Chicago-Maroon-09-11-20

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2009

CHICAGO

AROON

VOLUME 121

IN VOICES

IN SPORTS

Twilight revamped

Basketball tips off

» Page 9

» Page 16

Switch your gag reflex to the off position.

Men and women start home schedules with Midway Classic.

ISSUE 16

CHICAGOMAROON.COM

The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892

DISCOURSE

HYDE PARK

Zimmer optimistic at open forum

Z&H to replace UMart in May

By Ella Christoph News Editor

University President Robert Zimmer addresses student questions at a forum held in the McCormick Tribune Lounge Thursday.

JEREMY MARTIN/MAROON

President committed to faculty expansion, construction projects

By Al Gaspari News Staff President Robert Zimmer updated students on the University’s finances in a Student Government–sponsored forum Thursday, in a discussion that touched on faculty expansion, Harper Court development, and the University’s endowment.

Zimmer said the cuts were suc-

cessful, in part due to the wide range of administrators who weighed in. “ We ’ r e a b i g a n d c o m p l e x University. We’ve got literally hundreds of people who are making important decisions, because you want the people to make the decision who are the best at making them,” he said.

The University considered trimming every budget except for financial aid packages. “Offering financial aid is something that reflects the highest values for the University,” Zimmer said.

Zimmer said the recently announced faculty expansion was only possible because the cutbacks ensured the University’s budget would not decrease in the foreseeable future.

He added that the economic standing of the University makes it a good time to begin a faculty expansion, which will be the first in over 40 years. Many peer institutions have instituted hiring freezes or cut back on hiring, putting the University at an advantage for hiring.

ZIMMER continued on page 4

HEALTH CARE

IN MEMORIAM

U of C clinic offers H1N1 vaccines to those at risk

Former Argonne director, dean of physical sciences dies

By Asher Klein News Editor The University will set up a temporary swine flu clinic today in the lobby of the School of Social Service Administration to vaccinate University community members with certain medical conditions, including asthma and heart disease.

The one-day clinic, on 60th Street and Ellis Avenue from 12 to 4 p.m., will provide 600 to 800 vaccines, according to University spokesman Steve Kloehn.

Students, faculty, and staff with asthma, neurological, and developmental disorders, chronic lung diseases, or heart disease must bring a University ID to the clinic. A full list of conditions is available on the University’s Web site.

Kloehn also said the SCC has been seeing more swine flu cases, but “we haven’t seen any real concentrated outbreaks, for instance, among residential housing.”

Should the University run out of vaccines at today’s clinic, Kloehn said it will immediately post an alert and will follow up with an e -mail to the community. Any leftover vaccines “will be offered again at a later date,” Kloehn said, adding that if there are several hundred remaining, the University will set up another clinic day.

“It’s hard to know for us exactly how many people meet the C D C conditions for medical risk,” Kloehn said, “so we’ll have to reassess after tomorrow whether we need to go back to the community with particular risks or whether we can open it up more broadly.”

The University has made as many vaccines available as possible and will continue to do so when it gets further shipments.

Shipments are controlled by federal and local health authorities. He said there was no way to know how many vaccines the University would receive with the next batch.

Zaleski and Horvath MarketCafé (Z&H) will open a second location on 57th Street and Kimbark Avenue this spring, replacing University Market.

Z&H, which currently operates on 47th Street between Greenwood and Woodlawn Avenues, is a specialty grocery store with a deli, cheese shop, and café.

Tim Schau, co-owner of the shop with Sam Darrigrang, said the University approached Z&H a few months ago about opening a store at the 57th Street location. “At the time, we weren’t actually looking for a new location, but it’s a great opportunity,” he said.

The new location is appealing because of its high foot traffic. “It’s a completely different atmosphere. We don’t have a lot of walking [at our current location],” Schau said. “The dynamic of the store will be different, but the concept will be very similar.”

Schau said the 57th Street location is similar in size to the 47th Street shop and will offer a comparable array of services.

University Market, which has rented its space from the University of Chicago, announced its decision to close the shop and move their deli operations to Medici Bakery on November 2, citing a large increase in rent that they claimed was significantly higher than other retail sites in Hyde Park. The owner of the market, Hans Morsbach (MBA ’61) also owns Medici Bakery and Medici Market and operates the Pub. University Market closes December 13 and will begin operat-

ing its deli out of the bakery.

Schau said the rent for the space is at market rate, although he would not disclose any specific numbers. He said business at the 47th Street location has been good and was confident that Z&H on 57th Street would be profitable.

Z&H’s lease begins in January, when renovations will begin. Schau said the shop will open in May if the project goes according to plan.

According to University spokesman Steve Kloehn, the University has been working to make the transition as speedy as possible in light of University Market choosing not to extend its lease.

“Because University Market wanted to accelerate their departure, the University has been working with Z&H to see how soon it’s possible to open,” he said.

One possible change is a glass shutter that would allow customers to access an espresso bar from inside or outside the shop. Changing the layout of the store from University Market’s current arrangement will also make room for tables and chairs inside as well as a variety of specialty counters, Schau said.

The shop’s deli will offer madeto-order sandwiches and panini that will cost between seven and eight dollars. At the 47th street location, Z&H’s Godfather, with prosciutto, basil, tomato, and mozzarella, is $7.50, with a vegetarian version available for a dollar less. The sandwich mirrors University Market’s most popular seller, which is $6.25, or $4.50 for the vegetarian sandwich.

Other Z&H offerings include a sandwich with roast beef, blue cheese, and onion spread, and another with grilled eggplant, tomato, and red

Z&H continued on page 3

By Burke Frank Associate News Editor P h y s i c i s t A l b e r t V. C r e w e , inventor of the scanning transmission electron microscope and former director of Argonne National Laboratory, died Wednesday from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 82.

The scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), which Crew invented in 1964, revolutionized physics and chemistry by producing the first still and moving images of atoms.

Crewe first arrived at the University of Chicago as a visiting research associate in 1955, and in 1958 was appointed head of Argonne’s Particle Accelerator division. The U.S. Department of Energy commissioned a stateof-the-art accelerator at the site, and under Crewe’s supervision, Argonne completed the $55 million Zero Gradient Synchrotron in 1962.

CREWE continued on page 4

Albert Crewe, director of Argonne National Laboratory from 1961-1967, died Wednesday.

COURTESY OF ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY

2

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3

CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | November 20, 2009

AWARDS

CAMPUS LIFE

Two art scholars up for $100K prize

Church hands out Origin of Species with Creationist intro

By Brittany Birberick News Staff A U of C professor and a Renaissance Society curator were both nominated for the Ordway Prize this month, an award honoring contemporary artists who have not yet received widespread recognition.

Tania Bruguera, a visual arts professor and performance artist, and Renaissance Society assistant curator Hamza Walker (A.B. ’88) were nominated for the artist and writer/curator categories, respectively. The prize awards $100,000 each to two winners with careers spanning at least 15 years.

Walker is the director of education for the Renaissance Society, a non-collecting contemporary art museum on the fourth floor of Cobb Hall.

“I was always interested in contemporary art, but it wasn’t until my last year of college that I caught the bug,” Walker said in an e-mail interview. “When I was an undergrad, the [art history] train only went as far as the Weimar Republic. Anything past that, you had to walk the rest of the way.”

Walker, who has been working at the Renaissance Society since 1994, is also a faculty member at the Art Institute, and writes for a number of publications on contemporary art criticism, short fiction, and experimental music.

Candidates for the Ordway Prize are selected through an anonymous nomination process that draws from a global pool of curators, writers, artists, and museum directors. “I am touched to have that acknowledged by my peers,” Walker said. “I have a genuine passion for what I do.”

Walker added that the prize money, which carries no restrictions, would be put to good use, paying off his debts and giving his 1990 Subaru Justy a “major tune-up.”

CRIME REPORT

Bruguera is a political and interdisciplinary artist who focuses on the relationship between art, politics, and life. Her pieces depict art as an experience to be walked through and felt, according to her University biography.

In one installation in Havana, Bruguera constructed a dark tunnel-like space and filled it with rotten sugarcane husks, which her visitors could walk through. Visitors were directed towards a light, which was revealed to be footage from one of Fidel Castro’s speeches. Once visitors reached the end of the tunnel, several naked male figures walked towards them making bowing and slapping gestures.

At another installation in Columbia, Bruguera distributed cocaine to her audience while actors playing left-wing guerillas and right-wing military officers tried to speak over each other in a panel discussion.

Since 2002, her pieces have addressed the structures and resources of power, and her aim has been to utilize political power techniques rather than just representing how they function in political situations.

Originally from Cuba, Bruguera now splits her time between Havana and Chicago.

Besides her position at the U of C, Bruguera is the founder and director of Arte de Conducta, an alternative art school project that focuses on behavior art, in Havana. She is also a faculty member at the University Iuav in Venice.

Bruguera was unavailable for comment.

A jury of leading arts professionals will decide the two Ordway Prize recipients, and the winners will be announced in early 2010.

Three individuals are nominated in each category.

“Being nominated with another University colleague speaks volumes about the national and international profile of our visual arts program,” Walker said.

BY ALICIA SANCHEZ-RAMIREZ

By Stacey Kirkpatrick Senior News Staff In a self-proclaimed “resounding answer” to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, copies of Darwin’s Origin of the Species, with a new introduction by creationist Ray Comfort, were distributed on campus Wednesday.

A lone distributor under Hull Gate, adjacent to the zoology building, handed out the books to passing students, and few refused the offer of a free book. Living Waters, a nondenominational Christian Ministry located in California and led by Comfort, donated the books for dissemination on college campuses.

The on-campus distributor, a born-again Christian not affiliated with the University, declined to give his name.

Comfort wrote a new introduction for Species, in which he argues against the theory of evolution, compares Darwin’s theory of natural selection with the philosophy of “Social Darwinism,” and cites Adolf Hitler’s advocacy of eugenics as an example of the dangers of evolutionary theory. The 49-page introduction contains 103 endnotes, citing sources ranging from prominent evolutionary theorist Stephen Gould to the New Testament to Comfort himself.

Almost 200,000 copies of the amended book were given out at 100 universities in a plan called “The Origin into Schools Project,” according to Comfort’s Web site.

This mass distribution plan was not advertised beforehand, with the exception of a YouTube video featuring Comfort. In the video, Comfort said the event would take place Thursday rather than Wednesday.

