FRIDAY • FEBRUARY 20, 2015
CHICAGOMAROON.COM
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892
ISSUE 28 • VOLUME 126
Uncommon Fund announces this year’s 22 finalist projects Shelby Lohr News Staff
Ash Wednesday Blase J. Cupich, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, visits UChicago to celebrate a mass in Rockefeller Chapel for Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. The event, which was organized with the help of Calvert House and featured the vocals of Schola Antiqua, was attended by close to 800 people. YEO BI CHOI | THE CHICAGO MAROON
Uncommon Interview: Robert Kagan Mack Skarzynski Maroon Contributor Robert Kagan is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former presidential foreign policy advisor. He visited campus last week to discuss “Is America Indispensable?” at a talk sponsored by the Global Voices Program at International House. Kagan advocates for a more muscular U.S. foreign policy, and his 2014 New Republic cover arti-
cle “Superpowers Don’t Get to Retire” led to an invitation to lunch with President Obama to discuss opinions. He sat down with the Maroon to discuss his theories on the liberal order post-World War II and the United States’s main allies and adversaries today. Chicago Maroon (CM): What is the liberal order that the US created and why is it so important? Robert Kagan (RK): It is sort of characterized by three
unique qualities, if you think about the history of the human race. One is there has been an enormous spread of democratic government. On the eve of World War II, there might have been less than 10 democracies in the world. Today there are over 120….The other thing is the economic order which has been characterized largely—although obviously with exceptions—by generally a free trade capitalist approach, KAGAN continued on page 2
Chicago Mayoral candidate Willie Wilson speaks at the IOP Katherine Vega News Staff On Tuesday, Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson spoke to a modest crowd of students and community members at the Institute of Politics, discussing his election platform and his rags-to-riches story. According to a poll done by Wilson’s campaign, Wilson is tied for second behind Mayor Rahm Emanuel. However, Wilson
believes that he is the best man for the job because he has reached out to different communities and people from all walks of life. “I’m Republican, I’m Democrat, I’m all people. I’m an independent thinker…People should make decisions based on the person themselves, not on a party,” Wilson said. He funded his campaign with $2 million of his own money, and claims that he would donate all of his salary if elected. Wilson, 66, explained
how he grew up in the segregated South just two generations from slavery. There, he picked cotton for 20 cents an hour before running away from home at age 13. Wilson came to Chicago in 1965, and began working at a McDonald’s Restaurant making two dollars an hour. He worked his way up, building his fortune until he owned five franchises. He later sold those to open a medical supply company, WILSON continued on page 2
The Uncommon Fund released a list of the 22 finalists for the yearly competition on February 16. The competition, which grants $85,000 across several disparate student-led projects, is designed to promote creative student work across the University. The contenders’ project ideas range widely, from hosting a “National Symposium on Hanging Out” to filming on-campus comedy sketches. Third-year Maya Handa proposes to add a “Young Adult Fiction” section to the library. “When I first came to college, I was really excited because we have this huge library system
and I was really excited to check out all my favorite books,” she said. “But then I found out that the Reg has very few pleasure reading books...and those that they do have are very far apart, so you have to know what you’re looking for [and can’t browse].” Her proposal would add a section in the library devoted chiefly to students’ favorite books from growing up, which would be available on the third floor of the Reg. “I think this is something that could benefit the school for a long time,” Handa added. Second-year Kevin Zen proposes to start a Bubble Soccer group on campus. “When I think about UChicago there’s that
quirkiness factor [that you can also see in Bubble Soccer]....You get to wear this [inflatable] bubble while playing soccer.” This is the second year that Bubble Soccer has applied for the Uncommon Fund. The proposal was a finalist last year, but did not advance due to administrative and liability concerns. “This year we are trying again and clearing that up. Last year [our proposal] was pretty popular, so I think this year we will come up with a compromise that will allow us to [see the project through],” Zen said. Another project, “Through My Asian American Eyes,” seeks funding to broaden discussions on FUND continued on page 2
University professors joust in debate over the minimum wage Isaac Easton News Staff University professors debated the United States’s minimum wage at an event hosted by the Chicago Society last Tuesday. Economics professor Casey Mulligan, who specializes in economic policy, debated Harris School professor Ioana Marinescu, who specializes in labor and public economics. Mulligan argued against raising the minimum wage, claiming that a small minimum wage fixes prices rather than affects the quantity of available labor in the market. “Economic theory, especially if you tell me that it’s gonna work through non-priced competition, doesn’t necessarily predict a change in the quantity of labor,” he said. What minimum wage does do, he argued, is emphasize subjective forms of competition, known as nonpriced competition. Nonpriced forms of competition have nothing to do with the value of a worker, but concern the superficial ways in
which he or she is presented to an employer. When discussing the value employees and employers gain from jobs and hires, Mulligan asked, “Are you chosen on the basis of you being the white guy? Or are you chosen on some other basis?... When you have a minimum wage you’re going to have competition on [non-priced] dimensions,” he said. “In the old days it was the white guys who won those contests.” Marinescu agreed with most of Mulligan’s argument that changes in the minimum wage don’t always affect employment levels. “[T]he minimum wage does seem to have some negative impact on employment. It is not very large in most cases. And there are some cases where there is no effect. There are cases in which—which is what [Mulligan] also said— where there is an increase in the minimum wage and you see absolutely no change in employment,” she said. She argued that a positive consequence of increasing
the minimum wage is that wages would increase at all levels of an organization. “You have a trickle-up effect on the minimum wage, and through that mechanism the minimum wage decreases wage inequality,” she said. She added that it has other positive benefits such as “a productivity increase, both because workers care now again about keeping their job that pays more, and potentially employers are trying to make up for the higher price of labor by trying to see if they could reorganize.” Second-year Diego Loyo said he appreciated the debaters’ ability to look at the issue from multiple perspectives. “[They were] the perfect people to bring because, even though Professor Mulligan didn’t quite seem to agree with raising the minimum wage, and Professor Marinescu said out loud that she agreed with raising the minimum wage, they both were considering that the other option was equally valid,” he said.
IN VIEWPOINTS
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Editorial: Uncommon uncertainty?
