Chicago-Maroon-10-02-19 by The Chicago Maroon

FRIDAY

VOICES

IN SPORTS

Waiting for Godot

One last chance

» Page 6

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UT stages Beckett’s classic play. Spoiler: Godot never comes.

Fourth-year Troy Carlson begins final NCAA run at Great Lakes Regional.

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

CHICAGO VOLUME 121

AROON

ISSUE 28

CHICAGOMAROON.COM

The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892

Freefallin’

STUDENT LIFE

Sexual assault policy to be reviewed, Zimmer says At open forum, Zimmer also fields questions on Kalven report, Facebook By Stacey Kirkpatrick News Staff

obel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz speaks about his new book on the economic crisis, Freefall, in the International House on Thursday night. Article on page 2.

CAMILLE VAN HORNE/MAROON

MEDICAL CENTER

Nurses’ union say UCMC has money to spare By Al Gaspari News Staff Nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) rejected their second contract offer last week, and they argue that cuts at the Medical Center will hurt nursing care. Eighty-five percent of nurses voted against the contract, according to Jan Rodolfo, an organizer for National Nurses United (NNU). NNU and its local affiliate, the Illinois Nurses

Association (INA), represent over 1,000 UCMC nurses involved in the bargaining, who work in in-patient care. The Medical Center employs about 500 other nurses who work mostly in outpatient care and in labs. The old agreement expired on November 31, but its terms govern the nurses until the hospital and nurses reach a new agreement. Nurses objected to the contract because cutbacks would hurt the hospital’s ability to keep good nurs-

es, Rodolfo said. Rodolfo said the contract’s stipulations—a 10 percent increase in health insurance costs and potential shifting work schedules—are not fair given the hospital’s strong financial standing. “The health sector is quite healthy, and the University of Chicago Medical Center is in the black,” she said. “These two things will make a negative impact on the...nurses’ ability to provide quality for patients,”

NURSE continued on page 2

President Robert Zimmer announced the creation of a committee to review sexual assault policy at an open forum Tuesday. The announcement comes after sustained student pressure on the University to change the way it handles disciplinary action in sexual assault cases. Zimmer and Vice President of Campus Life Kim Goff- Crews answered an array of questions from about a dozen college and graduate students, who raised issues varying from the University’s investment policy to dining hall complaints. Zimmer began the forum by addressing the recent reappraisal of the University’s sexual assault policy. “The Provost is in the process of appointing a committee to look at that issue,” he said, although supporters had been alerted to the change earlier. Representatives of the Working Group for Sexual Assault Policy ( W G S A P ) m e t We d n e s d a y with Goff- Crews and Martina Munsters, deputy dean of students, to discuss the committee a n n o u n c e m e n t . WG S A P h a s advocated for the University to review sexual assault policy since its inception in 2008. “This was a primary goal, and we’re ecstatic,” said fourth-year Megan Carlson, a WGSAP member. While no specific date was set to convene the committee,

which will be composed of students and staff, Carlson said she was told the search for members would begin soon. Later in the Tuesday meeting, one student claimed he received a call from the UCPD asking about a Facebook status update that they deemed anti-Semitic. During the phone call, the student alleged the officer s aid that students’ Facebook accounts were being monitored. Goff-Crews denied that the University monitors Facebook accounts. “That’d be disgraceful if we did,” she said. A second-year Blackstone resident expressed concern over the unlimited dining plan, which is the only meal option for new students as of last year. Cheryl Gutman, deputy dean for housing and dining services, said the meal plans “are designed to address the whole,” and to that end, the unlimited option “meets the needs of the majority better.” “We may allow for places like Stony and Blackstone to have limited plans,” Gutman said. But the overarching goal of campus dining is “based on the desire to establish community,” and eating in the dining halls is encouraged. Students also asked questions relating to the Kalven Report, a 1967 position paper reaffirming the University’s neutrality on social and political issues. In recent years ,the report has been at the center of disputes with student activist groups, including a contentious 2006 debate

ZIMMER continued on page 2

MEDICAL CENTER

CAMPUS LIFE

Haiti puts hospital’s global outreach in the spotlight

Seen the view from Rockefeller? Probably not

By Asher Klein News Editor After last month’s earthquake in Haiti, the University sent medical supplies and a small team of doctors and nurses to the crumbling capital and a field hospital near the Dominican border. In the weeks after the quake, most returned to be replaced by a larger contingent. This Sunday, yet another group of doctors, nurses, and specialists are being sent to the island. Responsible for coordinating this high-intensity effort is a developing program at the U of C, the Global Health Initiative (GHI). Although the GHI was created with long-term goals in mind—education, research, and clinical outreach—it reacted quickly when word of the earthquake hit Hyde Park. “It’s been going about 500 miles per hour ever since,” GHI coordinator Jimin Kim said, referring to

GHI’s role in providing for the safety and goings-on of the volunteers in Haiti, as well as communicating with schools in Chicago and Boston partnering in the relief effort. The University has sent dozens of staffers to the country, working mostly in a hospital in Fond Parisien, where patients are flown after surgery on naval medical ships. Kim texts the medical workers every day, and speaks to some on the phone. “It’s very hard work; people are exhausted. They’re eating maybe one, one-and-a-half meals a day. It’s extremely hot, humid there, but they’re doing great work and they’re in great spirits,” she said. This is the first large-scale medical relief project the University of Chicago has coordinated, but GHI director and genetics professor Dr. Funmi Olopade said in a phone

GHI continued on page 2

By Kayley Ingalls News Contributor Many students know that Rockefeller Chapel is the tallest structure on campus, but few take advantage of the views it offers. On a clear day, they extend from the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago to the outline of Gary, IN, opening up to the few students and tourists who attend the chapel’s tours, offered twice weekly and once every Sunday. Joan Krenzer, a veteran carillon player and tour guide, led Monday evening’s tour, which also covered the Chapel’s bells. Crowds are typically small and sometimes no one shows up at all. Krenzer wishes more undergraduates came to hear the carillon—a series of 72 bells ranging in size from 15 pounds to 18 tons—but said more tourists come in the summer for the chapel’s annual carillon festival. During the school year, few people attend, despite the bird’s-eye view of campus. “It’s a great place to bring parents

Joan Krenzer plays the carillon at Rockefeller Chapel. ERIC GUO

when they visit,” Krenzer said. “I think it would be great if more kids did it.” The tour winds up 220 steps (10-12 stories), allowing visitors to

/MAROON

step underneath the largest bell in the tower, glimpse the antique and modern machinery used to play the

ROCKEFELLER continued on page 2

CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | February 19, 2010

DISCOURSE

ACADEMICS

Nobel winner: Efficient market hypothesis powerful, but wrong

Deutsche Bank to sponsor finance and risk lectures at Booth

By Boryana Levterova News Staff Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz argued that a reliance on short-term planning was at the heart of the current economic crisis at a packed I-House auditorium Thursday. Stiglitz, who won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, said better regulation would help undo the recession. He based his talk on his new book, Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy. “The reason the invisible hand often seemed invisible was that it was not there,” Stiglitz said, referring to laissez-faire economics in the run-up to the recession. Strong financial regulations prevented financial crises in the 30 to 40 years following the Great Depression,

he said. Special interests and greedy behavior ruined the economy, Stiglitz said. “I don’t think that anybody would say that the self-interest or the greed of the bankers has led to the benefit of society,” he said. The idea behind the efficient-market hypothesis, which says that it is impossible to beat the market because prices already incorporate and reflect all relevant information, is very powerful, but wrong, Stiglitz said. “This crisis has provided numerous examples of markets that cannot be described as efficient in any reasonable way,” he said. Now that the freefall has stopped, it is time to look at the labor market, Stiglitz said: More than one in six Americans who want a fulltime job cannot find one.

