungry Craig Gundersen Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, UIUC Sophie Milam Senior Policy Counsel, Feeding America Monday, April 30th

Street. 11 a.m.–3 p.m., free.

5:30-7:30 PM

Swift Hall, 1025 E. 58th Street

Registration is limited, but if you miss your chance this time around, don’t fret; there will be more opportunities to partake in this tipsy tour over the summer. Starts from 1601 North Clark Street. 1–4 p.m., $25 for members, $35 for non members.

If your prospects for marriage aren’t looking good, don’t get down in the dowry dumps—go see Sensibility in Sound: Music From the Time of Jane Austen at Northwestern University’s Vail Chapel. Keyboardist Stephen Alltop, on the Broadwood fortepiano and soprano Josefien Stoppelenburg will perform work by Beethoven, Schubert, Handel, Clementi, and anything else that’s been referenced in a Jane Austen novel.

1870 Sheridan Road, Evanston. 3 p.m., $5-$20.

Orchid shows aren’t just for flower enthusiasts who spend their weekends ogling merchandise in plant nurseries—they’re also for people who have watched Adaptation way too many times. With 128 ruthless orchid competitions and 34 orchid displays, the 60th Anniversary Illinois Orchid Society Spring Show & Sale at the Chicago Botanic Garden will surely satisfy all of your cinematic fantasies. Stop by the Sensory and Circle Gardens while you’re there—Virginia bluebells, bleeding hearts, snowdrops anemones and myriad tulips are all in bloom. 1000 Lake-Cook Road, Glencoe. 10 a.m.–5 p.m., free.

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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.

Details & Registration at cis.uchicago.edu/foodsecurity Food insecurity is one of the leading public health issues facing the United States today. It has become an important issue due to the magnitude of the problem— approximately 50 million Americans are food insecure —and the numerous negative health and other consequences associated with food insecurity. In the second event of the Food (In)Security series, Craig Gundersen and Sophie Milam will explore WYVISLTZ VM HJJLZZ [V Z\ɉJPLU[ ZHML HUK U\[YP[PV\Z MVVK JSVZL [V OVTL THE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | April 27, 2012

Maroons walk home victorious Softball Derek Tsang Associate Sports Editor A sputtering Maroons offense clicked into gear just in time against Aurora in a doubleheader, turning in a game-tying single and a walk-off base on balls after having been only an out away from defeat.

After their seventh-inning rally gave them a 2–1 win in the first game, Chicago racked up 12 hits in an 11–0 blowout to end their recent home stand with a four-game winning streak.

“It should be a good couple of games,” head coach Ruth Kmak said last week about the Aurora fixture.

She couldn’t have been more right.

The Maroons (22–8) went behind in the second at-bat of the game to a solo home run by Spartans catcher Tristan Wilcox, but that was the only run fourth-year Sarah Neuhaus (7–4) would allow in her five innings of work.

Neither team would manage much else until the closing frame; the teams combined for only one

hit in the second through fifth innings. The sixth inning saw each team fail to capitalize on scoring opportunities, as Maroons head coach Ruth Kmak brought on third-year Kim Cygan (13–3) after the Spartans (22–14) got two runners on with no outs.

Second-year Zoe Oliver-Grey singled to lead off the home half of the frame, and first-year Tabbetha Bohac, as a pinch-runner, advanced to third on two ground-outs before getting picked off to end the threat.

In the seventh, the Maroons got two hits and a walk to load the bases with two outs, bringing second-year Maddie McManus to the plate.

The third baseman swung at the first pitch and connected solidly, singling to center field to bring home the tying run. “[I] wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, so I could breathe again,” McManus said. “That’s why I swung at the first pitch.”

The home side now the favorite to win, OliverGrey returned to the plate, looking to replicate

Jenkins injured, Calway returns for UAAs M. TRACK continued from back

Hall said. “I feel like we’re coming into this meet in a position where we’re peaking pretty well. I’m expecting them to rise up a little bit this weekend and perform at a high level.”

