APRIL 5, 2016
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892
OBAMA SPEAKS TO
Uncommon Interview: New Provost Daniel Diermeier BY ISAAC STEIN SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
The University announced last Thursday that Daniel Diermeier, currently dean of the Harris School of Public Policy, will replace Eric D. Isaacs as Provost as of July 1. THE MAROON spoke with Diermeier about his background and University policy last Friday. Chicago Maroon (CM): I noticed that you have a master’s and doctorate in philosophy. Can you tell me more about the value of a liberal arts education, particularly for undergraduates, as well as the highlights of your own undergraduate experience? Daniel Diermeier (DD): I
started getting interested in philosophy in high school...and I’m German by origin, so I started getting engaged with that in my last two…three high school years, and really got excited and interested in it, and then decided to do this as my undergraduate major at University of Munich, and actually went to graduate school for one year at the University of Southern California in the Ph.D. program. [I was] very passionate about it, loved it, started out studying classical philosophy….I shouldn’t say that… classical German philosophy. So, Kant, Hegel, Heidegger and so forth, and then got interested in analytical philosophy a little Continued on page 3
THE LAW SCHOOL THIS THURSDAY BY EMILY FEIGENBAUM SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Ahona Mukherjee
Alex Peltz, a second year organizer with Students for Disability Justice, protests at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Students Protest Higher Education Cuts at CSO BY ANNIE NAZZARO
Journalist Addresses Racial Segregation in Chicago BY EMILY FEIGENBAUM SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
On March 31 at the International House, journalist Natalie Y. Moore discussed the politics behind policies that she said have sustained a stark racial divide in Chicago. In her book The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation, Moore attributes the ghettoization of Chicago to segregationist housing policies. The separate and unequal living conditions of black, white, and Latino communities is hardly unique to Chicago, although the city has maintained notoriety for such prominent segregation. Black families are burdened with unfavorable loans, subprime mortgages, and low home-value appraisals. She explained that this “black tax,” or the notion that blacks face more adversity than their white counterparts in their pursuit of success, is further demonstrated by fewer city services, resources for schools, and amenities in black communities. Moore criticized the University for its history of supporting restrictive covenants that limited where black Chicagoans could live. Her condemnation was met
UChicago Isn’t a Charity Page 4
by audience applause. According to Moore, segregation is strikingly prevalent in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system. Moore stated that CPS schools are more segregated than suburban schools. She added that while not all schools in black communities are low-performing, white families are wary to send their children there. Moore attributed the failure to further integrate CPS to Mayor Richard J. Daley, who served from 1955 until his death in 1976. Moore also stressed the importance of outside business owners in the pursuit to tackle segregation. She urged policy-makers to help business owners understand the logistics of opening businesses in black communities and prove there is opportunity for success. Moore noted that expensive stores are perceived by many members of the black community to be a “welcome mat for gentrification.” She argued, however, that the introduction of Whole Foods to Englewood does not compromise the community’s identity but rather ushers in a form of coexistence. “When something good comes to a neighborhood, black people sometimes think it’s not for them,” Moore said.
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
Students and activists protested higher education budget cuts at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) on Saturday evening before its 8 p.m. performance. UChicago students from Fair Budget UChicago joined their parent organization, IIRON Student Network, and IIRON, an activist group, at the protest, which targeted two UChicago trustees. Protesters meant to gain the attention of Sam Zell, James S. Crown, and Kenneth C. Griffi n, large-scale donors to Governor Bruce Rauner’s super PAC. All three also donate to the CSO, though the protesters did not know whether or not they were at the symphony Saturday. The protesters urged Zell, Crown,
and Griffin to advocate for higher education funding. They also sent a letter to the president of the CSO. Second-year A nna Wood, an organizer with Fair Budget UChicago who participated in the protest, said that people are suffering because of the cuts. “These billionaires like Sam Zell and Ken Griffi n are actively using their money to make that happen, so I don’t think they’re going to respond to polite requests for them to change their mind,” Wood said. “They’re only going to respond if we’re taking the crisis to them and things they care about, like the CSO.” Fair Budget UChicago also hoped the protest would advance its cause of a $15 per hour minimum wage for workers on campus, as Crown and Griffi n Continued on page 2
President Obama will visit the Law School on Thursday to discuss his nomination of Chief Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. This will be Obama’s fi rst public discussion of the nomination since he announced it on March 16. The town-hall format of the event will enable the president to talk with law students and push the importance of Senate consideration of his nomination. Controversy regarding the nomination looms as Obama attempts to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat with only a year left in office and in the face of strong opposition by Republican Senate leaders. Both Obama and Garland consider themselves Chicagoans. From 1992 until his election to Senate in 2004, the president served as a professor at the Law School. The city will also be the site of the Obama presidential library, which is expected to be completed by 2021. Garland, who has served as chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1997, was born in Chicago and raised in the suburb of Lincolnwood. Upon being nominated by Obama, Garland stated that it was a “a great privilege to be nominated by a fellow Chicagoan.” The event is exclusively open to Law School students.
There’s More Online!
Courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory
Student Groups Protest with Striking CPS Teachers
No. 15 South Siders Sweep Trio of Weekend Matches
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Protesters join Chicago Teachers Union rally downtown.
Chicago’s team finished with a victory at the Midwest Invite following mulitple wins over Kenyon.
Lights, Camera, SASA! Breaks Records Page 5
Why does the University offer financial aid?
VOL. 127, ISSUE 36
“With 200 performers and over 50 volunteers, this year’s SASA show was the biggest ever.”
Argonne scientists helped to identify the mysterious Tully Monster as a vertebrate, shown to left. Go to chicagomaroon.com to learn more about the Tully Monster, as well as a new journalism grant, venture capital funding, and the newest science around cat poop.
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