Global Health Initiative covers Haiti relief, albinism work in Malawi GHI continued from front page interview that, with the resources and faculty at its disposal, the U of C can make such missions a responsibility. “A great university should be able to respond to such a tremendous tragedy… I think we had the ability to muster a really great response team, and that’s really in part because we had faculty who were trained to do it,” she said, referring to Fond Parisien team-leaders, Drs. Christian Theodosis and Chrissy Babcock. Theodosis and Babcock both spent time in John F. Kennedy Hospital in Liberia. Ninety-five percent of health care facilities had been destroyed there, and only 20 physicians remained in the country by 2003, after a 15-year civil war, Kim said. “We used our time [in Liberia] to help ‘redevelop’ the Emergency Department—helping with triage, doing nursing education courses, helping move a new pharmacy into the ER, and, of course, to help with patient care,” Dr. Janis P. Tupesis, formerly a resident at the UCMC, said in an e-mail. He worked in Liberia with Theodosis and Babcock and is now an associate professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin. “Conditions there were relatively primitive as compared to the U of C or UW (no CT scanner, poor radiology, labs), but they have a huge amount of smart and motivated people,” Tupesis said. Theodosis, who was unavailable for comment, has been involved in the multi-institutional effort at JFK Hospital for a number of years, Kim said. Last year, 51 residents were placed on field assignments, serving for 640 days. American doctors are now concentrating on teaching, lecturing for 281 hours last year and training 41 nurses. Founded in 2008, and launched more formally in 2009, GHI was conceived as a method for joining medical education, field research, and clinical outreach, and bringing together students interested in working abroad from across the University and Medical Center. “You can think of it as what the University of Chicago can do for the rest of the world,” Kim said Olopade, a breast cancer specialist and MacArthur fellow, said global health became a major concern in the 1980s, during increased

awareness of the AIDS epidemic. “It was clear that there are more ways a university can engage than talking about infectious diseases or the AIDS epidemic,” she said. The GHI is part of a nationwide trend. “Across the country, universities have been starting global health initiatives and global health centers for a number of years, and the University of Chicago is a little behind,” Kim said. Dr. Scott Stern, a professor of internal medicine and medical textbook author, is working on one of GHI’s programs, an effort to bring web-based teaching tools to underserved countries like China and Chile. “You can educate hundreds of thousands of doctors at almost no cost,” Stern said of the system, which hosts lectures and interactive diagnosis demonstrations. Dr. Aisha Sethi, an assistant professor of medicine, runs an HIV/dermatology outpatient clinic one month for the past three years in Malawi. There are no dermatologists in the country, Sethi said, and while treating skin diseases, she helps train specialists. “It’s just a wonderful experience to go and care for a community...and impart an education,” she said. Sethi credited a group of University grad students who went on the last trip for the Initiative. “Before the GHI started, it was faculty and students doing their projects in a not very connected way. They were just doing their thing. This GHI brings everybody together and says, okay, what are we doing in what project that may be good for another project? Let’s open this up. There’s students in anthropology who might be interested in doing work on albinism in Malawi, which is what’s happening now.” Doctors interviewed said working in other countries is rewarding, they agreed that triage work, especially in Haiti, presents a difficult situation. “You can’t show up and say, we’re here to help. You have to have some ground connections, you have to have approval from local authorities,” Sethi said. And not all people are suited for working in the field, said Stern, who worked in a poor, regional hospital in Kenya in 1995. “Everybody has different personalities. The resident I was with really enjoyed it… I actually found the depth of human suffering so tremendous that it outweighed the other aspects,” he said.

CORRECTIONS » The February 9 news article “Activist: Sex Offender Laws Ignore Threat of Family Molestations” has been retracted because the MAROON did not have permission to cover the event. » The February 16 news article “E-mails in Scrolls Case May Implicate Prof” misspelled Dr. Robert Cargill’s surname. The MAROON is committed to correcting mistakes for the record. If you suspect the MAROON has made an error, please alert the newspaper by e-mailing

chicagomaroon@gmail.com.

“We expect 2.5 to 3.5 million Americans to lose their homes in the next one year,” he said. “We are in a situation in which we have vacant homes and homeless people.” The stimulus is making a difference, but it was too small and not as well designed as it could have been, Stiglitz said. There needs to be a change in incentives on an individual and organizational level in order to change behavior. “We need to be careful not to succumb to the same sort of short-sighted behavior that brought us to the problem,” he said. The talk was the second in the “The World Beyond the Headlines” series, sponsored by University of Chicago Center for International Studies, the International House Global Voices Program, the Seminary Co-op Bookstores, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Chapel tours mix music and scenic vistas ROCKEFELLER continued from front page tower’s bells, and walk around the outside of the tower. “There’s something for everyone to get excited about,” Krenzer said. At top of the tower, the guide plays the carillon, refurbished last year. The chapel’s carillon is the second largest instrument of its kind in the world, Krenzer said. The carillon player moves the clapper for each bell using a keyboard-like instrument. “I hope people never get tired of hearing the bells,” Krenzer said. There are 10 carillon players at Rockefeller Chapel; seven are students. “Students are lucky they get this opportunity,” Krenzer said. “In some places, only the best play.” Students can take carillon lessons at Rockefeller Chapel, and might get the chance to play a few notes on the tour. Tours leave from the east side of Rockefeller Chapel at 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. every weekday and 11:30 a.m. on weekends; recitals occur at noon and 6:00 p.m.

By Nathalie Gorman Senior News Staff Deutsche Bank will sponsor a series of lectures and a summer conference for Ph.D. students at the Booth School of Business devoted to discussion of financial regulation and risk management. The series is part of a partnership between Deutsche Bank and Booth, announced this month. The series, which is called “Risk and Regulation in Financial Markets,” is designed to educate students about issues that are becoming increasingly important in many of the sectors they will enter upon graduation. “This partnership will enable Chicago Booth to strengthen its leadership position in risk management and financial regulation,” Booth Dean Edward Snyder said in a press release. Attendance at the lecture series and at the Ph.D. conference is intended to “complement coursework,” according to Booth spokesman Allan Friedman. The programming itself will be run entirely by the Booth School. “A faculty committee comprised of three senior finance faculty members and representatives of the Dean’s Office chooses speakers,” Freidman said. Deutsche Bank created a similar partnership with New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, which, unlike the U of C’s, will include risk management and regulation courses. The funding will also support research at two NYU Stern research centers, the Volatility Institute and the Salomon Center for the Study of Financial Institutions, as well as annual events addressing risk and regulation. These events include an annual conference on risk hosted by The Volatility Institute and a “research day” to present the results of research conducted by NYU faculty and other scholars to practitioners and the academic community.

Medical Center making money, but still hurting from recession, spokesman says NURSE continued from front page said Corey Lanham, an NNU spokesman. While UCMC spokesman John Easton agreed the Medical Center was not in dire financial straits, he said cutbacks are necessary. “Operating revenues have been positive, but it’s important to keep in mind that the endowment for the University and Medical Center has taken a significant hit from where it was two years ago,” Easton said. The NNU gave a February 9 press conference to support the nurses’ negotiations. Conference organizers emphasized that, with the increases in health care costs and rotating shifts, the Medical Center would not be able to recruit or retain quality nurses. The INA and the Medical Center reached a

tentative agreement earlier this month that fell apart, according to Easton. He said the agreement “will be a likely starting point” for the next round of negotiations, but the NNU disputes that such an agreement ever took place. The Medical Center, however, is disputing the NNU’s involvement in the negotiations, claiming it only has a bargaining agreement with the INA. “Our nurses are exclusively represented by the INA,” Easton said. “We have to bargaining with them exclusively.” Rodolfo said the Medical Center have not decided who represents the nurses in negotiations. “The members of the negotiation team of nurses get to make decisions on who gets to sit at the table,” she said.

Zimmer: Admin doesn’t consider student complaints when investing ZIMMER continued from front page over divestment in Darfur. A student questioned how the University could avoid remaining neutral on political issues when it maintains a lobbying team in Washington. “There are going to be blurry lines,” Zimmer said. He added that the University has a vested interest in federal medical research funding, visa policies for foreign students, and faculty and financial aid for students. “We want to express a view about [these issues]. Lobbying is not for general things, but for explicit and fundamental interests,” he said. Zimmer said the University Senate, a body composed of professors, the president, and the provost, would decide whether the University should use its influence in any given situation.

Two upperclassmen who had attended past Zimmer forums raised their concern over the University’s investment in HEI Hilton Hotels, which has been accused of labor rights infringements. After reading aloud from a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board, a copy of which they hand-delivered to Zimmer, they asked what they could do to make the University change its investment policies. “You can do what you’re doing if you feel there are serious injustices,” Zimmer said, but the University “does not handle complaints as a vehicle for driving investing.” In response to an earlier question about Kalven report, Zimmer joked that such debates are inevitable. “I think everything at this University is contentious. It’s built into the structure,” he said.

