ChicagoMaroon012017

JANUARY 20, 2017

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

College Council Votes to Start Free Tampon Trial

VOL. 128, ISSUE 20

Students Settle in Suit Prompted by Sexual Assault Accusation

BY KATHERINE VEGA SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

BY VIVIAN HE STAFF REPORTER

On Tuesday, January 17, College Council (CC) members unanimously approved a resolution to provide free tampons and sanitary pads in the bathrooms at the Reynolds Club.

This is a trial program meant to last through winter quarter.

The resolution was drafted

by Sat Gupta, a Class of 2020 representative major i ng i n public policy. Gupta obtained permission from the Reynolds Club facilities managers to kick-start the free tampons prog ram at thei r site. T he program will provide free tampons and sanitary pads in both men’s and women’s bathrooms at Reynolds.

A total of 250 tampons and 250 sanitary pads will be provided, at a total cost of less than $100.

Gupta presented this program as a trial run, which he thinks w ill demonstrate to the University a substantial dema nd for these products among the student body. The eventual goal of the resolution is to expand this program to cover all bathrooms on campus.

T wo amendments to the r e s olut i o n we r e appr o v e d during the meeting. The first calls for a report on user-stat ist ics a nd overa l l per for mance of the program by the end of the winter quarter. The second calls for placing additional waste bins in men’s bathroom stalls. The second amendment was added after a CC representative noted the common practice of prov iding waste bins in all women’s bathroom stalls.

Gupt a expects the tampons to be placed in bathrooms in around a week. The program will be promoted pr imar ily Continued on page 3

Continued on page 2

Two Matches on Docket for South Siders

Contributing to THE M AROON

Page 12 “We have good momentum going right now. We are having fun out there, and that’s when you wrestle your best.”

If you want to get involved in THE M AROON in any way, please email apply@chicagomaroon.com or visit chicagomaroon.com/apply.

In Hyde Park in 2016, Violent Crime Drops; Burglaries Spike

BY FENG YE SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

Hyde Park witnessed a slight decrease in violent crimes but an increase in property crime in 2016, according to data from the Chicago Police Department (CPD). Nearly twice as many burglaries were re-

ported.

Hyde Park’s total crime rate in 2016 was 16 percent lower than the average crime rate of the past 10 years. However, the total crime rate increased by 15 percent from 2015. Violent crime—including homicide, sexual assault, robbery, assault, and battery—decreased by

three percent from the year before.

Property crime rates—including burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson—remained 14 percent under the average level of the past decade, but increased by 22 percent from 2015.

The University of Chicago PoContinued on page 2

The Professor and the President, 8 Years Later

BY SOFIA GARCIA MARTINEZ STAFF REPORTER

In 2008, when Obama first took office, T HE M AROON spoke with some of the people who knew Barack Obama as a professor or as a colleague while he was teaching in the law school. We reached out to a few of them to reflect on the eight years of the Obama presidency and look back on his time both as a professor and as President of the United States.

GEOFFREY STONE, Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Geoffrey Stone was Dean of the University of Chicago Law School when Barack Obama became a lecturer. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Constitution Society and the Board of Advisors of the American Civil Liberties Union, and has frequently worked with Obama on national

security issues. In 2008, we asked Stone how important Obama’s academic experience had been: GEOFFREY STONE IN 2008: There is a sort of caricature of the

Today’s the Day Students March, (page 3) Volunteer, (page 5) Deliberate, (page 4) and Organize (page 4) kind of absent-minded professor, where someone could be so academic and abstract, but that’s not the experience Barack had, since he was not a full-time academic. But

Page 9 I’m not sold on whether the “quick and dirty” format of food prep works in a Mediterranean restaurant.

Page 2 “When people talk about urban violence, it’s always tied to a discussion about poverty and access to services.”

Continued on page 5

Pete Grieve A man was shot and killed in Hyde Park Wednesday night (page 3). This is a rare incident in Hyde Park, which does not stand out among Chicago neighborhoods in terms of crime (below), though it has become more common in Chicago in general.

Rough ’n’ Roti: Mediterranean on 53rd

Chicago’s Bloody Year: The Urban Labs Analysis

in meaningful ways his experience helped to reinforce and hone some skills and attributes that we see in him today and are in part a product of the experience he had with the University. Genuine intellectual curiosity, openness to listening to all sides to an issue… The culture here is very strong and fairly definable, and my sense is Barack brought those characteristics to bear in his teaching.

CHICAGO MAROON: We’re going to start off by asking literally the same question we asked last time: How does it feel to have been one of the people to hire the man that has become president?

GS: Well, it was a great honor to have gotten to know Obama and to have been one of those people who identified him when he was still just a law student as someone who had the kind of character and personal ability to eventually become

A m a le s t udent ( “Joh n Doe” ) has reached a settlement with a female student (“Jane Doe” ), who he claims falsely accused him of sexual assault. John Doe is also still suing the University, claiming sex discrimination under Title IX in the ongoing case.

The plaintiff filed a suit against the University on August 24, claiming that his Title IX rights had been violated. Title IX is a federal statute that prohibits gender-based discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funds. John Doe claimed in his suit that the University created a “gender biased, hostile environment against males,” which John Doe experienced after having been accused twice of sexual assault by two students, co-defendant Jane Doe and another student (“Jane Roe”). Roe, who made a complaint about John Doe to the University in 2014, is not a defendant in the case.

According to court documents filed last week, Jane D o e a n d J o h n D o e h av e reached a “mutually satisfactory settlement” which, upon the filing of an amended complaint, would d ismiss Jane Doe as a defendant in the case.

Terms of the settlement are not public.

The case between John Doe and the University is ongoing.

The University will have until February 9 to respond to John Doe’s complaint.

R oe told University off icials that John Doe had sexually assaulted her in 2014. A College disciplinary hearing that May found that “preponderance of the evidence did not support [her] allegations,” according to a letter from thenDean of Students K athleen Ford to John Doe.

Prairie Home: A Steadfast Companion in Trying Times Page 10 Chris Thile brought his popular radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, to Symphony Center last weekend.

Excerpts from articles and comments published in T he Chicago Maroon may be duplicated and redistributed in other media and non-commercial publications without the prior consent of The Chicago Maroon so long as the redistributed article is not altered from the original without the consent of the Editorial Team. Commercial republication of material in The Chicago Maroon is prohibited without the consent of the Editorial Team or, in the case of reader comments, the author.

All rights reserved. © The Chicago Maroon 2017

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

Chicago’s Bloody Year: The Urban Labs Analysis

BY LEE HARRIS CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

University of Chicago Urban Labs released a report on Tuesday analyzing the spike in gun violence in 2016, primarily drawing on data from the Chicago Police Department (CPD).

The report was published only days after the release of the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s yearlong investigation into the CPD. The DOJ found a pattern of civil rights violations, including unconstitutional use of force and systemic officer misconduct.

CPD recorded 764 homicides in 2016, a 58 percent increase from 2015. The homicide rate reached its recent peak in the 1990s, but declined steadily to a low of 416 deaths in 2014. However, the study found that the spike in the past two years “has eroded approximately two-thirds of the decrease Chicago experienced since the early 1990s.”

Black men continue to be disproportionately affected by gun violence. Black people make up about one-third of Chicago’s population, but comprised almost 80 percent of homicide victims in 2015 and 2016. Black men between the ages of 15 and 34 make up only four percent of the city’s population, yet accounted for half the homicide victims.

The shooting was densely concentrated in a few of Chicago’s

poorest communities. A mere five neighborhoods—Austin, Englewood, New City, West Englewood and Greater Grand Crossing— accounted for almost half of the spike in violence. Of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods, 46 experienced an increase in homicides, while 31 recorded stable or decreasing homicide rates during the city-wide surge between 2015 and 2016.

“What caused Chicago’s surge in gun violence in 2016 remains a puzzle,” the report reads. Many typical candidates to explain spikes in gun violence, including weather, city spending on social services, and public school funding, remained stable and so were ruled out as causes for the increase.

Max Kapustin, a research director at the Urban Labs, explained the difficulty of identifying a single or most important cause of the spike. He cited numerous events that occurred within a few weeks of each other in the last weeks of 2015: the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video, the announcement of the DOJ investigation into the CPD, the enactment of a new agreement on street stops between the city and the ACLU, and a new state law regarding street stops.

The report insists that the difficulty of identifying a clear cause for the surge should not equate to a lack of response by legislators.

“Not knowing the definitive cause

of Chicago’s sudden and substantial increase in gun violence does not mean the city should be paralyzed in crafting a response. The solution to a problem need not be the opposite of its cause,” it reads.

Kapustin said the authors of the study were concerned that lawmakers might use the findings to justify regressive policies. “It need not be the case that you have to go back to the status quo that existed before in order to solve the problem,” he told THE MAROON. The report found that most measures of police activity remained stable between 2015 and 2016. Overall arrests declined by 24 percent, but the decline was due to in a steep fall in drug possession arrests, while arrests for homicides and shootings rose by three and four percent, respectively, and firearm possession arrests remained unchanged.

As shootings increased, the number of arrests for shootings held steady, meaning that one of the only substantial changes in police activity was a decline in the “clearance rate,” or likelihood of arrest, for gun violence. This decrease “is unlikely to have been what caused the surge in gun violence initially, but it may have accelerated this phenomenon, for example by fueling a cycle of retaliatory violence,” the report reads.

The other relevant measure of police activity that changed

drastically was the frequency of police street stops, which dropped off from an average of over 50,000 stops per month in 2015 to an average of 10,000 stops per month in early 2016.

The cause of the decline is unclear, but several public figures, including former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, have suggested that increased media attention to police violence has led to officers’ being more hesitant to intervene.

“We have allowed our police

trying to extrapolate too much from the street stop data. “Even though [police stops] declined quite precipitously between 2015 and 2016, and the timing fits well, other cities have seen remarkable declines in street stops, notably New York, without an increase in violence,” he said.

Lauren Speigel, a graduate student at the Harris School of Public Policy, worked on the report and said that it’s difficult to tie the sharp upswing in violence to factors that have remained relatively

FBI Uniform Crime Reports , Crime Lab analysis of CPD records The U of C Crime Lab released a report on the swell of shootings in Chicago in 2016: ““What caused Chicago’s surge in gun violence in 2016 remains a puzzle”

department to get fetal and it is having a direct consequence,” The Washington Post quoted Emanuel saying to Attorney General Loretta Lynch. “They have pulled back….

They don’t want to be a news story themselves, they don’t want their career ended early, and it’s having an impact.”

Kapustin cautioned against

static in the last few years.

“When people talk about urban violence, it’s always tied to a discussion about poverty and access to services,” she said. “While those are very relevant—looking at root causes—they don’t explain what’s going on here.”

The 31-page report is available online.

Case Alleging Gender Discrimination by University Continues Security Alerts Doubled in 2016 Continued from front page

In May of 2016, John Doe directed a play on campus.

Students protested the play and promoted a boycott. One protester told T H E M A R O O N her response to the play was “about supporting survivors, boycotting events put on by perpetrators of sexual assault, and accountability in RSOs.” Earlier that day, Jane Doe tweeted that the show’s director had assaulted her and other people on campus.

