Chicagomaroon030317

MARCH 3, 2017

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

Protesters Call for Better Campus Working Conditions

BY LAUREN PANKIN STAFF REPORTER

Students and faculty gathered Wednesday to protest for higher graduate student employee pay rates, better treatment of non-tenure-track faculty, and improved health care for students and workers as part of a nationwide series of university protests.

T he protests — organized under the hashtag #CampusResistance—were coordinated by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to protest Trump’s so-called “corporate cabinet” while advocating for higher wages for educators, according to the union website.

About 50 people, including graduate students, building engineers, and lecturers, assembled in front of Levi Hall, holding signs and shouting chants like “Get up, get down, Chicago is a union town,” “Deductibles destroy,” and “Save our healthcare.”

S en ior L e c t u r er Ja s on Grunebaum is a member of the bargaining team of UChicago Faculty Forward, a group in the process of unionizing which supports non-tenure-track faculty. Grunebaum led the group in chants and introduced each speaker.

“Since I’ve been teaching here, I remember my part-time faculty colleagues being very happy when Obamacare was passed, but right now all of that is being taken away,” Grunebaum said during the protest.

“We want to send a message to the University administration that there are two choices: either be complicit with the Trump administration agenda, or make sure that every person in our community has access to health care, so no one risks their livelihood because of getting sick.”

Tae Yeon Kim, a second-year year medical student, claimed she was addressing the protesters on behalf of fellow medical students.

“I can say with conviction as a medical student that everyone deserves access to affordable

health care,” Kim told THE M AROON. “I believe that denying someone health care is a denial of human dignity. I cannot imagine looking a patient in the eye and telling them that they do not deserve health care, and that’s why I’m standing in solidarity.”

Ph.D. candidate Trish Kahle said she was speaking on behalf of Graduate Students United. She said that the University continues to make budget cuts, which she said impact health care coverage for non-tenured faculty, despite having enough money to avoid these cuts. “ They can provide world class health care to every single person on this campus,” Kahle said. “ When you have to pay $1,000 out-of-pocket for out-of-network care, you don’t have health care. You have it on paper, but you don’t have it in real life.”

Student Government President Eric Holmberg spoke as a representative of the Fair Budget UChicago, which advocates for a $15 minimum wage and accessible student disability and student counseling services. “ The fight of students to obtain the services we need is directly connected to the struggle of part-time teachers and all other workers in this university,” Holmberg said. “We all suffer when the University administration values their bottom line more than people’s lives.”

Stephen Clarke, a member of Local 73, said he attended the rally to demonstrate trade workers’ solidarity for teaching assistants.

“I’m making better money than a lot of TAs are, and they have more education than I do,” Clarke said. “It’s difficult to live on the wages TAs make. There have to be more equitable solutions, like higher wages.”

IN RELATED NEWS...

Yesterday, another protest targeted Trump and the University. (Page 3)

+ 10%

% Above Margin

+ 5% King’s Overall Victory Margin

Near South Side / South Loop

63.77% - 5%

% Below Margin

- 10%

24th St.

VOL. 128, ISSUE 32

KING KEEPS FOURTH WARD SEAT BY LARGE MARGIN

BY MAX FENNELL-CHAMETZKY STAFF REPORTER

LAKE MICHIGAN

Bronzeville (Douglas / Oakland)

19t

43rd St.

Kenwood

51st St. Hyde Park

Hannah Given Sophia King failed to achieve an absolute majority in one precinct in Tuesday’s election (the outlined Near South Side precinct). Her strongest result— over 87%—came in the outlined Bronzeville precinct. Her weakest results came in the South Loop to the North and Kenwood and Hyde Park in the South.

The aldermanic special election has come and gone, and the people of the Fourth Ward have chosen to retain their appointed alderman, Sophia King, by a wide margin.

Voting closed at 7 p.m. today, and about 18 percent of registered voters in the Fourth Ward turned out for the special election. At the polling station on Kenwood Avenue and 55th Street, only 98 people had voted at that location station when THE MAROON checked in at 4 p.m. Open since 6 a.m., the women running the station said the day was “steady, though never busy,” and “quite boring.”