CHICAGO MAROON | ADVERTISEMENT | February 19, 2010

CHICAGO MAROON

| VIEWPOINTS | February 19, 2010

VIEWPOINTS

EDITORIAL & OP-ED FEBRUARY 19, 2010

EDITORIAL

Research assistance 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 EMILY KAISER, Editorial Board Member ANDREW THORNTON, Ed. Board Member DANI BRECHER, Head Copy Editor ERIC GUO, Photo Editor CAMILLE VAN HORNE, Photo Editor HEATHER LEWIS, Head Designer

The University should level the playing field for research positions Entering the part-time job market on campus can be kind of exhilarating, in a nerdy way. Through research assistantships, the U of C enables students to work with hospital patients, conduct psychology experiments, and aid professors in writing books. There’s one problem though: A large fraction of students don’t even qualify for these positions. Currently, research assistantships are limited by and large to students who qualify for workstudy funds. The University should recognize this inequality and provide funding to make research assistantships competitive for all students. The near-exclusion of non-workstudy students from research jobs is an unintended consequence of how the Federal Work-Study Program operates. The program provides funding for stu-

dents with financial need to take parttime jobs, particularly in areas related to the recipient’s course of study. As a result, professors wishing to make frugal use of their research budgets have a strong incentive to hire workstudy eligible students. Even jobs that accept both categories of students often bear the words “work-study preferred” somewhere in the job description. Research assistantships are among the most valuable jobs a student can get at the University. They give students hands-on experience in their fields, as well as exposure to cuttingedge work by eminent scholars. So while enterprising students have plenty of ways to earn extra cash on campus, it’s unfortunate that those who wish to gain research experience and be compensated for it are largely

out of luck if they don’t qualify for federal funding. An influx of non-work-study funds will also give professors the opportunity to hire students from a larger pool of applicants; by no longer discriminating among applicants based on their financial aid status, the quality of professors’ assistants would likely increase, and research may be more fruitful. A University-created fund could at least partially cover the wages of non-workstudy students. Professors on a budget might choose to pay these students less compared to their work-study counterparts; the important thing is that all students have a chance at part-time research jobs, and receive some level of pay for it. The University states on its research Web page that “we take seriously our

part in the enormous task of generating new knowledge for the benefit of present and future generations. . . . In this spirit of discovery, we train future generations of scholars, scientists, educators, and world leaders.” If the University truly honors this claim, it will take steps to make sure students have a fair chance at participating in its research culture. Expanding research opportunities to all students will grant professors more flexibility in their research and will increase the quality of scholarship at the University, two benefits well worth the additional investment they require.

that. Eleven percent of all Ivy League graduates apply to Teach For America, and 14 percent of UChicago’s class of 2009 applied. Corps members can proudly boast a 3.6 average GPA, and 1344 average SAT score, and 89 percent of them held leadership positions at their universities. The top schools from which TFA draws most of its members are among the most elite in the country, including Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, Columbia University, Northwestern, UPenn, Boston College, Brown, William and Mary, and Princeton. The focus on achievement and the elitism of the institution, however, may in fact be a force against them. Compared to grades and commit-

ment to leadership, commitment to public service among applicants is practically reversed. Only one in 10 members say they were interested in the teaching profession before joining TFA, and the incentives applicants receive to take part in the program place a real doubt on their commitment to teaching beyond the experience. Teach for America is eager to note its “partnerships with more than 200 graduate schools” that “offer a range of benefits for corps members and alumni,” as well employer partnerships with Accenture, GE, Goldman Sachs, Google, J.P. Morgan, and the consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

notwithstanding, the tide now seems to have shifted to those who conservatives who are supposedly conserving the country’s founding principles, which, if recent history amounts to any guide, would consist of going to Washington and passing legislation buttressing the welfare state, like Bush’s Medicare Part D, and funding the endless, aimless wars so obviously at the heart of the principles of the American Constitution. Not since the downfall of the Roman Empire have so many trivial, uninspired, replaceable leaders, each of whom will continue the same basic policies as the last, had the audacity to declare themselves leaders worthy of dignity and respect, when it

is known by even the simplest man that they get elected only by lying about the extent of their vision and subsist only by engaging in the most Machiavellian power struggles. What makes possible this peripatetic circus of instant political celebrity and subsequent sudden downfall? Quite simply put, principles of any sort have been eradicated from political discourse. If one has any sort of principles, they must be taken not as active, definite guides in the formulation of policy, but disembodied Platonic notions separate of any concrete political reality. In the mind of

— The MAROON Editorial Board consists of the Editor-in-Chief, Viewpoints Editors, and three Editorial Board members.

ABRAHAM NEBEN, Web Editor BURKE FRANK, Associate News Editor LIAT SPIRO, Associate Viewpoints Editor RYAN TRYZBIAK, Associate Sports Editor JUDY MARCINIAK, Business Manager JAY BROOKS, Business Director JACK DiMASSIMO, Designer ANDREW GREEN, Designer IVY PEREZ, Designer

OP-ED

Teach for...Goldman Sachs Teach For America’s focus on branding shortchanges its core mission

CHRISTINA SCHWARTZ, Designer JESSICA SHEFT-ASON, Designer NAKUL SINGH, Designer MATT TYNDALE, Designer ANNA AKERS-PECHT, Copy Editor JORDAN FRANKLIN, Copy Editor DANIELLE GLAZER, Copy Editor VICTORIA KRAFT, Copy Editor MONIKA LAGAARD, Copy Editor HOLLY LAWSON, Copy Editor LAUREN LARSON, Copy Editor MIRANDA LI, Copy Editor LAUREN MAKHOLM, Copy Editor ALEX WARBURTON, Copy Editor LILY YE, Copy Editor WENJIA DOREEN ZHAO, Copy Editor

The CHICAGO MAROON is published twice weekly during autumn, winter, and spring quarters. Circulation: 6,500 The opinions expressed in the Viewpoints section are not necessarily those of the MAROON.

By Emily Kaiser Viewpoints Contributor A college student’s experience is full of all sorts of wonderful little ideals of learning, free thinking, nurturing hopes, and developing skills to help change the world. The popularity of youth service programs reinforces the commitment to those ideals. A new study on Teach For America—the twoyear teaching program aimed at eliminating education inequality by sending its corps of young people to revitalize struggling schools across the nation— could challenge our expectations of the program. The study, “Assessing the Effects of Voluntary Youth Service: The Case of Teach For America,”

written by Stanford professors Doug McAdam and Cynthia Brandt, shows that those who complete Teach For America are actually less active in areas of civic involvement, charitable giving, and even voting than those who dropped out of the program or declined their acceptance. At the University of Chicago, where Teach For America is the second-largest employer of graduating seniors, this may strike an unfortunate blow to the reality of our ideal. Teach for America itself is not doing badly by any means. They’ve had record numbers of applicants for the past two years, with a 70 percent increase in applicants from 2006, and a very respectable applicant class at

OP-ED

Editor-in-Chief Phone: (773) 834-1611 Newsroom Phone: (773) 702-1403 Business Phone: (773) 702-9555 Fax: (773) 702-3032

Founding principles

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

TEACH continued on page 5

Americans deserve politicians who remain true to their values

By George Saad Viewpoints Contributor As we celebrate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln this February, one regrettably must contrast the robust, principled vision of these heroic men with the culture of pragmatism, public relations, and petty vanity that a generation of Americans has come to take as serious politics. As the public adopts and discards allegiances to political factions with the caprice of a dissatisfied child, politics in the modern age can be considered something that has become about as definite as the latest

lady’s fashions, and even less compelling to a man of discrimination. In the span of a little over a year, the country has seen two swings of power, first to President Obama and his alleged program of an America renewed in hope and opportunity, presumably by the force of his personality and oratory alone. Yet, when the people learned with King Lear that, in fact, nothing comes from nothing, and someone, namely themselves, the taxpayers, would have to pay to achieve Obama’s grand visions, sentiments turned rapidly. The enthused post-election proclamations by Democrats that the Republicans are becoming a “permanent minority party”

POLITICS continued on page 5

CHICAGO MAROON

| VIEWPOINTS | February 19, 2010

Teach for America emphasizes GPA over commitment to teaching or public service

EDITORIAL CARTOON

RAISING ELLE

TEACH continued from page 4

By Elle Opitz

Both Bush and Obama have flip-flopped on economic philosophy POLITICS continued from page 4 the modern politician, success does not consist of the fulfillment of carefully defended principles, but rather the balancing of those principles with the nebulous standard of practical success. No principles are taken to be those which lead to, and in a deeper sense, even define practical success, but are rather opposed to the hazy achievement of practicality, which is meant as a shorthand for how popular or intuitively sensible a given program may be. The perfect expression of this attitude came with last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial crisis. Despite his alleged free-market ideology, President Bush admitted that, in all sincerity, he thought that free-market principles were ineffective in reality. Faced with criticism from the more principled conservative factions, he explained during a CNN interview, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system.â&#x20AC;? Given that Mr. Bush thinks that America still has an economy even approaching a â&#x20AC;&#x153;free-market systemâ&#x20AC;? and that he would advocate such a system despite conceding that it would inevitably lead to crashes and need to be saved from itself, it becomes clear that the professed convictions of our leaders are only so many words, carefully selected in order only to balance the contingencies of the moment. Indeed, the statements of public leaders are so disingenuous that it becomes necessary for the public to project onto them an ideological identity, lest they lack any coherence whatsoever. For all the posturing over Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s socialistic policies, it seems that he cannot sustain his antipathy toward capitalism for the duration of an entire month. On January 29, Obama claimed that the multi-million dollar bonuses won by financial officials were â&#x20AC;&#x153;shamefulâ&#x20AC;? and the â&#x20AC;&#x153;height of irresponsibilityâ&#x20AC;? given the public bailouts they had received. In the span of a few weeks, however, apparently the moral universe had violently overturned itself, as on February 10, Obama, now a man of the market, defended the bonuses, saying that he â&#x20AC;&#x153;doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t begrudge peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success or