The most recent injury victim for Chicago is fourth-year sprinter Jackson Jenkins. Jenkins withdrew mid-competition at the Chicagolands Championship two weeks ago due to a hamstring injury and has not recovered in time for the UAAs. But fourth-year Tyler Calway, who was rested last weekend at the DePaul Invitational and is ranked fourth in the 110m hurdles and fifth in the 400m hurdles, will make a welcome return.

The Maroons aren’t contenders this year, but, as far as the athletes on the track are concerned, that doesn’t change a thing.

“I know we’ll be back into more serious contention within the next few years, but talent isn’t the only thing that’s needed for a team to be successful,” Chi said. “The team needs to understand what it means to perform under pressure, and for the younger guys, this is a good chance to experience setting PRs, climbing up a couple of seeds, and generally going big for the important meets.”

The UAA Championship gets underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday and continues at the same time Sunday morning.

her last at-bat. Taking the opposite approach to McManus, the catcher got a similar result, putting the pressure on Aurora’s Natalie Zanella (13–9) and earning a game-winning walk.

There was no such drama to be had in the second game, as the Maroons blew the game open with a six-run third inning, ending the game 11–0 in a taut five innings via the mercy rule.

Oliver-Grey continued her strong play, getting three RBIs on two hits; four other Maroons had two hits as well. Cygan stayed on the mound for the Maroons, pitching four innings of two-hit ball before turning the ball over to first-year lefty Emily Ashbridge for a scoreless final frame.

“The second game, we seemed to have a lot of confidence,” McManus said, “and the momentum was definitely in our favor.”

With a strong week of play, Chicago moved up to sixth in their regional rankings. In addition, the Maroons found out that two of their own were named All-UAA: second-year Kaitlyn Carpenter,

and Cygan. Carpenter is first on the team in batting average (.464), slugging (.682), and stolen bases (11) and earned a First Team nod. Cygan, a Second Team pick, is sixth in DIII in ERA (0.83) and hits per game (3.73), and has been a workhorse for the Maroons this season, pitching 101.2 innings.

The South Siders are in action on Saturday against 19th-ranked Carthage (30–4), one of the few teams ranked above them in the region: The Lady Reds are second in the Great Lakes. After making the trek to Kenosha, Wisconsin, they’ll visit Alma (23–9) for another doubleheader.

The Maroons are 4–3 on the season against ranked opponents—without a doubt, they can compete with Carthage—and a pair of wins would be huge for postseason qualification and, perhaps, seeding. If the Maroons’ offense remains timely and potent, like it has during their winning streak, they could emerge as a sleeping giant come playoff time.

Troncelliti: “It’s crucial we take two” BASEBALL continued from back

that plated two, followed by a sacrifice fly from fourth-year catcher Stephen Williams.

As Terry got into his groove, retiring 24 of the final 26 batters he faced, the Maroons were looking for some magic. It finally came in the bottom of the 10th, in the form of first-year infielder Kyle Engel, who added to his great rookie season.

After first-year outfielder RJ Gatto walked, Engel followed up with a walk-off double. Just like that, the Maroons had erased a four-run deficit and taken a game from a strong team.

“We got outstanding pitching from Alex [Terry],” Troncelliti said, “and Kyle’s [Engel] hit was incredibly clutch.”

Now, Chicago again hopes to translate momentum into big wins on the road. Next up is a road trip to Eureka, Illinois for a doubleheader against Eureka (10–25).

“It’s always nice to be on the road and have your only focus be baseball,” second-year outfielder and first baseman Brett Huff said. “Hopefully, we play to our capabilities and can come away from the games with two wins and improve our regional ranking.”

Troncelliti reiterated the importance of the games.

“It is crucial we take two,” he said.

First pitch in Eureka for game one is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.

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15

THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | April 27, 2012

Loss to Case shuts door on NCAA bid Men’s Tennis

Great Lakes Region Rankings Rank School 1 Illinois Wesleyan 2 Carthage 3 Wis-Eau Claire 4 Augustana 5 Wis-Whitewater 6 Chicago

Alexander Sotiropoulos Senior Sports Staff One loss hurt the Maroons more than any other this season.

That loss came on Thursday against #21 Case (14–7) in the first round of the UAA Championships. Chicago plays Rochester in the consolation semifinals today at 8 a.m.