T he t we e t b e c a me t he central exhibit in John Doe’s lawsuit against Jane Doe. In June of 2016, lawyers for John Doe sent Jane Doe a cease and desist letter that demanded an apology and retraction on social media accounts. Later that month, Jane Doe f iled a Title I X complaint, saying that John Doe had sexually assaulted her in 2013. John Doe then filed a second Title IX complaint with the University, alleging that Jane Doe complaint was false and retaliatory.

He filed the lawsuit in August. The suit sought damages from Jane Doe for defamation and intentional inf liction of emotional distress.

The tweet in question was still “Jane Doe’s” through at least late August. At the time of publication, the tweet appears to have been removed.

In October, all the parties jointly motioned to extend the deadline for filing an answer or motion to dismiss from late

October to January 10. One document stated that Jane Doe’s reason to postpone was that the University’s internal investigations into the matter were to be settled by November or December, and that this decision would affect the nature of the parties’ arguments.

On January 9, John Doe a nd the Un iversity f i led a joint motion asking to extend the deadline for the University to answer or motion to dismiss from January 10 to February 9. The document stated that at a December 22 hea r ing, the parties announced that the Un iversity proceed ings had ended and that John Doe and Jane Doe were in the process of finalizing settlements.

Shortly thereafter, the settlement between John Doe and Jane Doe was reached.

On January 10, Judge Edmond E. Chang granted the joint motion, extending the University’s answer deadline to February 9. If the University does not respond, John Doe will file an amended complaint, which the University must respond to by March 3.

At the December 22 hearing, the parties had announced that John Doe and the University would proceed with settlement negotiations. John Doe had provided the University with a requested settlement proposal.

University spokesperson,Jeremy Manier, stated that he does not have information on the timing of the end of the

suit or the end of the internal University investigation. “The University typically does not comment on pending litigation or individual student matters,” he wrote in an e-mail to T HE M A ROON .

Jane Doe’s lawyer could not be reached for comment. One of John Doe’s attorneys, Eric R osenberg, said in a phone call with T HE M A ROON that he agreed to speak with his client, but would not be able to do so before press time.

Editor’s Note: Judge Edmond Chang ruled in August that the case will continue to be conducted using pseudonyms for the plaintiff and female defendant THE M AROON chose not to identify them because John Doe is a plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit, and reporting his name might f urther this alleged defa mation, and because Jane Doe alleges that she is a victim of sexual assault, and* T HE M AROON like many media organizations, does not report the names of alleged victims of sexual assault without the victim’s permission in cases when the victim’s name is not widely known.

Continued from front page

lice Department (UCPD) sent out 28 security alerts in 2016, which is a 100 percent increase from the 14 alerts sent out in 2015. Four of them were updates on previous alerts, regarding arrests of suspects or retractions of crimes that did not occur. There were five alerts sent out in April, four in May, three in October, and three in December.

“The decision to send alerts is made on a case-by-case basis, and the alerts are independent of overall crime rates. UCPD’s preliminary assessment is that violent crime did not increase in its patrol area in 2016,” University spokesperson Jeremy Manier said. The UCPD’s patrol area extends as far north as 37th Street.

In late July, in response to the community concerns about the neighborhood’s crime rates, President Robert Zimmer announced that the University would increase the number of UCPD officers by 28 percent throughout the UCPD patrol area.

During the year, a period of high crime rates stretched from start of summer to mid-autumn.

Total crime rates were highest in July, August, October, and November, peaking in October with a total of 216 crime cases in a single month. This represents a 60 percent increase compared to the same month in 2015, when only 135 cases were recorded. Monthly average crime rates for the first half of 2016 increased by less than one percent when compared to the first half of 2015, while the monthly average crime rates for the second half of 2016 increased by 28 percent.

Within 2016 alone, the second half of the year witnessed a 52 percent increase in average crime rates compared to the first half.

Several cases of break-ins and burglaries in 2016 reflected a general trend of increased burglary in Hyde Park. In September, a string of break-ins took place at the same apartment building on 54th Street.

In late October, three burglars broke into a student apartment, resulting in physical confrontation. The rate for burglary in 2016 increased by 95 percent compared to 2015, while the rate for larceny, or theft, increased by 16 percent.

Property crime rate was highest in August and October in 2016, with August witnessing 103 cases and October 97 cases. August 2016 saw a 250 percent increase in the rate for burglary compared to the rate at the same time the previous year; October 2016 saw a 433 increase.

For the entire year of 2016, larceny still constituted 70 percent of all property crimes.

Total crime rates in Hyde Park in 2016 were lower than those in Washington Park and Woodlawn, but higher than those in Kenwood.

Compared to its own annual average from 2011 to 2015, Hyde Park’s crime rates in 2016 remained at the same level. Neighboring communities, however, all experienced a decrease in total crime rates from their respective average rates from the past five years. Total crime rates for Kenwood in 2016 saw a 16 percent decrease from the average rate in the past five years, Washington Park a 19 percent decrease, and Woodlawn a 24 percent decrease.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

Friday, January 20 The Queen and Lipstick City with Shea Couleé Logan Center, 7–9 p.m.

In 1968, Flawless Sabrina recorded the life of the New York’s drag scene in the movie The Queen. Almost 50 years later, Lipstick City turned its attention to drag queens in Chicago. See both movies and Lipstick City’s

On & Around Campus 1/20 — 1/23 director and lead actor at this screening.

The 58th Presidential Inauguration at the IOP Institute of Politics, 10:30 a.m.– 1:30 p.m.

The IOP hosts students interested in watching Donald Trump become the 45th president of the United States. Lunch will be served.

Inauguration Day Speak-out Main quad, 12–1 p.m.

Members of the University community gather to protest Trump’s inauguration. The hosting organization, UofC Resists, held a meeting to map out resistance to Trump the week before.

Beach Night 2017 Ratner Athletics Center, 6–10 p.m.

Feeling down? Tired of the gray, cold Chicago winter? Head over to Ratner on Friday dressed in your best summer attire and cheer on the Maroons who will be playing Brandeis. If you get there early enough, you might even be able to pick up a tank top.

Saturday, January 21 International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella 2017 Tournament Quarterfinal Mandel Hall, Reynolds Club, 7–11 p.m.

Illinois-based university a cappella groups gather to compete in

front of a panel of judges. Winners will advance to the Great Lakes Regional Semifinal.

Haiti Benefit Dinner Cloister Club, Ida Noyes Hall, 6:30–8 p.m. $15 general admission; $120 for 8-person table reservation.

OBS holds a dinner to benefit disaster victims in Haiti. Revenue generated will go to provide medical aid in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. Come in formal attire.

Reproductive Justice Teachin Build Coffee, 6100 S. Blackstone Avenue, 1–3 p.m.

Amber Sollenberger, a medical assistant for Planned Parenthood, will discuss the medical establishment’s dark history of exploiting minority groups.

Participants will also be able to discuss ways of taking concrete action to protect reproductive rights under Trump’s presidency.

Sunday, January 22 Fa nt a s t ic A r ch it e c t u r e : Vostell, Fluxus, and the Built Environment Neubauer Collegium, 5701 S. Woodlawn Avenue, 3–6 p.m.

Beginning on January 22, the Neubauer Collegium will host an exhibit that will examine the stories behind “Concrete Traffic,” a sculpture by Wolf Vostell of a Cadillac encapsulated in concrete. Exhibits will be featured in the Regenstein Library. Join the opening reception on January 22 at the Neubauer Collegium.

Monday, January 23 UCPU Present s: T urkey Should Be Kicked Out of NATO Institute of Politics, 6:30–8 p.m.

The University of Chicago Political Union turns to international politics and considers the resolution: Turkey should be kicked out of NATO. Food will be served.

OMSA Heritage Series: Latina Rebels Mandel Hall, 6–7:30 p.m.

Prisca Dorca Mojica Rodriguez, founder of the online platform Latina Rebels, will give a keynote and discussion entitled “Woke Brown Girl: A Postcolonial Conversation Around Upholding a Latina Experience.”

Tickets can be reserved online.

A Total of 250 Tampons and 230 Sanitary Pads Will Be Provided Continued from front page

through social media. He suggested that there may also be signs on campus to announce the program.

The tampon initiative was one of four main proposals outlined in Gupta’s CC campaign platform. When he spoke with T H E M A R O ON this past October, he argued, “If houses can prov ide free condoms, then the Un iversity can prov ide free menstrual health items.

Period.”

The ca ll for providing free tampons and sanitary pads on campus is common in colleges throughout the United States.

Brown and Emory, for example, have already implemented similar initiatives. At UChicago, the referendum on free tampons and pads received 732 signatures, about 200 of which came from students in the College.

New Year, New House: FIJI Moves In

BY RACHANA MUPPA CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI ) fraternity re-opened its house on Monday after undergoing a multi million-dollar renovation.

Bernard DelGiorno, an alumnus of the Chi Upsilon chapter of FIJI, was a major contributor to the renovation. DelGiorno currently serves as First Vice President of Investments at UBS Financial Services and is a resident of Hyde Park. DelGiorno has been a generous donor to the University, contributing to athletic facilities and a house in Renee Granville-Grossman that bears his name.

In a prev ious inter v iew with T HE M A ROON , DelGiorno assumed responsibility for repairing and upgrading the fraternity house. “By virtue of my position, my major activity is to sign checks and support the major reconstruction there.”

DelGiorno’s relationship with FIJI goes back to 1951.

“For someone who is not in a fraternity they may not understand the intensity of the experience…I often refer to it as a supplementary educational institution.” He explained that FIJI “is the oldest organization

on campus from the standpoint of continuous operation…The chapter was founded here in 1902 and never closed its doors.”

When asked how much he contributed to the restoration fund, DelGiorno was hesitant to answer. “Let’s say that the expected fi nal cost will be a couple of million dollars and I was a major contributor.” According to the FIJI website there are two anonymous donors, one in the $50,000 –$74,999 bracket and one that pledged over $1 million.

The house is owned, debt-free, by the Chi Upsilon Alumni Association, Inc. Constructed in 1902, the FIJI house is over 100 years old. It was modeled after the Villa Ariosto in Ferrara, Italy, and by 2015, “was in need of substantial repairs,” according to DelGiorno. This realization among alumni resulted in a fundraising campaign.

“As a local resident, perhaps I see the place more than some of our more distant brothers...

But we had support from...all over the world,” DelGiorno said.

He went on to say that active graduates showed their support by assisting in the legal issues, which originally slowed the process. Other alumni contributed

fi nancially as well.

DelGiorno added that the renovation was an eventuality, given the age of the facility.

“The place was built as a private residence. You build things differently as a private residence than you would for a facility that had two dozen people living in it and sometimes many dozens of visitors.” He added, “A couple of 200-pound football players wrestling on the sofas can do a lot of damage over time. I’m not blaming football players, but people are bigger now than they were 100 years ago and the athletes are bigger and more physically active.” Following the renovation, DelGiorno called the FIJI house the “newest housing in Hyde Park.” As of now, brothers have moved in.

The house underwent a host of changes including the switch from radiators to central heating, the addition of air conditioning, and the installation of sprinklers. Security cameras and lights on the front of the house will also be installed to diminish the risk of break-ins.

“Although there’s still some work to do on the fi rst floor and when spring comes, the landscaping and the backyard will Continued on page 6

Students Prepare to Participate in Saturday’s March

BY DEEPTI SAILAPPAN STAFF REPORTER

Many UChicago students will participate in the Women’s Marches on Washington and Chicago this Saturday, the day after the inauguration.