wealth. That is part of the free-market system.â&#x20AC;? Liberal supporters should not trust, nor conservative opponents so fear, Obama, a man so obviously without convictions beyond advocacy of the politically expedient, and so lacking in vision beyond the marketing of himself as a brand, that his elevation to the status of international icon is more a sad commentary on the state of culture than an intellectual noteworthy trend. Without a return to operating principles, the only practical outcome we can expect will be a continued drift of disillusionment, as polls continually reflect that we are going â&#x20AC;&#x153;in the wrong directionâ&#x20AC;? without any sense of what the right one would be. While such an honest appraisal of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership may lead one to the glum conclusion that the country is headed for disaster, Americans should look to the men for whom Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day is celebrated for the answer to todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crisis of leadership. While most nations in the history of the earth were founded on the incidental qualities of geography or ethnicity, America was the first nation founded purely on a principleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that of inalienable individual rights. While America has certainly allowed contradictions in the application of this founding doctrine, we have only been great insofar as there has been definite adherence to it on the part of our politicians. To quote Abraham Lincoln, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Important principles may, and must be inflexible.â&#x20AC;? Rather than treating principles as floating notions separate from any reality, Americans must rediscover the notion that only a country that has identified and validated proper political principles can project any lasting political stability and harmony. This was the achievement of the men whose birthdays we celebrate this month, and we would be wise to not stop merely at praising them, but to stand as rigidly as they did in defense of the absolute rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; George Saad is a second-year in the College majoring in Classics.

Though reputable education institutions such as Edison Schools, KIPP, and Wellstone Action are also listed, there is an obvious imbalance in the set of partnerships that cannot be ignored in light of the imbalance of both applicant goals and alumni experiences. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The confusing thing is why are these things offered if they really do want to do this so people will become committed to teaching,â&#x20AC;? says Billy Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell, a fourth-year Classics major in the college who applied to TFA, but was not accepted. There is a common, if unspoken, understanding that participation in the program provides a beneficial platform for future graduate, law, or med school plans, as well as lucrative career goals. Especially at UChicago, where our heavily academic tunnel vision seems to inevitably drive us towards graduate education, these kinds of benefits are especially pertinent. The programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design likewise appeals to those looking to avoid the current difficult, and particularly terrifying, job market. Not only is the TFA experience highly respected among employers, it provides a convenient two-year paid solace before entering the real world. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think, in comparison to other programs, it is much more elitist and some people, even if they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t admit it to themselves, are going through with it because it gets you all these great connections,â&#x20AC;? Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell stated in a recent interview. â&#x20AC;&#x153;By putting all these extra corporate incentives out there, what they do is get people interested in the corporate incentives.â&#x20AC;? Applicant disparities aside, the experience of teaching in some of the poorest and most struggling urban and rural schools in the country should abruptly wake anyone who accidentally stumbled into public service on their path to personal success. Unfortunately, Teach For America reports both a low retention rate of members after the two-year commitment, as well as significantly high levels of disillusionment with the education system. The Stanford study now shows these sentiments towards civic service run deeper than just education. Due in part to the types of individuals TFA recruits, corps teachers most likely have little to no experience teaching, let alone in difficult environments, and the first few months of teaching can be one of the most difficult and frustrating experiences for the individual. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not that easy for anybody, and for an urban environment there are just a whole slew of different things you have to consider that those of us raised in an elite institution might not think about,â&#x20AC;? says Justin Huang, a fourth-year sociology major and member of the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Urban Teaching Education Program (UTEP). UTEP, a two-year masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s program in education that focuses on urban education in Chicago, drastically differs from TFA, which

provides only five weeks of summer training for teachers before dropping them, often alone and unsupported, into these extremely difficult environments. What results is a 61 percent retention rate for teachers after five years. Comparably, after the initial two years of training that gives graduates a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in education, UTEP teachers have cohort supervision and support for three years after they begin teaching. UTEP has a 95 percent retention rate for teachers after five years, and 91 percent are still teaching in Chicago. These high levels of commitment can be attributed to the significant training and support networks that Huang says are necessary to teach effectively in urban schools. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The idea that like, I can train people for rural schools and urban schools, and urban schools anywhere, is a little misleading because every city has its own problems, every city has its own history,â&#x20AC;? he continues, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re focused on Chicago specifically; that helps us stay committed to the cause, because weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re so well prepared for Chicago teachingâ&#x20AC;Ś.But I feel like TFA is a much bigger program with a much broader focus and you just lose a lot more.â&#x20AC;? These losses do not outweigh the benefits of the Teach For America experience. Reading levels of students taught by a TFA member increase an average of 1.5 grade levels compared to their peers, and those members that do take advantage of the career benefits hold valuable positions to advocate for education through law, business, and public sectors, if not directly teaching themselves. It is equally difficult to criticize any public service, especially considering the amount of involvement and exposure TFA provides to students who would otherwise hesitate to make such a serious commitment. The disillusionment, frustration, and decline in civic involvement reported by TFA alumni is, quite frankly, easily avoidable, and has no place in a program that otherwise could be the culmination of all our wonderful university ideals. The recruitment demands have built a reputable group of participants, but have also established a brand of elitism that sells its incentives to those who are willing to commit to teaching for the greater, more personal gains earned upon completion. Teach for America needs to shift the focus from achievement and academic merit towards the applicantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; true desire for and dedication to teaching and civic service on a great scale. They need to stop selling success and start sustaining it by fulfilling the meaning of the public service it seeks to achieve. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Emily Kaiser is a fourth-year in the College majoring in sociology and an editorial board member .

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CHICAGO CHICAGOMAROON MAROON| |VOICES VOICES| |November February 19, 20,2010 2009

VOICES

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FEBRUARY 19, 2010

DANCE

MUSIC

Cinderella dances even better outside Disney's ballroom

Still Life Still plays together, stays together By Mattias Darrow Voices Maple Leaf Still Life Still is the new Toronto talent on the indie rock scene, and it’s getting ready to spread good vibes through the States. Coming off the 2009 releases of Pastel and Girls Come Too, as well as a month-long residency at the Mercury Lounge in New York, the band has just started its first headlining sweep in the U.S. Still Life Still will be bringing the love to Schubas Tavern this Thursday and Friday nights with opener Wild Beasts. Guitarist and vocalist Brendon Saarinen was able to chat with the Maroon about the development of Still Life Still, the excitement of being in an up-and-coming band, and the importance of feeling good and loving the universe.

STILL LIFE STILL Schubas Tavern Friday, 9 p.m.

C HICAGO M AROON : You guys are all from Toronto and have been playing together since junior high. What’s that been like? Mauro Villanueva (foreground, left) and Victoria Jaiani (foreground, right) bask in the glory of their courtiers, save for that sassy jester in the back. COURTESY OF HERBERT MIGDOLL

By Christy Perera Voices Belle of the Ball So long, glass slippers—Cinderella is sporting point shoes alongside her broom and pumpkin this year. This past Wednesday, the Joffrey Ballet began its run of Cinderella, famed choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton’s portrayal of the classic ragsto-riches tale.

Sir Frederick Ashton’s version varies in some significant ways from Disney’s more popular interpretation of the fairy tale. This rendition

CINDERELLA Joffrey Ballet Through February 28

leaves no room for the evil stepmother, and the fairy godmother first appears as an old hag who, of course, transforms into a long-legged graceful dancer. Another big change—certainly not present in the Disney version—is Cinderella’s step-“sisters;” the two are played by male dancers whose sole form of communication is pantomime. One aspect of the fairy tale that remains

CINDERELLA continued on page 8

THEATER

UT plays the waiting game with Godot

CM: What’s it been like getting to grow together as a band for 10 years? BS: You know, it’s definitely had its ups and downs—but now that we’re at this point, it feels pretty good to have all that behind us. I feel we’re at a pretty good spot. It actually feels like we’re just starting. It’s weird, like all those 10 years were just pure preparation. CM: How did it come about that you guys got signed to Arts and Crafts and made these record deals?

By Yasmeen Hussain Voices Time Killer Imagine this: You and a dear friend find yourselves in the middle of nowhere, where your only other company is a bare tree—a bare tree in a landscape barren of life. You two are waiting. Just waiting. What you are waiting for is not quite clear, and it is not certain whom you are expecting. But still you wait, and you find comfort in the game of waiting.

BS: Basically we were playing shows at this place in Toronto called The Drake. Certain days there are free shows. We were playing as many free shows as we could there, and we ended up meeting Kevin Drew [of Broken Social Scene]. I guess we had met him beforehand. We were just like, “Come see a show,” and eventually he came to a few, and that was it. We brought him to a couple of house parties and played some pretty crazy shows, and he was down. It was pretty surprising. In the span of maybe four or five months, it was pretty much done.

