Chicagomaroon021618 by The Chicago Maroon

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

VOL. 129, ISSUE 29

GSU WITHDRAWS NLRB CASE TO PROTECT PRO–GRAD UNION BY ADAM THORP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Graduate Students United (GSU) withdrew its certificate of representation from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Tuesday, pledging to continue seeking a union contract outside of the NLRB process. GSU withdrew alongside graduate student unions at Yale University and Boston College in an attempt to deny the newly Republican-dominated NLRB the chance to again reverse itself on the right of graduate student

workers to unionize under the National Labor Relations Act. “ Many unions across the country have reached private agreements with their employers independent from the NLRB. Through our organizing, GSU has built the power to wage a campaign to win such an agreement. Our union has the support of a supermajority of graduate employees at UChicago, whose work is necessary for the university to function,” GSU leadership wrote in a blog post published this morning. Continued on page 2

VOTE ON BUSINESS ECONOMICS MAJOR DELAYED BY KATIE AKIN NEWS EDITOR

Faculty members of the College Council have postponed the vote on the business econ major. The news came after faculty members met this afternoon in a closed-door meeting in Stuart Hall to vote but emerged from the meeting without a decision. According to Ada Palmer, a professor in the history department, the vote was delayed largely because College Council members wanted an opportuni-

ty to gather more information on the proposal and to discuss what the major would realistically look like on campus and how it might affect the student body. “This delay will give us time to better understand what’s at stake,” another College Council member said. The proposal has been jointly designed by the Department of Economics and the Booth School of Business, and the major would be “controlled equally” by both groups, according to a member of College Continued on page 3

courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

A rendering of the planned Woodlawn Residential Commons shows the development south of the Midway, as seen from Rockefeller Chapel.

Assistant Student Life VP Talks Future of Housing BY ANANT MATAI NEWS REPORTER

Richard Mason, Assistant Vice President for Campus and Student Life and associate dean in the College, shared details regarding the recently announced Woodlawn Residential Commons dorm and the future of undergraduate housing in a phone call with The Maroon. Mason spoke about the jobs that operating the new commons would

create, clarified that there would be no retail stores, and elaborated on the partnership for capital and facility management with Capstone Development Partners, a real estate development firm focused on student housing. He also spoke about the University’s vision for housing. Mason confirmed that International House would remain an undergraduate housing building for the foreseeable future. Mason said that Woodlawn

Commons will contain a mix of singles, doubles, and apartments in “very similar proportions” to Campus North. North has 48 apartments and 252 single rooms— including those in use by Housing staff such as the resident deans and resident heads—in eight houses. “I think when we have a building that’s as successful as we have in Campus North—that was really built on a program that we worked Continued on page 2

CONSERVATIVE LAW SOCIETY DEACTIVATES AS LLSO BY PETE GRIEVE NEWS EDITOR

The Edmund Burke Society notified the Law School administration that it will deactivate as a Law School Student Organization (LSSO) and return its funding to the Law Students Association (LSA). The move toward deactivation follows backlash to a controversial whip sheet that said immigrants bring “disease” into the body politic. The Law School’s associate dean for communications Marsha Nagorsky said the Burke Society

notified the Law School administration of its intent to deactivate. LSA President Sean Planchard said he was notified by president of Burke Bijan Aboutorabi that Burke would return funds to LSA and deactivate. Chairman of the Burke Society Eric Wessan said that the society declines to comment. The Burke Society is also a Registered Student Organization, which means that it can receive funding from a larger, University-wide pool. The Burke Society may also receive funding Continued on page 3

Visit chicagomaroon.com for video coverage of the 58th Annual University of Chicago Folk Festival. Video by Audrey Teo — article on p. 6.

Segregation: The Thorn in Chicago’s South Side

“[As] someone on the left, I can at least call out people on my side of the fence for their behav ior — both the students and the faculty.”

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Page 4

The problem is clear—and so is Chicago’s unwillingness to address it.

The Deans Men Present Much Ado About Nothing Page 6

A Sit-down With Jerry Coyne, Professor Emeritus and Blogger

Letters: Calls for Recognition for Graduate Students United

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Page 4

“Third-year Margaret Glazier steals the show as Beatrice, the play’s heroine. She makes every joke come to life.”

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

THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 16, 2018

Events 2/16–2/19 Today Self-care Strategies for Study Success Reynolds Club, 3:30–4:30 p.m. Jamie Tolmatsky will lead a workshop on self-care strategies. These strategies will help students do better in school, maintain a healthy work-life balance, and understand the importance of taking care of themselves. Tomorrow MLK Initiative: Southside Home Movie Project Rainbow PUSH, 930 E. 50th Street 12–2 p.m. A screening and discussion of selections from a collection of home videos from the South Side of Chicago related to Martin Luther King. Sunday

Courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

Seizing Justice: The Greensboro Four DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Place, 3–5 p.m. The DuSable Museum scfreens a documentary on a sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in February of 1960. Monday

New York Times Columnist David Brooks Ida Noyes Hall, 5:30–6:30 p.m. The IOP welcomes New York Times columnist David Brooks as he discusses societal responses to populism. Brooks will offer his thoughts on possible solutions before taking questions from the audience. Temporary Protected Status: Changes Under Trump Room 102, Stuart hall, 6–7 p.m. New Americans UChicago welcomes Daysi Funes, the executive director of Centro Romero, for a discussion on the history and future of Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Funes will explain recent changes to TPS under the Trump administration and why they matter. Light refreshments provided. See more events and submit your own at chicagomaroon.com/events.

