101111 Chicago Maroon

TUESDAY • OCTOBER 11, 2011

ISSUE 4 • VOLUME 123

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

CHICAGOMAROON.COM

Mass corporate protests draw student activists Quinn: U of C a ‘model’ for Chicago schools Harunobu Coryne Associate News Editor Hundreds of Chicago’s most prominent minority- and womenbusiness owners poured into the Quadrangle Club last night for the University’s third annual Business Diversity Symposium, where Governor Pat Quinn hailed the U of C’s strategy for improving diversity among its contractors as a model for colleges statewide The crowd of 235 included local politicians and officers from several influential law firms, investment houses, and publishing companies.

Quinn lauded the University’s work in reaching out to minorityand women-owned businesses.

“We have some big schools [in Chicago], like Northwestern, Loyola, Depaul, and ITT, and everybody may have their own approach, but [the University of Chicago’s] model really looks at outcome—outcome, as in how many businesses actually get to do business at the University of Chicago?” Quinn said in an interview after his speech. “The model is based on face-to-face contact, [on] personal relations, so that people can know what the rules are.”

The event, hosted annually since 2009, has led to some highly lucrative contracts with money managers and other minority- and women-owned professional service providers—companies, like recentQUINN continued on page 3

Once rebuffed, students press for ethical investments A protester in Saturday’s Occupy Chicago rally chants at Lasalle and Jackson, where Bank of America’s office, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Chicago Board of Trade are located.

DARREN LEOW | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Linda Qiu Senior News Staff Dozens of U of C students joined more than 7,000 protesters in five different marches downtown yesterday as part of Take Back Chicago, a week-long series of marches organized by the Occupy Chicago movement.

More than 30 University students from several activist groups were among the mass of demonstrators that shut down traffic on South Michigan Avenue from East Balbo Avenue to the steps of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“What we’re doing here is a great thing,” fourth-year Kelvin Ho, a member of activist groups Students Orga-

nizing United with Labor (SOUL) and Southside Solidarity Network (SSN) and one of Occupy Chicago’s organizers, said. “There aren’t many venues and forums where a lot of people from different backgrounds can come together and talk about political issues that affect them. If you want a PROTEST continued on page 3

Marina Fang News Contributor Five months after students voted for its creation, a committee aimed at monitoring controversial University investments is rethinking its strategy.

The Socially Responsible Investment Committee (SRIC), which emerged from a student-run campaign last spring, aims at challenging the University’s investment policy.

The SRIC would review University investments, making sure that they

met certain ethical standards.

Although the referendum authorizing the SRIC passed with over 80 percent student approval last spring, fourth-year Nakul Singh, one of the students who spearheaded the campaign, says there are serious issues that University officials must reconcile in order to create the committee.

The first is that the U of C continues to stand by the Kalven Report, which “asserts the neutrality of the University as an institution,” according to SRIC continued on page 4

Becker Friedman economist makes for 87th Nobel

COURTESY OF JOE STERBENC

William Fernandez News Contributor Former faculty member and current Becker Friedman Institute Visiting Lecturer Thomas J. Sargent was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in economics Monday morning, making him the 87th University affiliate to receive a Nobel Prize.

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Sargent, who was the Ford Foundation Visiting Research Professor in Economics from 1976 to 1977 and the David Rockefeller Professor in Economics from 1991 to 1998, shares this year’s prize with Christopher Sims of Princeton University.

According to a Nobel Prize Committee press release, Sargent and Sims share the award “for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy.”

Both recipients have worked independently on economic analysis to better understand the importance of people’s expectations of economic policy. Sargent is most well-known for his insights into structural macroeconomics, analyzing permanent changes in economic policy.

Sargent is the 26th University affiliate to win the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel since the award’s inception in 1969.

“I am thrilled and excited that Sargent and Sims received the prize. This was long overdue and is much deserved,” Chairman of the Economics Department Harald Uhlig said in an October 10 press release.

David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and the College Lars Peter Hansen, a former student of both award recipients and current research director of the Becker Friedman Institute, also praised the pair’s work in the same release.

“Among many other insights and contributions, their work helps us understand the effects of monetary and fiscal policy on economic activity. Methods they developed have inspired a large and influential body of research, including my own,” Hansen said in the press release.

Sargent, who now teaches at New York University, is a Distinguished Fellow at the Becker Friedman Institute. He came to campus last year as a Visiting Fellow during spring quarter and plans to return to the University this coming spring as part of his three-year appointment as Distinguished Fellow.

Sargent is the second University affiliate to win a Nobel Prize this year; Bruce Beutler (M.D. ‘81) won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine last week.

Don’t Suet it A worker cleans the glass on Mansueto library in preparation for Tuesday’s dedication ceremony.

KELLY FRYE | THE CHICAGO MAROON

IN ARTS

IN SPORTS

Clooney’s campaign isn’t personal; it’s just politics » Page 8

Seeing the way » Page 12

Nancy Holt goes inside the great outdoors » Page 8

Family inspires visually-impaired runner to go the distance at the Chicago Marathon.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | ADVERTISEMENT | October 11, 2011

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | October 11, 2011

Deemed a success, Arts Pass to keep Chicago cheap Ben Pokross Seniors News Staff One year and thousands of free admissions later, the University has officially declared its Arts Pass program a success.

Under the program, more than 6,000 students used their University of Chicago ID cards to gain free entry to the Art Institute of Chicago last year, while 800 swiped their way into the Museum of Contemporary Art. “We’ve just started, but our sense is that [the reception] is very positive,” Director of the Logan Center for the Arts Bill Michel said.

The pass, which allows card-carrying U of C students to gain reduced price or free admission at participating organizations, will not change much, though the University is working toward partnerships with more diverse organizations, according to Leigh Fagin, an overseer of the initiative. The program has already expanded to include the Harris Theater and Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House.

In addition to institutions around the city, many faculty-led programs have been arranged this year under the aegis of the Arts Pass, with dozens of events listed on the program’s online calendar. The Oriental Institute arranged a visit last year to Trustee

Harry Plotnik’s private collection of Islamic ceramics. About 20 Arts Pass events have already been planned for the year, according to Fagin.

Fagin said that she hopes to improve the program’s visibility.

“A lot of it is marketing,” said Fagin, who also serves as Program Coordinator for the Logan Center. “We’re trying to reach out to every student, across all the different groups of students.”

The Logan Center will place a kiosk in the Reynolds Club displaying fliers from student arts groups. “We’ve been going to RSO fairs, going through housing, and through list hosts, especially for graduate students,” Naiara Testai (A.B. ’10), a Metcalf Fellow at the Logan Arts Center, said.

Michel did not know the exact cost of the program, though he said the Center has secured funding from various sources, including alumni.

Fagin said she hopes the Arts Pass can help students experience all of Chicago’s offerings.

“We believe that not only should the arts be interjected into the lives of the students, but that, since we live in this great city, students should be able to take advantage of it,” she said.

—Additional reporting by Jonathan Lai

Bowman, public health trailblazer and mentor to minority students, dies at 88

COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Anthony Gokianluy News Contributor Dr. James Bowman (X ‘64), an expert in patholog y and population genetics who also mentored minority students seeking medical careers in academia, died at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) September 28 after a long battle with cancer. He was 88.

Described by his colleagues as a leader and role model, Bowman was professor emeritus in the Departments of Patholog y and Medicine at the U of C and was the first tenured African-American professor in the University’s Biological Sciences Division.

“The University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Medical Center have lost one of their most important and eminent citizens,” Dean of the Division of the Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine Kenneth Polonsky said in a September 29 UCMC press release.