The Women’s March on Washington is a grassroots movement originally sponsored by independent state-level coordinators and now led by a national committee.

According to its website, the March aims to “send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world, that women’s rights are human rights.”

The Women’s March on Chicago is one of over 600 independently organized sister marches around the world.

First-year Elizabeth Myles is among a group of students who will board a rally bus provided by a private service offering round-trip transportation to the Washington March, leaving at 6 p.m. on Friday.

“I’m really excited to be around so many people who share my passion for making sure the administration knows how we feel,” she said. Her group will arrive in Washington at 9 a.m. Saturday morning, an hour before the rally is scheduled to start.

They will stay until the post-rally march ends at 5 p.m., returning on another overnight bus to Chicago.

UChicago Democrats (UC Dems) president and third-year Rachel Neuburger will lead a group downtown on Saturday morning to participate in the Chicago march.

They will join a larger group of Chicago students, which she hopes will number in the hundreds, a block away from the rally site at the corner of East Jackson Boulevard and

South Lake Shore Drive.

Some students attending the protests say that marching is a way to translate anger at the results of the presidential election into the creation of a long-lasting political coalition of women.

“Right after the election, I was left feeling empty,” Neuburger said. “I’m beginning to feel empowerment. [The March] indicates a brighter moment for women in politics, I think.”

She cited the 22,000 people the Tribune estimates will attend the March on Chicago, as well as the more than 205,000 people who say on Facebook they will march in Washington, as evidence of the grassroots movement’s resonance with women across the United States.

First-year Ava Geenen, who is marching in Washington, echoed this sentiment, claiming that what she fears most about the future of women’s rights under the Trump administration is that the feminist movement will regress. “What’s always kind of disturbing to me about women in politics is the erasure of gender politics from the equation,” she said. “In terms of [other] voting blocs—race, ethnicity, orientation— there’s a very clear sense of community and of adherence to the issues, for the most part, much more than there is for women. Womanhood is secondary to our other identifiers.”

Students also indicated their hope that the march will serve both to protest what they view as the legitimation of cavalier attitudes toward sexual assault—“Donald Trump represents rape culture,” Neuburger said—as well as to inspire improved legal treatment of sexual violence. “I’d like to see that

the Attorney General is someone who represents all people, not just a few,” said first-year Sanya Khatri, another March on Washington attendee. She noted that although Jeff Sessions, the nominee for Attorney General, voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act as Senator in 2013, “I think that you can push people to do what you want. Your representatives are supposed to represent you.”

Students expressed their desire to see speakers at the marches discuss opposition to various other issues as well, from the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act to the deregulation of charter schools to the normalization of xenophobic and Islamophobic speech.

The marchers also stressed their intent to continue activism against the new administration long after Saturday. UC Dems plans to ally with Democratic groups on other campuses for a series of nationwide phone campaigns to Congress members, and Myles and Khatri said they hope to attend future rallies in Chicago.

For Geenen, who participated in rallies following the death of Freddie Gray in 2015 in her native Baltimore, focused organizing is crucial. She says she found the protests at Trump Tower in the Loop, immediately after the election, to be “unappealing, because it wasn’t very obvious what the goal was.”

“I did a lot of thinking about the role of protesting someone who’s won a democratic election,” she said.

“It’s to make sure that politicians and the world know that he doesn’t have the mandate of the people, he didn’t win the popular vote—this is not okay.”

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

On- and Off-Campus Organizations Social Sciences Profs Talk Implications of Host Pre-Inauguration Activism Events Trump Presidency at Pre-Inaugural Panels

BY ALEX WARD SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

More than 35 organizations held booths at an activism fair Thursday as part of Re:action, an event meant to coincide with the upcoming presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.

The six-hour event was jointly hosted by the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture (CSRPC) and the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality (CSGS).

The event’s website describes it as “a day of resistance and rebuilding, an event designed to reconnect and reinvigorate our community by sharing resources and opportunities for political and social action.” The schedule included the activism fair and an exchange of books on “radical politics, theory and history”, according to the website, held in the Ida Noyes Hall Cloister Club. The event also featured a “Movement, Meditation, and Mindfulness” workshop hosted by the 2016–2017 artist-in-residence Lauren Ash, and a film screening. The film was followed by a party with food and a live DJ. According to Gina M. Olson, who helped organize the event and serves as the Associate Director of the CSGS, the idea for the event started as a “counter-inaugural” in response to what she and the other organizers agreed was a negative climate fostered by bigotry during the presidential campaigns. Members of the CSGS and CSRPC eventually decided to focus on connecting students motivated by the outcome of the election to activism organizations. “What we felt we could do would be to serve as a bridge between people who are feeling the effects of this election, having gone through a very brutal campaign, and to take all that we’re feeling and thinking and

put that into action,” Olson said.

At the fair, activism-oriented RSOs and some off-campus organizations held tables with flyers and sign-up information. Participating organizations included Sex Workers Outreach Project, Black Youth Project 100, Graduate Students United, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. After the activism fair, participants moved to the Ida Noyes library to watch American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs. Boggs was a writer, activist, and philosopher known for her role in the Civil Rights movement and various other activism campaigns. She also worked at the University of Chicago’s philosophy library during the 1940s.

Jaclyn Wong, a University of Chicago doctoral candidate and the representative at the fair for U of C Resists, felt that the fair was a productive environment to foster communication not just with students but also between organizations working in similar fields. U of C Resists is a group started in response to Donald Trump’s electoral victory that has organized several events to protest his positions.

“People don’t know what’s going on with each other when they’re coming from disparate groups on campus, and in the wider Hyde Park community,” Wong said. She explained that this makes it important to build a network between local activists.

Olson said that the event had been planned for the day before the inauguration to encourage attendees to participate in other activities related to the inauguration, including the Women’s March on Chicago on Saturday.

“There’s a lot going on this weekend, and we want people to be able to participate in those things. We see this as a counter-inaugural, but also as a stepping-off point for people to be active in a lot of different ways,” Olson said.

Eva I Various RSOs participate in the activism fair at re:action.

Zoe Kaiser Social Science professors speak at a panel in the days prior to Trump’s inauguration.

BY SARAH LEWIS CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

Faculty met Wednesday and Thursday at the School of Social Service Administration (SSA) to consider the policy impact of the imminent Trump presidency and the circumstances that led to Trump’s election.

The Wednesday panel, “Inaugural Implications: For Policy, Politics, and Social Work,” featured SSA professors Angela Garcia, Harold Pollack, Julie Henley, and William Sites. Speaking at the Thursday panel, “ #Talkingtrump: Conversation, Context, Controversy,” were Division professors Lis Clemens, Adam Greene, Faith Hillis, Joseph Masco, Casey Mulligan, and Robert Pape and organizer Paul Poast.

At “Inaugural Implications,” Garcia discussed what she considers the five main changes to programs and policies that will be made under the Trump administration, including a harsher deportation process, border security, interior enforcement, an attack on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and the Muslim ban proposed by President-elect Trump during his campaign.

Garcia emphasized the uncertainty that she believes will accompany the upcoming administration. “ There’s a lot to say...and I’m going to talk about five likely things that may happen under the Trump administration, but this is all just guesswork based on statements that Trump and his associates have made on the campaign trail and post-election, so this may or may not come to see the light of day,” she said.

Pollack followed with commentary on health policy. A strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act, Pollack emphasized that its repeal amounts to a huge tax cut for the wealthy.

“It’s sort of an odd moment, because the Affordable Care Act has never been more popular, and among both Trump and Clinton voters, an awful lot of people are very nervous about what will happen to this law and to their loved ones,” Pollack said. “Democrats should proceed with confidence, because the American people are on their side. The polls are not wrong, just not determinant in the political process.” Pollack has announced plans to pursue civil disobedience in opposition to Trump policies.

Concluding the panel were Henley and Sites, who discussed working-family policy and class and race in U.S. politics, and the possibility of a creation of

an anti-Trump coalition.

“By talking about class and race, I’m not trying to dismiss or suggest that other dimensions of the Trump victory are unimportant. Nevertheless, I want to suggest the potential of a broader opposition to Trump that we can expect to emerge, including substantial sectors in the political and intelligence community. Things are very much in flux now politically. In the meantime, I want to put out there certain class and racial dynamics that I think are revealed by the election,” Sites said.

In the “ # Talkingtrump” panel on Thursday, seven Social Science Div ision spea kers pa r ticipat ed i n a round-table discussion, moderated by political science professor Cathy Cohen, about the controversial conditions under which Trump was elected. The event concluded with questions from the audience. “ Tomorrow, Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. The unprecedented nature of his election and transition following his election places a host of questions for many people, not only from those who opposed his election, but also from those who supported his election,” Poast said. “In short, how can we think and talk about a Trump presidency?”

The speakers reminisced on the accomplishments of the Obama administration, and posed questions concerning the changes that might be made in the next four years under Trump. “ This is the last full day of President Obama’s administration. What is mind-boggling to me at this moment is that our first African-American president is handing over the laws of power to a person who has practiced rhetoric in racism,” Cohen said.

At one point during the panel, a protester interrupted to point out that the speakers “may be the know-it-alls of the topic, but people in the audience have things to say.” Cohen responded that while she appreciated his comments, she wanted to allow the attendees who followed the Q&A protocol to ask their questions, and the protester sat down.

Hillis concluded by offering suggestions for how the American people should go about tomorrow’s inauguration.

“Under these unprecedented events, I do want to end on a more hopeful note.

The most important thing moving forward as of tonight is that we must not comply. If you’re feeling outraged tonight, stay outraged,” Hillis said.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

UCMC Employee Organizes Inauguration Day of Service

BY MAX FENNELL-CHAMETZKY STAFF REPORTER

A University of Chicago Medicine employee is organizing a city-wide day of service in response to Donald Trump’s inauguration as president today.

T he press release for the event gives the mission statement: “We are partnering with community organizations throughout the city and suburbs to assert our commitment and compassion for all people through service.”

Sharon Markman, administrative director at UChicago Medicine’s Center for Healthcare Delivery Science and Innovation, started a group called Resistance in Action and is spearheading its first “Inaugural Service Day for

Social Justice” as a bipartisan way for members of the community to respond to the incoming Trump presidency.

Markman thought of the idea one day while driving home from work, when she said to herself, “I can’t be in Washington, I can’t go to the inauguration, I have to do something.” She describes the service day as a “response to what’s happening in D.C. and the hate, discrimination, anti-Semitism, racism, and anti-diversity across the country.” She describes herself as “not someone who’s just gonna read and recite the same articles—I needed action.”

The project has more than 20 volunteer locations, 30 organizations, and 500 pledged volunteers, most of whom

Markman thinks are first-time volunteers. The idea for a day of volunteering all over the various communities of Chicago spread quickly, mostly via word of mouth. The website, chiservday.com, went online a week ago, and the planning for the event began in November after Trump was elected. “ Barack [Obama] talked [in his farewell address] about lacing up our shoes, and that’s what we’re hoping on doing here,” Markman said. “ I hope this is the start of a conversation.”

At the Inaugural Service Day, volunteers will work at nonprofits that offer meals to needy children and the homeless, collect and distribute books, and provide services to young people and seniors, among other projects. Volunteers were sent to Albany Park last

weekend to begin laying the groundwork for the event. When she spoke to T HE M A ROON , Markman stressed that there are still open spots for volunteers and it is not too late to sign up.

