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JANUARY 12, 2016

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

Forum Discusses Upcoming Campus Climate Survey

Marketplace Returns After Spamming with References to Terrorist Attacks Getty Images Inc.

Photo for FIGHT FOR JUST FOOD

Student Group Protests Aramark’s Role in Prisons

BY MARTA BAKULA NEWS EDITOR

A new student organization called the Fight for Just Food unfurled two large banners Monday night in Bartlett Dining Commons calling for an end to the University’s dining contract with Aramark.

The Fight for Just Food wants the University to cut ties with the multi-billion dollar corporation because of its contracts with prisons across the United States and use an in-house, “self-operating” food service instead. Aramark’s contract to provide food and facilities services, including custodial and maintenance work to the University of Chicago, is set to expire in June.

“Not only do they provide food to prisons, which perpetuates the prison-industrial complex, but they also have a lot of really terrible practices—like they serve rotten food, there are maggots in the food, there’s food that’s been thrown away,” organization member Natalie Naculich said. “They basically do everything they can to give low-quality food to prisons and make as much money as they can off of these contracts.”

The group’s moveon.org petition also highlights underfeeding of prisoners and contraband smuggling by Aramark employees. In the past, Aramark has been the target of several lawsuits, including by the American

Civil Liberties Union. Aramark has come under fi re from UChicago students in the past year over faulty and incomplete allergen and nutrition labeling.

The Fight for Just Food’s petition calls for the University to end its contract and proposes a self-operated dining service as an alternative. It also demands that the school guarantee the continued employment of current dining hall workers and allow for transparency and student input throughout the process. The group’s call for the University to abandon Aramark coincides with a broader movement among schools that is increasingly opting to end their contracts in favor of self-operated dining services, including Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and others, many of them for similar ethical reasons.

The group’s banner hanging on Monday was directed at Richard Mason, UChicago’s executive director of dining, whom the group feels has previously been unhelpful. One of the two banners read, “Richard Mason, choose self-operation.” The other read, “Stop funding mass incarceration.”

The University will announce its decision early spring quarter, according to the UChicago Dining page. Until then, the Fight for Just Food will continue its activism, holding weekly meetings and educational events, and a potential town hall meeting with members of the school administration.

Politics on the Menu

Different?

Page 4 Here’s why you should talk about politics at family dinners.

Contributing to the Maroon

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NEWS STAFF

NEWS EDITOR

Notice Anything

A forum last Thursday discussed the content of the second campus climate survey, which is set to launch this spring. This campus climate survey will focus on race and diversity at the University of Chicago. A number of faculty, staff, and students attended this forum to voice their opinions about diversity and inclusion.

Two campus climate surveys were announced following a 2014 petition, sparked by the University’s lack of response to racist Halloween costumes. The petition, created by Jaime Sanchez (A.B. ’15) and fourth-year Vincente Perez, called on the University to end systematic racial and ethnic discrimination on campus. It gathered roughly 2,500 signatures and included a campus climate survey among its list of demands. The first campus climate survey addressed issues of sexual misconduct; the survey was launched and the results were released in the spring of 2015.

This forum was the first of three. The second will take place on January 12 in the lobby of the School of Social Services at 4:30 p.m. and the third will take place on January 14 at the Cloister Club in Ida Noyes at 10 a.m.

At the beginning of the forum, moderators Director of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs Karlene Burrell-McRae, Associate Provost and Chief of Staff Matthew Christian, and Special Projects Coordinator in the Office of the Provost Somaiyya Ahmad spoke briefly about the purpose of the meeting, which was to gather as many opinions as possible for the survey. The forum was then opened to the audience.

Second-year Shae Omonijo, Co-President of the African & Caribbean Students Association, called for survey questions that would voice the opinions of students of color who struggle to find resources or feel those resources do not make a substantial impact.

“I wanted to ensure that the

scope of the survey includes multiple areas of campus. Everything from composition of RSOs, faculty engagement, and whether or not existing programs and services are working,” Omonijo said in an e-mail.

The lack of representation of post-doctorate students and LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff on the Steering Committee was another topic of discussion. The moderators took note of this, but did not definitively state that they would increase the members of the Steering Committee.

The forum also focused on microaggressions, everyday verbal and nonverbal insults used to communicate hostile messages towards persons, solely based upon their membership in a marginalized group.

The forum ended with a suggestion that a website be included at the end of the survey that would allow for further exploration of topics regarding race and ethnicity on campus. The moderators also hoped to reassure participants that their voices had been considered through updates and offered an email address, climate-survey-project@uchicago.edu, for students, faculty, and staff to offer input and questions.

“The wisdom of the group is much more powerful than any one individual,” McRae said to conclude the forum.

The survey drafting committee includes the Steering Committee, Diversity Advisory Council, Diversity Leadership Council, and the Working Group. The Steering Committee is a group of undergraduate and graduate students and various members of the staff and faculty.

They were selected in order to represent a wide array of opinions and viewpoints. The Working Group, chaired by Micere Keels, associate professor of comparative human development, includes professionals in the survey development industry who will help construct the survey.

The Diversity Advisory Council is a group composed of nine faculty members, five students, and various members from UChicago senior Continued on Page 2

BY PETE GRIEVE

BY MARTA BAKULA

After nearly a month offline, Student Government’s Marketplace website returned on January 6 at 12 p.m. The site was taken offline on December 8 after an anonymous user spammed Marketplace with listings that referenced various terrorist attacks.

According to an update post on the Marketplace website by fourthyear Jeremy Archer, Student Government’s Director of Technology, the 157 listings were entirely in Arabic. When translated, the titles of the posts were revealed to be references to various terrorist attacks, while the body of the posts consisted of excerpts from the Qur’an.

“When the incident on Marketplace was first reported to IT services, they immediately worked with Student Government (SG) and Campus and Student Life (CSL) to address and rectify the problem, which was resolved fairly quickly,” said University spokesperson Marielle Sainvilus in a statement from the News Office. “UCPD also worked with SG, IT Services, and law enforcement officials to address the incident, and determined that the messages did not raise a threat.”

According to Archer’s post, the Chicago branch of the FBI also helped investigate the listings.

Archer, when asked, had no information to share about the nature of the attacker. The UCPD’s investigation has since been closed.

However, the spam attack has prompted SG to improve security on Marketplace.

Previously, all that was required to create a listing was a uchicago.edu email address. Now, the main way to create a listing is to sign in with a CNetID, and using a uchicago.edu email is a secondary option. According to Archer, any listings that are “deemed suspicious” Continued on Page 2

VOL. 127, ISSUE 19

B(lack)ness and Latini(dad) Traverses Identities Page 5 Fourth-year Vincente Perez unveils self-published anthology.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 12, 2016

IOP Brings Six New Fellows to Campus for Winter Quarter

BY LAILA ABDELMONEM

The Institute of Politics (IOP) welcomed six new Fellows to campus for the winter quarter. During their time on campus, the Fellows will lead weekly 75-minute seminars focusing on the 2016 presidential campaigns, ranging in theme from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the impact of sports on caption politics. caption The Fellows this quarter include: Gaza-based NBC News might affect governance.