Except for Comfort’s introduction, which can be found online at Comfort’s website, Comfort claims the text of The Origin is complete and unabridged.

Second-year Claire Stone was taken aback when she realized what she thought had been a free bible was actually The Origin of Species. “[They] are pretty clever, I’ll give them that.

Not only was it not a Bible, but it wasn’t just

Origin of Species, either,” she said. “It has a creationist introduction with a fairly thoughtful argument. I was curious enough to read it, so I suppose they won in that respect. Interesting tactics, anyway.”

Robert Richards, a history, philosophy, and social studies of science and medicine professor and a Darwin enthusiast, was told early on about Comfort’s plans. As a strong advocate for evolution theory, Richards found the introduction to be “kind of silly and ridiculous.”

“A lot of the arguments have been repeated ad nauseum by creationists, and all of them have been conclusively answered,” he said.

Richards found the lack of scientific knowledge in the essay particularly troublesome.

Parts of the introduction claim that evolution violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

“It’s amazing. It’s just a misunderstanding of science,” he said.

For Richards, handing the books out on campus was a good idea because U of C students are “very critical and smart readers [who are] familiar with what’s going on,” he said. “I hope they read his intro and make it to the second part of the book, the part with Darwin’s prose,” he said.

Steve Newton, project director for the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), also heard about the plans early on by word of mouth. In response to Comfort’s additional introduction, Newton wrote a five-page response and analysis which can be found online at the NCSE’s Don’t Diss Darwin Web site.

Comfort is a Christian evangelist known for his condemnation of evolution. He founded Living Waters Ministry, the group responsible for handing out the books.

Living Waters provided press kits to those interested in helping out with the mass distribution.

Richards was not opposed to the marketing scheme. “I thought it was a great idea to send around 100,000 copies of The Origin of Species. It’s one of the great works of the 19th century,” Richards said.

» November 16, 5:45 p.m.

A man standing on the corner of 55th Street and Cornell Avenue was approached by an unknown man, who punched him in the face. The offender was described as black, with a medium build.

» November 16, 7:50 p.m.

A woman walking on the 5600 block of Kimbark Avenue was approached by an unknown man who stopped her by brandishing a gun. The assailant grabbed the woman’s purse and ran when a neighbor yelled at him. The suspect fled in a vehicle driven by a second person. The offender was described as black, wearing a black skull cap and a black sweater.

DISCOURSE

Environmentalist Lester Brown urges action to prevent food crisis

By Serra Saridereli News Contributor Lester Brown, an influential and awardwinning environmentalist, warned an I-House audience about waning global resources Tuesday in a speech titled after his latest book, Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.

Brown founded the Earth Policy Institute, has won awards from the United Nations and the World Wide Fund for Nature, and has received a MacArthur Fellowship.

He linked declining food and water supplies across the globe with the impact of melting ice on agriculture and grain production. “More often than not, the reason for the decline of

early civilizations was a decline in their food supply,” Brown said.

Brown said China and India over-pump water to grow enough rice to feed their populations. Food production requires immense amounts of water—2,000 liters a day.

But the environment might improve through alternative energy sources, he said. Brown stressed that coal power plants could be shut down if the necessary energy were supplied through wind-generating power plants and solar resources. If people were to take some basic steps, Brown said, like switching from regular light bulbs to LED lights, the United States could shut down approximately 705 power plants—reducing energy use by 90 percent.

Café is “neighborhood grocery that’s brought up to date” Z&H continued from front page pepper spread.

According to Kloehn, the University was interested in leasing the store to a high-quality amenity shop. Z&H, he said, was an ideal choice because of its local roots.

“Z&H has b een a great addition to Kenwood, and Tim is a long-time Hyde Parker,” Kloehn said. “There is always a desire to promote local businesses.”

Z&H opened on 47th Street just over a year ago. Schau described the store as a “best-in-class

experience,” saying the store was competitively priced in what they offered. “We’re a premium experience, but at an affordable price,” he said.

Schau said their La Cuerca proscuitto from Iowa is a premium offering from a regional provider at a reasonable price. The shop also holds out for serrano ham from Spain because, he said, only the Spanish really know how to make serrano.

It’s details like these which make Z&H special, he said, while allowing it to operate at reasonable prices. “It’s a neighborhood grocery that’s brought up to date.”

4

CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | November 20, 2009

ALUMNI

Ivy Plus helps alums find plus-ones

By Sonia Hinson News Staff The U of C may have dropped out of the Big Ten, but it can count itself in the Ivy Plus Society (IPS), a business—and dating—networking club for alums of elite colleges across the country.

Alumni of Ivy League and other prestigious colleges, universities, business, law, and medical schools can join—if they’re between 21 and 42. Members must hold a degree from a “plus” school—including the University of Chicago, Stanford, West Point, and the London School of Economics (but not Oxford), or, of course, the Ivy League.

Events take place in New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Articles in the New York Times and Gawker claimed IPS has a snobbish and elitist attitude

because partygoers only want to socialize with people of their own kind.

IPS founder Jennifer Wilde Anderson (J.D. ’06) defended the society’s qualifications, pointing out that IPS-eligble alumni are allowed to bring friends. “People have all kinds of friends in any social environment; they are not going to leave them just for a party,” Anderson said, stating that anyone can be “a good addition to the party.”

Anderson said the group hasn’t created its own social circle. “It is just one party a month, I’m about the only person who goes religiously,” she said.

Anderson founded the group in 2006, when she was living in Los Angeles and working with Yale’s Alumni Club in Southern California to create social events. She used that experience to reach out to alumni of other elite colleges

and universities, bringing in over 500 attendees at the first Los Angeles event. She plans on expanding IPS to Boston early next year and eventually setting up a chapter in Chicago.

The IPS Web site describes the events as “sexy,” and they are located at trendy venues. The society “picks all the hottest spots, so people are not working hard and are not spending all their time figuring out what is hot,” Anderson said.

While Anderson described the society as focused on socializing, not just dating, new relationships are at least a side effect of IPS. The New York Times reported on October 2 that about 75 percent of the attendees at IPS events are single, and Anderson said that “a couple of engagements and new boyfriends” have come out of IPS events, adding that married couples attend as well.

CAMPUS LIFE

“It is not a dating service. I’m a lawyer, not a matchmaker. Anytime you throw a party with young professionals you are going to have a lot of single people. That is the nature of the age,” Anderson said.

Dave Siemer (M.B.A. ’0 4) regularly attends Ivy League Plus events in Los Angeles. Siemer, who has a girlfriend, said his focus at the events is networking—the event is “good for connections,” he said, adding that he has started several business relationships with people he met at the parties.

As for the competition between schools, Anderson said that there are no rivalries when it comes to IPS social events. “I always find those rivalries are kind of pondering,” she said. “Even the deepest college rivalries are very fun-loving.”

Crewe’s electron microscopes bring scientists an order of magnitude closer to atoms

Bicycle Ambassador gives tips on turn signal diplomacy

CREWE continued from front page

at red lights also apply to bikers, he said.

Daley’s ambassadors serve as a publicawareness outreach team that promotes safety for all road users and encourages Chicagoans to ride their bikes more often.

They visit schools, summer camps, and events all over the city, directing most of their efforts toward children. To date, Van Zoeren estimated the ambassadors have reached over 16,000 children.

Crewe served as director of Argonne from 1961 to 1967, and he focused on electron microscopy. The laboratory, the oldest and largest physical sciences research laboratory in the country, employed 5,500 scientists and operated with a $100 million budget.

The University granted Crewe a full professorship in 1963, and upon his resignation as director in 1967, he returned to the physics faculty to continue his research.

Crewe was appointed dean of the physical sciences division in 1971, a position he held until 1981.

Until Crewe invented STE M, microscopes operated by light reflected on or projected through a specimen. While useful for many scientific purposes, the resolution (around 200 nanometers) was insufficient to visualize tiny molecular or atomic structures, which can be as small as .06 nanometers.

The resolution limit of optical microscopes results from the wavelength of light, so electrons, which have higher energy and a shorter wavelength, can resolve an image with greater precision.

Crewe was born in 1927 in Bradford, England, and became the first in his family to attend high school. He received an undergraduate physics degree at the University of Liverpool in 1947, and was granted a scholarship to continue studying for a Ph.D. Crewe is survived by his wife and four children.

tunities and jobs. With that not happening, there were a number of issues that got brought up of things that could be improved. We’ll see if we can get some of them done.”

Labor activists raised concerns about the University’s relationships with Aramark, which provides service at the dining halls, and HEI Hotels, in which the University owns stock. Zimmer said the University will not be changing its relationship with either any time soon.

Students also asked about the expansion of the study abroad programs, which Zimmer credited to better programs and higher student demand.

“Just a number of years ago, there weren’t that many active study abroad programs.

There was a little bit of fear that these pro-

grams would undermine the rigor of the university. I think that the Civ programs were a great opportunity to do study abroad, but in a Chicago way,” Zimmer said.

Zimmer also clarified his interpretation of the University’s policy regarding academic freedom. He recently wrote an e-mail to the University community, admonishing protesters who disrupted former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert’s speech in the Reynold’s Club last month.

“It is not necessarily the freedom to speak but the freedom to listen. If you are preventing someone from speaking, you are really preventing others from listening,” he said.

Zimmer will address specific concerns about Ehud Olmert’s visit to campus at a private forum.

Nicholas Van Zoeren, one of Mayor Richard Daley’s “Bicycling Ambassadors,” promotes bike riding, culture, and safety outside Cobb Hall Tuesday.

CLAIRE HUNGERFORD/MAROON

By Emily Casey News Contributor One of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Bicycling Ambassadors advocated cycling and bike safety, Wednesday afternoon outside Cobb Hall.

Bike Ambassador and passionate cyclist Nicholas Van Zoeren said his goal was to encourage students, “If they don’t have [a bike] to get one, and if they have one, to ride

as safely as possible.”

Some safety tips come as a surprise to even the most safety-conscious bikers, Van Zoeren said. For example, Lake View trail, a popular bike tour through Chicago, is one of the most dangerous places to bike in the city.