Markham expects that people will continue to respond to the Trump presidency through service. “ This is not a one-time deal,” she said. “We’re looking for our next activity to remain engaged with our city.”

Anyone interested in taking part in the Inaugural Service Day for Social Justice can use the website chiservday. com or the Facebook event page “Inaugural Service Day for Social Justice” (@ChiServDay) to find out more.

Obama’s Former Students and Colleagues Reflect on His Time as Law Professor and President

Courtesy Chris Salata Obama’s 2008 Acceptance Speech in Grant Park think that the kind of intellectual rigor that Continued from front page

president of the United States. I think that all of us here are very proud of the fact that he was a colleague for as long as he was.

CM: In the same article, you mentioned his “genuine intellectual curiosity, openness to listening to all sides of an issue… The culture here is very strong and fairly definable, and my sense is Barack brought those characteristics to bear in his teaching.” Do you still see these characteristics in his presidency?

GS: When you talk to people who have worked in the cabinet or otherwise, one of the things they constantly say is that he always asked questions, he was always curious, he always wanted to more deeply understand the complexities of issues. My own experience dealing with him as president, on national security issues was exactly that. So, I

was reinforced in him in the time he spent here has stayed with him as president, and is very much a part of his intellectual leadership style.

CM: Following up on that, I’ve been reading some of the stuff that you’ve put out, especially these last two years, regarding Edward Snowden, regarding Merrick Garland, and you seem to identify a very strong partisanship in the House and the Senate, particularly on the part of the Republicans… how does this tie into what you identify as a general openness on Obama’s part?

GS: Well, I think Obama faced a determined, hostile opposition from the day he was elected that is extremely unusual in American politics, that members of the opposition party made it very clear from day one that

for whatever reasons of their own, that they were not going to see compromise, they were not going to see common ground, they were going to do everything they could do to obstruct whatever goals Obama was bringing to the presidency.

The irony there to me is that Obama is by nature someone who seeks common ground, he’s not an ideologue, he’s not close-minded, he’s an incredibly reasonable person. It should’ve been very easy for Democrats and Republicans under an Obama presidency to have found common ground to solve some of the nation’s problems, but Republicans in the House and Senate throughout his tenure have simply refused to do that, and I personally find that appalling.

I think that’s a betrayal of their responsibilities, and it’s captured really perfectly by the response to the Merrick Garland nomination, where the President nominated someone who was clearly designed to be acceptable to the Republicans…older than any nominee in 40 years, which meant his tenure on the court would presumably be shorter, and more moderate than any nominee in recent memory.

And that was clearly done by Obama as an effort to serve an easy path to a confirmation, and the Republicans said no, we’re not going to have anything to do with it, and they had no principled or legitimate path to doing that.

That typified, I think, the problems that the President faced during his tenure. I think it’s a real breakdown of the understandings of democracy, which is designed to create a culture in which there is opposition, but in which there’s also an effort to accomplish things.

JOHN BOYER , Dean of the College John Boyer has been the Dean of the College since 1992, and has been a member of the faculty since 1975. He published The University of Chicago: A History with the University of Chicago Press in 2015.

We asked Boyer in 2008 how important he found Obama’s academic experience, particularly compared to Woodrow Wilson, and he characterized the two presidents as sharing some ideological similarities: JOHN BOYER IN 2008: It seems to me that one could say that Obama shares two broad areas of talent and capacity with Wilson. Wilson is most famous for his internationalism, sometimes called Wilsonianism—supporting democracy abroad, rule of international law. And so, Wilson was a very much of an idealistic president. I think Obama comes from the same cloth. Not the same kind of idealism, but he thinks in terms of large ideals.

The second, which Wilson didn’t have enough of, is the pragmatism of a community organizer. I think that’s one of the most remarkable things about the campaign—it’s going to be the subject of doctoral theses— thousands and thousands of people playing

the role of community organizers. It’s a tough pragmatism: Set aside ideology and broker compromise. It’s a side of him I’m not sure Wilson had, or had enough of.

CM: So, to start off, you mentioned in our original article that the Obama administration was basically making “thousands of thousands of people into community organizers.” Have you seen that sort of ideal followed-up in his presidency?

JB: That’s the world he came from. The life of the Springfield and then to the U.S. Senate and then to the presidency. I don’t know whether the level of community organization has increased in the United States… it probably has, whether there’s a cause and effect between his being elected or not….

He inspired a whole generation of younger people, or young people, to take an interest in civic affairs. You can take an interest in civic affairs in many ways apart from paying your taxes and voting, or by joining a local school board or whatever, but certainly community organizing is one prominent way of becoming involved in civic affairs.

I think this really in a sense gets us to the kind of larger impact of his presidency as a whole…. You probably have to go back to Kennedy, because of the personal charisma, because of the biography, because of the autobiography, because of the kind of person he was and where he came from, there was this kind of inspiration factor. A lot of it did translate into working in not just community organizing but local government. A lot of our students now who want to go on to do government work are interested in local politics, because they feel like they can accomplish something there.

CM: Not just Kennedy but also…there’s been this connection to Woodrow Wilson that a lot of people have brought up because of this sort of connection to an academic institution.

How do you, as a historian, see any sort of comparison there?

JB: I mean, Wilson was the president of Princeton and a prominent faculty member there, and then became governor of New Jersey, so he had a lot more experience in what we’d call academic administration than Barack Obama did. I mean Barack Obama was a part-time lecturer over at the Law School.

I think the comparison with Wilson, or the more accurate or more plausible comparison would be that Wilson was this kind of an idealist in terms of international politics, and Obama seems to me was kind of an idealist in terms of domestic politics. Both were internationalists, but Wilson’s internationalism came at a very different time with WWI and the ravages of the war, the League of Nations and so forth. Obama’s internationalism has Continued on page 6

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

Obama’s Former Students and Colleagues Reflect on his Time as Law Professor and President Continued from page 5

been more crisis containment and one could argue, I suppose, that it’s been more on the economic realm, expanding relations with China and the Pacific economies. So I think there’s some parallel there but I actually… the comparison with Kennedy is the stronger one. That’s why I think it’s interesting to follow up, cause some of these things don’t end up panning out.

And also, to be candid about this, it’s also youth. We forget that—I think that part of the magic that Obama had in ’08 was that he looked, seemed, and was young to young people or younger people, and that’s the same—my generation was inspired by Kennedy, I mean, he was older than we were, but he seemed like us.

CM: Your bike tour has often stopped nearby the Obama house, can you give me sort of a taste of what goes on there?

JB: Well, it’s the last stop, and we’ve never been able to get very close because of the secret service. After the 20th, I don’t know whether…what the rules of engagement are for former presidents, whether they’ll let us go closer or not.

We put that stop on the tour after he had been elected…. It was a way of saying something not only about him, but also something about Kenwood. This is a neighborhood that was once the kind of preserve of the wealthy elites of the city…. It was sort of like the Gold Coast or the Winnetka or the Kenilworth of the South Side. It fell on really hard times in the ’50s and ’60s, there was a lot of depopulation there and it came back in the ’80s and ’90s. The fact that Barack Obama and his wife bought a house there, invested in it…I mean this is part of a movement, you could argue, of upper-middle class, middle-class people back into Woodlawn, Kenwood. It’s interesting because today Kenwood is a flourishing neighborhood, almost all the houses are occupied by residential owners and so forth, with the exception of course of Mr. Obama, who doesn’t live there except for when he visits the city.

RICHARD EPSTEIN - James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Law and Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School Richard Epstein has been teaching at the University of Chicago since 1972, and knew Obama during this time at the Law School.

He is the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, dedicated to “advancing ideas that promote economic opportunity and prosperity, while securing and safeguarding peace for America and all mankind.”

In 2008, we asked Epstein what Obama might share with Wilson, another president with an academic background. Epstein recounted some of the mistakes of the Wilson presidency: RICHARD EPSTEIN IN 2008: I hope Obama doesn’t make the same mistakes.

He thinks you can impose taxes and achieve redistribution of wealth, and doesn’t look at alternative strategies people might employ.

There’s a great deal of similarity.

Obama comes from academic experience on one issue, which is the race question, on which he’s very astute. But that’s 10th on the list of issues he needs to deal with. With all of those issues, the more you know about them, the less confident you are.

CM: In our original article, you said that Wilson “resegregated public service”, and was “able to drive corporations out of New Jersey by imposing a tremendous tax on them.” You said then that you hope that Obama doesn’t make the same mistakes, and I was just wondering whether you think he has.

RE: Epstein objected to Obama’s actions in essentially every policy area, including executive power, race and policing, foreign policy, trade, and health care policy.

So it is very difficult to come away with any particular area, domestic or foreign, in which you think the United States is better off today than it was when he came into office.

When one thinks of this sort of optimism, you know, that this is the time in which the seas will cease to rise, well they continue to rise at the same rate as they have always done, and, you that we will have peace around the world, that was just completely misplaced.

The man is just not a deep thinker. I mean, I know he kind of puts it on, but what always struck me about Obama, as I mentioned before, and we all knew him, and he was a good listener, and then when it was all done, you had your say, and you stop and then, well, what did he think? And you could just never figure that out.

Just…just a very hard man to read. And other people have said the same thing, and people used to say, well that’s just because he wants to preserve his options, well, I’ve come to believe that’s just because he didn’t know what he wanted to say about these kinds of issues.

So his legacy will be one which I think will not be viewed with favor. If you go back and listen to that 2008 debate, you’re going to hear Cass Sunstein eventually, who worked for the man, extolling his many virtues, you can hear me essentially demurring on all of these points. I just went back and listened to

it and I think in fact I was too kind to him on too many issues, that he is in fact actually worse than I thought.

None of this is meant to be an endorsement of Donald Trump, about whom I have many reservations, but it is meant to be a condemnation of a president who had to be able to speak out more forcefully than he did. One of the things that Cass said in that debate was, well, he went to black churches and told them what they had to do, made it appear as though he was willing to speak truth to power, now it turns out he was silent when he had to speak the most, and we are weeping alone regardless.

It’s going to take a long time before we can heal the cooperative situation in the United States, in terms of our public policy.

It’s also very clear that the Democratic Party has moved very far to the left. Ironically, I think that Obama is now to the right of people like Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren. I wish him well when it comes to trying to control those excesses, but I do think much of this stuff took place on his particular watch because he could not articulate a clear and powerful vision of what it was that the United States should do in matters of civic trust and civil order. Those are matters in which I think he fell down very badly.

And so you look at health, you look at race relations, you look at the economy, you look at trade, you look at the environment, you look at energy, you look at foreign affairs, I don’t see anything that comes out as a strong positive for him. I think my views are to some extent shaped by my libertarian preferences, which are pretty strong and well developed, but I think even neutral observers whose politics are somewhat more conventional that my own would say that he did not succeed in making sure the middle held.

There’s a famous line from William Butler Yeats, he said “the center will not hold”, and that’s exactly what seems to be happening in American politics.

