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VOLUME 121 ISSUE 21

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Straight talk from a real American hero.

JANUARY 22, 2010

CHICAGO

AROON

» Page 12 In his sixth season, women’s basketball head coach gets his 100th victory.

The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892

STUDENT LIFE

HYDE PARK

Sexual assault policy reform efforts bolstered

Politicos flock to Hyde Park for MLK celebration Admin seeks to end contract posturing, union skeptical

Students may call referendum to centralize disciplinary hearings

By Christina Pillsbury Senior News Staff A group determined to reform the University’s sexual assault policy met Tuesday night to plan a more hard-line approach with the administration, days after retaining a lawyer. That approach may include a campus-wide referendum.

The Working Group for Sexual Assault Policy (WGSAP), formed in 2008, is concerned the University is not taking up what it considers serious revisions to the disciplinary process for sexual assault cases.

“We’re not waiting for the administration to do the right thing anymore. We are going to put more direct pressure on them,” WGSAP member and secondyear SSA student Ursula Wagner said.

At their Tuesday meeting, WGSAP decided to go directly to the students with a referendum on the Student Government ballot in the spring.

“The University is hugely receptive to students. They don’t move forward a lot until they hear [from the students],” WGSAP member and fourth-year Megan Carlson said.

Currently, when a student claims he or she is sexually assaulted by another student, faculty from the accused’s department determine whether a crime has taken place, and if so, an appropriate punishment. WGSAP considers faculty bias a potential conflict of interest and the decentralized process inefficient.

WGSAP members met with administrators late last quarter, but were told that several of their recomendations would not be implemented. They sought legal aid for interpretations of federal laws administrators claimed

ADMINISTRATION

By Asher Klein News Editor precluded certain reform, and to craft a new approach in dealing with the administration. This approach will materialize in future meetings with administrators, members said.

Many of these issues were raised when an alumna claimed she was assaulted by a graduate student in 2007. According to her complaint, the alumna was repeatedly told her case would be heard by the University. But it took three months for the hearing to convene, during which time the alumna claimed she was advised by University officials not to seek legal council.

When the disciplinary committee found no evidence of assault, the alumna brought her case to court; the Department of Education investigated the claim in 2008, but it was ultimately dismissed because the Department lacked jurisdiction.

“The way this has been handled by the [redacted] University has been cruel and damaging to her,” said Bonnie Kanter, an advisor in the College and a sexual assault dean on call, in an August 2007 e-mail directed to members of the hearing committee. Kanter was the student’s advocate during the hearing, and continued, “All she wants to do is move on and try to put this horrible situation behind her, but the fact that this hearing has been rescheduled over and over again will not allow her to heal.

WGSAP formed after the alumna said her experience was traumatic enough to discourage others from reporting cases of sexual assault to University officials.

“The case catalyzed this initiative and...we’ve heard from other people who felt like the University was unresponsive,” Wagner said.

SEXUAL ASSUALT continued on page 2

Fit for King

Governor Pat Quinn at St. Thomas the Apostle’s Catholic Church’s Martin Luther King Jr. service last Sunday.

SHAHZAD AHSAN/MAROON

By Aviva Rosman News Staff In front of a sanctuary filled with over 1,000 people, Democratic Illinois politicians and U.S. Senate candidates pledged to support good jobs, environmental sustainability, and affordable housing legislation as part of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration Sunday.

While most speakers focused their remarks on remembering King and supporting Haiti, both Senate candidates used their speeches to tout their resumes and tell voters why they were running.

Event attendees included Governor Pat Quinn, State Treasurer and Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, Senate candidate David Hoffman (JD ’95),

9th district Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (A.B ’68, M.A. ’73), 4th Ward Alderman and Cook Country Board President candidate Toni Preckwinkle (A.B. ’69, M.A.T. ’77), and a multitude of aldermen, state senators, state representatives, pastors, and community leaders from the city, suburbs, and Gary, Indiana.

The event was hosted by St. Thomas the Apostle Church on 55th Street and Woodlawn Avenue, and also included performances by a dance group from Shekinah Chapel and the St. Mark United Methodist Church choir, which began the meeting with civil rights classics like “We Shall Overcome” and “This

QUINN continued on page 2

OBITUARY

UN diplomat and College alum dead in Haiti earthquake

By Burke Frank Associate News Editor

W

hile Martin Luther King, Jr. was an idealistic advocate for equality, he was also deeply pragmatic, Princeton professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell said in her keynote speech in honor of the civil rights leader last Friday.

SHANE COUGHLAN/MAROON

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT

CHICAGOMAROON.COM

Andrew Grene (B.A. ’87), a United Nations diplomat in Haiti, died in last week’s devastating earthquake.

He was stationed in Port-Au-Prince as assistant to a United Nations special representative in Haiti, Hedi Annabi, who also died in the quake.

“He was a true humanitarian, working for the good of the people of Haiti,” Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin said in a statement.

“My thoughts are with Andrew’s wife and children and all his family and friends at this difficult time.”

Grene, 44, whose father, David, was a classics professor at the University and an influential translator, grew up in Chicago and Ireland. He attended high school in Winnetka, Illinois, majored in romance languages at the University of Chicago, and later graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

GRENE continued on page 2

With union contract negotiations gearing up in an uncertain economy, University officials are hoping to pioneer “a new national model,” in which those at the bargaining table posture less and communicate more clearly.

The University’s current contract with Teamsters Local 743 expires February 28, and negotiations are underway. There are roughly 1,000 Teamsters who work in clerical and maintenance positions on campus.

“I don’t view union negotiations as having to be contentious relationships. I think union and management can coexist nicely,” University Chief Financial Officer Nim Chinniah said.

“It’s better if we work together with our goals being long-term sustainability, not just a three-year contract.”

The University sent a letter to Local 743 staff members to that effect in December. Written by Gwynne Dilday, associate vice-president for human resources, the letter asked that the union join the University in “a fresh approach to these discussions, to be open to a balanced process, and to move forward with a common purpose to sustain our University.” It referred to this approach as “a new national model.”

Teamsters representatives are skeptical, however, that the attitude will last when serious negotiating is underway.

“A letter is a letter, and that’s great,” union representative Joe Sexauer said.

“It all depends on what happens at the table. It’s still [too] early in negotiations to say what this commitment means, and I look forward to seeing how it manifests itself.”

Sexauer said Teamsters were not opposed to the University’s forwardthinking view, but only as far as union jobs were protected.

“We look forward to working for the long-term health of our membership and the institution, and we believe that job security is an important part of the long-term health of our membership and the institution,” he said.

Teamsters and University negotiators may clash over bumping, a process by which one laid-off union member may take over the job of a more junior member in another department. This process, especially if it carries on for too long, can be disruptive for students and staff, Chinniah said.

“We spend a lot of time with deans calling us, saying, ‘What happened with Susie? Joe’s great, but he’s not friendly,’ because Joe’s not happy because he just got bumped,” Chinniah said.

However, Teamsters see bumping as an important part of guaranteeing job security for senior staff members.

“Long term employees, if laid off for no reason, need job security,” Sexauer said. “The idea is that if you’re loyal to the institution, the institution should be loyal to you.”

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CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | January 22, 2010

FACULTY

ADMNISTRATION

CAMPUS LIFE

Faculty propose academic areas for 60 new hires

RSOs unite to raise money for Haiti, “Cheech and Chong” of benefit concert planned for February astrophysics recognized for oncecontroversial views

By Hannah Fine Senior News Staff The University will hire about 60 new tenuretrack faculty for its planned expansion, the first concrete clarification of University announcements last quarter. Faculty will increase one percent each year over the next five years at a time when other universities are freezing faculty sizes.

Current faculty were asked to propose what specializations the new faculty should have, and University has already received around three times as many proposals from current faculty as there will be positions.

Most of those hired will be junior faculty, according to Provost Thomas Rosenbaum. “I think the University of Chicago has succeeded really well in identifying talent early, supporting their endeavors, and seeing them move up through the ranks. This creates loyalty to the institution and is consistent with our historic approach to developing talent,” he said.

