MARCH 2, 2018
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892
VOL. 129, ISSUE 33
Obama Foundation Announces Fully Funded Scholarship Program BY FENG YE NEWS EDITOR
A new one-year master’s program at the Harris School of Public Policy, the Obama Foundation Scholars Program, aims to train young leaders dedicated to service, with a focus on international development and policy. The program, in collaboration with the Obama Foundation, will begin fall quarter of next year, and hopes to attract applicants from across the world. For its inaugural year, about 25 students will receive full scholarships and living-expenses stipends for the program. Besides academic classes, program activities will also in-
clude experiences in New York and Washington, D.C., service projects, South Side–based community engagements, and other leadership opportunities mediated through the Obama Foundation’s network. The deadline to apply for the 2018 program is April 10. “I’m looking forward to welcoming an outstanding class of young people to Chicago’s South Side—the future home of the Obama Presidential Center. And we hope that each class of Obama Foundation Scholars begins a journey in which they inspire more young people to build the world as it should be,” Obama said in an announcement about the program.
Audrey Teo
A UChicago student speaks at the prayer vigil outside the Obama Foundation meeting.
Dem Gubernatorial Candidates Debate at Forum BY CINDY YAO AND DAKSH CHAUHAN
Obama Promises to Replace Jackson Park Athletic Field
NEWS REPORTERS
BY RIMSHA NAZEER Frontrunner Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidates J.B. Pritzker, Daniel Biss, and Chris Kennedy clashed over jobs, taxes, and the Blagojevich tapes in a forum hosted by the Institute of Politics, Politico, and WBEZ Chicago on Thursday. Pritzker, a billionaire heir from the family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, is running on the platform of reforming early education and the health Continued on page 3
NEWS REPORTER
Courtesy of the Institute of Politics
The six Democratic candidates for governor on the debate stage last night.
College Council Discusses SG Reorganization BY TONY BROOKS NEWS REPORTER
College Council met Tuesday night to informally discuss the potential reorganization of Student Government. The meeting was intended to initiate conversations about what could change but no official proposals were made. When the Council opened the
floor to members for discussion, some raised concerns over proposing potential changes to the College Council’s bylaws without first identifying any problems with them. “I feel like if there are inefficiencies in College Council, which I’m sure there are, the way to address that is to figure out what the problems are and find solutions, not change the struc-
ture and hope it sorts itself out,” second-year Veronica Myers said. “A lot of the inefficiencies [in College Council] are because of a lack of understanding on the part of the student body,” Myers said. “The student body doesn’t really know what we do, and the administration doesn’t really care what we do.” Several improvements were Continued on page 3
Former President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance and gave the main presentation for the Obama Foundation’s public meeting on Tuesday at McCormick Place. The meeting addressed the organization’s progress, concerns from the community, and aspirations for the Obama Presidential Center (OPC). During his speech, Obama defended the foundation for refusing to engage with and support the coalition seeking a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). The proposed CBA would embrace a range of development measures and has gained traction among thousands of local residents in Bronzeville, South Shore, Woodlawn, Washington Park, and other neighborhoods. The Obama Library South Side CBA Coalition’s development principles include setting aside jobs for young people, avoiding displacement of current residents, providing living wage requirement for employees, and
MCA Threads Time and Canvas at Pindell Exhibit
offering free admission to Chicago Public School students. Just two hours before the meeting, the Obama Library South Side CBA Coalition held a prayer vigil against displacement outside the McCormick Center, where members called on the Obama Foundation to sign a CBA safeguarding community interests. A community member at the vigil described his disillusionment with Obama. “[Obama] didn’t know us in 2008,” he said, and prayer vigil attendees joined in, “when we voted for him!” “He didn’t know us in 2012 when it was a struggle to get back in the White House…. Back then we had his back,” he said. “Well in 2018, he don’t even want to look at our backs…. He’s moving forward with the University of Chicago and the mayor of Chicago. All those people are the ones calling the shots.” Obama justified not signing a CBA by pointing to the Foundation’s ongoing commitment to transparency: It has met with community leaders, taken into Continued on page 3
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Rally Demands Illinois Reps Take Action on DACA
NCAA Diving Regionals Rapidly Approaching
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Events 3/2-3/5 Today Men in Drag: Pie 2k18 Bond Chapel, 7 p.m. A cappella group Men in Drag bring sweet treats for the eyes, ears, and stomachs with their yearly dessert auction featuring performances by Off-Off, Voices in Your Head, and PhiNix. Tomorrow SWS Presents: Women in Finance Panel Ida Noyes Hall, Third Floor Theater, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Smart Woman Securities hosts a panel designed to connect female undergraduates with women in the financial services industry. Refreshments will be provided. Sunday KSO Annual Culture Show Logan Center for the Arts, 6 p.m.–8 p.m. This year’s Korean Student Organization (KSO) culture show is inspired by popular Korean talent competitions and will include 13 acts including PhiNix, Hyde Park Taekwondo Dojo, and various KSO dance groups. Dinner, included with ticket purchase, begins at 6 p.m. Monday
Candidate for Illinois Governor Jeanne Ives Ida Noyes Hall, Library, 12 p.m. The Institute of Politics will host Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Ives to talk about her campaign platform.
Support Our Advertisers Page T hree: Howard Brown Health provides sexual health services. 1525 E. 55th Street. Online: Prize—The T. Kimball Brooker Prize for Undergraduate Book Collecting awards $1,000 and $2,000 to second- and fourth-years, respectively, who possess exemplary themed book collections. If you want to place an ad in T he M ar o on , please e-mail ads@ chicagomaroon.com or visit chicagomaroon.com/ pages/advertise.
Sophia Corning
Ralliers hold signs calling on Illinois Representatives to demand legal protections for immigrant youth.
