Chicagomaroon022817 by The Chicago Maroon

FEBRUARY 28, 2017

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

VOL. 128, ISSUE 31

College Introduces Signature Courses BY RACHANA MUPPA CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

The College announced this week that it will offer a number of large lecture classes for students to explore disciplines outside their majors, called “signature courses.” According to the course website, “signature courses are intended to introduce College students to exciting themes, ideas, and materials in the humanities and social sciences.” While they fall under the category of electives, signature courses can in fact count towards departmental major and minor requirements. Christopher Wild, deputy dean and master of the Humanities Collegiate Division, credited Martha Roth, the former dean of the Division of the Humanities, with coining the term “signature course.” Together they launched the Signature Course Grant Program to fund the creation of new classes. Wild went on to extend the program to include social sciences courses in addition to courses that are developed without grants. Wild explained that signature courses are intended to be “electives that ideally lead to a more substantive engagement with the topic, field, or discipline.” Wild stated that, historically, the college has served as a preparatory foundation for graduate study, often closing off opportunities for inquiry in a variety of fields. Alternatively, these new courses will cater to non-majors and students who are undecided. Wilde stated that the goal of signature courses is “to diversify the ways students can academically engage with the humanities” and “to offer courses that generate rather than presuppose an interest in an humanistic

field or topic.” To maintain this standard, there are a few criteria that a course must meet in order to be considered a signature course. Primarily, there should be no prerequisites. In addition, the course must be broad in curriculum and ideally have an attractive title. Wild mentioned that some pre-existing courses, such as “Introduction to the Middle East” or classes offered in the Slavic department already meet these requirements and are now considered Signature courses. Such classes have not been restructured, they are just recognized under the new category. For the remaining departments, however, this initiative is an “attempt to nudge departments and programs to redesign their curricular offerings and to include such courses regularly in their repertoire”, Wild stated. The Signature course Grant Committee is responsible for reviewing grant applications and choosing the ones that best fit the criteria. The grants themselves exist to incentivize the “creation of such courses and to provide the necessary resources to do so.” In addition to being signature courses, all classes are also cross-listed in their department of origin such as music or Near Eastern languages and civilizations, which would allow students to gain credit for a major or minor. Signature courses offered this spring include “Truth,” taught by Christopher Kennedy from the linguistics department, and “Self-Creation as a Philosophical and Literary Problem,” taught by Agnes Callard from the philosophy department.

Feng Ye Fourth ward aldermanic candidate Gerald Scott McCarthy speaks at a forum in Chapin Hall on February 23.

FOURTH WARD ALDERMANIC ELECTION: A VOTER’S GUIDE BY MAX FENNELL-CHAMETZKY STAFF REPORTER

The Fourth Ward A ldermanic special election is today. Here is a guide to all the candidates, their backgrounds, and their policies. The Fourth Ward stretches from portions of East 55th street to the South Loop district near South Michigan Avenue. Sophia King King is the current Fourth Ward alderman, a position she was appointed to by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel last April. K ing grew up in Evanston, IL. Before her polit-

bus services on 39th and 43rd streets. King opposes building a new city-run casino in Bronzeville, instead preferring a structure with residential, retail, and recreational services. In her view, this will be a better use of city property and will develop the culture of the Bronzeville area. Ebony Lucas Lucas is an attorney at the Peace of Mind Properties Law Office. She is also a small business owner in the ward. Lucas has four children who travel with her to various campaign events, such as the Kenwood Continued on page 3

How CPS’s Spending Freeze Hits White v. Non-White Students BY HANNAH GIVEN CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

Hannah Given Mayor of South Bend, IN Pete Buttigieg (center) participated in an IOP panel in Ida Noyes yesterday. Buttigieg was a candidate for DNC chair, but he dropped out shortly before the vote on Sunday. Axelrod (left) is bullish on Buttigieg.

This month, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) announced a $46 million spending freeze affecting all 516 district-operated schools in the city. For many schools, these cuts will come after budget decreases following the 2015–16 school year. The spending freeze was criticized for disproportionately affecting minority schools. In response to widespread disapproval, CPS announced it would return $15 million to the hardest hit schools

It’s Smart to Be Classic

in an attempt to lessen the racial disparity. In December of last year, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill that would have allocated $215 million to help CPS fill its budget gaps, putting Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s CPS in a bind. CPS says it has already cut what it can in terms of administrative costs, but any layoffs would provoke a response from the teachers union. So CPS is freezing spending, but just how unevenly are the cuts distributed across schools? THE M AROON analyzed school-

Strong Racket Play Continues

Page 5

by-school budget data from the February spending freeze as well as the budget changes made in July to CPS’s 2016–2017 Demographics report and its Limited English Proficiency, Special ED, and Low Income report in order to see if any correlation existed between the percent a school’s budget was cut and the demographics of its student body. Each school is broken down into the percentage of black, Hispanic, and white students in attendance. Any school with more than a 20 percent white student Continued on page 2

Contributing to THE M AROON

Page 8

“I was sent for that purpose and will tell thee all.” With these words, Zollicoffer created a new space and time.

This weekend, the undefeated women’s team has its chance at the ITA Indoor Team Championship when it travels to Murfreesboro, TN.

Meme, Myself, & I Page 3 One possibility is simply to destroy the Reg. While drastic and much more unlikely than even a bounce house Reg, I fully support this measure.

ical career, she owned a small business for five years in the Fourth Ward. King also founded the nonprofit organization Harriet’s Daughters to increase employment and wealth in the black community. She is a longtime friend of the Obamas and received an endorsement from Barack Obama late last month. A s alderman, K ing has worked with Third Ward Alderman Pat Dowell to create a “Safe Summer” program and collaborated with local principals to build a Fourth Ward sports program in hopes of keeping kids in the ward safe. She has also restored weekend

