052113 Chicago Maroon

TUESDAY • MAY 21, 2013

CHICAGOMAROON.COM

ISSUE 47 • VOLUME 124

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

External review findings of UCPD released Madhu Srikantha News Editor

Hot in Hutch Nelly performs at Summer Breeze in Hutch Courtyard on Saturday night. Lunice, a producer and DJ, and Chicago indie band Smith Westerns preceded his performance. Following last year’s performance by Ludacris, this continues the trend of rappers headlining the Major Activities Board’s annual event. See the Summer Breeze photo essay on page 3 for more coverage.

FRANK YAN | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Undocumented students face hurdles despite Univ. support Marina Fang News Editor When first-year School of Social Service Administration (SSA) master’s student Angelica Velazquillo was applying for college as a high school senior in North Carolina, she had to navigate the already complicated process with one added difficulty: being an undocumented immigrant.

“I approached my counselor for the first time and disclosed, ‘This is my situation. I’m undocumented. I have the grades.

I want to apply for college,’” she recalled. “He didn’t know what to do. And that was sort of the end of our conversation.” At that point, Velazquillo was forced to take matters into her own hands.

“It was more of a personal initiative of ‘I want to go to college. I’m going to figure it out.’

So I found community members who were supportive.”

One of those people was a woman on a local scholarship committee who pointed her to different community resources and helped her find scholarships that did not ask for documentation. As an

undocumented immigrant, Velazquillo was ineligible for federal or state financial aid.

While undocumented students still face immense challenges, Velazquillo noted that circumstances are changing.

The biggest development came last June, when President Obama announced a policy of Deferred Action, through which undocumented students who meet certain criteria can defer the threat of deportation for at least two years and receive authorization to work legally in the United States, opening up more financial and educational opportunities.

A policy of acceptance In October 2010, before Deferred Action, the University issued its first public statement affirming that they would admit undocumented students. This came in response to student pressure from the UChicago Coalition for Immigration Rights (UCCIR).

“All students who apply, regardless of citizenship, are considered for admission and for every type of private financial

aid that the University offers,” then–Vice President for Campus and Student Life and Dean of Students Kimberly Goff-Crews said in the statement.

As part of increased efforts to reach undocumented students, the University designated Tamara Felden, director of the University’s Office of International Affairs, to deal with issues regarding undocumented students.

Felden explained the origins of the University’s statement on undocumented immigrants, which it reaffirmed last August in response to Deferred Action.

“We said, ‘We undoubtedly have some students who are undocumented. How do we support them?’” she said. “We wanted to be out there with a statement that gave the message to students who might be considering the University that it’s OK to apply to us…in other words, to give them the comfort level so as they communicated to us, they could disclose and not be fearful of doing so.”

Her job is to assist students with finding financial resources and to help students fill out legal paperwork, including that IMMIGRANT continued onpage 2

An external investigation found that the commanding officer who ordered a detective to work undercover at a protest on February 23 violated standing University policy but that no other University officials or police did so in their handling of campus protests last quarter.

Schiff Hardin LLP, the law firm that conducted the external review of the University of Chicago Police Department’s (UCPD) handling of the January 27 and the February 23 trauma center protests, did not find evidence that undercover policing techniques were used in any other protests, according to the report.

Investigators at Schiff Hardin found “no evidence that the conduct of University officials and members of the UCPD...violated any formal University or UCPD policy” except that of “the commanding officer who ordered the detective to ‘blend in and get intel,’” the report said.

According to the report, after identifying himself as a police liaison, a “term unknown to the UCPD officer,” history P.h.D student Toussaint Losier told protesters to remain on Center for Care and Discovery property. Losier denied this claim, citing his arrest report and a recently surfaced video demonstrating that he was trying to walk away from CCD property before an officer pulled him back and proceeded to arrest him. Neither Patricia Brown Holmes, the lead investigator, nor University spokesperson Steve Kloehn answered questions about whether this evidence was used in the review process.

During their investigation, investigators Brown Holmes, Kelly Warner, and Sarah Ratliff interviewed 32 people, including students, University officials, UCPD officers, and UCPD command staff.

Holmes declined to comment regarding which specific people were interviewed. Protesters from community organizations Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY) and REVIEW continued on page 2

Students advise diversity efforts Ankit Jain Associate News Editor Administrators are moving forward with three key steps to increase diversity awareness on campus: the creation of a student advisory council on diversity, the launching of the RISE diversity awareness campaign, and the creation of a diversity fund. All three initiatives were announced in an April 24 e-mail

by Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Karen Warren Coleman in the wake of

controversy over the Facebook page Politically Incorrect Maroon Confessions.

Members of the Vice President’s Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion were informed of their selection last Monday, and the council had its first meeting on Wednesday.

The council has about 15 student members from different ethnic and academic backgrounds, according to second-year Yusef al-Jarani, a member of the council.

While no set role has been

established for the council, since it remains in its formative stages, first-year council member Vincente Perez said that he expects the council to be a tool through which students can make sure their input is heard by the administration.

“I just think [the council] is going to provide a voice to a lot of students who normally don’t get their voice heard, whether it’s in student government or other RSOs. This is going to be a direct link to the student body DIVERSITY continued on page 2

All invited to UChicago Events Hamid Bendaas News Staff You don’t have to be popular to know what’s going on around campus anymore, thanks to new Web site UChicago Events.

The site lists University of Chicago Facebook events, from Friday night frat parties to OffOff Campus shows to academic panels, all in one place. The team behind the site, second-years Victor Kung, Daniel Yu, Shaan Sapra, and David Campillo, have seen the site take off with nearly

700 subscribers since it launched last month.

Kung said the idea for UChicago Events came to him around January, after he became frustrated with the burdensome process of finding out about campus events through listhosts and social media.

“On Facebook, you’re really reliant on who invites you and your social circle,” Kung said. “But what if we leveraged Facebook and utilized everyone’s social networks and put all these events in one centralized spot?”

The public nature of Facebook events provides a free and accessible resource for a program to utilize and aggregate, according to Kung.

Development of the program began in March and lasted about a month. Then the team invited students to subscribe and test its features. Campillo, the team’s marketer, said he believes the site is an asset to event-searchers and hosts alike. Users can browse by event type, like “Lectures” or “Fine Arts.” Clubs or programs EVENTS continued on page 2

IN VIEWPOINTS

IN ARTS

IN SPORTS

An incidental report » Page 4

With latest single, Kanye gets face time on the quad » Page 7

After Last Chance weekend, Nationals beckon for five Maroons » Back Page

Summer movie round-up » Page 9

Retiring coach imparts lessons on and off the field to last a lifetime » Page 11

Eyes on a different kind of prize » Page 4

THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | May 21, 2013

2

Report recommends that administrators evaluate and update protest, UCPD policies REVIEW continued from front

Southsiders Together Organizing for Power (STOP), as well as students, were contacted for and “provided some photographic and video evidence of the incidents.”

The report does not say whether undercover videotaping, which was listed as part of the three plain clothes

detectives’ assignments for the February 23 protest, violates University policy. Several campus community members alleged this occurred at that protest in last week’s open meeting with the Committee on Dissent and Protest.

In its list of recommendations, Schiff Hardin suggested that the University reevaluate UCPD

policy as it pertains to protests, the Dean-on-Call process, and the use of “‘plain clothes’, ‘undercover’, and ‘covert’ operations.”

Executive Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer Nim Chinniah, who oversees the Department of Safety and Security, and Vice President

for Campus Life and Student Services Karen WarrenColeman issued a statement to accompany the report spelling out several relevant actions that have been taken so far. These include the firing of the commanding officer who ordered the unauthorized undercover work and mandates that UCPD draft more

comprehensive protest policy in line with “University values” and conduct more officer trainings on crowd control.

Regarding the Dean-onCall process, the report stated that the program’s “purpose, functions, and limitations” are to be evaluated and updated.

However, the statement pointed out, “Investigators found no

evidence that staff violated any formal policies or protocol, including the actions of and related to the Dean-on-Call.”

In an email to the Maroon, Losier denounced the findings of the external investigators.

“The report is a whitewash of what took place,” he said. “It reads like a defense attorney’s closing argument.”

TIMELINE: PROTESTS, UCPD ACTION, AND ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSE 1/27—SHE and FLY protest at the UCMC, resulting in four arrests.

2/1—Rosenbaum announces the creation of the Committee on Dissent and Protest, a faculty committee designed to make policy recommendations.

1/30—Provost Thomas Rosenbaum and Vice President of Campus and Student Services Karen Warren Coleman announce a faculty-led dialogue to address issues of freedom of expression.

2/26—Trial begins for three of the protesters arrested on January 27.

2/23—SHE and FLY protest on the opening day of the Center for Care and Discovery.

2/28 -

3/3—President Robert Zimmer

Univesity hosts a faculty-led dialogue on the protest incidents.

and Rosenbaum issue a statement that such undercover activity “cannot be tolerated” and say the University will appoint an external reviewer to evaluate the incident.

3/5—Two UCPD employees are placed on administrative leave.

5/13—The Committee on Dissent and Protest holds its first open meeting.

3/1—The MAROON publishes an investiga-

3/12—University

5/20—The

tion revealing that an undercover UCPD officer posed as a protester at the February 23 protest; Rosenbaum releases a statement saying that the University will investigate the incident; the trial ends with the protesters accepting revised plea bargains.

spokesperson Jeremy Manier says that an external review “is being put in place.”

results of the external review are released.

Students hope to expand Events to other campuses Undocumented student: “Terms come very charged” EVENTS continued from front

looking for promotion can purchase space as a “Featured Event.” Kung said the current plan is to use the revenue to cover operating costs.