In “Election 2016: Joe and StuProducer Wajeh Abuzarefa; Republican political strategist Alex art’s Wild Ride,” Trippi and SteCastellanos; New York Times col- vens will follow the race for the umnist Juliet Macur; Democratic 2016 presidential nominations, political organizer, campaign beginning with their first seminar strategist, and CNN political con- “How the Hell Did We Get Here?” tributor Patti Solis Doyle; Repub- Both seminars will aim to provide lican political strategist, media students with a variety of perspecconsultant, and writer Stuart Ste- tives on the upcoming election.

Macur’s seminar, “The Power vens; and Democratic campaign strategist, media consultant, and and Politics of Sports: Why Games Fox News Channel contributor Joe Aren’t Just Games Anymore,” will trace the evolution of the sports Trippi.

“The newest part about the fel- world from a fun pastime to a big lows program [this quarter] is the business with political influence. emphasis on the race to the White Macur will look at use sports House, and that’s reflected in our to explain some of today’s most four Democratic and Republican pressing political issues, includstrategists,” said second-year IOP ing corruption, the gender gap and geopolitics.

Fellows intern Kennedy Green.

In his seminar “Gaza from the In their seminar “The 2016 Shake-Up: How Demographics, Inside: The Israeli-Palestine ConParty Identification & Social Me- flict and the Politics of the Arab dia are Changing our Politics,” World,” Abuzarefah will draw on Solis Doyle and Castellanos will his 30 years of experience as a examine winning strategies from Palestinian journalist covering political campaigns of the past the events on the Gaza Strip. He 20 years. They will focus on how will discuss living and reporting changes in the relative power of in Gaza, Hamas, the Arab spring, America’s racial and ethnic groups the rise of Islamic Fundamentaland the emergence of social media ism, governing tensions, and the

credit

future of the region.

For those who cannot make the weekly seminars, the Fellows also plan to interact with the university community in other ways.

“Sometimes you’ll see them in classes, they’ll be moderating mock debates, and they’ll be around campus trying to get to know us as a community in whichever ways their schedule allows,” Green said.

According to second-year Fellows Ambassador Grace Hauck, the Fellows Ambassadors are hoping to organize additional events that draw on each Fellow’s particular abilities. She mentioned a possible collaboration between Stevens and Maroon T.V. or some film RSOs on campus because of his experience as a film and T.V. writer and media consultant.

The Fellows will also hold weekly office hours that students can sign up for at the IOP. *Editor’s Note: Grace Hauck is an arts editor for the Maroon*

Talk by Van Jones Celebrates Life of MLK NEWS STAFF

CNN contributor Van Jones and acclaimed poet and professor Nikki Giovanni spoke Monday night in a packed Rockefeller Chapel at UChicago’s 26th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. Jones gave the keynote address and Giovanni conversed with professor Theaster Gates at the event, titled “History, Hope, and Responsibility.”

The evening began with introductions by Stephanie Greene, president of the Organization of Black Students (OBS), Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez, Ph.D. student in the Social Sciences Division, University President Robert Zimmer, and Divinity School Dean of Students Teresa Hord Owens. In his remarks, Zimmer noted recent initiatives the University has undertaken in order to build and support a diverse student body, including the newly launched No Barriers financial aid program and the creation of the Center for Identity and Inclusion.

“It is only in bringing diverse perspectives…that we can work towards the future that Dr. King

BY LAILA ABDELMONEM NEWS STAFF

NEWS STAFF

BY BEN ANDREW

University Hires First Director for Student Support Services

imagined,” Zimmer said.

The evening was interspersed with performances by the Chicago Children’s Choir, whose final emotional performance of “We Shall Overcome” brought the audience to its feet.

In a conversation with Theaster Gates, professor of visual arts and director of Arts and Public Life, Giovanni intimately discussed race, poetry, and growing old.

“If you’re a writer, you will be your first reader. If you’re a singer, you will be your first audience. People who get to be my age have to realize that you’re your last. If we’re lucky, we’ll just fall asleep and transcend into another world….

We have to approach it all with a love of change,” Giovanni said.

Giovanni’s comments touched on controversial issues and cultural debates, including police brutality, the Bill Cosby scandal, and marijuana legalization. Throughout her conversation with Gates, her humor and wit prompted frequent bursts of laughter and rounds of applause from the audience.

Jones, who followed Giovanni, said he felt humbled to be in her presence before launching into his keynote address. In the speech, he

recounted the history behind some of King’s famous speeches and repeatedly mentioned the overlooked role of women in the civil rights movement. Later, he touched on current political issues, including his criticisms of privatized prisons.

His address ended on an optimistic note. “[N]ow we see a movement rise. We see young people starting to march again. We have a whole generation starting to dream again.

[There is] nothing more precious in the world than young people with clear voices, young people with open hearts, young people who can imagine…. I have no doubt in my mind that somebody in your row…is gonna decide to put your love against all this hate, put hope against fear, put poetry against these shackles, put songs against barbed wire. If you do that, you’re gonna win, and we’re gonna win,” he said.

The celebration was sponsored

by Campus and Student Life, Civic Engagement, the Center for Identity and Inclusion, the Institute of Politics, Rockefeller Chapel, UChicago Creative, and the Vice President of Communications.

Rachel Choto began work this quarter as the University’s first Director for Student Support Services, the head of an office charged with helping undocumented, first-generation, and low-income students.

The position was created last October as part of the launch of the Center for Identity and Inclusion, which also includes the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA) and the Office of LGBTQ Student Life.

Choto was born in Athens, OH and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Ohio State University and a Bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Before coming to UChicago, Choto worked at DePaul University’s TRIO Student Support Offices, and has experience in the fields of youth development, child welfare, and mental health services prior to entering the field of higher edu-

cation. In these positions, her work included advising and designing programs that supported the successful intake, retention, and graduation of first-generation and low-income students.

“We are excited about the passion Rachel brings to the vision of our Center and the mission of Student Support Services and are confident she will have an immensely positive impact on our campus community,” said Karlene Burrell-McRae, associate dean of students and director of UChicago’s Office and Multicultural Student Affairs.

Choto will be joining the Center along with four other new staff members this quarter: Kimberly Holliday as Administrative and Facilities Manager, Gaby Ortiz Flores as Program Coordinator in the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, Tobias Spears as Director of LGBTQ Student Life, and Brett Stachler as Program Coordinator for the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.

The site was offline for almost a month following 157 spam listings by anonymous user Continued from the front by certain security criteria, and all listings posted without a CNetID go into a moderation queue. A moderation team reviews these listings before they are posted to the site.]

SG has also removed the bug, which had worked through a system of auto-approving posts that the anonymous user had exploited to make the listings in the first place.

Marketplace had also been unavailable from October 26 to November 13, after the site’s server failed. The site had been relaunched after the hiatus on a different server with a new design.

“Obviously this is something that people are very passionate

about, and it’s very frustrating when it’s gone,” Archer said. “A lot of people have been very patient.”

According to University spokesperson Marielle Sainvilus, IT Services continues to work with SG to improve security on the website, and SG plans to release a survey soon for users to give feedback on Marketplace.