DOUGLAS BAIRD, Dean of the Law School from 1994 to 1999 Douglas A. Baird served as Dean of the Law School when Obama was hired as a lecturer. He is an expert in corporate reorganizations and contracts. In 2008, we asked Baird how he felt being the former boss of the President of the United States: DOUGLAS BAIRD IN 2008: It’s absolutely not sunk in yet. It’s really quite amazing. This is someone who 10 years ago, if you wanted to meet him, all you had to do was go to the Field House and he was playing a basketball game. All you had to do was go to

the gym. Right now, I’m one of his 100,000 closest friends. He’s gone a long way.… What we can do is have some small vicarious thrill thinking we might have pushed him a bit. He could have started at any law school in the country and done fine. Those qualities that were inherent were what drew him to us.

CM: Can you identify Obama’s history with the University of Chicago on his four years as president?

DB: One of the things that’s changed over the last eight years is that now he is thought of by his friends and his critics as having started life as a constitutional law professor. If you look at the way sometimes he’s critiqued, they say, well he’s too abstract, he’s too remote, and he’s not political enough, and he’s not like Lyndon Johnson, he doesn’t get engaged in the messy business of politics, he’s too cerebral, he’s too much the law professor.

Now, other people, you know, celebrate the fact that he is a thoughtful, deeply intellectual man who understands core values and core issues. At the time he was running for office, you know, the republican attack on him was not that he was a constitutional law professor, but that he was a community organizer, which is just not…you know, it wasn’t true at the time, it didn’t actually capture him.

CM: What do you think do you think of Obama’s legacy, either on the Law School or more generally?

DB: Oh, I think history will treat Obama very well. I think a lot of people, especially younger people especially don’t remember this country was in, you know, this…awful shape at the time he became president. The economy was collapsing, the automobile industry was collapsing, the banks were collapsing, unemployment was sky high, and we had hundreds of thousands of people fighting wars we shouldn’t be fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, and you can always critique someone and it’s very easy to do, but the reality is the really bad things our country was facing when he took office, he fixed, and I think history will give him a lot of credit for that.

I’m also very proud of the University’s role in informing him. I think that he has, again, whatever you think about him, I don’t know your politics, whatever your politics are, I think as a head of state, you know, bringing dignity into the office, I think he’s done his work impeccably. I think he’s really brought stature and class to the office and people are going to remember that, so, again, I think that’s something the University is going to take a lot of pride in.

Man Fatally Shot Wednesday on South FIJI Alumnus DelGiorno Was a Major Contributor to the House’s Multi Million -Dollar Renovation Blackstone Avenue Near 51st Street

BY PETE GRIEVE NEW S EDITOR

A man shot in the the head and shoulders on the 5100 block of South Blackstone Avenue Wednesday evening died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital early the next morning..

The victim was talking to another man and two women when the man produced a handgun and fired at the victim, police said. The victim is a black male around 20 –25 years old.

Police said no one was in custody.

T here was heav y Chicago Police presence on the block around midnight.

A portion of the street was cordoned off with police tape. A detective was documenting the scene near at least three yellow numbered markers on the sidewalk.

An officer who had just arrived on the scene acknowledged that there was

a shooting, but would not elaborate.

Several neighbors reported hearing gunshots in the area on Twitter and in an e-mail group.

Just after midnight, a UCPD officer near 53rd Street and South Blackstone Avenue said that there should be an e-mail security alert distributed in a few hours. A UCPD phone operator transferred T HE M A ROON ’s request for comment about a possible security alert to spokesperson Bob Mason, who did not answer the phone. Asked whether a possible security alert would have to wait until Mason arrived at the office in the morning, the phone operator said it would.

Area Central Detectives are investigating. Reached by email Friday afternoon, a CPD spokesman said that nos arrests had been made.

Continued from page 3

be restored with various grass and vegetation and bushes and flowers and things.

We’d like to have it be the most attractive facility on the block and the members will take good care of it. I’m sure they’re very enthusiastic about it,” DelGiorno said.

DelGiorno said that individual rooms would be furnished with dressers, beds, and sofas, adding that while the brothers will not have a resident cook. “They will have caterers from the area…and they will sample the wares of several institutions…and they’ll be serving a number of meals: lunches and dinners. And that will evolve over time…”

According to DelGiorno, the contractors will complete the renovation by the end of the month. “It’s going to be something that we are very proud to show to the faculty and students and sororities and fraternity members elsewhere on campus.” When asked if already ongoing

current social activities, such as mixers with sororities, in the FIJI house would affect the renovation, he replied, “No…I would guess that their reception was not with the fi rst-floor facilities as they will be when it’s all done.”

When asked which were his favorite features of the renovated house, DelGiorno cited the ambience and camaraderie.

“The nature of a fraternity, I contend, is more a series of complex and intertwined relationships between people rather than a bunch of bricks and mortar…Now, why do we then spend a lot of money to renew the bricks and mortar? Because people don’t want to live in a hovel. They don’t want to live in a tent on the Midway.”

Three members of FIJI, including the chapter president, declined to comment on their newly renovated abode.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

VIEWPOINTS A Launch-Pad for the University The University Should Fund SG’s Efforts to Supply Free Tampons and Pads to All Students On Tuesday, Student Government (SG) passed a resolution calling on the University to provide free menstrual hygiene products. We are proud that College Council representative Sat Gupta and the rest of Student Government has taken a stand on an issue that is vital to so many students. In addition to calling on the University, SG allocated $70 from its budget to provide 250 tampons and 230 pads in Reynolds Club bathrooms. W hile we encourage SG to continue its investigation and trial program in providing menstrual products indefinitely, this can-

not be a permanent solution.

T he ad m i n istration shou ld take it upon itself to provide free sanitary products in all bathrooms. Hygiene products should be free for all students, and supporting the health of nearly half the campus population is surely something we can and should all get behind.

Many universities, including our own, distribute condoms as a matter of public health—if condoms are free, the argument goes, students will be more likely to use them, which will prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy. While we

wholeheartedly support this endeavor, the reality is that for those that menstruate on campus, using products like pads or tampons is not a decision, and comes with a hefty price tag. Certainly public health can be further supported by devoting attention to the most basic necessities. If the University can provide free soap and toilet paper in bathrooms, then it should also prov ide tampons and pads, two products also essential for sanitary health. These products are not a luxury, but a necessity, and deserve to be free for all students to access.

As advocacy group Free the Tampons notes, 86 percent of pe ople w ith ut er uses have sta r ted thei r cycle w ithout having the supplies they need; prov id ing hyg iene products in campus bathrooms would mitigate this problem. But, further, many lower-income students on campus simply can’t afford the high cost associated with having a period.

According to a Huffington Post article, a menstruating person will spend approximately $1,773.33 in their lifetime on tampons alone. Lower-income students should not have to worry about budgeting for a

product that should be freely accessible. On the University’s end, this should be a small price to pay to keep students healthy. A student’s participation in school should never be impeded by a lack of access to a basic health necessity.

NPR called 2015 “the year of the period.” Let’s make 2017 “the year of the period” at the University of Chicago. Like N PR , we also aren’t talking about punctuation.

—T he M A R O O N Editorial Board

Letter: University Mishandles No-Contact Directives Under T itle I X , the University of Chicago has an obligation to provide its students with a non-hostile learning environment, free from all forms of gender-based harassment and discrimination. Specifically, when a school becomes aware of an instance of harassment, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights states it must “take immediate action to eliminate the harassment, prevent its recurrence, and address its effects.” One of the more common actions the University takes is instituting a “no-contact directive” (also referred to as a “no-contact order”), a prohibiting contract between two students when there is concern that contact could lead to physical or psychological harm. In the 2014– 2015 school year, 30 no-contact directives were issued. It can be difficult to get a no-contact

directive. Moreover, once acquired, no-contact directives at the University of Chicago prov ide minimal protection and can sometimes even become punishments.

A s it c u r r ently st a nd s , no-contact directives at the University are always reciprocal—that is both the complainant and the respondent are required to cease all verbal and virtual contact with one another. Any violation, on either side, can result in a disciplinary process. This reciprocity is not always for the best.

In 2013, a T itle I X lawsuit was f iled against Carneg ie Mellon University, which also employs reciprocal no-contact directives. In this case, the complainant took out a mutual no-contact order against her harasser. Her harasser moved across the hall from the complainant, but the complainant

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was unable to respond to the harasser or tell her to leave. At one point, the dean responded to situations where the complainant and harasser were in a class together by insinuating that the complainant may be forced to change her schedule to avoid the harasser.

Because the reciprocal no-contact directive restricted the complainant’s activities, the suit found that the reciprocal no-contact directive was ultimately a punishment imposed on the “complainant for reporting a sexual assault” (ACLU), rather than a protectionist measure as intended.

As the only RSO on campus advocating for the rights of survivors under Title IX at the University, Phoenix Survivors A lliance ( PSA) receives numerous messages every quarter about issues surrounding the University’s handling of sexual violence, gender-based discrimination, and harassment on campus. Last quarter alone, we received reports from four different students about issues specific to no-contact directives. One such report was from a student who, after taking out a reciprocal no-contact directive against her assailant, found herself the v ic t i m of more abuse.

Her assailant, who remained in her house — despite being found by the administration to be a threat to her safety— would make sure to be in the house lounge at the same time as her, talk loudly outside her boy fr iend’s room, and even once showed up to her athletic practice a week before his disciplinary hearing.

Additionally, the University has no mechanisms in place to ensure accountability in the enactment or enforcement of no-contact directives. In neither the student manual nor the website are no-contact directives explicitly defined. The only information we have been able to gather on no-contact directives is through conversa-

tions with students who have had them taken out and our own meetings with the administration. Many students do not even know that no-contact directives exist, that they are a measure that can be taken out against their harasser, or about how they work.

T hrough these conversations, we have hea rd troubling stories of informal verbal no-contact directives that have been given out in closed-door meetings without any sort of off icial documentation. T he administration implies that these verbal d i rectives a re binding and official but the lack of documentation makes them legally dubious and questionably enforceable when the student needs proof of their ex istence. T he University ’s response time to reports of violations of official no-contact directives var ies wildly—a response can take many months, or possibly not come at all. Again, there is no official written policy about how long it takes to adjudicate violations of no-contact directives.

The University should deliver on its legal obligation to provide each student with a non-hostile learning environment by prioritizing the psychological and physical safety of claimants, and by considering the individual nature of each case. To do so, the University should publish a written policy surrounding no-contact directives online. This policy should include an explicit description of what no-contact directives are and an official timeline for responses to reports of violations. University administrators have promised PSA that they will provide an online policy, but they have yet to do so.

Add itiona l ly, the pol icy shou ld ne cessitat e w r itt en documentation for all meetings with Jeremy Inabinet, A ssociate Dean of Students in the University for Disciplinary A ffairs, in which he

grants no-contact directives to avoid the issue of “verbal” no-contact directives, which both treat safety too casually and leave students legally unsupported. Finally, and most crucially, there must be more room for claimants to have a hand in determining how they would best feel safe. Because of this, no-contact directives should be specific to each case and offer non-reciprocal alternatives, as well as the option for claimants to choose how and if assailants can share spaces with them.

Other universities have created more room within their no-contact directive policies for claimants to determine how they will best avoid re-traumatization at the hand of their assailants. In the University’s student manual, it states that “ the needs of someone who has experienced sexual misconduct...vary from person to person and may vary over time.” However, no-contact directives are currently generic, thinly suppor ted directives lumped under a number of other equally vague “interim measures” which make no attempts to explicitly prioritize the safety of the claimant or hold the University accountable. The standing language surrounding no-contact directives makes it clear that they do not protect the victims of assault. Instead, they protect the University from liability and embolden assailants.