Give some love to the movies
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THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | February 20, 2015
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Bodies affect decisions, says UChicago psychologist in new book Cairo Lewis News Staff People’s bodies affect the choices they make just as much as their minds do, according to a new book by award-winning scientist and UChicago psychology professor Sian Beilock. Beilock, who also serves as the University’s Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives, released her newest book, How
the Body Knows Its Mind: The Surprising Power of the Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel on January 16. The book features studies on how the body functions in relation to the brain. In the book, Beilock argues that the human body plays a more important role than merely responding to brain messages. “If we’re really going to understand our thinking and our
ability to perform at our best, we have to focus outside the head on what’s happening in our bodies and on the environment as well,” she said. “The idea is that when we reach out and interact with objects, how easy it is to act on an object that sends subtle signals to our mind about how much we like it.” One study that Beilock focused on involves “embodied
NEWS IN BRIEF Two University students win esteemed awards Two UChicago students, Daniel Yu and Yusef Al-Jarani, recently won two prestigious grants to work on public health and enterprise from British institutions. Yu received the second Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneurs prize, presented to him by Prince Charles in London on behalf of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and Unilever. The prize also included 50,000 pounds along with support and mentoring from the Institute for Sustainability Leadership and Unilever. Yu took a leave of absence from the University in 2013 to build his company Reliefwatch, which
consists of a cloud program that uses cell phones to help health clinics in developing countries manage their inventories. His company is currently being utilized by Global Brigades, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that has 42 clinics in countries such as Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Yu plans on expanding Reliefwatch to 10 new clients in the next year and work in countries such as Benin and Liberia. Al-Jarani, a fourth-year who previously received the 2014 Harry S. Truman scholarship, was one of 40 U.S. students out of a pool of 800 to receive a Gates Cambridge scholarship to study at the University of
Cambridge—the world’s fourth oldest college. He will complete a MPhil in developmental studies, focusing on the Middle East and North Africa. Al-Jarani plans to develop businesses to help young people in that region find meaningful careers. “Youth in the Middle East and North Africa face very high unemployment rates, even though they are very well educated,” Al-Jarani said in a University press release. “The opportunities simply are not there. I think there are ways for startup incubators and small business consultative services to help them grow their markets and create jobs.” —Noah Goldblatt
Students can vote online for their favorite proposals FUND continued from front
the Asian American experience. With the funding, third-year Vo Ram Yoon and second-years Raymond Fang and William Rhee wish to create a photography campaign and a teachin to consider problems often unaddressed for Asian Americans. “[The teach-in] is a one day event, but the outreach is something we conduct over several weeks. One component is a political campaign, where we take pictures of Asian Americans and they say what
their experiences were like growing up—especially in areas where there are not many Asians,” Yoon said. “Part of the teach-in would include workshops and discussions led by other students. Some of the topics that they will address would be internalized racism, which is especially common in [Asian-American] communities [and] the intersection between queer and Asian identity,” Yoon continued. Students are able to vote on their favorite proposals online, and each one
includes both a video and a paragraph detailing the project idea. Some of the other proposals include adding a charger station on campus, a UChicago Marketplace app, a solar-powered charging picnic table, a pig roast on the Quad, and the refurbishment of pool tables at the student-run Hallowed Grounds café. Raymond Fang and Alec Goodwin, who proposed the “National Symposium on Hanging Out,” are both Maroon editors.
Wilson is tied for second place behind Rahm WILSON continued from front
Omar Supplies, Inc. Throughout his life, Wilson has become more religious, and although he says that his religion would not influence his politics, it did inspire him to produce “Singsation,” a nationally syndicated gospel entertainment show that has now been running for 25 years. Now, of the $6 million he earns annually, he said he donates between $800,000 and $1 million to churches and charities across Chicago. A large part of Wilson’s talk focused on his plans
for education reform. He is against school closings, and noted that they not only disenfranchise students, but put employees like receptionists and janitors out of work as well. “When you open a school, the future is bright,” Wilson said. One audience member, who revealed that Wilson had hired her at a McDonald’s he owned when she was 16, asked Wilson how he plans to employ youth. He said that if elected, he would do to his best to integrate youth in city government and decision-making processes. He would also
try to fund day cares for schools, so that young parents could continue their education. When asked why he had decided to run for mayor after working so many different jobs, his answer was simple. After living in Chicago for decades, Wilson felt he had enough knowledge to try to fix the problems he had observed. “Why [would I not] not get involved and do something about it, instead of sitting on the sidelines?” Wilson said. The election will take place on February 24.
cognition,” the body’s ability to help people think, behave, and feel through movement. In one of her more famous experiments, she asked participants to put one of two kitchen objects into a box. Beilock concluded that 63 percent of the participants picked the objects that were easiest to grab. She also discovered that the sizes and shapes of other objects affects whether or not people would
choose to purchase them. In addition to this discovery, Beilock discovered that shape matters, even if the objects are the same size. In another study, she tested a new design of a Coke bottle. The new bottles were still two liters in capacity but had a curvier shape so that they would be able to fit into people’s hands more easily. People ended up purchasing more Coke than before due to
the bottles’ change in shape. “My guess is that when businesses do consumer product testing—when they figure out whether someone likes a product or not—part of what might be going into that liking is how easy it is to act on it and manipulate it,” Beilock said. Beilock anticipates that more studies like the ones in her book will be conducted in months to come.
“[China is] rising into a world order that was not made for them and that they did not make.” KAGAN continued from front
which has created, again, unprecedented economic growth across the globe in a way that no one has ever seen before… And then finally, it has been an order characterized by peace among the great powers. CM: Could you talk about the good things the current administration has done to maintain the order and maybe some things you disagree with that you think are not promoting the order? RK: What have become the two pillars of maintaining this order are maintaining peace and security in Europe and Asia; that is the great accomplishment of this order after WWII, and until Russia invaded Ukraine, we did not have to think really much about Europe. But now we have to think about Europe again. In the case of East Asia, I think that is what people call the pivot, but in any case, this sort of rebalancing—or the effort to show that America is really committed to its allies in East Asia—has been beneficial…. I would say that has been moderately true in Europe. I think that for the most part what the administration has done in Europe has been very effective. I have to put full disclosure and say that the person in charge of that policy in the State Department is my wife [Victoria Nuland, the assistant Secretary of State, according to the New York Times]. I do think she has been doing a great job. But the place I would say the administration has been least effective has been in the Middle East. And that is not because I believe that there were easy solutions in the Middle East, or that I have the answer in the Middle East. But I would say the very strong perception that various nations in the Middle East got [was] that the U.S. was on its way out of
the region, which I think was how they read the pivot and also the withdrawal of American forces, [and that] has led to a worse kind of disorder and chaos and violence than the amount it was. CM: Part of your work has dealt with how European and American views are diverging. Who—if not Europe—are our most reliable allies we can count on to maintain the liberal order? RK: No, Europe are the most reliable allies, but you just have to live with the fact that because of the nature of their history, and I think we have to be very conscious of the history of the 20th century for Europe where they suffered just unimaginably from two world wars and have been determined never to fall into that again… Their crucial role is to be a successful bastion of liberal order, which is what they have been. You know, now they are going through difficult economic times. There are going to be some changes to the European Union. We will see how this all turns out. Some may leave, some may join, but by and large, Europe has—and I wrote this at the time—Europe has performed the greatest function it can possibly perform for the United States, which is to be a Europe in peace… The biggest challenge right now, is the challenge that is in Europe itself, or certainly that is on Europe’s frontier, which is the challenge in Russia—with Russia willing to use force. That, unfortunately, exposes Europe’s weakness, which is a country on their border that basically wants to behave in a 19th century power politics fashion: using military force— not economic cleverness, not politics—but real, hard power, on a continent where people don’t want to think about hard power anymore.
CM: The rise of China in the 21st century—do you think that we will be able to embrace the Chinese? Will they embrace us into our world order? Or, like Russia, as they grow more powerful, are we going to have them be the main ones who are trying to disrupt it? RK: I think it is not just like Russia. China is a rising power, and you can compare them to Germany in the late 19th century. You can compare them to Japan in the late 19th and early 20th century, and they have the characteristics of rising powers—which is that they are rising into a world order that was not made for them and that they did not make. Therefore, you are faced with two choices: you can integrate yourselves in that world order or you can attempt to reshape it. I think what you are seeing with China right now is that they want to have it both ways. They want to enjoy the benefits they get from integration, which are substantial economically. At the same time, getting to muscle their way into controlling the South China Sea, the East China Sea, being a regionally hegemon. So our task is to say, “We welcome your rise, we welcome your economic integration.” The worst thing you can do in these situations is leave doubt in the mind of a potential aggressor—so they are not sure whether you have the capacity or the will to resist them. It is much better to say, don’t worry about it. If you do this, we are going to respond. That’s healthier for everybody. And that is something I think we have learned through bitter experience. And I don’t want us to learn through another bitter experience. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and space.