King swept the election with 63.77 percent of the vote. Coming in second place was attorney Ebony Lucas, with 17.54 percent. Lucas was also second in fundraising for the election. Candidates Gregory Seal Livingston finished with 6.55 percent, Marcellus H. Moore Jr. with 6.10 percent, and Gerald Scott McCarthy with 6.04 percent.

Continued online

Housing Changes Compensation Policy for RAs Under the Old Policy, Some RAs on Financial Aid Were not Compensated for Their Work

BY FENG YE SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

College Housing has changed to correct an old compensation policy for resident assistants (RAs) that was criticized by some for providing little incentive for some students receiving needbased financial aid to become RAs. According to University spokesperson Marielle Sainvilus, Housing recently informed all new applicants for RA positions as well as all RAs eligible to return next year of the new compensation policy, which will

provide RAs with an unlimited meal plan, 100 Maroon dollars per quarter, and a salary equal to or greater than the first-year room rate, which is currently $9084 per year. RAs will receive this salary as student employees.

Meanwhile, RAs will be charged the first-year room rate starting Autumn Quarter 2017, instead of receiving a waiver for the cost of room as under the old policy.

Under the old policy, RAs on financial aid were not financially compensated for their work because of the way RAs were rewarded. All RAs were exempt from the cost of room and

MANUAL OF STYLE

Springing Into Action

Page 6

Page 8

Men’s baseball prepares for its upcoming season, which begins this weekend.

board, which amounted to about $15,000 per year. For RAs not on financial aid, they would pay less for their attendance at the University by around $15,000 each year. For RAs on financial aid, however, their aid package would simultaneously decrease by around the same amount that they were exempted from paying because of their work. This is because their waiver for room and board meant a decreased expected cost of attendance, which was taken into account by the financial aid office when grants were given. As a result, unlike their Continued on page 2

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

Tech’s Biggest Problem?

Uber-Masculinity Page 4 How can women in the workplace be taken seriously when the CEO himself associates their value with their body... and not their professional competency?

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

All rights reserved. © The Chicago Maroon 2017

2

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MARCH 3, 2017

Events 3/3 — 3/10 Today University Chorus and Women’s Ensemble Logan Center for the Arts, 7 p.m.

The University Chorus and Women’s Ensemble will perform a concert centered around the theme, “Home.”

March 6 Renting in New York: A Practical Guide Ida Noyes Hall, 5 p.m.

The Cooper brothers from Cooper & Cooper Real Estate will instruct students on the proper way to search for a place to live in New York City.

March 7 Ada Palmer: “Seven Surrendurs” 57th Street Books, 6 p.m.

Ada Palmer will discuss the latest installment in her series of science fiction novels.

March 10 Study at the Logan Center Logan Center for the Arts, 9 p.m.

The Logan Center will be open for students looking for a place to hunker down and study. Free coffee and snacks will be located throughout the building.

Students Provide Free Legal Aid for Detained Families

BY DEEPTI SAILAPPAN STAFF REPORTER

A group of eight graduate students will spend spring break in Dilley, Texas, providing free legal aid to mothers and children detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center.

The eight students all attend the School of Social Administration (SSA). The trip is coordinated by the University of Chicago Coalition for Immigration Rights (UCCIR), a University-wide student organization, though the participants represent several other groups: the SSA’s Latinx Student Association, the Korean Graduate Student Association, and SSA Without Borders.

They will arrive on Saturday, March 18, at the detention center, located in an area so remote that, according to trip participant and second-year SSA student Nathan Roter, it is not registered on some maps— despite the center’s capacity of 2,400 people. South Texas Family Residential Center, the United States’ largest immigrant detention center, mostly houses mothers and children who are seeking asylum from Guatemala, Honduras, and other Central

UChicago Matchmaking Site to Launch This Month by Hillel Steinmetz CC Tables Resolutions on Emergency, Excursion Funds by Vivian He Students Help Undocumented Chicagoans Pursue Citizenship by Lee Harris Jackson Park Included on Chicago List of Most Endangered Structures by Olivia Rosenzweig

EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! Subscribe to our newsletter for emails Tuesday and Friday mornings with everything you need to know about UChicago.

chicagomaroon.com/newsletter

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

inx Student Association. They are looking to use the UChicago crowdfunding website to raise an additional $1,800 over the next two weeks for transportation, lodging, and food.