Rally Demands Illinois Reps Take Action on DACA BY ANNABELLE RICE NEWS REPORTER
Last night, local university students and community members gathered downtown in Federal Plaza for a rally to demand increased efforts from Illinois representatives to protect undocumented immigrant youth under DREAM Act provisions. The protest was organized by United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth–led network in the United States. Student groups in attendance included MEChA de UChicago, Students Organizing United With Labor at UChicago, UChicago Young Democratic Socialists, UChicago OL AS, and Northwestern Law Students for a Dream Act. Chicago representatives of the Refuse Fascism political activism group and the Community Activism Law Alliance also attended. With only five days until DACA’s expiration date (as set by the Trump administration), protesters led by UChicago second-year Mo Cruz and first-year Emilio Balderas repeated chants demanding Illinois representatives Michael Bost, Rodney Davis, and Peter Roskam confront the choice to either “stand as freedom fighters” or “allow Trump’s regime of terror to continue to thrive.” Implemented by former president
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Speaking from her experience as an undocumented immigrant, South Side resident and elementary school teacher Katherine Huete Galeano shared her opinion on the recent Supreme Court refusal to take up DACA as a key case dealing. The high court said that the case should first be heard by an appeals court, meaning that DACA will remain in place if or until the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case officially. “Although that was very good news for us, we need a policy where we can renew DACA,” she said. “In the future, it’s still their decision, which is why we need the passage of an actual bill to secure the policy from elimination.” A lt er nati ng between cha nts i n Spanish and English, Cruz emphasized a message of inclusivity throughout his speeches, calling upon the “undocumented and unafraid” to the “trans, queer, and unashamed” members of his audience. “ I ’m going to keep f ighting until my community is protected,” Cruz said. “Our work does not end when the DREA M Act passes. Our work ends when every undocumented immigrant in this country can live knowing that they’re not going to be separated from their families. None of us are free until all of us are free.”
Ives, Controversial Republican Candidate for Illinois Governor, to Speak at IOP BY LEE HARRIS
In this week’s Citizen Bulletin: Rauner to review vet move; Raoul backs gun grab; Emanuel urges Uber tax. Find more and subscribe at chicagomaroon.com/contributor/citizen-bulletin.
Barack Obama in 2012, DACA offers protection for qualified immigrants who illegally entered the United States during childhood. DACA is often discussed alongside the proposed DREAM Act, a bill first introduced in 2001 and has been debated often since, which would establish a path to permanent residency for immigrants who currently qualify for protection under DACA. President Donald Trump announced his intent to rescind DACA on September 7 of last year. The repeal of DACA would render nearly 800,000 immigrant youth at risk of deportation. “ The goal is to get lawmakers to understand that we need immediate legislative protection for immigrant youth, but that this legislation cannot throw immigrant groups under the bus by increasing funding to the ICE, constructing a border wall, or sponsoring detention centers that are harming the immigrant community,” Balderas told T he M a roon . “ We’re here to get protection, but also to make sure that all affected communities aren’t indirectly harmed by that.” Accompanied by a chorus of “undocumented, unafraid, delays mean deportation” chants, Cruz and Balderas unfurled a banner that read: “Our lives are in danger, protect the undocumented youth #HereToStay.”
Jeanne Ives, Republican candidate for Illinois governor, will speak at the Institute of Politics (IOP) on Monday. Ives’s visit follows a month of tumultuous campaigning, including a controversial T V ad that appears to mock transgender individuals, among other groups, which quickly sparked bipartisan outcry. T he ad depicts a young woman wearing a pink “pussy hat” thanking incumbent Governor Bruce Rauner for “making all Illinois families pay for my abortions.” “ Thank you for signing legislation that lets me use the girls’ bathroom,” says a deep-voiced actor wearing a dress. A man in a hoodie with a ban-
dana over his mouth thanks Rauner for making Illinois “a sanctuary state for illegal immigrant criminals.” Former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady denounced the advertisement in a tweet. A West Point graduate, Ives served in the U.S. Army. She entered the Republican primary race late last year, after serving three terms as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 42nd District. Ives’s platform centers on capping income and property taxes, repealing sanctuary state protections for immigrants, and broadly defending “conservative values.” Ives has also been a vocal critic of ready access to abortions. “Ives will repeal the new, open-ended entitlement Rauner created by sign-
ing public funding of abortion on demand,” Ives’s website reads. Rauner currently holds an 18-point lead against Ives, according to polling data from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, as of Thursday, March 1. Rauner has been deemed the most vulnerable incumbent governor in the United States. Ives’s visit comes on the heels of other gubernatorial candidates’ visits: On Thursday, the IOP hosted a debate among Democratic gubernatorial candidates at the Logan Center. Prior to the debate, Democratic candidate Daniel Biss sat down for an interview with the M a roon Editorial Team.
