TUESDAY • OCTOBER 25, 2011
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892
CHICAGOMAROON.COM
ISSUE 8 • VOLUME 123
Obama aide chosen as new VP for Civic Engagement Madalyn Frigo News Staff
Home sweet home The football team celebrates after their 41–17 victory over Kenyon College at the Homecoming football game Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field. Read more about the record-breaking match on page 12. DARREN LEOW | THE CHICAGO MAROON
Law School upgrades to Law and Economics 2.0 Amy Myers Senior Editor A new initiative bridging three divisions of the University promises to pour millions of dollars into exporting Chicago-school law and economics into legal systems around the world. The new initiative, dubbed Law and Economics 2.0, launched in Oc-
tober from a partnership between the University of Chicago Law School, the Booth School of Business, and the Department of Economics. The new Institute for Law and Economics is the initiative’s centerpiece. Central to the program are efforts to spread the gospel of law and economics around the world through the new Globalizing Law and Economics Initiative (GLEI), according
to the Institute’s inaugural director, Omri Ben-Shahar. “One of the main things we want to accomplish is to help bring Chicago-style law and economics to legal communities that have not yet benefited from it,” Ben-Shahar said. Through the GLEI, the Institute will attempt to apply law and economics to international issues like LAW continued on page 2
The University has selected an aide to President Barack Obama and former legal counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as one of its highest liaisons to the communities of the South Side. A selection committee of students and staff appointed Derek Douglas, currently special assistant to President Obama for urban affairs, as the University’s next Vice President for Civic Engagement. He will take office in January 2012. Douglas will be responsible for strengthening the University’s relationship with its surrounding communities, particularly Hyde Park and Woodlawn, and for overseeing its development projects in the area. Upon taking office, Douglas will continue a few of the projects that were already in progress under his predecessor, Ann Marie Lipinski, such as the revitalization of retail development on East 53rd Street. “I’m excited to join the team, to learn more about the various initiatives, and more importantly, to find ways to improve [them],” Douglas said, citing the University’s recent involvement in the redevelopment of an affordable housing complex in Woodlawn as an example
Derek Douglas will join the University in January as VP for Civic Engagement. COURTESY OF BRUCE GILBERT
of how he hopes to improve the quality of life of nearby residents. “What’s happening in Grove Parc and Woodlawn are two examples of how the University can partner with the local community.” Douglas also praised the University-partnered development of the Harper Court shopping center on East 53rd Street and South Harper Avenue, a complex of fast food restaurants and stores slated for a 2013 completion, as the kind of retail revitalization needed in the area. “One of the key strategies is to bring more opportunity, leveraging existing resources, to bring in DOUGLAS continued on page 3
SG launches Committees website Community remembers Morgan Buerkett Kirsten Gindler News Contributor Student Government (SG) launched a new Web site to promote its Student Life Committees earlier this month as part of its ongoing effort to strengthen its online presence and make itself more accessible to students outside of its immediate circle. SG created the site in order to streamline its communications with the University community, according to Vice President for Administration Forrest Scofield. SG also hopes that the new site will expose a more diverse cross-section of students to SG’s decision-making committees, which range in function from executing disciplinary action to coordinating the senior class gift. “A really important part of being in college is being involved with the University administration as a whole,” Scofield, a second-year, said. The site organizes the committees into 10 broad categories and lists general information such as each commit-
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tee’s purpose, the best way to contact the committees, and how students can apply to them. All students, undergraduate and graduate, can browse the site and log in with their CNetID. Students can apply for committees themselves by filling out their contact information and answering questions about their involvement in campus groups. They can also list their reasons for wanting to join a particular committee. Lastly, students can suggest their friends for a committee by writing about how they would be an asset to it. “The great thing about it is that not only will you be able to apply for a committee, but you’ll also be able to nominate a friend for a specific committee,” SG President Youssef Kalad said in the site’s launch video on YouTube. The launch is not the first time this year that SG has taken steps to revamp its presence online. Late in September, Scofield announced that an overhaul of SG’s main website was in progress, while a redesign for the SG Marketplace is set to debut in the coming weeks.
Temperatures in Fahrenheit - Courtesy of The Weather Channel
Elizabeth Davenport, dean of Rockefeller Chapel, speaks at a memorial service for Morgan Buerkett and her family. JAMIE MANLEY | THE CHICAGO MAROON
Crystal Tsoi Associate News Editor Morgan Buerkett, a rising secondyear who died in a plane crash over the summer, was remembered by hundreds of family and friends in a somber ceremony held in the Ratner Athletics Center last night.
Buerkett was traveling with parents Jon and Dana and two family dogs to Florida for a training camp when the private plane crashed shortly after takeoff. No one on board survived the crash. Throughout the ceremony, Buerkett’s volleyball teammates, close friends, and Delta Gamma (DG) so-
rority sisters recalled special memories they had shared with Buerkett. Volleyball Coach Vanessa Walby said that Buerkett’s ambitious and hard-working personality made her stand out during recruitment season. “She was the type who wanted to be successful at everything that she did,” Walby said. Second-year Katie Huntington, Buerkett’s roommate and volleyball teammate, recalled one of her first memories with Buerkett during volleyball practice. When Huntington was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to complete exercises, Buerkett reassured her that even if she passed out in the middle of the sprint, Buerkett would drag her across the finish line so that Huntington could say she had finished. “Morgan became so much more than just a roommate,” Huntington said. Buerkett had a strong presence in DG, where she met fourth-year Sarah BUERKETT continued on page 3
IN ARTS
IN SPORTS
Art Institute revisits O’Sullivan’s old frontiers » Page 7
Brizzolara sets two school records in Homecoming win » Page 12
Face off with The Elephant Man » Page 8
Maroons win three of four at Elmhurst » Page 12