Housing Prices of New Dorm Will Match Those of Others Continued from front

extensively with students to really understand the things that they most cherished about their housing experience—we really look to replicate what has been a successful model,” Mason said. He also commented on previous speculation that there may be two new dorms planned for construction south of the Midway. While Mason stated that there are currently only plans for one residence hall, Woodlawn Residential Commons, it will consist of two distinct sections, much like the East and West halls of Campus North. The schematics for Woodlawn Commons have not been finalized yet, preventing Mason from commenting further on building plans, aside from the 2020 scheduled opening and that they have begun going through city and University processes for the approval of a new building. Housing prices at the new dorm will match those of other housing options on campus. “The desire is, in all aspects of what we’re doing, that this will look and feel like every other part of our college residence halls,” Mason said. Mason expects Bon Appétit will hire 50– 60 new staff for the new dining hall. “We have set an expectation with Bon Appetit that 50 percent of their staff come from the ZIP codes that directly surround the university,” he said. “They have met that current-

ly, and we’re looking to keep that with this new residential dining commons, and perhaps exceed it with some of the successes that they have experienced in terms of local hiring.” According to a University spokesperson, Capstone Development Partners will have the autonomy to hire maintenance staff, although the vast majority will be union members. Mason also mentioned that Capstone will aim to hire staff from the surrounding community. The dining hall staff employed by Bon Appétit and the residence hall desk staff are part of Teamsters Local 743, while the residence hall building engineers are with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73. Mason stated that no retail spaces were currently planned at Woodlawn Commons, unlike Campus North. He cited a locale difference between the busier, retail-oriented 55th street near Campus North compared to the more residential 61st street. “55th is a very different street to 61st, and wanting to be respectful of the community’s needs around traffic and the noise, and those sorts of things, no, there are not retail plans at this point,” he said. Mason said that I-House would remain an undergraduate building as part of Dean Boyer’s vision for university housing: “We kind of need that critical 70 percent of our students living on the core of our campus, and International House is a key part of that plan. And so International House is going to remain the

successful program that it is today.” When asked to further elaborate on Housing’s criteria for “success,” Mason said that their idea was based on the students’ overall experience, their satisfaction as measured by surveys and comments, and the University’s observations. “The definition of [the Housing] program has been very consistent over the years, and that’s because of its success in creating community…. It’s important that we create strong communities that help bring people together and allow students to be successful in their academic and other pursuits,” Mason said. On the subject of development in Woodlawn, Mason referred to a “long-held university desire to create a very active part of campus [south of the Midway].” Mason also noted that they were building on a site that was already University property. “When you think about the history of the University, there’s always been a long-held desire to build on campus south and create, even going back a long time ago now, back to the vision of expanding beyond BJ and creating a South campus quad,” Mason said. “We’re obviously very excited about the opportunity to really contribute to the vibrancy of our campus, and really create that residential campus experience that we think is so critically important for our students,” Mason concluded.

GSU Withdrew Alongside Yale and Boston College Grad Unions Support Our Advertisers Continued from front

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GSU members voted to withdraw their case at a meeting on Tuesday, per their blog post, which cited concern that a review of their case was “imminent.” The NLRB confirmed Wednesday that the decision to withdraw rendered the outstanding issues in the case moot. An e-mail to staff and graduate students sent Wednesday morning by provost Daniel Diermeier announced the start of a process to develop goals in improving the experiences of graduate students on campus. GSU operates as an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). “While I cannot speak to the AFT’s and AAUP’s motives in withdrawing the petition, their action naturally will raise

many questions about the future of our efforts to ensure an outstanding educational experience for graduate students at the University. Regardless of this decision by the AFT and AAUP, the union election outcome last October indicated that a large number of graduate students believe that the University should do more to support them,” the e-mail read. The University of Chicago had made overturning the Columbia decision, which reopened the possibility of graduate student unionization in 2016, a central element of its challenge to GSU’s unionization push. A letter sent by the University’s law firm on Tuesday to the NLRB reaffirmed their attempt to overturn Columbia, and argued against an attempt to recuse one of the Republican NRLB appointees in the case. On Thursday a representative

of the University’s law firm told Politico that GSU’s move is a “surrender.” Last week, GSU members and supporters rallied and delivered a letter calling for University recognition in front of Levi Hall while another supporter delivered the same letter to University president Robert Zimmer as he spoke at Barnard College’s inauguration in New York City. The delivered letter ref lects that for GSU, nothing has “fundamentally changed,” according to fourth-year graduate student and GSU member Grant Macdonald, who spoke with T he M aroon. “We’re not doing an NLRB process, but we are still determined to meet the University at the table,” he said. “The University may want to ignore us, but that’s not really an option.” Pete Grieve and Grace Hauck contrib-

THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 16, 2018

Meet Jerry Coyne, the University’s Most Prolific Emeritus Blogger BY LEE HARRIS DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