Photos From Le Vorris & Vox Circus’s Winter Showcase Page 6

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 28, 2017

Low Income, Non-White Students Hit Hardest By CPS Budget Freeze

Vishal Talasani

population was considered to have a “significant” white population in order to see the effect of having white students on budget cuts. THE M AROON also looked at socioeconomic status of students, and deemed any schools with more than 80 percent of students considered to be economically disadvantaged by CPS to be an economically disadvantaged school. While predominantly non-white schools received an average cut of 4.41 percent, predominantly white schools had their budgets increased by 1.02 percent. Enrollment at predominantly white schools increased by 1.56 percent, and while enrollment decreased by 3.98 percent for the average predominantly non-white school. However, because of how school funding is assessed, a linear relationship should not exist between enrollment and budget change because school funding depends on more than student enrollment numbers. Even more significantly, schools with at least 80 percent economically disadvantaged populations experienced a more than 5 percent decrease in their funding, compared with a 1.30 percent increase for schools with fewer economically disadvantaged students. Unfortunately, CPS could not be reached for comment by the time of publication to comment on these changes. Unlike the previous budget changes, which included increases for some schools, the recent $46 million freeze reduced funding across the board, though predominantly non-white schools witnessed an average 1.69 percent budget cut while predominantly white schools were only cut by an average of 1.28 percent. Similarly, the budgets of economically disadvantaged schools were slashed .42 percent more than more advantaged schools. For both this set of data and the previous one, T HE M AROON ran a T-test to determine the significance of the results. For the 2015–2016 changes, the p-value for the difference between predominantly white schools and predominantly non-white

schools was 0.0000033, and for economic disadvantage the p-value was a thousand times smaller. For the midyear cuts, the racial differences had a p-value of 0.002218, and economic differences had a p-value of 0.0002387. These values indicate that the relationship between a school’s average budget change and its demographics are positively correlated. The trends from the budget data indicate that students of color experienced more significant negative impacts from all budget modifications in the past year than white students. Combined, eight Hyde Park schools are losing more than $664,000. Woodlawn schools like Wadsworth, which hosts both the UChicago Neighborhood Schools Program and the UChicago Jumpstart program is losing an additional $170,000 midyear. These cuts come after losing over $24,400 between school years despite a one percent enrollment increase. These cuts signal a freeze on all non-personnel expenses including field trips, textbooks, and after school programs. Additionally, CPS has announced four unpaid furlough days, and most recently, possibility of ending the school year three weeks early in order to save money, yielding less time in school for CPS students. These changes have serious implications for economically disadvantaged students who rely on school to provide them with free meals, school supplies, and after-school activities. They also affect the resources available to teachers working in high-need communities to reduce the achievement gap between their students and white students. As of 2011, only one in nine black students and one in seven Hispanic students between the third and eighth grades exceeded state standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). Moreover, a white student was found to be four times more likely to exceed on the ISAT than a black student and three times more likely that a Hispanic student; according to the data, these gaps are growing.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 28, 2017

A Guide to the Fourth Ward Aldermanic Elections Continued from front

Academy Forum held earlier this month. Her platform seeks to establish safety in the ward through communication and collaboration between the schools, park district, police, and the community as a whole. She wishes to develop small businesses in the ward and create jobs. She would create increased arts programs for students, and response programs for seniors. To remain transparent and responsive to the needs of the people, she hopes to hold weekly town hall meetings with residents. Lucas feels that development in the ward has been, so far, too focused on the upper edges of Hyde Park and the South Loop, and would like to see more of the new growth in Bronzeville and Oakland. Gregory Seal Livingston Known for his fiery speeches and bombastic voice, Livingston, in his Huffington Post bio, describes himself as “...an advocate for the public good...a preacher...just another person out here trying to make a difference.” Livingston says he would build more affordable housing in the 4th Ward, along with developing the currently underused lakefront property. For the youth, he would fi ght against charter schools and for an elected school board, as

well as decrease policing and increase investment in schools and jobs. He is committed to transparency, and would create an oversight committee to advise his decisions, and remain accessible to all citizens. He was a leader in the protests calling for Rahm Emanuel’s resignation following his handling of the Laquan McDonald shooting video. Livingston was also the only challenger to come out strongly against King’s endorsement by Obama, saying that it amounted to “cheating.” Gerald Scott McCarthy McCarthy is a native Chicagoan, who grew up in K-Town and currently lives in Kenwood. He is one of the three attorneys in the race, and a father of one son. His platform features a six point plan for the Fourth Ward: Upl i f t i ng the C om mu n it y, Community Preservation, Promoting Peace, Quality Public Education, Economic Sustainability, and Energy Efficient Living. Specifically, McCarthy sees safety concerns stemming from “empty corridors” in the ward as a major concern. To that end, he wants more quality development, better trained police officers, and more social programs for the youth. The last thing he says the ward needs is another fast-food restaurant, as that will only add to the problem.

Marcellus Moore Jr. Moore was also born in Chicago, and has lived in the Fourth Ward for most of his life. An attorney with a background in consulting, Moore currently practices real estate and divorce law. He has three children who all attend or attended Chicago Public Schools. A major concern for Moore is crime and violence in the Fourth Ward. His solutions to the current safety issues have three parts: partnerships with CPD, community and block watch programs, and Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy participation from residents and businesses. Moore is also civically involved. He has supported community sports, youth health programming, mentoring for young women, and senior housing through his personal civic engagement. If elected alderman, he would continue to promote these programs and expand their scope with added resources.

CORRECTION: The article titled “Campus Community Organizes Tutoring for Syrian Refugees” in February 24th’s issue misstated that PARR is a graduate student organization. It is open to undergraduates.

First Director Named for Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation

BY JORGE ERNESTO CLAVO ABBASS CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

Luis Bettencourt has been named the first Pritzker Director for the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation, effective July 1, 2017, according to a UChicago News article. The Mansueto Institute was launched in March 2016 with a $35 million gift from alumni Joe and Rika Mansueto (A.B. ‘78, M.B.A. ‘80). The institute aims to improve on the University’s existing work in urban education and scholarship and is a part of an institutional commitment, UChicago Urban. UChicago Urban additionally involves contributions from UChicago Urban Labs, the Office of Civic Engagement, and the Office of Global Engagement. Bettencourt previously held postdoctoral positions at the Mas-

sachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Heidelberg, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. He received a doctorate in theoretical physics from Imperial College London. His research, which has been covered in media outlets including Scientific American, Wired, and The New York Times, has previously focused on the usage of increasingly available global data to quantitatively interpret topics including transportation and housing. Through such research, new urban theory is created to inform the challenges cities face as they grow. Bettencourt will be departing his current position as professor of complex systems at the Santa Fe Institute. Upon his arrival at the University, Bettencourt will also become a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution and the College.