Overall, Archer is hopeful for the future of the website and committed to improving it. “We’re going to try to tweak our policy as we go,” he said. “The last time [we redesigned Marketplace], it took a year and a half to develop the site, so it may take just as long to get us there.”

The second campus climate survey will be released in the spring and focus on race and diversity at the University Continued from the front leadership. The Diversity Leadership Council includes a variety of administrators from cross sections of the University, the professional schools, and the Medical Center. Together they will inform the Steering Committee in composing the survey.

The first campus climate sur-

vey, which covered sexual misconduct, was administered in the spring of 2015. The survey resulted in the consolidation of two pre-existing policies into one Unlawful Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct Policy, the creation of a student disciplinary committee, and a new associate dean of students in the University for disciplinary affairs.

CORRECTIONS: An article published on January 8 discussing the non-tenure-track faculty’s vote to unionize incorrectly stated that UChicago became the first university in the Chicago area at which faculty had unionized. It has been corrected to reflect that UChicago is the first university in the Chicago area participating in the Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU) Faculty Forward Chicago campaign at which faculty members have unionized. Faculty members at other universities in the Chicago area have previously unionized, but they were not affiliated with SEIU’s Faculty Forward Chicago campaign.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 11, 2016

VIEWPOINTS

Politics on the Menu Even Though You May Not Want to, Here’s Why You Should Talk About Politics at Family Dinners

Natalie Denby

Ink by the Barrel Every holiday season, people face a dreaded situation in households across America. The possibility that it could happen to you or someone you know is terrifying enough to justify a deluge of tips on how to avoid it. Advice columns mention it as if it were as bad as the plague. I refer, of course, to the only sure-fire way to kill the holiday spirit: talking politics with your extended family.

It isn’t a topic I gave serious thought to before now. My extended family is divided on either side of the political spectrum, so each holiday season we become masters of avoiding any subject that could offend. Whenever a remotely political topic is brought up, the speaker is dealt a dirty look, and then the conversation quickly moves on to something safer: how much we hate shoveling (a lot), how good dinner is (debatable), how that sister still hasn’t forgiven you for ruining Santa 12 years ago (let it go, Ali). How boring the conversation is doesn’t matter, so long as

no one has to suffer through the apparently unbearable realization that not everybody is in agreement with each other all the time.

Until recently, I agreed with this idea. Why would you want to pick a fight when you could just as easily avoid one? My views began to change after we had a distant relative over for dinner a few weeks ago. Being extremely conservative, it wasn’t long before she brought up Donald Trump. Her efforts to discuss Trump were met with our usual approach: we tried to change the subject. But somehow she always found a way to segue back to Trump. For example: “No snow this year? Liberals are going to make that seem like proof of climate change, but I heard in a Trump speech... ” We found ourselves smiling stiffly, everyone offended by something she was saying and dying to interject. But we all knew that politics is a dirty topic, and the only way to discuss it with someone who disagrees is to get into a screaming match. How can you be

civil when you’re hurling insults at one another? Eventually someone brought up Star Wars, and peace was salvaged.

But by not saying anything, we allowed her to leave believing that we agreed with her, effectively making ourselves liars. And as far as we were concerned, this was okay—better to be fake Trump supporters than to get into a fight.

This kind of avoidance is not just typical of my family; stark and uncompromising dichotomies are becoming the norm of political discussions. For some reason, Americans seem to believe that the only way to talk about politics with someone on the other side of the aisle is to try to rip them apart, limb by limb. It’s as if the word “government” is infuriating enough to drive the average person into a bloodthirsty frenzy. But whatever happened to civilized discussion?

The result of this cultural taboo is that we’ve become incapable of reaching across a political chasm, whether it’s at the dinner table or in Congress.

But if we restrict ourselves to talking with people who agree with us, we run the risk of leading our lives in an echo chamber. Refusing to talk about something unless you

know you’re talking with someone who agrees is almost the same as not talking at all; you get nothing meaningful except the chance to become more rigid in your beliefs and less willing to listen. We need to realize that the only way to find common ground with people who disagree with us is to talk to them.

Otherwise, we risk becoming comfortable with a state where political discourse is limited to either silence or shouting––nothing in between.

So next holiday season, when it looks like your Republican uncle wants to butt heads with your

liberal great-aunt, don’t change the subject. Don’t nod politely, but don’t shout, either. Talk but know that you don’t have to win someone over. A good conversation doesn’t necessarily end with your greataunt joining the Tea Party, or your uncle lying in a bloody heap on the table; it’s okay if you leave dinner believing you’re more right than ever. Worst comes to worst, your family brawl goes viral. You could be famous.

Natalie Denby is a first-year in the College majoring in public policy.

Anne Wang

Stop Supersizing our Global Footprint Industrial Livestock Production Flies Under the Radar When We Talk About Saving the Environment The 2015 Paris Climate Conference was initially heralded as a victory for the planet by environmentalists and world

leaders alike. Conference attendees agreed to work to prevent a global temperature increase surpassing 2 degrees Celsius and to

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achieve net-zero anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to curb climate change.

Slowly, however, experts are realizing that these goals are unreachable by the tenets of the agreement. What occurred at this conference was not much better than the lack of agreement that characterized previous summits: an overall commitment to non-immediate, lofty, and vague plans of action. And yet, many pundits and environmentalists considered this summit a success, solely because an intent to save our planet was expressed.

We love to hear empty intents to preserve the earth, especially when it demands nothing from us in terms of lifestyle changes.

Nowhere is this ideological hypocrisy more evident than in the sphere of animal agriculture, one of the most environmentally destructive human industries whose effects are found in nearly all aspects of our current environmental crisis.

With respect to climate change, we pay attention to the emissions of the energy sector through the burning of fossil fuels and natural gases; often overlooked is the immense contribution animal agriculture

makes to the warming of the globe. Anywhere from 14.5 percent to 51 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions come from raising livestock for food.

The true number likely falls somewhere in between, but even assuming the smallest estimate, this is still more than the entire global transportation industry (13 percent) and matches the emissions of the world’s second-largest emissions-producing nation, the United States (14 percent). Greenhouse gases from livestock are particularly dangerous —ruminants emit copious amounts of methane, which has a 72 times greater global warming potential over 20 years than CO2, and manure releases nitrogen dioxide, which has a 289 times greater warming potential than CO2. Raising animals for food also impairs the Earth’s ability to take CO2 out of the atmosphere naturally to prevent warming. Food animals need crops, and crops need open space—anywhere from 70 percent to 90 percent of the razing of the Amazon rainforest was done to grow crops for Western animal agriculture, eliminating extremely dense forests which otherwise could contain CO2.

We may not want to think about it, but eating animals is destroying our planet. Animal agriculture contributes to global warming, obliterates rainforests, depletes and poisons water supplies, and kills off half of the ocean’s animals, in some cases beyond the hope of rehabilitation. Voluntary participation in this process is unethical from numerous additional viewpoints, but the threat the industry is making against our planet alone necessitates a boycott of animal agriculture. There is no true environmentalist who eats animals, and there is no social change without personal transformation. If we really want to combat the realities of climate change, individuals need to change their lifestyles.