Van Zoeren also addressed the challenges of road cycling. “If [cyclists] want respect from motorists, they must obey the rules of the road.” Signaling for turns and stopping

University would have benefitted from Chicago Olympics, Zimmer says ZIMMER continued from front page “The current situation makes it a good time to be looking for people. And people who are getting their Ph.D.s are looking at the job market, and it is very competitive. And we are in a position to hire these people,” Zimmer said.

The same administrators who determined the cuts will decide where to expand the departments, Zimmer said, and the University will focus on hiring mostly lower-level faculty positions in many departments.

Other projects will also move forward, like Harper Court, despite some developers’ financial difficulties.

“One of the issues around Hyde Park is that the commercial amenities are not outstanding.

There’s been a lot of interest from students, from community members to see a better commercial

development in Hyde Park,” Zimmer said. Plans for Harper Court include a movie theater, gym, and hotel, as well as a 24-hour diner.

He added that projects like Harper Court and the Logan Arts Center show the University’s commitment to the community as a whole, not just to students. “Our goal is to work with the city to make the area an enjoyable urban environment for the community,” Zimmer said.

If Chicago had won its bid for the 2016 Olympics, the University would have benefited, along with the South Side, from infrastructural improvements, Zimmer said.

“If Chicago got the Olympics, it would offer an opportunity to improve the infrastructure on the South Side, public transportation, roads, further investments in economic oppor-

5

CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | November 20, 2009

CAMPUS LIFE

University opens Law School time capsule The Law School displays documents from its cornerstone, last opened in 1958.

It includes photographs of Theodore Roosevelt, who laid the Law School’s original cornerstone in 1903.

JEREMY MARTIN/MAROON

By Nahid Gardezi News Staff The cornerstone of the University of Chicago L aw School served as a time capsule for over a century, protecting the words of Supreme Court justices, newspapers, and political scientists since 1903. The cornerstone was opened in August to commemorate the 50th anniversary of classes in the Law School’s current building south of the Midway.

Preservationists from the Regenstein Library opened the envelopes to reveal letters from academics, publishers, and prominent legal figures. These included letters from five Supreme Court Justices, including William Brennan.

“Putting the letters in was a brilliant idea,” said Julie Wright, associate dean for library and information services at the Law School.

“The individuals chosen were intelligent, thoughtful, and informed individuals.”

President Theodore Roosevelt attended the 1903 ceremony for the placing of the first cornerstone at Stuart Hall, which originally housed the Law School. When the stone was moved in 1958 to the new building, Law School administrators found a box with newspapers, letters, miscellaneous coins, photographs, and a handwritten note with the names of the school’s builders. The contents of the original cornerstone were re-interred with added materials in 1958.

Many of those letters focused on escalating tensions with the Soviet Union, and Assistant Dean for Communications and Lecturer in the Law School Marsha Nagorsky found them revealing.

“What was striking to me, as someone who was born in the 1970s, was how all-consuming the Cold War was. It is easy to forget that,” Nagorsky said.

Discussion of the next cornerstone will be delayed until January 1, when incoming Law School Dean Michael Schill begins his term.

For the next addition to the cornerstone, to be opened in 2059, the Law School will focus on the everyday—it plans to collect objects that U of C law students might carry.

“Nowadays it is difficult to come up with something unique to put in a cornerstone.

All of these publications are readily available today,” Wright said. “Most of the things we think are permanent today will be irrelevant in 50 years.”

The cornerstone items are currently assembled in display cases on the first floor of the Law School building. Out of concern for the effect of temperature and humidity on the antique documents, the display items will be removed in a few weeks and archived in the Special Collections Research Center at the Regenstein Library.

The original photographs and letters will be scanned and published in the Alumni Magazine later this year.

Are You Considering a Career in Health?

Consider the advantages of earning a

Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is offering an exciting opportunity to become a public health professional specializing in the prevention and control of disease, particularly chronic disease.

Health and health-related industries are among the fastestgrowing in the nation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and those holding Master of Public Health degrees are needed in a wide variety of health careers.

Our MPH degree provides intensive education and training in public health approaches to prevention. Applications are now being accepted for the MPH program’s Fall 2010 semester. For more information, visit our website:

www.mph.illinois.edu

Thanksgiving Library Hours Regenstein will close early on Wednesday, November 25 at 10 p.m.

All libraries will be closed on

Thursday, November 26 in observance of Thanksgiving.

On Friday, November 27: Crerar and Regenstein will be open normal building hours.

D’Angelo will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Eckhart and SSA will be closed.

The Regenstein All-Night Study Space will close Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m. and reopen Sunday night at 1:00 a.m.

Library hours can be found at hours.lib.uchicago.edu.

773-702-8740

6

CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | November 20, 2009

VIEWPOINTS

EDITORIAL & OP-ED NOVEMBER 20, 2009

EDITORIAL

Give us a break CHICAGO MAROON

The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892

SUPRIYA SINHABABU, Editor-in-Chief TOM TIAN, Managing Editor ELLA CHRISTOPH, News Editor ASHER KLEIN, News Editor MICHAEL LIPKIN, News Editor CLAIRE McNEAR, Viewpoints Editor HAYLEY LAMBERSON, Voices Editor BEN SIGRIST, Voices Editor JORDAN HOLLIDAY, Sports Editor MATT BARNUM, Editorial Board Member BEN ROSSI, Editorial Board Member DANI BRECHER, Head Copy Editor SHAHZAD AHSAN, Photo Editor JEREMY MARTIN, Photo Editor HEATHER LEWIS, Head Designer ABRAHAM NEBEN, Web Editor BURKE FRANK, Associate News Editor CHRIS BOOTS, Associate Viewpoints Editor EVAN COREN, Associate Viewpoints Editor RYAN TRYZBIAK, Associate Sports Editor ERIC GUO, Associate Photo Editor CAMILLE VAN HORNE, Assoc. Photo Editor JUDY MARCINIAK, Business Manager JAY BROOKS, Business Director JACK DiMASSIMO, Designer IVY PEREZ, Designer JESSICA SHEFT-ASON, Designer NAKUL SINGH, Designer CLAIRE ZHOU, Designer MATT TYNDALE, Designer ANDREW GREEN, Designer ANNA AKERS-PECHT, Copy Editor JORDAN FRANKLIN, Copy Editor DANIELLE GLAZER, Copy Editor MONIKA LAGAARD, Copy Editor LAUREN LARSON, Copy Editor HOLLY LAWSON, Copy Editor MIRANDA LI, Copy Editor LAUREN MAKHOLM, Copy Editor KATE MARSDEN, Copy Editor ROBERT TINKLE, Copy Editor LILY YE, Copy Editor WENJIA DOREEN ZHAO, Copy Editor

The CHICAGO MAROON is published twice weekly during autumn, winter, and spring quarters.

Canceling classes the Wednesday before Thanksgiving would make holiday travel easier Thanksgiving break brings with it several tough choices. With the winter holiday just a couple weeks away, many students, as well as parents, are unsure whether the plane ticket home is worth the cost. At the U of C, students who do choose to go home are faced with a second, similarly difficult decision: to skip class on Wednesday or to attend, but deal with the hassles that come with traveling so close to the holiday.

It doesn’t have to be that way, however. The U of C should make

life easier for students and follow the lead of many other schools by canceling classes the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

As it stands, some professors don’t hold class that Wednesday; others do. Classes that day are often frustratingly devoid of content, as the reluctant-to-cancel-class instructor quickly realizes that half of the class didn’t care and flew home early anyway. This leaves the more devoted students upset, wishing that they had had the nerve to leave Hyde Park on Tuesday.

Without a top-down response, this cycle will likely continue.

Professors may feel like they’re not giving students their money’s worth if they nix a potential class period; ditto for students who might feel obligated to attend on a day they’d rather be home. The solution is an easy one—canceling Wednesday classes.

Moreover, making this change would not put Monday–Wednesday classes behind Tuesday–Thursday ones—the fall academic calendar already allots an extra Monday-

OP-ED

Not a numbers game

Eliminating outdated cMail to save money is correct decision

Arguing that abortion is common doesn’t help pro-choice position

Matt Barnum Columnist

Earlier this year, in one of my psych classes, my professor had the class answer a series of questions.

One of the tasks was to estimate the number of abortions for every 100,000 births. To do this, we had to choose a high and a low number, within which we were 90 percent sure the real number lay.

Remarkably, as it turned out, not a single person in the class of about 40 was able to provide a correct range.

The correct answer, in 2005, the latest year for which numbers are available, is that for every four births, there was slightly more than one

abortion, totaling 1.21 million abortions for the year.

No doubt that almost all those hands that lay resting when the professor asked who estimated correctly would have shot up had he then asked who was pro-choice. That’s because most supporters of legal abortion are unwilling or unable to grapple with the hard reality of abortion in America.

Except maybe Jeffrey Toobin. In a remarkable piece for The New Yorker, Toobin, one of the nation’s top legal analysts, turns these statistics on their head, using them not as an argument against legal abortion, but for it. “Abortion is almost as old as childbirth. There has always been a need for some women to end their pregnancies,” opens Toobin. He continues blithely: “[T]hirty-five percent of all women of reproductive age in

used his lecture to explain how historians have misrepresented Chairman Mao’s words and deeds. We came for a revolution and got fact-checking.

This will not do.

Lotta is right to defend the communist project. But he’s going about it the wrong way.

It turns out that there’s something you (really) don’t know about Communism: It was all ab out freedom, liberty, and emancipation.

Just as American and French revolutionaries fought for freedom from the despotism of the ancien regime, socialism emerged out of these struggles as revolutionaries sought to overcome capitalist domination.

But our Objectivist friends are

Eliminating cMail is not only the best thing to do, but also overdue (“Outsourcing, Not Upgrading,” 11/17/09).

“Remember, students, always be careful when you send your papers over the Internet through e-mail. You never know where things end up in cyberspace!” I will always remember this suggestion by my high school English teacher, not necessarily for her “wisdom,” but because I never had this problem. I never lost a paper “in cyberspace,” nor was I ever concerned about the delivery time of e-mail. Why? Because I was one of the original, invite-only members of the Google Mail community, also known as Gmail. This service was leaps and bounds ahead of any other e-mail service at the time, and has not, in my humble opinion, been bested since.

When I first arrived on campus with my cNet ID, the first thing I did, as expected, was check my e-mail. I immediately fell out of my chair laughing hysterically; the interface for cMail was terribly outdated, incredibly slow, and, even more annoying, I got these weird “Junk Mail Summaries.” I immediately set up mail-forwarding to my Gmail account, and literally have not checked my cMail since my first quarter, first year in the College.