VIEWPOINTS “Reg”-ular Misery The Reg Is a Campus Landmark, But That Doesn’t Mean It Can’t Be Changed

Fred Kardos

Maggie Loughran, Editor-in-Chief Forrest Sill, Editor-in-Chief Annie Cantara, Managing Editor Adam Thorp, Editor-in-Chief-Elect Hannah Edgar, Deputy Editor-in-Chief-Elect Euirim Choi, Managing Editor-Elect Stephanie Liu, Managing Editor-Elect The MAROON Editorial Board consists of the Editors-in-Chief and editors of THE MAROON.

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GREY CITY

Pete Grieve, editor Emily Kramer, editor Sonia Schlesinger, editor Katie Akin, deputy editor Jamie Ehrlich, deputy editor Emily Feigenbaum, deputy editor Tamar Honig, senior editor

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VIEWPOINTS

Cole Martin, editor Sarah Zimmerman, editor

ONLINE

Euirim Choi, editor Vishal Talasani, director of data analysis PHOTO

Zoe Kaiser, editor VIDEO

Kenny Talbott La Vega, editor

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Patrick Quinn, chief financial officer Andrew Mamo, chief financial officer-elect

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Jeanne Marie Fishkin, director of development Anjing Fu, director of marketing Sandra Lukac, director of marketing Ben Lanier, director of operations Audrey Mang, director of strategy

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THIS ISSUE

Design Editor: Priyani Karim Associate: Angela Fung, Peng-Peng Liu Copy: Shannon Bull, Steven Cui, Meena Kandallu, Aidan Lilienfeld

thing for students to be proud of. However, it is important to note that the designers of the Reg purposefully created an “inanimate” building. As a product of Brutalism, the Reg stands as a stark reminder that life is brutal. As an inanimate space, the Reg represents a boundary between life and work, truly separating the two. While it’s not necessary for a library, or any study space, to be as fun as a bounce house, that doesn’t mean it should be known primarily Continued on page 4

SOCIAL MEDIA

ARTS

Stephanie Liu, production manager Kay Yang, head designer

Whether it’s the flood of neutral tones or the palpable tension stemming from the imposing silence, the Reg is not known for elevating moods or inspiring motivation. The bounce house Reg represents a fundamental antithesis to the actual Reg. Unfortunately infamous for being the site of many failed academic dreams, the Reg needs to be reimagined as more than just a soul-crushing study space. In a recent article, the Reg is presented as a hallmark building and a hub of academic life, some-

Jamie Ehrlich, editor

Hannah Edgar, editor Grace Hauck, editor Rhea Bhojwani, editor Britta Nordstrom, senior editor Siddharth Kapoor, associate editor Cavell Means, associate editor

After the finalists for the Uncommon Fund had been narrowed down, one project stood out as particularly uncommon. With the ultimate goal of creating a bounce house replica of Regenstein Library, this bizarre proposal seems especially unlikely to become a reality. While the possibility of a bounce house Reg is a long shot, the proposal still reflects a serious underlying issue relevant to everyone on campus. As a space where students spend hundreds of hours, the Reg is overwhelmingly sad.

Peng-Peng Liu

THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 28, 2017

“The Reg stands as a stripped-down concrete monstrosity...” Continued from page 3 for inducing misery. Therefore, there must be some way for the Reg to become a space that represents something less morbid. One possibility is simply to destroy the Reg. While drastic and much more unlikely than even a bounce house Reg, I fully support this measure. Brutalism is dead, and a replacement could reshape what it means to simply do work. Similar to how the Mansueto Library

is enveloped in natural light and thus is a less gloomy place to work, a new Reg could provide a space where sitting down to work isn’t actual suffering. Literally any design that’s not the current design could accomplish this task. For a less drastic idea, the inside could be remodeled to include brighter colors, providing some break from the monotonous shades of beige. Whether it’s changing the carpets,

which, at times, resemble vomit, or finding some way to decorate the absurd amount of bare concrete, any change would be welcome. While a number of other less depressing study spaces exist all over campus, the Reg is still one of the largest centers of academic activity. Any change, no matter how small, to make the Reg less dreary feels necessary. While the Reg will never be as fun as a bounce house, it could at least not be so op-

pressively melancholy. As a remnant of Brutalism, the Reg stands as a stripped-down concrete monstrosity. There is nothing exciting about the Reg. There is nothing fun about the Reg. While I’m sure the University has plenty of other priorities, if no changes are made, it’s time for the Reg to become a less regular part of the UChicago experience. Fred Kardos is a first-year in the College.

Living in La La Land Moonlight May Have Won Big at the Academy Awards, but La La Land’s Problematic Popularity Merits More Conversation

Ashvini Kartik-Narayan I’ll be the first to admit that I cried when I saw La La Land. How could I not? The romance, the theatricality, the music—it was exactly the movie everyone in Hollywood wanted to see, starring the same people Hollywood always wants to see, even if it didn’t win Best Picture. La La Land was a visual masterpiece, a musical feat, and an engaging story. But it was also a story told by an essentially all-white cast. In comparison with other Oscar-nominated films like Moonlight and Hidden Figures, which explore narratives unfamiliar to white America, La La Land, for all its hype, lacks the diversity that would have made for a truly nuanced story. Of course, the film ultimately lost Best Picture. But its Oscar-sweeping predictions, its colossal number of nominations, and its plethora of awards outside of Best Picture are still a source of concern, and a telling sign of the narratives Hollywood continues to be enamored with.