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Kennedy Challenged Pritzker for Using “language of racists” in Blagojevich Tapes
Illinois State Budget to Fund Discovery Partners Institute
Kennedy for his proposal, citing Kennedy’s previous actions as Chair of the Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois, which resulted in increased tuition and forced many students to seek education out of state. Regarding the tax plan, all the candidates except Marshall said that they supported a progressive income tax. Pritzker was asked to comment on his wiretapped conversation with former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, in which he made racially insensitive comments about African-American politicians. In response, Pritzker admitted his wrongdoing and took responsibility for his actions, affirming his belief that voters will look past political attacks. Kennedy fired back, accusing Pritzker of using the “language of racists [in the tapes]...not the language of leaders.” W hen asked about whether they would request Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, who faced at least nine accusations of sexual misconduct within the past five years, to step down, Daiber was the only candidate to reject the proposal. In light of the Trump administration’s efforts to curb federal aid, both Biss and Kennedy rejected Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s work and her
BY BRAD SUBRAMANIAM
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care system. Biss, a former UChicago math professor, shares similar views but leans more left and wants to address the tax system. According to a new poll by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, Pritzker currently leads Biss by 10 points—31 percent to 21 percent. The debate, moderated by WBEZ Chicago’s Melba Lara, also featured candidates Bob Daiber, Tio Hardiman and Robert Marshall. The candidates first shared their diverging views on job creation and the tax system. Pritzker focused on increasing jobs added by small businesses, which he mentioned make up two-thirds of Illinois’ jobs. Biss didn’t lay out the specifics of his plan for creating jobs, but said he wants to lower the unemployment rate from 5 percent to 4 percent during his term, and emphasized that the jobs need to reach all groups. “Unemployment rate for the Latino community is 50 percent worse and we need to make sure that everybody benefits from new programs,” he argued. Kennedy said he wants to adopt Massachusetts’s job model, which focuses on universities producing more jobs through research. Pritzker attacked
“We are going to be fairer than fair... in how we approach the design of this... center” Continued from front
account every input from local residents, and made changes to the OPC through a “deliberate, thoughtful, and inclusive” process. The Foundation pledges to execute this “transparency process” throughout the project. Obama quoted former Mayor Harold Washington, “‘We are going to be fairer than fair’…in how we approach the design of this presidential center.” The former president noted that it is the nature of a project of this size for everyone to not completely agree on every single aspect. He went on to explain that with more economic activity, there will be more demand for all kinds of amenities in the community. The Obama Foundation estimates it will create $3 billion worth of economic activity, 5,000 jobs in construction, and over 2,500 permanent jobs. It expects to welcome over 700,000 visitors each year in the museum portion of the center. (The Museum of Science and Industry, the nearest attraction to the OPC, received 1.4 million guests in 2014.) Obama promised to work with organizations and institutions to preserve affordable housing and ensure local residents gain maximum benefits. “You can’t have one without the other. You can’t say we want more jobs, more businesses, more opportunities for our kids, but otherwise we want everything to stay exactly the same,” Obama said. He spoke about how he attributes his career in public service, marriage to Michelle, and two-term presidency to the South Side of Chicago. He hopes that the Center will transform the South Side by creating more jobs, business opportunities, educational impact, and economic growth. “[The OPC] would send a message to
constant efforts to lower student aid. Biss proposed spending more on the Monetary Aid Program (MAP) grants in the state to fill the void that DeVos is creating by lowering federal aid. Pritzker, on the other hand, said he firmly believed that the state can negotiate in areas like federal aid. “States fought the federal government when it came to saving Obamacare, and we can fight it to save student aid programs too,” Pritzker said. In an interview with reporters after the debate, the candidates largely criticized their opponents’ views and past actions, but also voiced their other plans if they are elected. Pritzker promised to unite Illinois residents and to get them more involved in the state’s affairs. “Many ventures like 1871 [a digital startup incubator that Pritzker helped found], which helped build Chicago’s digital startup community, came from getting people’s ideas together, and as a governor I will get people from all walks together and build upon their ideas,” Pritzker said during the conference. At the end of the forum, all candidates except for Marshall pledged to support whichever candidate becomes the Democratic nominee.
NEWS REPORTER
The State of Illinois announced last month that $500 million from its 2019 budget would be allocated towards the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), a program designed to collaborate with Chicago universities to foster innovation. Part of the budget would establish a research center on undeveloped land in Chicago’s South Loop. The Institute, backed by Governor Bruce Rauner and spearheaded by the University of Illinois, will also partner with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen announced last October that the university would recruit up to 1,800 students and 90 faculty members to work at the innovation center. The $1.2 billion venture is part of the larger Illinois Innovation Network which uses resources from outside of the Chicago area to encourage entrepreneurship. The project’s funding announcement comes as Chicago enters the final round of competition for Amazon’s second headquarters, a $5 billion investment that could create as many as 50,000 jobs for the city. Proponents of the DPI hope to attract Amazon’s attention by establishing Chicago as a center for innovation and entrepreneurship.
SG Members Discussed Putting Minutes Online Sooner
young people on the South: that you count, that you matter, that the parks on the South Side should look like the parks on the North Side,” he said. The former president explained that he chose the OPC site because he hopes it will foster the next generation of leadership like the South Side did for him. He is certain the OPC will be a “jewel” of not only the South Side, but also the city of Chicago. The organization has recently filed a plan development application to request the proper zoning and approvals for the proposed OPC site. Concurrently, the Obama Foundation is participating in the Section 106 review process. Section 106 is part of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 which evaluates proposed changes to historic sites such as Jackson Park. The Obama Foundation expects to meet with the Chicago Plan Commission and City Council this upcoming spring. After Obama’s address, breakout sessions offered smaller presentations regarding buildings and landscape, economic impact, and museum and programming. The City of Chicago provided two other breakout sessions. The Department of Transportation held a session for proposed changes and improvements in road infrastructure, pedestrian walkways, and traffic. The Chicago Park District announced in its session that the OPC signed an agreement to fund the construction of a new artificial turf field which will serve to replace the existing field at the OPC site. Negotiations over the golf course and other recreational fields are still in the works. This was the eighth Obama Foundation public meeting involving the OPC.
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proposed, including increasing the speed at which College Council makes its meeting minutes public. “The minutes should be dumped to the website as soon as possible,” fourth-year Cosmo Albrecht said. “I was just seated on this body a month ago, and I was trying to look at some minutes from earlier this year, and they were not posted.” According to the Council’s bylaws, the minutes are to be made available “in a timely fashion,” although it is not uncommon for weeks to pass before they are posted. The Council also discussed ways in which it can engage more with the administration, including by promoting more open communication with the administration and by inviting adminis-
trators to Council meetings. It is difficult to communicate with the undergraduate body, in part, due to constraints put on College Council by the University, members argued. “The administration has gotten very tight-fisted about school e-mails,” said Elections and Rules Committee Chairman Max Freedman. “With regard to the newsletter, I think [the Council] can only use one or two a quarter. One of them was used for the Mental Health Day.” By the end of the discussion, no concrete propositions to change the College Council were made, but multiple issues had been raised that members believe warrant further discussion.