Do I doubt that NSIT could offer a better e-mail service? Of course not.

Do I think that they should allocate the money and labor necessary to do so? Absolutely not. When a company like Google already provides a free e-mail account that takes about 90 seconds (at most) to set up, and then another 30 seconds (at most) to set up mail-forwarding, why should NSIT devote a significant amount of time to make a mail service that will not, frankly, be nearly as userfriendly, or good, as Gmail?

The point is, NSIT has better things to do with its time than create a slightly better, but still mediocre, cMail update. Instead, it can focus on the new myUChicago portal,

COMMUNISM continued on page 7

LETTERS continued on page 8

America today will have had an abortion by the time they are forty-five. It might be assumed that such a common procedure would be included in a nation’s plan to protect the health of its citizens. In fact, the story of abortion during the past decade has been its separation from other medical services available to women.”

Why is abortion so controversial if it’s also so common, Toobin asks.

Going to the doctor for strep throat?

Awesome—have an abortion while you’re there, and maybe get your flu shot.

This kind of talk is distasteful for most of us, pro-choicers included, because we know, as much as Toobin wishes otherwise, that abortion is different from other “common procedures.” President Obama realizes as much, as Toobin disapprov-

ABORTION continued on page 7

Circulation: 6,500

OP-ED

©2009 CHICAGO MAROON, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637

Commuting for communism Like a traffic jam, capitalism unintentionally constricts freedom

SUBMISSIONS The CHICAGO MAROON welcomes opinions and responses from its readers. Send op-ed submissions and letters to: Viewpoints CHICAGO MAROON 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 E-mail: viewpoints@chicagomaroon.com The editors reserve the right to edit materials for clarity and space.

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Wednesday class session as compared with the number of TuesdayThursday sessions.

The U of C continues to make pushes toward improving student life. Easing the stress of Thanksgiving-break travel plans would be a small but nevertheless significant step in that direction.

Greg Gabrellas Columnist

Communism was (choose one): (a) the failed and bloody attempt to force utopia on the crooked timber of mankind; (b) the ideological prop for murderous, Slavonic totalitarianism; (c) the only possibility for man’s self-emancipation.

You probably didn’t answer (c), but if you did, stop reading and head to the nearest Capital discussion group. If you answered (a) or (b), read on. Everything you know about communism is wrong; and that’s to

be expected, because you probably don’t know much to begin with. Or so claimed Raymond Lotta, of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), in a November 11 lecture on campus. This is a big claim, especially at the University of Chicago, and it attracted attention. About 200 students crammed into the Kent Auditorium to get themselves some reeducation—or at least witness a fight. Could Lotta convince the Chicago Objectivist Society to fight for the emancipation of the proletariat? Would he make a dent in the prevalent political apathy?

Not really. Most of it was loquacious praise of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Instead of explaining and arguing the importance of communism as a vital political movement, Lotta

7

CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | November 20, 2009

Letters to the editor, continued LETTERS continued from page 6 or maybe find a way to make the whole course selection process better for students.

If anything, I would be more outraged by the fact that my tuition dollars were going to the creation of some feature that less than half of the student population used. Anyone who disagrees should, in my opinion, reread the first few chapters of “Naked Economics”, or sit in on one of Allen Sanderson’s introductory classes—even if he or she is a fifth-year grad student.

Diego Martinez-Krippner Class of 2011

Arguments for objectivism flawed George Saad’s paraphrase of the famous papal encyclical “Veritatis Splendor” (John Paul II, 1993), attributing all sorts of University problems to a lack of objective standards, is amusing and bizarre (“It’s All Relative,” 11/17/09).

Believing the premise for a second, he seems to believe the problem “occup[ies] every aspect of life at the University.” For the students who aspire to the hard sciences or the most popular major on campus, economics, the answer would be quite different. Students in these disciplines seek truth in results that directly relate to the real world. And most of them, quite objectively, aren’t relativists.

That said, their skepticism is rooted in the belief that our models will be overturned, refined or extended. As Feynman said on even his own self-criticisms: “I am, of course, not sure of that.”

Most scientists are happy living in tandem with skepticism. After all, if we claimed objective knowledge of the universe, it would be a pretty boring subject (and a pretty wrong one).

LETTERS continued on page 9

New rift in abortion fight is between two pro-choice camps

Lotta takes wrong road in his defense of communism COMMUNISM continued from page 6

ABORTION continued from page 6 ingly notes: “[L]ike many modern pro-choice Democrats, [Obama] has worked so hard to be respectful of his opponents on this issue that he sometimes seems to cede them the moral high ground. In his book ‘The Audacity of Hope,’ he describes the ‘undeniably difficult issue of abortion’ and ponders ‘the middleaged feminist who still mourns her abortion.’”

The new battle on abortion, then, is not between pro-lifers and pro-choicers; it’s between two camps in the pro-choice movement.

In some sense, Toobin is right: To support legal abortion but to work to reduce the number of abortions comes across as incoherent. Why should the number of abortions be reduced, Toobin might ask. Because it’s immoral? And why is it immoral?

From this point, it’s pretty hard for the prochoice side to win the argument—because the answer to why it’s immoral is that maybe a fetus is a human life. And if maybe a fetus is a human life, then maybe we shouldn’t allow the destruction of a human life. As Toobin says, cede too much ground, and suddenly you’ve lost.

But in a more meaningful sense, he’s wrong.

A recent Pew poll found that 65 percent of Americans support reducing the number of abortions, meaning that most people agree that terminating a pregnancy is not just another day at the doctor. After all, what other medical procedure would people support decreasing just for the sake of decreasing it?

That’s why ultimately Toobin’s side in the feud between pro-choicers is sure to lose: He can’t pretend that the banality of abortion implies its morality.

— Matt Barnum is a fourth-year in the College majoring in psychology.

He is a member of the MAROON Editorial Board.

there and work it. To achieve this state of affairs would mean humanity’s self-emancipation from drudgery and toil, our realization of freedom and all the values we take to be most humane.

A critic can object that a communist society, like any human society, would involve means of coercion. Perhaps, if by coercion you simply mean regulated human activity. But coercion under capitalism—the domination of life by labor—is not simply regulated, it is unfree. And it is this very unfreedom that communism would abolish, in order to actualize the conscious domain of individuals over their own lives.

So to return to our multiple-choice question, the answer is (c). Write that down in your copybooks. Under capitalism, we created that automatic loom, in tandem with greater and greater wonders of automation.

But work did not end. If you don’t own the means of production, you still need to get a job. To revert to our analogy: The parts of the train have been built, and the energy courses through the power lines. But building the train would require a complete reorganization of social resources. And it seems as though the attempts to achieve this necessarily resulted in (a) or (b). Appearances here can be deceiving: There were utopian communists and opportunistic ones, and the history of the 20th century is the historic tragedy of the latter’s victory over the former. Lotta’s presentation obscured this issue, filibustering rather than confronting the root of his audience’s misgivings. There is no single recipe, no plan for the future; we can turn to the past only for negative examples.

But the struggle for emancipation, if it is to continue, must learn all it can from its communist legacy. No one said freedom came easy.

yelling: “Capitalism is just the name for the economic system respecting the free actions of mankind! Louis XVI directly violated the liberty of the French; who violates the liberty of the workers?” There is no direct source of oppression in a perfect capitalist society, they reason, therefore there is no oppression.

Permit an extended analogy, to reply: Nobody causes a traffic jam, but the traffic jam restricts your freedom. Traffic arises, like capitalism, from many uncoordinated “free” actions. If all the drivers gathered together to build a train, they could get to their destination faster, and stop wasting their lives in traffic. Everybody complains about the traffic, but no one can get that train built.

Some benefit from the status quo. They build the roads, the cars, sell the oil. Others try to design reforms to make the traffic more efficient: carpool lanes, tolls, reversible lanes. Whenever anyone suggests building the train, they’re shunned as utopian. The question thrown back at them is always the same: Where is all that money going to come from? But no one ever counts the cost of the tedium and pollution of innumerable individuals, all sitting stuck in traffic.

Replace traffic with wage labor, and you have capitalism. Nobody forces you to get a job, but you’re going to have to get one if you want to go anywhere, do anything, or continue to breathe.

Now, some of us don’t have to face this choice.

We have access to money from elsewhere. But most of humanity is not so lucky: They have to sell their time in order to survive. No individual agent forces them into servitude. The whole system—capitalism—compels them.

Nevertheless, you can admit that there’s compulsion, but still claim that capitalism is the best of all possible bad options. How can we be sure a post-capitalist society would be better? Aristotle once argued that if machines could accomplish their own task, there would be no need for work. Make a loom that runs on its own, and you don’t need anyone to sit

— Greg Gabrellas is pursuing a degree with the Master of Arts program in Social Sciences. He graduated from the College in 2009 with a degree in anthropology.

This provocative collection of reflections and observations by Bob Avakian on art, culture, science and philosophy offers a rare treat.

EXCERPTED FROM formal talks as well as more informal discussions and conversations, many of the texts in this collection allow the reader to experience firsthand the freewheeling Bob Avakian—in the process of developing his thinking and reenvisioning the communist project on a wide range of controversies, from the dictatorship of the proletariat to discussions of truth, beauty, science and imagination.This collection will provide the reader with important, fresh, and provocative insights and provoke further creative and critical thinking on art, culture, science, philosophy… and revolution.

“ If you don’t have a poetic spirit—or at least a

poetic side—it is very dangerous for you to lead a Marxist movement or be the leader of a socialist state.” ~ Bob Avakian Available on the U of C campus at:

PUBLISHED BY INSIGHT PRESS

Seminary Co-op Bookstore 5757 South University Avenue

$14.95

4064 N. Lincoln Ave., #264 Chicago, IL 60618 www.insight-press.com 773.329.1699

CONTENTS

• The Struggle in the Realm of Ideas • Three Alternative Worlds • The Role of Dissent in a Vibrant Society • Materialism and Romanticism: Can We Do Without Myth?