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, the iconic duo, were chosen to portray Mia and Sebastian, respectively. Both are characters with tragically complicated aspirations, who fall in love, if only briefly, to create a tragic yet soul-stirring love story. The nostalgia created by the upbeat, jazz-infused soundtrack almost distracts us from the fact that this very same love story could have been told by any combination of diverse actors. The only non-white characters were either extras or John Legend’s character, Keith, who primarily served as a frustrating foil to Sebastian’s insistence on jazz traditionalism. This was an especially infuriating plotline, considering the movie never acknowledges the historically African-American roots of jazz. Compare this with a movie like Moonlight, and it seems problematic that most major media outlets even predicted that La La Land would win Best Picture, alongside the chance of winning one of the whopping 14 nomina-

tions it received. The hype surrounding La La Land is absolutely understandable, and it’s not unfounded. The cinematography achieved a perfect balance of old-school charm and modern excitement, at once playing on our romanticizing of the past and the fast-moving pace of the present—this was certainly reflected in the other Oscars the film picked up that night. But ultimately, much of La La Land’s awards show–successes can be attributed to the Hollywood-centric narrative of the film. We obsess over the movie because it acknowledges our existing desire to somehow be a part of the glamorous entertainment industry, and, if we cannot be a part of it, to see within it. Hollywood’s “love affair” with the movie, according to the Guardian, happened because it sent the message that “nothing— nothing— is more important than becoming a really big movie star.” The problem is, by telling a story about an industry that systematically shafts minority actors and artists without acknowledging the discrimination taking place, we miss out on a key component of being an entertainer in the modern era. The obstacles that Mia and Sebastian face are not invalid or unimportant, but they don’t scratch the surface of the depth of challenges that minorities in this industry encounter. The movie is beloved by Hollywood

because it romanticizes rather than criticizes Hollywood. As a result, although La La Land is praised for its uniqueness, it fails to differentiate itself completely from every other Hollywood love story. The record-tying number of nominations and the commendable number of victories are shocking, if not uncalled for. We can enjoy La La Land as a movie while still criticizing the media that gives it attention at the expense of arguably more deserving, and definitely more diverse, films. The phenomenon we should be paying attention to is the system that consistently rewards narratives like La La Land over movies that strive to depict alternative narratives and explore perspectives that white America often ignores. The universal appeal of La La Land should spark some questions about why we gravitate to these sorts of movies, ones that are pleasant but almost deliberately uncontroversial. Moonlight’s victory is an incredible sign of the path that is being paved for more films like it to get the attention they deserve, but it is certainly not a sign that Hollywood has changed completely. For that to happen, we need to start paying attention to the stories we celebrate and glorify in a city full of stars. Ashvini Kartik-Narayan is a first-year in the College.

ARTS PHOTOS BY BROOKE NAGLER ARTS CONTRIBUTOR

UChicago Comedia put on My Winter Valentine the weekend before last. For the full photo essay, see chicagomaroon.com.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 28, 2017

It’s Smart to Be Classic: New Exhibit Bridges Past and Present BY CHLOÉ BARDIN ARTS CONTRIBUTOR

At the tapping of a glass, the crowd in the Smart Museum looked up from their food and drinks. The man who called for their attention was Dexter Zollicoffer, who played Paedagogus in Sophocles’s Electra earlier this season at Court Theatre. “I was sent for that purpose and will tell thee all.” With these words, Zollicoffer created a new space and time. Dressed in modern attire, he transformed the Ratner Reception Gallery into an improvised stage and the spectators

into Clytemnestra’s court. The ancient battle that Orestes fought in replayed before us. Bridging the gap between past and present, his performance summed up the goal of Classicisms, the Smart Museum’s newest exhibition. Classicisms celebrates the way visual arts have been, and continue to be, influenced by antiquity. At the exhibition’s opening reception last Wednesday, February 22, participants joined Andrei Pop, an associate professor on the Committee on Social Thoughts, and Anne Leonard, co-curator of the exhibition, for a gallery tour. Works are displayed in a nonlin-

Olivia Shao

Viewers participated in a guided tour of the gallery last Wednesday.

ear chronology: A Rodin sculpture stands next to a 5th century B.C.– artifact and an 18th-century piece. This layout allows a new definition of classicism to emerge—one centered around tension between the old and the new, between respecting and breaking the rules, between imitation and invention. Antiquity, either celebrated or feared, appears as an endless source of inspiration for artists of the French Academy from the 18th to 20th centuries. In Giorgio de Chirico’s The Seer, antiquity appears as the shadow of an old building invading the painting, a looming menace that cuts across the frame. Artistic Director of Court Theatre Charles Newell and Nicholas Rudall, professor emeritus of the Classics department, gave some context about Greek classical tragedy. They stated our debt to the Athenians who created an art for, and about, the city. But the question of “what the heck are we going to do now,” as Newell put it, is one of adapting this heritage to the world we live in. As the “s” in the title of the exhibition suggests, there has not been one answer to this question. Through its interdisciplinary approach, this exhibition at the Smart aims to chal-

Olivia Shao

Classicisms exhibits works inspired by antiquity.

lenge a definition of “classicism” that perhaps takes concepts of order, harmony, and decorum for granted. In the middle of the gallery, two French paintings by William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Émile-René Ménard highlight the romanticizing of Homer as a character. He becomes the epitome of the poet. Here, as in the rest of the exhibition, the curators seem to ask the question, “How have artists interpreted antiquity throughout history, and how have they transformed it to speak to

their society?” Why does antiquity continue to fascinate both audiences and artists, even in the 21st century? In a culture obsessed with novelty, why does Newell continue to stage the ancient plays of Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus? Why do we still care about Orestes’s death? “Because [the Greek playwrights] are talking about something bigger than family. They are talking about the big, unanswered questions,” Newell said. They were talking about us. Still. Always.

Lucid Dream: UT’s Circe Both Nightmare and Fantasy BY ABBY KUCHNIR ARTS STAFF

Last weekend, theatergoers experienced a long nightmare with occasional dream sequences in the Logan Center’s Theater West. Through Circe, directed by fourthyear Gabriel Garey Levine, they traveled on a horror-ridden journey through bars, brothels, shadowy alleys, and the darker corners of memory and imagination. Circe, the 15th chapter of James Joyce’s Ulysses and the inspiration for this piece, is written in the form of a script that is nearly impossible to follow. After an announcement encouraged the audience to move around the space, the immersion into the piece began immediately in the dream-like space between Nighttown, Dublin’s red-light district, and the hallucinations experienced by Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus. Driving the fantasy of the ac-