CORRECTIONS • “International Students make up onefifth of the College” (2/17/15) had an error in the headline: international students make up one-fifth of the University, not the College. • “Research Seed Grants to Marine Biological Lab” (2/7/15) misstated the name of
the Marine Biological Lab as the Marine Biology Lab. Additionally, it mischar*acterized the nature of the early relationship between the MBL and the University. While University faculty were the first two successive directors of the lab, the lab was not run by University professors for the first 40 years of its existence, as the article originally stated.
VIEWPOINTS
Editorial & Op-Ed FEBRUARY 20, 2015
Uncommon uncertainty Lack of transparency in the Uncommon Fund hinders effective execution of its creative objective The Uncommon Fund has traditionally supported a wide variety of projects—last year it funded a project to build the world’s largest muffin, a collection of suits for students to check out for interviews, a meat roast on the quads, and a week of activities centered on identity, among many others. Last year, the Uncommon Fund was allocated $78,000, money that partly comes from the Student Life Fee. According to a piece recently published in Grey City, this sum of money is spent with the goal of funding projects that are “uncommon.” While the Maroon Editorial Board
supports the ultimate purpose of the Uncommon Fund—to support creative ideas that might not be funded otherwise—we feel that the Fund and the students it serves would benefit from a more transparent decisionmaking process. We understand that conversations comparing the world’s largest muffin and a week of talks about identity will inevitably be vague—but the Uncommon Fund Committee’s discussions and evaluations must be guided by more clearly articulated principles. The Committee should clearly and publicly outline some metrics by
which it evaluates projects. A few criteria might be feasibility, relevance to students, and social impact. Having these criteria delineated would be helpful to applicants hoping to see their projects funded and reassuring to students whose money is being used to fund them. A publicly available set of guidelines would also be useful for the Committee. One of the difficulties for the Committee is establishing consistency in decision-making due to the high turnover of its members. Clear guidelines would limit the effect this has on decision-making.
These guidelines will assist board members who are faced with the challenge of allocating a large amount of money over a short period of time, while also supplying a public standard to which they can be held in using student funds. We also think the Committee should clearly establish the role student voting plays in the decision making process. Students already have some say over the allocation of the Uncommon Fund by voting for their preferred projects, but the vote is nonbinding. In light of this, the Committee should be upfront about
what it does with the information acquired from this voting process. The Uncommon Fund is a widely celebrated part of student culture, and rightly so. Between 2007 and 2013, 78 percent of funded projects have been completed, which is evidence of the success of the Fund. The Uncommon Fund is one of the few tangible ways in which students can make changes and have their voices heard on this campus, and that opportunity should be used most effectively. -— The Maroon Editorial Board
Making a space for black women in academia Universities and their students must stop excluding black women
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Jenn Jackson Maroon Contributor “Maybe I shouldn’t be here.” This is the thought that crossed my mind several times last fall. It was my first quarter at the University of Chicago and a combination of self-doubt and fear of failure prompted me to question my right to occupy physical space on a campus so revered, so esteemed, and so predominantly white. Being a 30-year-old mother of three and a black woman makes me a unique doctoral student. Starting my life over in a state, as different from my native California as any place could possibly be, meant reestablishing my self-identity. It meant trying to find a place for myself among classmates who were more likely to be the age of first-year college students than of my professional peers. While I first struggled with be-
ing a student again—having been on the other side of the podium for two years—I mainly struggled with the blatant disregard for my existence that I faced in classrooms and on campus. From white male students who found it perfectly acceptable to repeatedly cut me off or make comments like, “Oh, absolutely not!” while I was speaking in class to people who simply didn’t “see” me walking (even though I am 6 foot 4 inches tall) and resultantly ran into me at full speed, I faced a social isolation I hadn’t experienced since my earliest days as an engineering student at the University of Southern California. Only, this time, no one could claim I was there because of affirmative action programs. Perhaps, they still wondered. “What are you studying?” was
The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892 Emma Broder, Editor-in-Chief Joy Crane, Editor-in-Chief Jonah Rabb, Managing Editor The Maroon Editorial Board consists of Harini Jaganathan, Ankit Jain, Nina Katemauswa, Liam Leddy, Mara McCollom, Kiran Misra, Jake Walerius, and Sarah Zimmerman. Sindhu Gnanasambandan, Grey City Editor Kristin Lin, Grey City Editor Sarah Manhardt, News Editor Christine Schmidt, News Editor Kiran Misra, Viewpoints Editor James Mackenzie, Arts Editor Tatiana Fields, Sports Editor Marina Fang, Senior News Editor Liam Leddy, Senior Viewpoints Editor Sarah Langs, Senior Sports Editor Jake Walerius, Senior Sports Editor Natalie Friedberg, Deputy News Editor Alec Goodwin, Deputy News Editor Marta Bakula, Associate News Editor Raymond Fang, Associate News Editor Nina Katemauswa, Associate Viewpoints Editor Sarah Zimmerman, Associate Viewpoints Editor Andrew McVea, Associate Arts Editor Evangeline Reid, Associate Arts Editor Ellen Rodnianski, Associate Arts Editor Helen Petersen, Associate Sports Editor Zachary Themer, Associate Sports Editor Peter Tang, Photo Editor Frank Yan, Senior Photo Editor Frank Wang, Associate Photo Editor Annie Cantara, Head Designer Sophie Downes, Head Copy Editor Alan Hassler, Head Copy Editor Sherry He, Head Copy Editor Hannah Rausch, Head Copy Editor Emily Harwell, Social Media Editor Amber Love, Video Editor
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a seemingly innocent question, which I soon realized was laden with presuppositions, potential minefields, and racial innuendo. Replying, “political science” rather than, “black politics” initially afforded me more cordiality from whites whom I encountered in passing. But, there have been others who probed further. In one conversation, when I mentioned that I would be studying how news media frames violence in black communities, the lively conversation screeched to a halt. The individual with whom I was speaking literally had nothing further to say to me. Perhaps it was rooted in an unfamiliarity with the subject. It could have been discomfort with discussing the topic of race and violence. In either case, it was uncomfortable, awkward, and isolating for me. Speaking with other black women scholars on campus, I found that many had faced criticism about their chosen fields of study. One, in particular, indicated that her choice not to study African or African-American topics was often questioned by whites on campus who assumed she was there specifically for ethnicity- or race-related research. In my case, I received questions like, “Well, isn’t black politics just American politics?” or, “Why does everything have to be separate?” From these experiences, and others like them, I changed my description of my studies, saying, “I am looking into explaining how certain racial messages are transmitted in the news media.” That lessened the eye contact avoidance and led to more engaging conversations. But, it felt unnatural. It felt dishonest. More than anything, it felt like I was complicit in reifying a status quo that excludes racial, sexual, and gender minorities from the Ivory Tower. These feelings of complicity, of mutual guilt, made me uncomfortable with the type of academic I felt I was signing myself up to become. Recent and past issues on campus with racial discrimination underscore a need for change. In November, 41 University faculty and staff noted
ALICE XIAO