Legal aid at South Texas Family Residential Center is particularly crucial, the students said, given that the center is run by a private company, the Corrections Corporation of America, whose contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement was renewed in October 2016. This occurred despite reports released by the Department of Justice in August and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in September recommending that such contracts be phased out, since privately run detention centers adversely affect families and create incentives for centers to maintain high detention populations.

For one student on the trip, working at the South Texas Family Residential Center will present a heightened challenge: he is undocumented. “ W hat we’ve been trying to figure out is the level of risk involved, in getting clearance,” said Alejandro, who asked that his last name not be included. “The new

memos from DHS that came out about a week ago sort of delineate that there is no priority list for anyone.”

Describing plans for a photo project displayed on campus during spring quarter, to illustrate the irony of an undocumented student working in a detention center, Alejandro said that ultimately the trip to Dilley represents an opportunity too monumental to pass up.

“The reason why we’re there is greater than the risk of me being there,” he said.

Courtesy of Nathan Roter South Texas Family Residential Center.

Amendments to SG Constitution Pass

BY VIVIAN HE

Online Articles

American countries.

During the following week, the students will work in the center’s visitation trailer, holding twenty-minute consultations with mothers. They will detail the asylum and bond-paying processes as well as strategies to help the mothers establish credible fear of returning to their home countries during interviews with immigration officers.

This experience comes courtesy of CARA, a nonprofit that allows volunteer social workers and lawyers to donate their services at South Texas Family Residential Center. Roter, who has worked with CARA in the past, said he hopes this inaugural spring break trip will become an annual SSA tradition and a way to collaborate with the UChicago Law School. He noted that while the Law School has a Spring Break of Service program with a budget supplied by administration, SSA does not.

Instead, funding for this trip is sourced from an assortment of grants. The students have so far generated $4,400 from a Graduate Council professional development travel grant, the SSA Student Government fund, SSA Without Borders, and the Lat-

STAFF REPORTER

Several amendments to the Student Government (SG) Constitution were passed in a University-wide referendum that ended on Thursday.

Students had the opportunity to vote on two constitutional issues: one on granting students on Extended-College status full membership in the Student Association, thereby giving them ballots in future SG elections, and a second on a package of technical amendments that clarified ambiguities and loopholes in existing governing documents.

SG unanimously passed a resolution on January 30 to host the referendum. This is the fi rst Constitutional Referendum conducted since 2010.

According to SG Parliamentarian Max Freedman, a total of 1,230 students voted on the referendum, among whom 626 were undergraduates and 604 were graduate students.

The amendment granting students on Extended-College status full membership in the Student Association was passed with 86.6 percent of the votes in favor and 13.4 percent of the votes in opposition. The omnibus package of technical amendments was also passed

with 83.4 percent of the votes in favor and 16.6 percent of the votes in opposition. In both cases, abstentions did not count toward the passage of the referendum.

According to F reedman, 84 students—among whom 28 were undergraduates and 56 were graduate students—abstained from taking a stance on the fi rst question concerning students of Extended-College status. For the second question regarding technical amendments, 288 students—141 undergraduates and 147 graduate students—abstained from taking a stance.

Freedman noted in an e-mail

to THE M AROON that the turnout for this referendum was significantly lower compared to the 3,969 students who voted in the General Election last spring.

However, he explained that this should not be interpreted as an indictment of the importance of the referendum itself. “[The turnout] is indicative of the fact that it was not particularly controversial and was perhaps too technically focused to be interesting to students at large. [However,] that doesn’t mean it wasn’t important. To the contrary, it is very important for SG to have an up-to-date and cogent set of Governing Documents,” Freedman wrote.

