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CHICAGO

The Cape

MAROON The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892

NBC's new superhero show toes the line between drama and farce Voices, page 5

FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2011 • VOLUME 122, ISSUE 21 • CHICAGOMAROON.COM

AWARDS

ADMISSIONS

Two recognized for diversity leadership

College sees 12 percent increase in applications By Amy Myers Associate News Editor

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DIVERSITY continued on page 2

Bush drug czar pressed on policy John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under president George W. Bush, spoke to a contentious audience about the ongoing war on drugs in the Social Science building last night. The lecture was hosted by UC Republicans and the Student Government Finance Committee. In his talk, Walters spoke mostly about the dangers of drug addiction and the importance of the criminal justice system for drug offenders. “The view that we are victims of drugs is more than belied by the facts,� Walters said. But in the question and answer session that followed, many students challenged Walters on his stance against marijuana legalization, contesting him on the notion that drug use could be controlled by cutting the supply and demand of the drug market.

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Study ranks U of C second most popular online

DISCOURSE

Walters pointed to an 80 percent reduction of LSD use caused by the arrest of a centralized LSD distributor during his first years in office as evidence of how controlling the supply of a drug can reduce use. H o w e v e r , Wa l t e r s a d m i t t e d that drug dealers adjusted for cuts in their supply by making the drugs less pure, allowing them to produce cheaper drugs, causing addicts to return to their drug dealers more frequently for their fix. “We can’t only attack the drug problem by controlling the supply of drugs,� Walters said. “We have to attack it from both sides of the bridge, and get public health officials involved to tell families to get addicts they know into rehabilitation programs.� He added that such a collaboration between drug enforcement officials and public health officials would b e difficult to achieve, because national drug and public health policy didn’t always agree.

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RANKINGS

By Janet De La Torre News Staff

By Sam Levine News Staff

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the keynote speaker for today’s Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration service. As the first tenured African American in the Biological Sciences Division, Bowman researched sickle cell anemia and also served as Assistant Dean of Students for Minority Affairs from 1986 to 1990. His colleague Louis Sullivan, who served as Secretary of Health and Human Services under George H.W. Bush, said Bowman should be honored for being both a great

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Dr. James Bowman (X ’6 4) a n d Ly n d a H a l e r e c e i v e d t h e University’s two Diversity Leadership Awards yesterday at the Quadrangle Club amid South Side dignitaries and White House politicos. President Robert Zimmer, who helped established the award three years ago, presented the honors leading into the University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration weekend. “They are special

awards, but one should think of them as rewards that are reflective of the fundamental parts of what the University is,� he said. Community leaders included senior advisor to President Barack Obama and Bowman’s daughter Valerie Jarrett, former National S c i e n c e Fo u n d a t i o n D i r e c t o r Walter Massey, Chicago mayoral candidate Carol Moseley Braun, 5th Ward Alderman Leslie Hairston, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle (A.B. ’69, M.A.T. ’77), and Alvin Ailey Artistic Director Judith Jamison,

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By Adam Janofsky News Editor

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President Robert Zimmer presents Lynda Hale with a Diversity Leadership Staff Award.

The number of applications to the College for the Class of 2015 increased to 21,669 this year, representing a 12-percent jump from last year’s numbers. University administrators are attributing the growth in part to a projected 8-percent increase in financial aid awards for the incoming class. The larger applicant pool represents continued growth even after last year’s dramatic 42 percent rise in applications, which was the largest of any university that year. While last year’s increase was exceptional, the U of C’s applicant pool this year reflects a comparable trend in other universities as high school seniors apply to a larger number of schools than in the past. Dartmouth College reported a 15.7 percent increase from 2010 and Northwestern University has reported a similar increase—10.5 percent—in this year’s applicant pool. According to University Spokesman Jeremy Manier, increasing the available financial aid has attracted more students to apply

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One student in the audience pointed to his native Baltimore, a city where the crime rate and drug use continue to soar, as an example of where Walters’s ideas were ineffective. The student suggested that had Baltimore followed through on then-mayor Kurt Schmoke’s proposal to legalize marijuana in 1988, the city’s drug problem could have been curtailed. Walters said that Baltimore’s high drug use was an exception to the downward trend of drug use in the United States, and that the city was a “sad case.� Students also challenged Walters on marijuana’s medicinal status as a Schedule I drug, meaning it has potential for abuse and may not be prescribed. Walters said that he believed that the fact that marijuana could ease pain did not outweigh its potential for addiction, and did not ethically warrant its legalization. Walters also described marijuana as the most dangerous drug in youth culture today.

Th e U n i v e r s i t y o f C h i c a g o may have a reputation for being the place where fun goes to die, but perhaps it would be better described as the place where fun goes online. According to a press release by the Global Language Monitor (GLM) January 4, the University ranked second in the largest “Internet brand equity� for 2010, having an online presence only second to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Harvard, M IT, and Columbia rounded out the top five in the analysis that covered 300 universities. GLM assessed Internet brand equity using an algorithmic analysis of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, the blogosphere, and top online media sources. GLM argues their statistical analysis is less biased than other rankings of colleges, which can rely on peer review and other qualitative measures. University administrators are attributing the results to the large presence that U of C professors hold in academia. “Scholars are leading voices in

intellectual exchanges online and in all forms,� University spokesperson Jeremy Manier said. “Brilliant people who work here do a lot to put this out so the University is a leading voice to intellectual discussions online.� Manier attributes the increase in the U of C’s online presence to a joint effort by the News Office, as well as current students, alumni, and faculty who are popular news sources online. Last year, the University launched official Facebook and Twitter accounts. Since May, the two sites have garnered approximately 28,100 fans and followers. In April of last year, the University also bolstered its YouTube channel, including lectures from notable speakers and professors, a studentled tour of campus, and videos highlighting various Hyde Park events and locales. Among some of the prominent Internet names affiliated with the University are New York Times bloggers Economics Professor Steven L evitt and Nate Silver ( A . B . ’ 0 0 ) , Fo r b e s . c o m c o n tributor Richard Epstein, blogger Tucker Max (A.B. ’98), and Wo n k e t t e f o u n d e r A n a M a r i e Cox (A.B. ’94), who has over 1.4 million Twitter followers.


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