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THE CHICAGO MAROON
that the “environment for students of color on campus is one of hostility, and maybe increasingly so” in a letter to President Zimmer and Provost Isaacs. Students like me, who are dual minorities—or those who may be triple minorities (e.g. LGBTQIA students of color)—are living through this hostility each day. In classrooms, restrooms, dining halls, and libraries, we are working through the very tangible impacts of implicit racism and subversive discrimination as we traverse tenuous roads through academia. About halfway through the fall term, I decided to work against those pressures. By that, I mean I resolved to exist unapologetically on campus. I did what Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies and of Philosophy at Harvard University, Tommie Shelby might call living “thick black.” I stopped worrying about my blackness because I decided
it was worth expressing it authentically rather than suppressing it even if it resulted in exclusion on campus. I started living more comfortably in academic spaces rather than contorting to fit some narrow image of what a respectable black student looks like. I raised my hand whenever I had a question or an answer rather than shrinking away from an opportunity to engage with my studies and peers. I started introducing my field of interest as “black politics” again no matter the reaction. Plainly, I started living in academic spaces in the way that I found most comfortable; I did this every single day. It’s true that my mere existence on campus is disruptive, not in the same way as our rallies, die-ins, and physical demonstrations that “Black Lives Matter” are. Yet, it is still disorderly, rambunctious, and defiant. I have decided not to live as though I am burdened by WOMEN continued on page 4
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THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | February 20, 2015
Little Miss Success Instead of trying to find success in our rĂŠsumĂŠ, we should start looking for it in life’s more personal moments Janey Lee Maroon Contributor As spring quarter rapidly approaches, I have increasingly been seeing all my friends getting into Ph.D. programs, law school, and Fortune 500 companies, and time and time again, I have asked myself why I’m not doing the same. Did something go wrong in the course of my college career? Am I just mediocre? Watching Little Miss Sunshine made me realize that I had been asking the wrong questions; that the key to fulfillment wasn’t learning from my friends, who were becoming adults, but learning from a child. As put by Roger Ebert, “Little Miss Sunshine shows us a world in which there’s a form, a brochure, a procedure, a job title, a diet, a step-by-step program, a career path, a prize, a retirement community, to quantify, sort, cat-
egorize, and process every human emotion or desire.� A world where Rousseau’s quote, “Man is born free but everywhere is in chains,� is incredibly applicable, with each person bound by impossible standards that dictate how they should look or behave in order to achieve this nebulous thing we call “success�. However, instead of showing that there is a formulaic path to success, the movie proves that while we may be in chains, we have an incredible amount agency to rid ourselves of them. When we do this, some people may become upset and disappointed, but the people who really matter, friends and family, will actually wholeheartedly support us. In the movie we see that we have the unique opportunity in this life to define our own standards of success, if only we have a sufficient amount of courage to do so.
It might sound simple when put that way, but from the day we are born, we are conditioned by our parents, our peers, the media, and people around us to believe that certain societally endorsed achievements are the only ones that indicate success. It’s hard to realize that ultimately, these standards only hold as much weight as we choose to give them, we can define success by and for ourselves. Olive, Little Miss Sunshine’s pudgy and adorable young protagonist, perfectly illustrates this transformation. On one hand, the movie starts off with a close-up of her bright blue eyes watching a beauty pageant on TV, closely examining the women competing for the prestigious Miss America title. There are multiple times in the movie where we see this eight year old girl in front of her mirror, scrutinizing her stomach and stubby
legs, likely wondering if they could ever be beautiful enough. In the end, her childlike innocence allows her to disregard the absurd criteria set by the pageant and create a moment of beauty not only for her own enjoyment, but for her dysfunctional family as well. In the book that Dwayne, Olive’s older teenage brother, reads throughout the movie, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche depicts three metamorphoses of spirits. First is the camel, an animal that has always been laden with burdens. This is the burden of what we ought to do. Second is the lion. The lion has the capacity to realize that perhaps the dictates of society don’t have to be followed, that there are no absolute rules, and that he can carve for himself a space where he is free. He stops thinking in terms of “I ought to� but rather “I will.� Finally: the child.
Innocence is the child, and forgetfulness, a new beginning, a game, a self-rolling wheel, a first movement, a holy Yea. In other words, the child is the one who, oblivious of or simply disregarding all previously created standards, has the ability to create, be spontaneous, and say yes to him or herself. Think of when we invented rules for our own games as children. For instance, my friends and I created the Fake Crystal Club in second grade, when we collected pretty rocks from the field during recess, despite the third-graders telling us it wasn’t allowed. I’m not saying that we should all just do whatever we want with no regard to how our actions affect others. I’m not saying I excuse people who kill or do terrible things because they’ve created their own perverted version of morality. What I’m saying is that there comes a time when it’s nec-
essary to see past the dichotomies of good and bad and right and wrong and skinny and fat and success and failure and winners and losers. Ideals can change, but this will only happen when we utilize the immense power that we have in changing them. Success isn’t a matter of how many things I can put on my rĂŠsumĂŠ, but in how many accomplishments I can take true pride in, the richness of certain moments I’ve cherished in my life, moments that probably will never get me a Fulbright scholarship, but that have made me happy in a way that constitutes success in my eyes. At the end of Zarathustra, Nietzsche writes, “My children are nigh, my children.â€? May that indeed be true.
from spaces we have earned the right to occupy. Making space for myself is a revolutionary, feminist act. It is one I now do proudly and with intention. There will come a time when black students no longer have to make the conscious decision to exist in academia. Until then, I will be here, in solidar-
ity with other marginalized groups, laying bare the spaces we have worked so diligently to reach.
Janey Lee is a fourthyear in the College majoring in political science.
“It’s true that my mere existence on campus is disruptive.� WOMENcontinuedfrompage3 my blackness. I participate in diverse spaces like the Center for Study of Race, Politics, and Culture and the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality but I do not restrict myself to those spaces alone. I have sought valuable relationships with fac-
ulty, staff, and students within and outside of my department whose insights have been invaluable in managing my emotional responses to isolation on campus. Their efforts to champion my research and support my academic goals have reinforced my weak places and helped me surmount the doubt
overcoming me. Most importantly, rather than force-fitting myself into spaces which are not amenable to black women in academia and are generally unwelcoming, I have embraced the spaces which are committed to my success while preserving my right to exist freely on campus
as a whole. No, this doesn’t look like much from the outside looking in. It isn’t necessarily jarring enough to register cognitively, but it is a part of what it means to make space for black women in academia. It challenges preconceived notions and it undermines efforts to exclude us
Jenn Jackson is a first-year doctoral student at the University studying political science.