Bowman, who was a senior scholar for the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics and a member of the committee on

African and African-American Studies at the University, conducted extensive research on the relationship between genetics and minority health.

The Howard University graduate’s research traced the genetics of blood diseases such as sickle cell anemia and led to discoveries in the genetics of hematolog y and the populations most afflicted by blood disorders. This led to his involvement in the national advisory group that pushed the Nixon administration to create the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center.

Bowman served as Assistant Dean of Students for Minority Affairs from 1986 to 1990, and received the University’s diversity award from President Robert Zimmer this past January. Bowman’s other recognitions included the University’s Gold Key Award and the CINE Golden Eagle Award.

In 2007, Bowman supported a student campaign along with 109 other faculty members, pressuring University officials to divest from companies linked to genocide in Darfur.

Bowman’s legacy at the University of Chicago will continue through the Bowman Society, a group that sponsors quarterly lecture series and supports minority scholars pursuing academic biomedical careers.

Anita Blanchard, one of Bowman’s former students, recalled Bowman’s first day at Chicago’s Rush Hospital. Bowman’s refusal to enter the hospital through a back entrance reserved for African-American employees inspired a trend where AfricanAmerican employees would wait to walk through the hospital’s front doors with him.

“I stayed on as a physician at UCMC primarily because of the example he set as a mentor,” she wrote in an e-mail, attributing Bowman as playing an instrumental role in helping her realize her full potential during her time as a medical student at the University.

Bowman is survived by his wife Barbara, his daughter Valerie Jarrett, and one granddaughter, Laura Jarrett.

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Henderson: U of C students are in a bubble

Fourth-year Kelvin Ho (left) speaks with fellow leaders before the start of the Occupy Chicago group’s daily General Assembly Monday evening along Michigan Avenue.

DARREN LEOW | THE CHICAGO MAROON PROTEST continued from front

democracy, that has to happen.”

Now in its 17th day of demonstrations, Occupy Chicago has released a list of 12 grievances demanding the repeal of the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, a curb on lobbyists’ influence in Congress, and the relief of student debt.

“The real power lies in the time when you get to meet people from completely different backgrounds and realize that you care about a lot of the same issues—like when progressive liberals meet staunch libertarians with Ron Paul signs [and] realize they agree on a lot of things,” Ho said.

Protesters met at the Hyatt Regency downtown, where they interrupted meetings of the Mortgage Bankers Association by sending members dressed as Robin Hood into meetings and asking banks to pay their “fair share,” according to Ho. Separate protests yesterday also focused on employment and improving the education system.

“I want to make it a revolution. If you don’t believe that it is, there’s no point in doing it. What has happened at Wall Street hasn’t happened in a very, very long time. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon. This will definitely affect the current political process,” Ho said.

While some U of C students have protested ac-

tively, others felt that more U of C students could get involved.

“I was with a friend out here Thursday chanting the 99 percent slogan, and he made a comment that it was ironic because we were in the 0.01 percent, being some of the first people out of such a large school to come out,” fourth-year Robert Henderson, who camped out downtown on Saturday night and joined the protests yesterday afternoon, said.

“It’s confirming the stereotype that we’re a school located in a bubble, thinking theoretically about very abstract things.”

Ho and Henderson both acknowledged that the Occupy Chicago movement is not perfect. Ho said that disorganization and a lack of protesting experience could threaten to slow down the movement, and Henderson acknowledged a partial truth in the criticism that the protesters were an “angry mob.”

“I think everyone knows a little slice of what is going on. There is a vocal minority with the mentality of ‘revolution or bust.’ I, too, need to be better informed,” Henderson said.

Henderson urged U of C students to join the protests downtown, saying that the protests could be a valuable part of each student’s education.

“I feel like an observer of history,” Henderson said.

Symposium leads six firms to UCMC QUINN continued from front

ly contracted EARNEST Partners, LLC, that handle the University’s vast holdings and offer it legal and financial consulting.

The University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) has hired six such companies—two legal firms, two investment banking firms, and two marketing firms—through the symposiums, according to UCMC Business Diversity Manager James Williams.

Williams maintained that the University’s commitment to improving “business diversity” is in the interest of all parties. The University’s Chief Financial Officer, Nim Chinniah, also rebuffed insinuations that the University has a specific bottom line in mind when it contracts out to minority- and women-owned businesses.

“I don’t think you want to measure [the success of diversity initiatives] by numbers,” Chinniah said. “That’s the wrong way to look at it—it really is about creating more opportunity for more firms.”

Nonetheless, there has been a correlation between the University’s new partners and its recent recovery from the 2008 recession.

Last fiscal year, the University posted a 18.9 percent yield on its investments, bringing its endowment up by $500 million after suffering precipitous losses during fiscal year 2009.

Chinniah was skeptical about a link between the endowment’s rebound and the arrival of minority- and women-owned money managers.

“I don’t think there’s necessarily a link,” Chinniah said. “The fact is that we want a more diverse group of people handling our money.”

Fourth-year Luis Amaya, a Latin American studies major and one of several students invited to the event by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA), argued that the University had a vested interest in reaching out to minorities and women.

“As a Mexican-American, a student of color, I could only benefit from this, [from] meeting other people who are like me, who have gone through similar troubles, similar hardships,” he said. “This is what’s going on right now: the demographics [in America] are changing.

If you don’t adapt for the future, you’re going to lose it.”

CORRECTIONS » The October 4 article “Stevens Looks Back At 35 Years On The Bench” misstated the justice under whom Stevens clerked. He clerked for Justice Wiley Rutledge. » The October 7 article “Student Start-Up An Insectivore’s Delight” incorrectly stated the years of third-years Irvin Ho and Tommy Wu.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | October 11, 2011

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Woodlawn gets $30.5 mil for urban renewal Kelsey Reid News Contributor The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has granted the city of Chicago $30.5 million to redevelop the University’s neighboring Woodlawn community, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced in August.

Chicago is one of just five cities to receive the federal grant under HUD’s Choice Neighborhood Initiative. The city will target Grove Parc Plaza, a 504unit HUD-assisted housing complex at 61st Street and South Evans Avenue.

The plaza’s landlords, a nonprofit organization called Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), will partner with the city during the project.

“It’s not just about housing. It’s about creating economic opportunities, good schools, and providing services so the neighborhood can move forward. It’s a total concept of support that will then allow people in the housing to succeed in school, work, and their families,” POAH Communications Manager Maria Plati said.

An August 31 press release from the mayor’s office named the U of C a community partner that will help redevelop the neighborhood.

As a part of the project, several federally subsidized Section 8, or low-income, housing units in Grove Parc will be converted to mixed-income housing.

For every Section 8 housing unit that is demolished there, a new Section 8 unit will open in the new Woodlawn South

Center. The Center was completed in August, and allows there to be a 1:1 ratio of Section 8 and mixed-income housing in Woodlawn.

Third-year Olivia Woolham, a member of the advocacy group Southside Solidarity Network (SSN), said that affordable housing continues to be an issue of concern in the Woodlawn neighborhood. In 2003 and 2004, SSN members fought to maintain affordable housing units in Grove Parc.

“I’m excited Woodlawn is seen as a hopeful development,” Woolham said, who is a member of the SSN’s Affordable Housing Association. “Revitalizing the neighborhood is frequently seen as fancy condos sold to people with lots of money. It’s good these [units] are made for people from the neighborhood.”

Singh: We haven’t forgotten about the investment committee SRIC continued from front

the text of the report.