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VIEWPOINTS You Aren’t “Pretty Sure.” You Know. Women Often Preface Thoughts With Qualifiers, Undermining Themselves
Meera Santhanam These days, it’s hard to ignore all the coverage of gender inequality in the media. We’ve learned that being promoted in the workplace is much more difficult for women, that women’s access to education doesn’t even begin to compare to men’s across the globe, and that salaries aren’t equal. We’ve heard about violence toward women, their lack of representation in politics, and, of course, the national epidemic that the #MeToo movement has finally brought to the forefront of our attention. But somehow, I had always imagined that many of these issues were distant from me. Sure, I read the gospels of Gloria Steinem and Sheryl Sandberg and took pride in identifying myself as an avid feminist. Still, I had this nagging feeling that even though some women—many women, even—confront gender stereotypes in their everyday lives, I rarely did. I constructed a bubble around myself, prematurely deeming
both myself and my environment immune from the inequalities that plague the wider world. I can’t say that a single event popped this bubble. Rather, a slew of small factors eventually forced me to recognize the gender inequality present in my life, despite my upbringing in a progressive, open-minded environment. I’ve noticed, for example, that many female classmates downplay or unnecessarily preface their comments in class. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard a woman say “I’m not sure if this is right, but,” “This is probably wrong, but,” or “I’m not really sure what I’m doing, but,” before sharing silver bullets of knowledge. I’ve even caught myself resorting to these prefacing statements at times, feeling the need to display a lack of confidence so as to appear not too confident, opinionated, or strong. And the scariest part is that I’m usually not even aware
of it. It feels natural—expected, even— to incessantly qualify these statements. And yes, there are certainly instances when our contributions do need to be qualified. I wouldn’t critique a theory in rocket science, for example, without acknowledging my cluelessness in the subject. But to me, these seemingly innocuous prefaces seem like more than just mere qualifications. It’s no coincidence that they so unevenly straddle gender lines. So I’m left with this question: Why do I, having come from a progressive background that’s taught me about the numerous pitfalls of gender stereotypes, still fall into these traps? I’ve been taught where they are, I’ve learned about how they operate and where they stand, and yet I still walk right into them without even knowing it. Simply asking this question has made me realize just how tenuous the bubble I’ve constructed is. To some extent, my privileged background means I do face less gender-based discrimination than most others. But at the same time, I am no less immune to these more latent gender stereotypes than anyone else is. Privilege does not mean we don’t preface. Progressiveness doesn’t either.
It may mean we are conscious of troubling stereotypes, but it doesn’t mean we know how to avoid them altogether. Minimizing our micro-endorsements of gender stereotypes is no easy task, especially when these manifestations feel small and trivial at times. But it takes a village, a village in which women hold each other accountable for small concessions of their unimportance. I invite you to alert me when I use language that downplays or undermines my comments, and I encourage you to ask others to do the same for you. Tell your friends when they are selling themselves short, and prompt them to think about what their self-trivialization is rooted in. Truncate your sentences! Why go through the effort of saying “I’m not sure, but…” when you could just express your thoughts without restriction? Qualify when appropriate, but not because someone else or society wants you to. We have to stop using prefacing language as an antiquated security blanket—it only perpetuates the exact gender stereotypes we are attempting to undermine. Meera Santhanam is a first-year in the College and an associate Viewpoints editor.
Guns Don’t Belong in Classrooms Arming Teachers Is an Absurd, Violent Solution to America’s Gun Problems
Zahra Nasser When I think of gun ownership, I think of a few things. I think of conservatism, I think of the South, and I think about a brand of incessant mass school shootings exclusive to the United States. When I think of these shootings, I think of children, teachers, bloodshed, “thoughts and prayers,” and no meaningful effort made to reform the policies that allow these events to occur. And due to recent support from the White
House, I’m compelled to consider two of the above in the same breath: teachers and gun ownership. My mom has been an educator since I started going to school. She volunteered at my preschool and chaperoned all my field trips until she realized that her attachment to teaching the alphabet and finger painting stemmed from more than just wanting to follow me, her youngest child, around. So she be-
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came an elementary school teacher and has been for over a decade now. As native Chicagoans, the issue of gun violence is far from foreign to us. The school shootings we hear about on the news and the shootings we know occur in the South Side both seem comfortably distant yet painfully close all at once. No one ever thinks that their neighborhood school will have to face a mass shooting. No one ever thinks they’ll be in the wrong part of the city at the wrong time around the wrong people. In evaluating potential solutions to the epidemic of school shootings, the suggestion to arm teachers —people who have devoted their lives to edu-
cating and inspiring —with guns is too absurd to even consider. To think that people like my mom, who became teachers out of a true love for seeing children grow and succeed, would carry a gun in a place as sacred as a classroom changes the entire profession of teaching in my mind. How could students find solace in the people they are supposed to look up to and learn from, in an environment that is supposed to be nurturing, if they see a black mass strapped to their teacher’s waist, loaded with bullets that could potentially take a classmate’s life? T hough the most recent slew of school shootings has occurred in eleContinued on page 5
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“...it is necessary that we question and openly discuss the future of guns” large. In fact, a study conducted by Citizens Crime Commission of New York City found that the number of campus shootings increased by nearly 153 percent between 2011 and 2016. As college students, the prospect of a shooting on our campus feels improbable, yet is unfortunately not unfounded. Just over two years ago, UChicago cancelled classes for a day after someone threatened online to commit a shooting on the main quad. Now, policy makers are debating the value of guns in high school, but there’s no
reason such a policy discussion couldn’t eventually extend to colleges. We as students not only contend with the possibility of a shooting on our campus, we also have to wonder if maybe someday, our professors too will wield guns. The thought of the noble profession of teaching being marred by the prospect of violence cannot be entertained. If teachers, who are rightfully considered some of the most understanding, peaceful people in society, possess guns, what stops anyone else from bearing arms, too? The log-
ical culmination of arming all teachers is arming everybody everywhere. Many pro-gun supporters love the mantra, “Guns don’t kill people—people kill people.” For example, Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Association, has called for more mental health treatment rather than more gun control. While increasing access to different forms of therapy is never a bad thing, it’s not the easy solution to gun violence that these supporters like to claim. There will always be those with a desire to kill, and
the best way to prevent them from doing so is to control access to weapons. More guns will only breed more capacity for violence. As college students in Chicago, and as those who have grown up in an era of near-constant mass shootings, it is necessary that we question and openly discuss the future of guns—even if, sadly enough, it is just for our immediate safety. Zahra Nasser is a first-year in the College.