Strive to protect
2O14/2O15 CONCERT SERIES
UCPD must improve transparency and objectivity to become a more equitable and effective police force
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$( !8 )" ( 1$.# .$ % . -./ ( #$ ") ), .$ % .- && ), 0$-$. $% #'()"*"&+* , $% #' "!, A limited number of FREE tickets are available through the Sponsor-A-Student Program, made possible by University of Chicago Arts Pass. For more information, visit chicagopresents.uchicago.edu/tickets/student-tickets
It is becoming more evident throughout the nation that safe, equitable, and legal policing practices require transparency of information and sincere regard for community. The University of Chicago is now operating with significantly expanded police powers and policing an area of the city far larger than its immediate campus. Because of this expansion, the Citizens Action Committee for Fair University of Chicago Policing is focusing attention on the public safety needs and interests of the larger community beyond the campus. As the University is a private institution, they are not bound by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). They have the same powers of the Chicago Police Department (CPD), without the accountability. It is important to recognize that the University of Chicago Police Department, although a private institution, is performing an essential governmental function—law enforcement. In this role, the UCPD should be subject to the same standards of transparency as the governmental agency (CPD) from which it derives its powers. This would, of course, include the obligation to conform to FOIA requirements, as well as the other obligations that apply to the CPD.
A former Chief of the University Police stated in a recent public forum that the obligation of a police force is to respond to the needs of the community it serves. The University’s need to attract students and faculty can be an incentive to suppress information about crime. Sometimes, this puts their private and legitimate interests in conflict with the safety interests of the larger community. This creates a dilemma that must be faced by both the University and the community. The University of Chicago, along with many prominent universities in the country, has a history of suppressing information about rape in the community—even when information about current crime patterns can be used to prevent future rapes. Moreover, statistics regarding crime can be presented in ways that make those statistics reflect a more positive picture than the reality. For example, police departments have been known to call rape “home invasion� and the classification of homicide can be slippery as in a case that was first labeled homicide “by unspecified means� which morphed into a final classification of a “noncriminal death investigation.� Now that the University is assuming the obligation to pro-
tect the community from crime and to maintain public safety, we, as a community, should expect that: • The UCPD must put aside the University’s private interests and make the safety of the entire community their primary obligation. • The UCPD must fully disseminate information about ALL current crime patterns throughout the neighborhood. And, for the sake of prevention, this information must be disseminated in a timely manner. • The UCPD must commit to keeping statistics that accurately reflect the nature of crimes committed in their area without giving into the temptation to mislead the public. Open and objective dissemination of information about crimes, accurate and timely publication of crime statistics, and FOIA compliance are essential to maintain safe, equitable, and legal policing for the entire community. If the University and the UCPD do not commit to all of this, how can we have confidence in them as our police force? Nina Helstein is an alum of the University and received her B.A. in history in 1964 and her Ph.D. from SSA in 1995.
ARTS
What is art? FEBRUARY 20, 2015
Skip the lightweight Oscar bait and give some love to these movies instead James Mackenzie Arts Editor The Academy Awards are a mere two days away, which means we film buffs are a mere three days away from rebuking them. We admittedly don’t give the Academy enough credit for how much they actually get right; as much as we mock the Oscars, they still aren’t the Grammys. But even before the curtain is drawn in the Dolby Theater, a number of fine films have already been left out in the cold from the nomination process. I’ll take this space to highlight some of those films which I feel should have contended for major awards. I am not including films which have already been discussed to death in the Oscar sphere (Selma) or indie films which never had a chance to start with. Now, in no particular order: A Most Violent Year This film is a showcase for the best young talents in American cinema; you just don’t know it yet. Neither does the Academy. It is only director J.C. Chandor’s third feature film, but it shows the patience and craft of a master practitioner. Cinematographer Bradford Young has the dubious distinction of being twice snubbed in the same category, failing to receive a best cinematography nomination for his work here and in Selma. Lead actor Oscar Isaac doesn’t have mainstream recognition, but he is currently the best actor in the world. You think I’m exaggerating, but he can communicate more in a glance or a slight inflection of his voice than several Oscarnominated actors can by screaming, crying, or waving their arms up in the air (all of them rely on some combination of those techniques). Sadly, this film amounts to a little less than the sum of its parts. It is still terrific, but not the game changer it could have been. Set in New
York City in 1981, it follows Isaac as Abel Morales, the manager of a formerly mafia-run but now legitimate heating oil business. As such, it is something of a “post-mobster” film, as none of the characters actually engage in organized crime but the specter of that sordid past claws at them from the shadows. It can be a bit slow at times thanks to its commitment to subtlety, but few films can use so few words to say so much about the American dream and the costs of pursuing it. A Walk Among the Tombstones This film is too dark for the Oscars. And I don’t mean that in the film snob–esque “the old guard can’t handle Tarantino” kind of way. I mean this film is sickening and difficult to watch. Blood and guts don’t fill the screen, but rather the viewer’s imagination—with images suggested by the muffled screams of women and the taunting of their killers. It is difficult for me to actually recommend this film to anyone, despite the fact that I think it is one of the year’s best. Based on the novel of the same name by prolific crime writer Lawrence Block, the film stars Liam Neeson as an unlicensed private detective hired by a drug mogul to track down his wife’s killers. First- time director Scott Frank shows an astonishing attention to detail that even some of this year’s best director nominees (I’m looking at you Morten Tyldum) do not seem to possess. The camerawork is silky smooth and Frank carefully constructs each shot to parcel out critical information in increments, often ending shots at just the right moment to send chills up the spine. It’s not for the faint of heart, but this is the pulpiest, darkest thriller that I saw in 2014. Top Five I mentioned this film when I wrote about the notably white Oscar nominees a few weeks ago. I said it then and I stand by it now: This is the
It's been a long winter for both some Oscar rejects and Oscar Issac, the star of A Most Violent Year. COURTESY OF A24
funniest film of 2014. Written and directed by Chris Rock, the film also stars Rock as a former stand-up comic attempting to carve out a serious acting career while hashing out his personal problems. The subject matter may be somewhat vacuous—the only thing that makes celebrity ennui more interesting than white suburban ennui is cocaine—but Rock has a good eye for social satire, and he has surrounded himself with talented performers at every turn. While Rock can hit a joke like few other living comedians, his dramatic acting chops are not on the same level as other Saturday Night Live alums like Bill Murray or Adam Sandler (No, I’m serious. Go watch Punch-Drunk Love). His di-
recting also leaves something to be desired, as he seems content with the Woody Allen approach of rolling the camera and letting the actors do the work. Thankfully for Rock, it works. This film is about authenticity, so it’s fitting that Rock never strays too far from his comedic roots. Sometimes sad, always absurd, this is a slice of Rock’s worldview not filtered by the smoky haze of a comedy club. History won’t necessarily remember these films, and the Academy certainly won’t, but I will. There’s a lot more to movies than who gets the golden trophy at the end of the year, and I’d recommend these ones over a lot of the stale Oscar bait that will get the spotlight this Sunday.
Feast your eyes: Classical Entertainment Society
The DUFF isn’t much more than fluff, but the message rings true
Evangeline Reid Associate Arts Editor
Maria Alvarez Arts Contibutor
This weekend, the Classical Entertainment Society—a lesser-known theater group on campus—will be putting on its third annual CESFest despite being in its 11th year as an RSO. I had the opportunity to sit in on a dress rehearsal to see its members in action. This year’s show features four unique, entertaining, and at times interactive performances that fill the intimate space of the FXK Theater in Reynolds Club. With the catchphrase, “Four shows, one stage,” CES Fest 2015 brings together an eclectic collection of one-act shows. As a whole, the four pieces run about three hours, including an intermission. Part One runs approximately one hour; Part Two, one hour and 40 minutes. Each piece offers something special, but if you can only make it to one half, the group offers a discount price ticket option for just the first or second act of the show. I present, below, the evening’s menu.