Jerry Coyne officially retired in 2015, but continues to come into his lab in Zoology 309 every day, publishing even more prolifically than he did during his scientific career. Now, he writes for an audience of more than 50,000 e-mail subscribers to his blog, Why Evolution is True, discussing issues spanning science and medical ethics, atheism and determinism, philosophy, and free speech. Coyne is also one of The M aroon ’s most frequent online commenters, often challenging the paper’s coverage. Coyne originally gained attention outside the scientific community for his public critique of religion, and is often cited alongside celebrity “New Atheists” such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. He has held numerous public debates with Christian creationists, and authored Faith vs. Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible, along with New York Times bestseller Why Evolution is True. When I met Coyne on Tuesday, February 6, he’d been blogging since the early hours of the morning. At 7 a.m. he posted a piece featuring a cartoon on free will and a video of cryptic mantis; by 8 a.m. a series of reader-submitted wildlife photos; at 9 a.m. a news update on hate speech allegations at Stanford; and at 10:30 a.m. a denunciation of a new grant by the Templeton Foundation, a religious research organization. I sat down with Coyne in his lab to discuss his work, his time at the University, and a few of his most contentious opinions. On Abortion and Post-birth Euthanasia Coyne has advocated for access to lateterm abortion services, citing the lack of fetal sentience—along with philosophical justifications—for terminating pregnancy. “I’m in favor of unrestricted abortion,” he told me. “A woman should be permitted to abort a child up to when it’s born, although she should also be aware that, at least in the U.S., there are lots of people waiting to adopt infants. And, along with philosopher Peter Singer, I favor parents being allowed to end the suffering of a newborn if it has a medical condition so severe that it would suffer for a while and then die, or remain in a vegetative state. I see no point in a newborn having to undergo prolonged suffering if it is certain to die, and one can use painless ways to end the suffering.” Despite his radically pro-abortion stance, Coyne insists that the abortion debate is more complex than the left often acknowledges, especially when dealing with claims of “rights.” While pro-choice advocates often try to reduce the issue to a woman’s “right to choose,” Coyne points out that “rights” arguments are a slippery slope, since one could equally postulate that a fetus has a right to life.

To counter “fetal rights” claims, Coyne looks to arguments such as philosopher Judith Jarvis Thompson’s A Defense of Abortion to vindicate a woman’s right to her own body, even granting that the fetus has a right to life. “In order to take a stand on abortion one way or another, you can’t just say ‘a woman has a right to an abortion.’ Because the other side can say, ‘there’s a fetus in there that past a certain time could live on its own,’” Coyne said. “Too often, abortion proponents just say, ‘a woman has a right to her own body.’ It’s not as simple as that. The assertion of rights really trumps any kind of counterargument. When you hear someone saying they have the right to this or that, you have to be careful.” Last summer, Coyne’s blog post on post-birth euthanasia, “Should one be allowed to euthanize severely deformed or doomed newborns?,” was picked up by Breitbart and the National Review, who framed the piece as advocating “infanticide.” “Now I am become Professor Death, the destroyer of infants,” Coyne sarcastically titled his blog post on the controversy (he was paraphrasing theoretical physicist and atomic bomb developer J. Robert Oppenheimer’s statement, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds”). Despite his flippant reaction, Coyne said that the broadside wasn’t easy to handle. “When I wrote the piece on favoring euthanasia for terminally ill newborns, man, I really got hit. Because, it’s like you’re calling for death camps and Hitler,” he said. “If you have a public presence and you’re not afraid of saying what you think, you’re going to get in fights. You have to have a very tough hide. And I’ve had a lot of pain, that I keep to myself, from doing this kind of stuff. But it’s immensely liberating to be able to have a platform to say what you think about things. If I say on my website that I don’t believe in free will, 53,000 people are going to read that.” On Free Speech and the Left Coyne says his experience as a proponent of contentious, often progressive views motivates his defense of free speech, and he is therefore frustrated at what he sees as a failure by contemporary liberals to uphold the traditional liberal value of free expression. Coyne insisted that his leftist “credentials” are unimpeachable, and that his denunciation of left-wing activity is a critique of liberal political means, not policy. “When I was in college, I was arrested for delivering a letter to the South African embassy against Apartheid. I went to all the big demonstrations against the Vietnam war,” he said. “So my credentials are pretty impeccable. But I cannot stand my side of the political fence engaged in trying to make people shut up. It’s embar-

Courtesy of Mike Myers

rassing!” Coyne sees himself as a traditional liberal, and says he comes into conflict with contemporary leftists as often as he does with conservatives. “The Republicans are useless. I can’t abide them; I hate their machinations, I hate their platform. But there’s nothing I can do about that. Whereas, being someone on the left, I can at least call out people on my side of the fence for their behavior—both the students and the faculty. And the left bothers me more than the right wing, because the right wing is beyond the pale, whereas on the left, here are people who are supposed to share my political outlook, and yet they’re engaged in a traditionally non–left-wing activity: trying to shut people up.” Coyne was also concerned by the recent controversy at the Law School, when the conservative Edmund Burke Society, a debate group, issued an incendiary whip sheet many deemed racist. He was “disturbed” that the University did not take action to protect the Society’s free speech after they indefinitely postponed the debate, citing fear of student retaliation or “disturbance” at the event. (The chairman of the Society later followed up and apologized for the incident.) Coyne took the same speech-protective view of Steve Bannon’s invitation to campus. “I can’t think of a single person I would urge the University to disinvite. Not a single person—not a white racist, not an anti-immigration person. Free speech has to defend the most odious people.” On “Identity Politics” Coyne is skeptical of so-called “identity politics” in social justice campaigns, saying legitimate grievances are often overshadowed by emphasis on categories of identity or attempts to shut down free discourse. “Back in the ’60s, when black people were trying to get civil rights, or when

Defunding Threat Followed Backlash to Controversial Whip Sheet Continued from front

from other sources, such as alumni donations. Wessan has apologized for the incident, and Planchard said in an interview this weekend that he was expecting further amends from the Burke Society, but at the time he was unable to comment further on what the Society was doing. In the interview, Planchard explained that the Burke Society received $300 earlier this year from LSA, with another $300

allocated for them in LSA’s winter quarter supplemental funding round, contingent on compliance with the alcohol policy. Planchard had written in a letter to the Law School administration that if the school failed to act, he would submit a resolution to the LSA Board to defund and deactivate the Burke Society “based on its repeated and documented misconduct.” But the Law School and University administrators pointed to the school’s freedom of expression principles and de-

clared that LSA cannot defund or deactivate a student group for the “content” of its speech. Planchard’s letter was clear that defunding and deactivating would be largely symbolic. “In practical terms, even if LSA claws back the $600 allocated to the Edmund Burke Society and formally deactivates it, these moves will be largely symbolic,” it read. “But symbols, like language, are important.”