ARTS Le Vorris & Vox Razzles and Dazzles at Cirque du Burlesque BY JAD DAHSHAN ARTS STAFF
Last week, the Le Vorris & Vox Circus presented their winter show, titled “Cirque du Burlesque.” Directed by trapeze artist and fourth-year Leah Ochroch, the show comprised a series of performances on the ground and in the air by performers both familiar and new to circus. Viewers were entertained and thrilled by group acrobatics, aerial silks, and more acts choreographed to a dynamic soundtrack that included pop music, ominous electronica, and songs from the musical Chicago. “Cirque du Burlesque” took place in the Logan Center, where the multidisciplinary RSO hosts weekly open gyms for practicing skills, rehearsing for shows, and teaching classes in various circus arts. The performances, which took place Wednesday through Friday night, were introduced by fourth-year Peyton Walker, a charismatic and humorous MC who wore a magenta robe that shone under the stage lights. Bantering with the audience while equipment was hoisted away or set up, she provided a comic relief that made the show more coherent despite the lapses between the different performances. The first of these performances was a group acrobatic act that had premiered at Lascivious Ball in January. Choreographed to the Backstreet Boy’s “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” the act involved about a dozen different members performing various lifts and stunts. With synchronized moves and swift costume changes (or rather, removals), the act could have passed as a high-budget ’90s music video. Contrastingly, the conclusive act of the evening, also an
acrobatic one, was a noticeably more theatrical homage to “Cell Block Tango” from the musical Chicago. In the act, the “six merry murderesses of the Cook County jail” narrated their convictions in a dance infused with sass, flips, acrobalance, and just the right amount of melodrama. A third partner-acro act was performed by fourth-year Daniel Heins and graduate student Sanja Miklin, who presented a rapid but calculated series of moves in a fiery, kinetic, and undeniably sexy adagio. The performers’ ability to engage in partner-acro, often involving minimal clothing and intimate positions, confirmed the strength of their partnership and how comfortable they are as an ensemble. Just before a brief intermission, six performers showed off their adroitness in staff spinning and glow poi, a type of performance in which glowing weights are spun to create various geometrical shapes. Choreographed by fourth-year Cindy Du, the act was magical to say the least. Costumes and makeup gave performers the impression of druids or fairies, and they seemed to summon spirits and open vortices to ethereal dimensions as they took turns carving the darkness with ephemeral streaks of violet light. Like some other acts, this one was not without its mishaps, but they were minor and did not detract from the show’s air of wonder. The following segments involved little contact with the ground, as solo acts were performed on the aerial silks. In one, the hanging fabric seemed like a scarlet serpent slithering and contorting to a silk charmer’s commands. In another act, the silks were tied in a knot and used as a sling, on which the aerialist Hilary K gracefully coordinat-
Estelle Higgins
ed her drops with the beat of the accompanying song. Other parts of the show saw group silk acts, one of which was inspired by Chicago’s “Razzle Dazzle.” Choreographed by fourth-year Cecilia June Boyers, the act had the audience snapping along. However, the silks were not the only aerial apparatus used in “Cirque du Burlesque.” Ochroch performed on the trapeze in an elegantly mournful ode to Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” and Walker took a break from MCing to perform twice on the lyra (or aerial hoop), once solo and another time with thirdyear Jake Usadi. Their quick contortions and nuanced movements complemented the upbeat, palpitating tempo of the music. Toward the end came a performance in the Japanese art of shibari rigging. Dressed in a flowing floral dress, the performer used rope to tie knots in precise and captivating patterns around her hips and legs, ending her bit with a particularly meticulous technique known as futomomo which the hostess aptly described as “entrancing and
haunting.” The show, introduced as one in which the performers “bare all” for the audience, was boldly lascivious in its exploration of the burlesque. Most of the performers’ choreography, apparatuses, and even choice of costumes were deliberately sexy. This theme, alongside the lack of storyline structuring the show, gave the performers more creative freedom than before. The members of Le Vorris & Vox Circus certainly embraced this freedom, and their joy was palpable. Both a platform for practice and a display of dexterity, “Cirque du Burlesque” enamored every audience member, leaving them feeling light-hearted with entertainment or starry-eyed with inspiration. Le Vorris & Vox Circus holds free open gyms in Logan 701 on Mondays and Fridays from 6–10 p.m., and on Sundays from 10–4 p.m.
End of the F***ing World is Pretty Damn Good BY BROOKE WHITE MAROON CONTRIBUTOR
The End of the F***ing World is one of Netflix’s latest original series that defies clichéd expectations of comedy, romance, and youthful innocence. Its eight-episode season crafts a story about two unconventional teenagers whose tumultuous realities converge in a harmonious friendship, even though getting there involves running away from home, crashing a car, and running out of money at a fast food joint. In the first episode, we meet James (Alex Lawther). His matter-of-fact introduction—“I’m James. I’m 17. And I’m pretty sure I’m a psychopath.”—is disconcerting
and unexpected coming from a lanky, unassuming British boy. But James’s unembellished admission is just a teaser of the show’s sudden and precipitous nature. Alyssa (Jessica Barden), the other lead, makes her first appearance by telling James, “I’ve seen you skating. You’re pretty shit.” Alyssa thinks she could fall in love with James, and he believes she could be his first murder victim. So blossoms the romance between an awkward psychopath and an abrasive loner who decide to run away together. Yet, just as the timeless narration in 500 Days of Summer warns upfront that the film is not a love story, this series is not a hot and heavy romance, nor is it a commentary about young love or mental illness:
It is focused on the youthful innocence and bravery that emerge as James and Alyssa are unwillingly thrown into the grim realities of adulthood. Each episode works to distinguish the show from a stereotypical coming-of-age drama. In the opening montage, while James reveals how he intentionally put his hand in a deep fryer and occasionally murders his neighbors’ animals, Bernadette Carroll’s cover of the 1946 ballad “Laughing on the Outside” plays in the background— an airy choice for such a dark moment. But it is precisely the show’s unique aesthetic, evoking nostalgia and coupling it with dark realities, that reels us in. It takes true artistry to make someone as difficult as James
remotely likable; despite his fixation with death and his stated mission to murder Alyssa, James is quite charming. The story is as much Alyssa’s as it is James’s. While her sardonic humor might be difficult to digest, she immediately establishes herself as a forthright woman. Instead of throwing around platitudes and ostensible words of wisdom, Alyssa is impactful in an unconventional way. Her relentless persistence establishes her role as the leader in their adventure, and she ultimately challenges traditional expectations of female characters. Rather than adhering to sexist tropes of obedience, submission, and a gentle demeanor, Alyssa is Continued on page 6
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MARCH 2, 2018