The first course begins with Magnifique: A Murder! - The Mystery: The Dinner: The Play, a work that’s part play, part improvisation. It’s the brainchild of director Andrew Mao and features a large and talented cast that put on creative, funny, and believable performances. What happens when a rich French man is murdered at a party, leaving behind massive jewels, a drunk wife, some pretentious academics, and a boy-crazy daughter? I honestly couldn’t tell you with any certainty that it will unfold the same way when you see it. So I really mean it when I say: You’ll have to see it to find out. The second show in the first half is Simoom, a brief but dramatic play by August Strindberg and directed by JT O’Connor. The show title is in Arabic, alluding to a desert storm with strong winds which excite the play’s characters into a wild hallucinatory frenzy. The second course begins with an original radio play adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein by Ivy Malao and Niki Chen. The actors tell the tale with impressively emotive and distorted voices from mi-
crophones at the front of the stage, while another performer creates sound effects mimicking the ocean, footsteps, and other noises much like the radio tales that predated television. The final work, directed by M.C. Steffen, is An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening. Written by Micle Maher, the work is a quirky and unexpectedly powerful piece of the ramblings and witty comments of one bizarre man in the last hour before his death. He talks to and with the audience, pulling it into the poignant and strange world of Dr. John Faustus, all while his unnervingly still and silent servant sits on a piano. Amoretta Cockerham, a fourth-year TAPS and anthropology double major, plays the servant Mephistopheles in Faustus. Having worked with both University Theater, the more well-known theatergroup on campus, and CES, she was able to explain some of the differences. According to her, UT has ready access to a lot of technology CES continued on page 6
Stop trying to make “DUFF” happen. It’s not going to happen. The DUFF, directed by Ari Sandel, is a movie centered on the character of Bianca (Mae Whitman). Bianca is introduced to the audience as a girl who seems completely invisible but does not seem to mind or notice it—at least at first. Bianca, like the heroine of most coming-of-age chick flicks, is quirky yet goes unnoticed by the vast population of her high school. That is, until her childhood friend/football captain Wes (Robbie Amell) points out the fact that she is the DUFF of her friend group—the Designated Ugly Fat Friend. If you have never heard this word before today, don’t worry; neither has half of the population. According to Urban Dictionary, this word has been around since 2003. However, a DUFF does not necessarily have to be ugly or fat, according to Wes, but sim-
ply more approachable than the DUFF’s other friends. Upon learning this fact Bianca goes on a journey of self discovery and transforms from invisible DUFF to likable hero. Throughout the rest of the movie Bianca splits her time between trying to change her DUFF status and chasing the guy of her dreams, played by Nick Eversman. In the end, though, she learns that none of it really matters, and that it is better to just be herself. Though it seems as though the movie is trying to pay homage to the ’80s John Hughes classics that started a genre, the movie hints at the fact that social groups constructed by The Breakfast Club are out of date. We are living in a time when “jocks play video games, princesses are on antidepressants, and geeks rule the world.” It seems as though the movie is echoing more the voice of nowclassics like Mean Girls and Clueless. Bella Thorn, who plays one of the mean girls at Bianca’s high school, cited the Megan Fox horror
film Jennifer’s Body as her inspiration for the role. “I feel like the lingo in Jennifer’s Body is exactly how it is in our film. So that was the closest thing.” Even when compared to modern day coming-of-age or transformation movies, The DUFF still seems to fall short. There is a certain disconnect between the movie’s message and how it is delivered. When the actors were asked about this message, their answers seemed to point toward a movie that broke down stereotypes instead of playing along with them. “For me, I like the idea of sort of breaking down the need for people to compare, and judge, and keep people down, and keep people in specific boxes,” Whitman said. “I think it’s really, like, limiting for everyone involved, and it’s just not real. And it’s hard when you don’t really have any perspective, especially when you're in school. And everything feels so present and so there, and it really hurts.” DUFF continued on page 6
THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | February 20, 2015
6
“...the execution left something to be desired.” DUFF continued from page 5
Whitman, although she didn’t have this exact experience in high school, identifies very strongly with Bianca and her story. Despite being a well known actress in critically acclaimed films such as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and The Perks of Being a Wallflower as well as appearing in the television show Arrested Development, Whitman did not have the easiest time in high school. “I just really wanted to kind of provide a little bit of perspective because I was bullied in school, too,” Whitman said. “So it was important to me to communicate that, you know, the coolest kids in the world are bullied, just like me. I'm the coolest kid in the world.” The movie’s message itself should be commended, but the execution left something to be desired. The dialogue tried to
mimic current-day youth, but did so in a way that failed to connect with the audience. Every other line was filled with slang and references to social media, some of which were out of date, to the point that it became tiresome. It’s a movie that tries to be hyper-modern without any sympathy for today’s youth. It tries to grasp our obsession with social media, selfies, and even pop culture, but it only seems to make fun of us for it. The movie goes overboard with its references until they are no longer even appreciated by the viewer. Instead the viewer comes to resent the characters for them. But in the end, it feels a bit unnecessary to look at this movie with too critical an eye. It’s entertaining, and for a high-school fat-friend comedy, that’s all that really matters. Opens in theaters February 20.
“...a performance just as quirky as it is profound.” CES continued from page 5
and space as well as professional and monetary support from the TAPS department that allows them to accomplish some difficult tasks with a certain amount of ease. CES, on the other hand, is entirely a work of love. “Creative problem solving has been important,” she said with a laugh. “If you have a strong interest in classic [works] or producing work independently in a less structured environment, then
theSketch Arts, Briefly.
Jazz Concert for Black History Month Tomorrow, International House is hosting its sixth annual black history month celebration of jazz. This concert will feature the talents of the Ari Brown Quintet, led by (you'll never guess) tenor saxophonist Ari Brown. Brown, who is also a pianist and composer, is a Chicago-based artist but has trekked all over the globe to show off his craft. Such farflung locales as Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore have all hosted his performances. In Chicago itself, Brown has played on the biggest of stages for years. He once played as part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Chicago debut of Anthony Davis's opera X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X. This event is cosponsored by the International House Global Voices 59th Street Jazz Series and WHPK Jazz Format. Saturday, February 21, International House, Assembly Hall, $10 general admission, $8 with student ID
After Bianca's (Mae Whitman) childhood friend (Robbie Amell) tells her she was just her friend group's Designated Ugly Fat Friend, an adventure unfolds.
COUP’s Mardi Gras
COURTESY OF WONDERLAND SOUND AND VISION
Typically, days like Christmas and Easter are cited as the religious holidays most warped by commercialism over the years. And that is a fair assessment. These two holidays feature strange and fantastical icons totally alien to Christianity and have been moved in the calendar (in Christmas’s case significantly) to accommodate pre-existing pagan cultural practices. But Mardi Gras does not get its due when it comes to religious festivals with the religion essentially stripped out. Based on the loosest possible of Christian cultural traditions, the last holiday before the self-denying days of Lent is really just an excuse for hedonism of the highest possible order. The day itself was this past Tuesday, but seeing as we’ve already established that its calendar placement and very existence are both completely arbitrary, there’s no reason why the part can’t go on. Thanks to the Council on University Programming, the party thankfully does go on tonight at Ida Noyes. From 9 p.m. to midnight there will be a Mardi Gras party fit for New Orleans. The event will feature the musical talents of The Granddaddy’s earlier in the evening and Dirt Red Brass Band from 10 p.m. to midnight. There will also be caricaturists, face painters, street signs, a photo booth, balloonists, and plenty of free food and drink for University students—enough drink, apparently, that they will be asking for
The Lion’s Ear Music for Leo X a concert by Schola Antiqua of Chicago
Friday February 20 7:30pm Bond Chapel
Schola Antiqua teams up with the talented young lutenist Ryaan Ahmed to present music in the milieu of Pope Leo X (r. 1513-21), one of the sixteenth century’s most important patrons of the arts. Part of the program will be devoted to sacred works that Leo “the Lion” would have encountered in the Sistine Chapel, an institution known for producing the most luxurious music of the time. The second half of the program will feature secular music from the pontiff’s esteemed lute player, Francesco da Milano. Ahmed will showcase some of the rousing and virtuosic sounds from the pope’s private quarters.