WAITING FOR GODOT Third Floor Theater Through Saturday

This is the setting for one of the most prominent plays of the last century, Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece, Waiting for Godot. Since its debut in 1953, the play has been both perplexing and revelatory for generations of audiences. What we can extrapolate from the play does not stem directly from what is presented, but rather from what we choose to take away as we walk out the theater doors. Waiting for Godot is one of those pieces of masterful art that remains imprinted in your mind forever.

B r e n d o n S a a r i n e n : We l l , w e b a s i cally learned how to play our instruments together. When we first started out, at the first band practice I was invited to, our drummer was drumming on pots and pans. We all kind of learned and got our first instruments together.

CM: What is it like being a rock band in the Toronto music scene?

ages,” fourth-year and director Aileen McGroddy said, “This is the last play [to

BS: Oh man, it’s pretty crazy. One of the main things for us when we were doing all of those Monday shows at The Drake was that we got to meet a lot of Toronto bands. For a long time we were playing with bands that we weren’t really feeling. Then we finally got to meet some great bands, and it was like, “Whoa, the Toronto

GODOT continued on page 8

STILL continued on page 8

Fourth-year Aaron Horton (left) and second-year Ricky Zacharias (right) lament that the life of a vagabond isn't as glamorous as it used to be. DAREEN LEOW/MAROON

So what is it about Waiting for Godot that is so particularly mesmerizing? “[It’s] my favorite play. It has been for

CHICAGO MAROON | VOICES | February 19, 2010

H U N G E R

S T R I K E

By Iliya Gutin

A good ham is hard to find Finding Chicago's best pork products I was on a quest. A quest for ham. Perhaps motivated by some primal human desire, or the constant presence of Mad Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jon Hamm on TV, I knew that there was more ham to be had in Chicago than the cubed variety in my omelets. I needed something exotic. I needed some adventure. I was searching for the Holy Grail of ham. But to find this most treasured of all hams, I had to be an expertâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or as it is more commonly known in the culinary world, a connoisseur. It seems these days you can be a connoisseur of anything: wine, cheese, chocolate, vinegar, tea, coffee, beer, sakeâ&#x20AC;Śeven salt (because, apparently, the best salt is Himalayan rock salt, mined by Buddhist monks). Not surprisingly, the term carries with it a sense of haughtiness and pomposity, usually brought on by one connoisseurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desire to make their area of expertise as inaccessible to the general public as humanly possible. But when it comes to ham, connoisseurship comes in all shapes and slices. Ham is meant to be handled by the greasy hands of the common man. The distinct tastes of different types of ham are actually discernible, even to the relatively untrained palate.

There is no ham snobbery. There is no ham manual or rating system. Something magical happens when we let meat sit around in a cave for years at a time. Perhaps some kind of regression to our primitive, Neolithic standards. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mmm, meat. Meat good. Yum.â&#x20AC;? I think that is the root of hamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most impressive attribute: simplicity. But this is not to say that ham is too simple, especially not the most prized (and expensive) of aged hams: Jamon Iberico. In the pork-paradise of central Spain, pigs feast on grass, fruit, and acorns that fall from the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s signature oaks. Then the process of aging, sometimes as long as three years, comes into play. As the most expensive cold cut in the world, prices range from $200 for a pound to $1000 for a whole leg. Though I experienced a bit of sticker shock when reading this, I knew I would need only but a taste of this ham to be content. With this information in mind, I sought out the location of this king of hams. Like Indiana Jones battling boulders and snake pits to seek his treasure, I valiantly fought the challenges posed by spotty bus service, the Green Line, and insurmountable cold. My Temple of Doom, so to speak: The Publican, a Near West Side

gastropub that worships the hog. Images of nice, rotund pigs adorn the walls, and every pork product imaginable graces the menu. No parts go to wasteâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;livers, ears, and tails, along with the more traditional components are all ingeniously incorporated in various dishes. Though the individual samplings of the menu were delicious and thoughtfully prepared, the highlight of the meal was ironically the component requiring the least preparation of all: the aged ham. This particular night I had a selection of La Quercia Rossa, Edwards Country, and, of course, Jamon Ibericoâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;an excellent crosssection of the art of aged ham. Each was uniquely identifiable by appearance, but more importantly, by taste. The Quercia Rossa was very similar to the typical Italian prosciutto, but was low-key and smooth to the taste. The ham instantaneously melts in your mouth, leaving a pleasant â&#x20AC;&#x153;airinessâ&#x20AC;? of ham in its place. The Edwards Country was similarly mild but was much more substantive in its taste, probably due to the unconventional smoking process that gave it a familiar, â&#x20AC;&#x153;down to earthâ&#x20AC;? feel. This one was the rebel of the group, the American cousin, setting out on its own and refusing

to conform to the traditional methods of preparing aged ham. Finally, there was the Grail itselfâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Jamon Iberico. It was much darker and more leathery than the others, with almost no visible fatty tissue. The appearance spoke of age and the complexity of taste that came with it. Almost shockingly sweet at the outset, it gradually dissipates into earthy, nutty s avor. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m no wine expert, but I imagine this is the immense intricacy of flavor that wine enthusiasts rave about as they swirl, sniff, and sip. But whereas these experts then proceed to spit out their wine, no one would ever make the mistake of failing to finish a piece of Jamon Iberico. I assure you that my plate was spotless when the waiter came to pry it from my vice-like grip. Ham seems to be under-appreciated in the upper echelon of American cuisine. Chefs want to impress and outdo one another with their foie gras terrines and saffron-infused Wagyu beefâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the pretension is suffocating. Instead, let us all relax, unbutton our collars, and loosen our ties as we recognize the delicateness and deliciousness of a good piece of aged ham.

Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis A conversation with

HENRY M. PAULSON, JR. 74th Secretary of the United States Treasury and author of On The Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System moderated by

RAGHURAM G. RAJAN Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, Chicago Booth

February 23, 2010 2:00-3:15 p.m. Max Palevsky Cinema University ID Required for Admission Seating begins at 1:30 p.m.

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CHICAGO MAROON | VOICES | February 19, 2010

Yours, Hypothetically Dear Mister Faulkner: Last night, as I waded like a warrior through four-and-a-half feet of snow (so, that’s eye level for me) that has recently subjugated the area of Virginia where my mother keeps her farm and vegetable garden and, more importantly, the barn in which (generations of southern belles were “Known,” upon hay stacks) our two pigs Queenie and Auntie lived until they were put to death by the blow-gun bearing veterinarian, and also, incidentally, where I write this letter—being as I am in Virginia for the purpose of paying approximately 10 overdue parking tickets (I’m innocent though, honest!), I stumbled across something which I believe to be of great personal interest to you all; that which you have searched for as the whole world prayed that you would find it, and the absence of which has tripped up not only your average Attention Deficianado, but the staunchest of scholars, too, who were left humbled and miserable by their inability to get to the end (stay with me now, Brothers and Sisters!)—a failing by no means of their own intelligence—studies have shown: Most readers struggle when faced with sentences containing an excess of 31 words (personally, I struggle with

From Toronto to New York, Still Life keeps loving the universe By Rory Squire

all prime numbers); often these inflated phrases are made additionally puzzling by their apparent contempt of grammatical traditions, their overtly challenging incorporation of far too many ridiculous names, as well as the stealthy insinuation of nonsequiturs into what may initially announce itself as a rather focused line of thought, so that the reader is unprepared for the introduction of a new tangent, just like that surprisingly grisly scene with the wild hogs at the end of Old Yeller; however, one generally allows a certain amount of liberty to these creative types—we allow the talented their run-ons just as we allow them their naughty sexual proclivities ( Joyce, I’m looking at you) because we assume that it was all done knowingly and in the pursuit of artistic enlightenment; on the off chance, however, that the reason behind the wordiness has less to do with style and more to do with absentmindedness or poor eyesight, I thought that I would share with you what I found last night while roaming the Virginia countryside, in the hope that it will bring you closure to be reunited with that O so magnificent, or so elusive. Yours hypothetically, Rory Squire

Cinderella runs long, dragging out the last minute before midnight CINDERELLA continued from page 6 untouched is its charm and romance. While Cinderella never sings about “the dream that you wish will come true” at the end of the production, her dreams do, in fact, come true. Spoiler alert: The happy couple leaves the stage walking hand in hand as gold glitter falls from the ceiling. The Joffrey Ballet is known for its firsts: It was the first dance company to perform at the White House, appear on television, and to be on the cover of Time Magazine, in addition to being the basis for a major motion picture. Following this tradition, the company has the exclusive rights to perform Sir Ashton’s renowned rendition of Cinderella. Joffrey’s Artistic Director Ashley C. Wheater worked with Sir Ashton during his time at The Royal Ballet in London, and feels that “the Joffrey upholds the full ingenuity, sincerity, and authenticity of his brilliant work.” The show was originally performed in 2006, but found its way back to the Auditorium Theatre, by popular demand, for only nine performances. The show consists of three acts featuring nearly forty different characters. It runs about

two-and-a-half hours, in addition to two separate intermissions. Joffrey Ballet’s official orchestra, The Chicago Sinfonietta, accompanies the performance with Sergei Prokofiev’s score. The orchestra begins the show and sets the mood for each dance. Ballet obviously relies solely on music and dance, but both the orchestra and the dancers live up to the challenge. The 42 dancers that form the Joffrey Ballet Company clearly show their dedication to the production in their expressions and performance. Cinderella as a whole, though, does seem a bit long. Gorgeous costumes and enchanting sets add to the magic of each scene, yet many scenes tend to pass slowly with the soothing, melodious music, and some of the solo pieces seem rather superfluous. If you are in pursuit of sure-fire entertainment, a better choice would be watching the Disney version, or perhaps Ever After. If, however, you consider yourself a ballet connoisseur or desire to see a unique presentation of this classic fairytale, Joffrey Ballet’s Cinderella awaits you.