Editor’s note: For the full article, go to http://chicagomaroon. com/2016/01/11/stop-supersizing-our-global-footprint/ Kristen Wacker is a third-year in the College majoring in biology.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 11, 2016

4

Talk to Your Doctor About...

Doctors Need to Openly Communicate With Their Patients About Financing Their Health Care

Like many UChicago students, I rely on Student Health for my health care. I’ve found Student Health to be a convenient resource that, while not perfect, seems to do the job for what I needed. My attitude changed, however, after a recent procedure that made me dissatisfied with how Student Health, and by extension UChicago Medicine, communicates the costs of its healthcare to its students and

knew that the University Student charge. Fuming, I paid the bill. healthcare is already so expensive?

When I got home for vacation, Since most students who go to StuHealth Insurance Plan (U-SHIP) would cover all expenses of getting I asked my mother about this in- dent Health are enrolled in the the IUD, so I didn’t hesitate to see surance “information” that sup- same University insurance plan, the gynecologist. Two appoint- posedly was sent to us. She had no doesn’t it make sense for doctors idea about it either. As I reflected to be licensed, if not encouraged, ments later, I had my IUD. I then got a bill for $370 from on the incident, it felt more and to discuss hospital charges and University of Chicago Medicine. more unfair. First, paying the bill U-SHIP’s coverage with their paNot for the IUD—that, as I had depleted my personal savings. Sec- tients? Furthermore, it’s unrealistic verified, was fully covered by my ond, how was I supposed to know to expect that undergraduates fully insurance. This bill was for “Eval- that I would have to pay a nearly grasp the ins and outs of health inuation and Management.” I had no $400 fee for making a 15-minute- surance. In a clinic serving a popidea what that meant, so I called long appointment? ulation that is still learning how I tried to dispute the bill again, the world works, doctors should be the insurance company. I was told it was an administrative issue and but both my insurance company informed and transparent about that I should actually call UChi- and the hospital said that it was im- the applicable insurance policies cago Medicine to fix the problem. possible to get a refund. It turned so that they can provide guidance But after calling the hospital, I was out that the bill was a hospital fa- to their patients. told that the bill was for a “clinic cilities charge; in other words, an It is infuriating that a funcharge” that I had no choice but to appointment in the hospital will re- damental resource on which my quire me to pay a fee for using the family spends so much money is pay out of pocket.

When it comes to finance, there facility. According to the insurance not one I can fully trust. UChicago is a fundamental problem with the company, my Student Health doc- Medicine—and the medical world way doctors employed by UChicago tor would have known about this as a whole—needs to rethink its Medicine communicate with their fee, but the hospital representative “ethical” policy of discouraging patients. Nobody told me that I I later spoke with said that it was doctors from discussing insurance would be charged or what I would “unethical” for doctors to discuss fi- coverage so that patients can make be charged for. What exactly is a nances with their patients. Indeed, more informed and cost-effective Meera Joshi “clinic charge?” Why wasn’t this when I’ve asked Student Health decisions regarding their own community. covered by my insurance? I tried to doctors about coverage in the past, health. In a time of prohibitively Last quarter, I decided to get argue with the hospital representa- they said that they had no knowl- expensive health care, physicians an intrauterine device (IUD) and tive that I had no knowledge of this edge of my insurance policy and at academic medical centers and made a consultation appointment charge; no one at Student Health that I would have to find out myself. teaching hospitals like UChicago at Student Health. After chatting had told me that making an apWhat I think is unethical is should take the lead in informing for a couple minutes with my genpointment with a specialist at this that my doctor didn’t tell me about patients of the costs of their care eral practitioner, she made me a particular clinic would come with the facilities fee that she knew and the options that they have. mandatory referral appointment a fee. Annoyed, she responded that would result from the referral apGiuliana Vaccarino Gearty is a in the gynecology department at the information regarding hospital pointment that she, herself, recom- second-year in the College majoring the hospital where I could further fees had been sent to me, and thus mended. Why shouldn’t finances in art history. discuss with a specialist. Having that I should have known about the be talked about in the open, when done some preliminary research, I

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 12, 2016

ARTS

Twisted White Snow at Renaissance ain’t no Smile and a Song

BY MAY HUANG ARTS CONTRIBUTOR

On the fourth floor of Cobb Hall, a set of doors opens into a large, white room in which artwork is usually on display. I first noticed it halfway through last quarter when walking out of my SOSC classroom one afternoon. Peering inside, some of my first-year classmates and I voiced the same question: Has this always been here?

The answer is yes, for a hundred years now.

The Renaissance Society, a contemporary art museum established in 1915, has been celebrating its centennial since last September. Four artists were featured last quarter, which is atypical: The society usually puts on four exhibitions over the course of the year.

L.A.-based Paul McCarthy’s drawings from his series White Snow form the latest exhibition, on display until January 24. Curated by the current and former directors of the Renaissance Society, Solveig Øvstebø and Susanne Ghez, McCarthy’s exhibition features 75 drawings produced between 2008 and 2015. Some belong to private collections worldwide, but most were selected from McCarthy’s personal studio.

“Paul McCarthy is someone who has never had a solo show in Chicago before, which is pretty incredible, considering he’s so prolific,” said the Society’s director of com-

munications Anna Searle Jones.

Indeed, this is one reason for featuring his work. Yet, according to Øvstebø, what distinguishes this show from McCarthy’s other exhibitions is that it is his first “institutional show of drawings,” lending further insight into the creative scope of an artist who is predominantly known for his performance art and sculptures.

Thematically, McCarthy’s works are known for their biting commentary on popular culture. This explains his focus on the Disney fairytale Snow White in his exhibition. He depicts this stereotypically pure character in a dark, violent, and mature way, which twists our conception of the innocence embodied by childhood stories. The title of the exhibition, White Snow, indeed represents a total inversion of all that is typically associated with Snow White. According to Øvstebø, McCarthy’s work “combines pop culture and humor with the darkest part of human nature” as a way of breaking societal impositions that are not always “good for us.” After all, it is easy to remain trapped in what Øvstebø describes as the “security net” of normality.

Although this is the first time that McCarthy’s drawings are on display independently instead of being accompanied by his films or sculptures, they still remain tightly linked to his performance art. His projects are always accompanied by a series of drawings: some of the sketches on

Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

Paul McCarthy’s drawing Dwarf House is currently on display at the Renaissance Soceity.

display in this exhibition are set designs he body of work.

In the upcoming weeks, two films from later used in his installation of the series.

These drawings outline the presentation’s the White Snow series will be screened to proper setup, complete with dimensions round off the exhibition, starting with White Snow Mammoth next Thursday and the sevand annotations.

According to Øvstebø, McCarthy’s habit en-hour-long White Snow the following Sunof talking and making noises while draw- day. Jones offered a word of warning: The ing illustrates the inseparability of art and films, which feature graphic content, are “not for the faint-hearted.” performance in his work.