Kung contrasted his site with events. uchicago.edu, an aggregator site administered by the University, saying his student-run service does not have to worry about issues of liability or brand image.

“What we can do that I guess the University can’t do is that we have no problem going straight through the social network; we have no problem having all sorts of events going on, whether they’re school affiliated or student-created,” Kung said.

The team’s hopes for the site are high. Sapra looks forward to developing new features for a “second launch” in the fall that would incorporate feedback from current users. Kung sees the possibility of featuring local business promotions on the site and later expanding the program to other campuses.

“The beauty of this [program] is that it takes all this available information and organizes it in a way that’s never been done before… This is something we see as being useful on campuses all over the country,” said Kung. “But that’s still a few steps away. For now, we just want to make sure we maximize the user experience in our own school first.”

Diversity campaign aims to incite discussion DIVERSITY continued from front

and the administration,” he said.

One effort already in development and in which the council is certain it will be involved in is the new RISE (Reflect, Intervene, Speak, Engage) campaign.

The campaign, still being fleshed out, will involve provocative posters showing minority students in stereotypical situations. The posters will be designed to provoke a response from students, sparking discussions on stereotyping and other forms of prejudice, and will advertise talks on diversity-related issues.

“This is a campaign where we’ll really be challenging students on campus, and then also backing that up with specific programming that talks about diversity and inclusion,” al-Jarani said.

The first of the talks—a discussion with former CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien on “identity, community, and social responsibility”—will take place on May 28, according to the Campus and Student Life Web site.

Members discussed several other ideas at the Wednesday meeting, but one repeated suggestion

was introducing changes to Orientation Week programming.

“There’s a lot of things that are thrown around during O-Week, but diversity isn’t tackled as much as we would like to see,” al-Jarani said.

One idea to remedy this was collecting stories from current students from diverse backgrounds and then and giving them to incoming students to read and discuss during O-week, “to really challenge students on this question of diversity and what does it mean,” al-Jarani said.

In addition to those two initiatives, the administration has announced some details behind the Diversity: Engage-Learn-Transform Fund. The Fund’s goal will be to encourage “the expression of diverse perspectives on campus by helping to support initiatives, programs, and events that intentionally bring together diverse groups and community members,” according to an e-mail from University spokesman Jeremy Manier.

The Fund will be open to students, faculty, and staff and all applications will be reviewed by Warren Coleman “or her designee,” Manier said.

CORRECTIONS » The May 17 article “A Guide to Summer Breeze” misstated the starting time of the COUP carnival. The article also incorrectly stated that the singer of the song “Chain Hang Low.” The song is by Jibbs.

IMMIGRANT continued from front

which is required to apply for Deferred Action. The Office of International Affairs can direct students to attorneys but cannot provide direct legal assistance.

“It’s still not enough” But UCCIR members Velazquillo and fellow SSA student Ariel Ruiz, who is also undocumented, feel the University needs to do more to create a welcoming atmosphere for discussing issues of immigration.

“We are thankful that University of Chicago is open to undocumented students and gives us funding,” Ruiz said. “But it’s still not enough… It’s not only about the financial resources. It’s also taking the toll on how to be welcomed in a space that is not very open about discussing what undocumented is.”

Ruiz said that much of this derives from the language used to describe undocumented students, saying that fellow students and professors often refer to undocumented studentsas“illegal,”“criminal,”and“alien.”

“All these terms come very charged and affect people on an emotional level,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s intentional,” Velazquillo said.

“But there’s a lack of awareness that undocumented and illegal are not interchangeable.”

Campus activists encourage undocumented students to come out

more

Both Ruiz and Velazquillo feel that by coming out as undocumented, they can help raise awareness and promote increased dialogue. Ruiz said that if more students came out, it would help personalize the issue.

“The benefit of someone coming out as undocumented is that there’s a face to a name,” he said. “It’s a lot more difficult for people to use this

NEWS IN BRIEF Post office closes early The U.S. Post Office located in Ingleside Hall next to the University bookstore closed its doors to customers on Friday, according to a University news release. The closure came ahead of the University’s plan to demolish Ingleside Hall by the beginning of fall quarter as part of the ongoing projects to expand the main quad to the east and west along East 58th Street.

The post office had been in negotiations with University officials to find a new location on

type of language that is dehumanizing when it’s one of their friends.”

Both stressed the emotional toll of living life as an undocumented student and hope that by understanding these personal consequences, their peers can better conceptualize the issue.

Ruiz explained that he was unable to attend his father’s funeral in Mexico last year because of his immigration status.

“As a student, ask yourself, ‘How can you focus on academics, on your life, if you found out that your father died and the worst part is, you can’t even go to his burial? How can you keep it together?’” he said. “I think if people begin to ask themselves these questions, they can begin to internalize our situations, our experiences, our limitations, and really see beyond the numbers.”

Balancing public discussion with the right to privacy Felden feels that “simply having that statement on our Web site and talking about undocumented students in a public way, that has encouraged undocumented applicants to reach out directly and disclose. It’s OK to do that,” she said.

But she acknowledged that there is still more to learn about the plight of undocumented students and said that she continually works with administrators, professors, and students to become more informed.

She encouraged the work of student activists but said she respects that there are some students who are uncomfortable disclosing their status.

“Anything we do at the University has to respect the student in a stage that is less public,” she said. “A student who wants to be private has every right to protect that privacy.”

campus before the building was demolished this summer, University spokesperson Steve Kloehn said in an interview with the Maroon in late April. However, according to the news release, the post office was closed early and before finding a new location due to an unspecified computer problem.

Nearby alternatives include the Lake Park Post Office on East 55th Street near South Harper Avenue and the Jackson Park Post Office at East 61st Street and South Langley Avenue, two blocks west of South Cottage Grove Avenue.

—Alex Hays

PHOTO Summer Breeze ’13

By Tiffany Tan and Frank Yan The Major Activities Board did it again: This year’s Summer Breeze concert, which featured Nelly, Lunice, and the Smith Westerns, drew a capacity crowd of over 2,000 students. During Nelly’s performance, four lucky students were serenaded on stage by the blinged-out superstar. Other highlights included a dance-off in the crowd during Lunice’s performance and giveaways from Redbull and Kind Health Snack.

The concert followed a day of fun in the sun at the annual carnival on the quad.

Photo Essay MAY 21, 2013

VIEWPOINTS

Editorial & Op-Ed MAY 21, 2013

An incidental report Review of UCPD conduct a starting point for policy change that should align with UChicago principles The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892 REBECCA GUTERMAN Editor-in-Chief SAM LEVINE Editor-in-Chief EMILY WANG Managing Editor DOUGLAS EVERSON, JR Senior Editor JAMIE MANLEY Senior Editor MATTHEW SCHAEFER Senior Editor CELIA BEVER News Editor MARINA FANG News Editor MADHU SRIKANTHA News Editor JENNIFER STANDISH News Editor AJAY BATRA Viewpoints Editor KRISTIN LIN Viewpoints Editor EMMA THURBER STONE Viewpoints Editor EMMA BRODER Arts Editor ALICE BUCKNELL Arts Editor DANIEL RIVERA Arts Editor VICENTE FERNANDEZ Sports Editor SARAH LANGS Sports Editor JAKE WALERIUS Sports Editor HYEONG-SUN CHO Head Designer SONIA DHAWAN Head Designer KEVIN WANG Online Editor ALICE BLACKWOOD Head Copy Editor ALAN HASSLER Head Copy Editor JEN XIA Head Copy Editor BEN ZIGTERMAN Head Copy Editor SYDNEY COMBS Photo Editor TIFFANY TAN Photo Editor COLIN BRADLEY Grey City Editor JOY CRANE Grey City Editor THOMAS CHOI Assoc. News Editor ALEX HAYS Assoc. News Editor ANKIT JAIN Assoc. News Editor HARINI JAGANATHAN Assoc. News Editor STEPHANIE XIAO Assoc. News Editor WILL DART Assoc. Arts Editor LAUREN GURLEY Assoc. Arts Editor TATIANA FIELDS Assoc. Sports Editor SAM ZACHER Assoc. Sports Editor JULIA REINITZ Assoc. Photo Editor FRANK YAN Assoc. Photo Editor TYRONALD JORDAN Business Manager TAMER BARSBAY Undergraduate Business Executive QUERIDA Y. QIU External Director of Marketing

Yesterday afternoon, the University released the external review report of UCPD conduct during two winter protests in support of a trauma center at the UCMC. The report, ordered by the University and completed by three members of Schiff Hardin LLP, analyzes incidents on January 27 and February 23, the first of which resulted in the arrest of eighth-year history Ph.D. candidate Toussaint Losier and two others. It concludes that “the events on both days do highlight the need for review, assessment, and clarification of University and UCPD policies and protocols related to demonstrations and protests, including the role of the Dean on Call program, and use of ‘plain clothes,’ ‘undercover,’ or ‘covert’ operations, followed by appropriate training and education of all involved parties.” Although the report rightly points to the deficiencies of the UCPD’s internal hierarchy and inarticulate policies, it will not be enough for the Department to simply be transparent about the changes it makes—it must make these policy changes with the best interests of the University’s community and philosophy in mind.