“I’m James. I’m 17. And I’m pretty sure I’m a psychopath.” Continued from page 5 brash, outspoken, and pioneering. For those who do not particularly like her character, perhaps it would be worthwhile to dissect feminine likability. Alyssa reinvents the female protagonist. Although strong, the series is not without its flaws. Those seeking an in-depth look at depression or an evaluation of complicated family dynamics might be disappointed. Although these themes are essential in creating compelling and robust characters, they do not drive the plot. James and Alyssa, in their present moments, with every trivial action, do. Early on, we learn that James lives with his father, and that their dysfunctional relationship stems from a childhood tragedy. Alyssa lives with her mother, stepfather, and their baby twins, and she is forced to play a behind-thescenes role in her own home. While these dynamics and dysfunctions are essential in understanding some of James and Alyssa’s behaviors, they are not the primary focus. James and Alyssa create a story that is more compelling than their individual backgrounds. In doing so, they preserve,
and perhaps even establish, their autonomy. Their circumstances are not binding, and despite their past trauma, they succeed together, perhaps challenging us to reconsider exactly what success is. Unbearable cliffhanger aside, this season culminates satisfyingly with a profound friendship that is sustained by James and Alyssa’s mutual respect and newfound empathy. James slowly transitions from his reserved and emotionally distant shell, and at the very end says, “I think I understand what people mean to each other.” Alyssa, through her own voiceover narration, reveals her own vulnerability, and eventually speaks some of these inner thoughts aloud. As the show juxtaposes innocence with vulgarity, it assumes an air of nonchalance even with the heaviest issues and makes typically unbearable personalities quite relatable and charming, making it impossible to extract a main takeaway. The show can be incredibly dark, unexpectedly funny, and undeniably moving. It is well worth the three-hour binge. Courtesy of Netflix
Alex Lawther (left) and Jessica Barden (right) star in End of the F***ing World.
MCA Threads Time and Canvas at Pindell Exhibit BY JONATHAN MANDEL ARTS STAFF
The Museum of Contemporary Art’s immense new exhibition, Howardena Pindell: What Remains to be Seen, is hard to describe in several paragraphs. The exhibition, which opened last Saturday, is the first major survey of Howardena Pindell’s career and spans over 50 years of work by the black artist who is too frequently overlooked in the annals of art history. While artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein investigated the depths of flatness during the Pop Art craze of the 1960s, Pindell had already advanced to explorations of color, form, and structure in her works, testing the boundaries of rectangle-on-wall art. Born in Philadelphia in 1943, Pindell’s work brings together a variety of media into what has been called “figurative abstract expressionism.” Though her undergraduate training at Boston University had focused on figurative painting, she turned towards abstraction during graduate school at Yale University, and it was not until after 1979 that both forms would fuse. For a number of reasons, 1979 was a major inflection point in Pindell’s life and career, which the exhibition meticulously reflects. First, Pindell—a black woman—publicly opposed a show at Artists Space in New York entitled, “The N****R Drawings,” which featured charcoal drawings by a young, white, male artist named Donald Newman. Second, she made the major decision to leave her curatorial position at the Museum of Modern Art and begin teaching at Stony Brook University, where she still teaches today. Third, and perhaps most importantly, Pindell was severely injured in a traumatic car accident. She was trapped in front of numerous onlookers, who dared not approach her for fear that the gas tank of her car would explode. After the incident, Pindell suffered from severe short-term memory loss. Though she never abandoned her propensity for experimentation, she began reincorporating figuration into her previously developed techniques to probe topics like memory, culture, and social justice. Appropriately, curators Naomi Beckwith of the MCA and Valerie Cassel Oliver of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts have organized What Remains to be Seen
into two sections, the first of which exhibits Pindell’s experimentation prior to 1979, and the second of which arranges Pindell’s work after 1979 based on her multidisciplinary approach as memoirist, activist, traveler, and scientist. If the exhibition were limited to Pindell’s pre-1979 work, it would still be spectacular. Some of her earlier work was featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Delirious: Art at the Limits of Reason 1950–1980 this fall, so it should come as no surprise that it explores themes of logic, order and chaos, and objectivity and subjectivity. In “Five” (1973), for example, Pindell writes sets of five tally marks in black ink, over and over again, on top of graph paper. The rigidity of the grid is confronted by the infinitude, obsessiveness, and vacuousness of the five black lines in endless repetition. Other works in this section feature rippling seas of colorful circles and texturally rich canvases covered in vibrantly colored chads—the perfectly circular paper detritus produced by a hole puncher. The second half of the exhibition is no less impressive. Sewing together canvases, which had previously been part of Pindell’s artistic practice, took on new meaning for her after the accident; while still making use of paint, glitter, and chads in these pieces, she also includes images of body parts, houses, and diners, as if she is stitching herself back together through canvases. In another series, Pindell cuts apart postcards of different landscapes and cultural icons and tapes them back together into one continuous, three-dimensional flow of images, all of which are fractured and ambiguous in meaning. One of the most stellar sections of the exhibition focuses on the role of activism in Pindell’s later art. She continues to apply collage to these works, sewing together ripped canvases, imitating stitch marks with parallel streaks of thick, monochromatic paint, and including words like “genocide” and “silence” floating amidst pertinent images. The exhibition concludes on a serene note by highlighting the collection of Pindell’s work that takes science as its subject matter. In “Nautilus 1” (2014–2015), Pindell rips apart a bright yellow canvas and sews it back together into a spiral. It is dotted with round, brightly colored shapes that suggest constellations. Pieces like these once again suggest the mystery and vastness of the universe, even as
Photos courtesy of MCA
Howardena Pindell: What Remains to be Seen surveys over five decades of Pindell’s work. we know it in our everyday lives, in this case through objects like shells. What really sets What Remains to be Seen apart is the scrupulous context included by the curators. Between the two halves of the exhibition, they have set up a “1979 room,” with magazine covers, album covers, advertisements from that year printed on the walls, and 1979 pop music playing from speakers. A timeline of Pindell’s life and of major global events is also included. Beyond this single room, the curators use wall text to carefully locate each work within its historical context. The exhibition thus takes special
care to make sure it is accessible to a younger audience. While the name “Howardena Pindell” may not immediately ring any bells, What Remains to be Seen is a promising step towards rectifying that. “I look at my work as a kind of joyous play…a visual toy,” Pindell said in a press Q&A on Friday. What Remains to be Seen invites viewers to join Pindell in playing with her visual toys, and the invitation should not be turned down. Howardena Pindell: What Remains to be Seen is on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art until May 20, 2018.