But such is in keeping with the Renais“He goes into character, like he does in his films,” Øvstebø said. “Performative el- sance Society’s aim to support “ambitious ements are included in all of his drawings.” artistic expression” and “present opportuHis drawings are thus what Øvstebø nities for further discovery and discussion.” calls “a practice within a practice.” Even White Snow is an exhibition which breaks though he works with two-dimensional boundaries, inverts common conceptions, media when drawing, they retain a perfor- and provokes discourse. It’s bound to shock mative aspect indicative of his prominent and inspire wherever exhibited.

B(lack)ness and Latini(dad) traverses identites, media

BY GRACE HAUCK

“Putting it on page really changes how see the world,” Perez said. black, Latino, and father.

For Perez, liminality does not suggest things are emphasized. The performance Known for his performances at Catcher in the Rhyme showcases, downtown venues ambiguity but, rather, conscious multiplicity. aspect is taken away, but being able to use like The Gala, and various campus cultural In his most well-known spoken word poem, visual art adds a new layer to it,” Perez said.

While other kids deal with pimples and first events, Vincente “SubVersive” Perez has “Check One,” which Perez considers his most dates Perez includes artwork from seven difdrawn a significant following in the past challenging yet rewarding work, he tells the ferent artists, many from his hometown of I will teach them how to act around police years as an artist and activist. When fans story of the first time he took an in-school Kansas City. Through research and a series officers. began asking for hard copies of his work in survey. It was about adolescent drug use. It of referrals, Perez found artists exploring We will sit down and have the talk January of last year, Perez seized this op- asked him to indicate name, age, and race ideas similar to his own, focusing on not just Just like my mother did with me. portunity to organize his poems into themes (check one). race, culture, and politics but a mixture of the Only one.

At a book release event in the Logan which encapsulate his identity at this phase three. Thanks to sponsorship by the UChiPerez launches into his distressed story cago Student Fine Arts Fund and ArtsKC—a Center Performance Penthouse this past of life. To unite his poems and allude to his November, fourth-year anthropology and interest in working in various media, Perez of a light-skinned, non-Spanish-speaking regional arts council in Kansas City—Perez comparative race and ethnic studies dou- decided to center his chapbook on the theme Latino who is also called a “nigga not really was able to compensate these artists for their ble-major Vincente Perez unveiled his first of liminality, a term typically used in anthro- black.” Am I black today? Am I Latino? Am work. self-published anthology, B(lack)ness and pology which designates a transitional phase I human? He delves into his family history Artist Visualgoodies’ image for the poem while critiquing the legacy of colonization and titled “Time (I am)” is an intriguing AfrofuLatini(dad), a collection of 14 poems accom- in a rite of passage.

“I see liminality as not trying to find white supremacy, ultimately checkmating the turist collage and the only full-color piece in panied by visual artwork and a self-produced album. With over 75 copies already sold, this boxes that you fit in, but existing outside of “check one.” the chapbook. This visual fusion of cultures You can see the spoken word form of and eras complements Perez’s discussion of 6” x 9” chapbook—a small booklet—fuses them—not fitting in as its own world. Instead hip-hop, spoken word poetry, and academic of seeing yourself as limited because you are “Check One” performed on Perez’s website, cyclical oppression. However, some of the writing to give voice to Perez’s personal nar- between worlds, owning up to that experience. YouTube channel, or at his next show. The most stunning works included in B(lack) rative as he navigates the classifications of Living in it and relishing it to control how you performance is powerful; the reaction, vis- ness and Latini(dad) are Darren Kennedy’s ceral. Perez laughs, twists his lips, and runs war drawings, blurred by smoke and shadow. his fingers through his hair. In the recording This series of four images develops a main of “War Paint,” another one of Perez’s poems, character and plot, lending a new form of narhe steps away from the mic entirely, letting ration to the poem “¿Revolutionary?” his shouts fall directly on the audience. In a Not only did Perez rework his poems for different performance of the same poem, a their transition to the page, he further refined dancer accompanies Perez on stage. them through performance. Perez reads the When each performance is more presence crowd, adjusts accordingly, and rewrites. In than lyric, how can a chapbook do the words this way, the poems themselves become limijustice? To preserve his attention to cadence, nal, existing in an in-between of print, speech, voice, movement, and shock value, Perez and constant evolution. made several stylistic decisions when for“When I first started off, I think a lot of matting B(lack)ness and Latini(dad). Perez people critiqued my work for being angry and has a field day with italics, bolding, and ellip- not celebratory, and that’s something that reses. He occasionally experiments with page ally changed me as an artist,” Perez recalled. alignment and onomatopoeia while writing “I was basically stepping on a pedestal and a punctuation rulebook of his own. The en- using my art only as a political platform and tire chapbook—text and artwork alike—is not at all engaging with who I was as a perpresented in black and white with touches of son, and so my art started off very preachy.” red. These touches cue the reader but are no While anger certainly burns through Darren Kennedy substitute for Perez in the flesh.

Artist Darren Kennedy’s work visually narrates Perez’s poem “¿Revolutionary?.”

Continued on Page 6 ARTS EDITOR

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 12, 2016

Last week at the CSO: a hero’s life, and a life remembered

BY HANNAH EDGAR ARTS EDITOR

The final months of 2015 were something of a mixed bag for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO). The orchestra’s 125th anniversary season has certainly come with perks. Its survey of pieces premiered by the CSO has lent historical context to the concert-going experience—it’s never been easier to get lost in the anecdotes and materials provided in the program books—and the orchestra’s commitment to offering 125 free concerts around the city this season alone is nothing short of admirable.

Unfortunately, these historical nods have been waylaid by stodgy programming on the whole, leaving it up to the orchestra to provide the interest—or not, depending on the evening.

Thursday’s all-German program was, too, a stable of warhorses, but it showcased the explorations that are possible when you bring in new friends. On the podium was English conductor Jonathan Nott in his second-ever CSO engagement; the evening’s soloist, the superb German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, is also an infrequent collaborator, having last played with the CSO in his 2005 U.S. debut. The results were impassioned, zesty, and memorable, a good sign for the first concert of the calendar year.

An effusive rendition of the Academic Festival Overture kickstarted the program. Under Nott’s fluid, easy baton, the orchestra played Brahms’s mélange of student songs with youthful vigor.

This energy carried over into Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C, featuring Moser as soloist. Overshad-

owed by its D-major successor for two centuries, Haydn’s first foray into the cello concerto literature was long assumed lost until it was unearthed in the Prague National Museum in 1968. Buoyant and engrossing, the C-major stands as a worthy companion to what has been renumbered as Haydn’s second cello concerto.

M o s e r ’s i nt e r pr e t at i o n brought together everything one could hope for in a performance of this work: finessed melodic lines, adroit finger work, arresting yet unpretentious virtuosity, and a dash of cheeky wit. Interacting with the orchestra through grins and glances, the magnetic 36-year-old united the hypersensitivity of a chamber musician with the flair of a virtuoso soloist. A fi rst movement of perfect Haydnian charm was followed by an achingly gorgeous second movement, all topped by a nimble third-movement Allegro which showcased Moser’s sheer technical facility.