the Women’s Movement started—that’s identity politics, and I have no objection to that. It was an identifiable marginalized or oppressed group fighting for their rights. So what am I objecting to now—I guess it’s not the politics I’m objecting to, so I probably shouldn’t use the term ‘identity politics,’ I should use the term ‘identity tactics.’ Because it’s no longer the way it was in the ’60s. It’s an attempt to set up a hierarchy of oppression and locate yourself on that hierarchy in a position where you are pretty high up. That gives you a certain cachet. In the ’60s, victimhood was not something to be proud of, but something to be fought against. Now, it’s something to be proud of, I think, because it enables you to get attention and to be able to say others in the hierarchy can’t speak, that they don’t have opinions worthy of considering.” “I believe in social justice, I believe insofar as marginalized groups are treated badly that should be rectified—but not when people are doing it through a self-promoting victimhood narrative,” he said. On University Culture Coyne praised the UChicago faculty autonomy and commitment to free expression and said that the University has not changed substantially over his 30-year tenure. However, he’s concerned about identity politics and the rise of “consumerism” among students. “By and large, it’s a free thinking culture. The University is run largely by the faculty, and it encourages discussion. The change I have seen is in the student attitudes, the rise of identity politics over the last five years, and the rise of consumerist culture for education, which might go hand in hand with the fact that good jobs are hard to get, coming out of college now, so the students want to be assured that they get trained rather than educated,” he said. Coyne is also wary of the proposed new undergraduate business economics major. Noting that he doesn’t know the details of what the program would entail, he stressed the general value of liberal arts education over narrow careerism. “The U of C is a liberal arts school, and I think the students should be given a liberal arts education. What I’m not sure about is whether the business major would preclude that. If not, then I’m not strongly opposed to it, though I don’t see why business school can’t be left until after college, as it usually is,” he said. “I am opposed to the general trend of creating majors designed to funnel students into a given career path, for that way they miss out on some of the wonderful things they could learn (philosophy, fine arts, literature, and so on) that they’ll never get a chance to study again.” Find the rest of this article at chicagomaroon.com

Council to Vote at April Meeting Continued from front

Council who spoke to T he M aroon before the vote and asked to remain anonymous. Dean of the College John Boyer led the meeting, but declined a request to comment. The vote will likely take place at the Council’s next general meeting on April 10.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 16, 2018

VIEWPOINTS Letter: After Setbacks, AAUP Demands Administration Recognize Graduate Student Union Editor’s Note: The following is an updated version of an original e-mail sent by the University of Chicago Advocacy Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) to its members. Dear Colleagues, Today, Graduate Students United withdrew its petition before the National

Labor Relations Board, which means that its Certification of Representative has now been revoked. This decision was made to prevent the University of Chicago administration from using this case as a tool to permit Trump Administration appointees to the NLRB to overturn the Columbia decision that recognized graduate student workers as employees. GSU has further

explained the reasoning on its website. However, GSU is still a union, and is still demanding recognition directly from the University. Our AAUP chapter fully supports this demand. Provost Diermeier has called for “direct engagement with students.” Given the support for unionization demonstrated in October’s vote, it is clear that such direct engagement can only be

accomplished by the University administration recognizing GSU as our graduate student worker union and joining it at the bargaining table. —The University of Chicago Chapter of the AAUP

The Thorn in Chicago’s (South) Side Segregation is a Pressing Problem, but Chicagoans Don’t Seem to Care

Natalie Denby A walk through Chicago’s Andersonville is a strange experience for those of us who were not aware the city has a Swedish neighborhood, let alone one so fanatically Swedish. From the ubiquitous Swedish flag to the Swedish shops to the Swedish-American museum, it’s hard to take a step in Andersonville without being bludgeoned by Nordic-ness. The neighborhood is quaint and the effect is cute, but the reality is Andersonville is clearly not a Swedish-only enclave. The same can be said for other neighborhoods: Ukrainian Village, Lincoln Square, and Little Italy, for instance. A great deal of the appeal that these cultural hotspots offer is strictly historical, as places that were once demarcated with clear ethnic lines, lines now seriously blurred and sanitized for visitor enjoyment. But if Chicago’s hyperspecific ethnic neighborhoods lie somewhere between historical fact and touristy gimmick, the city’s segregation between white and black is disturbingly real today. By most rankings, Chicago is still among the most segregated metro areas in the United States. Many people, however, latch on to the city’s signs of improvement. Driven in part by movement to the suburbs, the city has become less segregated in recent years, with greater levels of diversity in some neighborhoods.

The U.S. Census Bureau evaluates segregation with the dissimilarity index, used to measure the relative separation of two groups in a given area. The dissimilarity index provides the percentage of one group or the other that would need to move to completely integrate an area (a white/ non-white value of 40, for instance, would mean that 40 percent of the white population or the non-white population would have to move to integrate the area). Cook County’s white/nonwhite dissimilarity index has dropped from 60 to 57.37 since 2009, an encouraging decline. This may seem like good news, but it doesn’t tell the full story. Chicago’s white and black populations remain profoundly segregated. The white–black dissimilarity index ranks Chicago as America’s fifth most segregated metro area (after Gary, Detroit, Milwaukee–Waukesha, and New York, respectively), with a score of 83.6. That’s a stunning number, and it isn’t the only troubling segregation statistic for the city. An alternative measure of segregation, the exposure index, shows the average racial composition of a person’s neighborhood given their race. Exposure indices for Chicago are absolutely damning. Whites in Chicago, on average, live in neighborhoods that are 78.6 percent white and only Continued on page 5