The review found the actions of UCPD Detective Janelle Marcellis “reasonable,” ostensibly laying the blame on her then-commanding officer, calling his orders—which were based on an incor-

Once more, with feeling Our generation has a clear grasp on the problems it faces—now it’s time to believe we can solve them

IVY ZHANG Internal Director of Marketing VINCENT MCGILL Delivery Coordinator ANDREW GREEN Designer SNEHA KASUGANTI Designer JONAH RABB Designer NICHOLAS ROUSE Designer KEN ARMSTRONG Copy Editor KRYSTEN BRAY Copy Editor CONNOR CUNNINGHAM Copy Editor LISA FAN Copy Editor NISHANTH IYENGAR Copy Editor CECILIA JIANG Copy Editor MICHELLE LEE Copy Editor CHELSEA LEU Copy Editor KATIE LEU Copy Editor CARISSA LIM Copy Editor KATARINA MENTZELOPOULOS Copy Editor JONAH RABB Copy Editor HEIDI SIEGRIST Copy Editor LINDSEY SIMON Copy Editor RUNNAN YANG Copy Editor ESTHER YU Copy Editor

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The opinions expressed in the Viewpoints section are not necessarily those of the Maroon. © 2013 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: Design@ChicagoMaroon.com Copy: CopyEditors@ChicagoMaroon.com Advertising: Ads@ChicagoMaroon.com

rect interpretation of how the UCPD planned to use “plain clothes” officers— “unreasonable.” These conclusions were based on the reviewers’ knowledge of the UCPD’s policies on the use of “plain clothes” officers and on dealing with protests—knowledge that was gained during the course of the investigation.

However, in this case, the fact remains that few violations were found, merely because there were no policies covering many situations that could arise during protests.

This raises an important question: Why did the UCPD feel comfortable acting without any official guidance at all? The logical conclusion of this haphazard approach to law enforcement is that an officer, either in action or in giving an order, will inevitably be forced to improvise. That the reviewers found Marcellis’s actions “reasonable” is very telling. Her order, which she plainly attempted to follow, was to “get intel” from the protesters while posing as one of them. The reviewers’ finding therefore does not address the larger point: The practice of espionage is in itself unreasonable in a police force employed by this university, whose promise of free expression and open discourse is allegedly absolute. The fact that the reviewers deemed Marcellis’s actions reasonable given her orders and the circumstances

By Jake Smith Viewpoints Columnist I sat in a professor’s office earlier this quarter, trying, in vain, to figure out what made John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address so extraordinarily powerful. I read the same passage out loud half a dozen times. “No, no, no,” the professor kept interrupting me. “Read it like you believe it.”

But I couldn’t.

As my every attempt to intone Kennedy’s sincerity fell flat, the professor said something I had trouble accepting : I couldn’t sell Kennedy’s commitment because I didn’t know what that kind of commitment felt like. Despite all the thinking I’d done, I had never really, absolutely believed in anything.

As I reflected on our conversation, I had to admit that the professor was right about my failure to believe, but also, and more overwhelmingly, that I’m not alone in this failure. In fact, I feel that I belong to an entire generation that doesn’t see anything as fully worthy of its energy and commitment.

At the very least, we refuse to commit to anything with a passion and spirit that would match the dedicated generations before us.

This comes as no surprise, considering that we’re the first generation to be truly inundated with the past. Although each generation has inevitably failed to fully attain the ideals it sought, none before has had at its fingertips the complete chronicles of its predecessors’ failures. As Google and Wikipedia have replaced historical volumes, we have been forced to concede the benefit of the doubt: When we learn about John F. Kennedy himself, we might encounter the inspiring young leader—or the pill-popping, narcissistic chauvinist.

So we’re jaded by a past that we never lived. Everything once celebrated has become a liability.

Doubt certainly existed before the Internet, but it was never able to extend its reach so wide and so deep. Our grandparents accepted history book accounts with a grain of salt, to be sure, but not with the absolute and all-encompassing reservation that paralyzes us today.

Simply put, we’re a generation of cynics, largely due to circumstance.

Being able to notice, analyze, and understand what’s wrong with our complicated world is a fine BELIEF continued on page 6

tells us that their assessment of accountability focused purely on matters of existing UCPD policy.

It is perfectly sensible that any external review limit itself to examining violations of existing policies—after all, that is where concrete changes can generally be made. However, moving forward with policy changes on the ends of both the UCPD and the administration, the University cannot afford to retain this focus: The guiding philosophy of the changes that will follow both the incidents and the release of this report must not be solely preoccupied with increasing institutional transparency and accountability—they must place primary emphasis on protecting the University’s core principle of free expression, as well as the best interests of students, community members, and any individual who engages in protest on our campus.

As it stands, it is unclear how the University expects to develop policies that work for all involved parties. The administration’s official response to the report says that the process will be based on “faculty-led” discussions like those held by the Committee on Dissent and Protest. But, when that Committee had an open meeting on May 13 with students, only two members of the sixmember committee showed up—not a promising start for involving students in

the policies that will affect them. But, to whatever degree the University decides to involve students in the production of these new policies, it is obligated to justify the ways in which those policies will work toward the explicit aim of security. For example, if policies regarding plain clothes operations are created or revised, it must also be made clear how the presence of plain clothes officers, as opposed to that of uniformed officers, is particularly useful or relevant to the campus security situations in which they are deployed.

The Schiff Hardin report should not be viewed as a sufficient resolution to the UCPD’s shortcomings. Since it evaluates possible violations of policies as they currently exist, it makes no suggestion for change in policy—and recent events have proved that such change is necessary. These changes alone, furthermore, are insufficient. In order to hold its officers sufficiently accountable and remain in touch with the University’s mission of fostering student speech and expression, the UCPD must seek to align its policies with that mission and be able to prove this alignment through transparent and logical operations.

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

Eyes on a different kind of prize Outcome-oriented athletic mindset does not align with UChicago’s prevailing academic ethos

By Liam Leddy Viewpoints Columnist When I arrived at UChicago last fall, my first 11 days on campus were spent exclusively with athletes. This was, of course, because I got here in mid-September, and athletes were the only students here. Campus was pretty empty, the weather was beautiful, and my only legitimate concern was practice. On the Friday before OWeek, I left with my team to compete in our regional ITA tennis tournament in Indianapolis. I was at the tournament until Sunday afternoon, and I didn’t get back to campus until that evening. When I walked back into Max East, which I had moved into some five days earlier, it was swimming with students, suitcases, boxes, and parents.

The whole aura of campus had changed. It was no longer a jock’s playground; it had transformed overnight into the academic institution that it’s known to be.

As orientation ended and fall quarter wore on, I noticed that, by and large, my fellow students really

didn’t care about sports—UChicago or otherwise. Furthermore, this indifference influenced not only basic interactions between students, but also the fundamental nature of social culture at UChicago. I realized that our school is a place where, for the most part, athletes hang out with athletes and the rest of students don’t. Obviously all athletes have friends that aren’t athletes, but we primarily associate with our teams and other teams.

While I don’t know if this divide is a good or bad thing, I certainly do wonder why it happens.

Obviously this divide is not unique to UChicago. Venture onto the campus of almost any Division I school and you will find an athletic culture that exists apart from the school to some extent. Yet the marked difference between these schools and UChicago is that athletes at Division I schools undeniably receive preferential treatment. Division I athletes are often given scholarships, access to armies of private tutors, piles of free clothing, and judicial leeway. Their lives are, quite simply, made easier by their universities. If their university treats them differently, it only makes sense that the student body would.

But these perks and special treatment largely do not exist once an athlete gets to our camATHLETES continued on page 6

THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | May 21, 2013

5

The flaws of ahistorical activism The progressive policies of Israel’s government are in line with the broader views of activists that dismiss it as an apartheid state

By Luke Brinker Viewpoints Columnist I present you with two countries.

One country allows gays to serve openly in its armed forces, ensures adoption rights for same-sex couples, hosts massive gay pride parades, permits gender reassignment surgery, and officially bans discrimination against gays in the workplace. This country guarantees women access to essential reproductive health services. Its Declaration of Independence proclaims the country’s support for “complete equality of social and political rights to all of its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race, or sex.” This founding document goes on to endorse “freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture.” Demographic minorities enjoy access to this country’s vital democratic institutions.

The other—not quite a country yet, but a political entity that aspires to nationhood— ostracizes homosexuals to such an extent that young gays flee in droves, according to a 2003 BBC report. Gays have no legally protected rights, and the influence of religious fundamentalists is such that not even the most unapologetic gay activist would dream of staging a gay pride parade. Parts of this potential country won’t even let women ride motorcycles, so forget something as revolu-

tionary as reproductive rights. According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, this would-be country so restricts women’s control over their own bodies that unsafe, back-alley abortions constitute a pervasive problem. Reproductive freedom isn’t the only liberty sorely lacking. Only about a quarter of citizens believe that they can safely criticize their political authorities.

Moreover, one of this aspiring country’s two main political parties emphatically refuses to recognize the other country’s right to exist.

“

It was Israel, not the xenophobic and irredentist Palestine, whom campus activists denounced at a May 14 event supporting the so-called Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

”

I speak, respectively, of Israel and the Palestinian territories.

It was Israel, not the xenophobic and irredentist Palestine, whom campus activists denounced at a May 14 event supporting the so-called Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Organizers of the event chose the sickening title “From South Africa to Israel: The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement.”

The linkage of Israel, the Middle East’s

sole liberal democracy, and apartheid South Africa has a long and sordid history. Former President Jimmy Carter popularized the analogy in his glib and ahistorical diatribe, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, published in 2006. Carter accuses the Israelis of apartheid on the basis of such actions as their construction of a security fence intended to protect the country against Palestinian terrorists.

The “wall,” Carter asserts, is a concrete symbol of the very kind of social division practiced by the white supremacist government that ruled South Africa until 1991. As Carter and his ilk in the BDS movement would have it, Palestinians are victims of Israeli security measures—not the leadership failures of their own political class, currently divided between the corrupt Fatah and the Islamist fundamentalists of Hamas.