The CSO ought to be applauded for its intuitive ensemble work: at moments when Moser threatened to be lost in the wideopen acoustics of Orchestra Hall, Nott and an accommodating Classical-sized orchestra sensitively adjusted to his lines.

Strauss’s autobiographical Ein Heldenleben occupied the second half of the program. Like many a Strauss tone poem before it, Ein Heldenleben was enthusiastically received upon its U.S. premiere by the CSO in 1900. Such was the rapport between Strauss and the CSO that when he visited Chicago to conduct the orchestra in 1904, when American orchestras were held in low esteem in Europe, the German conductor composer is re-

ported to have said, “I came here in the pleasant expectation of finding a superior orchestra, but you have far surpassed my expectations. I am delighted to know you as an orchestra of artists in whom beauty of tone, technical perfection, and discipline are found in the highest degree.”

Strauss’s praise could have just as easily applied to the CSO Thursday night. Taut with operatic drama, its full-bodied performance of Ein Heldenleben breathed life into Strauss’s leitmotifs, from the mercurial violin solos representing Strauss’s wife, soprano Paulina de Ahna, to the sharp-edged woodwinds and lowbrass grumbles of Strauss’s critics, to the orchestra’s intrepid “hero” theme, standing in as Strauss himself. He even writes in a parade of his own heroes: snatches from his tone poems Till Eulenspiegel, Don Juan, and Don Quixote enter, interweave gorgeously, then exit stage left.

Ein Heldenleben seems at first to be the nostalgic remembrances of a man in the final years of his life. Not so—Strauss was only 31 when he composed the piece—but the CSO played the work with a tenderness that would have convinced one of the contrary.

Especially arresting were concertmaster Robert Chen’s exquisite solos; with its nearly concerto-esque devotion to the solo violin and, by association, Pauline, Ein Heldenleben could just as easily be titled Eine Heldenliebe.

Even a rocky ending—in which the first horns audibly struggled to hit the subterranean low E-flat—couldn’t mar this truly heroic performance. Here’s to 2016.

Pierre Boulez, 1926–2016 A footnote in Thursday’s program book quietly noted that Moser’s debut with the CSO was conducted by none other than the iconoclastic Pierre Boulez, who died last Tuesday at his home in Baden-Baden. He was 90.

The news is a somber postscript to last year’s Boulez jubilee, when the French conductor-composer received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award and orchestras around the world—the CSO included—celebrated his 90th birthday with commemorative concerts.

Boulez’s long, illustrious relationship with the CSO began in February 1969 with programs of music by avant-gardists Anton Webern, Alban Berg, Olivier Messiaen (Boulez’s teacher), and Boulez himself. He would go on to make a whopping 49 recordings with the CSO; eight of the 26 Grammys given to Boulez over his lifetime were awarded to recordings he’d made with the orchestra. He was named the CSO’s principal guest conductor from 1995 to 2006, and then its first and only Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus—the title he held upon his death.

Boulez’s passing was acknowledged onstage during Wednesday’s Afterworks Masterworks concert and in a published statement by CSO Music Director Riccardo Muti, who praised his “great musical artistry and exceptional intelligence.”

Though well-received in Chicago, Boulez was a divisive, even incendiary force in the music world. In his twenties, he tallied Arnold Schoenberg’s shortcom-

ings in an infamous 1952 essay (“Schoenberg is Dead”). Fifteen years later, in an interview with Der Spiegel, Boulez made headlines again for not-so-subtly implying that opera houses—bastions of the conservatism he so loathed—be blown up. Trouble followed him to his stint as music director of the New York Philharmonic, where his quixotic attempt to expose audiences to contemporary music ultimately proved too bitter a pill to swallow.

Adversaries dismissed Boulez as an arrogant young firebrand with a public persona as prickly as his music. Rather than repent, Boulez embraced their assessment. “Certainly I was a bully,” he confessed to The Daily Telegraph in 2008. “[But] I’m not ashamed of it at all. The hostility of the establishment to what you were able to do in the 1940s and 1950s was very strong. Sometimes you have to fight against your society.”

And fight he did, for good reason. Unfortunately, the state of affairs Boulez bemoans in his Der Spiegel interview—a stunted standard repertory which seems to begin with Mozart and sputter to a stop at Berg—could just as easily describe the present-day programming of leading opera companies, nearly 50 years later.

While he lived, Boulez defended the music of today more valiantly than most have, or probably ever will. Few were simultaneously so adored and reviled, because few had so much at stake.

Ultimately, he may have followed Schoenberg to the grave, but so long as his raison d’être remains unfulfilled, Pierre Boulez is not dead.

“It asked him to indicate name, age, and race (check one).”

Continued from Page 5 many of Perez’s poems, often through a string of profanities, he balances his tendency towards an “us vs. them” battle cry with highly personal stories of childhood and family. Even in the introduction, Perez, off the soapbox, welcomes criticism and shares his own story.

The first image the reader sees in B(lack)ness and Latini(dad) isn’t Kennedy’s armed revolutionary; it’s Perez feeding his two sons.

“This book was a way to heal the

past, a way to interpret my past and things that I dealt with, whether it’s anti-blackness from my Latino family—not feeling like I fit in with black people on that side—or using that experience to talk about how race doesn’t exist but racism does, and what that means for multiracial youth who need to hear these kinds of things.”

“The Talk,” a poem that uses parenting as a mechanism to talk about police brutality, is one of the most vulnerable and touching of

Perez’s poems. Beyond fear for his community and his own future, this work is about the immediate and helpless terror of bringing a life into this world that you cannot protect. How do you teach dignity and autonomy while praying that your sons obey cops like puppets?

Perez delves deeper into these personal anecdotes on the accompanying album. In Liminality, Perez collaborated with independent instrumentalists and producers to develop six tracks. While Perez

investigates the topic of cyclical oppression in raps like “Time (I am),” which features guest bridges in the rap version, he ventures into more romantic territory with “Over Her,” carefully balancing thematic trends with new material.

Simultaneously insider and outsider, Perez engages with his unique identity to produce a work that is liminal in both content and structure. Although it may better serve as a supplement to Perez’s live performances than a stand-

alone compilation, B(lack)ness and Latini(dad) explores race as both social construct and personal decision with an innovative blend of harnessed frustration, filial love, and academic reflection. Part diary, part essay, and part art, it’s not a new breed of activist anthropology, it’s the story of Vincente Perez.

For more information or to view recordings of Perez’s performances, visit iamsubversive.com.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 12, 2016

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Jordan Smith Smith’s Career Noted for Skill, Tenacity, and Above All Else: Leadership

BY BRITTA NORDSTROM ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

Down two points. One possession left. This was the situation in which the Chicago men’s basketball team found itself in St. Louis after being up by as many as 18 points in the second half against conference rival Wash U. Presumably, No. 16 Chicago would win an overtime contest, so tying up the game seemed to be the goal.

It also seemed obvious that the visitors would go for an easier last possession shot — something closer to the basket. But with a player like fourth-year Jordan Smith on his team, coach Mike McGrath knew that he could go for the win.

B efore even a r r iv ing at Hyde Park, Smith was used to being the big man on campus.