The committee, if created, would also have to achieve a balance between social responsibility and profitability.

“We’re trying to figure out how it would be feasible, with a reviewing process, for six people to look at everything and still maximize profits,” said Singh, who also serves as undergraduate liaison to the Board of Trustees.

The University’s annual financial report indicates that investments make up 11.9 percent of its total endowment, which is valued at $6.31 billion as of June 30. As the endowment’s largest asset category, the in-

vestments provided a return of 18.8 percent in fiscal year 2011, implicating the difficulty of maintaining similar returns while imposing a different set of standards on University investments.

Though President Robert Zimmer said that the creation of the committee was “unlikely” in a private meeting last spring and Singh has not met with the administration since May, student organizers are currently working with faculty members as well as former administrators on a new proposal that would maintain the core goals of political neutrality and profitability of the SRIC. Fourth-year Caitlin Kearney, who helped organize the SRIC campaign,

will be attending the Responsible Endowments Coalition’s national conference later this month. The Coalition is a national network of college students encouraging their campuses to integrate environmental, social, and governance issues into university investment policies.

“Attending the conference isn’t specific to [establishing a socially responsible committee] but it is a general way of working towards it,” Kearney said.

Despite the obstacles that face the committee, Singh will continue to work towards its creation.

“We haven’t forgotten about it,” Singh said of the SRIC. “We’re still coming up with new ideas.”

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | ADVERTISEMENT | October 11, 2011

5

VIEWPOINTS

Editorial & OP-ED OCTOBER 11, 2011

Free pass A pass/fail system for the first quarter of college would help ease the transition into a new environment The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892 ADAM JANOFSKY Editor-in-Chief CAMILLE VAN HORNE Managing Editor JACK DIMASSIMO Senior Editor AMY MYERS Senior Editor JONATHAN LAI News Editor CHRISTINA PILLSBURY News Editor PETER IANAKIEV Viewpoints Editor SHARAN SHETTY Viewpoints Editor JORDAN LARSON Arts Editor MAHMOUD BAHRANI Sports Editor JESSICA SHEFT-ASON Sports Editor DOUGLAS EVERSON, JR Head Designer KEVIN WANG Web Editor ALICE BLACKWOOD Head Copy Editor GABE VALLEY Head Copy Editor LILY YE Head Copy Editor DARREN LEOW Photo Editor

The transition into college can be one of the most challenging parts of a student’s time at this university.

Whether it’s due to higher academic standards or just living away from home, the fact of the matter is that, for most, college life represents a major shift from high school. The transition can often be rocky and fraught with frustration—particularly in the first quarter of college, when many students are forced to struggle with Karl Marx and delta-epsilon proofs for the first time. This awkward adjustment period often negatively affects one’s GPA, which can follow a student throughout college. A policy that grades all first quarter first-year students on a pass/fail scale, similar to those at peer institutions like MIT, presents a compelling solution to this problem.

One might object that this policy is unfair. However, it’s significantly more unfair to penalize first-years for failing to live up to academic standards that they often have little to no understanding of than it is to give them a leg up that upperclassmen did not have when they started college. This policy would also require professors to privately give students a letter grade that represents what they would have gotten had they not taken the course pass/fail. This, in turn, would help first-year students understand the expectations of college classes without hurting their GPAs in the long run.

However, this idea has more going for it than just fairness. We can all agree that GPA matters somewhat; whether it’s for grad, medical, or law school, or just for a job in general, a

GPA can often stick out as the primary measure of one’s quality as a student. Nobody here is advocating rampant grade inflation as a solution to graduate school admissions or job placement, but since one’s grades are so important, it seems prudent, for one quarter, to allow students to transition into college without the threat of permanently damaging their career or graduate school plans.

Of course, this policy is not perfect. One drawback is that students who do excel in their first quarters don’t reap the benefits of their efforts. Undoubtedly, a non-trivial amount probably finish their firstquarter with excellent grades that, in the long run, help their GPAs. This is a serious concern without an easy solution, and it shows that even a well-intentioned policy like this one

presents trade-offs.

Nevertheless, the rationale for pass/fail first quarter grading is too convincing to ignore completely. At the end of the day, giving students a transition period during their first quarter will help keep them from doing severe damage to their future career and education plans; it would allow them, for the first time in a long while, to not worry about grades and just focus on overall well-being and learning for its own sake. This system would allow students to orient themselves both socially and academically within the undergraduate community.

The Editorial Board consists of the Editor-in-Chief, Viewpoints Editors, and an additional Editorial Board member.

HARUNOBU CORYNE Assoc. News Editor SAM LEVINE Assoc. News Editor COLIN BRADLEY Assoc. Viewpoints Editor HANNAH GOLD Assoc. Arts Editor ALEX SOTIROPOULOS Assoc. Sports Editor TERENCE LEE Assoc. Photo Editor

Paying a high price Chicago’s prosecution of drug offenders is inefficient and discriminatory

Letter: Midway House misrepresented

JAMIE MANLEY Assoc. Photo Editor TYRONALD JORDAN Business Manager VINCENT MCGILL Delivery Coordinator HAYLEY LAMBERSON Ed. Board Member ALYSSA LAWTHER Designer BRADFORD ROGERS Designer BELLA WU Designer CATIE ARBONA Copy Editor AMISHI BAJAJ Copy Editor JANE BARTMAN Copy Editor MARTIA BRADLEY Copy Editor ELIZABETH BYNUM Copy Editor

By David Kaner Viewpoints Columnist

DON HO Copy Editor JANE HUANG Copy Editor MICHELLE LEE Copy Editor KATIE MOCK Copy Editor LANE SMITH Copy Editor JEN XIA Copy Editor ESTHER YU Copy Editor

$142—that’s enough money to subsidize the lunches of several dozen schoolchildren. Or purchase a slew of new books for the public library. Or keep an extra cop on the beat at night.

It’s also, incredibly, the cost of locking up a person for a single night in jail in Chicago. More than 23,000 times last year, these expensive lockups occurred not because the arrestee had committed murder, rape, or theft,

but because he or she was caught with a small amount of marijuana.

Local judges frequently dismiss low-level drug charges at a preliminary hearing, but by the time this hearing occurs, the accused may have spent anywhere from a couple of days to three weeks in jail. The end result?

Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars funneled towards keeping people locked up unnecessarily.

This summer, Cook County faced a budget shortfall estimated at $315 million. The city of Chicago’s deficit is projected to be more than $635 million next year.

Forced by circumstances into a budget-cutting frenzy, local governments have cut millions, adversely affecting the quality of life for teachers and other public employees, students, the elderly, transit riders, and highway users. In fact, it’s hard to conceive of anyone in the Chicago area who isn’t being hit in some way

or another.

It is outrageous, at a time when funds are being stripped from essentials like education, that we continue to squander money on pointless arrests. On pure economic utility grounds, Chicago cops should stop arresting people on minor possession charges.

Yet the waste of public funds, bad as it is, is the far lesser of two evils associated with drug arrests in Chicago. The numbers tell the story. In 2009 and 2010, in a city that is onethird black, nearly 80 percent of arrests for possession were of blacks. Of the small fraction of cases that were not dismissed, 89 percent of people who pleaded or were found guilty were black, 9 percent were Hispanic, and only 2 percent were white.