With #30 Chicago (9–9) already having eight losses on the season prior to the Championships, only a solid finish would likely result in a hopeful NCAA National Tournament bid.

But, the Spartans did not allow that to happen.

After fourth-years Jan Stefanski and Troy Brinker at No. 1 doubles lost 8–3, first-years Ankur Bhargava and Deepak Sabada tied the match with an 8–6 victory at No. 2.

Second-years Zsolt Szabo and Krishna Ravella at No. 3 would determine which team had the momentum going into singles. After losing to the same pair just two weeks earlier (8–4), the Maroon team had a rejuvenated mentality to win.

“Two weeks ago, we started off very slowly, so [the Spartans] were able to quickly win the first few games, and that was enough for them to win the match,” Szabo said. “Now, we knew we had to pay attention and be aggressive from the very beginning.”

Although the Maroons were down an early break at 1–3, they quickly recovered to put the match on serve at 2–3. That mini-comeback gave what Szabo calls extra momentum, and Chicago broke the Spartans to make the score 4–3.

Unfortunately for the Maroons, the momentum did not stick. Chicago was down 7–8 but, with hard and accurate groundstrokes, sent the match to a tiebreaker.

In the tiebreak, the Maroons overcame a 0–3 deficit to go up 5–4 with Szabo, the pair’s better server, up to serve.

While Szabo’s serves went in, a missed volley and groundstroke put the Maroons down 5–6: match point for Case on serve.

Three points later, Chicago was bested by Case (9–8 (6)).

In spite of being down 2–1 after doubles, the Maroons were not at all demoralized going into singles. The last time Chicago encountered Case, the Spartans did not allow any doubles matches to go in the Maroons’ favor. “[Two weeks ago,] we could not win any of the doubles points; now, we had won one match and one that was very close,” Szabo said.

“This gave us a boost and made us believe that winning this dual was indeed very possible, and we felt we could do it.”

The extra boost was not enough to give Chicago

SOFTBALL Record 29–4 (25–3) 30–4 (27–3) 22–10 (18–6) 22–10 (13–7) 26–6 (15–5) 20–8 (14–7)

Win % .879 .882 .688 .688 .813 .714

Batting Average (UAA) Rank Player Kaitlyn Carpenter 1 2 Gena Roberts 3 Amanda Genovese 4 5

Marianne Specker Sophia Tarte

School Chicago Case Western Brandeis

AVG .476 .439 .418

Brandeis Emory

.411 .403

Home Runs (UAA) Rank 1 1 3 3 3

Player Lauren Porcaro Megan Light Gena Roberts Maggie Mullen Caroline Miller

School Brandeis Emory Case Western Washington (MO) Brandeis

HR 7 7 6 6 6

Runs Batted In (UAA) Rank Player School 1 Marianne Specker Brandeis 2 Megan Light Emory 3 Lauren Wolz Case Western 4 Corissa Santos Washington (MO) 4 Brittany Grimm Brandeis

RBI 35 33 30 28 28

BASEBALL Central Region Rankings Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6

School Chicago

Record 19–10 (16–9)

Win % .656

Washington (MO) Illinois Wesleyan Central (IA) St. Norbert Webster

24–11 (22–7) 21–10 (17–9) 25–7 (20–6) 15–10 (13–7) 22–9 (20–4)

.686 .677 .781 .600 .710

Wins (UAA) Rank Player School 1 Jamie Hora Case Western 2 Connor Dillman Emory 3 Jarrett Gish Case Western 4 Max Gordon Washington (MO) 4 Claude Lockhart Chicago

Third-year Harrison Abrams serves the ball in the Maroon’s match against North Central earlier this season.

VIKTOR MOROS | THE CHICAGO MAROON

the four singles wins needed to clinch the match.

Losses to Brinker at No. 1 singles (6–1, 7–6 (9– 7)) and Sabada at No. 6 singles (7–5, 6–1) put the Maroons down 4–1.

A loss to Stefanski at No. 3 (6–1, 4–6, 6–2) the same time Szabo won at No. 5 (7–6 (4), 6–3) clinched the win for the Spartans.