As a senior at Whitney Young High School, he was ranked No. 11 in Illinois, a state filled with talented players. Any young athlete dreams of playing at the collegiate level, and Smith certainly had the opportunity.

However, there were other factors at play for the then 17-yea r-old basketball sta r.

“Once I did my research on the school it was pretty much a nobrainer: a place where I could continue to play ball at a high level and at the same time get a phenomenal education,” Smith said of UChicago.

In a time in which college athletes are celebrated nearly

as much as professionals, it’s not often that one hears of a promising high school player making the decision to turn down a potential athletic scholarship. Having the foresight to choose a stellar education has made a difference for Smith. “I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who are not only willing to help, but are invested in my journey,” he said.Chicago prides itself on developing a student’s “life of the mind,” and the University has found a convert in this fourth-year. “I always tell people that regardless of what technical skills I gain from my experience here, they are all trumped by the ability of Chicago to teach you how to learn,” Smith said.

Once arriving at Chicago, Smith made himself known almost immediately on the basketball court. As a first-year, he started five contests and achieved recognition as the UA A Rookie of the Year. Most first-years don’t even get the opportunity to play, let alone be recognized as a player to wat ch on scouti ng repor ts.

Smith’s trajectory only pointed upward. As a second-year he led the team in scoring and was Honorable Mention A llUA A, and as a third-year he made the All-UA A First Team, was a UAA Athlete of the Week, and was named to the National A s s o c i at ion o f B a s ketba l l Coaches’ Honors Court.

W hile such accolades certainly display Smith’s skill as a player, there is one statistic that says more about his leadership abilities.

T he talented player was coming to a Maroon program that was down on its luck: the squad hadn’t sniffed the post-season since 2008. Even though Smith’sfirst-year team re cord , 11–14 , was u nderwhelming, the g uard never gave up on the squad. They have since gone 15 –10, 16 –9, and now stand at 10 –2 and are ranked 16th in the nation. “As long as I’ve been here, we’ve always had the talent to be one of the best teams in the country. It’s just been a matter of us coming out every game and playing to our ability. We just have to stay consistent and play together,” Smith said. “Being my last season and probably the last time I ever play organized basketball again, the other fourth-years and I are looking to go out with a bang.

We just hope to keep playing ball the way we know we can and ultimately win the UA A and make a tournament run.”

His comment about this year being the last chance he has to play basketball hits hard for every athlete facing his or her fourth year. Luckily, Smith is already set for his near future and doesn’t have to face the additional stress of trying to find a job on top of working to finish the season

University of Chicago Athletics Depaartment

Fourth-year guard Jordan Smith leads the No. 16 Maroons in their pursuit of post-season play.

As far as basketball, Smith’s as strong as he started. The economics major will be work- favorite memory so far was deing at J.P. Morgan in New York feating Emory his second year. as a Credit Research Analyst. “My freshman year, Emory beat Chicago is world-renowned for us pretty bad on both occasions, its economics program, and and to say the least, I wasn’t a Smith knew he would take big fan of the players on their advantage of it from an early team,” he said.

While the takedown of the age. “ I was lucky enough to secure an internship with one Eagles certainly felt sweet, of my high school teammates’ this weekend at Wash U had to father’s investment firm after feel equally satisfying. Chicago my senior year of high school,” had a 19–48 record against the Bears before Saturday. Before Smith said.

The fourth-year was also Smith h it a game-w i n n i ng lucky enough to take a trip to three-pointer, the team only Australia and New Zealand needed two points to send it to this past summer with the overtime. If nothing else, the basketball program. “ There fact that the team trusted the were so many memories that fourth-year to lead them to were created over there that victory showed the impact and I’ll probably remember for the legacy that Smith will leave behind. rest of my life,” Smith said.

Squad Drops Opening Conference Game of Season WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

University of Chicago Athletics Department

Second-year guard Elizabeth Nye brings the ball up the court in a game earlier this season.

BY MICHAEL HINKLEY SPORTS STAFF

It was a snowy afternoon in St. Louis when Chicago took on the Wash U Bears this past Saturday. While the weather was not a factor inside the David R. Francis Gymnasium, the Maroons found themselves engulfed by an early avalanche of scoring and fell to the Bears by a margin of 80–63. With

this result, the Chicago squad drops to 8–4 on the season and 0–1 in UAA action. The Maroons got off to a sluggish start over the weekend, scoring just 11 points in the first quarter while surrendering 21. The team’s presence in the paint was hampered by foul trouble early on. Third-year forward Britta Nordstrom and first-year forwards Olariche Obi and Rachel West each got whistled for two personal fouls

in the opening period. As a result, the Maroons were forced to play a small lineup for most of the first half. Consequently, the team struggled near the rim on both offense and defense, and found themselves in an early hole. Were it not for second-year Elizabeth Nye’s grit and determination, Chicago would have been completely down and out.

The second-year guard amassed 22 points, including nine in the do-or-

die second quarter. About halfway through the period, she sunk a deep three-pointer to pull the Maroons within five points of their opponents.

On the day, Nye recorded five rebounds and four assists to go along with her game-high point total.

Unfortunately, the Maroons were never able to completely recover.

Wash U went on a scoring-run at the end of the first half and led by 12 at the intermission. From that point on, the Bears controlled the game, never allowing Chicago to pull within striking distance. “We got off to a tough start against Wash U and couldn’t overcome that deficit,” Nye said. “We played hard to the very end and I think we are all proud of that, but we know we have a lot of work to do moving forward.”Notably, third-year guard Stephanie Anderson was a steady contributor throughout the contest. She finished the game with 10 points, seven rebounds, and four assists while only turning the ball over once. As a whole though, the team struggled all day, shooting a lackluster 39 percent from the field.

Furthermore, despite having been

a highlight so far this season, the Chicago bench accumulated just eight total points. Looking forward, the team will need to right the ship before facing a gauntlet of strong UAA opponents throughout the month of January. This weekend, the Maroons will hit the road once again to face conference opponents No. 25 Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve. Heading into these tough matchups, the Maroons will look to have high energy and get off to a fast start. “The UAA is a tough conference and we can’t start games like we did this weekend or we will be in trouble,” Nye said.

This Friday, Chicago heads to the Steel City to take on Carnegie Mellon. The Tartans enter the contest with an impressive 12–0 record and a top 25 ranking in the most recent coaches’ poll. Naturally, the Maroons will be looking to spoil the party and end the Tartans’ winning streak. Last year, Chicago dominated Carnegie Mellon in both meetings, so the South Siders will be hoping to feed off their recent success in the series.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 12, 2016

SPORTS Chicago Takes on Olivet, Lewis in Winter Opener SWIM & DIVE

A Chicago women’s swimmer awaits the starting gun at a meet earlier this season.

The men’s & women’s diving teams continued to show immense improvement and skill as they hosted a tri-meet this past Saturday at the Gerald Ratner Athletics Center.