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MARCH 2, 2018
SPORTS Maroons Look To Rebound After Rough Losses BASEBALL
BY TRENT CARSON
13, and ultimately were unable to pull out the upperclassmen, combined with the strong ofvictory, losing 9–5. fense from last year and a talented new lineup The second game of the day against Font- of first-years, will allow the Maroons to fight The University of Chicago baseball team bonne started out in a similar fashion, with and compete all year. Third-year catcher Ian opened their 2018 season last Sunday, Febru- Fontbonne bringing home four runs, three Bohn speculated on the upcoming season, ary 25, with games against Dominican Uni- of which came from a three-run homer. The “It’s obviously hard to tell this early on in the versity and Fontbonne University in O’Fallon, Maroons were able to tie the game up by the season but I think we have a much-improved MO. The Maroons started off the year with end of the second inning, but a walk in the pitching staff and a lot of returners offensivea pair of losses, but will look to bounce back fourth inning combined with a two-run single ly. If we can throw strikes and play defense I and shake off the rust with a doubleheader did the team in, with the final score of 7–4 in think we have a chance to win some games.” on March 3 against Greenville University and favor of the Griffins. Each of the past three seasons under head the University of Dubuque in Greenville, IL. Despite dropping the first two games of coach John Fitzgerald has been more successAgainst Dominican, the Maroons started the season, the team has a positive outlook ful than the one before, starting with a .474 off the game with a 2–0 lead. In the bottom and high expectations for the future. Return- winning percentage in 2015 all the way to a of the first inning, Dominican quickly erased ing for the Maroons are the majority of last .595, 22–15 overall finish in 2017. The team this hot start with six runs of their own, and year’s starters, excluding first and third base, will look to build on the success of the past few UChicago trailed for the rest of the day. The with five third-years who started 29-plus years, and keep the ball rolling with an evMaroons finished with 8 hits to Dominican’s games. The maturity and experience of the er-better finish this year. The Maroons have SPORTS STAFF
put in hard work over the offseason, and are excited to take the field and bring home victories. Some notable games for the upcoming season are rematches with Case Western and Grinnell, as well as three against Caltech. “This offseason has been shorter than usual due to our opening weekend being pushed up a week but I think we’ve taken advantage of our reps inside and have meshed well over the last month or so,” Bohn added. “I’m looking forward to the upcoming weekend and our trip to Texas over spring break.” The Maroons will take on Dubuque and Greenville this Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3.p.m, respectively, and Grinnell on Sunday in Greenville, IL, at 1 p.m.
NCAA Diving Regionals Rapidly Approaching SWIM & DIVE
BY MIKE BENINATI SPORTS STAFF
T he Un iversity of Ch icago men and women prepared for the upcoming NCA A Regional with a fourth-place finish and a first-place finish, respectively, at the Midwest Invitational this past Sunday. The Maroon women were victorious in eight events. Two firstyears, Eleanor Cambron and Michelle Cho, swam t o f i rst-place f i n ishes, joined by second-year Nicole Garcia and third-year Hannah Eastman. As for the men, first-year Graham Lane was the top finisher, taking third in the 400-yard IM. T he i nv it at ion a l w i l l ac t as a great warm up for both the swimmers and the divers. The divers will jump straight back into their competition this weekend at regionals whereas the swimmers will compete in the NCA A DIII Championship over spring break (March 21–24). The NCA A Diving Regionals will be a home event for the Maroons at Myers-McLoraine Pool and will span the course of F riday and Saturday. The events will be reversed for the men and women each day—the women
Maroons will have their three-meter dive on Friday with the men competing in the one-meter dive. On Saturday the men will take to the three-meter board while the women drop down to the one-meter counterpart. With the swimmers being off until the DIII championships in a few weeks the spotlight is certainly on the divers and they could not be more excited for their own personal weekend. Fourthyear and All-UA A in the three-meter dive and one-meter dive Natalie DeMuro said, “ We’re really excited and ready to compete this weekend. Regionals is our most competitive meet, and having the home pool advantage this year will give us a lot of confidence going in. Our friends, family, and team will all be here to cheer us on and we can’t wait to see some big performances.” She then continued to discuss the team’s hard work since taking fourth at the UA A conference championship a few weeks prior. “Conference gave us a good idea of where our dives were at and what we needed to work on. Since then we have been making small adjustments to hopefully improve on our success,” DeMuro said. As for the men, first-year Joseph
Alexandra Nisenoff
Fourth-year Dean Boures attempts his high-flying dive. Zhao hopes to add to his stellar first conference competition with another top-10 finish. He placed seventh at UA As and has his sights set on placing again at the NCA A Regionals—an impressive feat for just a first-year. A fter an intense week of practice,
Across 1. Fantastical hoarder from mountains old 6. Middle name of “E MO TION” and “Call Me Maybe” singer 9. Toy where the four long Across clues come from 14. Was forced 15. Govt. agency from 194851 16. Garden sap-sucker 17. “Would you like ___?” (waiter’s question) 18. So cold! 19. Indian flatbreads 20. Flick it! 23. Time for Mass.? 24. Ross and Rigg 25. Biology professor Heng-Chi, history professor Jun Hee, or economics lecturer Min Sok 28. Spin it! 31. Elisabeth of Leaving Las Vegas 34. Skrillex’s genre 35. Church sections 36. Granville-Grossman namesake family 38. Absolutely gonna 39. Second largest country by
the Maroon divers are ready to defend their home pool starting Friday at 2 p.m.