• Bob Avakian in a Discussion with Comrades on Epistemology: On Knowing and Changing the World

• Marxism Is a Science,

It Is Not “The End of Philosophy” • Intoxicated with the Truth • How We Know What We Know: Developments in the Material World, Developments in Human Knowledge • “Bushism” and Communism • A Scientific Approach to Maoism, A Scientific Approach to Science

• Solid Core with a Lot of Elasticity:

Epistemology and Application • Madison, Jefferson, and Stalin… and Communism as a Science • The “Godlike Position of the Proletariat,” The Sweep of History • Methods and Principles • Art and Artistic Creation— Solid Core with a Lot of Elasticity • Epistemology: The Derridas and The Communists

• Marxism “Embraces But

Does Not Replace” • We Can’t Know Everything— So We Should Be Good at Learning • There is No Religious Basis, There is a Powerful, Material Basis, for Communism • Marxism and The Enlightenment • About Bob Avakian

8

CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | November 20, 2009

Letters to the editor, continued LETTERS continued from page 7 Which brings us to the most curious part of the article. There is no (and I mean objectively no) discussion of the reasons objective truth exists, just the repeated sentiment that it makes everything work out so much more cleanly.

Ironically, the sentimental (read: relative) criterion of accepting ideas because they make us feel good is at the root of his complaint about “inventing the truth for ourselves” to begin with.

One question seems to nag at me, though— for someone so focused on objective knowledge, how did he get half of the student body so wrong? Maybe (surprise), what we personally hold to be objectively true can sometimes be wrong—driving, of course, the need for skepticism. As Feynman said on winning the Nobel Prize, “I am, of course, not sure of that.”

And trust me, we math majors are not selfconscious and awkward because we don’t believe in proving things.

Kevin Brown Class of 2010

Saad’s belief in absolute moral certainty is troublesome George Saad is quite mistaken about the causes or effects of the ennui that he claims affect the majority of students at the U of C (“It’s All Relative,” 11/17/09). It is not a result of relativism, a term with multiple meanings which Saad conflates, nor is it the result of skepticism, an attitude that we should all take in evaluating claims of universal truth. Quite simply, every student at the U of C learns

1671/5= ;/@==< 1=;

both necessary and contingent absolute truths—the necessary ones in the math class, and the contingent ones in the science classes.

The concept of moral certainty that Saad claims is the correct position to take is very troublesome. He insists that vices and virtues are real, but offers no way to know them, see them, or interact with them. I know the physical world exists because I can sense it. Can we sense moral values in the same way? Given the extent to which birth control is opposed by religious figures in the United States, I think the answer is no. Can we have a legitimate moral belief that abortion is wrong? The Pope, who is no intellectual slacker, has such a position. Can we have a legitimate moral belief that abortion is in some circumstances mandated? The Talmud, again a product of thousands of years of debate, says that abortion is mandatory to protect the mother, and is almost never a sin. Someone must be wrong here if we are to take the realist position.

Relativism does not mean that all ideas are created equal. Rather it asks that we evaluate each idea identically, asking about its foundation and consequences. Is this not a way to attain the truth that Saad claims exists? And if we see that two beliefs are incompatible, but both potentially true, is it not better to pick one honestly than to conceal this fact in sophistry?

This does not lead to a destruction of the capacity of interpersonal relationships, nor does it exempt us from actively considering our ideas. It is the blind certainty of Saad that destroys curiosity and exploration, and will ultimately be futile.

JOIN THE REVOLT !

AND DEMAND MICHAEL CERA AT YOUR CAMPUS

Watson Ladd Class of 2013

Go to http://eventful.com/ youthinrevolt to demand Michael Cera and Youth in Revolt on campus The school with the most votes in your city wins!

9

CHICAGO MAROON | VOICES | November 20, 2009

VOICES

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT NOVEMBER 20, 2009

THEATER

FILM

Cage is a loose cannon cop on the edge...again

UT creates a lively Cemetery full of joy and sorrow

By Jessen O'Brien Voices All Cars Go To Heaven If you’ve ever spent a day with a five year-old, you have some idea of the spirit of Car Cemeter y, University Theater’s tenth week production. At times joyful, at other times angry, depressing, and even frightening, Car Cemetery will leave its audience confused, exhausted, and strangely enchanted.

CAR CEMETERY First Floor Theater

December 2–5

With his gun secure and his girl Frankie (Eva Mendes) nearby, Terrence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage) achieves a rare moment of zen.

COURTESY OF FIRST LOOK STUDIOS

By Andreas Nahas Voices Lucky Crack Pipe G e r m a n f i l m m a k e r We r n e r Herzog’s résumé is long and varied, and his extreme directing style is legendary. Shooting in the dense depths of the Amazon and the freezing temperatures of the Antarctic, Herzog will risk total madness and

even death for his films. Recently, he has been focused on documentaries, including Grizzly Man, one of the best this decade. Herzog goes a different, although equally bizarre, direction with the action-thriller The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

While many parts of the film demand to be taken seriously, the best

one can do is leave them behind and appreciate the true farce that propels Nicolas Cage’s performance. The Academy Award winner has recently taken to such sorry roles as The Wicker Man, National Treasure, and Bangkok Dangerous, but here he seems back in form. He plays Terrence McDonagh, a post-Katrina New Orleans cop who is addicted to cocaine, and not reluc-

BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS Directed by Werner Herzog November 20

tant to try marijuana, crack, or heroin every now and then. The film begins with McDonagh hesitantly rescuing a

LIEUTENANT continued on page 11

FILM

The guilty pleasures of sparkly vampirism

By Michelle Welch Voices Bitten & Smitten The Twilight series features a character named Jasper whose special vampire ability is mood manipulation, and I suspect the public relations team for New Moon deployed him to my screening. There really can be no other explanation for my enjoyment of

NEW MOON Directed by Chris Weitz

November 20

this movie. It went indecently beyond what my cultivated sense of taste tells me is acceptable. Clearly I am a sham of an aesthete, unworthy of my badge of critical authority if I dare type the words “I liked a Twilight movie.” But my heart tells me otherwise. My heart tells me that for two hours, I was swept away by the phenomenon of Stephenie Meyer’s vampire romance.

TWILIGHT continued on page 12

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) share a tender moment, unaware of Blade's (Wesley Snipes) presence just around the corner.

COURTESY OF SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT

Car Cemetery transports its audience to a messy, noisy, apocalyptic junkyard. Brokendown cars serve as a hotel run

by Milos (Hunter Buckworth), as well as a meeting place for Dina (Rudy Foster)—Milos’s prostitute— and her several imperious and picky customers (Evan Garrett, David Federman, Johnny Hung, and Alexis Chaney). Two runners, Ti o s s i d o ( C o l i n L e t h e m ) a n d Lasca (Autumn McConnico), train in the junkyard, occasionally interrupting the scene by running (and shouting) through their course. But the true focus of the play lies with a band of musicians— trumpeter Emanou (Fred SchmidtArenales), drummer Tope (Liam McLaughlin), and guitarist Fodere (Ted Gold)—who use the junkyard as a hiding place from the police, a team of frightening vigilantes.

As the play moves on, it becomes apparent that this story is a retelling of the Passion, with Emanou as a Christ figure.

Despite the play’s serious topic, it has its joyous moments, along with a great deal of laughter. As if providing its residents with music wasn’t enough, Emanou also decorates the junkyard with flowers. His interactions with the other characters are incredibly innocent, although he does develop a sexual relationship with Dina. But the laughter is not always genuine—the unnatural loudness and sardonic tone of the characters’ laughter is often disconcerting. Nevertheless, there is a surprising amount of joy in the play, and even Dina’s clients have an innocence about them. One can only assume this is supposed to be a foil to the policemen’s harsh, threatening demeanor.

Written by Fernando Arrabal, the play is more than a little confusing. Car Cemetery is thoroughly post-modern, with all of the abstractness and absurdity associated with that word. The story lacks the clarity of a more traditional play, and an audience member searching for an unambigious story will

CEMETERY continued on page 11

10

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11

CHICAGO MAROON | VOICES | November 20, 2009

FILM

Decoding Doc's programming process

By Jessen O'Brien Voices Film Snob Do you long to see classic films, such as say, Some Like It Hot on the big screen, but lack the time machine necessary to return to Hollywood’s Golden Age? If so, there is hope for you yet at one of our university’s finest institutions: Doc Films. Since its founding in 1932, students and members of the Hyde Park community have attended Doc because of its convenience, cheap prices, and faithful screenings of cinema classics. Despite what you may think, you don’t have to be an expert in the works of François Truffaut or Frank Capra to determine what movies Doc shows each quarter. All you have to do is show up, have an idea, and put it to a vote.

Well, maybe that’s not quite all you have to do, but you definitely don’t need to know more about movies beyond your personal favorites. Doc’s programming meetings are open to everyone, not just Doc volunteers or even current UChicago students. These meetings take place in Ida Noyes every Wednesday night for seven or eight weeks each quarter. About twenty people sit around the table at each meeting and determine what cinematic themes will be featured at Doc for the following quarter.

Any attendee can propose a potential series. For example, a student who desperately wanted to see Some Like It Hot could propose a series of Marilyn Monroe films. A proposal consists of a general description for the series and, of course, a list of films to be shown.

However, picking ten Marilyn Monroe films at random will likely not suffice. Careful attention should also be paid to the variety of films in a series. A Monroe series would likely be more well-received if it also included her darker outings like All About Eve and The Fireball in addition to her comedies. Multiple lists are printed out, passed around, and discussed over drunken noodles from The Snail or food from another one of Doc’s sponsors.

However, if you are unable to attend a programming meeting, all is not lost. According to Joe Vidal, who served as Doc Equipment

Inspired by their deep dish, attendees of Doc's weekly programming meeting propose a pizza-themed film series.

JULA SILVERMAN/MAROON

Chair last year, “Doc programming listhost members who are unable to attend can propose a series as well.” Doc is democratic: Series are determined four to six weeks before the start of the next quarter, when the quarterly schedule is put to a vote.

However, even if a series is passed through the vote, it may not be approved due to budgetary concerns. Although Doc does have a large film library, it is not limitless. “Budgets are determined by the Doc board prior to the quarterly vote,” said Vidal. “All those present

With reptilian perspective, Herzog lightens Lieutenant's mood LIEUTENANT continued from page 9 prisoner trapped in a holding cell by the Katrina flood. The injury he sustains in the line of duty earns him accolades, but also opens the door for his addiction to painkillers. The plot twists and turns with McDonagh’s fortunes falling and rising. But Cage plays the character on a consistently high note throughout.