Either the arrest record reflects the reality, and only 2 percent of the pot smokers in Chicago are white, or DRUGS continued on page 7

Candid candidates Student government nominees should remember uncommon principles Ajay Batra Viewpoints Contributor

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

The opinions expressed in the Viewpoints section are not necessarily those of the Maroon. © 2011 The Chicago Maroon, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 Editor-in-Chief Phone: 773.834.1611 Newsroom Phone: 773.702.1403 Business Phone: 773.702.9555 Fax: 773.702.3032 CONTACT News: News@ChicagoMaroon.com Viewpoints: Viewpoints@ChicagoMaroon.com Arts: Arts@ChicagoMaroon.com Sports: Sports@ChicagoMaroon.com Photography: Photo@ChicagoMaroon.com Design: Douglas@ChicagoMaroon.com Copy: CopyEditors@ChicagoMaroon.com Advertising: Ads@ChicagoMaroon.com

When I read in the October 7 edition of the Maroon that with 20 contenders the class of 2015 had tied the record for first-year College Council bids, I was conflicted.

On one hand, this enthusiasm for Student Government among my classmates is admirable. Surely, such widespread and strong commitment to the campus equivalent of civil service can only be positive for the student body. Yet on the other hand, there is a thought that I cannot ignore: The act of running for elected office and making cutesy posters does not equate to a genuine passion for and interest in governing.

And then the flashbacks began. I was back in my high school auditorium. The candidate for senior class

representative stepped up to the microphone and said something like, “I can’t promise you soda in the water fountain, but I can promise you hard work and dedication.” All I heard, meanwhile, was, “My Common App is looking pretty skimpy right now.

Little help guys?” The elephant in the room is, of course, that any student government position, from “Ninth Grade Class Treasurer” to “College Council Representative,” looks pretty spiff y on a résumé no matter how seriously the position is taken in actuality.

At that point—looking feverishly at both of my empty hands, trembling from the horrifying flashbacks, and pointing to an elephant that was nowhere to be found—one could have been forgiven for thinking I was crazy. But am I really? Is it really so wrong of me to be so cynical

as to question the motives and values of the 20 first-years willing to put themselves out there supposedly for the good of us all?

I submit that it is not. Twenty candidates all bearing similarly frivolous slogans and posters that reek of high school résumé desperation do not a real election make. And in saying that, I only have at heart the best interests of my class, the class of 2015, with regard to how we are perceived by the outside world, and how we can ensure that we make the upperclassmen proud.

The University of Chicago, owing to a variety of coincidences and circumstances, finds itself facing something resembling a turning point.

The last of those among us who filled out the Uncommon Application in its original form will, for the most ELECTIONS continued on page 7

Those of us in Midway House who read your editorial “A house without a home” (10/4/11) feel that it grossly misrepresents our house.

A principal opinion of the article is that our house lacks identity and culture, and yet it does not cite anyone who would actually know—that is, Midway House residents. Instead, the article consists of speculation by those who don’t live in Midway House, and who seemingly didn’t have the time to find out the real story.

The article says that Midway House is a “setback...to creating a positive dorm environment” which “cannot possibly provide [a] close-knit culture.” However, we feel that there is a strong culture here—indeed, our relative isolation on campus and our small size have quite possibly made our community even more close-knit than other houses.

The article also fails to note the perks of living in converted graduate student housing: All but two rooms are singles, every room has its own bathroom, and we have a private gym, among other amenities. These benefits certainly help outweigh some of the flaws.

When I found out I was placed in Midway House this summer, I was worried that I would be deprived of the house culture of other dorms, as the article says. However, the strength of the community has exceeded my expectations. Comparing what friends in other houses here have told me and my own experiences of dorm life at a boarding school to my time in Midway House, this house has been a success, not a failure.

My housemates and I strongly believe the editorial fails to grasp the real picture and demonstrates sloppy journalism. The article shows an insulting arrogance on the part of the Editorial Board that they should presume to know more than we do about our own dorm’s culture.

Andrew Mitchell, Class of 2015, with input from numerous students in Midway House.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | October 11, 2011

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Marijuana arrests erode faith in law enforcement College council ought to be more than résumé fodder DRUGS continued from page 6 there is a deeply insidious set of circumstances at work here. Any rational person can guess which one it is.

Put frankly—equal justice under the law—a concept so important to our legal code that it is carved into the front of the Supreme Court building, is a beleaguered notion in this city. In black neighborhoods, cops often make drug arrests that stem from infractions like minor traffic violations or jaywalking.

Many convictions result from police officers stating that the arrestee, upon seeing them, makes the improbable move of throwing the drugs on the ground in front of them (which means no search was necessary, and more importantly no inconvenient constitutional issues surrounding the search can come up in court). To be arrested for marijuana charges as a white person, one generally has to do something like run a stop sign while smoking a joint in the process.

Some will argue that the disparity is a result of police being more on the lookout for drug use in areas with high crime and known narcotics—areas which tend to be predominantly black—rather than overt racism on the part of the police. Regardless of motives, this behavior still places an unjust burden on the black com-

SUBMISSIONS The Chicago Maroon welcomes opinions and responses from its readers. Send op-ed submissions and letters to: The Chicago Maroon attn: Viewpoints 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 E-mail: Viewpoints@ChicagoMaroon.com The editors reserve the right to edit materials for clarity and space. Letters to the editor should be limited to 400 words.

Op-ed submissions, 800 words.

munity.

There are some claims to be made that making small time drug arrests is part of the “broken window theory”: if cops target people for minor violations, it engenders a sense of lawfulness in the community, which drives down crime rates.

But do these arrests not also engender suspicion of the police, and undermine its effectiveness in troubled neighborhoods? Furthermore, couldn’t the time it takes the cop to process the offender be better spent on the beat, targeting more serious crimes?

Either 2 percent of the pot smokers in Chicago are white, or there is a deeply insidious set of circumstances at work here.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who until last year represented part of Hyde Park as an alderwoman, made national headlines this summer by advocating for a change in local drug policy. She’s called the War on Drugs a “failure,” arrests for small amounts a “waste of time,” and has tried to convince the police department to issue citations instead of jailing people. She even went as far as to publically state her support for the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana. It’s an uncommonly brave position for a politician to take, and she should be commended for it.

Perhaps Chicago, where the economic and social justice arguments against these unnecessary arrests seem particularly acute, can be a test case for reform. I suspect doing so would save money and bolster the cause of equality without affecting public safety.

President Preckwinkle is on target, and it’s time our police department, mayor, and other public officials join her in rethinking current policies.

David Kaner is a second-year in the College majoring in Law, Letters, and Society.

ELECTIONS continued from page 6 part, be leaving our community at the end of this academic year. Pretty soon, we will all be products of the Common App. The University finds itself ranked higher—fifth in the U.S. News rankings, for those keeping score—and held in higher regard than it ever has before.

We are no longer anyone’s best kept secret.

It is for that reason that it is now more important than ever for our community to embrace the uncommon ideals that have brought us to this point. The alternative would involve a shift toward the current paradigm of elite universities, a world of inflated résumés and those who will do anything to make them so.

I would say that the junkie-like fervor with which the modern elite student pursues his or her next accolade seems at odds with the traditional values of our school. We have always been renowned for possessing true intellectual vitality and, most notably, purity of intent in academic endeavors; to use a cliché, we like learning for learning’s sake. The scourge-like trend of résumé-boosting, corrupted by ulterior motives as it is, therefore has no place here.

Should we allow it to become commonplace— as it has, I think it’s safe to say, at most, if not all, other elite institutions—we would surrender a large part of what makes our school so unique and valuable and do a massive dis-

David Brooks.

John Paul Stevens.

Tucker Max. Nate Silver.

John G. Morris.