Rather than boasting new-andimproved Title IX compliance, the University must reexamine the ways its indifferent policy can perpetuate trauma and deepen violence.

—Ryn Seidewitz (A.B. ’18) a n d O l ami d e O g umb amb o (A.B. ’19), on behalf of Phoenix Survivors Alliance

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

A Brand Named Trump Chicago’s Trump Tower Is Proof the President Has No Interest Separating His Business from the Presidency

Fred Kardos K nowing that this article will be published the day of the inauguration, I feel like it would be weird not to share how I feel about Trump’s transition into the W hite House. I could write about all the changes that his presidency will bring, like how his bigotry will harm minority communities, how his environmental policies will have destructive repercussions for generations, or how his cronyism threatens American democracy. But I think it’s important to look at what won’t change in Trump’s presidency, and for me the obvious answer is the ostentatious sign on the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. It’s ugly.

The fact is that the building that dominates downtown Chicago is simultaneously tacky and politically fueled.

Without the sign, the Trump Tower would be just another modern, overly luxurious skyscraper, but with the sign the Trump Tower becomes a political statement. The building is a clear sign of where Trump’s interests lie —not with the American people, but with himself. Trump announced on January 12 that he would not be divesting from his business empire, instead handing it over to his sons. Although Trump’s lawyers claim that the newly inaugurated president will not interfere whatsoever, there still seems to be a major conf lict

of interest, not only with the obvious fact that his own family controls his business, but also with the fact that his business still bears his name.

The building in Chicago, as well as the other buildings across the world that bear his name, shows that Trump has no interest in ethics or representing the American people. As a Washington Post satire piece points out, there is absolutely no way to monitor what Trump talks about with his sons around the dinner table. In a mock conversation, Trump asks his sons how things are, but quickly adds “not business things, obviously,” while “glancing down the table at the ethics adviser who has been following them around since this began.”

Obviously, an ethics adviser can’t follow Trump around 24 /7, as much as we would want that. But it does show that without a blind trust or a complete divestment from his assets, Trump can never truly sever himself from business. In his defense, Trump lawyer Sheri Dillon emphasizes the serious damage that would be caused to the value of the Trump Organization’s assets if the brand were to stop being used indefinitely. But the damage to the American people is greater. Retaining not just familial control but also an eponymous brand name

defeats the point of supposedly giving up “complete and total control.” Being president is one of the most stressful and demanding roles in the world, and for the American people to have their leader further preoccupied with the image of his brand is not only ridiculous—but also dangerous. How can we ever be sure that he isn’t trying to benefit a brand so tied to his reputation and overinf lated ego when he could so easily leverage his newly found power

“The sign represents what Trump sees himself as, first and foremost—a businessman.”

or try to inf luence the markets? The director of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub, says what we’re all thinking: “I don’t think divestiture is too high a price to pay to be the president of the United States.” What Trump is willing to do is to make the American people pay it.

But th at ’s a n eth ic a l pr oblem Trump doesn’t seem all too concerned with. If his building downtown is anything to go by, he still proudly boasts

his name and his business to all those who can see it. While three buildings in New York were able to remove their Trump signs, they were all able to do so because Trump didn’t actually own the buildings. In the case of the Chicago Trump Tower, the Trump Organization owns the building, meaning that the sign will only be removed if Trump desires it to be removed. For anything he owns and makes money off of, he will never give it up.

Maybe I wouldn’t have such strong opinions on the Trump logo as the sign on the Trump Tower if I actually supported Trump. However, no matter who you support politically, it is evident that the sign represents what Trump sees himself as, first and foremost—a businessman. While some voters may have voted for him because of his background in business, the fact still stands that as of January 20, he can no longer be real estate mogul Donald Trump.

He is now the president of the United States of America and needs to work for and represent all of America, not just his own interests. But what he should do and what he actually does seem to be two categories that only intersect when convenient, and his Chicago building downtown is glaring proof of that. At this point, I feel like the only appropriate way to sum up my feelings toward the sign is to quote Billy from School of Rock: “ You’re tacky and I hate you.”

Fred Kardos is a first-year in the College

State of the Union Government Employees Are Overly-Protected From Employer Sanctioning

Brian Dong One of my most dreadful experiences last year was stopping at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV ) to take my written road test. The appointment I made a few days prior meant nothing, as its ticket-calling system malfunctioned minutes after I took a seat. I ended up waiting more than three hours in line, only to have an employee break up the lines because of a logistical issue. I then spent an additional two hours in a different line only to have an employee behind the counter mutter about how I was giving her more work to do by taking my written exam. Needless to say, I was quite vexed by the DMV’s sheer incompetence.

It is not a foreign concept that some government agencies are awfully slow and are experts at giving low quality service. Surely, in a private company that offers comparable services, effective managers could make a tangible impact on the quality of service. Alas, the solution will never be as simple for federal organizations with the current system.

Lawmakers passed numerous government worker protection laws as part of the civil servant protection system to shield them from arbitrary or polit-

ical terminations. Today, government employees have been afforded a staggering amount of job overprotection.

An investigation by CBS News reported just how difficult it can be to fire a government employee. One official at the Environmental Protection

“[An] intricate web of bureaucratic regulations and union decrees make it anything but easy to effect change.”

Agency (EPA) was allowed to keep his job after being caught watching porn for several hours per day. Two managers from General Services Administration (GSA) were rehired and even received bonuses after initially being terminated for spending almost $1 million on luxury goods for a conference.

T her e i s abs olut ely no r e a s on

why they should be allowed to avoid proper disciplinary action for their professional shortcomings. When employees are allowed to keep their job even when watching porn, performing poorly, slacking off, and participating in other unprofessional and unethical activities, it creates a toxic culture of apathetic mediocrity. There is very little incentive for people to do their jobs adequately if they are almost certain to not be fired. This morale-killing culture is exactly why agencies like the DMV are saturated with incompetent and rude staff.

These protections not only make a high-performing federal employee a rarity, but also cause a lot of taxpayer money to be wasted. New York City’s in famous r ubber room exempli f ies this waste. Due to tenure and union agreements, teachers who are accused of criminal conduct are sent there until they receive hearings. While they wait for their hearings for an indefinite time in the Rubber Room, they continue to receive their salaries and increase their pensions while literally doing nothing. N YC hemorrhages $22 million per year from taxpayers’ wallets, keeping these teachers in limbo because union agreements make the f iring process unbearably long and complicated.

Clearly, the American public suffers from these practices. However, the intricate web of bureaucratic regulations and union decrees make it anything

but easy to effect change. There may only be one Scott Walker, but more people should be cracking down on unions.

Making it easy for a manager to fire an employee for simply doing a bad job shouldn’t be a liberal or conservative issue—it’s a common sense issue.

The term “civil servant ” implies a great amount of accountability and loyalty to one’s country. Indeed, public employees like soldiers, policemen, and firefighters risk their lives every day to defend peoples’ lives. The EPA strives to sustain a better planet to live in. The Food and Drug Administration serves to protect public health. These responsibilities were handed to federal agencies because they are presumably more trustworthy than private institutions and corporations. This greater purpose though, is often completely eroded by the sheer lack of accountability of federal agencies’ employees. With ghoulish bureaucratic procedures, strong union protection, and tenure, it can be very diff icult to translate an individual agency’s mission to the United States down to its employees, and this undermines the honor the job is supposed to carry. It’s time government workers are held accountable for their actions and performance.

Brian Dong is a first-year in the College majoring in political science.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

ARTS Rough ’n’ Roti: Mediterranean Made Easy

BY MAX MILLER MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Last night, Roti Modern Mediterranean opened its doors next to the Chipotle on 53rd Street. Roti definitely fits the bill as a Chipotle impersonator, which makes its proximity to the real deal ironic. However, I respect Hotelling’s Law, and could therefore overlook the tempting Chipotle smell to venture inside Roti for lunch on Wednesday.

I was fi rst greeted with an abundance of trendy restaurant fl air, including stainless steel, painted brick, and artistic rope structures as the Red Hot Chili Peppers played softly in the background. The huge signs that adorn the entryway read “Gluten Free,” “Organic,” “Antibiotic Free,” and “Free-Range.”

And let me tell you, there aren’t many places left where you can get some decent free-range hummus.

These restaurateurs certainly know their audience—and their buzzwords—but I found it most surprising that the food actually seemed healthy.

The meats and sauces in the assembly line seemed dwarfed by the sheer amount of vegetables throughout, which explains how few calories are in each of their dishes: 200 to 300 in each main course. This customizable health food comes at a price, of course. But for health food of the non-wrap/burrito variety, Roti might be the perfect counterweight to Chipotle.

I fi rst ordered the pita wrap, fi lled with steak, feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, hummus, garlic sauce, and roasted red pepper sauce; and the basmati and wild rice bowl, with spicy lamb meatballs, couscous, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, hummus, quinoa cauliflower tabbouleh, and both red and green types

Max Miller

Roti Modern Mediterranean is serving up bold flavors with a Chipotle-esque vibe.

of s’hug. I had no idea what the s’hug was, and the worker making my food didn’t either (it turned out to be a sauce). I also added on a cup of their red lentil soup and a piece of heavenly baklava.

The cafeteria setup of the restaurant means that the food is prepared as you order it, but also requires you to bus your own table afterwards. The ingredients were served on different quadrants of the plate, but I didn’t mix my ingredients.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the process of getting the ideal “Mediterranean” bite in each forkful.

The rice bowl was, as a whole, delicious. The olives were packed with f lavor and were sprinkled temptingly around the soft rice in the center. The rice itself was chewy and lem-

on-tinged, which broke up the veggie monotony. I warn anyone trying the tender spicy lamb meatballs that they are really quite spicy, much more so than expected.

And the hummus! The hummus was the star of the show: a salty, smooth texture with the intermingling of spice and oil. The quinoa cauliflower tabbouleh—the strangest ingredient—was actually pretty good, and tasted like a familiar deli coleslaw. The red s’hug was curry-like and savory, while the green s’hug had a strong cilantro-meets-pesto kind of fl avor.

Despite heavy spicing, the couscous was somehow flavorless, so I avoided it throughout the meal.

The red lentil soup was great—just eat it quickly, since its flavor is captured by the heat.

It was much more like a curry sauce than a lentil soup, featuring a floating layer of cilantro and sticky vegetable fi bers on top.

If I learned anything about food from Roti Modern Mediterranean, it’s that a pita wrap is a terrible invention, and that they should quickly revert back to tortillas before anyone gets hurt. It took me five bites to breach its dense shell, and the filling wasn’t even worth ripping through layer after layer of unyielding pita. The sauces formed a separate cavity in the hull of the pita, far away from the meat and huge lump of feta cheese. Although the meat and vegetables were certainly flavorful on their own, the meat was cold and barely covered in garlic sauce. At Chipotle, I avoid

the bowl and always prefer the burrito, but I highly recommend doing the opposite when eating at Roti.

I enjoyed the quick and easy flavors at my disposal on the assembly line, but I would have preferred more individual care to ensure that the flavors end up in the right places. It was disappointing that by the time I sat down, the meat in my wrap had already gone cold, and I would imagine that the average Hyde Park citizen would also need to ask what s’hug is. I’m not sold on whether the “quick and dirty” format of food prep works in a Mediterranean restaurant, though I appreciated Roti’s showing, especially in the variety of ingredients available to the customizing customer.