Cage’s attitude is abrasive and violent, whether he is holding drug dealers at gunpoint, threatening elderly women, or snorting cocaine while behind the wheel. Even when the plot gets convoluted, Herzog’s strange touch keeps the movie grounded, letting the audience take a step back and watch Terrence go. A good thriller absorbs the audience into its story—Herzog realized that Bad Lieutenant isn’t a thriller. Herzog’s style is most apparent in the scenes shot from the point of view of iguanas. The scenes seem pointless, but they do a great job of breaking the tension, making the audience realize that they’re watching a movie, letting them relax and laugh at the ridiculousness transpiring on screen.

A film with such an absurdist plot needs strong acting to keep it level, and Eva Mendes does fine as Cage’s girlfriend, a high-end prostitute.

Thankfully, Val Kilmer and Xzibit don’t derail the picture. Kilmer is at home playing a bad-boy

cop who can’t follow Cage’s orders, and Xzibit is believable enough as a drug kingpin, though his cars have a baffling lack of televisions.

As the camera follows Terrence through post-Katrina New Orleans, his narcotic feeding frenzy finds him in luxury apartments, drug havens, and even at his childhood home.

Each of these places reveals something about the characters that inhabit them, especially McDonagh. At home, his father is an alcoholic who seems unable to do anything but drink and fight with his wife, also an alcoholic.

These characters interact not only with each other, but also with their past demons.

Surprisingly, Terrence is good at his job, which redeems his character to some extent.

He consistently manages to be the only competent police officer in his squad, almost singlehandedly solving the five homicides while juggling a string of bad bets, a lost witness, and a tentative allegiance with a drug dealer who is the main suspect of the aforementioned homicides. Even if his lifestyle and actions are destructive, his police work is effective.

Really though, it wouldn’t matter in the end if Terrence was a terrible policemen and buckled under all these pressures, because the audience gets to see Nicolas Cage threatening an 80-year-old women with a revolver.

at the programming meeting are informed of that restriction prior to voting. The top six series’ vote-getters are sometimes over the total budget, in which case a roll-off vote is made to accommodate the allotted budget.

Some films from the Doc archives are used for weekend slots during the winter quarter to take place of films which would be unavailable to us due to Oscar nominations.”

Although Doc has its own entry in Vanity Fair’s The Film Snob’s Dictionary and has produced the likes of Ernest Callenbach

(the founding editor of Film Quarterly), the atmosphere of these meetings is remarkably relaxed. Those in attendance may know more about, say, the Middle Eastern film industry than others, but they are drawn to Doc by a passion for film and are eager to help any film enthusiast, no matter how novice. If you start attending meetings now, you can be a part of making spring quarter as great as the upcoming winter schedule which, according to Vidal, “is going to be awesome!”

UT plays the junkyard blues in its own telling of Arrabal's irreverent drama CEMETERY continued from page 9 inevitably be frustrated by many moments of seemingly arbitrary bizarreness.

The actors themselves alternate from one extreme emotion to the next, which reflects the chaos of the play. Buckworth, for instance, transforms from an angry pimp to remorseful lover, from an ingratiating businessman to the lead of a musical as he dances and sings in one particularly funny and frightening number. McConnico and Lethem change from runners to lovers to policemen, and Foster shifts between having subservient and dominating attitudes. The extremity of the acting, although in line with the abstractness of the play, makes the characters less personal and more archetypal, and has mixed results.

Other characters are more consistent, but no less impressive. Schmidt-Arenales is continually innocent, although sometimes confusion twists his actions. Gold, in a Harpo-esque manner, successfully pantomimes for the entire play. One of his mute tantrums transforms a very serious moment into one of the funniest in the play.

Garrett, Federman, Hung, and Chaney all have a frustrating sense of entitlement throughout the play, although they nevertheless maintain

distinct personalities.

Foster pulls off the part of Dina admirably.

In some ways, it grounds the character.

With Foster in the role, Dila is not a cliche as another objectified woman, but rather her own, specific person.

The set, sound, lighting, props, and costumes are in their early stages at the moment, but their future is rather discernible, particularly the set and sound. Presently, the set consists of a series of car doors, tires, and various pieces of junk, which provide a stark contrast with the atmosphere of joyful innocence and heighten the sense of despair. Similarly, the live music transports the audience away from the decrepit surroundings, providing a welcome shift in tone.

If you’ve missed your hyperactive little brother and his weird friends, Car Cemetery will serve as a not-so-gentle reminder of babysitting them. Although it abruptly shifts from one emotional extreme to another, the production also has several quiet moments that are all the more touching—or disturbing— because of this contrast. Consequently, Car Cemetery will leave its audience simultaneously bewildered and intrigued.

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CHICAGO MAROON | VOICES | November 20, 2009

Voices STD (Stuff to Do) Friday | November 20 Francis Ford Coppola’s latest film Tetro chronicles the reunion of two Italian brothers in Argentina as they revisit their family’s tumultuous past. There will be a conversation with the film’s composer, Osvaldo Golijov, and Music Department Professor Berthold Hoeckner before the screening. (Max Palevsky Cinema, 7 p.m., $5)

Saturday | November 21 Don’t spend Saturday night alone! Go home with Celia, Mr. Biggles, or another lonely soul from the Hyde Park Cats Adoption Event. Hyde Park Cats is a group of concerned Hyde Park residents dedicated to finding good homes for stray, feral, and lost cats around the neighborhood. (1342 East 55th Street, 1 p.m., free)

Sunday | November 22 According to author Jonathan Lethem, his latest book, Chronic City, is about “a

circle of friends that includes a faded child-star actor, a cultural critic, a hack ghostwriter of autobiographies, and a city official.” The chronicler of Generation X’s collective angst will be interviewed by radio host Victoria Lautmann as part of the 20thannual Chicago Humanities Festival. (111 South Michican Avenue, 12 p.m., free) Witness the transformation of 8th week dread into a hoppin’ Salsa Party hosted by the Ballroom and Latin Dance Association.

Dancers of all skill levels of salsa, merengue, and cha-cha are welcome, and there will be a dance lesson before the party. Of course, refreshments will be served to keep you energized. (Ida Noyes Hall, 7 p.m., $3)

Monday | November 23 Member of the U of C’s Committee on Social Thought, poet, and novelist Adam Zajagewski will be reading a selection of his poetry at the Renaissance Society. In 2004, he won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, which is often considered a precursor to the Nobel prize in literary circles.

(Renaissance Society, 2 p.m., free)

The

G a d a b o u t

b y i l i ya g u t i n

With Christine Yang

Because shouting “This is Versailles” is much more hardcore than shouting, “This is Sparta,” the band This Is Versailles has taken it upon themselves to make their shows part party and part riot. The Chicagobased band will be appearing with fellow Midwestern groups Childbite, Story of the Sea, Or So It Goes, and Canyons of Static.

(1572 North Milwaukee, 8 p.m., $5)

Tuesday | November 24 In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species, this year’s Latke-Hamantash Debate will focus on how Darwin’s life work determines which Jewish holiday staple is superior. The debaters include history of science professor Robert Richards and professor of neurobiology Peggy Mason, among others.

(Mandel Hall, 7:30 p.m., free) Meet Al Gore at a book-signing event for his latest work, Our Choice. The book picks up where An Inconvenient Truth left off, and is a call to action for ordinary citizens to help solve the global climate crisis.

(150 North State Street, 12:30 p.m., free)

Avoiding the horrors of Turducken and its affiliates You approach the Thanksgiving table armed with a fork and a carving knife. Your mouth waters at the prospect of cutting into a fine, juicy turkey. This moment has been hours in the basting.

It’s a trap.

For beneath that deceitful turkey façade is a chicken, and beneath that, a duck. It’s quite literally the Russian nesting doll of poultry.

33 percent turkey, 33 percent chicken, and 33 percent duck, the Turducken is 100% terrible.

It’s like the turkey’s evil, deformed twin, the one that’s kept in the attic chained to a radiator. And just like you would never give that twin somewhere to sit at Thanksgiving dinner, there is absolutely no reason to ever have a Turducken anywhere near your table.

Most Americans have probably never eaten a Turducken, but since the conception of this meta-“dish” in the mid 1980s, it has only grown in popularity. Thousands are shipped across the country during the week of Thanksgiving, John Madden shamelessly plugs them every now and then, and I am sure that many enterprising cooks looking to scare away their loved ones have prepared the dish as well.

Seeking to justify the existence of this culinary Frankenstein, foodies cite examples of food-within-food-within-food throughout human history. One ancient Bedouin wedding feast consists of a camel stuffed with a lamb, and then stuffed with chickens, fish, and eggs in descending order. The French royalty of the 19th century, in all of their pomp and arrogance, decided to see how many endangered birds they could eat at once. How many birds does it take to get to the center of a “Rôti Sans Pareil” (Roast Without Equal)? Apparently 17—at the center of which is a poor, little Garden Warbler.

But what’s the point of this gorging? Why ruin a turkey by sticking a chicken and a duck

in it? All three meats are completely delicious in their own ways. Yet when combined, they lose their individual qualities and become, like SPAM, some grotesque amalgamation much less than the sum of its parts. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And if it’s delicious, don’t stuff it with more poultry.

The Turducken shows that when it comes to food, quality will always defeat quantity. I’d like to extend that thought to Thanksgiving in general. I think most people forget that no one is impressed by a green bean casserole that is as bland as it is enormous. Or a pumpkin pie that is about as deli-

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

And if it's delicious, don't stuff it with more poultry cious as the decorative cornucopia sitting next to it. Admittedly the visual of a turkey in the middle of a large table surrounded by a plethora of side dishes basking in its glory is one of the hallmarks of the Thanksgiving feast. But a meal is meant for eating, not staring at. Luckily this situation, as ingrained into the American psyche as it has become, is amendable.

Just stick to a few basics, and make them as damn near perfect as you can. My family has always adhered to just a few dishes presented in a series of successive courses. It may be unorthodox, but I have never had to complain about turkey being as dry as the Mohave or about the sickly sweet cranberry sauce. Each dish is treated individually and with respect.

And afterward, I don’t feel like hibernating until next Thanksgiving rolls around. Plus, I’m always first in line for Black Friday.