The proposals will be considered in the next few months by graduate division deans and John Boyer, dean of the College. Some current faculty will be invited to make presentations in person to their division deans, who will recommend their choices to Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum said he is looking for hires in “particularly exciting areas...with intellectual need and educational impact.”

Rosenbaum “hopes” to look for specific professors to fill the positions next fall, University spokesman Steve Kloehn said in an e-mail interview.

The University will continue replacing faculty who leave or retire, which Rosenbaum said the U of C’s peers are not able to do in the current economy.

However, Boyer said the decision to expand “is not because everyone else is cutting.” The expansion is the realization of President Robert Zimmer’s plans to strengthen the school “across the board,” which he developed three years ago.

One factor in the new appointments is emerging academic fields, like environmental history. “There are new path-breaking opportunities and the University wants to be at the forefront of these new fields,” Boyer said.

The University’s faculty has deceased since the 1970s while the College has grown, losing ground among its peers in student to faculty ratio. “We no longer stand out, so it is time to make a change,” Rosenbaum said.

The administration decided to invest in faculty expansion last quarter, despite recession-caused budget cuts. “We want to move ahead aggressively and prudently to take advantage of that investment,” Rosenbaum said. “Higher education is a remarkably competitive enterprise. There is a time factor here, given the landscape. We hope to have a better chance at making extraordinary hires.”

Provost unlikely to grant centralization, open testimony as 2005 disciplinary committee approved of current system SEXUAL ASSAULT continued from front page Last spring, WGSAP petitioned for centralization—for a single body to handle every accusation of sexual assault. It also asked that anyone on a disciplinary committee receive sensitivity training and that the accused and the accuser receive equal access to testimonies and appeals.

The University took steps to address these concerns, and formed a committee in October to address how disciplinary panels are prepared. It is currently drafting a curriculum for sensitivity training, said Wagner, who sits on the committee.

But the administration said it will likely not adopt WGSAP’s other proposals. When they met with WGSAP last quarter, administrators said Provost Thomas Rosenbaum had not approved its requests for centralization and for the accused’s testimony to be fully disclosed to the accuser.

Rosenbaum’s decision is based on a 2005 committee on disciplinary procedures which justified a decentralized process. “It was the committee’s assessment that the processes should stay decentralized because of the differing academic cultures in each unit, the different and changing demographic profiles of each unit, as well as the importance of

the continued role of faculty in all disciplinary matters,” Vice-President of Campus and Student Life Kim Goff-Crews said in an e-mail.

WGSAP members argued that differing academic cultures should not play a role in the disciplining of sexual assault cases.

“The way that [the administration] talks about the issue is that sexual assault varies by department and that sexual assault has an academic component,” said WGSAP member and first-year SSA student Kevin Cherry. “It’s mind boggling that anyone would think of sexual assault outside of the scope that this person was violated.”

Booth professor Harry Davis, who was at the meeting and has served on committees investigating disciplinary reform, said the one case cited by WGSAP members does not necessarily indicate a larger problem. “We move quickly,” he said. “It’s an empirical question and [I wonder] whether it’s an exception to the rule.”

Davis “applauded” the hard work WGSAP members had done on the issue, and added that administrators were not ignoring their claims.

“It should be reassuring to students that there has been a lot of thought given to this.”

Grene believed in Haitian people’s “vivacity and charm,” alum’s brother says GRENE continued from front page Grene’s work with the United Nations took him to the Central African Republic and East Timor, and Grene was eager to work in Port-Au-Prince.

“He believed passionately in the Haitian people,” his twin brother Gregory told the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday. “He believed in their vivacity, their charm. He believed in giving every person in the world a fair shot, and

he gave his life for that.”

As of Thursday, Grene is one of 61 confirmed United Nations officials killed in the Haiti earthquake, the largest single loss of life in the organization’s history.

Grene is survived by two sons who attend the University, second-year Alex and thirdyear Patrick, as well as his daughter Rosamund and his wife Jennifer.

CORRECTIONS In the January 15 news article “With new Jewish Studies Center, meshuggeners and menschen will come together” incorrectly described the Center’s role. The Center engages all scholars working on Jewish studies, whether Jewish or not. Also, it does not oversee the Hebrew and Yiddish language programs, but supports them.

By Gabe Valley News Contributor In response to the destruction in Haiti last week, representatives from several RSOs met Sunday night to form UChicago for Haiti. The group will fundraise for relief efforts in Haiti.

Proceeds will be split between Partners in Health, a health care outreach organization that has worked in Haiti for over 20 years, and the Red Cross, according to fourth-year Adama Wiltshire, a group leader and president of the arts outreach RSO Beats and Pieces.

“We want to unite the efforts of all the student groups on campus,” said third-year Nancy Kasvosve, vice president of the African and Caribbean Students Association.

Several student organizations have separately raised over $2,400 in donations through tabling in the Reynolds Club, but students want to ensure the process doesn’t stop when tabling ends on Friday.

“Relief does not end in the winter,” said fourth-year Brittany Little, a representative of Fabulous Individuals Embracing Respect, Consciousness and Empowerment (FIERCE), a participating group that aims to bring together women of color on campus and in the community.

Groups affiliated with UChicago for Haiti will be sponsoring events in the near future, including a Beats and Pieces fundraising concert in February. UChicago for Haiti will also set up collection bins throughout campus, encouraging donations of clothing and hygiene products. Boxes will be placed today in the Reynold’s Club, OMSA, Cobb Hall, the Social Service Administration Building, and the Law School.

Groups represented in UChicago for Haiti include Beats and Pieces, the Puerto Rican Students Association, the African and Caribbean Students Association, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., FIERCE, the Minority Student Pre-Medical Association, the Organization for Black Students, and Cultures in Action.

By Adam Shuboy News Contributor University professors Michael Turner and Edward Kolb will receive the 2010 Dannie Heinemann Prize for Astrophysics next January in recognition of their foundational contributions to the field of particle astrophysics.

The American Institute of Physics and the American Astronomical Society presents the award.

“The connection between quarks and the cosmos, the very little and the vast, is profound,” Turner said. Now recognized as a fundamental way of understanding the universe, the scientific community originally doubted Kolb’s and Turner’s synthesis of particle physics and astronomy.

“We were known as the Cheech and Chong of astrophysics, the very entertaining type,” Turner said. “Those crazy guys out in Chicago with Fermi.”

Other scientists later recognized their work, however, and in 1998 the pair had their “eureka moment,” Turner said, when the scientific community endorsed their theories, which now underpin particle astrophysics.

Turner’s work focuses on energy changes that occur on a quantum scale, which can help create galaxies. Turner also studies “dark matter,” a phrase he coined, and dark energy.

Little is currently known about either, but astronomers believe they are causing the universe to accelerate. Kolb was unavailable for comment; he studies the physical process that went on just after the big bang.

Turner said the award should not be accredited just to Kolb and him alone, but to the University itself. At the time when Kolb’s and Turner’s theories were deemed radical, the University extended them support. The University makes itself a “fertile place for ideas that bridge disciplines,” Turner said, allowing their theories of particle cosmology to thrive.

Governor, aldermen, and Senate hopefuls trade minute-long stump speeches at local Martin Luther King memorial QUINN continued from front page Little Light of Mine.”

Speaker after speaker called on rally participants to become more involved in social justice campaigns in their community.

“The 2008 election of Barack Obama set the stage for the most important year in our country’s history,” said Reverend Patrick Daymond, of Sixth Grace Presbyterian and a member of event co-sponsor Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL). “We must move from the rhetorical posture of ‘Yes We Can’ to ‘Oh yes, we will.’”

Officials and candidates were each given one minute to speak; timekeepers with signs reading “One More Sentence” and “Stop” stood in the front row to let speakers know when time was up.