Shortly afterward, second-year Alex Golovin was victorious (7–6 (10–8), 6–4) at No. 4 and Bhargava lost (3–6, 6–3, 6–2) at No. 2.

“I am sorry to say, but after today’s match, it seems like we do not really have any chance of making NCAAs this year,” Szabo said. “This year was not going our way, unfortunately, but we are still trying to end it with a won match, so we are going to be fighting tomorrow like nothing happened.”

If Chicago defeats Rochester, it will play in the fifth-place match at 4 p.m. today. If the Maroons lose, they will play in the seventh-place match at the same time.

Wins 8 7 6 5 5

ERA (UAA) Rank Player School 1 Claude Lockhart Chicago 2 Connor Dillman Emory 3 Corey King Rochester 4 Matt Tracy Washington (MO) 5 Jon Menke Rochester

ERA 1.05 2.52 2.73 2.97 3.00

Strikeouts (UAA) Rank Player 1 Paul Schwendel 2 Connor Dillman 3 Jarrett Gish 4 Jamie Hora 5 Stephen Bonser

School Emory Emory Case Western Case Western Washington (MO)

Ks 81 66 57 51 43

MEN’S TENNIS

Sixth-ranked squad to take talents to Orlando Women’s Tennis Shayan Karbassi Sports Staff The #6 University of Chicago women’s tennis team heads into the UAA tournament tonight. The third-seeded Maroons hope to take Orlando’s Sanlando Park, the host site of the tournament, by storm.

Fourth-year and co-captain Jennifer Kung made it clear that the team will aim to compete as hard as it can.

“Our toughest opponents will most likely be Carnegie and Emory. Doubles will be key to us being successful against those teams. Jumping out to an early lead after doubles could make the difference, since both of those teams have very strong singles lineups,” Kung said. “Since the tournament is in Orlando, fitness will also be very important. It will probably be very hot and humid, so we’ll need to be ready to play long matches under those conditions.”

“Our goal is to win the UAA Championships,” first-year Megan Tang

said. “We all need to stay positive, win all three doubles lines, and work our points.

We can’t afford to give away any freebies.

It won’t be easy, but if we play hard against the other teams, we definitely have a chance to win the tournament.”

The South Siders have had a very strong season so far. The women have won their last six matches and have an overall record of 16–4. They have also won 11 of their last 13 matches, with their only two losses coming at the hands of D-I opponents. They are 12–1 in their region, undefeated at home and against nationally ranked opponents.

Tonight, the Maroons are slated to play sixth-seeded Rochester Yellow Jackets.

Considering the women’s recent performances, their unranked opponents should not pose a major threat. The winner of the match will go on to play the winner of the Carnegie–Case Western match. Similarly, the loser of the ChicagoRochester matchup will play the loser of Carnegie-Case.

The Carnegie Mellon and Emory women

should prove to be the biggest challenge for the Chicago women; The Maroons have already bested Case and Wash U. secondranked Emory, last year’s conference champion, and #4 Carnegie should put up a strong fight.

The Eagles (13–4), the defending national champions, have lost only two of their 16 matches. Both of them have come at the hands of ranked opponents: #1 Williams (16–1) and #7 Middlebury (12–1).

Going into tonight’s play, the Maroons will be confident coming off a strong season. Not only have they beaten their opponents, they have beaten them convincingly. While the numbers are impressive, they won’t help the Maroons take home the conference championship this weekend. To be successful, they will need to maintain the intensity they showed through the regular season and, above all, not let their focus slip. If they can manage that, a UAA championship might be a realistic bet.

UAA Standings Rank School 1 Emory 2 Washington (MO) 3 Carnegie 3 Case Western 5 NYU

Record 18–0 (0–0) 14–5 (1–0) 12–6 (0–0) 14–7 (1–0) 9–5 (0–0)

Win%

6

Rochester

6–13(0–0)

.316

7

Chicago

2–6 (0–1)

.250

8

Brandeis

4–13 (0–1)

.235

1.000

.737 .667 .667 .643

WOMEN’S TENNIS UAA Standings Rank 1 2 3 4 4

School Chicago Carnegie Case Western Brandeis Emory

Record 9–1 (0–0) 15–3(0–0) 17–4 (0–0) 13–4 (0–0) 13–4 (0–0)

Win% .900 .833 .810 .765 .765

6

Washington (MO)

13–6 (0–0)

.684

7

Rochester

8–4 (0–0)

.667

8

NYU

0–9 (0–0)

.000

SPORTS

IN QUOTES “Surgery was perfect. Borrowed ligament from my ol’ pal Sasquatch.