Since Tito “El Bambino” stopped performing with Héctor “El Father”, the Puerto Rican musician has gone on to make a name for himself in the reggaeton world with albums such as It’s My Time and El Patrón. In fact, Tito shows that he has become a completely new musician in his tour with bachata musician Toby Love. (2135 North Milwaukee, 7 p.m., $27)

Thursday | November 26 New York City may have the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, but Chicago is the proud host of the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This year’s highlights include a giant Hello Kitty balloon, equestrian troupes, and tons of floats to get you into the holiday spirit.

(State Street from Congress to Randolph, 8:30 a.m., free)

Have an event you’d like to see in STD? E-mail christineyang@ uchicago.edu.

Meyer's insufferable dialogue doesn't sound better than it reads TWILIGHT continued from page 9

Strive for simplicity this Thanksgiving

Wednesday | November 25

The first film relied too heavily on its source material and seemed to utilize only bad takes in the editing room (maybe because there were never any good takes to work with), but this film thankfully improves—somewhat.

Replacing Catherine Hardwicke, director Chris Weitz offers occasionally inspired moments of camerawork, and tries to bring a level of refinement to the series that was lacking in the first installment. The CGI and erratic fight scenes are a definite upgrade from “laughable and in need of work” to “actually pretty cool.”

There was also more genuine humor this time around, compared to the onslaught of unintentionally funny dialogue (and acting) in Twilight. If nothing else, Weitz made a visually interesting film that isn’t absolutely horrible.

Following a minor paper cut accident turned potential vampire feast on Bella’s birthday, Edward and family disappear from Forks, Washington, leaving Bella in a state of mental torpor and with a case of overwrought nightmares. Cue Jacob’s entry. Although good friend and nice guy Mike Newton (Michael Welch) still has a thing for Bella, and an awkward but deftly handled movie theater outing between Bella, Mike, and Jacob follows, Bella still opts for the tough guy Jacob, though not without reluctance. New Moon celebrates Jacob Black, the jealous, possessive werewolf who won’t let anything get in the way of having Bella, even if he could hurt her in the process.

You half expect him to dig a hole in his backyard and bury her like a bone.

It is Bella’s reluctance to give up Edward, though, that leads her to Italy to save him from the Volturi, a red-eyed, royal vampire clan that acts as the enforcer of vampire law.

Nothing really happens in the plot that you don’t see coming from a mile away, and the tiresome romantic dynamics help the film shuffle to a conclusion. I just looked forward to Dakota Fanning’s appearance as Jane, and Michael Sheen’s role as Aro, both members of the Volturi.

Obviously, the source material remains burdensome, to say the least. The moments when

the film draws upon Stephenie Meyer’s affected dialogue stand out more than the wig on Taylor Lautner’s head. With lines like “You give me everything just by breathing,” you wonder how Robert Pattinson got past the first syllable without grinning or vomiting. Of course, we in the audience grinned. It’s those poetic lines poured from Meyer’s heart that help make the Twilight movies such unintentional comedies. You can’t say things like that without sounding like you’re developing a hernia from trying so hard.

Forced seriousness is not the only eccentricity of the Twilight saga. You have to giggle at the squees and shrieks of 14-year-olds in the audience every time buff Lautner’s Jacob Black (of the Quiluete werewolf tribe) goes shirtless. Nevermind that the studio is hoping that the 17-year-old’s six-pack will sell movie tickets to gaggles of girls. Nevermind that adrenaline junky Bella Swann (Kristen Stewart) has a predilection for Jekyll and Hyde personalities whose monstrous inner natures are a metaphor for the rumblings of hormones: don’t get too close, you might get bitten (or pregnant).

These underlying layers are what make Bella’s love interests so inc redibly disturbing, and what sends an unhealthy message to impressionable girls. Forget Prince Charming, Edward Cullen and Jacob Black have redefined the unrealistic love object. Twilight glorified Edward, the stalker vampire who sneaks into Bella’s room to watch her sleep. In New Moon, he tells her emo sweet nothings like how he’ll kill himself if the world ever becomes a place without her in it. Sounds a lot like Romeo and Juliet, doesn’t it? You can bet that there’s probably a blatant reference or two to Shakespeare’s famous star-crossed lovers in the film.

I can’t completely vilify the film. I allowed myself a “girl’s night” with this movie. I saw it with girls. I felt like I celebrated the inanities of being a girl with this movie. I’m even eating Ben and Jerry’s as I write this. I left the theater with a grin and in high spirits. It was a romping good time, and I can’t condemn the film for that. But I will condemn Stephenie Meyer for dreaming up these unsettling, lovesick fantasies. And a helpful suggestion to much of the cast: act better.

HAYLEY LAMBERSON DANCES HER PANTS OFF—ALL IN THE NAME OF JOURNALISM Check out her review of Girl Talk at chicagomaroon.com on Monday, November 23 And on December 1, Voices has its annual Top 5 issue See what we have to say about Obama merchandise, Oscar bait, fashion trends, and more!

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CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | November 20, 2009

McGrath: Key to avoiding difficulties of 2008–2009 season is remaining confident through early struggles M. BASKETBALL continued from back page guys to work with. I’m pleased with our group,” McGrath said. “Coming back out of last year, we don’t have anybody who has been a significant contributor the same way we do on the perimeter. That’s a thinner position for us in terms of depth and experience.”

On top of the loss of the seniors, two players that the team expected to fill the vacated position won’t be appearing this season. Secondyear Alex Doyle will be unable to play, and Doyle’s classmate Stephen Palmtag tore an ACL earlier this year.

“It was kind of a relatively inexperienced group there, and then we took out two guys from that mix,” McGrath said. “That’s what makes it pretty thin.”

This season, the Maroons were able to get some practices in especially early. In September, the team spent 10 days traveling and playing in Argentina and Chile, and they practiced stateside for 10 days beforehand.

“I think we really benefited from the 10 days before our trip to South America and the trip itself. We came in and worked really hard during those 10 days and set the tone

for the rest of our year,” Pancratz said. “Also, during the trip I felt we really came together as a team, due to the amount of time we spent with each other off the court.”

Having the opportunity to play together extensively before the season’s official start will hopefully prevent a start similar to last year’s, when the team went 12 games before getting its first win, and finished with a record of 6–19 (6–8 UAA).

“The foreign trip was huge,” McGrath said. “I think that will help us a lot in terms of getting off to a good start.”

In addition to the South America trip, McGrath believes that the upper-class leadership will stop the team from getting flustered and frustrated by early setbacks.

“I think [the upperclassmen] are outstanding workers, outstanding leaders, and really good guys,” McGrath said. “What happened last year was we had a chink in our armor early, we lost a game, and we started getting tense. We started looking over our shoulders, as opposed to coming together and saying we have to fight through this. I think if we face some adversity in a game early this year, which I’m

Despite score against Olivet, Kocher optimistic about new season sure we will, I think this team will come together and fight through it better.”

Pancratz, one of those team leaders, is ready to shake off whatever setbacks the team encounters and keep the players focused on their long-term goals.

“I think my role along with the [four] other seniors will be to continue to set the tone as far as the level of energy, enthusiasm, and focus on our goal of winning the UAA,” Pancratz said. “We have a pretty long season, and there’s a tendency to have some off days, and it is up to the leaders to motivate and lead by example to make sure that we continue to get better every day.”

The Maroons head into the first weekend of the regular schedule looking to come out victorious at the Midway Classic. Their first game will be against Earlham (1–1) tomorrow. Earlham, which is coming off of a 3–22 season, is playing with a relatively young squad this year. On the other side of the bracket, Rose Hulman (0–1) will be playing against Southwestern (1–0). The winners and losers from those match-ups will meet in the championship and consolation games on Sunday.

NBA’s elite pay top dollar for top talents, but league’s parity is still evident in conference standings IN THE GAME continued from back page and always talkative Rasheed Wallace to their frontcourt.

After dropping the Finals to the Lakers and losing Hedo Turkoglu to Toronto, the Magic added Vince Carter to the cast of shooters that surrounds the NBA’s best center, Dwight Howard.

And those aging Spurs, whose decline has been forecast ad nauseam since their 2003 title, hope they can forget their awful firstround exit in the Western playoffs after signing Richard Jefferson, an athletic perimeter threat.

In short, the NBA’s off-season was a win for the Bourgeoisie. One might expect an uncompetitive and less than compelling 2009 season, headlined by more wins for the “haves” and the further decline of the “have-nots.”

Commissioner David Stern and the league office would love to have a Kobe-LeBronShaq showdown in June, but it would much rather have the road to the Finals match up be as exciting and unpredictable as possible, which requires some sort of power balance

around the NBA. Despite the top teams’ blockbuster freeagent acquisitions, the N BA might be approaching that balance. The league’s current standings aren’t as boring and predictable as might have been expected. Parity can be seen in both conferences and in almost every division. Yesterday’s standings had the Hawks, and not the Celtics, Cavs, or Magic, sitting atop the Eastern Conference.

The emergence of Brandon Jennings, the rookie point guard who bypassed college to play in Europe for a season, has the Bucks ahead of the Cavaliers in the Eastern standings. And the Bucks have done this without All-Star Michael Redd, whose injury woes still have him on the sideline. Similarly, bigmarket squads supposedly lacking in talent, like the Heat and the Bulls, round out the current playoff standings, and the small-market, all-hustle Pacers are in the eighth spot.

The West tells a similar tale. After injuries to All-Stars Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker, the Lakers find themselves in fourth place, and the Spurs wouldn’t even qualify for the playoffs if they started today.

Instead, you have the revived run-and-gun Suns in first, followed by the Mavericks and the Nuggets.

You’ll still find familiar faces in the fifth and sixth spots: the Blazers and the Yao-andMcGrady-less Rockets. But it’s odd to see the Kings (5–5) and the Thunder (6–6) holding onto the remaining playoff spots.

A combination of injuries and lackadaisical play have, to some extent, shaken up the NBA in the early going. Ideally, the current standings would experience slight variations by the end of the year, and promising smallmarket stars like Jennings and Kevin Durant would have the chance to experience, and possibly upend, the playoff scene.

But it’s more likely that the league’s powers get healthy, right their ships in time for the playoff push, and leave the young and inexperienced teams to return to mediocrity, their rightful place in the NBA hierarchy.