tion was the sparse set, designed by second-year Maya Jain. The seven actors moved around eight white rolling screens to create the landscape of the play. The screens often obscured part of the action from certain perspectives, forcing audience members to either move to see the actors or stay and listen to their voices. The players soon revealed the screens to be convertible, transforming them into mirrors, rings, torture tables, and puppeteer sticks, with some screens breaking apart and coming together again and others altered by removing a white sheet or shining a blacklight. The lighting of the play set an eerie mood and drove the weirdness of the piece. It shone purple, pink, and blue on the white screens and several white costume pieces, painting the scene with a unifying glow. In particular, the pink light was a pun on the play’s setting in Dublin’s red-light district, and a

strobe added intensity to some of the dream sequences. A blacklight revealed vines crawling up the sides of white screens, a dizzying set of circles in the center of the floor, and a skeleton painted onto the prostitute Zoe’s skin. First-year Hope Gundlah stole the stage in her expressive rendition of Zoe, a prostitute from the brothel that Bloom and Dedalus visit. She was coy and nuanced throughout, and even performed impressive acrobatics on a trapeze. The other brothel workers came to life too, floating in and out of reality and Bloom and Dedalus’s fantasies. At one point, Bella, portrayed by third-year Cori Mayer, became the larger-than-life floating corpse of Dedalus’s mother. Brothel workers turned into nurses in the scene where Bloom gives birth to eight children in his own fantasy. Several actors took on secondary roles at one point or another, lending new meaning and depth to their

original parts. The sparse set and frequently nonsensical lines let the actors carry the show with their movement, and they rose to the occasion with energy and weirdness. Circe was profoundly odd, oscillating between wacky and frightening. The lines between fantasy and reality were hazy, and the emotional arc swung spo-

radically from joyful to horrifying without losing its ominous air. This play was an unsettling and wild interpretation of Ulysses, a book that is notoriously imagined and analyzed in a myriad of ways. There will never be another interpretation of Ulysses quite like this one, and I have never seen any show like this one on a UT stage.

Zoe Kaiser

UT’s adaptation of Circe channeled the fantastical elements of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Talking Art: Rushdie, American String Quartet Enchant Mandel BY GRACE HAUCK ARTS EDITOR

“It all began at Denny’s,” Sir Salman Rushdie joked on Friday night. The decorated British-Indian novelist appeared in Mandel Hall in partnership with the world-renowned American String Quartet for this weekend’s Midwest premier of composer Paul Cantelon’s Suite for The Enchantress of Florence. Cantelon first conceived of the work while breezing through Rushdie’s 2008 novel of the same name over a cup of coffee at America’s favorite

diner. The Enchantress, Rushdie’s ninth magical realist work, distills two centuries and three continents into 465 flowery pages. From the court of Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great to the Florentine palace of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Rushdie’s heroine adventures through an erotic whirlwind of love, mystery, and gore—with a dash of Vespucci. It’s no surprise that Rushdie calls it his most-researched work. “Yes, it’s her story, but, along the way, it’s the story of empire, power, humanism—the time of Machiavelli,” Rushdie said.

Child prodigy and score-writer Cantelon easily succumbed to The Enchantress’s allure. He collaborated with the American String Quartet to draft a six-movement sonnet to the text, giving voice to Rushdie’s lyrical prose—and letting it speak for itself. At the close of each movement, Rushdie read a short segment of his work, creating a hybrid art form that was more akin to a mass than a showcase of classical music. “Personally, I’m a preacher’s son,” Cantelon said, supremely humble. “The passages were roughly chosen because the book is so sen-

suous and so inspiring musically. I didn’t try to rewrite them.” “And there would be copyright issues,” Rushdie added, eliciting laughs from the audience. Even an hour before Friday’s designated start time, Rushdie and Quartet fans queued up outside the performance hall, many clutching copies of Rushdie’s Booker Prize-winning Midnight’s Children. Rachel DeWoskin, lecturer in creative writing, kicked off the evening with a pre-concert artists’ chat: Rushdie, Cantelon, Peter Winograd (violin), Laurie Carney (violin), Daniel Avshalomov (viola), and

Wolfram Koessel (cello) touched on the logistical evolution of the suite and the art of lyrical translation (or, in the words of Cantelon, “cross-pollination”). “Well, we couldn’t find a Denny’s, so we went to a French bistro on the Upper West Side,” Avshalomov said, reliving the Quartet’s initial meeting to discuss the atypical project. The Quartet first ran through the suite without context, but as the musicians began to enter a fantastical Renaissance Eurasia, they reworked the score and refined the Continued on page 6

THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 28, 2017 PHOTOS BY ESTELLE HIGGINS ARTS CONTRIBUTOR

Le Vorris & Vox Circus presented its Winter Showcase in Logan last Friday, featuring circus arts such as aerial silks, trapeze, poi, acrobatics, lyra, cyr wheel, and juggling. With members from UChicago’s undergraduate, graduate, and alumni communities, Le Vorris & Vox Circus holds free open gym sessions in Logan 701 three times a week.

“Cantelon’s suite began at the end: death on a battlefield.” Continued from page 5 textual selections, seeking to encapsulate not a plotline but the portrait of a world. “It’s childlike—not really masculine or feminine, but it’s a woman’s story. A woman in a man’s world,” Cantelon said. The promised hour-long Q&A concluded after an unsatisfactory 20 minutes as the artists headed backstage to prepare for the two-part program: the headliner, Cantelon’s suite (which would prove to take twice as long as expected), followed by an under-promoted treat, Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major. Mandel quickly swelled to capacity. Cantelon’s suite began at the end: death on a battlefield. The Quartet started with a soft ode to the fallen—a short preface to Rushdie’s thick, mournful British accent as he read from a red-bound copy of The Enchantress, littered with Post-its: “There is a weakness that comes over men at the battle’s end, when they become aware of the fragility of life, they clutch it to their bosoms like a crystal bowl they almost dropped, and the treasure of life scares away their courage.” The words rained down like gospel. They were sweet, and they were sudden—a disarming leap from self-congratulatory banter to resigned poetry. As Winograd picked up the melody once more, visibly lifting off of his chair, the twin voices of bow and spoken word embarked on a sad, strange duet.