Is it the popular depiction of Palestinians as victims that leads so many earnest young campus activists to celebrate the Palestinian “resistance”? Perhaps, but the reflexivity with which too many on the left uncritically embrace the Palestinian cause also stems from a worldview that lacks historical knowledge. No people has come under such constant and brutal assault as the Jewish people, six million of whom were systematically exterminated a mere seven decades ago.

Zionism predated the Holocaust, but the mass slaughter of Jews underscored the need for a secure Jewish homeland, free from the anti-Semitism and casual bigotry of much of Europe. That Israel’s Declaration of Independence extends fundamental civil rights to all citizens, regardless of heritage—even as it affirms Israel’s identity as a homeland for the Jewish people—makes its existence all the more remarkable.

While today’s activists scream, “Israel out of the occupied territories!” they forget that Israel acquired said territories after the SixDay War in 1967—a conflict sparked by the joint aggression of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

Days before the outbreak of the war, that great demagogue, President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, declared, “Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight.”

And fight they did. But the war was a disaster for the Arab aggressors. To buttress its defenses, Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria, the Gaza Strip from Egypt, and the West Bank from Jordan. For Israel and its people, collectively seared by the recent memory of the Holocaust, these newly seized territories signaled not imperial expansion, but a firm sense of safety for the nascent Jewish state.

History ought to anchor our understanding of the world, yet the demonization of Israel underscores how little we learn from it.

Perhaps I’m displaying excessive optimism, but maybe a cursory familiarity with history would humble the strident BDS activists who endlessly excoriate Israel.

Many BDSers, no doubt, are the same people assailing the domestic “war on women,” pushing for greater LGBTQ equality, and defending core civil liberties. They’re also parroting the same arguments as the Hamas “resisters,” who recently forced the U.N. to cancel the Gaza Marathon after protesting the presence of women in the race—and that’s genuinely troubling.

Luke Brinker is a graduate student in the MAPSS program.

Talk about a tragedy Lack of media coverage for Mother’s Day shooting in New Orleans reveals our failure to connect across socioeconomic boundaries

By Anastasia Golovashkina Viewpoints Columnist Past week. Top searches. Ready?

Besides the perennial Facebook, Google, YouTube, and Gmail queries, there were the “rising” trends, led by Atari Breakout, Cristin Milioti, Angelina Jolie, Happy Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day Quotes, and Daft Punk.

Notice anything missing? Hint: It happened on Mother’s Day and it wasn’t you forgetting to buy a gift.

That’s right: The mass shooting in New Orleans that left nearly two dozen people injured.

“Ten men, seven women, [and] a boy and a girl—both 10 years old—were struck by the hail of gunfire,” New Orleans’s own TimesPicayune reported last week. “Three people remained hospitalized in stable to critical condition on Wednesday.”

Even though the suspected shooters were still at large until as recently as the morning of Thursday, May 16, they were by no stretch of the imagination pursued with the same sense of national urgency that characterized the manhunts for former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner in February or the Tsarnaev brothers last month.

Now, why is that? Why is this tragedy not receiving the same sort of intense media attention as did Newtown, Boston, or Aurora? Why aren’t we calling for its suspects to be tried as domestic terrorists, inviting the President to interfaith prayer sessions for the victims, or sending the affected families dona-

tions?

In case you didn’t know, Newtown boasts a median household income of $116,249— more than twice the country’s $50,054, nearly three times New Orleans’s $44,004, and more than four times the $27,431 of New Orleans’s 7th Ward, where the Mother’s Day shooting took place.

This isn’t to say that Newtown, Boston, or Aurora didn’t need our support. They did, and they got it. But it’s clear that the victims in New Orleans are, at least individually, in far greater need of financial support to cover the inevitable influx of hospital expenses and unpredictable physical and mental implications that define the aftermath of any tragedy.

Where is their prominent place in the news cycle and the relief fund it fills?

In other words, what makes this tragedy less “tragic” than others, at least in the eyes of our national press-fueled psyche?

Is it because no one died? Because it happened on Mother’s Day? Maybe. But probably not.

More than anything, I think it’s the absence of the human element—the sense of “it could happen to me” or “it could happen to my friends, or my loved ones”—that so crucially separates this tragedy (and innumerable other underreported and forgotten ones like it) from the Newtowns and Bostons of our lives.

Despite happening at the relatable and supposedly safe family event that is a Mother’s Day Parade, and inflicting no shortage of physical and mental scars on young and innocent lives, the New Orleans shooting didn’t happen in an upper/middle-class, minimalminority, bad-things-don’t-happen-here kind of neighborhood. It didn’t happen “where you’d least expect it,” but precisely where one might “expect it”—in New Orleans, a city with some of the nation’s highest rates of crime, violence, and gang participation.

Last week’s mass shooting didn’t push the boundary we’ve delineated in our collective, media-grounded distinctions between “safe” and “unsafe” locales in the way that the tragedies in Newtown or Boston did. Instead, it simply reaffirmed our stereotypes: that New Orleans is a bad place, and that bad things happen in bad places.

We regard the day-to-day experiences of people in such areas as being so vastly different from our own that we, as a society, have disassociated ourselves from them. Our inability to relate to or even sympathize with their lives and struggles often plays out as a greater aversion to reporting on victims’ personal stories altogether. No personal story has

“

Our inability to relate to or even sympathize with their lives and struggles often plays out as a greater aversion to reporting on victims’ personal stories altogether.

”

received mass attention in the aftermath of the New Orleans shooting.

This isn’t the first time that our nation has left New Orleans high and dry. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the media was far more concerned with circulating images of New Orleans residents “robbing” local grocery stores and pharmacies than it was with reporting the acuteness of the situation, which, thanks to FEMA’s mismanagement of the tragedy on almost every front, left the

city’s tens of thousands of stranded residents with few options but to rob local vendors in order to survive.

Detroit’s well-documented decline provides another powerful example of this unfortunate phenomenon. Of the myriad photo galleries that depict and track the ways in which the city has changed, very few contain photographs featuring actual people, instead opting to fixate on the city’s abandoned infrastructure. By claiming to showcase Detroit, such articles soothe our periodically resurfacing concern for the declining locale by implying that it has simply been abandoned—that these are simply photos of a mysterious, bygone past from which human life has long since fled, and which we need not worry about.

Except, of course, for the fact that 706,585 people still live in Detroit. But being reminded of that would make us uncomfortable, just as it would make us uncomfortable to be reminded that 4,267 people have died from gun violence since the Sandy Hook shooting, including 73 people in New Orleans and 126 in our very own Chicago (and our population is about seven and a half times the size of New Orleans’s).

It all points to a much broader, much more encompassing threat to our country’s shared sense of self. The results are heightened social and economic inequalities, and communities divided on such strong geographic, economic, infrastructural, and psychological lines by income-based distinctions that they have become completely unable to relate to one another. At this rate, they may one day be unable even to recognize the others’ presence.

Anastasia Golovashkina is a second-year in the College majoring in economics.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | May 21, 2013

In the mind of an ath- Easy access to the failures of our predecessors makes faith in change difficult stars and galaxies, and we want to visit the thinking; we already see what’s wrong lete, process is secondary BELIEF continued from page 4 ATHLETES continued from page 4 pus. Aside from being given registration preference in their very first quarter, the only other perk a UChicago athlete usually gets is a free water bottle. Yet, somehow, athletes still find themselves separate from the rest of the student body.

Perhaps this divide occurs because admission requirements can be relaxed for athletes, and thus the rest of the student body feels they don’t belong. Then again, it’s also possible that athletes simply choose not to venture away from their teammates because the associations that the athletic network provides are easy ones. Teams are often ready-made social cocoons, beyond which athletes have no incentive to venture. These are probably both contributing factors to the divide—yet, even if these obstacles were removed, I think the chasm between athletes and everyone else would still exist.

The mind of an athlete is something that for a long time was foreign to me. I didn’t start playing tennis seriously until I was about 15, and, up until that time, I never really understood how competitive I was. But sports taught me that I hate to lose and that the pain of losing is far more intense than the joy of winning. Ask any athlete whether she hates to lose more than she loves to win and chances are she’ll say yes. Moreover, I came to understand that the mindset of an athlete is probably the most outcome-oriented one that I will ever encounter. As someone who is naturally far more interested in the method than the objective, it took quite a while for me to warm up to the idea that the outcome is everything.

An athlete has one job: Win. So it makes sense that she would only be focused on the outcome. Trying to make things pretty or trying to enjoy the process to its fullest can often lead to an undesirable outcome: a loss. This win-first mindset is one that athletes bring not only to the playing field, but also to the classroom. A good grade is what’s important, not necessarily what’s required to obtain it.

This is why I think the gap between athletes and the general UChicago student body will never be bridged. The idea that makes UChicago what it is—that of the pursuit of knowledge for the sake of the pursuit itself— is distinctly at odds with the mindset that is required to be a successful athlete. After all, an athlete who is not concerned with outcomes will not be one who wins very much. I think this is the core of the issue, the essential reason that UChicago athletes will never be a central part of the school’s spirit: In a world where winning is do or die, there’s no room for the life of the mind.

thing when it helps us dream up meaningful solutions. But today, we don’t see solutions.

When we look at political candidates, ideologies, and distant goals, the intensity of their flaws blinds us. We cannot fathom commitment. Like earlier generations, we are painfully aware of the challenges that our world faces, but the solutions in which they placed their faith appear, to us, naïve and hopeless.