Preckwinkle, 5th Ward Alderman Leslie Hairston, and other Chicago aldermen agreed to SOUL’s request that Walmart only be allowed to build a Southside store after signing a community benefi ts compact to provide living wages and guarantee workers the right to organize. To chants of “good jobs, good jobs,” Preckwinkle used her minute to praise “the hard work and sacrifice of ordinary people.”

Schakowsky, Hoffman, Giannoulias, and Green Party candidate LeAlan Jones each committed to supporting the Livable Communities Act if elected to Congress, a bill to improve federal coordination of housing, transportation, and environmental policy.

“Being here today with all of you and seeing such outstanding organizations

and real working people is an inspiration,” Giannoulias said.

Hoffman spoke next, stating that he had “been fighting against a system stacked for the powerful his whole life,” Hoffman said.

“I’m very pleased to receive the endorsement from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, who called me independent and incorruptible.”

Leaders thanked Quinn for his assistance passing the Urban Weatherization Initiative, which provides $425 million for people in low-income communities to have their homes weatherized, and Quinn agreed to continue working with them to successfully implement the program.

“We have to combat a culture of violence,” said Quinn, who is also facing a primary challenge for governor on February 2. “That’s why it’s so important to use the power of democracy to take down a culture of violence and promote a culture of work.”

As the event ended, Currie and other state legislators pledged their support for a state bill to expand the sales tax base, increase the corporate tax rate from 4.8 to 5 percent, and increase the personal income tax rate from three to five percent in order to balance the Illinois budget and provide more funding for education and human services.

The event was organized by the Illinois Indiana Regional Organizing Network and its member groups Northside People Organized to Work Educate and Restore, SOUL, and the Northwest Indiana Federation of Interfaith Organizations.

CHICAGO MAROON | ADVERTISEMENT | January 22, 2010

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CHICAGO MAROON

| VIEWPOINTS | January 22, 2010

VIEWPOINTS

EDITORIAL & OP-ED JANUARY 22, 2010

EDITORIAL

Sexual assault policy needs work–still CHICAGO MAROON

The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892

SUPRIYA SINHABABU, Editor-in-Chief TOM TIAN, Managing Editor MICHAEL LIPKIN, News Editor ASHER KLEIN, News Editor EVAN COREN, Viewpoints Editor HAYLEY LAMBERSON, Voices Editor BEN SIGRIST, Voices Editor JAKE GRUBMAN, Sports Editor JORDAN HOLLIDAY, Sports Editor BEN ROSSI, Editorial Board Member DANI BRECHER, Head Copy Editor ERIC GUO, Photo Editor CAMILLE VAN HORNE, Photo Editor HEATHER LEWIS, Head Designer

The University should respond to demands for open dialogue about flawed procedures Only three years after the University implemented its first sexual assault policy, the Working Group on Sexual Assault Policy (WGSAP), an independent student group, has met with an attorney in hopes of strengthening its opposition to the current policy.

This growing frustration comes after over a year of effort on the group’s part, during which both Student Government and the Maroon have also called for changes. By moving slowly on efforts to reform a defective policy—or rejecting these efforts altogether—the Administration has failed to appropriately handle one of the gravest and most sensitive issues in student life.

The University’s current policy has several flaws. The policy offers more

benefits to the accused than to the victim: The victim does not have an absolute right to face the accused or to have a student member on the disciplinary committee—both rights that the accused enjoys. Furthermore, the current panels are comprised of faculty from the accuser’s academic area, increasing the chances that faculty are already acquainted with one or more of the parties involved. This process makes non-acquaintance a virtual impossibility in small schools like the Social Service Administration.

In an encouraging sign, the University has finally signaled that it will offer sensitivity training to personnel involved in disciplinary procedures related to sexual assault. However, in a meeting with WGSAP last quarter, the University

rejected proposals both to centralize disciplinary procedures and to form a committee to review the entire policy, citing, among other reasons, that it was too early to change the barely threeyear-old rules. The Administration’s reasoning for these denials is insufficient: The fact that a policy is relatively new should never be a reason to defend its deficiencies, and this reluctance to go back to the drawing board seems to convey a stubborn lack of initiative in the Administration. Furthermore, creating a committee to review the entire sexual assault policy should be a no-brainer, as it would partially satisfy student demands and ensure an open dialogue. If sustainability, campus dining, and reviewing the University’s brand presence are issues serious enough to

merit their own student-administrator committees, surely reviewing sexual assault policy deserves one as well.

The University lagged behind its peer institutions in implementing a sexual assault policy to begin with. Instead of continuing this trend of dragging its feet on such an important issue, the University should implement its new sensitivity policies as soon as possible, and allow a student committee to examine the remainder of its procedures with the aim of creating a fair and safe process for all involved.

— The MAROON Editorial Board consists of the Editor-in-Chief, Viewpoints Editors, and an additional Editorial Board member.

ABRAHAM NEBEN, Web Editor BURKE FRANK, Associate News Editor CHRIS BOOTS, Associate Viewpoints Editor LIAT SPIRO, Associate Viewpoints Editor RYAN TRYZBIAK, Associate Sports Editor

OP-ED

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

In the club

News article on Center for Jewish Studies had errors

JUDY MARCINIAK, Business Manager JAY BROOKS, Business Director JACK DiMASSIMO, Designer IVY PEREZ, Designer

Clubbing is a rare chance to get out of your shell, escape Hyde Park

CHRISTINA SCHWARTZ Designer JESSICA SHEFT-ASON, Designer NAKUL SINGH, Designer MATT TYNDALE, Designer ANDREW GREEN, Designer

Alison Howard Columnist

ANNA AKERS-PECHT, Copy Editor JORDAN FRANKLIN, Copy Editor DANIELLE GLAZER, Copy Editor VICTORIA KRAFT, Copy Editor MONIKA LAGAARD, Copy Editor LAUREN LARSON, Copy Editor HOLLY LAWSON, Copy Editor MIRANDA LI, Copy Editor LAUREN MAKHOLM, Copy Editor LILY YE, Copy Editor WENJIA DOREEN ZHAO, Copy Editor

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

Tonight, barring any unfore seen disasters or the regaining of my senses, you will find me in the club. Club Volkan, that is: an 18-and-up Latin dance club. I have made elaborate plans with several like -minded friends to attend this nightspot, including a trip to Forever 21 in search of sparkly tops. We made our decision between Club Volkan and Club Mambo, another Chicago

venue catering to the underage, which reportedly can accommodate up to 1,5 00 “aspiring hipsters.” The prospect of Mambo was too terrifying, not to mention too close to day-to-day existence h e r e a t U C h i c a g o , s o Vo l k a n (which I have to repeatedly remind myself to not pronounce “Vulcan”) won.

From what I can tell, these plans are mostly out of character for me, a girl who, embarrassingly, has never been to a frat party at this school. When asked about this, I normally cite a friend’s assertion that you haven’t really been to a fraternity until you’ve

had beer spilled on you, and my lack of enthusiasm, snob that I am, about such an occurrence.

Nevertheless, my lack of interest in campus fraternities does indeed make my desire to go to a nightclub strange. (Kudos, however, to the brother gyrating in the Psi U window last Thursday night.) I own both Old School and the music video for Ke$ha’s TikTok, so I know that both frats and nightclubs have the same basic ingredients: small, enclosed spaces for dancing and alcohol.

So why in the world do I think going to a club is going to be

CLUB continued on page 6

Circulation: 6,500 The opinions expressed in the Viewpoints section are not necessarily those of the MAROON.

©2010 CHICAGO MAROON, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 Editor-in-Chief Phone: (773) 834-1611 Newsroom Phone: (773) 702-1403 Business Phone: (773) 702-9555 Fax: (773) 702-3032

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.

Letters to the editor should be limited to 400 words.

Op-ed submissions, 800 words.