Seymour Hersh.

David Broder.

David Axelrod.

service to those who came before us, including current upperclassmen.

The mark that the University of Chicago has left on the world of higher education thus far is both indelible and uncommon, but we who have only just arrived here—we who will make up the soon-to-be entirely “Common” student body of the U of C—still have our own mark to make. And it would be such a shame for that mark not to live up to the standard set by our predecessors.

Please do not interpret my words here as personal slights made against the 20 candidates. If anything, I hope that they hear what I have said and that, once four of them have taken office, they do their duty to the best of their abilities, act solely in the best interests of those who have elected them, and always keep in mind that they have won nothing simply by being elected. Whether or not they are pleased that their future résumés will contain proud mentions of their tenures in Student Government, their constituents will always know the true nature of the legacy they left. I only ask that you who are elected keep that legacy and our collective legacy in mind as you consider why you have been elected, and that you prove my assumptions wrong.

Ajay Batra is a first-year in the College.

Your Name Here.

join the MAROON.

ARTS

Trivial Pursuits OCTOBER 11, 2011

Nancy Holt goes inside the great outdoors Angela Qian Arts Contributor Nancy Holt’s exhibit Sightlines, on display at the Graham Foundation, is comprised of a constructed and layered set of artistic works ranging from photography to films to poetry, detailing the history and thinking of a remarkable woman.

Holt’s work examines such fundamental and confounding concepts as the relationship between man and nature, the history of the earth, the function of light, and the role of the viewer in art.

SIGHTLINES Graham Foundation Through December 17

The exhibit sets up Holt’s work in a very specific way, creating a more interactive experience for the audience. The wide and spacious first floor of the Graham Foundation’s Madlener House displays Holt’s early explorations of nature and landscapes, created as she travelled through America. Spaced around the clean white walls of the rooms are black-framed photos and canvas prints, some in color, some in black and white; the shots show flat, sandy land punctuated by empty human constructions. As one gallery panel reads, this early series shows the root of Holt’s interests–in the natural landscape and human in-

tervention within it. One glass box contains Holt’s excursions into the field of concrete poetry. The media range from graph-paper to typewritten text, and the words, placed in forms and figures, are referred to as “visual metaphors.”

Holt’s photographic style becomes more mature and definite as the exhibit progresses, and her work moves away from simple traveller snapshots of the landscape. One grouping shot in Montana features industrial steel pipes and the landscape seen through them, inverting nature within a man-made construction. Another glass case shows the type of cameras Holt used and explains her work with earthworks and land art. One of Holt’s major land works, “Sun Tunnels,” is represented in a series of photographs depicting an arrangement of concrete pipes in the desert, designed to capture the sun at different times of the year in a manner reminiscent of Stonehenge. The structure includes an altar that lights up on the solstice; the construction is impressive and imposing.

The exhibit also includes Holt’s venture into film, and a film on the construction of the massive “Sun Tunnels” complements the photographs of the work itself.

The old, grainy quality of the film adds to the sense of hard labor and basic earth evoked by the original piece. Other films emphasize Holt’s collaboration with earthwork artist Robert Smithson.

Artist Nancy Holt shooting the film “Sun Tunnels” (1978) in the Great Basin Desert.

COURTESY OF LEE DEFFEBACH

Holt utilized color, sound, readings, photos, and video recordings to document the making of the films Mono Lake and Swamp.

A new bend in the gallery reveals a fresh twist in Holt’s perspective.

Instead of focusing on the outdoors, Holt moves inside, showing a newly developed interest in the play of light and shadow. She also concentrates on urban architecture and the difference between interior and exterior spaces, playing with the viewer’s perspective of visual space.

Holt also delves into the human mind. One set of photographs shows the blur of moving human bodies on a sports field. Another, made after the death of Holt’s aunt, incorporates some intimate possessions of the deceased. An accompanying film features Holt reading her aunt’s letters aloud as photographs of her belongings flash across the screen.

Holt’s work continues down an introspective path as the exhibit reaches its natural end. Holt’s po-

etry, some of which are blank crossword forms that she allows the reader to fill in, analyzes the relationship between the viewer and the work of art. Reaching the end of the exhibit, Sightlines leaves the viewer with a sense of the discrepancy between the wide open natural earth on the first floor and the more cramped and inward-facing work upstairs. Like the viewer’s winding passage through the exhibit, Holt’s work is full of growth, both natural and created.

Clooney’s campaign isn’t personal; it’s just politics Philip Ehrenberg Arts Contributor George Clooney’s latest political drama, The Ides of March, is clearly meant to evoke the political intrigue and betrayal at the heart of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the play from whence the film gets its name.

All of the necessary elements for such tragic drama appear to be here: a rising political superstar, his ruthless campaign staff, an extorting and game-playing media, and a third party vying for political favors.

Anyone who has spent any time in the United States during recent election cycles or is dreading the one that is currently ramping up will feel right at home with these archetypes, and Clooney, to his credit, portrays them well with his ensemble cast.

For all that the film has going for it, however, it seems ultimately to fall flat, never moving beyond pure entertainment despite its clear aspirations to be something greater.

The film takes place during the week leading up to an Ohio primary that will likely decide the Democratic presidential candidate and, by extension, the winner of the general election. We follow Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling), a rising star in the campaign management world, who plays junior campaign manager to

Governor Morris (George Clooney) wants us to love this movie, but he just doesn’t have our vote.

COURTESY OF SAEED ADYANI

Pennsylvania governor Mike Morris (George Clooney). Stephen comes across as somewhat idealistic, at least in comparison to his crass boss Paul Zara (Philip SeymourHoffman), although it’s perfectly clear that both are confident in their candidate and will do everything it takes to win.

Constant discussions of poll results and promised delegates lends the work a certain degree of authenticity. However, when Stephen gets summoned to a shady bar to take a meeting with a rival campaign manager, a web of intri-

cate leaks to the media, backdoor dealings with politicians, and your typical “trouble with the interns” storyline ensues.

This is not to say that the film’s screenplay, adapted from the play Farragut North, overreaches and unnecessarily complicates itself. On the contrary, Clooney deftly handles the narrative he establishes and treats the film much like his characters treat the campaign. In a world of meticulously crafted smiles and half-truths, Clooney only shows us what he wants, actively engages in deception, and casts doubt when-

ever he finds it convenient.

The opening scene sees Stephen walk before a microphone and proceed to give a statement that would normally pin him as a fast-talking candidate, but then he starts joking, the lights come up, and we see he’s testing the podium for his employer.

We initially find Governor Morris to be an impeccable specimen of a family man and politician. A few scenes draw attention to the role his wife plays in his pursuits, and his ability to drop buzz words at a moment’s notice, which, more than once, conjures up the image of a campaigning President Obama. However, a few shadowy scenes later, we are not so sure what to make of the man.

THE IDES OF MARCH George Clooney AMC River East

Everything appears to be going swimmingly until more cameras than normal circle our protagonist, the editing becomes more frantic, and the music takes on an increasingly suspicious tone—all typical movie tropes for rousing tension.

However, despite the power these suspicions might wield, in the end,

none of them seem to carry any weight. The political wheeling and dealing that Clooney depicts seems commonplace in a country where the big news in politics over the summer was a gridlocked Congress.

When we know a betrayal and questioning of loyalties is coming, the characters seem non-threatening rather than conflicted and Brutuslike. We’re constantly told that this primary is important, that people’s livelihoods are at stake, but it never feels that way. Despite Stephen’s proclaimed beliefs about political causes, in particular that only Governor Morris can finally change things, the action depicted feels like one more trivial episode in a drawn out spectacle.