Like earlier generations, we see violence and poverty in our communities, and we want to combat them. But we no longer think of elected officials as problem-solvers working in society’s best interest. Instead, we fume as we envision slimy bureaucrats, catering to lobbyists and super–PACs while ignoring the needs of those who elected them.

Like earlier generations, we see millions of our fellow human beings living under oppression, and we want them set free. But we no longer imagine liberators as the valiant Allies who rescued millions from Nazi concentration camps. Instead, we remember our friends and neighbors who trekked to the Middle East to establish unwanted and unsustainable democracies, incurring immeasurable financial and human costs along the way.

Like earlier generations, we see distant

them. But we no longer dream of landing on the moon. Instead, we shudder as we remember the Challenger and the Columbia shuttles being torn apart. Our burning passion to explore the cosmos fades to a cool, distant, and sheerly academic curiosity.

Any given answer would expose us to a dozen more problems. How could we resolve to pursue a solution that would be so thoroughly imperfect?

I myself am just the sort of cynic that I describe. My first reaction when a friend shares an optimistic story is to doubt its veracity, question its source, or otherwise assume the worst. I do so with a smile, out of some sense of duty to temper friends’ idealism and quash their unrealistic hopes. And, of course, this op-ed is, so far, doing the very thing it bemoans: Pointing out a problem in society without offering a solution. It’s what I am best at, and it’s what I’m most comfortable doing.

After all, any solution I offer is liable to be criticized, by people like me, as naïve, flawed, or impractical. If I commit to it, that makes me naïve, flawed, or impractical too.

But I want to take that risk.

Each of us possesses an energy, a passion, and a spirit that beg us to commit to something—to believe in something. We’ve done

with the world, and we want it to be better.

Now, for a change, let’s start believing that we can make it so.

To be sure, our commitment won’t be— and can’t be—the same as our grandparents’. We simply know too much about the past to unquestioningly attach ourselves to those same unattainable ideals: The policy that single-handedly eradicates poverty, the ideolog y that needs to spread to every corner of the earth, or the one leader who will solve our every problem. Instead, our generation has the unique opportunity to begin evaluating solutions against the realities they stand to improve. We can notice the flaws in our policies, ideologies, and leaders and commit nonetheless, based not on blind faith or pure reason, but on our own variety of thinking—one that’s both critical and impassioned.

We’ll have to commit on our own terms; the solutions we envision might lie in the world around us, rather than in some perfect world above us. But that shouldn’t stop us from committing to them.

Let’s think about improving the world like we believe it.

Jake Smith is a fourth-year in the College majoring in political science.

The Lumen Christi Institute, The John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought, and the Seng Foundation Endowment for Market-Based Programs & Catholic Values, Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, College of Arts and Letters, University of Notre Dame

present

TOWARD A MORAL ECONOMY Globalization and the Developing World A public symposium with a keynote address by

Peter Cardinal Turkson President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

Liam Leddy is a first-year in the College.

and presentations by

Robert Lucas University of Chicago Economics Department

Luigi Zingales

SUBMISSIONS

University of Chicago Booth School of Business

The Chicago Maroon welcomes opinions and responses from its readers. Send op-ed submissions and letters to:

University of Notre Dame Economics Department

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.

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THURSDAY MAY 23 4:00-6:00 PM

Max Palevsky Cinema Ida Noyes Hall 1212 East 59th Street

Free and open to the public. For more information and to register, please visit www.lumenchristi.org.

ARTS

Heartlandia MAY 21, 2013

With latest single, Kanye gets face time on the quad Zane Burton Maroon Contributor Kanye West debuted a new single late Friday night. Unlike most artists, he didn’t just upload it to YouTube and contact the major music news Web sites to build publicity. He took to Twitter for just the second time in the past four months, tweeting, “NEW SONG AND VISUAL FROM MY NEW ALBUM BEING PROJECTED TONIGHT ACROSS THE GLOBE ON 66 BUILDINGS, LOCATIONS @ KANYEWEST.COM”. On his website, locations were listed on a map of the globe, coupled with mysterious 10- to 15-minute time intervals.

One of those locations was “University of Chicago (Music Dept) E 59th St. & S Ellis Ave.” The Web site said 12:15 a.m. to 12:30 a.m., but a crowd began to form on the sidewalk in front of Goodspeed long before that. By a quarter past midnight there were hundreds of people crowded on the corner, students and community members alike. Attendees were cheering excitedly; a nervous energ y permeated the crowd as wild rumors spread about how the projection was going to happen, or if Kanye himself would show up. Shouts and pointing fingers accompanied every shadow moving in Goodspeed Hall or Haskell. The UCPD and the CPD were both on hand, and as time went on, more and more police officers arrived on the scene

to help keep the crowd off of the street.

A few minutes after 12:30 a.m., a black Jeep and a large black truck bearing a projector and sound system arrived. A team wearing all black got out of the truck, set up the projector, and played “New Slaves.” Before Kanye started to rap, images of price tags flashed brightly on the wall. When he did begin, Kanye’s verses were delivered intensely and demanded attention.

The video visually mirrored the present drama—it featured an extreme close-up of Kanye angrily rapping about a commercial brand of slavery that has been adapted to the rules of the 21st century. It ended with a falsetto voice bemoaning the reality that things just aren’t going to be the same. With all the cheers and energ y that accompanied the song’s release, it felt much more like a live performance than a recorded video.

The next night, Kanye took to Saturday Night Live, despite ranting about the notion of humanizing himself on the show just a week prior. He stated, “Somebody asked me, ‘When you do SNL, is you going to do a skit about the paparazzi and shit?

And humanize yourself ?’ I ain’t here to apologize for no motherfuckers, man! It ain’t about me humanizing myself !” It was clear that Kanye wasn’t going to alter himself for the show anymore, as was the case when he infamously substituted an entire verse of

On Friday, Kanye West projected the video for his latest single “New Slaves” on buildings around the world (Brooklyn pictured above). His new album, Yeezus, drops next month.

COURTESY OF PITCHFORK

“Power” to avoid complaining about SNL while on SNL. He followed through on his promise, electing not to participate in any of the skits as he had in the past. Previous skits featuring Kanye had addressed recent media controversies, such as the incident with Taylor Swift at the VMAs. This time, he used his music alone to address recent issues. He started off the show by debuting “Black Skinhead,” which opened with a pack of dogs barking and a sample of

Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People.” Clad in his trademark black leather pants and a studded leather jacket, he delivered a song that was more screaming than it was rapping. The song featured Kanye at his darkest yet.

He roamed back and forth on the stage, skirting shadows in front of the same price tags and slogans that accompanied the previous night’s projection of “New Slaves.”

“Black Skinhead” offers up lyrics that serve as a conceptual ex-

tension from where “New Slaves” left off. While “New Slaves” describes the attempts of the government and other institutions to enslave the population through advertisements, “Black Skinhead” is Kanye’s rebellion against these institutions. He yells, “I’m doin’ 500, I’m outta control now/But there’s nowhere to go, now/And there’s no way to slow down/ Runnin’ out of time—moving fast/So just close your eyes and then enjoy the crash.” Kanye can’t KANYE continued on page 8

Late Live Show takes final bow while SNL flounders in the spotlight

In his penultimate SNL episode on May 11, Bill Hader tries his best to salvage the cold open.

COURTESY OF DANA EDELSON

Dan Brier Maroon Contributor I watched two comedy shows last Saturday. The first was Saturday Night Live. I’m usually critical of the show, and this episode, hosted by veteran SNL player and sketch actress Kristen Wiig, was particularly lousy. Wiig’s legacy lured the looming specter of epi-

sodes past, occasioning the recurrence of a few mercifully retired characters and sketches. Worse yet, the cold open followed SNL’s now formulaic law of political satire: Take the week’s three biggest news stories and smash them together until you get a sketch. If the stories don’t fit together naturally, simply insert a nonsensical cameo. Lo and behold, 11:30 p.m. rolled around

and out came a sketch in which Jodi Arias and Ariel Castro were called to testify at the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing. But wait, don’t judge the sketch before the big reveal: Arias and Castro don’t know anything about Benghazi— they’re just felons! If the setup and reveal of the sketch were any more unoriginal and flat, I’d be

convinced that it was some sort of insincere self-parody.

The second, decidedly less popular show I saw was The Late Live Show, a hodgepodge of jokes in the form of a late-night talk show at ImprovOlympic. Saturday was its final staging, as its host, Joe Kwaczala, and several other cast members are moving to Los Angeles.

From the show’s outset, it was clear that the writers enjoy a tremendous degree of artistic freedom; at one point, Kwaczala said that, if left unattended, they’d end up with a show full of jokes about “wieners and dog wieners.”

And on Saturday night, the audience’s gratitude was overwhelming. A frenzied crowd of friends and fans accumulated through the show’s three-year run filled iO’s Del Close Theater, laughing, cheering, and chanting the show’s final chorus: “Fuck The Late Live Show/And fuck being funny/ Fuck The Late Live Show/And long live money.” This song was the perfect note on which to end: a massive injoke that simultaneously expressed both love for the show and frustration with the need to move on to careers with less artistic freedom and more economic comfort. Because that’s precisely what happens to shows like The Late Live Show: They burn brightly for a few years,

fueled by naïve talent and passion, before their component parts are disassembled and absorbed into constellations like SNL or The Onion or late-night TV. This funneling effect has led to an absolute dearth of originality in popular comedy. Talented young comedy writers and performers stream into New York and L.A., but their individual voices are swallowed by the voice of established outlets. And increasingly, these established outlets have demonstrated a noxious penchant for addressing every major news event, hit show, and viral video that seizes public attention for a fleeting moment. Of course, none of this is new; boring, stultifying shows like Workaholics and Modern Family have always existed on TV in one form or another, trading on slang and cultural references to get laughs.