MECHANICAL NOISES BY DANIEL RUTTENBERG population 40. Garlic, in Spanish 42. Org. 43. Twist it! 47. Norse healer who sounds like a synonym for 49-across 48. “Mother” who won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize 49. State of matter 52. Pull it! 56. Oscar of The Last Jedi 58. Good, in CHIN 10100 59. Avant-garde 60. Tree sap 61. “It’s ___ from me” (Simon Cowell meme) 62. Victorious 63. Location of many a cleanup 64. “omg 2 funny!!” 65. Saturday morning TV shows Down 1. Object in a book by Euclid, say 2. Nanas’ daughters 3. More than capable
4. ___ Reader (former magazine) 5. Haitian currency 6. Get on a starship, again 7. PI or TA, but not pita 8. Lab rat accessory 9. Eric who plays Nero in Star Trek 10. Crystal gem 11. Doodles in a middle school notebook, perhaps 12. “There’s no ___ in team!” 13. Brady’s stats 21. Pulls a Donald Trump 22. Classical music group near MIT 26. Siberian population that sounds like what my grandpa would call the world wide web 27. Kickboxer Barbosa 28. Arm of the Atlantic (Abbr.) 29. Writer Santha Rama 30. “Look under your chair!” talk show host 31. Act like a fox in Dora the Explorer 32. Painter Matisse
33. Road on the way to The Loop, perhaps 37. Devil in Looney Tunes 38. Famous march composer 40. Zumbo known as the “Patissier of Pain” 41. Snoopy persona 44. “And the rest” 45. Life-ending 46. Bull in a china shop 49. Was permitted 50. Ohio city where Goodyear is headquartered 51. Oozes 53. One of four spaces in Monopoly 54. Chapter heading in a puberty textbook 55. Hera, to the Romans 56. Glass of This American Life 57. Cinque e uno Send pictures of correctly completed articles to editor@chicagomaroon.com with your full name. The names of the first three successful solvers will be published with the solution in next Friday’s Maroon.
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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MARCH 2, 2018
SPORTS
Senior Spotlight: Collin Barthel MEN’S BASKETBALL
BY ANDREW BEYTAGH SPORTS STAFF
Collin Barthel towers over students and teammates on and off the court, but a humble, goal-oriented baller stands within his massive frame. Barthel, who is 6’8”, had numerous Division I looks in both basketball and football, but a career-driven path led him to the University of Chicago. To begin, Collin touched on the closeknit nature of the basketball team by saying, “When I came to the University, I immediately felt welcomed. Everyone on the team had tremendous relationships, even from my first year onward.” Then, Barthel highlighted the merits of his UChicago experience: how athletics at the University helped him grow as a person, and how his education acted as a springboard into the career of his choosing. “I hope when people look back on my four years here, they see that we competed, competed on the court and in the classroom. Competition brings about adversity, and that is a big reason why you play sports—to overcome adversity. I hope that people see that one can utilize athletics to grow as an athlete but also a person. Division III athletics is unique in that fact that everyone balances their future professional life and their sport. That balance, I believe, only strengthens the person that you grow into when you graduate.” Barthel’s words resounded with a common thread of humble gratitude. The UChicago men’s basketball team may not have been
as successful on the court as he would have liked in his four years, but the journey and relationships he formed will last a lifetime. Barthel touched on his career as a whole by saying, “Looking back, our main goal of winning a UAA title and making the DIII playoffs never came to fruition, but it wasn’t about the end result, rather about the process and the enjoyment of it all. I hope that the guys on the team see what it takes to be successful ,and going forward, I hope that they put it all together and be the best team that they can be. I had an amazing time at the University and I hope people saw how drastically a role can change throughout a career. When I came in as a first-year, I was mainly a hustle player and rebounder, but during my senior year, I transformed into a scorer, and I had confidence in my own ability and the team did as well.” Senior leadership carried the Maroons down the home stretch of the season with both Barthel and co-captain Jake Fenlon pouring in over 30 points on different occasions as the season came to a close. Barthel finished the last four games of his college career with point tallies of 14, 13, 26, and 16. Barthel commented on the scoring outburst from himself and his fellow co-captain, “It’s something special, not forced. Jake and I became two guys that the team could lean on. It was awesome as seniors to know that we were playing our best basketball to close out our careers.” Barthel was able to finish his Chicago career with an amazing upset this past weekend against rival No. 2 Wash U, certainly a
Zoe Kaiser
Fourth-year Collin Barthel powers past his Case Western opponent. memorable way to go out. Barthel said that looking back at the “ups and downs of this year, we knew that we had one more chance to end on a high note. We knew that we probably were not going to make the post-season, but we had the chance to spoil Wash U’s perfect conference season. We clawed our way back and eventually pulled out a victory against the No. 2 in the country. That will be a game that I will remember forever.” Finally, Barthel hopes that he and the fourth-year class have left their legacy, not just on the court, but off of it as well. “I want
us four to be known not just for what we have accomplished on the court. I want people to know how important an education at the University of Chicago means to us. I hope people see that hard work in all aspects of life pays off and that you can ultimately attain you career goal through athletics.” Barthel will continue his career as a sales and trading analyst for BNP Paribas in New York.
Maroon Minutes Recap
UPCOMING GAMES SPORT
Women’s Tennis
Track & Field
Women’s Basketball
Diving
DAY
Friday
Friday
Opponent
Washington & Lee
Carthage Qualifier
M AROON
TIME 11 a.m.
SPORT
SCORE BOARD W/L Opponent
Score
Men’s Tennis
W
ITA Champs
2nd of 4
3 p.m.
Men’s Basketball
W
Wash U
86–77
Women’s Basketball
Friday
WLC
5:30 p.m.
Friday
NCAA Regionals
6 p.m.
Men’s T & F
W
W
Wash U
UAA
96–90
3rd of 7