Great Laughs We’ve Heard Before in Numero Uno

BY ISAAC TANNENBAUM MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

The Second City E.T.C. Theater’s new show is, to say the least, political. What else would you expect from a show released after the mess that was 2016, especially one called Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno? The company’s 41st revue is billed as a show that finds the humor in humanity in an increasingly polarized world, and the cast embraces it so well there’s barely time to sip your drink between laughs.

Most of the jokes are directed at President-elect Donald Trump and his vision for post-inauguration America. An endless source of comedic material, many of the short sketches in Numero Uno are just re-imaginings of his direct quotes. There is a

sexually aggressive kraken who took over an Australian cruise ship, a low-budget commercial for a discount birth control superstore, and an eerily plausible interaction between two inept immigration officers and a Spanish-speaking immigrant. The cast doesn’t spare his administration either—one of the best sketches is an ad for the “Gay Away” program, which uses “real science” from “researchers” like Mike Pence. This skit claims perhaps the best line of the entire show: comedienne Julie Marchiano says, “Before Gay Away, I used to look at Georgia O’Keefe paintings. Now I only watch the Steve Harvey Show.”

Trump is not the only butt of the political jokes, though. An energetic boy band of celebrity Russian hackers sings and dances Continued on page 10

Todd Rosenberg

Tien Tran (center) and Numero Uno’s ensemble deliver timely, if tired, laughs.

10

THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

“After the year we’ve had, who wouldn’t want to write a comedy show?”

Continued from page 9

about spreading fake news in the States.

Former president Jimmy Carter even makes his own reality show—because if a reality star can become president, so can the reverse.

The actors in Numero Uno turn the mirror on themselves and the audience, making fun of the ridiculousness of 21st-century culture in America. Racist assumptions about minorities’ backgrounds are checked through an uproarious song and dance routine, competitive television shows are parodied to an absurdly accurate degree, and hormonal pre-teens show off their moves with a stripper-themed bar mitzvah party.

In typical Second City fashion, the au-

dience interacts with the crew throughout the performance. Before the start of the show, staff placed little slips of paper with questions on every table. The questions tackled topics ranging from current news headlines to more bizarre recent events.

The audience’s answers were then collected and used as prompts for the comedians in the show.

Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno is undeniably hysterical. Almost all of the jokes will split your sides with perfectly delivered punchlines. Second City’s new show is a prime example of why the company is so revered, and of how so many comedic greats get their start on its stage.

Despite the abundance of cough-inducing laughs (my apologies for annoying

the people around me), however, the jokes regurgitated many expected punchlines from recent comedians and shows. The incoming 45th president of the United States, his administration, and all of the absurdity surrounding his personality have already been mocked countless times by various late-night shows like Saturday Night Live. Other comedians have already joked about how white Americans love to ask their Asian neighbors where they “actually come from.” Everyone knows the joke about how middle school boys are less mature in health class than their female peers (even if this iteration of the trope makes hilarious reference to a boy’s “yogurt cannon”).

Though Second City does not distin-

guish itself with this overused material, after the year we’ve had, who wouldn’t want to write a comedy show? Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno might go for the same gags as everyone else, but it certainly does them better. Despite everything going wrong in the world right now, the revue reminds us, in their show and in its final musical number, “there’s still humor in humanity.”

Showings are at the Second City E.T.C. Theater at 1618 N. Wells Street every Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., and Sunday at 7 p.m. Tickets for Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno are available online at secondcity.com or over the phone at (312) 664-4032, starting at $19.

Prairie Home: A Steadfast Companion in Trying Times

BY BROOKE NAGLER MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Last Saturday night, A Prairie Home Companion drew an audience of 2,500 to Symphony Center to feature Chicago natives and world-renowned performers alike— from singers and comedians to whistlers and fiddlers.

Started in 1974 by Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion has been a staple on national radio for decades. Before starting the show, Keillor was a writer and weekday broadcaster for Minnesota Public Radio. After covering the Grand Ole Opry, a long-running radio program, on assignment for The New Yorker, Keillor decided to create his own radio show. He named it A Prairie Home Companion after the Prairie Home Cemetery, the oldest mausoleum in Moorhead, Minnesota.

“When you tell stories about the Minnesota of your childhood, you are tending a sort of cemetery, and so the name seemed appropriate,” Keillor said in a 2004 interview with The Forum.

In 2005, he had over 4 million fans tune

in every week. The show even inspired a 2006 movie—written by Keillor—about a radio show, of the same name, in danger of shutting down. You may not remember it, but the film featured big stars like Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, and Lindsay Lohan, and generally did well with critics and film festivals alike.

Listenership peaked that year and now sits in the 3 million range. With a median audience member age of 59, according to a recent New York Times article, change may not seem like the best solution to boosting the show’s popularity. Yet this year, Keillor ended his 41-year stint as host, giving the position to a young mandolin virtuoso, Chris Thile.

Although Thile began his run as host in October 2016, his relationship with the show dates much farther back. He first appeared as a guest performer at age 15, but not before starting a band called Nickel Creek at eight and releasing his first solo album at 13. He has made numerous other appearances on the show since: by himself, with Nickel Creek, and with another band, Punch Brothers.

Thile is a magnificent musician. His work has been highly regarded and recognized, earning him four Grammy awards and a MacArthur “Genius Grant” fellowship. But awards aside, he has a tremendous ability to play with energy, enliven a room, and riff on his own or in harmony with other musicians.

To start the show Saturday night, Thile and the band filled cavernous Orchestra Hall with upbeat tunes. Between songs, he let his character show through: charming and funny, yet slightly contrived at times. As he admitted, “It’s going to be a long string of hyperbole tonight. And every night, let’s be honest.” Regardless, he certainly brings his own style and love of music, interspersing his dialogue with rhythmic snippets.

As host, Thile maintained many of the show elements that Keillor’s audience has grown to love. He retained the comedy skits that Keillor ran throughout his time. He sang about powdermilk doughnuts, harking back to the Keillor-famous fake advertisement for the snack. For these, the sound effects director and voice actors run on the stage to a fast-paced bit, like one about Obama asking a middle-aged librarian to run a Twitter account for his new presidential library.

While fans at home listened to the show, we witnessed the theatrical performance come to life. The sound effects director manned a table of objects with a string of shoes around his neck; all of his tools were within reach. The piano player orchestrated unique soundtracks for each skit, intensifying the mood like a film score. The performers, far from resembling the characters they played, were perfectly believable if you closed your eyes.

Though he paid tribute to his predecessor, Thile brought new flare to the show.

The beloved segment “News from Lake Wobegon,” when Keillor tells stories from the fictitious town of Lake Wobegon, is no longer. In its place, Thile has added some other segments. He has a song of the week (“We Are Joe Maddon” this week). Thile explained the song is both about the pitching changes Cubs Manager Maddon made

during this year’s World Series, as well as “the high stakes pitching change America is about to make on Friday.”

Saturday’s show had two musical guests.

The first was Laura Marling, who played with soul and beauty from her upcoming record Semper Femina. Alone onstage with just her guitar, Marling offered a softer but captivating performance, a break from the chaotic shenanigans of the rest of the show.

The second was highly-anticipated Chicago native Andrew Bird. He played his song “Pulaski at Night,” with its crowd-pleasing lyrics “Come back to Chicago, city of Light.”

He displayed his many talents: plucking, strumming, bowing, and, of course, whistling. Thile would jump in to riff quietly over Marling’s drawn-out chords and harmonize to Bird’s whistling.

Another addition Thile made to the show program was a weekly stand-up comedy routine, perhaps to make sure that the audience—who craved stories from Keillor—still gets them, just in a more humorous context.

This week’s guest was comic Beth Stelling, another artist with Chicago roots, coming up through its improv scene. She told tales of her mother’s struggles with technology, a situation we all know too well, prompting echoes of hysterics throughout the room.

When Stelling’s mother asked her for advice about a new phone plan, her answer was, “Yeah Mom, figure out how much longer you have left…on the plan, you monsters!”

Much of the band’s performance took on a jazz format, with improvised solos from all the members. The crowd called for an encore, twice. Thile, caught off guard, explained that this was the first time the crowd had requested an encore since he first started as the host.

Maybe a modern twist is actually what the show needs. Media is evolving, radio included. Just as Thile plays his own renditions of songs on the show, changing them while keeping their fundamental sound, so he puts his own spin on the show itself, adding his unique style while preserving its original spirit.

You can listen to this week’s live show and past recordings for free at prairiehome.org.

CORRECTIONS: The review of rock band Tortoise, published on Tuesday, incorrectly identified Dan Bitney as the fi nal guitar soloist, instead of Jeff Parker.

The Doc Films preview, published Tuesday, incorrectly stated that Doc Films had intended to run a Charlie Chaplin series with its own fi lm prints. Instead, Doc Films had always planned to book the series with the distributor Janus Films.

Chris Thile fills Garrison Keillor’s big shoes on Prairie Home Companion.

Fretboard Journal

11

THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

SPORTS Chicago Shakes Off the Rust SWIMMING & DIVING

BY JOSH PARKS SPORTS STAFF

After a two-month dry spell, the Maroon swim and dive squads kicked off an action-filled weekend at Myers–McLoraine Pool Friday evening. In the fi rst meet of the quarter, the men and women hosted a tri-meet featuring Lewis University and Olivet Nazarene University, before heading north on Saturday to face DI rival UW–Milwaukee.

Despite six event victories, the men split Friday’s tri-meet, defeating Lewis but falling to ONU. First-year Reona Yamaguchi was first to the wall in the 100-yard breast stroke, the fi rst of his four weekend victories. Other standouts included fi rst-year Taye Baldinazzo winning the 1000-yard freestyle and third-year diver Dean Boures, leading the field in both the oneand three-meter dives.

Tallying six event victories of their own, the Maroon women

cruised to a sweep in their fi rst action since winter break. Top performers included first-year Michaela Mullison, second-year Hannah Eastman, and fourthyear Abby Erdmann, placing fi rst in the 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard breast stroke, and 500-yard freestyle respectively. Second-year Anna Girlich and third-year Natalie DeMuro shined on the board, with Girlich capturing fi rst in the one-meter dive and DeMuro achieving an NCAA provisional score on her way to fi rst-place at three-meters. The fourth-year studded relay featuring Alison Wall, Abby Erdmann, Maya Scheidl, and Megan Wall added the finishing touches, capturing fi rst-place in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Amidst a host of strong efforts, the Maroons’ well ran dry against UW–Milwaukee with the men falling 138–160 and the women being outpaced 105–186.

The women failed to record an event victory, tallying 12 sec-

ond-place finishes on the day.

In addition to her new school record in the 100-yard IM, Scheidl brought home second in the 100and 200-yard freestyle races.

Girlich continued her success on the board, finishing second in the one-meter dive while fi rstyear diver Agnes Lo placed second at the three-meter height.

On the men’s side, Yamaguchi led the way, delivering fi rstplace fi nishes in the 100- and 200-yard breast stroke while setting a new school record in his 100-yard IM victory. Firstyear Aaron Guo recorded three fi rst-place fi nishes of his own, while Baldinazzo claimed his second fi rst-place fi nish of the weekend in the 200-yard freestyle. First-year Byrne Litschgi also found himself at the top of the podium, winning the 200yard backstroke for the Maroons.