Rushdie’s second vignette: Machiavelli reclining on the edges of a farm, contemplating the movement of a woman’s body like a stream over pebbles. Rushdie played the part; he taunted the audience with tales of romance and hidden truths before giving way to Avshalomov on viola, who carried Winograd’s theme with echoes of classical Indian rhythms. The novelist’s third solo rivaled only the first in its lyricism. Rushdie read the triumphant monologue of Angélique, daughter of Jacques Coeur of Bourges, whose repeated epithet melded into a pulsing beat before Rushdie veered into a disturbing meditation on slavery and the utility of fear, a Mughal Machiavelli. The artists, however, grew tragically unsynchronized over the next few segments. Rushdie became more animated; he fished for laughs, talked history, and gesticulated. The Quartet, meanwhile, remained serious, matching cheer with somber mien, and at all the wrong moments. The final segment carried the work full circle. Rushdie read it like a hymn: confronted with drought, Akbar must lead his people out of Sikri in search of a better future. This prince, like the half-dead warrior on the opening battlefield, must come to terms with the impermanence of life. It’s an utterly spiritual moment of survival, and of civilization. Winograd drew out the tantalizing final notes, marking the end of a directionless journey within an impossible world.

“Each time I hear the music, I hear the rhythm of the book more in it,” Rushdie said. “Now, I’m beginning to feel the shape of the text in the music.” Weak in isolation, Cantelon’s suite was not a musical masterwork. Yet in context, it gave life to a strange new art form. The interplay of music and prose even bled into the second portion of the evening; when the Quartet returned after intermission to treat the audience to a little Beethoven, Cantelon prefaced the performance with a reading by the master himself. “Even in bed my ideas yearn towards you, my Immortal Beloved, here and there joyfully, then again sadly, awaiting from fate,

whether it will listen to us. I can only live, either altogether with you or not at all,” Beethoven wrote. Does he call to an unnamed lover? To music? To God? His words, like those of Rushdie’s countless lovers, elevate love to the divine. Friday’s program—a seemingly incompatible mix of classical and contemporary—found unity in giving voice to its artists. “ They both create entire worlds,” Avshalomov said. “Neither one of them ignores what has come before: Rushdie with history, Beethoven learning from Haydn, Mozart, everybody. He opened all types of doors that contemporary composers are still walking through.”

Alexandra Davis

The American String Quartet performs Paul Cantelon’s suite inspired by Rushdie’s novel.

South Side Projections Screens Lost Psychoanalytic Tapes from Coney Island BY NIK VARLEY ARTS CONTRIBUTOR

“Coney Island is in ruins. I know it is all my fault.” This was one of the stranger quotations from South Side Projections’ screening of the so-called “lost movies” from the Coney Island Amateur Psychoanalytic Film Society. The screening, held at Bridgeport’s Co-Prosperity Sphere, featured 10 short films recently compiled by artist Zoe Beloff that were allegedly made by Coney Island residents between 1926 and 1972. The premise of the film society was simple: Coney Island residents who were interested in psychoanalysis but lacked the funds for professional sessions recreated their dreams on fi lm and analyzed them using Freudian principles. The Society, purportedly founded by Coney Island amusement park designer Albert Grass in 1926, was as mysterious as it was strange. Its aim was to free the people of Coney Island from the

repressive cultural and sexual norms of the ’20s through psychoanalysis. In addition to his work in film, Grass apparently had designs to create his own Freudian theme park inspired by Coney Island, but failed to raise the startup money. Despite allegedly creating several films per year, most of the group’s work has been lost, and now only the 10 screened by South Side Projections remain. Many believe that the Society never existed at all and that it was merely an urban myth created and perpetuated by Beloff and the Coney Island Museum. Whether these fi lms are the work of amateur psychoanalysts or old film strips that Beloff spliced together herself, they are certainly worth watching. They are strange, to say the least: footage of flash dancers and vintage amusement park rides is juxtaposed with insects, graveyards, levitating stuffed animals and other surreal images. The plots, for their part, do not disappoint. “The Midget Crane,” one of the first films shown, tells

the story of a man’s coworkers who are miraculously turned into dwarves. He then drops each one out to sea with an enormous crane. Another, “The Bear Dream,” depicts a man suddenly transformed into a bear. The psychoanalysis that accompanies the dreams is, at times, similarly goofy. The director of “The Bear Dream” ultimately concludes that the dream signifies his fear of ‘baring’ himself to a woman, while a middle-aged woman sees her dream of chicken as a sign that she is no longer a ‘spring chicken’ herself. This analysis may have held water in 1926, but the audience of 2017 is harder to impress—most of the crowd responded with good-natured laughter. However, these interpretations are earnest, and the films are better for them. Beneath the absurdity, the psychoanalysis reveals a very honest effort by fi lmmakers to understand their lives and world. This is at times quite moving; one fi lm describes a man coping with his taboo

romance with another man, a second reveals the guilt the director feels over his parents’ divorce. These moments of pathos are executed with a light touch, and it can be easy to miss them among the fantastical imagery and vexing title cards. Yet the depth of these moments is as valuable as any of the surrounding material. These films now occupy a strange space in the cultural landscape. The doubts surrounding the Society’s existence are too strong for the fi lms to be used as historical artifacts, and the fi lms themselves aren’t famous enough to be screened in major theatres or cultural centers. As a result, they will most likely find a home in niche venues that can risk a night of slim profits on such an esoteric project. This is a shame; the fi lms are unique, and they deserve to be seen. Those lucky enough to hear about them—or better yet, see them projected on 16mm film—will spend a bizarre but pleasurable hour viewing a bygone era of Coney Island through a strange, psychoanalytic window.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 28, 2017