STILL continued from page 6

have to wait and see.

music scene is amazing, we were just playing in the wrong spot the whole time.” We actually just got back from New York where we were playing a residency at the Mercury Lounge, and I’ve already seen two amazing shows here. I actually saw Teen Tits Wild West, old friends of ours from high school that we had lost touch with. And Heartbeat Hotel. They were both really cool. CM: You guys have a very indie rock sound that’s a lot of fun to listen and dance to. What do you try to bring to the music and the creative process? BS: Probably one of the main things, I think, is that when people go to see shows they want to feel good. When we were making [Girls Come Too], we were just jamming. We didn’t really have an overall greater picture of what we thought the album was or whatever. We were just trying to make fun music, to make people feel, and make people happy and sad. We’re trying a lot of different stuff now. We’re already working on our next record and it’s changing quite a bit. CM: What kind of things do you think we can expect for the next album? B S: Well, we’re trying a bunch of new things, like using samples more. It’s actually really hard to describe, because we’re trying all of these things, but who knows what it’ll come out sounding like. I guess we’ll just

CM: So this is your second North American tour? BS: Yeah, sort of. We went down to Salt Lake City with The Most Serene Republic, and we’ve gone across Canada with The Hold Steady, and played a bunch of shows in New York and Chicago. But this is the first tour that we’ve really tried to take on a lot of the states at once. We’re conquering a lot of land here. CM: What has been your best experience with a show so far? B S: So far for me, it was the Mercury Lounge shows we did. The first couple of shows, there were maybe 20 or 30 people, but by the end of the residency there were quite a few people there that knew our music, and for me that was awesome. Then there was the first show on our tour with The Hold Steady, in Vancouver. It was one of the biggest venues we played and we got a really nice response, a whole bunch of people we didn’t know but they knew us. CM: That must be pretty invigorating as a musician. B S: Yeah, working so long for so many years to get these opportunities. Just have to be thankful, you know, and keep fuckin’ lovin’ the universe.

“A KNOCKOUT PERFORMANCE… THAT IS SIMPLY LIKE NONE OTHER IN EXISTENCE.” —Chicago Sun-Times

MUST CLOSE FEBRUARY 28!

Beckett's classic revels in confounded expectations GODOT continued from page 6 direct] before graduation. It’s my baby.” McGroddy points out that the most beautiful aspect of the play is the “incredible relationship between the main characters,” in which they retain hope in the face of meaninglessness. McGroddy sees the two characters Vladimir and Estragon as heroes because of their uncanny ability to persevere. They play games in order to deal with the waiting, while still being open to whatever task befalls them. Yet she also refers to the two as “clowns” because they fail over and over again in keeping themselves occupied. Set in a barren landscape where the only real focal point is a dead tree, the play seems to be a speck in the eternal timeline of space. Beckett has an amazing ability to make Vladimir and Estragon exist yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The audience first encounters them by this

unmarked tree waiting for someone named Godot, revealing the overt plot of the play. However, Godot is left so vague that the audience members themselves wonder if Vladimir and Estragon truly know who he is, or if they would even be able to recognize him, should he ever come. This whole metaphor of waiting for something that we cannot truly describe is what many argue to be the metaphor of life, forcing us to reconsider whether what we are living for at the present has any particular meaning at all. Indeed, the play deserves the attention from all those who encounter its sublime brilliance. Somehow, each of us can connect with Vladimir and Estragon, particular to each of our own unique circumstances and life experiences. As you leave the play, think about the Godot that exists in your life, and reconsider if what you have been waiting for will ever come.

STARRING

BRIAN DENNEHY

FEATURING

JOE GRIFASI

RADICALLY DISCOUNTED TICKETS—JUST FOR STUDENTS. Now the Goodman offers $10 day-of-performance mezzanine tickets for every show—just for students! Log on to GoodmanTheatre.org and enter promo code 10Tix for that day’s performance.* *$10 mezzanine tickets available online at 10am and at the box ofﬁce starting at 12noon. Limit 4 tickets per student I.D. A student I.D. must be presented when picking up tickets at will call. All 10Tix purchases are subject to availability; not available by phone; handling fees still apply. Not valid on previously purchased tickets.

SET DESIGN BY EUGENE LEE | COSTUME DESIGN BY PATRICK CLARK | LIGHTING DESIGN BY ROBERT THOMSON | SOUND DESIGN BY RICHARD WOODBURY

Single tickets: 312.443.3800 GoodmanTheatre.org Special savings for groups of 10 or more: 312.443.3820 Ofﬁcial Lighting Sponsor

Major Corporate Sponsor

Corporate Sponsor Partners

PETTERINO’S, Promotional Partner for Hughie and Krapp’s Last Tape. Brian Dennehy in Hughie by T. Charles Erickson, courtesy of Long Wharf Theatre. Brian Dennehy in Krapp’s Last Tape by David Hou, courtesy of Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Design by Kelly Rickert.

WWW.CHICAGOMAROON.COM

CHICAGO MAROON | VOICES | February 19, 2010

Voices STD (Stuff to Do) Friday | February 19 Sing along with the voice doubles of Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, and other Bollywood stars at the SASA karaoke night. For those unfamiliar with Bollywood numbers, there will be plenty of other South Asian songs available to belt out all night long. (5710 South Woodlawn Avenue, 8 p.m., free) Jazz trombonist Conrad Herwig and the Latin Side All-Star Band will be performing at Symphony Center on Friday night. The band was recently nominated for a third Grammy award for its performance of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Latin Side of Wayne Shorter.â&#x20AC;? (220 South Michigan Avenue, 8 p.m., $20)

Saturday | February 20 This Saturday, WH P K and the Film Studies Center host Pictures and Sounds, the annual multimedia showcase of live improvised soundtracks to video works. The event features various Midwestern artists, including the first Chicago performance of Columbus-based artist Mist. (Cobb 307, 8

With Christine Yang

p.m., free) The 30th annual KSO cultural show, titled Brothers Without Borders follows the unlikely friendship of soldiers at the North and South Korean border. The show will feature traditional Korean dances as well as modern Super Junior-esque Korean pop dances. A banquet will precede the performance. (Mandel Hall, 5 p.m., $10)

sium on 18th-century forms of Italian opera will be held from 1 to 5 p.m., and will honor music professor Philip Gossett. (Mandel Hall, 7 p.m., free) After two studio albums, Jackâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mannequin is no longer just a side project for former Something Corporate headman Andrew McMahon. Jackâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mannequin is currently headlining the Sing for Your Supper tour to promote its third album, The Glass Passenger. (329 North Dearborn, 6 p.m., $26)

future holds at â&#x20AC;&#x153;How America Can Bring the Israelis and Arabs Together Toward Peace and Coexistence.â&#x20AC;? Featured speakers at the lecture include David Makovsky, director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute, and Ghaith al- Omari, former advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. (Kent 107, 7:30 p.m., free)

Thursday | February 25

Sunday | February 21 Tuesday | February 23 Singer-songwriter and author Patti Smith will be at the Harold Washington Library for a discussion and signing of her latest book, Just Kids. The book is a memoir of her time in New York during the 1970s and her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. (400 South State Street, 2 p.m., free)

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let the dreariness of Tuesday get you down! Instead, head over to the Art Institute, which has free admission to all its exhibits during the month of February. Be sure to check out the new Modern Wing and the new photography exhibit In the Vernacular. (111 South Michigan Avenue, all day, free)

D o c Fi l m s g e t s r i s q u ĂŠ t h i s q u a r t e r with its weekly Thursday night series ÂŤT h e G o l d e n A g e o f A m e r i c a n Sexploitation.Âť This weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s screening features the 1973 film Fleshpot on 42nd Street directed by Andy Milligan. The film follows Dusty, a young prostitute working in the heart of New York City. (Max Palevsky Cinema, 9:30 p.m., $5)

Monday | February 22 Wednesday | February 24 Internationally renowned opera singers Vivica Genaux and Joyce Di Donato will be performing in a recital as part of the Ottocento Opera Symposium. A sympo-

Feeling disenchanted by the lack of progress in the Middle East or by the role of the United States in the conflict? See what the

Have an event youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to see in STD? E-mail christineyang@uchicago.edu.