What is new, however, is the rampant pandering to online audiences. Take The Onion, for example: Since relocating from New York, the satirical news outlet has been engulfed by a corporate structure that pushes its writers and producers to release four or five videos within a single week, rather than spending two or three weeks perfecting a single video. This SNL continued on page 8

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | May 21, 2013

8

Star Trek sequel finds success in keeping its crew grounded James Mackenzie Arts Staff Looking back at the old Star Trek TV episodes and movies can be a bit jarring today. Lacking the giant budgets and flashy special effects of today’s sci-fi, these older incarnations focused more on characters and plot. While its predecessors have grown extremely dated, the latest installment of the long-running franchise, Star Trek Into Darkness, attempts to return to some of these storytelling basics while maintaining the sleek veneer of contemporary sci-fi.

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS J.J. Abrams The Harper Theatre

Into Darkness, J.J. Abrams’s latest and likely last run with the USS Enterprise, follows Captain James Kirk (Chris Pine) and crew as they attempt to hunt down a genetically enhanced Starfleet turncoat played by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Cumberbatch, of BBC’s Sherlock fame, has been the object of intrigue in the film’s pre-release buildup and remains so in the film itself. Much has been made of his character’s possible identity and the revelation, while not disap-

pointing, is fairly anticlimactic for fans (spoiler: He’s Khan).

There is also something to be said about the “whitewashing” of Khan (originally played by the late Ricardo Montalban), a somewhat disturbing trend in recent Hollywood films.

That being said, Cumberbatch does a fine job of at least mitigating such concerns with an extremely engaging performance throughout. He brings a theatrical flair and ominous presence that was lacking in the first film’s villain.

Cumberbatch towers over the remainder of the cast, no small feat considering that this is still one of the better ensembles in recent memory. Most of the supporting cast is relegated to the background this time around, leaving room for Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto) to take center stage along with Cumberbatch.

Quinto continues his smooth performance as Spock, although Star Trek traditionalists will likely continue to criticize him for his alleged overuse of emotion and sarcasm. The wsarcasm and wit, while very entertaining, do in fact get old after a while. Pine continues to play the brash, young Kirk of the first film, and the end of Into Darkness more than makes up for the apparent lack of character development between the movies.

And, that is really where the heart of this film lies, in the journey and struggles of the Enter-

Zachary Quinto returns as Spock, this time to walk away from fire while doing his best blue steel.

COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES

prise’s captain. The plot is often muddled by the confusing motivations of the villains and somewhat strange pacing. The story works much better as a parable of sorts about a captain and the relationship and duty he has to his crew. While there is an implied threat to humanity and the galaxy at large, it is placed firmly in the distance, allowing the true conflict of the movie to be the lengths to which Kirk and Khan will go to protect their respective crews.

This is an element that Into Darkness shares with the best of

on “New Slaves,” to Kanye’s girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, announcing the name of his new album on Instagram on Saturday night, Kanye’s unpredictability is unprecedented. According to a tweet at the beginning of May, which simply read “June Eighteen,” Yeezus drops on June 18 via Def Jam. It reportedly features Daft Punk, Chief Keef, Pusha T, Skrillex, John Legend, Big Sean, Kid Cudi, 2 Chainz, Azealia Banks, and members of Odd Future, but any further concrete information about the album is extremely scarce. One thing is for sure, though—you’ll be hearing it.

Push to be first, not best, threatens comedy SNL continued from page 7 strategy, like that of SNL, is a response to the advent of social media as the dominant means of distributing content. Because any major news event is a source of competition for attention online, there is a constant push to be first and a diminished need to be the best.

If you follow The Onion, you may have noticed this effect in the aftermath of any major news story in the past year. Rather than provide legitimate insight or a fresh take, The Onion increasingly relies on its voice to carry the weight of a joke. In the wake of tragedy, you’ll see friends share articles like “This What World Like Now” (Boston Marathon Bombings) and “Fuck Everything, Nation Reports” (Newtown Shootings) on Facebook and Twitter, but it’s difficult to imagine anyone actually laughing at them. Because they’re not jokes, really—they don’t challenge the reader’s opinion, nor do they offer any original insight. They are just head nods towards an apathetic audience of educated, left-of-cen-

ter young adults.

Whereas good comedy toys with clichés in order to expose them as such, this new breed of pandering confuses social commentary with the creative restatement of clichés and social norms. On a smaller scale, the problem might make more sense: If Off-Off Campus started writing sketches about Harold’s Chicken and Occam’s Razor started making jokes about hipsters smoking outside of Cobb, there would be no reason for you to leave your filthy bed and go watch them (us) perform.

Comedy is about challenging, not affirming, public opinion. So go watch some live comedy every now and then, if only to have an experience in which the sole aim is making you laugh. At the very least, if you’re going to tell your friends a quick joke, skip the litany of tired collegiate punch lines (America, bacon, racism, zombies, Greek life, dining halls, hipsters, midterms, finals, sex, dorms, sleep, alcohol) and offer something unexpected. Give them wieners. Give them dog wieners.

Announcing

Autumn 2013 Courses in the Big Problems Capstone Curriculum for juniors and seniors

COSMOS & CONSCIENCE: LOOKING FOR OURSELVES ELSEWHERE William Schweiker (Divinity School), Don York (Astronomy) BPRO 23000, ASTR 23000, RLST 23603

ENERGY & ENERGY POLICY Stephen Berry (Chemistry), George Tolley (Economics) BPRO 29000, ECON 26800, ENST 29000, PBPL 29000

MOVIES & MADNESS W.J.T. Mitchell (English), Judy Hoffman (Cinema & Media Studies) BPRO 26400, ARTH 26905, ARTV 26411, CMST 25550, ENGL 28703

PICTURING WORDS/ WRITING IMAGES (STUDIO) Jessica Stockholder (Visual Arts), Srikanth Reddy (English) BPRO 26500, ARTV 26901, CRWR 26341, ENGL 24319 For more information, please see: http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/bigproblems/

The Big Problems curriculum addresses matters of global or universal concern that intersect with several disciplines and aȔect a variety of interest groups.

p r o b l e m s

KANYE continued from page 7 be controlled, and isn’t in control, and is going to do what he wants, regardless of how much it might hurt him or anyone else. He ignores the rules he describes in “New Slaves” in favor of delivering his very own breed of “Fuck up your whole afternoon shit.” Just as the imagery behind him says, Kanye is “NOT FOR SALE.” Kanye’s method of publicizing his new album breaks the conventions of typical album releases. From surprise appearances at the Roseland Ballroom and the Met Ball, to Frank Ocean’s mom tweeting that Ocean was the falsetto voice featured

infamous lines.

The visuals and action in Into Darkness, while impressive, are ultimately not as memorable as those of the first film. However, the craft placed into character and storytelling really shine through and engage the viewer on more than just an audiovisual level. And that is what has always given Star Trek longevity as a franchise: the focus on plot and characters in a genre too often content to distract audiences with empty visuals. Despite its flaws, Into Darkness delivers on that mission.

b i g

Little is known about Yeezus although rumors abound

the old Star Trek films—that is, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

The films share many elements, most notably Khan as the primary villain. The final acts of each film actually run parallel to each other, although with some notable role reversals. Into Darkness’s approach actually makes for a more thematically fitting emotional climax than that of Wrath of Khan, although this great moment near the end is dampened by an unnecessary and over-the-top action sequence, along with a cringe-inducing reuse of one of William Shatner’s more

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | May 21, 2013

9

SUMMER MOVIE ROUND-UP You can find all the sequels, blockbusters, and tentpoles yourself. Here’s your guide to this summer’s indie/foreign finest.

SPACE Brit Marling, who starred in and co-wrote both Another Earth and The Sound of My Voice, is back again with Voice partner Zal Batmanglij for The East, which opens May 31. The biggest venture we’ve seen so far from the ingénue, The East co-stars Alexander Skarsgård and Ellen Page as members of an anti-corporate anarchist collective. Marling’s character is tasked with the job of infiltrating its ranks before it can cause too much damage. If Sound of My Voice is anything to go by, expect heaps of moral ambiguity with a side of general slow-baked intensity (alternately, talented pretty people looking conflicted).

On June 27, Sebastián Cordero makes his English-language directorial debut with Europa Report, starring District 9’s Sharlto Copley.

Copley is part of a team of astronauts en route to Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons theorized to have an ocean deep beneath its frozen crust.

The trailer promises a gorgeous, gritty take on what could be hiding within those depths, à la the first two-thirds of Danny Boyle’s underrated gem, Sunshine.

For all those fans of Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, or for the occasional layman who likes seeing dudes trip over fences, the director’s latest, The World’s End, drops August 23. World’s End is the third and final

installment in the Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy (also called the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy): Shaun was strawberry red for zombified blood and gore, Fuzz was blue original for Sanford’s finest, and this one’s apparently mint green—aliens, anybody?

ANGST The season’s first high school-themed entry is Jordan Vogt-Roberts’s The Kings of Summer (May 31), which focuses on two best friends who take to the woods one summer to build a house and “live off the land,” because puberty is hard, or something. While early reviews suggest that Vogt-Roberts leans a little too heavily on established indie cues, a strong supporting cast including Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, and Alison Brie is more than enough to make up for it.

The Way, Way Back (July 5), about an awkward kid coming of age while working a summer job at a theme park, is being billed as “from the same studio that brought you Juno and Little Miss Sunshine,” if that gives you any indication about what it’s hoping to be (costars include Toni Collette and Steve Carrell). Nat Faxon and Jim Rash co-wrote and both are directing; the latter won an Oscar for co-adapting The Descendants, which is only a good sign.