“The energy we brought to the meets this weekend was definitely the driving force of

University of Chicago Athletics Department

The Maroon swim and dive team gets hyped up for its meet.

our success,” Yamaguchi said after another stellar weekend in the pool. “If we continue to bring that fi re to future meets, I think we can accomplish some big things.”

The Maroons resume action at 1 p.m. this Saturday as they host DePauw University and Calvin College in the fi nal home meet of the season. The men will have their hands full as

they welcome the No. 20 Calvin Knights and No. 14 DePauw Tigers to Hyde Park. On the women’s side, the Knights and No. 22 Tigers will be looking to rebound, with both teams coming off weekend losses. The conclusion of the annual tri-meet will mark the beginning of a twoweek hiatus for the Maroons before UAA Championships begin on February 8.

South Siders Off to Hot Start TRACK & FIELD

BY NATALIE DEMURO SPORTS STAFF

The University of Chicago men’s and women’s track and field teams were victorious in their first indoor meet of the season on Saturday, topping the field of six teams at the Phoenix Invitational. With the home field advantage, the women dominated with 246.5 total points to best second place Aurora University by almost 100 points. The men’s team tallied 220 points to top Aurora’s 161.5 points.

The women came away with 10 wins while the men totaled seven.

First-year sprinter Alisha Harris was a multiple winner on the day,

taking first place in the 60-meter and the 200-meter. In the 800meters, UChicago went 1–2–3 with third-year Cassidy McPherson leading the way. In the distance events, third-years Kelsey Dunn and Khia Kurtenbach were victorious in the 3,000-meter and one mile, respectively.

Along with Harris, first-years Robin Peter, Isabel Garon, and Mary Martin also began their collegiate careers with wins, taking home first place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and long jump, respectively. Rounding out the victories for the women were third-year Ade Ayoola in the high jump and the 4x400-meter relay team.

On the men’s side, the squad swept the distance events with third-year Michael Stubna in the 5,000-meter, third-year Peter Kreuch in the 3,000-meter, and fourth-year Nick Nielsen in the one mile. In the field events, fourth-year Joey Gary won the triple jump and third-year Nathan Downey won the pole vault.

The two other victories came from fourth-year Temisan Osowa in the 60-meter and third-year Patrick LeFevre in the 60-meter hurdles.

Second-year Jenna McKinney, a standout member of the women’s soccer team who also competed for the tennis team during her first year at UChicago, joined the track and field

team this winter. A member of the winning 4x400-meter relay team and UChicago’s top finisher in the 400-meter dash at the Phoenix Invite, McKinney’s first competition was nothing short of impressive. This all-around athlete spoke highly of the team camaraderie and is looking forward to a bright future on the team.

“My first meet was amazing and made me excited for the next one.

The team atmosphere even in an individual sport inspired me to push myself to my limits. I’m excited to experience that again this weekend, ” McKinney said.

The Maroons hope to build upon their strong start when they travel to Bloomington this Satur-

day to compete in the I-55 Triangular against Illinois Wesleyan University and Wash U. The No. 10 UChicago women will have the opportunity to face off against No. 1 Wash U and No. 9 Illinois Wesleyan in their second indoor meet of the season.

Last year at the tri-meet, the women’s team captured three events on the day while the men tallied eight wins. Despite a number of strong performances, the women ended up third in the overall standings, three points shy of second place. The men beat Illinois Wesleyan comfortably, but tallied 81 points to Wash U’s 90.

The competition this weekend is set to begin at 11:15 a.m.

Maroons Look Forward to Sunny Skies at Beach Night WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

BY MAGGIE O’HARA SPORTS STAFF

The Maroons are set to kick off their third UA A weekend of the season with their first home doubleheader. After a long weekend of traveling, the Maroons eagerly welcome to Chicago both Brandeis and NYU. This past weekend had its highs and lows, with a big upset against No. 23 Rochester only to be followed by a tough loss to Emory. Following two big wins against ranked teams to start the UAA season, the loss to Emory stung, but the Maroons look to build off this, not taking any team lightly from here on out.

The squad is learning from every game and every opponent, building on each outing.

Chicago sits at a clip of 9–3, 2–1 UAA and are thus in a fiveway tie for first place in the UAA. Though still early in the season, the UA A is proving to be competitive as always. With their sights set on the UA A podium, the Maroons look to sweep this weekend.

The Maroons have spent the week preparing for Brandeis in particular, in an effort to not get ahead of themselves. Second-year Rachel West elaborated, “we try to focus on taking each game one at a time, so we’ve been primarily focusing

on our game against Brandeis this Friday.”

The fi rst game of the home doubleheader will pit Chicago against the Judges (10 –4, 2–1 UA A). Brandeis has been relying on Paris Hodges, who is averaging 11.8 points per game and Maria Jackson, who netted 22 points against Carnegie Mellon University this past weekend to carry them into this weekend.

The Maroons, however, have a solid game plan to combat Brandeis’s offense. “We know that Brandeis plays similar to Emory in that they held off drives from the ball side and that their wing defenders will

take away gaps,” West said. “So, in practice we’ve been mimicking their defense and focusing on making hard cuts on offense and trying to attack baseline, either with drives or passes into our posts.” The Maroons will need to have a quick turnaround after Brandeis to be ready to face off against NYU on Sunday. N Y U (10 – 4, 0 –3 UA A) landed just outside of the top 25 rankings this week.

While N Y U has yet to win a game in conference, they have had a strong season thus far, and are not one to take lightly.

Their 0–3 record in the UAA is a testament to the strength of the UA A rather than a slight

against them.

Second chance points have been a big part of both teams’ game, as Chicago and NYU are tied at the top of the Offensive Rebounds per Game rankings in the conference. After last weekend, the squad recognizes the importance in changing gears to the next opponent right away. These doubleheader weekends are incredibly challenging because of this, but the Maroons see this weekend as a good test.

Tip-off for Friday’s matchup against Brandeis is set for 6 p.m., while Sunday’s game will follow the men’s game and is slotted to begin at 2 p.m.

12

THE CHICAGO MAROON - JANUARY 20, 2017

SPORTS IN-QUOTES... “One hand grenade can kill everyone.” —Washington State football coach Mike Leach on the SEC.

Two Matches on Docket for South Siders WRESTLING

BY GARY HUANG SPORTS STAFF

A f t er c om i ng of f th r e e straight victories at the Chicago Duals two weekends ago, the University of Chicago Men’s wrestling team placed third out of a 10-team field at the Elmhurst College A l Hanke Invitational this past Saturday. The winners, University of Wisconsin– Stevens Point, posted 113 points while the Maroons trailed closely with 106.5 points. However, there was more to the performance than the results illustrated. With no representation in two weight classes, the South Siders still almost managed to take home top place with strong showings from three weight classes.

Second-year Jason Lynch went undefeated on the weekend at 4 – 0 and claimed the 184-pound field. He dominated the rest of his opponents, recording two technical falls and one first-period pin along his way to victory. Lynch is now riding a seven-match win streak, improving his record on the season to 17–7, and garnering him UA A Wrestler of the Week accolades. First-year Grant Morrison also moved past the weekend without a

loss, taking his own 141-pound weight class’s podium. His 3–0 performance included two major decisions and a technical fall. Kahlan Lee-Lermer, another first-year, earned his own 3–0 record at 149 pounds with a second-period pin and two major decisions.

More con f ident d isplays from underclassmen spurred the UCh icago team. T h ree South Siders took third place in their respective weight classes.

At 157 pounds, first-year Steve Bonsall finished 3–1, wrestling two of his matches to major decision victories. Fourth-year Michael Sepke also went 3 –1, scoring a major decision in the third-place match. Though he lost, Sepke held his own against a defending NCA A champion in the semifinals.

Unseeded second-year John Jayne pulled out a pair of victories at 174 pounds to take the bronze.

Asked about the underclassmen’s contributions, third-year Elliot Henderson spoke highly, “the underclassmen have been working hard and really stepping up to challenges in the room since day one and doing everything that’s asked of them.”

Continuing further on the

University of Chicago Athletics Department

Third-year Nicholas DiNapoli pins down his opponent effortlessly.

current outlook for the team, “I think we have a strong upperclassmen contingent this year who could be the root of the underclassmen’s success through strong leadership, but I think we have good momentum going right now. People are definitely thriving off of it. We are having fun out there, and that’s when

you wrestle your best.”

L ooking forward to this coming weekend, the Maroons will travel to Wheaton College on Friday and then host the Elmhurst College Bluejays at home on Saturday. The Bluejays finished second at the Al Hanke Invitational, and the UChicago team will surely be

motivated to show their superiority in an evenly-matched fixture.

Talking about the team’s preparations for the two-match weekend, Henderson reiterated the team’s need to “prepare the same way as we always do… taking it one match at a time and having fun along the way.”

Chicago Ready for Judgment MEN’S BASKETBALL

BY OLA OBI SPORTS STAFF

This past weekend, January 13 through 15, marked the first set of UA A doubleheader weekends for the Chicago Maroons.

These doubleheader weekends consist of two games played on Friday and Sunday, with one day of practice between the two. When on the road, the Maroons often have an early practice on Thursday before getting on a plane. On Friday, they play a game and get on and off another plane before having a final practice Saturday. Sunday the Maroons play their last game and f ly home, making for a difficult weekend of travel.

This weekend of UAA travel put the ’Roons on the road between Rochester, NY, and Atlanta, GA. The Maroons played one game on Friday against Rochester and another on the following Sunday against Emory. While this was their first set of double headers to be played this weekend this was also their first weekend of UAA travel.

Unfortunately, these matchups proved to be difficult for the South Siders as they faced defeat in a close game against

No. 8, previously ranked No. 3, Rochester University with a final score of 88 – 82. Travelling to Atlanta and playing Emory University was equally as unfortunate for Chicago as another close match resulted in a 80 –72 loss. These losses now put the Maroons at 8–6 overall and 0 –3 in the conference.

T his weekend the squad has a nother double -header game at home, where it will face up against Brandeis University on Friday, January 20 and against N Y U on Sunday, January 22. As the halfway point through the season has a l ready be en ma rked , the Maroons are looking to come back from behind and get on the board to end their losing streak.

Currently Brandeis, who is 6 –7 overall has had some better luck in conference play is at the top of the conference with a record 2 –1. N Y U, who has a record similar to that of Brandeis, being 6 –7 overall and 1–2 in the conference, will also provide a challenge for the team. There is no better time than now for the Maroons to prove themselves against these two competitors. Fourthyear guard Tyler Howard was confident in his team’s chanc-

UChicago men fight hard for the free-throw rebound.

es to do so.

“A l t h o u g h w e ’ v e b e e n th rough a stretch of tough games, I feel reassured that my team and I will come out to play both games with a high level of intensity and energy.

T hough Brandeis and N Y U

will be tough games, we remain confident in our abilities,” Howard said.

Tip-off for Friday’s matchup against the Brandeis Judges is set for 8 p.m. while Sunday’s game against the N Y U Bobcats will be played at 12

University of Chicago Athletics Department

p.m. T he theme for F r iday night’s game is beach theme, with free tanks for the first 300 guests. This is a big weekend for Chicago, and the South Siders are looking for a lot of energy in the Ratner Athletics Center.