But for now, the parity is fun to watch for fans and league officials alike. Well, just as long as the Lakers or Celtics or LeBron are still standing in June.

upperclassmen is that there may not be much opportunity for Chicago’s first-years to make their mark.

“It’s a tough year for our freshmen,” Roussell said.

As the season progresses, Chicago’s focus will be making certain that their talent does not go to waste and that the team takes full advantage of its abilities. Despite defeating Olivet comfortably, Roussell feels his team could have performed better.

“We just need to come out and show our potential. We came out Sunday and didn’t play well,” Roussell said. “We didn’t play as aggressively as I hoped we would.”

Next up for the Maroons is the four-team Midway Classic tournament, which will be played at Ratner tomorrow and Sunday. Coe (1–0) and Elmhurst (1–0) open play tomorrow at 2 p.m., and Chicago faces St. Mary’s (0–1) at 4 p.m. The winners and losers on Saturday will be paired for Sunday’s championship and consolation games.

St. Mary’s is an unknown entity for

Chicago, as the schools haven’t met on the hardwood since 2000, but the Cardinals will look familiar in at least one way: Like Chicago last year, St. Mary’s has only one fourth year on its roster, forward Kim Kaminski.

That fact, combined with the 84–47 loss the Cardinals took in their season opener might give the illusion that St. Mary’s will be a pushover for the hosts. However, that lopsided loss came against D-II Winona State, which beat D-I schools Minnesota and South Dakota State earlier this year in exhibitions.

Knowing this, Roussell and the Maroons won’t be taking the Cardinals lightly.

“They definitely have a lot of talent in those younger classes,” he said.

If Chicago manages to win what promises to be a competitive Midway Classic, it will bode well for the team’s chances of returning to a much bigger tournament: the NCAA. “Once you get to the tourney you can make some noise. Anything can happen. You just got to get in,” Roussell said.

WRESTLING continued from back page Central. But while all five Maroon victories came by decision, North Central was able to secure two major decisions and a pin.

This season, the Maroons are looking for continued success from Carlson and Hatten, two of the team’s very best wrestlers.

Besides taking a conference championship, Carlson qualified for the D-I I I national tournament last season in the 174pound weight division. This year, however, Carlson is competing in the 197-pound division, a jump he attributes to off-season lifting and a desire to “focus on wrestling,” as opposed to cutting weight.

Carlson’s first regular season match in his new higher weight class ended with a grinding 2–1 victory over Olivet’s Joe Bargerstock in the third overtime period.

Although the final score was a little close for comfort, Carlson appeared to be in control the entire match, twice having to overcome controversial decisions by the referee to not award him takedown points.

Carlson also won at North Central, 9–7, making him the lone undefeated wrestler on the squad at 2–0. “I feel good,” he said after his victory Tuesday. “[I need] to stay in good shape, wear people down, and [not] get frustrated if I’m not going to be scoring like I did in the lower weight classes,” Carlson said of his attrition-based approach.

Heavyweight Ryan Hatten, also a returning conference champion, struggled in his opening match of the season, falling by pin in the third period against Olivet. Hatten was in control early-on, leading 4–2 at the end of the first period, but his dominance faded quickly as the match wore on. Hatten recovered at North Central, securing his first victory of the season 4–2.

Kocher, who is in his 32nd season at the helm of Chicago’s program, spoke optimistically after the defeat by Olivet. “I am happy with the talent level on this team,” he said. “It’s just a question of applying hard work.”

The squad is beginning this year with high expectations after capturing the UAA’s team title last season. Chicago is arguably the UAA’s most successful program, having won 13 team titles during the conference’s 22-year history.

T h e Wr e s t l i n g M a r o o n s h e a d t o Wisconsin this weekend for the Concordia Open. Their next home meet is Tuesday, w h e n t h e y f a c e U W-W h i t e w a t e r a n d Calumet-St. Joseph.

In Midway Classic, Roussell hopes to see more aggression from Maroons W. BASKETBALL continued from back page eight or nine players could lead us in scoring.”

The Maroons’ balance was on display in their season opener against Olivet. Secondyear guard Meghan Herrick led the way for Chicago with 13 points, but each of the other four starters made a significant contribution, too. The other two starting guards, fourth-year Jamie Stinson and second-year Bryanne Halfhill, chipped in 11 and eight points, respectively, and the posts—secondyear Taylor Simpson and fourth-year Molly Hackney—scored seven apiece. In all, 12 Maroons found their way onto the score sheet.

Not only is Chicago more experienced this year, but Roussell also feels that many of his players have improved significantly through the off-season.

“I think that a lot of the players that came back are better players than they were last year,” he said.

The drawback to having such a wealth of

CAN’T GET OUT TO THE GAMES? Visit chicagomaroon. com/sports next week for coverage of the Midway Classic and the IM flag football championships

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Resident Head In the University House System Resident Heads live in the College Houses to provide guidance, advice and direction to members of the undergraduate House communities. Advanced graduate students are encouraged to apply. Single, domestic-partnered, or married persons who are at least 25 years of age can apply. Children are welcome.

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IN QUOTES “Wrestler Hulk Hogan has been badly injured after a violent bloody brawl broke out at The Hulkmania promotional press conference at Star City today.”

SPORTS WRESTLING

—The non-satirical Sydney Daily Telegraph, reporting on a WWE event featuring Hulk Hogan and his rival, Ric Flair.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Olivet, ninth-ranked Seasoned Maroons boast wealth of playmakers North Central top Chicago opens home schedule tomorrow Chicago in openers against St. Mary’s

By Henry Phillips Sports Contributor

By Ryan Tryzbiak Associate Sports Editor

The wrestling team opened their 2009-2010 campaign with two losses this week, falling 6-33 to Olivet Tuesday and 15-20 to North Central Wednesday.

“Some [wrestlers] looked a little off,” head coach Leo Kocher admitted after Tuesday’s loss.

“We’re a good team…but we’ve got a ways to go.”

Chicago’s 6-33 loss to Olivet on Tuesday was a difficult opening to the season. Following secondyear Jimmy Schoettle’s victory in the first match, the Maroons dropped 7 consecutive matches, and Olivet secured the victory before either of Chicago’s two returning conference champions— fourth-year Troy Carlson and third-year Ryan Hatten—stepped into the ring.

The Maroon squad fared somewhat better Wednesday night, winning five of ten matches against ninth-ranked North

Despite recording a solid 17–8 record last season, women’s basketball fell short of their goals. Now they are hoping that the experience gained in that campaign will help them achieve greater success this year.

Chicago’s success during head coach Aaron Roussell’s five-year tenure has created lofty expectations within the Maroons’ locker room. Chicago (1–0) enjoyed its first UAA championship in two decades and an appearance in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen two years ago. By comparison, missing the NCAA tournament last season and going 8–6 in conference were disappointments.

But Chicago only lost one player from last year’s squad to graduation—second-leading scorer Alex Leach—so this year’s team is full of players with game experience.

In particular, Roussell is looking to his large class of fourth-years for leadership.

WRESTLING continued on page 14

With her coach and teammates looking on, first-year guard Jenna Lillemoe drives in for a lay-up during practice. The Maroons host the 13th Annual Midway Classic this weekend.

ERIC GUO/MAROON

“We have a really nice group of seniors that has played a lot over the past four years,” he said.

One of the benefits of having so

many experienced returnees is that Chicago won’t be reliant on any one player to produce points.

“We were a team last year that

had a lot of contributors and that will be the case this year,” Roussell said. “On any given night, any of

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MEN’S BASKETBALL

IN THE GAME

Experienced guards to pace Maroons

Judging by early results, NBA success isn’t for sale

By Alex Sisto Sports Staff Men’s basketball is hoping that its veteran backcourt will propel the Maroons to a victory at this weekend’s Midway Classic and a UAA championship by the end of the season.

Around the perimeter, the team returns all of last year’s starters,

and has some strong players backing them up. “[Second-year] Michael [Sustarsic], [fourth-year] Jake [Pancratz] and [fourth-year] John [Kinsella] started all of last year at the point and two wings. They’re back, and I think that will be a strong point for our team,” head coach Mike McGrath said. “Not only is our starting group there a

strength, our depth there is really as good as you can hope for.”

The frontcourt, for its part, doesn’t have any returning starters, but McGrath is confident in the players’ ability to perform.

“On the front line, where we lost seniors last year, we don’t have a lot of returning experience.

I think we have a good pool of

M. BASKETBALL continued on page 14

By Youssef Kalad Sports Staff

It was enjoyable to witness another unpopular Yankee squad ascend baseball’s championship mountain this fall, but I could sense that it was almost time that I turned my attention to my first love, professional basketball.

The NBA regular season is in full swing now, even though it’s not quite at its zenith. With more than an eighth of the 2009–2010 campaign gone, it’s time to pore over early season trends and tease out speculative (though not entirely groundless) claims about the next five months of play.

During the off-season, we saw—

oddly enough—the NBA’s elite go on Yankee-like spending sprees.

The reigning champion Lakers, whose 2008 lineup played below its potential all last season, swapped emerging star Trevor Ariza for defensive punisher Ron Artest, and kept the rest of their cast. That bold move, which was fueled by the “win now” mentality the Lakers have adopted as Kobe Bryant nears the end of his prime, set in motion a league-wide arms race.

After a disappointing loss to the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, and with the future of LeBron James in question, the Cavaliers added Shaquille O’Neal— whose days as a prime-time performer are behind him—to the mix.

The Celtics added the versatility and size of the always dangerous

IN THE GAME continued on page 14

CA LEN DA R Friday

11/20

• Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving host Phoenix Invitational, 6 p.m.

Saturday

During a home game against NYU last season, fourth-year guard Jake Pancratz dribbles up court with secondyear forward Tom Williams trailing behind. Chicago tips off regular-season play against Earlham tomorrow.

JEREMY MARTIN/MAROON

11/21

• Wrestling @ Concordia Invite, 9 a.m.

• Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving host Phoenix Invitational, 10 a.m. & 5 p.m.

• Women’s Basketball hosts Midway Classic vs. St. Mary’s, 4 p.m.

• Men’s Basketball hosts Midway Classic vs. Earlham, 6 p.m.

Sunday

11/22

• Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving host Phoenix Invitational, 10 a.m. & 5 p.m.

• IM Flag Football Championships, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

• Women’s Basketball hosts Midway Classic • Men’s Basketball hosts Midway Classic