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“Chicago pays a tremendous price for its segregation, in terms of lost lives and opportunities.” Continued from page 4 4.5 percent black. For blacks, the average neighborhood is 14 percent white and 75 percent black—in a metro area which, by way of reference, is 58 percent white and 18.6 percent black overall. These numbers are at odds with the notion of a city making good progress in its fight against segregation, but you don’t hear them discussed very often. Most of us are well-versed in at least two reasons for Chicago’s segregation— historically discriminatory housing policies and high poverty levels in black neighborhoods. But we tend to brush over how the city’s current residential policies exacerbate the problem. Wealthier white neighborhoods use “historic district” designations and high building standards to prevent new development and jolt housing prices upwards. Zoning standards ensure that new buildings in these neighborhoods tend to be larger and pricier. These factors work to keep these areas unaffordable, and as a consequence, segregated. How segregation might be addressed is far from certain, but far too many are happy to simply wait for the problem to solve itself. Meanwhile, the city’s black population has been steadily declining. The cost of sitting on our collective hands is high—according to a report released by the Metropolitan Planning Council, the city would gain $4.4 billion in income and cut the homicide rate by 30 percent if it lowered the black-white segregation level to the national median. That might have been 229 lives saved in 2016.

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The city has sporadically pursued measures to boost integration, typically through affordable housing efforts. But efforts to introduce this to wealthier North Side neighborhoods often meet opposition. One such measure, the Keeping the Promise ordinance, would have reformed the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). The CHA has been running a cash surplus of over $400 million, obtained by circulating 13,500 fewer housing vouchers annually than funding provides for. Keeping the Promise would have tightened regulation of the CHA and spread affordable housing efforts across the city. After a spurt of publicity earlier in 2017, the ordinance vanished from the news, apparently set aside by the City Council to collect dust. It shouldn’t have been. Chicago pays a tremendous price for its segregation, in terms of lost lives and opportunities. In that context, the city’s idleness is mystifying. CHA reforms, ultimately, are one of many policies that could meaningfully address the city’s segregation, but the political will doesn’t seem to exist. Many Chicagoans don’t think dramatic changes are necessary—they believe segregation is either a problem of the past or an inevitability. But segregation is preserved in no small part by today’s policies. Many others, even those of us in Hyde Park, simply don’t believe segregation has any impact on our lives. But the entire city is grievously harmed by our apathy.

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Natalie Denby is a third-year in the College majoring in public policy.

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58th Annual Folk Festival Plucks Heartstrings in Mandel Hall BY MAY HUANG AND KEVIN TRICKEY ARTS EDITOR AND ARTS STAFF

This past weekend, the University of Chicago Folklore Society hosted the 58th Annual UChicago Folk Festival. The two-day event involved workshops, dancing, and a remarkable lineup of folk musicians who played nearly six hours

of music on Friday and Saturday nights. Although there was a foot of snowfall in Chicago last Friday, perhaps decreasing the festival’s turnout, the diverse group of musicians brought energy to Mandel Hall. Following Patrick Lynch’s ceremonious bagpipe introduction, the festival kicked off with accordionist Sheryl Cormier, who was recently inducted

Photos by Audrey Teo

Sheryl Cormier and her Cajun Sounds perform in Mandel Hall.

into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, and her band of Cajun musicians. The group hardly had to begin playing to display their Louisiana roots: Vocalist Russell Cormier wore a New Orleans Saints cap, and Sheryl’s accordion sported a red crawfish. A true powerhouse, there was no better band to raise excitement for an upbeat weekend of folk music. The band visibly grew into the music one song after another, with barely enough pause for Sheryl to beam her customary “thank you, merci beaucoup!” before her impossibly quick fingers began flying again. Dan Gellert, an old-time musician, followed Cormier with a fiddle and assortment of banjos. He shared anecdotes about his music, explaining the banjo’s historic roots and the significance that the lyrics of traditional songs might have had to the farm boys who first played them. “It’s actually theoretically possible to play in tune,” he said, explaining why he preferred playing fretless instruments, which unlike fretted instruments like guitars, can produce any pitch. Gellert’s concentration was palpable as he pulled off incredibly fast tunes, displaying impressive dexterity and, true to his word, impeccable intonation. The next performance was perhaps the least familiar to the average student

or folk enthusiast, and perhaps more engaging as a result. Jarochicanos, a band from Pilsen neighborhood, wore vibrant dresses and explained the history of their musical style, son jarocho, which has its roots in Veracruz, Mexico. From their unwavering singing above a walking bass line to their tap-dance breaks, the group offered a strong sense of communion. The Western Elstons followed the intermission with a more recognizable set of countrified American classics, including Twilight Time and Homer and Jethro’s amusing twist on the classic [Li’l Ole] Kiss of Fire. The band of four incorporated incredible variety, alternating between Joel Paterson’s electric guitar skills and the vocal talents of Scott Ligon and Casey McDonough, whose voices carried across the hall even when, at one point, they ditched their microphones. In some ways, the variation in the Western Elstons’ performance offered a microcosm of the Folk Fest as a whole, with its diverse musical representation and exploration of different styles. “[We] wanted to…showcase the strong variety of music styles in the community and in particular show that all kinds of people can play and appreciate folk music, regardless of race, age, or gender,” explained third-year Mahathi Ayyagari, Continued on page 6

THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 16, 2018

“The UChicago Folklore Society’s dedication, persistence, and success in organizing the festival is a talent of its own.” Continued from page 5

who is copresident of the Folklore Society alongside third-year Isabella Martin. Diversity, in every form, is crucial to expanding how people interpret the folk genre. As Martin points out, the festival no longer advocates its original ‘anti-re-

vivalist’ stance, which prefers the most traditional styles of folk music, from the 1960s. “One person came up to me on Friday’s show and said that they loved that the Fest wasn’t just your stereotypical fiddle-heavy concert,” Ayyagari said.