Tickets: General: $25 | Student/Senior: $10 Advance tickets are available at www.schola-antiqua.org cosponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute
it’s worth [it].” This year’s festival encapsulates their goal of continuing to give life to classic and individual works in a performance just as quirky as it is profound. Friday, February 20 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, February 21 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., FXK Theater, third floor Reynolds Club. Tickets for the full show are $7 in advance or $9 at the door. The half-show tickets are $5 in advance or $6 at the door.
two IDs (your UCID counts as one). So if you're 21 and over, or have a really good fake, Mardi Gras will be continuing well after Ash Wednesday. Friday, February 20, Ida Noyes, Free They Don’t Give a Damn Documentary filmmakers Kenny Young and Jeffrey T. Brown will be coming to the Logan Arts Center to show their recent documentary They Don’t Give a Damn this afternoon. The film, which focuses on the Chicago housing projects during the ’90s, includes the testimonies of many residents of the Chicago projects. In 1999, Chicago started a program called the Plan for Transformation to rehabilitate and build new public housing for the city. However, many of these public housing options were never rebuilt or were instead replaced by upscale condos outside of the price range of the original tenants. While the projects focused on in the film have been gone for over a decade, the people displaced during the program still have passionate opinions about the Plan for Transformation and the demolition of their communities. A screening of the film will be followed by a discussion with the directors. Friday, February 20, Logan Center 201, Free UChicago Presents: Avi Avital and David Greilsammer This Friday you can listen to this beautiful and exciting music and—the really exciting part—mingle with the world-class musicians afterwards at a students-only pizza party. Avi Avital, a young (and handsome) Israeli mandolin player, will be making his Chicago debut alongside pianist David Greilsammer in an exciting program from UChicago Presents. Avital has been recognized by The New York Times for his “exquisitely sensitive playing” and “stunning agility,” making him a favorite in musical circles despite being a relative newcomer. He’s not alone in his celebrity, though. Both Avital and Greilsammer have collected rave reviews, and together they have an energy that translates into their music. The show will feature everything from classics like Mozart and Bach to more unique pieces like Bartók's Romanian Folk Dances. The show will be preceded by a talk with music professor Lawrence Zbikowski at 6:30 p.m. Friday, February 20, Logan Center, Performance Hall, 7:30 p.m., $5 for students
THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | February 20, 2015
7
In the Chatter’s Box Squad faces final hurdle in with Sarah Langs
last regular season push
Tyler Howard is a second-year basketball player from Sioux Falls, SD. We chatted with him to get some insider info on the life of a Maroon athlete.
Chicago Maroon: How old were you when you started playing basketball? Tyler Howard: When I was like five or six. CM: Were you just playing at that point, or competing, too? TH: My mom played college basketball, so she got me playing in a league when I was like five or six. I was competing ever since then.
CM: Where did she play? TH: She played at South Dakota State.
contact you via email or in letters, you realize that you can play in college.
CM: Did you play any other sports when you were in elementary, middle or high school? TH: Yeah, I did soccer and football in middle school. In high school I did track and field, I long and triple jumped in high school.
CM: What has your experience been with the team so far? How did it alter your transition to college last year? TH: Last year was the first year in my career where I didn’t actually play at all, really. I didn’t really play…And then it was kind of a learning experience. I played a different role. And then this year I’ve gotten to start and play more, so it was a good learning experience my first year, observing and watching.
CM: How did basketball end up being the sport you focused on for college? TH: That’s what I was most talented at growing up, the one I enjoyed the most. All my friends played basketball, too. So, it was just something that I did my whole life and just focused on that. CM: When did you realize you’d be able to play in college? TH: Probably in high school. When I was playing AAU basketball. Having coaches
CM: Do you watch the NBA? TH: Yeah, I do. CM: Who do you root for? TH: I’m a Miami Heat fan, still, even though LeBron is gone. I’m from South Dakota, so I didn’t really have a NBA team growing up, so I always rooted for the Heat.
Track and Field Isaac Stein Senior Sports Contributor With the UAA Track and Field Championships looming in the near future, there is mounting pressure on the Maroons to make their final adjustments and fine-tune their skills in preparation for the last and most difficult stretch of the season. For some, this may seem daunting, however, third-year sprinter Mikaela Hammel is hardly fazed. Rather, she says that the squad is all business in advance of what amounts to four months worth of physical training and mental preparation. “Right about now, everyone gets more focused—winning the UAA title is the goal of our season. Practices get more intense, and people are intent on getting ahead on schoolwork so that they can dedicate all of their energy to this last week of training,” Hammel said.
The team’s days from now until the championships are not just a competitive lull filled with training; they also feature a home meet on Saturday—the Margaret Bradley Invitational. Rather than representing a lateseason garbage time matchup, Hammel characterized the Saturday meet as a critical opportunity for her teammates, who are on the cusp of being selected to participate in the championship events. “This Saturday is especially important for people who are on the bubble [as to] whether they may or may not go to the championships,” Hammel said. “Only 25 people from each team may participate, and only three per event. If the coach is on the fence about who to send [to the UAA], the times from this Saturday will factor in to the decision.” She added that her coaches’ decisions are based on an aggregate of individuals’ competition times, which are stored through the Track and Field Results Re-
porting System (TFRRS), an online data service. Still, Hammel said that the Saturday meet is a bit of a reprieve for the team. “It’s going to be pretty easy; nobody is competing in multiple events, and it’s an opportunity to run short and fast before the championship,” she said. In assessing both the men’s and women’s odds of pulling out a victory at UAAs, Hammel is cautiously optimistic, and stressed the importance of attention to detail in advance of the meet. “Both [Chicago] teams will be in the hunt; for the women, it’s going to come down between us and Wash U. Until then, we want to stay healthy and take care of the little things,” she said. The Margaret Bradley Invitational begins on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. It will be held at the Henry Crown Field House.
Get in the game!