Upset Finish for Maroons MEN’S BASKETBALL

BY MICHAEL PERRY SPORTS STAFF

The University of Chicago men’s varsity basketball team wrapped up their season this Saturday with an impressive 81–74 win over rivals No. 5 Wash U (20 –5, 12–2 UA A). The Bears won the f irst matchup earlier this season on a controversial goaltending call against the Maroons as time expired. There was no opportunity for a last-second shot this game, however, as the Maroons outscored the Bears by 10 in the second half to bring the win back to Hyde Park. With the win, the Maroons finish with a 16 –9 overall record and an 8 – 6 record in the University Athletic Conference. They averaged 83.3 points per game and gave up an average of 77.9

points. Fourth-years Waller Perez and Blaine Crawford led the team in scoring, averaging 15.4 and 15.0 points per game, respectively. Third-year guard Jake Fenlon lead the team in scoring on Saturday, however, dropping 16 points. Also of note was Fenlon scoring eight of the team’s final 10 points of the first half, keeping the team alive as Wash U only had a three-point lead at halftime. “I was able to get some good looks,” Fenlon said. “Beating the No. 5 team in the nation was a great way to end the season, especially for the seniors in their last game. Hopefully this can create the momentum for the offseason and we are able to build on it for next year.” Fenlon made three three-pointers against the Bears, breaking the

school’s season record for threes that was set by second-year guard Noah K arras earlier this season. Fenlon finished the season with 76 made on 186 attempts, good for .409 behind the arc. Karras was just behind with 75 made, but only took 168 shots behind the arc, giving him a .446 percentage, the highest on the team. “It was fun going back and forth with Jake [ Fenlon] this year,” said Karras, who also led the entire UA A in three-point percentage. “ We are both pretty competitive guys, so we were both better because of it. I will just have to come back next year and try to break the record again.” With Chicago graduating three of five starters, Fenlon and Karras will likely start together next year. Typically this season, one has started with

the other coming off the bench since they are both guards. The squad is also bolstered by third-year Collin Barthel, second-year Justin Jackson, and firstyear Jordan Baum, three players who made significant contributions this year. In his last game, Crawford again led the team with nine rebounds, a fitting way for him to end his career. Chicago outrebounded the Bears 38 –30 as well, led by Crawford’s efforts. The win on Saturday marked the final game in Maroon uniforms for fourth-years Tyler Howard, Alex Gustafson, Perez, and Crawford. These four players won a total of 64 games during their tenure here at the University of Chicago.

Bright Future for Maroon Diving SWIM & DIVE

BY BRITTA NORDSTROM SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

In the last meet before the NCA A DI I I Championships in March, the M a r o on s t o ok t o t he b oa r d s t h i s weekend to hopefully secure a spot at the national competition. Chicago sent three athletes to Grand Rapids,

MI: first-year Agnes Lo, second-year Anna Girlich, and third-year Natalie Demuro. The NCA A Diving Regional began on Friday with the one-meter dive. Among 20 competitors, Lo led the Maroons with a third-place finish while Demuro and Girlich followed in sixth and 11th, respectively. With this finish, Lo qualified for

the NCA A Championship and w ill compete with several of her swimming counterparts in the middle of March. Lo commented on her transition from high school to college diving, showing why she has already been so successful in a Maroon uniform. “I practiced about the same in club diving back at Stanford, and the intensity was comparable. College is just different in that we have competitions more often, but I enjoy that challenge because it makes me a better diver,” Lo said. Girlich, who was the UA A Women’s Diver of the Year last year, emphasized how she has grown over the past year. “Having the experience already is super helpful. The meet is a very different atmosphere from what we’re used to, and not knowing what to expect can be really stressful,” Girlich said. Saturday ended with similar results at the three-meter board; Lo replicated her third-place finish, leading to another qualification for the final meet. Girlich improved on her mark from the one-meter by taking 10th, and Demuro ended up falling to No. 12 at the three-meter. While this is the end of the road for two of the divers this year, the future

looks incredibly bright for the Chicago diving program. Both Demuro and Girlich qualified for the regional meet last year, and their improvement this year lends itself to the idea that the squad’s trajectory only points upward. The fact that all three women have at least one more year of competition left further illustrates their potential. “All of us are looking forward to improving ourselves next year, in terms of learning new dives and improving in consistency. I’ve already achieved my season goals, but I’m excited to see where the next three years will take me,” Lo said. E choi ng her t ea mmat e’s sent iments, Girlich added, “ It’s good to know where we all stand in our region, and we know what we have to do to improve for next year. It’s exciting that all of us still have at least another year, and although we thought this season was great, there’s still so much room to improve.” Both the swimmers and divers of the Chicago program will be back in action at the NCA A Championship meet but they have two weeks to prepare as the competition commences on March 15.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - FEBRUARY 28, 2017

SPORTS Strong Racket Play Continues TENNIS

BY NATALIE DEMURO SPORTS STAFF

The University of Chicago No. 5 men’s team competed this weekend at the ITA National Men’s Team Indoor Championship, while the No. 10 women hosted Principia College and John Carroll University in a pair of matches on Saturday. The men advanced to the final match of the tournament with 7–2 wins over No. 9 Pomona-Pitzer and No. 7 Wash U. In a rematch of last year’s f ina l, the Ma roons ultimately fel l again to No. 2 Emory University. On the women’s side, the squad dominated both matches, sweeping Principia 9 – 0 and knocking off John Carroll 8 –1. In the opening round of the ITA Indoor Nationals, the No. 3 Maroons swept doubles play to take a 3 – 0 lead over Pomona-Pitzer. UChicago’s top four singles players—third-year David Liu, third-year Nick Chua, second-year Charlie Pei, and third-year Lu ke Tsa i —won thei r mat ches i n straight sets to clinch the victory for the Maroons. The squad dropped the No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots in super tiebreakers.

Saturday ’s semif inal featured a conference matchup between the Maroons and the No. 4 Wash U Bears. UChicago took a 2 –1 lead after wins from f irst-years Ninan Kumar and Erik Kerrigan at No. 1 doubles and third-year Bobby Bethke and Pei at the No. 3 spot. The Maroons then took five of six singles matches for a place in Sunday’s finals. For the second straight year, the Maroons faced the Eagles in the championship round. After falling to 3 – 0 in doubles play, UChicago dropped matches at No. 1 and No. 3 singles to hand Emory the title. The lone victory of the day came from Chua at the No. 2 spot. Once Emory secured the 5 –1 win, the final three matches were left unfinished. Liu said of their performance, “ I think our team took a step forward this weekend. We beat a Pomona-Pitzer team that we’ve never beaten, and a Wash U team that has historically given us a lot of trouble. It wasn’t the final result we were hoping for, but this tells us that there’s clearly work to do to be ready for the second half of the season. That said, we are excited to go into the

University of Chicago Athletics

Second-year Kat Stevanovich chases after the ball with intense focus.

outdoor season as the No. 2 team in the country.” Back at home, the No. 10 UChicago women improved to 7– 0 this season with dominating victories over Principia and John Carroll. In the first set of matches, the Maroons swept the Panthers 9 – 0, taking home 8-0 wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 double spots. Second-year Rachel Kim, fourth-year Tiffany Chen, and first-year A lyssa Rudin each picked up 6 – 0, 6 – 0 wins in singles play. The Maroons then went

3 – 0 in doubles matches against John Carroll, knocking off the No. 2 and No. 3 pairs 8 – 0. At the No. 2 singles spot, first-year Marjorie Antohi came away with a 6 – 0, 6 – 0 win. T h i s we ekend , t he u ndefe at e d women’s team has its chance at the ITA Indoor Team Championship when it travels to Murfreesboro, TN. The men’s team has a short break before returning to competition on March 10 as hosts to Niagara University.