Patrick Lynch opens the festival with pipes.

Musicians host jam sessions in Ida Noyes hall on Saturday.

During the all-day workshops on Saturdays, jam sessions included both community members and performers, demonstrating the genre’s inclusivity. To close out both Friday and Saturday’s shows, the Folklore Society brought in Mike Compton, Bill Monroe’s former protégé and modern master of the mandolin. Accompanied by Billy Strings, Brian Christianson, Dave Talbot, and Andy Todd, the group gave two jaw-dropping bluegrass performances featuring Christianson’s smooth fiddling, Talbot’s ridiculously rapid banjo fingers, Todd’s ever-dependable vocals and bass, and some truly incredible yodeling by Strings. Though Compton shared the stage humbly, he was the indisputable star of the show (and, arguably, of the entire Folk Fest). Compton’s effortless mandolin playing received innumerable applauses, and those who experienced his playing must have left in wonder. Yet the most enchanting part of their performance was not the music itself, but the infectious happiness with which they played. Throughout the set, Compton and his band wore goofy grins and shared plenty of jokes with each other—and the audience—between songs. Compton’s group represented the ideal closing act, not just as bluegrass musicians, but also as performers. Much of Friday’s music, passion, and personality was again on show for Saturday’s concert. Sheryl Cormier’s Cajun band, Dan Gellert’s fiddle, and Compton’s group all made their return to Mandel Hall, which welcomed a much larger turnout than Friday’s crowd (and possessed, consequently, a higher energy level). Pauline Conneely and Jonathan Whitall joined them for a set of perpetual-motion Irish folk music played on banjo and piano, as did 82-year-old blues singer Mary Lane for an incredibly moving performance, peppered with her trademark exclamations of “I love you.” Interspersed throughout the two nights were little uplifting moments characteristic of the student-run production, in-

cluding the newly introduced Folk Fest trivia questions (did you know that Joan Baez and the Staples Singers once graced the Mandel stage?), raffle draws, and jokes delivered by Whitall’s young son. During most performances, backstage volunteers and audience members social danced in the stage wings, moved by the music. Before, after, and in between performances, dedicated volunteers upheld a Folk Festival tradition by selling raffle tickets, cookies, t-shirts, canned jellies, music, and other souvenirs. “Volunteers are what keep the festival running,” Martin said. Indeed, many of the Folk Festival’s attendants have been coming to the festival and volunteering for twenty years or more. The Folklore Society’s alum advisor Kate Early, who credits the festival for influencing her decision to attend UChicago back in 1980, remains involved in the festival; her fellow volunteer Nina Helstein (A.B. ’64) not only continues to help out, but has also attended every festival since 1961. Martin explains that the Folklore Society’s greatest challenge is drawing students to the festival and getting them involved in the RSO. For some, the festival’s genre is perhaps too rooted in the traditional. Martin also finds that the highlight of running the festival is understanding how traditional music influenced music today, seeing how a genre that is traditionally “old-time” still finds modern bearings. It is easy to see why many of the Folk Festival’s attendants keep returning year after year. The UChicago Folklore Society’s dedication, persistence, and success in organizing the festival is a talent of its own, and their ability to attract the best folk musicians, expose a diverse array of music and culture, and stage such a fantastic operation is one that will keep audiences absorbed for years to come. The Folklore Society is hosting a Contra Dance on March 3, as well as its annual Fiddler’s Picnic in May.

Song and Comedy Bring Something to Much Ado About Nothing BY ABBY KUCHNIR ARTS STAFF

Mu ch A d o Ab out Nothin g i s a classic Shakespearean comedy in every way: It features squabbling enemies-turned-lovers, scheming friends, humor that mercilessly takes down social norms, and a wedding to round it all out. It is a brilliant piece of theater and one of Shakespeare’s most enduring comedies, up there with A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Un for t u n at ely, t he s e element s must occasionally stand alone in the production by the Dean’s Men, which op ene d l a s t n i g ht . D e s pit e s ome standout elements, this production relies too heavily on reciting the hilarious script while adding little to enhance it. T h i r d -y e a r M a r g a r e t G l a z i e r s t e a l s t he s how a s B e at r ic e , t he play’s heroine. She makes every joke come to li fe, g iv ing aud ience members who may not be well-versed in

Courtesy of University Theater

Shakespeare insight into humor that is more contemporary than one might think. She controls the space of the stage and always finds the spotlight, cle a rly a se a s oned ac t r ess i n the shoes of the stubborn lead. Benedick, por trayed by f irst-year Sam Jacobson, also lands his jokes well. Both actors play up the physical humor of clumsy att empts at h id i ng — heads end up inside of barrels, while a ficus tree is placed comically. I n add it ion , t he c o st u me s , de sig ned by se cond-yea r Cla re Kemmerer, a re color f u l a nd f u n: T hey match the fanciful sensibility of the show and f latter the actors. Actors change between costumes, which are ’90s nightclub style, with impressive frequency. The songs that the cast sings are s et t o a lovely c omp o sit ion (mo st songs in Shakespearean comedies do not have a canonical tune) and add to the fun of the piece. T hey often help set the tone: The refrain “ Hey, Nonny,” a staple of the Bard’s comedies, establishes a lighter mood after a dramatic betrayal, refocusing the spirit of the play on romance and levity. However, as funny as the scr ipt is, the Dean’s Men ensemble, for the most part, misses the opportunity to