Perhaps Clooney’s point is that election cycles have become too melodramatic—too much fuss for what they are. Or maybe he really laments their ethics and the corrupt turn they take, and wishes to explore the players and situations inherent to the cycle. But the movie doesn’t really live up to any of these goals.

It’s well acted, written, and shot, but it never becomes the force it could be. A lot can happen over one week in a campaign (as we have all seen), but if this is the lowest someone falls on the ides of March, they should consider themselves lucky.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | October 11, 2011

9

Old friends and dead ends at Strawdog Michaela Cross Arts Contributor A swelling, pulsating sound of static, reminiscent of ocean waves, erupts from silence as the lights fade. The sound builds to an unbearable crescendo, then cuts off instantly just as an eerie fluorescent light harshly illuminates a man and two women sitting in a drab living room, in the center of which sit three glasses and a bottle of brandy. “Dark,” says one of the women, while the other stands with her face to wall.

This striking beginning is the opening to Strawdog Theatre’s production of Old Times, a play by Harold Pinter that explores the surreal nature of memory through two characters who reunite with a figment from their past. Though the harsh lights fade, leaving us with husband and wife Deeley (John Henry Roberts) and Kate (Abigail Boucher) preparing a dinner for Kate’s long lost friend Anna (Michaela Petro), we’re left with the same eerie feeling created by the opening music, and although the setting is su-

perficially conventional, a dream-like quality pervades the scene.

But whose dream is it?

Kate seems to know nothing about her old friend or of their London youth, while it’s apparent that

OLD TIMES Strawdog Theatre Through November 12

Deeley fosters a strange hostility towards this mysterious character. When Anna finally appears, she seems to hold a strange, seductive power over Kate and both Anna and Deeley struggle to reclaim Kate’s past as their own. Kate is enigmatically laconic during the evening, and occasionally seems to have been won by one character or the other. She sometimes reminds Anna of their shared past, as Deeley observes, desperately struggling to bring her back into what we can only assume is the present. As the evening drags on and the brandy disappears, Deeley and Anna’s memories are explored and re-imagined, leading

In Strawdog’s production of Old Times, Deeley (John Henry Roberts), Anna (Michaela Petro) and Kate (Abigail Boucher) stare intensely around the room while trying to remember who they are.

COURTESY OF CHRIS OCKEN

to increasingly emotional and hostile interactions between the two, a struggle to claim sexual ownership over Kate, and delving more and more into nonreality. The memory they construct is finally shattered by a phrase that Kate utters to Anna: “I remember you dead.”

This is a play written on

CROSSWORD

with Jamie Mermelstein

“R IPE FOR THE PICKIN’” Across 1. “Play it again, ____” 4. Jaw dropped 9. Plant 14. It may be herbal 15. Delhi delicacy 16. It’s a bust 17. Kept clean by 36-Down 18. NY license plate saying?

20. Noted Vaudevillian family 22. Kama Sutra offerings 23. FinePix maker 27. Playboy Club attire 28. Hector’s city 29. Harvest month 32. Outdoorsy outfitter 35. Obit. title, perhaps 37. Like the White Rabbit 38. Bit part 42. 2nd Amendment subject

3. Singer Blige

33. Bring home the bacon

43. Mute Marx brother

4. Killer tennis serve

34. “An _____ Feast”

44. FedEx rival

5. Wrigley field

36. See 17-Across

45. Movie theater snack

6. Artist Jean

39. Jail jumpers

48. Broken in

7. Dark Side of the Moon album

40. “Be ____!”

50. Rose bowl 51. Salvador’s muse

image 8. Brönte’s Jane

41. La Dolce Vita locale 46. Houston team

55 . Adjusts 58. Up for grabs 59. Independence Hall attraction 63. Fairy tale irritant

9. 1994 Julia Sweeney film 10. Cell phone brand 11. The Music Man’s promise 12. Acapulco to Oaxaca direction

47. Telemarketer, perhaps 49. Shogun capital 51. Rot 52. Fall harvest item, or a clue to

64. Prefix for logical 65. 34-Down, to Hemingway 66. Pres, e.g.

67. Make ____ of things

13. Bambi, and others 19. Corp. leader 21. Command for Fido 24. Cold, in Colombia

this puzzle’s theme 53. The Who’s “Live at ____” 54. Firefly courtesan 55. Baja’s opposite

68. Beat by a nose 69. That, in Tijuana Down

25. Westchester college 26. Body liquids 29. Mafioso’s code 30. ____ A Sketch

56. “Carpe ____” 57. A or B, e.g.

60. Bit of work 61. Weave a tangled web

1. Crew staff 2. Wheel of Fortune purchases

31. Projectionist’s need 32. Some TVs

62. Trip inducer

actors’ faces—only a modicum of deeper meaning can be gauged through the text, which is why the masterful direction of Kimberly Senior and the powerful subtlety of the actors’ performances so obviously shine through in this production.

Whether Kate, Anna, and Deeley are making small talk or having dramatic

revelations, the plot is truly transmitted through their expressions. Anna switches from jealousy to joy in a moment; Deeley’s disgust for and attraction to Anna are intertwined.

Kate passively avoids eye contact, yet her expression reveals whatever emotion in the room is most prevalent, and at the very end,

she delivers a beautiful and morbid monologue with an austere clarity, pushing truth to the point of tortuous cruelty. Every expression and movement is wonderfully choreographed so that when watching this play, one’s gaze must dart rapidly across each actor’s face in order not to miss a thing. The tension created builds from one in which nervous chuckles are forced from the audience to one so intense that everyone watching seems to be holding their breath.

The characters are born before our eyes as they uncover their own memories, and discover their own feelings as the fight to define their shared past continues until its breaking point.

For some, Old Times might be too obtuse, for others it might seem brilliant, but for all audiences, this is the kind of play and the kind of production that won’t let you blink— its reality presses onto you so that the most disturbing part of the play may be the moment when the lights turn back on and you find three people gone, and three actors standing before you.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | October 11, 2011

10

Mental toughness key for postseason run

Dominance continues with win over Wheaton VOLLEYBALL

THE BIG NUMBERS

31 Number of career touchdown receptions by Brizzolara, setting a new modern era school record.

FOOTBALL continued from back

but the things you remember most about playing football are what you achieve as a team, not individual accomplishments,” said Brizzolara. “I look forward to seeing how good I can be when it’s all said and done, but more importantly how far we can go, and how good we can be as a team during my remaining time here.”

Third-year linebacker Alex Dzierbicki returned an interception for a touchdown early in the third quarter to further pad the Maroons’ lead, and Shelton ran for a touchdown from five yards out in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring. Firstyear running back Zak Ross-Nash led the rushing attack with 104 yards on 14 carries, including an electrifying 51-yard run to set up Shelton’s rushing score.

The Big Red was unable to keep up against the Chicago defense. The Maroons tallied seven sacks and 11 tackles for losses to go along with two interceptions and a fumble reception, thanks in part to a more aggressive approach early in the game.

“We brought a lot of pressure in the first half,” said third-year defensive lineman Nick Ross, who authored two of the seven sacks. “Once Denison responded, we switched up to more of a base defense to shut down their short passing game.”

The Maroons’ coaching staff has placed an increased emphasis on avoiding the mental errors that plagued them earlier in the season, and against Denison, it certainly paid off. Chicago only commit-

35 Number of total career touchdowns by Brizzolara, tying the modern-era school record.

ted one penalty, compared to 14 last week against Ohio Wesleyan and seven the week before against Wabash.