Last Second Loss WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

BY JOSH PARKS SPORTS STAFF

With the UAA Championship on the line, the South Siders took their seven-game win streak to St. Louis to take on No. 7 Wash U this past Saturday. After controlling most of the action, the Maroons saw a nine-point advantage and their title hopes slip away in the final minute, falling to Wash U by a final score of 77–75. The two UAA powerhouses were in a battle from the opening tip. After trading baskets for most of the fi rst 10 minutes, the Maroons began to assert themselves offensively in the second period. Second-year Ola Obi led the Maroon charge, posting 12 points and six rebounds in the fi rst 20 minutes of play. The Maroon defense was able to keep the hosts at bay in

the first half, forcing 10 Wash U turnovers and holding the Bears to just 26 points. Capped off by a bucket from first-year Mia Farrell, the Maroons carried a nine-point lead into the locker room at halftime. After a slow start to the contest, fourth-year Britta Nordstrom started the third period with five straight points for the Maroons. Third-year Elizabeth Nye tacked on three more, putting the visitors out front by a score of 43–30. However, the Bears refused to panic, answering with a 16–2 run to jump ahead by one. The Maroons would scrap their way back in front in the closing minute, with Nye making an and-one play to cap the period to give Chicago a four-point edge heading into the homestretch. Firmly in control for most of the fi nal quarter, two free throws from Farrell put the Maroons ahead 72–63 with only 47

seconds remaining. After a quick four points from Wash U fourth-year leader Zoe Vernon, the Maroons went cold from the charity stripe, converting only three of their fi nal eight attempts. Featuring a pair of threes from fourth-year Ereka Hunt, the Bears tacked on eight more points in a 17-second span to pull even with Chicago at 75–75. With a chance to win the game, a costly turnover by the Maroons gave the Bears one fi nal possession with six ticks remaining. Driving from the top of the key, third-year Natalie Orr banked home a runner in the fi nal second to give Wash U its fourth UAA Championship in as many seasons and punching the Bears’ ticket to the DIII NCAA Tournament. Despite the loss, the Maroons concluded a spectacular regular season with an 18–7 overall record, finishing 11–3 in

conference play. Tallying five wins against top-25 opponents, the UAA runner-up Maroons were rewarded with one of the coveted 21 at-large bids to the DIII NCAA Tournament, marking their first appearance since 2012. Chicago will face Wartburg College in the Round of 64 this Friday in St. Paul, MN. The Wartburg Knights come into the fi rst-round matchup with a dazzling 25–2 record and the IIAC Tournament and regular season titles to match. Having reached the national semifi nals one year ago, the Knights will be a formidable challenger for the young Maroons. “Wartburg is a great team that has proven themselves all year long,” said Nye. “But I wouldn’t want to play us coming off a Wash U loss.” Friday’s tip-off is scheduled at the University of St. Thomas.

Shock the Nation TRACK & FIELD

BY EMMA GRIFFITHS SPORTS STAFF

This past weekend, the men and women of Chicago traveled to Brandeis University in Boston to compete in the UAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The women’s team placed second and the men took third. What has remained most important for the team this entire season has been the focus on unity and support throughout. Head coach Chris Hall and the rest of the coaching staff have continually emphasized the importance of teamwork for overall strength. This constant support has allowed for motivated practices and performances as the team has worked to always keep positivity and focus on its goals. These values were reflected in quotes from a few of the captains. Fourth-year captain Charissa Newkirk

said, “Across the board we had a lot of personal bests and first place finishers. Most of all, I’m proud to see that everyone truly supported all of their teammates regardless of how they performed personally, and that was really cool to see.” It was clear that this unity was reflected in performances, as classmate and fellow captain Eleanor Kang said, “We saw some great competition at our conference meet and it was great seeing our team really come together and elevate.” Conference championships are what the team works for during both the indoor and outdoor season. “In such high pressure competition, the expectations we set for ourselves are often met with unexpected results: the elation of new personal records and hardwon points can clash with the unanticipated disappointments and chaotic nature of facing some of the best competition in the country,”

said fourth-year captain Nick Nielsen. “Having personally experienced both extremes this weekend, I’m incredibly proud of my teammates and their incredible efforts— both in training and competition. Every point was fought for until the end, and I can’t wait to keep fighting for another season.” Top performers include third-year Patrick LeFevre taking first and classmate Will Ackerman taking third in the 55-meter hurdles, fourth-year Temisan Osowa taking first in the 55-meter dash, third-year Nathan Downey taking first in the 200-meter dash, and first-year Alexander Scott taking first in the shot put, while the distance medley relay snatched third, and the 4x400-meter relay took second. For the women, second-year Alexandra Thompson took first and thirdyear Ade Ayoola took second in the high jump, third-year Khia Kurtenbach took

second in the 3,000-meter run and first in the 5,000-meter run, and classmate Megan Verner-Crist took third in the one mile. Furthermore, first-year Robin Peter took third in the 55-meter hurdles, classmate Alisha Harris took third in the 55-meter dash and first in the long jump, while first-year Mary Martin took third in the long jump, and the distance medley relay took third. Some team members are continuing on to qualify for the NCAA Championships in a few weeks while the rest of the team is working toward their outdoor season goals. “Looking ahead, there are many of us who will be continuing the season to try to compete at Nationals. I’m excited to see what we can do there and I’m also looking forward to our outdoor season where I’m sure our team will excel and also perform at a high level at our outdoor conference meet,” Kang said.