TUESDAY
IN VOICES
IN SPORTS
Jhumpin' for joy
Softball readies bats for regionals
MAY 11, 2010
CHICAGO
AROON
» Page 8
VOLUME 121
» Back page
ISSUE 44
Author Jhumpa Lahiri on writing for herself, thank you very much.
CHICAGOMAROON.COM
Softball makes it through to NCAAs.
The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892
SCAV HUNT
LAW SCHOOL
And four makes it a dynasty
Obama taps former professor Elena Kagan for Supreme Court By Crystal Tsoi News Staff
Third-year Christina Daly, dressed as Skeletor, prepares to complete a road trip item (no. 93) on I-90 next to the world's largest tire for the Max P. Scav team. For more photos from Scav, see pages 6 and 7. TOM TIAN/MAROON
By Asher Klein News Editor Even before the winner was declared, this year’s Scav Hunt was going to be memorable. One team’s namesake died the day Scav began; it was the first competition for South Campus, a potential powerhouse; and even President Zimmer got involved, trying his hand at snowball fighting. Teams raced books on two-hour reserve as far from the Reg as they could—without using a car. They made plasma in a mason jar and cut through knives with butter.
They brought a piece of Hell back from Pennsylvania. Four produced Stradivariuses. One took a flamethrower to a straw goat. But in the end, it was Snell– Hitchcock’s victory that stole the limelight. With just over one hundred more points than their competitors, the team was crowned the winner for the fourth time running, the first such dynasty in 24 years of hunting. Fourth-year Jordan Phillips, a captain for Snell-Hitchcock (Snitchcock), said the achievement felt “pretty fucking great.” Snitchcock has won or tied 12
times since the competition began in 1987 (including one win-bydisqualification, in 1997), winning on average two of three since 1993, which was the beginning of the only other three-peat in Scav history. “It’s such a big community accomplishment. It just feels really thrilling to be part of that and to feel at least partially responsible for that success,” said Phillips, who has never lost a Scav Hunt. Snitchcock “put in a remarkable effort,” according to fourth-year and Head Judge Emily Watkins, who credited the victory to consistently
SCAV continued on page 2
Though John Paul Stevens (A.B. ‘41) is retiring from the Supreme Court next month, there may still be a former Hyde Parker on the bench next fall. Former U of C Law School professor and U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan was nominated to the Court Monday morning by President Barack Obama. Kagan served as an assistant professor at the Law School from 1991 until 1995, overlapping with Obama’s tenure there. She was appointed to a full professorship in 1995, but took a leave of absence to join the Clinton Administration’s White House legal team. Known for her scholarship on the First Amendment, Kagan published articles such as “Regulation of Hate Speech and Pornography after R.A.V.” and “Private Speech, Public Purpose: The Role of Governmental Motive in First Amendment Doctrine” during her time at the Law School. These publications will likely come under scrutiny during her confirmation hearings in the Senate, since Kagan has never served as a judge before, meaning relatively little is publicly known about her legal philosophy. According to her former Law School colleagues, Kagan has the qualities of a great justice. “Elena is a resolutely non-ideological person,” Law School professor David Strauss said in an e-mail interview. “She is great at asking hard questions. She does not approach issues with preconceived views; she tries to figure things out. She is practical and tough-minded.” Law School professor and former provost Goeffrey Stone touted Kagan’s academic excellence. “Elena quickly
established herself as a brilliant teacher, focusing particularly in the areas of constitutional and administrative law,” Stone said in a press release. “In the classroom, she was tough, sharp, and incisive. The students loved her classes.” Stone was also dean of the Law School during some of Kagan’s time at the University. Current Dean Michael Schill knew Kagan as an undergraduate. “I have known Elena Kagan for almost 30 years—first as a fellow student at Princeton, then as a faculty member and dean. I believe she has all of the
Elena Kagan was an associate professor at the Law School from 1991-97. COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
qualities of mind and temperament to make a spectacular justice of the Supreme Court. I am also proud that her career as a scholar was formed at the University of Chicago Law School. No other school in the nation trains the mind like ours,” Schill said in the same press release.
KAGAN continued on page 2
STUDENT LIFE
DISCOURSE
Summer Breeze tickets for sale online in SG pilot program
Jane Goodall brings ape activism to campus
By Will Sims News Staff Summer Breeze tickets are available for the first time on a revamped uBazaar, a Student Government (SG) website that it hopes will turn into a platform for Houses and RSOs to sell merchandise and more. The website, ubazaar.uchicago.edu, allows students to purchase tickets by credit card and pick up them up at will call the day of the event. The Major Activities Board (MAB) allocated 400 Summer Breeze tickets for online sales, which began Wednesday. “It’s kind of a trial run for now,” second-year MAB Marketing Representative Sam Abbott said. “We hope to be able to use uBazaar more in the future if this goes well.” For fourth-year Chris Williams, the outgoing SG vice president for student affairs and uBazaar point-person, “the idea seemed an obvious one.”
With the website, Houses and RSOs will be able to sell merchandise and event tickets to both students and alumni, eliminating the need for tabling in the Reynolds Club, Williams said. “We are piloting it with MAB’s Summer Breeze and a few other organizations, as we work out the kinks and plan for a system where multiple RSOs are using uBazaar simultaneously,” he said. Whether it will get to that point depends on how Summer Breeze tickets sell, and if they can be easily distributed to students, Williams said. Around 100 tickets have been sold so far, Williams said, and an e-mail will soon be sent to the U of C community letting them know tickets are available online. Although SG created uBazaar in 2008, when it was used to sell Summer Breeze tickets, the site was abandoned for technical reasons. “Going into this year, I set uBazaar as a priority for our slate to get restarted,” Williams said.
UBAZAAR continued on page 2
By Adam Janofsky Associate News Editor
At Rockefeller Chapel Friday evening, Primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall speaks next to her friend, Mr. H Jr., about preserving the environment. EMILY LO/MAROON
Internationally renowned primate researcher and environmental activist Jane Goodall spoke to a packed Rockefeller Chapel Friday about the need to stop “battling” our planet. Goodall described her conservation work with animals and her work with degraded forests in central Africa. She also discussed her early fascination with animals and reflected on her first experiences in Africa exactly 50 years ago. “I fell passionately in love with Tarzan,” Goodall said of her favorite childhood book, which opened her eyes to animals. “And what does he do? He goes for that other wimpy Jane.” Goodall spent her early 20s researching in Africa, where she managed to overcome two big obstacles: She had no degree and was female in a maledominated field. “I was the wrong sex,” she said, adding that it didn’t stop her from taking a boat from England to
GOODALL continued on page 3