I’m personally most excited for James Ponsoldt’s

The Magnificent Now, which enters limited release in early August. Miles Teller stars as a failing high school senior battling alcoholism. Shailene Woodley (who’s having a moment) is the requisite bookish girl who may be the key to getting him redemption.

The film won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance for the “rare honesty” of its performances, and Ponsoldt was recently tapped to direct the upcoming Hillary Clinton biopic thanks in no small part to the empathy he displays here.

I.R.L. July 12’s Fruitvale Station stars Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle) as Oscar Grant, the 22-year-old who was infamously shot and killed by a BART officer on San Francisco public transit on New Year’s Eve 2009. Written and directed by newcomer Ryan Coogan, the film apparently brought Sundance crowds to tears and was enough of a standout for the Weinsteins to pick it up for distribution (can the Academy just announce Jordan’s Oscar nod right now?). Speaking of Jordan, rumors are swirling that he may be first choice to play the Human Torch in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot; he’d be the first African American in the role.

To lighten the mood, catch Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring (June 14). The movie’s based on the Vanity Fair article “The Suspects Wore Louboutins”

by Nancy Jo Sales. Emma Watson stars as a member of the fame-obsessed teen posse whose idea it was to rob the houses of their favorite “dumb” celebrities.

Most famously, the group used Google Earth and a key under her front doormat to rob Paris Hilton no fewer than five times (she purportedly didn’t notice until one of the thieves got overeager and looted over two million dollars worth of jewels in one night).

SALIVA When Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise came out in 1995, it was meant to stand alone as an understated, timeless love story that was, paradoxically, all about time. Yet nobody complained when nine years later, Linklater quietly released Before Sunset, and similarly, nobody’s mad about this month’s Before Midnight either. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy return, this time allowing us a peek into what happens a decade after the best night of one’s life. The film comes to Chicago on May 31.

David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (August 16) stars Rooney Mara (Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone) in a Terrence Malick-esque tale about a couple of outlaws separated after one of them kills a cop in a gunfight. The film has drawn obvious comparisons to Bonnie and Clyde and Badlands, but early buzz says Lowery’s aesthetic propels it into something gorgeous and chemistry-laden in its own right. Plus, Mara and Affleck are (in my opinion) respectively miles ahead of their more famous older siblings, so we should all support them accordingly.

—Daniel Rivera

Of Montreal stirs up 20 years of soul at Lincoln Hall Marika Van Laan Maroon Contributor Last Friday night, the psychedelic dance pop band Of Montreal filled Lincoln Hall with a soldout show. Before the group took the stage, the dance floor slowly swelled in size and humidity. Loud chatter emitted from the bar and teeming crowds amassed outside will call. This tableau seems to suggest that nothing was amiss about the gig; however, this concert, like any other, has a story.

Of Montreal is not new to Chicago. For those who don’t know, the group is not an obscure collection of Canadians but a Georgia-based indie powerhouse that pioneers and sustains faith in small labels. The band emerged almost 20 years ago as part of the Elephant 6 collective, a small group of musicians who fostered notable strides in alternative music. Among these was the famous Neutral Milk Hotel. However, unlike NMH, Of Montreal continued into the 21st century and rode a gradual uphill slope to indie superstardom. The 2007 album Hissing Fauna are You the Destroyer? launched the musicians to magazine covers and festival headlines.

Despite all the wonder and creativity produced by the group and its larger-than-life front man Kevin Barnes, its future is currently unclear. Many claim the band has lost its luster following Hissing Fauna and accuse Barnes of becoming increasingly indulgent and inaccessible, making his work almost unbearable. The negativity does not

seem to stop in the hollow words of cranky critics. Of Montreal’s last visit to Chicago on its 2012 tour featured a show at Metro. The venue has an occupancy over double the size of this year’s location, putting a damper on the show’s soldout status.

Is the band washed up? Is it ready to enter the indie retirement home along with The Strokes and The Shins? These were some thoughts running through my head as I waited for the lights to be dimmed. I had seen the same band closing for festivals in front of thousands. Now, I could almost touch the crowded stage and count the faces in the audience. Everything seemed so odd, and when the band arrived it was like the emperor without his clothes. It was definitely over the hill.

The room seemed to exhale a collective tired sigh as the group predictably opened with “Wraith Pinned to the Mist,” its only mild hit from the last five years. Next on the set list came singles from Hissing Fauna. I danced and sang along to the classics, but part of me was weeping. Barnes was clearly not loving the tunes. He delivered with less gusto than I did on my last pset. I loved the music, but the band looked like it was going through the motions.

However, as soon as I resigned myself to accepting the fate of this indie legend, I sensed a shift in atmosphere. The band surprised the crowd with its 2012 track “Feminine Effects,” pulled from an E.P. I had always enjoyed the song but did not expect the influ-

Of Montreal is famous for being theatrical, and their latest tour is no exception. Pictured here is a performance from earlier this month at The Echoplex in L.A.—animal garb included.

COURTESY OF CHRIS MOLINA

ence it had on us all. The soulful delivery of this beautiful country-psychedelic hybrid triggered a renewed devotion. We weren’t here because we were bored and we weren’t here to see the latest attraction. This was how music should be and Of Montreal was good at making it this way.

The remaining half of the night turned into a whirlwind of unprecedented energy verging on violent and plain gross. The crowd felt united with the band as it seemed to announce, “We’re still here and we’re not giving up.” All the negative press and declining ticket sales suddenly became ridiculously

trivial. The fans were still dancing their pants off and the tunes were still out of this world. The love hadn’t faded but only matured like a fine wine. Barnes had shaken off his flaky fans looking for the latest band and now was partying with his die-hard followers.

The spiked enthusiasm also signaled the start of the group’s famous showmanship. As usual, the stage became inundated with figures in every costume imaginable ranging from the sexual to downright weird. The dancers acted out dramatic scenes of love and despair, weaving in and out of the musicians and even engaging the raging

spectators.

As I sang myself hoarse to the closing number “She’s a Rejector” and dodged a crowd-surfing dancer dressed as Captain America, I felt a sense of warmth, realizing how my love for this music had lasted and grown. These weren’t some teenybopper wannabes: They were the real deal, the kind of band that breathes life into the word “indie” and makes multi-clausal titles acceptable. Above all, they put on a good show and make loyal fans like me come back for more. They might be washed up, but nobody’s told them yet, and besides—they probably wouldn’t listen.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | May 21, 2013

Retiring coach imparts lessons on and off the field to last a lifetime

By Vicente Fernandez Sports Editor The first time I met University of Chicago head football coach Dick Maloney, I was a junior in high school. I was visiting the school on a whim, figuring that I might as well check out the campus and talk to the coaches since I’d already flown in to see Northwestern. Being from Florida, I hadn’t heard much about the then–ninthranked school in the country, aside from the fact that it had a good standing on the list. Aspirations to play college football had me looking at top-ranked schools with competitive football programs, and sitting high on that list were Coach Maloney’s Maroons. It just so happened that the coach whose career has defined Chicago’s modern era also wound up being my recruiter.

Maloney is a big man. He’s the sort of person who walks into a room and unintentionally makes everyone around him shrink. It’s a trait that comes with being a former collegiate offensive lineman, I guess, and Maloney was one that got an NFL tryout to boot. It’s also a trait that every head football coach should probably have, considering the large personalities that can be found in any given locker room. His presence

goes beyond his frame, however; it’s a part of his persona.

Maloney’s laugh can fill an auditorium, no matter how many brawny linemen and linebackers fill it. His infamous speeches command your ear—it’s impossible to sit through one of his pregame narratives and not have your attention hinging on his every word. Still, it’s the way he looks at you as his player that speaks truest to Maloney, as a coach and as a person. He always makes you feel at home.

I didn’t like Northwestern as much I thought I would. In the cab on the way back to the hotel, I found myself wondering whether or not schools really fit you the way you imagine they will when you’re receiving endless stacks of college propaganda. Then my phone rang. It was former Chicago offensive coordinator Jeff Sokol. He knew I was in town because my high school and I had sent Maloney an e-mail with my highlight tape and my transcripts. We drove straight to Hyde Park.

From the moment I walked into Ratner, it felt right. Coach Sokol took me up stairs I’ve walked a hundred times now and introduced me to Maloney in the coaches’ conference room. I don’t remember exactly what Maloney said the first time we met, but I do remember that I left with a big grin on my face, thinking, “This is the school for me.” I remember him smiling so wide that you could barely see his eyes, and his cheeks turning the rosy color they do when he starts one of his stories. I re-

member thinking that Maloney was a real father figure, a Santa Claus, someone I could and wanted to play for.

Maloney, the University of Chicago, and the football program left such an impression on me that I visited two more times before I actually enrolled: once for the Maroon football camp and once for my official visit.

The camp at Chicago was the second one at which I saw him during the summer before my senior year. The first was at the Princeton football camp, where he was evaluating and helping coach. I remember because after a one-on-one drill, he walked up to me and said something along the lines of, “Keep it up.” We had two interactions of that kind at the camp, but they left a strong enough imprint that it carried my spirits through the week.

At the Maroon camp, it all fell into place. I’d never felt more at home on a football field than at Stagg. The coaches carried an upbeat attitude that reflected Maloney’s happy demeanor; you could tell that they, like him, sincerely loved the game.

After the camp, I walked up to Maloney and asked him how things were looking. We’d been exchanging e-mails over the summer, but his telling me, “Things are looking good, Vicente,” was just the reassurance I needed, the sort of pat on the back you get from your parents as a kid after scoring a touchdown or coming home with As on your report card.