make the jokes accessible. They recite the tricky prose without animating it, putting the onus on the audience to catch up. With d ialog ue d r iv ing the plot, the production requires audience members to stay extra attentive or risk missing a crucial turn of events. Those familiar with the play and Shakespearean style would have an easier time than the average viewer tracking the fast-paced plot and its many witticisms. T h i s pr o du c t io n o f M u c h A d o About Nothing also lacks the distinctive and surprising twist that many of the Dean’s Men’s productions have spor t ed i n the past , such as w ith changes in setting or character. Second-year Tess Gundlah plays a female L eonata, rather than the traditionally male Leonato, giving the role a refreshing take; however, a distinctive, larger-scale re-interpretation of the comedy could have made it a more memorable production. T he play is a wonder f u l crowd-pleaser nevertheless, and the c ast del ivers a n enjoyable per for ma nce. Despit e moments that lef t the audience wanting, this quarter’s production of Much Ado About Nothing offers what the Bard is famous for: musical dialogue, an overf lowing script, and endless comedy.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 16, 2018

Phantom Thread Weaves Haunting Tapestry BY WLAD SARMIENTO ARTS STAFF

A week after watching Phantom Thread, I am still thinking about it. Regardless of anything else said in this review, that alone means that Paul Thomas Anderson accomplished what he clearly set out to do in making this movie. Phantom Thread is a haunting, contemplative, and beautifully executed story about love, art, and what makes us vulnerable. And yet, I still can’t make up my mind about it. The story seems straightforward: The ever-wonderful Daniel Day-Lewis plays Reynolds Woodcock, an extremely skilled dressmaker in 1950s England who falls in love with a young woman named Alma (played to perfection by Vicky Krieps) who is almost as stubborn as he is. Such stubbornness is no small feat; Day-Lewis plays a perfectionist artist who is so particular it is almost comical. Simple scenes like eating breakfast become heated as Woodcock mercilessly berates his lover for eating too loudly and disrupting his morning thoughts. To be sure, some audiences will find the film’s characters—all of whom feel as similarly detached from reality as Woodcock— hard to relate to on a human level. It stunted the film’s intended emotional impact. Particularly towards the end, some decisions made by certain characters seem impossible to understand and left me with a bad taste in my mouth coming out of the theater. As I’ve been thinking about the movie in the days since, however, the risky decisions made by Anderson in the script have grown on me. The moments which foreshadowed the conclusion stand out in hindsight, and the characters’ decisions—while still undoubtedly strange and unnatural—lend a sense of beauty to the film’s arc. You’re not supposed to relate completely to what these characters are feeling, but rather extract truth from their experiences around vulnerability and how it is tied to love. The occasionally disturbing relationship between Woodcock and

Courtesy of Cinema Apolló

Phantom Thread stars Daniel Day-Lewis in what might be his final film role. Alma seemed much more effective when I stopped thinking of the story as a straightforward romance and tried instead to read between the lines. And there is much to read. Anderson is clearly a master director, and he has again created a classic which will be analyzed for years to come by critics and film-studies courses. Most shots are packed to the brim with messages implied in their composition, and even simpler ones are a beauty to behold. Simple shots like Day-Lewis driving a car are given a life I’ve never seen in a movie before, with a true sense of dizzying speed and motion. Complicated shots of elaborate galas are full of subtle humor and striking symbolism. If for nothing else, this movie should be experienced by every film-lover out of appreciation for Anderson’s perfected craft. Adding another layer of excellence is Day-Lewis, who is wonderful in the role

(surprising absolutely no one). He lends humanity to a character who at times seems inhuman in his relentless strive for perfection, and for that he should be commended. Also amazing is Krieps, who through her nuanced performance avoids becoming the boring audience stand-in Alma may have been if played by anyone else. I was also knocked out of my seat by Lesley Manville, who plays Woodcock’s stern sister and is the only one that seems to have any control over Woodcock towards the beginning of the film. She adds surprising comedy to the film, and I daresay even stole some scenes from Day-Lewis himself. If it weren’t for the extreme competition of the category, she would easily merit the title of Best Supporting Actress at this year’s Oscars. Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood also produced an exceptional score that deserves mention: It is undoubtedly one of the best

examples in recent memory of composer and director working in perfect harmony, and the movie would have felt empty without it. It is a score worth revisiting after the credits roll, an unusual achievement for a film score. Even more unusual is that I can’t tell you how you will feel about this movie. You may very well be put off by some of the decisions made by Anderson’s portrayal of the characters, or in the way the plot evolves as the movie concludes. You may also find it boring, as most of the movie revolves around exploring the human traits of some decidedly unrelatable characters. But if you focus on the sheer quality of the art put forth in this film from both a production and performance standpoint, and if you let the ideas of the movie sit with you for a few days, I think there is a good chance you will have a unique and memorable film experience.

SPORTS Men’s Basketball Tries to Clinch BY ANDREW BEYTAGH SPORTS STAFF

The Maroons return from their final road swing of UAA play positioned in fourth place. With a 6–5 conference record, Chicago needs to win their next three games to have any shot of reaching the DIII basketball tournament. Coming off of a tough road split last weekend against NYU and Brandeis, the Maroons are set to face off against Carnegie Mellon and Case Western this weekend. Carnegie Mellon sits at the bottom of the UAA table with a 2–9 record in conference and Case Western is currently tied with Chicago for third place in the UAA. Play from the fourth-years was huge this weekend on the road. Going forward, the Maroons will continue to lean on fourth-years Collin Barthel and Jake Fenlon. Barthel and Fenlon average more than 12 points per game and contribute a large chunk of the Maroons scoring on a nightly basis. Barthel exploded for 37 points against NYU last weekend and followed up his career high with 14 points and 12 rebounds against Brandeis. Barthel, who was named UAA athlete of the week, commented on the weekend by saying, “It was great playing against NYU. We had a bunch of fans and alumni in the crowd who were great all night. We fed off of the energy from the crowd and hit free