“It’s definitely a huge step up from what it used to be” Continued from front

peers not on financial aid, some RAs on financial aid would have to pay around the same amount for their attendance as when they were not working as RAs. “[The new policy is] to provide more equitable compensation for all students working as RAs regardless of their financial status,” University spokesperson Marielle Sainvilus said.

Third-years Casey Mulroy and Sara Maillacheruvu were informed of the new policy in a meeting with Michelle Rasmussen, dean of students, and Sophia Chaknis, director of College Housing on February 20.

Mulroy and Maillacheruvu are members of a student worker solidarity group, Students Organizing United with Labor (SOUL).

They told THE M AROON that at the same time that they will be

compensated through an annual stipend that is equal to or greater than the first-year room rate, RAs on financial aid might still see their aid package affected.

Last year, Mulroy, Maillacheruvu, and third-year Michelle Gan wrote a petition letter that was signed by over a thousand supporters calling for a change in the RA compensation policy. The letter recommended that College Housing switch to a credit-based system, under which RAs would still be billed for room and board costs, keeping their expected cost of attendance the same as when they were not RAs. Instead, RAs would receive a credit similar to a non-need-based scholarship for the same amount on their bill each quarter. Under such a system, RAs on financial aid would be financially compensated by the same amount as their peers

who are not on financial aid. This plan was not adopted by College Housing.

“It’s hard for me to comment on whether [the new policy] addresses the needs of RAs, since Housing hasn’t officially made an announcement or laid out the exact details of how payment and distribution would work, but I think it’s a great start,” Gan said in an interview with THE MAROON last Friday.

“It’s not perfect because you are not, if you are on fi nancial aid, getting that $15,000 that your peers are getting, but it’s defi nitely a huge step up from what it used to be. In comparison to a lot schools similar to ours, it’s one of the stronger, more robust programs...we are generally satisfied,” Maillacheruvu said.

According to Sainvilus, all new applicants were informed of

the policy change in an in-person meeting. Sainvilus also told THE M AROON that any individual inquiries about how the new policy might affect their aid packages can be addressed with the University’s College Aid office.

The new policy was the product of a multi-year review of RA compensation between the College, Campus & Student Life, College Housing, and College Aid, according to Sainvilus. “[The problem of RA compensation] has been going on for decades...it’s nice that just a year after the petition, they [University administration] were able to come to a solution,” Mulroy said.

According to Maillacheruvu and Mulroy, SOUL will move on to new projects addressing workers on other parts of campus starting next quarter.

3

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MARCH 3, 2017

Students Form Wall, Impersonate Zimmer

BY LAUREN PANKIN STAFF REPORTER

Yesterday, a protest organized by Fair Budget UChicago (FBU ) featured a satire comparing University President Robert Zimmer to President Donald T rump and student speakers who aired grievances with the University.

FBU advocates for a $15 minimum wage on campus, reform of Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS), and making buildings on campus handicap accessible, according to FBU member and second-year Christopher Good.

About 40 students gathered in front of Hull Gate, chanting slogans like “Hey, hey, ho, ho, these corporate admins gotta go,” “ Wages, not walls,” and “Focus on our mental health, not on g r ow i n g c or p or at e wealth.”

First-year and emcee Elias Oakes said that Hull Gate is a symbol of opportunity that the University uses in promotional materials to represent the life of the mind.

“ We are here today to expose the hypocrisy of an administration that is all too willing to dissemble behind props like Hull Gate, to claim students’ i ntel lectua l work while constructing barriers to accessibility to students de eme d u npr o f it a ble , a nd abandoning the students it cla ims t o welcome,” Oa kes said.

The satirical sketch comp a r e d Z i m me r, pl aye d by fourth-year Calvin Woodard, to Trump, played by third-year Rubin Soodak.

“We can’t keep immigrants off campus,” said Woodard as Zimmer. “ They supply valuable labor at a low cost, and it’s a little too obvious. You have to be subtle—you have to starve students, workers, and faculty of the resources and decent wages that they need to survive.”