CONTACT News: news@chicagomaroon.com Viewpoints: viewpoints@chicagomaroon.com Voices: voices@chicagomaroon.com Sports: sports@chicagomaroon.com Photography: photo@chicagomaroon.com Design: design@chicagomaroon.com Copy Editing: copy@chicagomaroon.com Advertising: jmarcini@uchicago.edu

OP-ED

Time for Haiti to be debt-free Earthquake crisis gives developed world a chance to forgive Haiti’s loans

By Toussaint Losier Viewpoints Contributor While raising money for his organization’s relief work in Haiti, evangelist and one -time Presidential candidate M. G. “Pat” Robertson described the massive earthquake that struck the capital of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area on Jan. 12 as the result of a longstanding “curse” on the small Caribbean nation.

O f c o u r s e , Ro b e r t s o n , w h o just five years ago blamed the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina on legalized abortion, was not speaking of the

island’s Spanish conquest, which led to the near extermination of an estimated 1.5 million Taino inhabitants through murder, disease, and forced labor. Nor

Debt, rather than Robertson’s “pact to the devil,” has hindered Haiti’s social and economic development. was he drawing attention to the s avage cruelties of plantation slavery, through which France kept close to half a million West and Central Africans in bondage

through naked brutality.

Rather, Robertson suggested that the source of this “curse” was, ironically, the very action, which enabled those who had suffered under slavery sought to gain their freedom: the holding of a Vodou ceremony attended by tens of thousands and held in the north of the Saint Domingue colony in August of 1791.

For Robertson, those participating in this West African religious ritual were not sparking an uprising that, after the defeat of successive European armies, won them freedom and independence in 18 0 4, but rather they were

HAITI continued on page 6

I am writing to correct two errors in the Maroon article on the Chicago Center for Jewish Studies, “With new Jewish Studies Center, meshuggeners and menschen will come together” (1/15/10).

First, the Center will not “connect different areas of interest for Jewish scholars” (my emphasis). The Center hopes to engage in conversation all scholars working on Jewish Studies, Jewish or not. We welcome scholars of Jewish history, thought, languages, and culture regardless of their religion, nationality, race, or gender (and not only males, which might be mistakenly inferred from your use of ‘menschen’ in the title).

Second, the Center does not “oversee” the Hebrew and Yiddish language programs. The Hebrew and Yiddish programs are overseen by the Departments of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Germanic Studies, respectively. In the e-mail interview on which the article was based, I wrote that the Center “supports” these programs; i.e., we provide backup support in the way of funding for the Hebrew Circle and for similar activities for Yiddish.

Unfortunately, the article also omits the most important part of the interview: This coming Sunday January 24th at 11:30 am, the Center will host a free brunch in Cobb 107 for undergraduates to publicize the programs, courses, and opportunities in Jewish Studies already in existence and to hear from students their ideas and proposals about what they would like the Center to do for them. We are open to exploring new avenues for the expression of student interest in Jewish Studies—including arts programs and student initiated performances, lectures, and conferences. Please join us.

Josef Stern William H. Colvin Professor of Philosophy Director, Chicago Center for Jewish Studies

LETTERS continued on page 5

CHICAGO MAROON

| VIEWPOINTS | January 22, 2010

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Letters to the editor, continued LETTERS continued from page 4

Knudson gives misleading impression of anthropology department “The bitter end” (1/12/10) was an unintelligible piece riddled with a number of factual inaccuracies and was unproductive in addressing issues that exist within the [anthropology] department. Marshall described the major as a neglected hodgepodge of courses, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Courses in various areas are offered every quarter and numerous professors, including the head of the department, are available through easily accessed, scheduled office hours to help guide undergraduates to form their own experience.

This is required of faculty in the department and should be readily known to the undergraduate population. Undergraduates frequently feel as if certain times do not fit their own personal schedules, but this does not change the fact that times to sit down and talk with these professors do exist for everyone interested.

The graduate students that do teach courses do a fine job and frequently receive rave reviews in evaluations. The graduate students from the department go on to professorships at other elite universities based largely on these reviews.

Perhaps they are inarticulate after reading papers

written by the likes of Marshall, but they represent the department and University well. It is not a coincidence that the placement of our graduate student population into full professorships surpasses that of most peer institutions. Marshall also lacks any basis for claiming the existence of a “creeping audit culture,” which he used to attempt to further this argument. There are no official statistics of this kept for Marshall to base this on and in all of the anthropology courses I have taken or TA’d, I can count the number of auditors on one hand. All-in-all, this is just another baseless statement from Marshall.

Problems do exist within the department and must be addressed, but in a productive manner. Undergraduates currently fund the graduate department, which creates problems as select faculty wish to work predominantly with the graduate department versus those who fund a large portion their salaries. The department has numerous things to be proud about, but this should be looked at if it looks to remain the leading undergraduate department in the country. We should create dialogue, offer new solutions, name those causing problems within the department—not write unintelligible diatribes with irrelevant metaphors that take away from undergraduate credibility.

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Evan Scott Class of 2010

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David and Kris Wray present

The Winter 2010 Wirszup Lecture

David Biron (Physics, ( P h y s i c s , James J a m e s Frank F r a n k Institute) Institute)

“So, do worms sleep?” and other questions that may have never crossed your mind

Tuesday January 26, 7:00PM Max Palevsky East Commons 5630 S. University Ave free and open to the public dessert reception to follow

6

CHICAGO MAROON

| VIEWPOINTS | January 22, 2010

Like clubs, fraternities should offer coat checks CLUB continued from page 4 more worthwhile than a campus party that is, in many ways, “club lite”?

Coat check is a big factor. Dressing in Forever 21 “sexy gear” is much more appealing when it can be covered with a more generous (generous referring to the amount of fabric) garment guaranteed to be in your possession for the return journey.

An editorial entreating either fraternities to add coat checks or Chicago to remove the need for coats may be in order, but I’m

guessing that it would be a waste of words.

But that’s obviously not the biggest factor.

The reality is that going to a club like Volkan is a break from my reality. It is entirely outside of my realm of experience, not only in the partying sort of way (un)seen (by me) at the frats, but in most imaginable ways.

I’ll be in an unfamiliar place wearing unfamiliar clothes. I would say I’d be dancing to unfamiliar music, but I’ve been preparing for that one with my iTune’s playlist. Sure, there will be the familiarity of my friends, but the

important part is that we’ll be out of Hyde Park. The point of this experience is to put ourselves out of place.

I see the consequences of this night in at least two ways, barring any unforeseen disasters and the loss of my self-control. It could be terrible—lots of sleazy guys insisting on dances (surely due to my gender and not my limited dancing abilities), coats lost at coat check, even beer spilled. Or we could have a great time. In the first case, I get to reevaluate my normal, boring life at

UChicago, and realize all the great things about the opportunities for fun (frat or otherwise) on campus. In the second, I’ve found something new and wonderful to enjoy. Either way, it doesn’t seem like too bad of a way to spend an evening.

This must be what that saying, “Do the thing that terrifies you!,” is all about. Unless you’re terrified of going to Club Mambo.

tens of millions of francs. This pattern of foreign intervention ultimately culminated in the invasion and armed occupation of Haiti by the U.S. Marine Corps in 1915 under the pretext of safeguarding U.S. property and establishing political stability. A popular uprising forced the Marines to leave in 1934, but not before the provisional government had signed onto a new $40 million loan, now with banks in New York, rather than Paris.

Th i s b u r d e n o f d e b t , r a t h e r t h a n Robertson’s “pact to the devil,” has hindered Haiti’s social and economic development. As late as 2003, the Haitian government was spending $57.4 million to service its debt, but only $39.2 million on education, health care and other services. And much like France’s 1825 demand for indemnity and tariff reduction, these loan deals have generally come with conditions. From the culling of the Haitian pig in the late 1970s to the lowering of the rice tariff in the mid-1990s, to the structural adjustment program of the late 1990s, foreign policies have made Haiti less self-sufficient and have made life for the average person that much harder. These man-made conditions

have made the country very vulnerable.