throws down the stretch to close out the game. Personally, 37 points is awesome and I am going to remember that game forever, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates—Jake running off of screens, Noah [Karras] ripping threes, and Jordan [Baum] dishing out assists.” To come out of this weekend’s games with two wins, the Maroons will need contributions from the rest of their roster. Balanced scoring has been a key to the Maroons success this season, but hopefully someone else will step up and assist Barthel and Fenlon. Looking at Carnegie Mellon and Case Western this season, both teams are very young. However, they have been trending in opposite directions. Case Western is 5–2 in their last seven games, while Carnegie Mellon is 2–5 in their last seven games. The parity of the UAA conference can be seen every weekend. This very parity bit Chicago last weekend with a tough loss to Brandeis, but going forward, the conference schedule favors the Maroons. With its last three games at home, UChicago looks to close out conference play and make a bid for the DIII basketball tournament. The Maroons take on Carnegie Mellon at Ratner Athletic Center at 8:30 p.m. on Friday night and face off against Case Western at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 16, 2018

SPORTS

Tennis Looks to Remain Undefeated TENNIS

BY MIKE BENINATI SPORTS STAFF

After a dominating weekend for the men and women’s tennis teams, they will both travel to XS Tennis Center in Chicago to take on DePauw and Coe on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Last weekend each team had three matches—the men came out with only two individual losses and the women came out with only five individual losses. The men will face off against unranked DePauw on Friday and No. 39 Coe on Saturday. DePauw will be hoping to capture their first victory of the season as they are currently 0–2. The Tigers are led by third-years Alex Pintilie and Matthew Quammen who play both singles and doubles at the top of DePauw’s ladder. Coe has a similar goal to the Maroons: remain undefeated. The 3–0 Kohawks will enter the match having only lost two individual matches this season. It should be noted that the Kohawks are also facing off against DePauw earlier Saturday afternoon, so the Maroons will be able to watch and scout out their opponents the morning of. Coe’s strongest player, playing both singles and doubles at the top of their ladder, is fourth-year Brady Anderson. Anderson was just named Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week. The women’s team for DePauw has yet to post a record this season since their matches thus far have been exclusively exhibition. That being said, they did play Xavier, a talented DI program, and hope to build upon a 15–7 season last year. The Tigers are led by second-year Meredith

University of Chicago Athletics Department

Second-year Tyler Raclin returns a forehand.

Breda, who was All-NCAC last year as a freshman. Giving some support to the underclassmen is standout fourth-year Alyssa Seneviratne, who joined Breda on the All-NCAC list. The women’s team at Coe certainly does not have the same problem as De-

Pauw—they will enter the competition with 11 matches under their belt. The team is currently 8–3 and has won their last five matches by impressive margins. The Kohawks are led by third-year Lauren French and fourth-years Haley Resnick and Lakyn Boltz—all of whom were

lauded with all-league honors. French was named league MVP in addition to her allleague selection. The Maroons could not have asked for a better start to the season and are extremely excited to add to their success this weekend.

Track and Field Hosts Bradley Invitational TRACK & FIELD

BY TRENT CARSON SPORTS STAFF

This Saturday, February 17, the University of Chicago men and women’s track teams will host and compete at the Margaret Bradley Indoor Invitational. The Maroons look to continue their strong start to the indoor season and to take home victories at the third and final home meet of the year. Both the men’s and women’s teams have gotten off to a hot start this season, with the women’s team ranked fourth in the DIII Midwest Region, and the men’s team ranked 13th in the Midwest Region. Over the past two weekends, the Maroons have competed and performed well, with the women’s team taking home a firstplace finish at the Windy City Invitational

SPORT

on February 3, and the men’s team second, as well as last weekend at the Wisconsin–Whitewater Midwest Invite, where the women finished second out of eight teams, and the men seventh. Second-year mid-distance runner Joe Previdi reflected on the hard work that the team has put in so far, “The team has progressed exactly as we’ve wanted to through the season. In workouts, the middle-distance squad has been consistent and deliberate, and we’re seeing the payoff in good races all around. We consider the indoor and outdoor seasons as one long training cycle, and I feel like we’re exactly where we need to be and have a lot of momentum.” First-year mid-distance runner Katie Jasminski echoed Previdi, and emphasized the improvement that the team has made over the course of the year. “I

UPCOMING GAMES

Swim/Dive Women’s Basketball Men’s Basketball Tennis

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think the team has made huge progress throughout the season. We started out strong, and have continually to improve as the season has progressed as we increased our training intensity.” Last year at the Margaret Bradley Invitational, UChicago finished first in both the men’s and women’s team standings, with the men winning three straight and the women with seven in a row dating back to 2011. Both teams will strive to build on these win streaks and get a few last runs in with the UAA Indoor Championships and Division III Indoor Championships on the horizon. The Margaret Bradley Invitational is a chance for both teams to highlight the growth and success that they have experience over the past month and a half. “It has been an amazing season across all events and I think

Opponent UAA Championship Carnegie Mellon Carnegie Mellon DePauw

that the great team dynamic and training intensity will serve the team really well this weekend and lead to many great performances,” Jasminski said. Previdi, excited for the final home meet, added, “This meet should be more of a fun, quick competition to lead us into postseason. We have conference championships next weekend which our team is really excited about. So, this week we are trying to get in quality races to boost confidence, or, for those of us who won’t be at conference, finishing up indoor season well to lead into outdoor training. We’re definitely ready to crush this weekend.” The Maroons will begin competition this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Henry Crown Field House.

TIME 10 a.m. 6 p.m. 8 p.m. 6 p.m.