Some students have critici zed the Un iversity ’s explanation of its opposition to T rump’s immigration order, say i ng that the Un iversity only talks about how the ban

Construction on New Hotel to Begin Later This Month

BY EMILY FEIGENBAUM DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

Construction of a new boutique hotel in Hyde Park is expected to begin later this month, according to DNAInfo.

Replacing a parking lot on the corner of 53rd Street and Dorchester Avenue, the $20 million hotel will have seven stories, 90 guestrooms, a restaurant, and a lounge. The restaurant tenant has not yet been announced.

Developers announced at a Fifth Ward meeting on Tuesday that ground will be broken “in the next few weeks.”

Construction was scheduled to begin last spring, but concerns regarding traffic led the developers to revise their plan. At

the meeting, the developers promised to provide valet and overf low parking for guests and immediate residents in order to minimize street congestion.

Still unnamed, the hotel will be the second property codeveloped by Olympia Compa n ies a nd Sma r t Hot el s , L LC. The Hyatt Place, constructed in 2013, was the first.

The hotel will join other new developments on 53rd Street, including Target, Nando’s Peri Peri, Roti, and the recently relocated Fabiana’s Bakery.

Courtesy of GREC Designs The new hotel will replace a parking lot on the corner of 53rd Street and Dorchester Avenue.

i mpl icat es the educationa l mission of the school.

Students who shared their frustrations with the administration included third-year Dan Lastres, who said he cannot receive the counseling he needs because of the cost and inconvenience of SHCS. “ I ’m still rely ing on the pr iv i lege my pa rent s gave me to pay for these services, for these essential resources which help me get through my schoolwork and my day-to-day life,” Lastres said. “What does it say that our university does not provide that same kind of access to everybody?”

Third-year Michael Weinr i b c l a i me d t h at S t udent D i s abi l it y S er v ic e s ( S D S ) has been understa f fed and underfunded since it was established in 2012 in response to a 2006 lawsuit against the University for noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. “In two of the five years of its existence, SDS has managed all of its caseloads with only one full-time staff mem-

Estelle Higgins “We will not rest until the University fulfills its empty promises,” leaders of the rally explained.

ber,” Weinrib said.

W hile Weinrib said SDS has made improvements by hiring three full-time staff members and by working to reduce wait times for students, he said the service remains “woefully inadequate.”

A g raduate student who said he is undocumented also said that the University’s pro bono legal services were not enough to ensure his sa fety. He led the protesters in a

chant of “Education, not deportation.” “ Under T r ump, the un iversity has made repeated statements in support of international students and immig rants,” Good said in an e-mail to T H E M A RO ON . “ But even as it makes these sweepi ng decla rations, the Uof C refuses to make substantive changes to make this campus truly accessible and welcoming for all.”

Lambda Pi Chi Welcomes Largest Intake Class

Courtesy of Daniel Flores

BY JORGE CLAVO ABBASS CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

The Chi Chapter of Latinas Promoviendo Comunidad/Lambda Pi Chi Sorority, Inc. has made a resurgence on campus with the initiation of eight new sisters last week, the largest intake class in the history of the chapter.

Lambda Pi Chi, a Latina-focused community service sorority, was founded in April 1988 at Cornell University. The Chi Chapter at the University of Chicago was founded in June 2011.

Before the initiation of the new sisters, Lambda Pi Chi’s continued presence on campus was at risk. Chapter president Marielena Segovia was the only undergraduate sister of the sorority at the University for one and a half years until the initiation of this intake class.

“I think for us and for our organization as a whole, it’s always been quality over quantity. While we do strive to have as many women as possible, our numbers have usually been on the smaller side, mainly due to us being a multicultural Greek organization at a predominantly white institution, the rigor of our process, and the seriousness of a lifetime commitment,” Segovia said.

Second-year Ayling Dominguez said she did not think a Greek organization was right for her when she arrived on campus.