AND THE SCHOLARS Ottocento Opera Between Theory and Practice: A Symposium in Honor of Philip Gossett

Robert W. Reneker Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Music, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and the College

Monday, February 22 Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th Street, Hyde Park

1-5 pm Symposium Moderated by Jeffrey Kallberg, University of Pennsylvania Opening remarks by Martha Feldman, University of Chicago Guest participants representing over a dozen institutions Closing remarks by Don M. Randel, President The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

7-8 pm Recital International opera singers:

Joyce Di Donato Vivica Genaux Sheila Rock Photography

Introductions by Brian Dickie (Chicago Opera Theater)

Virgin Classics/Harry Heleotis

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CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | February 19, 2010

SWIMMING & DIVING

Men hold fourth, women take second after two days of UAAs By Kat Jacobsen Sports Staff Th e UA A C h a m p i o n s h i p s b e g a n i n Atlanta on Wednesday, and freshmen talent is carrying the Maroon swimming and diving team to new places. The Championships continues through Saturday, but fi rst-year diver Becky Schmidt’s win in the women’s one -meter dive Wednesday—Chicago’s f i r s t w o m e n ’ s d i v i n g v i c t o r y i n UA A Championships history—helped the women’s team into second place overall by the end of yesterday’s events. Emory has 614 points to lead all teams on the women’s half. Chicago is almost 200 points behind Emory with 416 points, and just slightly in front of NYU, which is third with 394.5 points. Besides Schmidt’s win in

diving, the women’s top fi nish was in the 400-yard medley relay, where first-years Kathleen Taylor and Olivia Mapes teamed with second-year Tara Levens and thirdyear Ellie Elgamal to take second. As of last night, Chicago’s men were in fourth with 317 points, just 25 points behind third-place NYU. The men’s best results so far have been second place in the 200-meter free relay, and third in the 400-meter medley relay. The 200-meter relay included secondyears Marius Aleksa and Nicolas Santoro, first-year Kevin Yang, and third-year James Schlabach. In the 400 meters, first-year Charles Du, second-year Marius Aleksa, third-year Ed Wagner, and fourth-year Brian Young combined for the result. Individually, Aleska took second place in the 50-yard freestyle.

As for Schmidt, who is the Maroons’ lone UAA champion thus far, she entered the meet with a strong season behind her, confident of a top three finish. She said her performance on day one of UAAs was bolstered by good warm-up work on Emory’s diving board. “The secret to diving well for me is all about being confident and comfortable with the board,” Schmidt said. The one-meter women’s dive had only 12 divers entered in the event, leading to a very quick meet. “I knew that with only 12 girls the meet would be fast-paced, which also helps me to stay motivated…. The small numbers also meant that schools only brought their top talent, which I think made the scores fairly close between the places,” she said. Close, in Schmidt’s case, was one point.

END OF THE BENCH

Separate head coaches would help men’s, women’s tennis continue climb on national stage By Jake Grubman Sports Editor

Two teams, one head coach. The equation in the tennis program just doesn’t add up. With the Chicago women’s tennis team ranked fourth in the country and the men’s team ranked 16th, it’s natural to look at what could put the Maroons over the top and into the elite level of D-III tennis programs. It seems like they’re almost there already, with only six teams boasting a better average rank between the two programs, which is why the coaching situation makes so little sense. The next step in climbing the national ladder is clear: The Maroons need separate head coaches for the men’s and women’s teams. When head coach Marty Perry came over to coach both squads in the 2003–04 season, the Maroons were trying to answer completely different questions. Both teams finished last in the conference six seasons in a row, from 1999 to 2004, and they needed to make some major changes. Perry was like a gift from the D-III tennis gods, if those exist. Since finishing eighth in his first season, he’s finished in the bottom half of the conference only once for both the men and the women. UAA bottom-dwellers no longer, the Maroons have developed into perennial top25 teams, with the women’s squad emerging

into an unquestionable threat on the national level after finishing fourth at NCAAs last season. Perry was named the D-III Women’s Coach of the Year, a reward for bringing together the best class of first-years in the country last season, and now the women look like national fixtures for at least the next three seasons. The front office has clearly helped answer the questions that six consecutive last-place finishes will stir up, but that doesn’t mean that Chicago’s work is finished; it just means that the team has new questions to answer. How do the men get past teams like DePauw and Carnegie and into the NCAA tournament? How do the women topple Emory? The players obviously need to get the job done, but at the college level, coaches are directly linked to on-court talent, through player development and, more importantly, through recruiting. That’s where having just one head coach for both tennis teams hurts Chicago. As it stands, women probably like what they see in the Maroons’ young, talented squad, but it has to be tough for a men’s player to feel great about a school that has the D-III Women’s Coach of the Year and a female assistant coach overseeing both squads. Chicago is in a unique situation in terms of athletics. Ask most of the athletes around campus, and a vast majority will say that academics were the selling point on Chicago. Playing a sport is oftentimes the icing on top of a degree-from-the-University-of-Chicago

cake, and in terms of D-III schools, Chicago is at or near the top academically. But that doesn’t change the recruiting situation so vastly that the rules of the game don’t apply to Chicago. High school athletes undoubtedly like what they see in the quality education Chicago offers, but our university isn’t the only one that offers a place to play with elite academics. Amherst and Williams are both elite academic colleges that also have nationalcaliber tennis programs. Those are the kinds of schools that could take the recruits that the Maroons need to move up, and the top schools of the division—unsurprisingly—almost invariably have larger coaching staffs than Chicago. A second dedicated head coach would mean a clear boost in attractiveness for recruits, and it would also make in-season responsibilities much simpler and easier for the staff. Matches in different locations mean that Perry has to choose one team to coach for that day. Obviously the addition of Taka Bertrand, once an elite player for Vanderbilt, will help to ease those strains of the schedule, but what happens if both teams qualify for NCAAs at the end of this season? It’ll be another tough choice for Perry. As Chicago continues to build its tennis program, these are the kinds of problems that having separate coaches would solve. The Maroons seem to be on the brink of that elite level, but it’s asking too much for one head coach to guide them all the way.

Chicago looks to up ante on defensive end against struggling Tartans, Spartans

Two wins would boost chance for bid in Central Region

M. BASKETBALL continued from back page

W. BASKETBALL continued from back page

at least 12 points and seven rebounds. “We’ll need to [have that balance] again this time around,” McGrath said. “They’re big and strong, they pound the ball inside, and they rebound very well. This is the type of team we tend to do well with, as opposed to teams that get up and down a little bit and attack off the dribble.” The Maroons will also need to account for forward Tom Summers, who missed the first face-off between these two teams due to injury but is averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds per contest this season. “Case is a tough match-up for us. They

are bigger than us at every position now that [Summers] is back in their lineup. They are a very balanced inside-out team that can score in many different ways,” Adams said. “They have been playing very well since Summers’s return, and it’s going to take a great effort to beat them.” Stopping Case on the defensive end will require tight pressure defense that does not allow penetration into the key. “We want them to go deep into the shot clock and not give them an easy look. It’s always our goal: Never let people score easily,” McGrath said. “If we can do that, it’ll be a good game.”

Sports.Leisure.Etcetera. MaroonCity.com

CCIW tournament, Whitewater and Stevens Point have to play in the WIAC tournament, and Chicago and Wash U play a week from tomorrow. It’s almost as likely that three of the teams (probably the three that win out) will get automatic bids, eliminating them from the running for at-large bids. Long story short, besting Wash U next Saturday might earn Chicago the UAA’s postseason berth; if it doesn’t, or if the Maroons don’t avenge their January drubbing in St. Louis, wins today and Sunday would give the team a great shot at an at-large bid. It’s been hard work and consistency throughout most of the UAA season that’s brought Chicago this far and put them in such a good situation. And if the Maroons can put in a little more work this weekend, it could have them going a whole lot further.

At the end of the preliminaries, Schmidt was second to NYU’s Kelly Dietz, but she was able to edge Dietz by one point in the finals. Schmidt won with a NCAA Division-III qualifying score of 419.10 to Dietz’s 418.10. “With the way that scoring works during this meet—the only scores to carry over into finals are our five voluntary dives—I had done very well on my voluntaries, and finals essentially allowed for a ‘do over’ for my optionals, which are our hardest and highest scoring dives,” Schmidt said. “I was in a very good position going into the next round.” Schmidt’s win moves her into position to become Chicago’s first male or female Diver of the Year in the 23-year history of the UAA Championships. To take that title, she’ll likely need an equally impressive showing in today’s three-meter diving competition.