In the wake of last week’s tragic natural disaster, the International Monetary Fund extended a new $100 million loan to Haiti to assist with the daunting relief and reconstruction efforts. But while providing a much needed line of credit, this loan was originally designed with particular policy conditions, like raising the price of electricity and holding down the wages of public sector workers. It was only after a flurry of protests from organizations like Jubilee USA raised alarm that IMF officials backtracked, announcing the loan would now be interest-free. In addition, the fund also promised to work towards forgiving all of the country’s $265 million in debt. While it should not have taken such a terrible tragedy for Haiti to have a chance at full debt relief, this news is a rare ray of hope in the midst of such dire circumstances.

Let it be an opportunity that the Haitian people, and those who stand in solidarity with them during these harrowing times, seize.

— Alison Howard is a second-year in the College.

Debts owed to the developed world have accounted for much of Haiti’s spending HAITI continued from page 4 swearing “a pact to the devil.” Ever since, Robertson said, “they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor.”

In the week since his comments were made public, Robertson’s remarks have been widely condemned by everyone from Al Sharpton and Don Imus to Valerie Jarrett and Rev. Franklin Graham. Yet these denunciations overlook that since its independence, Haiti has had to make deals not with the devil, but with the world’s most powerful nations; deals that have brought upon it not God’s wrath, but greater and greater levels of foreign debt.

From the start, Haiti’s hard-won freedom was seen as a threat by the Old World’s colonial powers and the New World’s slaveholders, who responded with a diplomatic quarantine, refusing to recognize its sovereignty. This trend was later replaced with gunboat diplomacy, beginning in 1825 when a squadron of French battleships docked in Port-au-Prince. Threatening the capitol with their canons, these ships bore news that France’s recently restored king would recognize Haiti’s independence, but

only on the condition that Haiti to pay a 150 million franc indemnity and halve its tariff on French goods. Rather than compensating the descendants of those who had been enslaved for their unpaid labor, it was the French slave owners who had to be repaid, with interest. After being accepted by Haiti’s government, this proverbial deal with the devil set what had once been the world’s richest colony on the path to poverty.

Estimated at roughly 22 billion dollars today, this Faustian bargain saddled Haiti’s government for more than a century, as they borrowed money, at times from French banks, to keep up their end of the deal. Rather than investing the bulk of its budget in domestic interests, Haiti annually spent most of its money on loan repayment.

According to some estimates, at the turn of the century, 80 percent of the nation’s revenue went to repay debts, setting a template for what most of the world’s post-colonial countries would later face.

At the same time, successive threats from British, German, French, and American warships demanding their own indemnities also drained the nation’s treasury of

— Toussaint Losier is a Ph.D student in History.

7

CHICAGO CHICAGO MAROON MAROON | VOICES | VOICES | November | January 15, 20,2010 2009

VOICES

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT JANUARY 22, 2010

FILM

FILM

Student filmmakers see bright future for their feature

From doctors to space cowboys, Ford still kicks ass

By Michelle Welch Voices "I know" Harrison Ford is an actor you might be familiar with. If not, I’m sure that rock you’ve been under is also hiding Osama bin Laden, and the CIA would like you to please give them a description of your whereabouts. For those who’ve seen Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Witness, Working Girl, The Fugitive, or (“Get off my”) Air Force One, you’re familiar with Ford as a devil-may-care charmer, a cocky romantic, and a bit of a rugged cowboy. But who is Harrison Ford in real life? At 67, Ford is now, truthfully, old. He’s soft-spoken, pensive, and shrewd, and surprisingly does not smell like sweaty jungle. He’s also infamous for his reticent interview personality. In a roundtable interview, he sat down with the Chicago Maroon to discuss his career and his new film, Extraordinary Measures.

Clyde (Sydney Slotkin) debates the relative merits of tie-dye and plaid with Max (Michael Guido).

COURTESY OF JUSTIN STAPLE

By Jessen O'Brien Voices Bonnie While most students spent their summer sitting on the couch and watching movies, a few decided to make one instead. “A Girl Named Clyde,” is a feature-length film by fourth-year Jack Mayer and third-year Justin Staple, both majoring in Cinema and Media Studies, which premiered this Tuesday at Doc. Clyde (Sydney Slotkin) lives, sings, and loves in Atlanta, Georgia. In an attempt to get over her ex, Emile (Augie Praley), she dates a Frenchman who leaves one day for Austin, Texas. Clyde follows him, and her friends, in turn, follow her on a road trip to Austin, only to

discover that she’s fine and in love once more.

“I was interested in telling an interesting story without deviating from the things that had happened to me or my friends,” said Mayer, who wrote and directed the movie.

Mayer had previously worked with both the character Clyde and Slotkin, working with different written versions of Clyde and making shorter movies with Slotkin. Mayer loves working with Slotkin because of her honesty both on and off the screen. In order to perfect the character, Mayer said he “sat down and interviewed her, for literally hours of interviews. ” Once he had the character down, he simply put her in the situation he wanted for the movie.

The difficulties of developing the story came

with the challenges of the logistics necessary for filmmaking; namely, the cost. Mayer raised about $8,000 for the film, and Fire Escape Films helped produce it and provided Mayer and Staple with free equipment. However, a good chunk of the money went to cars. “We had a car break down in Atlanta,” said Mayer, “Then the replacement car broke down dramatically with half of the equipment in it.”

With the working cars, the cast and crew traveled from Atlanta, Georgia to Galveston, Texas, and then finally to Austin, Texas. “We wanted to work in Mexico,” said Staple, the film’s editor and director of photography.

“We thought it would be too risky to bring 15

CLYDE continued on page 8

THEATER

Improvised Simpsons provides impressive imitations, irreverent in-jokes

By Jonathan Grabinsky Voices Troy McClure Springfield comes to life here in Chicago as five young actors pay tribute to the 20-year-old classic cartoon The Simpsons in the fresh and innovative Improvised Simpsons. The show, playing Saturday n i g h t s a t t h e i n t i m a t e G o r i l l a Ta n g o Theatre, is a great improv production with very accessible prices (10 dollars per ticket with cheap beer and refreshments available) that will surely guarantee laughs and entertainment for anyone looking for an interesting way to spend a Saturday night.

IMPROVISED SIMPSONS Gorilla Tango Theatre Through January 30

For all of us whose childhood and teenage memories have been forever tainted with the satirical humor of the yellow family, it is fascinating to watch the incredibly talented cast transform into familiar Simpsons characters as they respond to outrageous situations and questions proposed by the audience. The mixture between the ridiculous audience suggestions, the

characters’ inherent absurdity, and the irreverent spontaneity of improv comedy results in hilarious scenes of total incoherency. For example, in last Saturday’s show, while casually looking for condoms in the Kwik-E-Mart, Reverend Lovejoy had an awkward encounter with Marge Simpson, who, coincidently, was also buying condoms. Meanwhile, two belligerent racist kids were violently assaulting the Kwik-EMart’s owner, Apu, after a dispute over the store’s chocolate selection.

The prevalent laughter in the audience and the natural acting of the cast establishes an atmosphere of great familiarity with the characters of Springfield, so someone who is not well-acquainted with the TV show might find the improvisations boring.

But for militant fans, or even just moderate followers, the imitations are excellent, and the list of Springfield characters performed is extensive. Reverend Lovejoy, Krusty the Clown, Selma and Patty Bouvier, and The Comic Book Guy all make appearances, as do some of the most obscure characters like Fat Tony and the aliens Kang and Kodos. Although the list of characters is quite large, some of the more important characters from the show like Bart, Lisa, and Maggie have minor, maybe even nonexistent, roles in the production.

The show avoids the social and political criticisms of the original TV show.

However, while the production won’t get you thinking about the decadence of the American value system, it will still make any fan laugh. Like most other improv shows, the acting is done without the support of scenery, costumes or any other form of theatrical assembly. In fact, with the exception of The Simpsons’ theme song playing occasionally in the background and a poster that reads “Springfield,” there are no accessories to the acting. This should not imply that the show isn’t good; on the contrary, the quality of the improvisation makes the show comparable to any other professional improv show.