Out of the four possible matchups amongst the men and women’s team

combined, the Maroons claimed victory in three of them. The men’s squad defeated Lewis 162–117, but lost to Olivet Nazarene 149–129. On the women’s side, though, the Maroons came out victorious against Lewis 186–108 and Olivet Nazarene 164–133. The

home team dominated in the diving sector of the meet, pulling through with a full sweep. With determination and willpower, each athlete displayed the talent the team has developed over the past few grueling months of work.

S e c o nd-ye a r D e a n

three-meter board. Both divers recorded NCA A provisional scores and have landed a position in NCAA Zones.

The women made their mark indeed as they finished with seven total event victories. Third-year Maya Scheidl finished with multiple victories as she finished first in the 100yard freestyle. She also played a vital role in the success of the top-placing 400-yard freestyle relay team, which also consisted of first-year Cecile Kurman-Browning, fi rst-year University of Chicago Athletics Department Hannah Eastman and fourth-year Karen Chu. W hen asked about Boures obtained a 245.03 her team’s performance for the one-meter dive and against Olivet Nazarene a 274.58 for the three-meand L ewis University, ter d ive. T he women third-year Emily Hunt said, achieved wins from second“We were coming back from year Natalie DeMuro, who break looking to brush off got a score of 270.08 on the the cobwebs, we were exone-meter board, and firstcited to start the new year year Anna Girlich, who off with a hot start.” ended with a 276.45 on the

On the other hand, the Maroon men came away with six victories to close out the meet. Second-year Thomas Meek contributed to half of the wins for the day as he won the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle and made significant strides as a part of the 400yard freestyle relay team.

Third-year Kevin Ku also made his mark as he took claim of the victory in the 200-yard butterfly.

As the season comes closer to the end, one meet at a time, the team acknowledges the importance of continued hard work and the necessity of maintaining an edge through the end of the season.

The Maroons look to continue to their extreme depth and talent this upcoming Saturday. Their meet begins at 1 p.m. against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

South Siders Hold on Down the Maroons Split Trio of Matches at Stretch to Top Bears Lakeland Duels MEN’S BASKETBALL

BY EMMETT ROSENBAUM SPORTS STAFF

The No. 16 Maroons kicked off conference play on a high note this past weekend, clinching a two-point victory over Wash U. With the win in St. Louis, the South Siders improved to 10–2 overall (1–0 UAA) and have extended their winning streak to an impressive nine games.

On Saturday, the Maroons found themselves down by two to the Bears in the final possession despite having had a whopping 18-point lead earlier in the second half. However, fourth-year forward Jordan Smith was able to take care of business, draining a three off a pass by fourth-year Nate Brooks with 21 seconds left to clench the win on the road.

Veteran Smith has played a major role for the Maroons all season, averaging 12.1 points per game.

“Team morale is high.

Being able to get a road win at Wash U is a great way to start off conference play. At the same time we still know we could’ve played a better overall game so there’s still a lot of room for improvements,” third-year guard Tyler Howard said. The Maroons will be on the road

again this coming weekend, as they travel to Pittsburgh and then to Cleveland to face off against Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve.

The Carnegie Mellon Tartans are 7–5 overall and 0–1 in UAA play, as they fell by 15 points this past weekend to Case.

Case, meanwhile is 8–4 overall and 1–0 in conference. As Chicago heads into the two games, the players know that they must put in a very good week of practice to be prepared. “I think we’re very confident but we know we still have to improve on a lot of things in practice this week to prepare for Carnegie and Case,” Howard said.

“They have some really talented players so we’ll have to do the best we can to prevent them from getting going.”

Second-year forward Ryan Shearmire echoed Howard’s sentiments. “We are ecstatic as a team.One of our biggest goals in our lifetime has been to win a UAA title, something which we have never done. This is a great first step in finding out who we are. This has to be our motto for the week: ‘Who are we?’ We are in the process of finding out if we are a great team, or simply a team that has won some games. We need to approach

WRESTLING this week of practice with conviction,” Shearmire said. The Case Spartans are averaging an impressive 88 points per game, which may prove difficult for the Chicago defense to stop. The Maroons know that they must focus on their defense and play as a unit to contain the Spartans’ dominant offense.

Averaging 42.9 rebounds per game, the strength of the Tartans lies in their effort on the glass. A key component in Chicago’s success against Carnegie will be how well they crash the boards, both offensively and defensively.

Fortunately, the Maroons are not far behind the Tartans in this statistic, as they are averaging a similar 41.7 rebounds per game.

While Chicago is riding a nine-game winning-streak and Case has been victorious in its last two games, Carnegie has fallen in its last two games. After Smith’s game-winning three against the Bears on Sunday, he and his squad have the confidence and the energy it will take to defeat the Tartans and the Spartans. The Maroons will play at Carnegie Mellon on Friday at 7 p.m. and on Sunday at 11 a.m. they will take on Case Western.

BY MICHAEL PERRY SPORTS STAFF

The Maroons traveled to Plymouth, WI for the Lakeland Duals this past weekend, where they competed against Lakeland College, the University of Dubuque, and St. John’s University.

Chicago (3–7 overall) started the day off strong with a 40 –13 win over Lakeland, but later fell to Dubuque and St. John’s by scores of 25–17 and 33–20, respectively.

The Maroons swept the Lakeland Duals last year despite many team members being new to college athletics. An ongoing theme for the squad this season has been its overwhelming youth: 10 members are first-years, and eight of them took on starting roles this Saturday.

Second-year Devan Richter, who had pins against Lakeland and St. John’s and a 10–2 major decision against Dubuque, looks positively at the youth of the team. “In terms of the age of who is on the varsity line-up, we are a very young

team compared to others,” he said. “Whether upperclassmen have had to quit due to personal reasons or simply graduated, they have left big gaps for the coach to fill.

He is recruiting solid talent across the board and hoping to make them into great wrestlers by the end of their senior year. The fact that the first- and second-years are wrestling a lot just gives them more real experience, myself included, and we should be a very tough team with a lot of seasoned wrestlers two years from now.”

Despite how many underclassmen the currently team looks to, second-year wrestler Cristen Bublitz believes the fourth-years and older wrestlers remain an integral component of the squad.

“The seniors play a huge role within the team. We have an amazing group of upperclassmen that fill the leadership role. They keep us focused on the task at hand both in the practice room and at tournament. [Second-year] Nick Ferraro and [third-year] Paul Papoutsis

also play huge roles on the team. They are two of our most experienced wrestlers and are always willing to lend a hand,”Bublitz said.

Ferraro went 2–1 on Saturday, with a pin against Dubuque, a 19–4 technical fall win against St. Johns, and a close 8–5 loss against Lakeland. Papoutsis did not compete this Saturday.

Despite their losses this year, the Maroons have continued to compete. After Dubuque jumped out to a lead after Richter’s match, the South Siders fought back, making a comeback bid that went all the way to the final heavyweight match. “Every time we go out on the mat for a duel, it gives us the opportunity to see how far we have come from the beginning of the season to now,” Richter said. “Needless to say, comparing our performances from the beginning of the year to now, you can see the improvements between duals, definitely for the better.”

The next meet will take place this Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Elmhurst Invitational.

NOTE FROM LAST ISSUE: The answers to the crossword puzzle can be found at chicagomaroon.com.