“We spent a lot of extra time in the film room and doing walk-throughs to sharpen up the mental aspect of the game,” said second-year defensive tackle Mike Cifor, who also had two sacks. “We improved from last week but we still have a lot of work to do.”

Although the defense put up an impressive sack total and recorded three takeaways, they are still working on preventing opponents from reaching the end zone.

“It’s always nice to force turnovers and sack the quarterback as many times as we did, but the bottom line is that we let up 23 points against a very mediocre offense and we are looking to improve on that,” said Dzierbicki, who also picked off a pass in the first quarter to set up a field goal.

“We should not count on the offense to put up 38 points on a regular basis, so we need to give up fewer points.”

“As we move forward, we believe as a defense that we have yet to play a truly dominant or complete game from beginning to end,” Cifor said. “We are going to look back at the film of our first six games and find out what mistakes we are making to improve as a defense and get ready for UAA play.”

Chicago has a bye this week. The Maroons look to extend their winning streak to three against Kenyon on October 22 in their homecoming game.

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Charles Fang Senior Sports Writer “Dominant” is a word not to be bandied about lightly, but it’s a label the Maroons are increasingly beginning to earn. “There was definitely a realization that we still need to work on dominating other teams consistently,” fourth-year Isis Smalls said. “What is different about us this year is that we have the confidence to expect and demand that out of ourselves.”

And so the Maroons have built their expectations of perfection—not upon hubris but upon sensible truth—knowing that their win against Wheaton was to be anticipated but the process of victory was still to be qualified.

“Wheaton is normally a pretty tough gym to play at and we knew that it was going to be a battle with this team,” head coach Vanessa Walby testified. “Our main goal was to not allow the match to go five games.”

“We have a history of going five games with Wheaton and that is something we were looking to change,” fourth-year Colleen Belak said.

“Wheaton is unlike any team we’ve played yet this season,” second-year Nikki DelZenero said.

“They have incredibly scrappy defense paired with an offense that relies on tips and a quick tempo outside set.”

“At the end of Game 1 we were content with how we started and wanted to fine tune and improve on our game as the night progressed,” Smalls said.

But the Maroons’s leisure was soon to encounter a tempest of the tenacious Thunder. “I would say it was the inability to put our entire game together that made us struggle [in the second game],” Smalls said.

“When we had a great pass off of serve receive we didn’t terminate the ball for a point and vice versa.

We needed for our offense and defense to be hot at the same time.”

The skies would part for Chicago as they cap-

tured the third game to put them in the advantage, with the crucial homestretch still to run.

“The fourth game was heavily contested,” Belak said. “We were up by several points, but they came back towards the end and we struggled to put the necessary string of points together to win quickly.”

“I am really excited about how calm we were in Game 4 compared to previous high pressure situations we’ve encountered this year,” Smalls said. “I believe Wheaton had game point twice within that battle to 29 points, but for some reason there was still a persistent confidence and calmness to the court those last few points.”

“I think we can also attribute that to the growth we’ve made in learning to trust one another to handle their responsibilities on the court so we can get the job done as a team,” Smalls said.

The Maroons emerged from the fires of their own trials with a 25-19, 19-25, 25-16, 29-27 win which saw third-year Caroline Brander execute a season-high 17 kills and fellow thirdyear Katie Trela match her own season-high 12 kills. The Maroons had 59 kills in total and 75 defensive digs.

“I think that the one thing that we could have done better was our blocking,” Walby listed as an area for improvement. “That is normally one of our strongest points and we were lacking that strength a little bit on Friday.”

“We didn’t play poorly in the match, but we didn’t play exceptionally either,” Belak qualified. “We see Wheaton again this season and the goal will certainly be to win the match in three, as we all believe we are capable of doing so.”

In the meantime, the Maroons will have to pocket thoughts of restitution in favor of a second UAA round-robin in the near future with the game against #2 WashU looming.

“I think that for this upcoming conference weekend we just need to come into practice, work hard to fine tune some of our fundamentals and just be mentally ready for a tough weekend of play,” Walby said.

THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | October 11, 2011

Broca undeterred by bumps and bruises along the way BROCA continued from back

ward as those found in marathons. The frustration and difficulties forced Broca to stop and without the glimmer of hope that running had given him, life came at the teenager in full force.

“Then it really hit me. I became suicidal. I began to feel life wasn’t worth living and that the hopes and dreams I had would never be accomplished,” Broca explained. Broca would struggle, but was able to graduate from high school. It would take time for him to learn to love life as he once did.

“Years went by and with the help of my family I slowly began realizing that if I was going to stick around I better change my attitude and start focusing more on the things I could still do, instead of everything I had lost,” Broca said.

Something Broca could still do was walk around his neighborhood. Step by step he began to see again, without sight. He began figuring out where it was and wasn’t okay to walk. He realized sidewalks were difficult because of all the obstacles.

“Maybe I can run on the curb,” he thought. He discovered that his limited vision did allow him to distinguish between the black of the street and the gray of the curb and that he could still make out vague objects like cars and trucks, which he learned to maneuver his way around. Gradually, Broca’s walking developed into a jog and from a jog he began to run. Broca’s family was still there, just as it always has been, and as would become commonplace throughout the years it was his family by his side.

By coincidence Broca’s younger sister was beginning to run cross country at her high school around

the time Broca was rediscovering his step. The two ran together and Broca would train with the team.

“With her, I could still run around the neighborhood and get the feeling I had back when I was in high school,” Broca said. Cross country was still out of the question, however. The courses were too short, there were too many runners confined to small lanes, and there were simply too many turns.

But one morning, everything changed.

“I was just watching TV one morning and I saw the LA Marathon. I saw there was space for people to run on, that there were plenty of people to follow, and that there probably weren’t that many turns. I thought, ‘That’s something I can do and train for.’ So the next year I trained,” Broca said.

Training was anything but easy. Broca maximized the little vision he had left and would run on his own. He says he is lucky because his neighborhood in California has a bike path, which he uses to run down a couple of main streets that he can safely follow. Broca vaguely distinguishes the white bicycle line against the black backdrop and uses his left foot to determine where the road ends and the trail begins.

“I’m able to run anywhere between 18 miles to 23 miles on my own for a normal weekly training run,” Broca said.

Unfortunately, even with a path and familiar streets, difficulties still arise. “Sometimes there are obstacles that may not have been there the day before. Sometimes they place cones on the road and I don’t see them. I end up tripping and falling.

Other times people aren’t careful and open their car

doors while I’m out there running, and I won’t have enough reaction time to avoid running into open doors,” Broca said.

Obstacles like these will never fade for Broca, but he will never stop picking himself up from those falls, and he will never stop running. A big part of that is the support he has at home.

“I have to be thankful to my wife for being there.

Ever since we met, she’s trusted that I know what I’m doing, and even though she knows how dangerous it is for me to be out there running she understands that its something I have to do for myself and on my own,” Broca said.

Broca’s wife, Brenda, not only understands her husband’s running—she is also there to help him every step of the way.

“Any time I come home bruised up or with a battered forehead because I fell down or ran into something, she touches me up and picks me back up. It’s a team effort. We work together to accomplish this,” Broca said.

Brenda accompanies Broca to all of his races, including the one in Chicago, and is his biggest fan and supporter. The two apply for grants from foundations and are able to run most of their races through their aid. It is only appropriate that the aspect of life that saved Broca is also the avenue that introduced him to his wife. The two met training for the 2007 LA Marathon and married in December of 2009.