The quality of the acting, however, is not consistent in all five performers. Some are clearly more talented in making their characters appear spontaneous and natural. This was especially the case for one actor who would stand nervously on the side, arms crossed, giving off a sense of insecurity when not in character.

The show is no masterpiece of comic theater, but it is clearly not intented to be.

Improvised Simpsons intends to provide a short and entertaining reimagining of The Simpsons for fans of the show, improvised comedy, or just an entertaining night.

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES Directed by Tom Vaughan Wide Release

Chicago Maroon: What interested you in the role of Dr. Stonehill or Extraordinary Measures?

Harrison Ford: Well, I was looking for material that I could develop for myself, to develop a film in which I could play a character that was different than what people might expect from me—a good movie. A movie that I could help assure the quality of. And the story of John Crowley—his story I ran across in the Wall Street Journal and then in a follow-up book by Geeta Anand called The Cure. It tells the story of a man whose two children are beset by a rare genetic disease called Pompe syndrome in which the kids suffer from a lack of capacity to metabolize sugar. The character I play is a fiction who represents the contributions of a lot of different scientists and researchers that helped Crowley.

But in looking for the nature of this character, the reality of this character, I did research in academic science labs and I found that, in fact, the coach of the football team does make more money than the entire science department. I found circumstances which believably might produce a guy of this ilk. I didn’t find anybody as maladjusted and difficult as the character I play. But the circumstances are such that I think one could find somebody similar in these circumstances—he’s a guy who works alone, lives alone, fishes alone, and goes every night and watches sports at the nearby bar. He’s not your conventional idea of a scientist, but his life is focused on his work, devoted to his work, and he cares about little else. He’s unequipped to be disposed toward giving up any control or authority and he’s indisposed to wanting to deal with money issues. So he’s a difficult ally for Crowley and that creates some character conflict in the telling of the story and gives us some opportunity for entertainment quality. An answer to a short question. Tend to do that. It saves time.

CM: At the Dallas premiere you told the Dallas Morning News that one of the reasons you took the role is you thought it would be a good movie experience for the audience. Could you be more specific? What kind of experience?

HF: Well, the reason I made the film is I

FORD continued on page 8

8

CHICAGO MAROON | VOICES | January 22, 2010

Voices STD (Stuff to Do) Friday | January 22

good is gone. (Ida Noyes Hall, 6 p.m., free)

Listen to a 17th-century string ensemble (without a time machine) at the Europa Galante concert hosted by Chicago Presents. The 15-piece ensemble will be playing period instruments in its performance of Telemann works and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. (Mandel Hall, 7:30 p.m., $5)

As part of its Italics exhibit featuring contemporary Italian art, the Museum of Contemporary Art is also hosting a weekly film series that complements the exhibit. This week’s film is Inglorious Bastards (1978), which follows a group of American soldiers who escape en rout to a military prison. (220 East Chicago Avenue, 1 p.m., $8)

Chicago underground post-punk band Joan of Arc will be hosting the Joan of Arc: Don’t Mind Control Variety Show at the Empty Bottle. The performance will feature the slew of guest artists on the band’s latest album and, since this is a variety show, there will also be an art show before the concert. (1035 North Western Avenue, 10 p.m., $10)

Saturday | January 23 Pig out at the International Food Festival hosted by the Asian Student Union. The annual event not only has cuisine from around the world, but also boasts live music and dancing.

Be sure to get there early before everything

Sunday | January 24 The Smart Museum, in conjunction with the Instituto Italiano di Cultura, will be showing the 1996 film adaptation of the Henry James novel The Portrait of a Lady. Nicole Kidman stars as a young woman who travels to Italy in search of her destiny. (Cochrane-Woods Art Center, 2 p.m., free)

Monday | January 25 Catch the Doc Films screening of Séance on a Wet Afternoon, starring Kim Stanley. The

Humble as ever, Ford insists that he is not a "risk-taker"

With Christine Yang renowned stage actress plays a mentally unstable medium who convinces her husband to kidnap a child in order to prove her psychic abilities and collect the ransom money for solving the crime. (Max Palevsky Cinema, 7 p.m., $5)

Tuesday | January 26 Although Behemoth may soon be banned from performing in Poland for allegedly promoting Satanism, the Polish death metal band is still allowed to tour freely in the United States.

Behemoth will be performing at the House of Blues with the equally charming Septicflesh, Lightning Storms of Death, and Kommandmant.

(329 North Dearborn Street, 5:30 p.m., $18)

Wednesday | January 27 Protect yourself and your partner by getting tested. The Center on Halsted will provide confidential, anonymous, and rapid HIV tests this Wednesday. The test involves a mini-

COURTESY OF MERIE WESIMILLER WALLACE

FORD continued from page 7 thought it would be a good experience for the audience. My responsibility as an actor was to create a character that added to the quality and drama of that experience. I mean, who can deny the value of an experience where you go into a theater and participate in the positive experience of this guy and his family? You may miss the car crashes and the blowing shit up, but you may walk away with a positive feeling about humanity and be compelled to consider your common humanity rather than your singular existence. And you may even remember the story 15 minutes after you walk out of the theater. I’m not about kinetics, even in the films which are, I think, unfairly characterized as action movies. I’m always focused on character and emotion and good storytelling.

CM: So I guess since Extraordinary Measures is quite a bit about risks, I was wondering what you would say is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken, either in a role or just in general? If that’s too personal, I can ask another.

HF: No, that’s fine. It’s not too personal, it’s just that I never consider that I’m doing anything risky. For me it’s all about—if there is risk and you’re capable of perceiving risk, then you must be capable of perceiving mitigation of risk. Some people think flying—which I do—or the kind of flying I do off in the back country, that it’s risky. I think it’s about skill and flying and developing the experience to mitigate against risk. So risk for me is no virtue. I’m not out there looking for risk. I’m looking for challenge. I’m looking for quality in the work that I do. But I don’t think of myself as a big risk-taker. Even when I was making the riskiest

move of my life and deciding I wanted to be an actor, I didn’t consider it risky—I just considered it unlikely that I would be successful.

CM: Something that struck me is you have advocated for several different causes. Whereas you’re a famous face to help push something and get something known, to get people to support something and get behind something, in this regard, even though you don’t support— or maybe now you do—but something like a cause like Pompe disease, you seem to be playing one of those roles that’s doing the leg work to help get stuff going and advance this. So I was just wondering if that occurred to you?

HF: Well, my first wife has multiple sclerosis and I have supported research in MS for a number of years. But personally, quietly, I’m not an advocate. I don’t appear preaching the gospel. My interest in conservation is a longstanding interest. I spend way more time in the board meetings dealing with the minutiae of running a $125 million-a-year organization than I do as a poster boy for conservation. I believe I’m useful as a communicator. But I don’t believe that I should have the expectation or be used as a member of an all-star team so that the man on the street is supposed to decide between my all-star team or another all-star team to decide on which side of an argument to come down on. I believe the arguments of these critical issues should be conducted by experts and we should all take responsibility for making reasoned choices about these things.

Read the full interview at chicagomaroon.com/voices

If Everclear was your favorite band in middle school, be prepared for some drastic changes in the band’s third reincarnation, playing at the House of Blues. All of the original members except vocalist Art Alexakis have been replaced, but the music still features Alexakis’ angry childhood stories. (329 North Dearborn Street, 8:30 p.m., $26)

Thursday | January 28 Chicago-native Lupe Fiasco will be playing a special fundraising show at the Shrine nightclub for Senate candidate Cheryle Robinson Jackson. He will be appearing with local musicians DJ Bonsu, J. Ivy David, and Verzatille. Don’t forget to dress to impress. (2109 South Wabash Avenue, 8 p.m., $30)

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

Staple and Mayer have their sights set on South by Southwest CLYDE continued from page 7

Stonehill (Harrison Ford) insists to John (Brendan Frasier) that he didn't shoot first.

mally invasive mouth swab and results will be available within 15 minutes. (5710 South Woodlawn Avenue, 11 a.m., free)

people to Mexico.”