A few months later I got an e-mail from Maloney congratulating me on my acceptance to Chicago. Aside from the actual letter from the school, it was the best note I got that winter.

Because of Maloney, I felt at home at Chicago and because I applied and got in, I am happy to say I’ve done everything I dreamed I’d do.

On my last visit to Hyde Park before arriving for preseason my first year, Maloney opened his commencement speech with an old-school projector, the sort of machine that gets carried around on a rolling tray. “I haven’t seen one of those since elementary school,” the entire room must have been thinking. As Maloney placed a not-quite-centered paper onto the machine, which then projected a not-quite-centered image onto the screen, he made his first joke of the day: It was appropriately about the projector (and his lack of technology know-how). It was not the last joke the players in that room heard, the ones who wound up at Chicago and the ones who didn’t. It helped alleviate the tension in an auditorium full of anxious 18-year-olds.

And that’s what Coach Maloney has always done for me, and for all of the players who have passed through his program in the last 19 years; he’s helped us through some of the most important and stressful years of our lives. He’s helped high school students get into their dream school. He’s landed his players internships and jobs,

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speak to the impact Coach Maloney has had on his players’ lives in his time at Chicago. His influence is better personified by the smile he’ll give a player as he passes him in the hallway, with his eyes squinted and his cheeks red. It’s better personified by the feeling I got walking out of his office as a nervous 17 year-old kid my junior year of high school.

DYLAN MASSEY, BASEBALL Assistant Coach Scott Budeselich: “Dylan finished the year on a tear and brought his season batting average to a team-leading .382. His toughness and durability allowed him to start 33 games at shortstop this year. His most impressive statistic was the fact that he only struck out four times in 122 plate appearances. Dylan is the kind of person that teammates and coaches love to be around. He is a respectful and brilliant young man that has the unique quality of making those around him feel important.

I could not be more proud of the year he has had, and [I] look forward to him coming back for one more season.”

MAGGIE SCHUMANN, WOMEN’S TENNIS

Head Coach Jay Tee: “Maggie spent the majority of this season out of the starting lineup, losing her spot to a first-year early in the year. While she could have given up and gone through the motions, Maggie continued to work hard in practice and never complained or asked, ‘When is it my turn?’ Her opportunity finally came at the UAA Championship, where she was named Second Team All-Conference with Sruthi Ramaswami at No. 3 doubles. This past weekend at the NCAA Tournament, Maggie went 2–0 at No. 3 doubles. While the wins were important, Maggie’s energy and attitude were infectious and gave her teammates and coaches more confidence throughout the match. Without Maggie, we would not have hosted NCAAs and may not have advanced to the Elite Eight round.”

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which have led to illustrious careers. He’s helped create memories on and off the field that the young men he’s coached will carry with them through their college years and beyond.

Championship rings, the most wins since Amos Alonso Stagg, and the equivalent of a Bobby Bowden legacy in the microcosm that is Maroon football don’t even begin to

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Head football coach Dick Maloney is set to retire at the end of this season after nearly two decades of dedication to the Maroons.

SPORTS

IN QUOTES

“When I saw him on Sunday morning before the game, he was in the clubhouse, he had just eaten about 18 of them. He couldn’t breathe!”

—Phillies broadcaster Rickie Ricardo blames Aroldis Chapman’s blown save on an excess of Cuban pastries

After Last Chance weekend, Nationals beckon for five Maroons Track & Field Isaac Stern Sports Staff And then there were five.

The Maroons did not pick up any new NCAA qualif ying times at the North Central Last Chance this past week, but five South Siders maintained their qualif ying positions from previous meets during the year.

Weather prevented competitors at North Central from improving on times as rain fell and dampened the track, making it slower than usual. However, the Maroons still used the opportunity to get one final run in—before nationals for some, and before the end of the season for others.

First-year Brianna Hickey won the 1,500-meter run in 4:36.99 and fourth-year Dee Brizzolara took first in the 100-meter dash with his time of 11.06. While impressive victo ries, the conditions prevented both athletes from performing at their best. Hickey was nearly a second slower than her previous best of 4:36.01 and Brizzo lara lost nearly three tenths on his best time of 10.78.

Third-year Sam Butler came in second in the 10,000-meter with his time of 31:59.83.

First-year Michaela Hammel picked up a season-best in the 200-meter with her 26.31 run and second-year Reecie Dern did the same in the shot put

with her throw of 11.98m.

First-year Michael Bennett placed third in the pole vault with his height of 4.53m.

“I jumped well but didn’t compete well,” Bennett said.

“In a technical sense, a lot of things came together for me this past weekend, just not the height.”

Bennett has been a standout performer all year. His UAA title winning height of 4.81m had him in a tie for the final qualif ying spot for the national meet. His consistency across the whole season was rewarded, though, as he found out that he had the tie breaker. “[Qualif ying ] was terrif ying because I was unsure of the exact procedure for breaking a tie, but I ended up getting in, because my second highest mark was better than the other athlete’s mark,” Bennett said.

Brizzolara also qualified for the national meet for the first time in his career. He too won the UAA championship and then proceeded to get faster at later meets. The speedster will compete in the 200-meter at NCAAs. His time of 21.69 has him seeded 18th.

“Dee [Brizzolara] has been chasing this for four years now and there isn’t a man who deser ves to be successful more than he does,” Bennett said.

Fourth-year All-Americans Julia Sizek and Billy Whit-

more will also make the trip to La Crosse, Wisconsin for the National Championship.

Whitmore and Sizek did not run at the Last Chance Meet, as they went into the week ranked in strong qualif ying positions. Whitmore will run the 5,000-meter and is seeded 19th with his time of 14:30.53.

Sizek qualified in both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter with her times of 17:00.19 and 35:54.93, respectively. She is seeded 10th for the 5,000 and 9th for the 10,000.

“Billy [ Whitmore] and Julia [Sizek] are the two who I always watched and was inspired by how they trained and pushed themselves to get to the national stage and reaped the rewards indoors,” Bennett said.

First-year Catherine Young also did not compete this past week. Her time of 16:57.37 from two weeks ago in the 5,000-meter run ranks eighth in the countr y and will also see her travel to Wisconsin for nationals. Young has shown big improvement in her first year of college athletics, improving her UAA time by 10 seconds to qualif y for NCAAs. The national meet will take place on Thursday afternoon and go through Saturday.

These five South Siders have been working all season to be able to compete at this meet.

All they can do now is wait.

First-year pole vaulter Michael Bennett attempts to clear the bar in the Chicago Duals meet earlier this season.

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Athenas too strong for Chicago in NCAA quarters Women’s Tennis Alexander Sotiropoulos Senior Sports Staff

First-year Sruthi Ramaswami lunges to return a ball in a match against Wheaton College earlier this season.

COURTESY OF HANS GLICK

The Maroons had to have the momentum going into singles in order to reach their fifth straight semifinal appearance.

Unfortunately, momentum was on No. 2 ClaremontMudd-Scripps’ (31–0) side as the Athenas took an early 2–1 lead.

C l a r e m o n t –Mu d d – S c r i p p s did not lose steam, defeating No. 8 Chicago (18–6) 5–1, ending another incredible Maroon season.

The Athenas’ first point of the semifinal came at No. 2.

Second-year Megan Tang and first-year Helen Sdvizkhov were down 7–0, took two games, but ultimately lost 8–2 to Kristin Lim and Caroline Ward. Lim won the 2011 NCAA DIII Singles Championship. “[ Tang and Sdvizkhov] were out-talented,” head coach Jay Tee said. “ There wasn’t much we didn’t tr y to tr y to get the score closer.”

With the score tied 3–3 at No. 2 doubles, fourth-year Linden Li and second-year Kelsey McGillis lost three

straig ht g ames, eventually falling 8–4. “ We lacked some intensity there and some aggressiveness.

For the first six games we were right there, we were doing all the right things, stepping through the middle, hitting the returns, hitting first ser ves,” Tee said. “Our energ y level dropped, and our play dropped as well. That three-game lull was enough to put that match out of reach.”

Chicago avoided being swept in doubles through sharpness from the Second Team AllUAA No. 3 tandem of secondyear Maggie Schumann and first-year Sruthi Ramaswami.

The pair took a 6–3 lead and with the game close at 7–5, Ramaswami held ser ve to put the Maroons on the board. “ Their games just translate ver y well to pressure situations,” Tee said. “ They don’t tr y to improvise ; they just do what they’re told to do over and over and over again.”

Kristin Lim and Ward carried their sharpness onto singles.

Lim defeated Tang 6–2, 6–1 at No. 1, and Ward bested Li 6–0, 6–1 at No. 2.

Sarah Kukino defeated McGillis 6–1, 6–1.

Even though the Maroons return almost all of their young lineup, they will be without Li next season. Li finished her career as a Maroon with a 68– 24 mark in singles and 82–26 record in doubles.

In a season where three players left due to graduation and a new coaching staff took over, it is hard to say that the Maroons did anything but overcome adversity this year. “ We’re really, really happy with this season,” Tee said. “I don’t think the expectations this season were ver y high for us, so just to get back to the elite eight…what a great accomplishment, but that being said, we’re not happy finishing eighth or seventh. Obviously, our goal is to finish first.”

For two Maroons, however, the season is not quite finished.

Tang and Sdvizkhov will end their seasons at the Individual NCAA Championships. Tang will compete in singles and doubles, while Sdvizkhov will play with Tang in doubles.

Action begins this Thursday in Kalamazoo, Michigan.