Only side effects: hairy arm and I talk like a wookie.”

—San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson, on Twitter, following his successful Tommy John surgery.

At conference championship, third is the goal Women’s Track and Field

Fourth-year Paige Peltzer competes in the high jump during the Chicagoland outdoor track meet earlier this quarter.

COURTESY OF DAVE HILBERT

Katie Burkhart Sports Contributor Chicago heads to Gesling Stadium in Pittsburgh this weekend for the UAA Track and Field Championships, hosted by Carnegie Mellon.

Despite injuries, absences, and the overwhelm-

ingly underclassman-dominated makeup of the team, the Maroons hope to hold their own at the most important meet of their outdoor season.

Chicago has finished second, sixth, and fifth (of 14, 18, and seven teams, respectively) at outdoor meets since the season began, making it difficult to predict what we should expect to see

from the South Siders this weekend.

While the age gap between Chicago’s squad and that of most of its competitors will pose a difficult obstacle for the Maroons this weekend, team members are looking at the positives.

“We are a very young team that has experienced a lot of injury this season,” fourth-year hurdler and sprinter Vanessa Rallis said. “[We also have] athletes returning from injury for conference, and it will be really exciting to see them compete again. As a senior, I am hoping to go and have fun—to really relish the experience of conference, as this is my last.”

However, the Maroons will be hopeful that some of the more underprepared athletes will be able to make an impact—and not for the first time this season. Chicago welcomed back several athletes from winter study abroad trips for the outdoor season, and they have proved to be steady point-scorers for the Maroons since their return, with third-year distance runner Elsbeth Grant, in particular, looking strong.

In spite of these uncertainties, the Maroons enter the conference championships on the back of a strong performance at last week’s DePaul Invitational. Chicago secured victories over UIC, Chicago State, and Northwestern with scores of 238, 253, and 264, respectively. DePaul was the only team at the invitational to defeat the Maroons, taking the win with a score of 251–181.

Last weekend’s meet highlighted the Maroons’

improvement so far this season. It might be too much of an ask for Chicago to challenge for the conference—Wash U and Emory are the two standout teams—but they will be hoping for a top-three finish.

The Maroons have athletes ranked in the top five of 11 different events. Third-year Kayla McDonald has built on her strong indoor season and is ranked fourth in the conference in the 400m and third in the 800m. Fourth-year Jaleesa Akuoko will also be confident of picking up points for Chicago as she sits fourth in the 200m and seventh in the 400m. Fourth-year Sonia Khan is the South Siders’ only top-ranked athlete and leads the conference in the 10,000m, ahead of thirdyear Jane Simpson. First-year Reecie Dern is ranked in the top five of the hammer throw, shot put, and discus, and fourth-year Paige Peltzer is second in the long jump after jumping 1.67m at DePaul last weekend and becoming the UAA Athlete of the Week.

Given the average age of Chicago’s squad, it will be important for the older athletes to step up.

Peltzer, Akuoko, Khan, and McDonald all have a vital role to play, and not just in their own events.

Of course, a third-place finish will require those athletes to match their seeds, but just as important will be the lower-ranked athletes who manage to jump a few spots and pick up extra points.

The conference championship begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday and continues through Sunday.

South Siders gear up for UAAs

(Walk-off ) double or nothing: Chicago beats North Park following Elmhurst loss

Men’s Track and Field

Baseball

Jake Walerius Associate Sports Editor The wait is over. The UAA Championship is finally here.

Men’s track and field travels to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh this weekend for the biggest meet of its season.

Chicago has become accustomed to high expectations at the conference meet over the last few years, but things will be a little bit different this time around.