All 15 members of the crew attend the U of C. Although most of the cast does as well, it also includes a criminal lawyer, a voice actor for Mazda commercials, and a self-produced Spanish soap star. For part of the shooting, many members of the cast and crew stayed in one house together. “I suddenly realized this had become a fantastic, weird commune home,” Mayer recalled. However, the home was not entirely idyllic. The purchase of Lone Star Beer and BB guns led to a house riddled with holes.

Luckily, they fixed the damage by morning.

The work did not end with summer. After three and a half weeks of filming, Mayer and Staple began editing. Through this tedious process, they assembled the hours of footage into a coherent story. “We had this mold to create anything we wanted,” said Staple.

Although Clyde ended up “a loveable, honest, silly girl, we could have made her very quirky, weird, quiet.”

Over 100 scenes were cut to make the two and a half hour movie, but even now the work continues. “I think now the hard work has just begun,” said Staple, who often shows random scenes of the movie to anyone who stops by his house. Mayer does the same, always trying to get another opinion.

During the ongoing process of editing, Mayer and Staple want to add more original music and animation to the film. Their goal? To have the film ready for the 2011 independent film festival season, especially the South By Southwest Festival. To do so requires a certain level of technical tweaking, such as ensuring high quality sound, as well as adding hand-drawn animation. As for other venues, “I’ve been toying with the idea of doing college tours,” said Mayer. Doc may be the first of many college film societies to air the movie.

Other more immediate plans include producing a soundtrack. “A lot of original music came from post-production,” said Staple.

“So what we’re going to do is get together a soundtrack.” The music has a Southern feel to it, reminiscent of its locales.

Mayer said he wanted to “make a movie that could be compelling as a film to people who aren’t my friends,” while Staple longed to “inspire other student filmmakers, specifically at UChicago.” Although this may have been the first feature-length film they produced together, they have done shorter works before, and plan to continue working together in the future. No matter how far “A Girl Named Clyde” will go, both Mayer and Staple seem certain that there is more to be filmed in the summers to come.

Our online-exclusive articles are better than pr0n and LOLkatz combined! » Rory gives Dante hell in Hypothetically Yours » Mattias Darrow waxes poetic with Rae Armantrout » Gadabout gets a new name as Iliya Gutin profiles Michael Pollan in Hunger Strike

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CHICAGO MAROON | ADVERTISEMENTS | January 22, 2010

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CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | January 22, 2010

MENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BASKETBALL

Chicago hopes to prove teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talent doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t match its record

By Ryan Tryzbiak Associate Sports Editor Like an informant entering the Witness Protection Program, the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basketball team members are about to find out who they are.

Chicago (7â&#x20AC;&#x201C;7, 1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2 UAA) begins a four-game road trip Friday evening at Carnegie (4â&#x20AC;&#x201C;10, 0â&#x20AC;&#x201C;3) before traveling to Case (9â&#x20AC;&#x201C;5, 1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2) for a Sunday afternoon game.

The common link between the three teams is that they occupy the three bottom spots in the UAA standings, but there is reason to believe that the Maroonsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; low positioning may be misleading. Both of Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s UAA losses came at the hands of ranked opponents, fourth-ranked Wash U and 15th-ranked Brandeis. Chicago held second-half leads in each game.

If the Maroons really are better than their record indicates, they will need to prove it this weekend against the softest competition the always-difficult UAA has to offer.

Despite the standings, fourth-year guard Jake Pancratz is not taking the challenge lightly. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This weekendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opponents are going to be tough,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Their records do not reflect the quality at which they are capable of playing, and I would not be surprised to see both of these teams have some major upsets during conference play.â&#x20AC;?

In order to defeat Carnegie, the Maroons will have to contain the dual threat of fourthyear guard Jack Anderson and third-year forward Matthew Pettit. Anderson leads the Tartans in scoring at 17.8 points per game and is an aggressive player, as evidenced by his average of nearly nine free throw attempts per

game. Pettit, on the other hand, provides the muscle to Carnegieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attack. An efficient low post scorer who shoots 58.3 percent from the field, Pettit is also the Tartansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; top rebounder with 8.1 boards per game.

Defending Case is a completely different challenge. Whereas Carnegie relies on a few key scorers, the Spartans have a balanced offense that features eight different players with field goal percentages above 45 percent.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no surprise, then, that Case leads the conference in field goal percentage, but their potentially lethal offense is held back by a propensity to lose the ball. The Spartans are last in the UAA with an average turnover margin of minus-six.

Ultimately, success or failure for the Maroons this weekend will depend on whether or not they can builAd on last weekendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relatively successful home stand. Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 65â&#x20AC;&#x201C;58 Beach Night win over NYU broke a five-game losing streak and gave the Maroons their first UAA win of the campaign. The 69â&#x20AC;&#x201C;75 loss to Brandeis was certainly a setback but still a good enough performance that Pancratz thinks Chicago can carry some momentum into this weekend. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we play with the effort we have had over these last couple games, we will put ourselves in a good position to get two wins,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Though Chicago has not always scored enough to win their games this season, Pancratz emphasized that the Maroons are capable of lighting up the scoreboard, an ability that will certainly be tested this weekend. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have enough weapons on our team to put up enough points to win any game,â&#x20AC;? he said.

IF OUR DELIVERY DRIVERS

WERE ANY FASTER

THEY'D HAVE

NUMBERS ON THE SIDES OF THEIR CARS.

Fourth-year forward John Kinsella dribbles in front of Brandeisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vytas Kriskus in the Maroonsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; loss to the Judges Sunday. Chicago visits Carnegie tonight.

EMILY LO/MAROON

D-I competition will prepare Maroons for UAA meet SWIMMING continued from back page best teams in the Midwest, including Milwaukee, and second-year Paul Morimoto said that sort of preparation makes a difference for him. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been in enough big meets not to be in awe of or intimidated by your competition,â&#x20AC;?

Morimoto said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You have to stay focused and understand that your training is going to allow you to race whoever goes up against you.â&#x20AC;?

And even if Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teams arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t in a position to top Milwaukeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first string this

Coachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s philosophy values top-tier defense ROUSSELL continued from back page

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season, as the Maroons keep up their training and continue to attract impressive high school swimmers, it could soon be the Panthers who have to stay focused and not get overawed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think in the future, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re definitely going to be more competitive, because we continue to build our program, bring in better recruits every year, so weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re only going to get better,â&#x20AC;? Weber said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And I think eventually weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re definitely going to be a step above UWâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Milwaukee.â&#x20AC;?

made, field goals attempted, three-pointers made, and three-point shooting percentage.

The most obvious change on the court since Roussellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arrival in 2004 has been a shift away from the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s run-and-gun style and towards the defensive intensity that has defined the team in recent seasons. Focusing on keeping opponents out of the lane and crashing the defensive glass, the Maroons havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t finished outside the top 25 in field-goal percentage defense or the top 15 in rebounding margin in any of the past three seasons.

Never finishing lower than fifth in the conference, Roussellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s squads set their sights high from opening day. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a really honest coach,â&#x20AC;? fourth-year guard Jamie Stinson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up front about what he wants; heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really ambitious. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great quality about him. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never settled for anything.â&#x20AC;?

After missing the NCAA tournament for 12 straight years, the Maroons reached the Sweet Sixteen in 2007â&#x20AC;&#x201C;08, pushing Chicago firmly into the upper tier of Divisionâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;III womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basketball.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;That was one of the things that drew me here. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what the program was like when I got here, but it was not what it is now,â&#x20AC;? Stinson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He made it clear he wanted to be competitive at the national level, and I think heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done that.â&#x20AC;?

Such is Roussellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s competitive nature that the 100th win just meant an opportunity to think about the ones that got away. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You reflect back and think back and think about all the games you should have won, all the losses you should have won,â&#x20AC;? Roussell said.

Standing 15 wins shy of Susan Browerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s record for coaching wins, set in the late â&#x20AC;&#x2122;80s and early â&#x20AC;&#x2122;90s, Roussell is quick to shift the attention away from the bench and onto the court. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every coach will tell you itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the players that are winning the games,â&#x20AC;? he said.