“Just as my family helped me with my depression and to stay out there running my wife has had just as important of a role helping me compete at an elite

11

Chicago must win last five to contend for UAA SOCCER continued from back

decisive goals.”

“I don’t feel like these losses have been deserved, so it’s definitely frustrating,” Coville said.

Chicago will have to get back on track, and quickly. With two losses, they now sit alone in last place in the UAA. The team has had several strong matches, most notably tying with national powerhouse North Park, who is currently ranked 14th in the country according to d3soccer.com. Fourth-year defender Rashad Masri said that regaining the confidence that Chicago had earlier in the season will be important as the team moves forward.

“We don’t need to change anything about the way we’re playing, but we need to get back to the confidence we had earlier in the season and get into a winning habit again,” Masri said.

Chicago has five games left against conference opponents and will likely need to win the rest of their games to have any shot at taking the UAA crown and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

“We’re confident that we can get out of the rut we’re in and produce wins next weekend,” Masri said.

The team will travel to Boston this weekend to take on Brandeis on Friday, October 14 at 3 p.m., and will then drive to New York to face NYU on Sunday, October 16 at 10 a.m.

IN QUOTES

SPORTS

“In lieu of covering basketball, I will be moving to Stockholm to design currency for dogs and cats.”

—ESPN basketball analyst John Hollinger. The NBA cancelled the first two weeks of its season Monday.

Seeing the way Family inspires visually-impaired runner to go the distance Part one of a two-part series on the

CHICAGO MARATHON Vicente Fernandez Senior Sports Writer Adrian Broca can’t see where he runs, but that doesn’t stop him. He has run 26 miles and 385 yards 28 times in his life without being able to see the asphalt beneath his feet, but with every step he forgets his impairment and forgets his blindness.

Adrian Broca runs marathons, Adrian Broca is legally blind, and Adrian Broca is an Olympic athlete. Most of all, however, Adrian Broca is proof that nothing is impossible.

On Sunday, October 9, Broca ran the 28th marathon of his career and his first Chicago Marathon.

For the 34-year-old running his first race in the Windy City, it was also a chance to realize his dream, by crossing the finish line before the stopwatch struck 2 hours and 46 minutes, a time that would grant him a spot as a runner for the United States Paralympic national team.

Broca can’t run alone to make this time, however. To run his best races Broca needs other runners to guide him through the ever-swaying herd of thousands of marathon runners.

Only able to see color-contrasting blurs and vague shadows, Broca doesn’t see faces and has difficulty making dis-

tinctions between different shades.

Broca can merely make out the black of the road from the gray of the curb. This is more than enough for the relentless marathoner, but in a crowd of thousands of stampeding feet, not seeing can be deadly. For Broca there is no fear to be had and no restrictions to what he can do.

A resident of Los Angeles, California, Broca did not know any runners from Chicago coming into this past week. He had one guide, but was unsure of the guide’s ability to hold pace for the duration of the race. His dream would be risked.

So Broca made a bold move and reached out to strangers for help. Broca contacted Coach Hall and the University of Chicago men’s cross country team, in hopes that within the Maroon roster he would find the guides he needed to run the race he knew he was capable of running.

The men’s cross-country team came running to Broca’s side and gave the blind marathoner the eyes he needed to compete for his dream. Before the Olympic aspirations and the elite times, however, there were struggles and depression.

Broca wasn’t always blind. An immigrant from Mexico, Broca came to the United States at a young age and with healthy vision. His family came to the country for opportunities and with hope.

At age 18, as a senior in high school, Broca began losing his vision to a hereditary condition that damaged his

Fourth-years Brian Wille and Brian Schlick guide visually-impaired runner Adrian Broca in Sunday’s Chicago Marathon. Broca covered the 26.2 mile course in 2:53:26.

SYDNEY COMBS | THE CHICAGO MAROON

optic nerve. He was not an avid runner before he began going blind, but as his sight began to fade so did many of his other ambitions. He joined programs to help with his disability, but depression consumed him.

His young brother, a member of the high school cross-country team, imag-

ined a release for his brother and offered him a proposal: an invitation to run by his side and to race for his high school.

Broca did not pass up the chance.

“Cross country gave me something to deal with my depression. It was great.

I felt like a part of a team and like I was accomplishing something, but after I lost

Maroons down Denison on record-breaking day

most of my vision over the next couple of months, I had to quit the cross country team,” Broca said.

In high school, Broca didn’t run with guides. He would run on his own which often led to losing his place in cross-country courses, which are not as straightforBROCA continued on page 11

Another late loss on the road

FOOTBALL

SOCCER

Daniel Lewis Senior Sports Staff

Mahmoud Bahrani Sports Editor

Third-year Dee Brizzolara makes a jumping catch during a game against Concordia.

Third-year wide receiver Dee Brizzolara caught a pair of passes for touchdowns and returned a punt for another as Chicago stomped on Denison to the tune of a 38–23 road victory. With his two receiving scores, Brizzolara set the Maroons’ modern era record for receiving touchdowns, and his 39-yard punt return touchdown tied him for the Maroons’ modern era record for total touchdowns.

Brizzolara and the offense got going quickly, as third-year quarterback Kevin Shelton connected with the wideout for a 53yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.

Brizzolara’s punt return came early in the second quarter, and he caught his second score from secondyear quarterback Vincent Cortina with 1:17 remaining in the first half to push Chicago’s lead to 11 points.

Brizzolara surpassed former teammate Clay Wolff for the school record.

“The records are great,

COURTESY OF DAVE HILBERT

FOOTBALL continued on page 10

Chicago (5–4–2, 0–2) fell to Carnegie Mellon (5–4–1, 1–1) 3–2 on Sunday, October 9 in a back-and-forth affair that mirrored the Maroons’ up-and-down season. After starting the season with a loss, the team tore off three straight wins and was on a six game winning streak heading into an October 1st clash with Emory.

Three close losses later, the Maroons were heading into Sunday morning’s game needing a win to control their own destiny in the UAA race.

Neither team was able to capitalize in the first half, but in the 59th minute, a deflected free kick from Carnegie secondyear midfielder Mike Ferraco snuck into the net.

“By our standards, it was a very lucky goal, and we didn’t necessarily think they deserved it,” fourth-year forward Stanton Coville said.

The Maroons were quick to retaliate. About 12 minutes later, pressure off of a free kick from first-year midfielder Nick Codispoti caused a Carnegie defender to head the ball into his own net.

With the score evened, the Maroons were able to switch

into a more aggressive attacking formation, which created the opportunity for another goal just about five minutes later, when second-year midfielder Sawyer Kisken sent a rocket towards the goal. The ball rebounded off of first-year Carnegie goalkeeper Jacob Rice right to the feet Coville, who drove the ball home, giving Chicago a 2–1 lead with less than a quarter of an hour to play.

Yet the Maroons had trouble finishing off their opponents. With just three minutes remaining in regulation, Carnegie second-year Chris Wysocki was able to head the ball into the net off a corner kick. Time expired with the score knotted at two, sending the teams to overtime. Only ten seconds into the second overtime, Carnegie secpmdyear forward Scott Gerfen intercepted a ball and sent it flying inside the far post.

“It comes down to random individual mistakes,” said Coville, who leads the team with five goals this year.

“That’s definitely not meant in a head-hunting sort of way. The mistakes that are being made are very uncharacteristic, and they’re not even things that can be trained, really—it’s random, uncharacteristic individual mistakes that are leading to these SOCCER continued on page 11