JANUARY 30, 2018
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892
VOL. 129, ISSUE 25
BUSINESS ECON MAJOR IN WORKS BY KATIE AKIN NEWS EDITOR
Brooke Nagler
Students protest a Booth professor’s invitation of Steve Bannon to campus.
CAMPUS REACTS TO ZINGALES’S BANNON INVITATION Goolsbee to provide counterpoint, sources say
Pete Grieve
Eyler-Driscoll resigned last week.
ProMarket Senior Editor Resigns Over Bannon BY PETE GRIEVE NEWS EDITOR
Samantha Eyler-Driscoll, who has stepped down from her position as Senior Editor of the Stigler Center’s publication ProMarket, warned her boss around November: Don’t bring Steve Bannon to campus.
Stigler Center director and Booth professor Luigi Zingales went ahead with inviting Bannon despite her objections, at which point she asked to recuse herself entirely from the event’s planning. “ The request was granted, but then v iolated —whether knowingly or unknowingly— by my bosses,” she said in an Continued on page 3
Booth professor Austan Goolsbee was asked to be the person to debate Steve Bannon, T HE M AROON has learned from conversations with three sources close to the event. In an e-mail yesterday afternoon, Goolsbee said—only speaking hypothetically—that the debate is something he would be interested in doing. “I consider the views espoused by Steve Bannon, Breitbart, and the like to be outrageous, hatefilled, nativist nonsense,” he said. “If they ask me to oppose him in a debate (or any other way), I will do so with everything I have.” It’s unclear if Goolsbee will ultimately be the counterpoint to Bannon even though he has been invited, because the event’s logistics are unfinalized and changing. Luigi Zingales, who invited
Bannon and will be the moderator, said in response to THE M AROON ’S request for comment on Goolsbee: “There is no further development as of now.” Bannon will not be paid, according to Zingales and two sources. The Stigler Center does not pay speaker fees, although it typically pays for travel and accommodations for its guest speakers. Protests continue Students scheduled a walkin protest at Zingales’s 8:30 a.m. class this morning, and a second one at his 6 p.m. class downtown at Booth’s Gleacher Center tonight. Second-year Madeleine Johnson, who organized the event on Facebook, told THE M AROON that it will be a silent protest: “We don’t want to be detrimental to his teaching; we want to comContinued on page 2
Eclipsing: the politics of night, the politics of light Page 6
Business As Usual
MAB Annual Comedy Showcase at Logan Splits Sides
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The Department of Economics and the Booth School of Business have created a joint proposal to introduce a business economics major to the College. John List, chairman of the Department of Economics, said the major would be “economics with a business flavor” and would allow students an increased amount of specialization. According to List, the major would be “more applied in nature” than the current economics major. “[The economics department has] roughly 25 to 27 percent of majors on campus,” List said. “When you get that large, it’s important to allow your students to have a voice.” List has presented plans for the major to several faculty committees, but does not know when it will go to a vote. The College Council, a group of 40 faculty in the College, would be ultimately responsible for deciding to implement the major. (This organization is distinct from Student Government College Council, which consists of undergraduates.) A spokesperson of the College Council told a MAROON reporter Thursday that proceedings of the Council were confidential but that this issue would be within their jurisdiction. Posters have gone up across campus urging professors to vote against the new major, although the individuals behind this campaign have not identified themselves. Last fall, a parent told THE MAROON that Dean of Admissions Jim Nondorf, at an admitted students reception on April 4 in Excelsior, MN, said that the College was planning on introducing a business economics major. This was corroborated by three other students who had attended the event. When THE M AROON asked the University to confirm this plan in mid-October, a spokesperson said that “no changes to the College’s academic program are planned at this time.”
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