After early exit at last season’s NCAAs, Carlson eyes All-American status WRESTLING continued from back page and leverage. Yet Carlson has been able to add the strength over the years without losing his speed, athleticism, and technique. “He is, in general, more athletic and quicker than even the best in his weight class. If he keeps from getting too tied up with slower and stouter opponents and forces them out of their style, he has an advantage,” Kocher said. Carlson suggests another reason for his increased success as he moves up in weight: happiness. He admits that he has “hated” having to cut weight for wrestling. “With each year and each new weight class, I have become progressively happier and more pleasant,” he said. While Carlson has certainly accomplished an incredible amount already, Carlson has yet to achieve one of his long-standing dreams: becoming an AllAmerican. “Becoming an All-American this year would be the perfect finish to my college wrestling career,” Carlson said. With his eyes on a top finish this year, Carlson still feels the sting of his early exit a season ago. “I had really expected more from myself…. The highlight of my career was qualifying for nationals and the low point was losing at nationals,” he said. Before Carlson makes it back to the national tournament he will have to qualify this Saturday in Minneapolis. The top two wrestlers from each weight division get a bid to nationals, along with eight wild cards. Carlson is currently ranked third in the nation and is expected to qualify for NCAAs. Should Saturday’s tournament go as is expected, Carlson will have the opportunity to wrestle the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class, Augsburg’s Jared Massey, the reigning national champion. While Carlson is favored to be an All-American, which requires finishing in the top eight at nationals, it would take a few upsets for him to win the national title. That said, Carlson believes a national championship, which no Chicago wrestler has won since Peter Wang in 1991 and 1992, is within the realm of possibility. “I think if I wrestle the way I know I can, a national championship is definitely possible,” Carlson said. Carlson recognizes that his career is approaching its finish, and that these final tournaments will be his final opportunity to achieve his lofty goals. “As cliché as it sounds,” he said, “I have to leave everything on the mat.”

IN QUOTES “But it is irritating when you don’t trust yourself to smile as you should.”

SPORTS

—Germany’s David Möller, who won silver in the luge, after breaking off a portion of a tooth when reporters asked that he bite his medal. Tradition holds that the authenticity and quality of gold and silver can be tested by biting them.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

WRESTLING

Weekend games could bolster Maroons’ shot at UAA championship

Carlson prepares for final shot at NCAA triumph

By Jordan Holliday Sports Editor Any students suffering from earlyonset eighth week anxiety—“Can I make it through the end of the quarter? And can all the work possibly be worth it?”—should look to the women’s basketball team for some living proof that hard work pays. The Maroons (17–5, 9–2 UAA) began UAA play with three losses, each to an excellent team but each a potential liability come Selection Sunday. Now, they’ve won nine of their last 10 (and dropped the 10th in OT), and this weekend, if they can beat two teams they’ve already beaten, the Maroons could nearly lock up an NCAA bid. The standard line is that all conference games are tough, and wins should never be assumed. The fact is that neither of the two teams visiting this weekend—Carnegie (9–13, 2–9) tonight and Case (12–10, 3–8) Sunday—ought to beat Chicago, and if the Maroons keep playing like they have for much of the past month, come Sunday afternoon they’ll have put themselves in a very promising position. As always, there are reasons to be cautious. Case has four of the UAA’s top eight scorers, including 5-foot-10

Caitlin Henry, who gets listed as a forward on box scores but torched Chicago on 4-of-5 shooting from behind-the-arc when the teams last met. Henry had 20 points in that game, to go along with 21 points from fellow-forward Erin Hollinger. “You can make an argument that those two post players [Henry and Hollinger] are basically guards for them,” head coach Aaron Roussell said. “They can do some things at the basket and away from the basket that not a whole lot of other players in our league can do.” While stopping Case will be a matter of minimizing those defensive mismatches, Carnegie should pose exactly the opposite problem: The Tartans are coming to Ratner hoping to beat the Maroons at their own game. Their starting backcourt is packed with a trio of six-footers including forward Rachelle Roll, who hauled in 39 rebounds in last weekend’s two games. “[Carnegie has] been out-physicaling and out-rebounding teams, and that’s something we normally do,” Roussell said. “I think they’ll be very eager to show what they can do.” But whatever strengths Case and Carnegie can boast, Chicago still beat both of them back in January,

By Henry Phillips Sports Staff

Second-year guard Meghan Herrick, shown against Rochester, will help lead the Maroons on the home stretch against Carnegie and Case this weekend. CAMILLE VAN HORNE/MAROON

and both opponents have recently snapped out of long losing streaks. There’s no question these are winnable games, and this is a perfect time for Chicago to get two more wins. With just over a week left until the NCAA brackets are released, Chicago is sitting fourth in the Central Region rankings, behind Illinois Wesleyan, Carthage, and

Wash U (20–2, 10–1). Rounding out the fifth and sixth spots in the rankings (only six teams are ranked in most regions) are UW–Whitewater and UW—Stevens Point. At least three of those six teams will lose between now and then the tournament, since Wesleyan and Carthage have to play in the

W. BASKETBALL continued on page 11

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Maroons shoot for consistency against Carnegie, Case By Matt McCracken Sports Staff Two steps forward, two steps backward. That’s what this season has felt like for men’s basketball. The Maroons (11–11, 5–6) will look to end this yearlong bout of inconsistency as they take on Carnegie (5–17, 1–10) on Friday and Case (13–9, 5–6) on Sunday at the Ratner Center. Chicago has alternated between winning two and losing two over the past month. “We just need to stay consistent. When we’ve been very focused and given a good mental effort, we’ve been very successful, and when we haven’t, we’ve struggled,” head coach Mike McGrath said. “It’s a learning curve. Our older guys are pretty good at sustaining physical effort for a long period of time, and the less experienced guys are still learning how to do that.” The Maroons dropped two games on the road last weekend, a 66–71 squeaker at the hands of NYU and a 71–83 loss to Brandeis. The main culprit was a lack of offensive focus on driving through the paint to create quality scoring opportunities, which

was a focal point at practice this week. “We’re working hard with our guys at attacking the basket and finishing,” assistant coach Drew Adams said. “Our guys are very capable at attacking the basket; we are just trying to create a more aggressive mindset with them, so it becomes more of a habit to them.” Focus will be a key factor in Chicago’s game today against Carnegie, a team that has struggled during the year but is still very dangerous, and the Maroons do not want to be caught with an eye towards their match-up with Case on Sunday. “It’s a UAA basketball game, and it’s one of the best conferences in the country. Our guys know that you can’t look past anybody,” McGrath said. While the Maroons believe they will have to maintain their focus on Carnegie, they know that they will face a firm challenge in Case. The last time these two teams met, Chicago gutted out a 72–69 win as the frontcourt anchored a balanced offensive attack. Third-year forward Paul Riskus, second-year forward Tom Williams, and second-year forward Steve Stefanou each chipped in

M. BASKETBALL continued on page 11

Fourth-year Troy Carlson is easily the most decorated wrestler on the Chicago squad, yet the four-time UAA Champion is no stranger to the disappointment of defeat. Last year at the NCAA Championships, Carlson was knocked out early, deferring his dream of being an All-American. His shot at redemption begins this weekend with the Great Lakes Regional Championship, where he is predicted to qualify for the national tournament and a shot at being an All-American—or even a national champion. “Mentally, I am going into this weekend knowing that this is it for me. I don’t have another wrestling season after this one to rely on or look forward to,” Carlson said. Carlson is having a standout season, especially considering the fact that he has jumped up from his previous season’s 174-pound weight division to the 197-pound weight division. He began his Chicago career wrestling at 157 pounds and has moved up in weight each season, but as this season’s UAA Most Outstanding Wrestler, this has clearly had little effect on his productivity or his wrestling style. “It seems the higher the weight he has wrestled, the harder time opponents have dealing with him,” head coach L eo Kocher said. Part of Troy’s increased success could be attributed to his experience in the lower weight divisions. Wrestlers in the lower weight divisions are known for their speed, movement, and agility, while the upper weight classes tend to be more based in strength

WRESTLING continued on page 11

CA LEN DA R Friday

Saturday

CAMILLE VAN HORNE/MAROON

2/20

•Men’s & Women’s Track and Field host Bradley Invite, 11:30 a.m. •Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving @ UAA Championships, All Day •Wrestling @ Great Lakes Regional, All Day

Sunday Second-year forward Tom Williams totalled 27 points and 24 rebounds in Chicago’s wins over Case and Carnegie earlier this year.

2/19

•Women’s Basketball vs. Carnegie Mellon, 6 p.m. •Men’s Basketball vs. Carnegie Mellon, 8 p.m. •Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving @ UAA Championships, All Day

2/21

•Men’s Basketball vs. Case, Noon •Women’s Basketball vs. Case, 2 p.m. •Men’s Tennis @ Kalamazoo, 2 p.m.