“More often than not we go into this meet with goals of being at the top,” head coach Chris Hall said, “but we’ve had a lot of injuries this year—a lot of health-related problems—and we’re not in a position to do that.”

“It would be great if we could be in the top four of the meet this weekend. Based on the way indoor went, that would be a very successful meet, and it would be a tough challenge to get that. But I think that’s where we’re at right now.”

Wash U is the favorite this weekend, with Emory and Carnegie Mellon following close behind. Chicago will likely battle it out with NYU and Case Western for fourth place.

After the Maroons’ indoor season— the men finished at a disappointing fifth place in the conference—the team has a more conservative goal, but the expectations and pressure on individual athletes will be as high as ever.

“We expect [our athletes] to execute the right plan this weekend, to perform at a high level, and to do all the right things,” Hall said. “No

excuses. This is no longer a warm up; this is what we’ve been preparing for.”

There will be a couple of familiar faces leading the Maroon charge this weekend, with third-years Billy Whitmore and Dee Brizzolara primed to be Chicago’s leading point scorers. Whitmore is ranked first in the conference in the 10,000m by more than 10 seconds, while Brizzolara lies second in the 100m and fifth in the 200m.

Fourth-years Moe Bahrani and Donny Chi will also head into the meet with high expectations.

Bahrani is ranked third in the 3,000m steeplechase and Chi sits second in the long jump.

“The last three years, we came into the conference meets as championship contenders,” Chi said. ”While we don’t have that this year, the conference meet still serves as the focal point for each athlete’s season. So I think it’s important for the team to keep a winning attitude and to use this meet to build skills that will be necessary for the future.”

Continuing a yearlong theme, the Maroons have had their fair share of injury problems this outdoor season, but there is a sense that this meet is coming at just the right time for them.

“Unlike the indoor season, the outdoor championships fall in the middle of our training cycle,” Whitmore said. “Most athletes will continue to improve upon seasonal bests and set new personal goals even after the conference meet.”

“I think our team has been performing well heading into this,” M. TRACK continued on page 14

Second-year Alex Terry pitches ten consecutive innings in Wednesday’s home game against North Park University.

DARREN LEOW | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Sarah Langs Associate Sports Editor Every win could be the beginning of a streak. Though the Maroons (20–11) dropped Tuesday’s game to Elmhurst (18–13) by a score of 11–3, they hope that their subsequent 5–4 walk-off win over North Park (24–10) has jumpstarted their momentum heading into

the final six games of the season.

Tuesday’s game was characterized by an inability to capitalize on opportunities. The team amassed 10 hits, but only scored three runs. They left 14 runners on base. The South Siders could not get the clutch hit—an issue that was addressed in Wednesday’s game.

Chicago’s pitching, which had been so dominant for most of the weekend,

broke down, allowing Elmhurst to accumulate 17 hits and 11 runs.

It seems to always be the same story for the Maroons. If they make errors in the field, they tend to lose the game.

Tuesday’s game included four Chicago errors, resulting in seven unearned runs.

The only encouraging performance on Tuesday came from second-year infielder Dylan Massey. He went 3–5 and knocked in two of the Maroons’ three runs. However, he also committed one of the team’s four errors.

That embarrassing showing, no doubt, motivated the South Siders the next day against North Park.

“The win against North Park was huge. They are a highly-ranked team, and a win really helps our playoff chances,” second-year outfielder Ricky Troncelliti said.

Second-year starter Alex Terry gave up three unearned runs in the top of the first inning, but only one North Park run crossed the plate after that. It would be an effort to overstate Terry’s performance; he pitched a complete game. He pitched 10 innings, not just nine. It was a D-III imitation of Philadelphia Phillies starter Cliff Lee’s 10-frame outing in San Francisco last week. The difference is, while Lee got a no-decision and an eventual trip to the disabled list, Terry got the win and showed no signs of fatigue.

The Maroons did not let an early 4–0 deficit faze them. They began to chip away at North Park’s lead in the bottom of the third, when third-year Jack Cinoman scored on a wild pitch.

They tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a single from Troncelliti BASEBALL continued on page 14