The Maroons will try to make it 101 and 102 this weekendâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and more importantly for Roussell and this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team, 11 and 12 on the seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as they head to Carnegie and Case for their first road series in conference. If the Maroons are looking to get more than an eyebrow shrug out of their coach, a couple of road wins should do the trick.

IN QUOTES Dear Conan: ...[H]elp us in our quest to finally end our 13,000-game losing streak against the Harlem Globetrotters.

SPORTS

—Washington Generals President Red Klotz, in a letter offering Conan O’Brien a spot on the basketball team once O’Brien leaves The Tonight Show.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

SWIMMING

Roussell backed into head coaching spot, and has looked forward ever since

Improved Maroons aim to keep Milwaukee close

By Jake Grubman Sports Editor

Head coach Aaron Roussell, shown on the sideline last season, earned his 100th win at Chicago with Sunday’s victory over Brandeis.

COURTESY OF U OF C SPORTS INFORMATION

As the women’s basketball team lines up to shake hands after defeating Brandeis, head coach Aaron Roussell hears his name over the loudspeaker, announcing that the win was his 100th at Chicago. He gives a little shrug—maybe less a shrug than an eyebrow raise.

For Roussell, the significance of the win is that the Maroons (10–4) now sit at 2–1 in the conference, having swept their first home series with wins over NYU on Friday and Brandeis on Sunday to keep the conference championship in their sights.

“We were desperate for two wins this weekend,” he said. “[Number 100] was the last thing anybody was thinking about.”

Still, 100 wins is an impressive milestone for a coach who thought he was gone two weeks into the job.

Roussell arrived in Hyde Park in 2004 fresh off a two-year stint as a graduate assistant at Minnesota State University—Mankato and ready to take a seat as an assistant coach on the Maroons’ bench.

Then, two weeks before the start of the season, head coach Jennifer Kroll sat him down in his office.

Kroll was stepping down as coach.

“I kind of thought it was a joke,” Roussell said. “It was just a really,

really odd situation…. I thought I was going to have to find another job.”

Instead, he would be promoted.

Kroll, who had coached four seasons at Chicago, and athletics director Tom Weingartner put the reins in Roussell’s hands, giving him two weeks to get ready for his first head coaching job.

Thus the season started with a young roster and a young coach trying to right a program that had gone 30–44 in the previous three seasons, finishing sixth in the conference each of those years.

Expectations were low and the team stumbled out to a 3–4 record to start the year. Then, they beat Wash U in the UAA opener, and things started to change. The team would go on to finish 16–9, its best record since 1994–95, starting a string of five straight winning seasons under Roussell. “ Th a t g r o u p o f k i d s p l a y e d extremely hard,” Roussell said.

“They played their tails off and won some big games that year. We won a lot of games, and nobody really expected us to do anything.”

Since taking over the job, Roussell has gone 100–42. His .704 winning percentage is the highest of any coach in program history, and his teams have set season records in points, rebounds, free-throw and field-goal percentage, field goals

ROUSSELL continued on page 11

WRESTLING

With UAAs looming, Chicago picks up well-timed victories

By Henry Phillips Sports Contributor The wrestling team appears to be hitting their stride, winning duals this past week over Wheaton 49–10 and Augustana 22–16, and improving to 7–8 on the season. With the UAA Championships just over two weeks away, it is a particularly opportune time for Chicago to be wrestling at a high level.

While Wheaton was rather depleted heading into Tuesday’s match, forfeiting half of the weight classes, head coach Leo Kocher called the victory over Augustana “hard fought” and “more in line with what we can expect at the UAAs.” The forfeits aside, the victory over Wheaton was sound. Of the five contested matches, Chicago won four, and of those four, three were won by technical fall or pin. “[The win] did not tell us a lot,” Kocher said, in reference to the short-handed Wheaton squad.

Wednesday’s 22–16 victory over Augustana was a rematch of a dual from earlier in the season, which Chicago won 25–13. First-year Francisco Acosta showed signs of improvement against Augustana,

pinning an opponent who defeated him by nine points in their earlier encounter, while third-year Ryan Hatten once again pinned his opponent. The win over the Vikings was the third consecutive dual-match victory for Chicago, as the Maroons closed out the week with zero pinfalls against them.

Fo u r t h - y e a r S p e n c e r B u r n s returned to the team this winter quarter and has been a sparkplug for the squad with an 8–1 record. “[Burns] quite frankly made us competitive enough to beat two nationallyranked teams this year,” Kocher said, referring to Chicago’s wins over Cornell (Iowa) and Ohio Northern.

Perhaps the only player on the team currently outshining Burns is fourth-year Troy Carlson, who remains unbeaten on the season and is currently ranked third nationally.

Carlson, the Maroons’ sole representative at nationals last season, is coming off a first-place finish at the Elmhurst Invitational on Saturday.

The big question for this team is how they will fare at the UAA Championships at home on February 6. While a lack of a direct competition against the other teams in the UAA makes predictions difficult during the

regular season, Kocher is confident in his squad’s ability to take home a second straight conference title.

The success of the team will rely heavily upon the performance of five of their wrestlers who have qualified for the NCAA regional tournament in the past. Carlson, Hatten, and Burns, along with second-year Jimmy Schoettle and third-year David Kneisel, all have title hopes in their respective weight classes.

The expectations are particularly high for Carlson, who has won UAA titles in three different weight classes, and Hatten, who has won two UAA titles already in his career.

Hatten’s record is currently 7–4, and Kocher called him the favorite at heavyweight with the UAA tournament 14 days away.

The Maroons have next week off before heading to Wheaton for an invitational tournament on January 29.

Third-year Chris Oster grapples Wheaton’s Casey Krahn in Tuesday’s match against Wheaton, a 49–10 victory for the Maroons.

ERIC GUO/MAROON

By Jordan Holliday Sports Editor There’s a good chance UW–Milwaukee will be the team to finally muss up the spotless, 5–0 dual-meet records that men’s and women’s swimming have assembled this season. But this weekend’s meet is one that shouldn’t be reduced to only an L or a W. As swimming head coach Jason Weber will tell you, there is little question that the visiting Panthers could outpace the Maroons in Myers-McLoraine Pool tomorrow. “[Milwaukee’s] top person in each event is by far faster than ours,” Weber said. “Conceivably, they could win every single event if they put up their best lineup.”

S u ch a r e t h e a d v a n t a g e s o f being a D–I team and competing with scholarship athletes on your roster. Odds are, though, that the Panthers will look further down their depth chart, and opt to give some less-experienced swimmers a chance to compete against Chicago. As Weber predicts, that should make the two squads more e v e n l y m a t ch e d a n d g i v e t h e Maroons a chance to win with a particularly strong showing.

But whatever the final score, the meet will be most valuable as a metric of the Maroons’ progress, and as an opportunity for them to acclimate themselves to swimming against top talent. A year ago, the Panthers brought a lesser lineup to Chicago and still managed sizable victories over the men and the women. Keeping the meet closer this time around could make clear how the Maroons have improved in the interim.

“Last year, the meet was definitely one-sided in their favor.

However, both our men’s and our women’s teams are a lot stronger than last year,” second-year Tara Levens said. “We have a lot more depth in nearly every event, so hopefully we will be more competitive this weekend.”

Just as in her first year, Levens has often scored for Chicago in backstroke events this season.

Weber mentioned the backstroke as one area where Chicago could top even Milwaukee’s best, so a good afternoon from Levens would be a boost for her team as a whole.

Tomorrow’s meet will also give the Maroons a feel for the competition they’ll see when they get to UAAs in February and—with a little luck—NCAAs in March. Weber said the Panthers would be almost as strong as the best teams in D–III, including Emory, which has one of the very best teams nationally in men’s and women’s and will be the heavy favorite to win UAAs. To prepare for teams like Emory, the Maroons swim against some of the

SWIMMING continued on page 11