Write for Sports. editor@chicagomaroon.com
SPORTS
IN QUOTES “Or possibly... ‘Needs to roll his H’s better while practicing his Torah portion for Bar Mitzvah. No future in Hebrew.’” - NY Giants offensive guard, Geoff Schwartz, on what his sixth grade scouting report would have been
NYU, Brandeis stand in the way of UAA crown
Home meet marks last chance to qualify for Nationals
Women’s Basketball
Swimming & Diving
Russell Mendelson Senior Sports Staff With the playoffs just around the corner and the Maroons contending for an NCAA bid, Chicago is heading into its final home games of the regular season against Brandeis and NYU on Friday with a firm goal in mind and a large chip on its shoulder. Chicago (16–6, 10–1 UAA) currently riding on a month-long 10-game winning streak will have to face a Violets (20–2, 9–2) team that held on to a perfect season into the month of January. It was the Maroons, though, who tarnished their charge toward perfection, handing them their first of two losses so far this season. NYU is also one of the three teams left in the UAA with an in-conference record above .500. The Judges (13–9, 5–6) are tied with Rochester, looking on from fourth at what is currently a three-team race for first that includes Wash U (20–2, 9–2) in addition to the Maroons and Violets. The strategy that has been consistently stated among the Chicago team has been one of taking the conference games one game at a time.
For the most part, this approach has been correlated with success. The Maroons lost only their first game of conference play, which came at the claws of the Bears on January 10. Once games within the conference begin, they are the only games that are played by the conference members until the conclusion of the regular season (with the exception of one game Carnegie Mellon played against Franciscan on January 27). When asked about any added pressure the team might be feeling heading into this weekend’s matchups following Wash U’s loss last week and leaving the Maroons in sole possession of the best record in the UAA, fourth-year forward Ali Shaw emphasized the team’s unwavering focus. “[I]t is exciting to be in first place,” said Shaw on the team’s accomplishments. “But we are not going to let that deter us from our plan to think one game at a time.” Shaw also credited the team’s success against NYU last month to the indomitable attitude the Maroon squad took into that game. “Last time we saw NYU we had the mindset that we
cannot lose. We were able to go to their gym and play really well as a team,” said Shaw. “We had a ton of fun and we were able to execute our game plan well. We will need that same mindset and focus going into this weekend.” In Chicago’s win against NYU, Shaw was one of five Maroons to score in the double digits scoring 10 points total including two threes. However, the Violets were not very far behind in incorporating their whole squad in the effort suggesting both teams will need to both rely on the depth of their rosters and strong defensive play in order to claim victory on Sunday. Shaw echoed the analysis of these observations stressing the importance of both points and noting how imperative they have been so far to the team’s consistent high level of play. “To be successful this weekend we need to continue to do what has gotten us this far: pressure the ball on defense, rebound on both ends of the floor, and most importantly play as a unit 1–16,” said Shaw. The Maroons take on Brandeis at 6 p.m. tonight in Ratner and NYU on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Katie Anderson Sports Staff The Maroons will look to continue their success as they host the Midwest Invitational this weekend in their last meet before Nationals. The men are coming off a second place finish in the UAA Championships, where the women finished third. Combined, the teams posted 21 all-conference finishes and three first-place wins in the conference meet. At the UAA Championships, the Maroon men captured three event titles over the course of the four-day competition. Third-year Thomas Meek led the charge by winning the 200-yard freestyle. Meek was also a part of the first-place 800yard freestyle relay which broke the conference record in the event. Another member of this relay was Matt Veldman. Like Meek, Veldman earned his own gold medal in the 100-yard butterfly. Veldman not only earned first place in the meet, but also came away with a new school record. The Midwest Invitational is
COURTESY OF UCHICAGO ATHLETICS
place finishes in the 100-yard backstroke and as a member of the 200-yard medley relay and Wall with a fifth place finish in the 200-yard freestyle and as a part of the 800-yard freestyle relay. Fourth-year Jennifer Hill, who was a member of the thirdplace 400-yard free relay team and individually finished fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke at UAAs, expressed the improvements she hopes all swimmers will make before Nationals. “I hope that at Nationals we will be able to push through the pain, especially at the ends of our races, and fight to the finish,” she said. “We have to have confidence in our training and believe in ourselves in order to succeed at Nationals.” The team also recognizes the benefits of getting to compete once more at home before heading to Shenandoah, TX for the much higher-pressure environment of the National meet. The Midwest Invitational will take place at the MyersMcLoraine Pool this Friday and Saturday.
Conference title on the line Men’s Basketball Michael Cheiken Sports Staff
Second-year forward Britta Nordstrom drives to the hoop against the University of Rochester at Neon Night earlier this year.
a last chance opportunity for many swimmers and divers to qualify for Nationals, which will take place at the end of March. “Since we can only bring 22 people for each team to UAAs, this is the end of season taper meet for those who didn’t go to UAAs as well as a last chance to qualify for those who came close at UAAs,” third-year swimmer Matt Veldman said. “Additionally, the meet is required for those who have qualified for Nationals as a meet to train and compete in different events before Nationals.” The Maroons will be looking to carry the momentum from last week into this meet. The women had a tougher go at it, with six of the eight UAA schools being ranked in the top 25 in the nation, including powerhouse Emory topping the list. A medley of bronze medals were indicative of the teams third place finish. First-year Melissa Bischoff and second-year Allison Wall both took home two top finishes a piece over the course of the meet. Bischoff with two third-
The Maroons have a 7–4 conference record as the regular season comes to an end. The squad has three games remaining, all against UAA competition, and is currently in a threeway tie for first place in the conference. Before taking on the Wash U Bears next weekend to close out the regular season, the Maroons have their last homestand this weekend. They will seek revenge against both the Brandeis Judges and the NYU Violets in Ratner, today and on Sunday, respectively. The Judges find themselves at the bottom of the conference table coming into the last three games of the regular season. Since defeating the Maroons at home about a month ago, the Judges have gone 1–6. Regardless, the team has shown that they can give the Maroons trouble on a bad shooting night and, as the Maroons are in a tie for first place, this not a game that Chicago can afford to drop. Brandeis has been weak on the offensive end this season, scoring about 150 points less than the next most shootingtroubled team in the conference. While the squad remains
young, and perhaps promising for the future, their 2015–2016 potential will not help them tonight. Unless the Maroons struggle in the same way they did earlier in the season up in Boston, the Judges should prove unable to impose their will upon the Chicago team. The real test, of course, comes Sunday at noon against the Violets of NYU. The Violets work through third-year forward Evan Kupferberg. The Violet lynchpin is averaging a doubledouble on the year with 18.1 points and 10.4 boards. The combined efforts of third-year forwards Nate Brooks and Alex Voss will need to be enough to shut him down if the Maroons want to emerge victorious. If the Maroons can win the battle on the glass, their chances of toppling the Violets will be drastically increased. Behind its star forward, NYU has been putting up big numbers, averaging almost 80 points per game in conference play. The Violets should provide a good matchup for the Maroons, who are second in the conference in defense. If the Maroons want to win, they will need to keep up with the Violets’ high-octane offense. They can do this through the three-
point shot. This season the Maroons have lived and died by the three. In conference play, the side has hoisted up more shots from distance than any other team. When they fall, the Maroons usually win. Making the three opens up the paint for Brooks and second-year forward Blaine Crawford, where the big, strong men have been able to wiggle their way to the hoop with dream shakes and spin moves. Despite the gravity of winning these two games, the Maroons are staying level-headed. Third-year guard John Steinberg said, “We know the situation and how important these games are to our season, but [we] are not looking at these games any different than the rest of our season. We’re going to take it one possession at a time, execute our game plan, and if we can do that, then we have a great chance of succeeding.” With this mentality, the Maroons will approach the home stretch of their season, looking to at least stay tied for the first place position in the UAA. Wins this weekend could provide the Maroons with momentum approaching Wash U’s senior night and the postseason.