“Before arriving to college, I, as many others do, had a solid view and opinion on Greek life, and kind of resigned to never joining a sorority on campus because I didn’t want to be associated with constant partying, drama, and whatever other preconceptions of Greek life I held. I had no idea that multicultural Greek life existed and was an option…being [at] a predominantly white institution really made me miss being able to celebrate and share my cultura latina, so the thought of a Latina Greek-lettered organization was really appealing to me,” Dominguez said.

According to Dominguez, her decision to join Lambda Pi Chi changed her perception of what a Greek organization can be.

“Once I started to get involved, I discovered just how different and unique Lambda Pi Chi was from other organizations.

The process of joining itself is very different [compared to other sororities]…. At first I was slightly apprehensive [of] the process and questioned whether I really wanted to go through with all of this, but as soon as the process began, I started getting really close with all of the wonderful women interested and involved,” Dominguez said.

Jasmin Jimenez is the first first-year sister in the history of the sorority, not only for the chapter on campus, but for the

national organization at large as well. Jimenez also noted that the process to join the sorority was not easy.

“There were other first-years that showed interest but ended up dropping, and to be completely honest, there were times when I considered dropping, too…I’m still not used to life on this campus, but having seven other women, some second-years and some thirdyears, made it easier to navigate life at UChicago, and the support is something that I still appreciate,” Jimenez said.

According to Segovia, Lambda Pi Chi plans to continue collaborating with the Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS) and the Center for Identity and Inclusion, but it also looks forward to working with the Organization of Black Students (OBS), Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlan (MEChA), and other Greek organizations on campus. It also plans to bring the sorority’s two national philanthropies to campus.

Project L.E.A.A.P (Latinas Educating on AIDS Awareness and Prevention) and Proyecto H.A.C.E.R (Hermanas Advancing Career and Educational Resources) will likely include “workshops about how HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects the Latinx community…and holding fundraisers to give back to local food banks or hosting professional development workshops,” Segovia said.

4

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MARCH 3, 2017

VIEWPOINTS Letter: College Council Members Invite Zimmer to Discuss Free Speech Over the past few months, our university has become the centerpiece for a national debate over “free speech.” University President Robert Zimmer has portrayed UChicago as a bastion of open discourse, an increasingly rare zone where hearing, confronting, and debating all ideas allows scholars to deepen their learning. However, student discomfort with recent events featuring Sean Spicer and Corey Lewandowski has revealed that many University community members do not agree with or perhaps even fully understand what Zimmer means by “free speech.”

This became most apparent in a recent interview with Zimmer that was published in The Wall Street Journal on February 20. Throughout the interview, Zimmer repeatedly affi rmed his fierce belief in unbridled free speech. When

questioned if prominent white nationalist and University of Chicago alum Richard Spencer should be allowed to speak on campus, Zimmer replied, “It would be fi ne if he came.”

For many students, this comment demonstrates Zimmer’s increasingly concerning free speech policy and advocacy. Spencer may only be moderately famous, but his ideas are still dangerous—and not dangerous in the sense that they may cause students intellectual discomfort. Rather, his ideas are dangerous because they call into question many students’ wor th as huma n beings, normalize disproven ideas that have led to horrific ethnic cleansing, and could provoke leg itimate security threats. Just last week, the Hyde Park Jewish Community Center (JCC) received a bomb threat. In December of 2016,

a neo-Nazi group intentionally hung posters at the Center for Identity and Inclusion and at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture that depicted swastikas and Nazi phrases such as “ #HitlerDisapproves” and “No Degeneracy, No Tolerance, Hail Victory.”

Given that this sort of violent hate speech has already seen an uptick since the presidential election, both nationally and in our neighborhood, Richard Spencer’s potential presence on campus could have further frightening ramifications for our community.

W henever Z i mmer uses the name of our university, we are all implicated in his statements. Thus, it is paramount that we fully understand the scope and boundaries of the University’s free speech policy.

Zimmer has a committee that helps him craft this policy, the

Committee on Freedom of Expression. However, no students sit on this committee, and it has been difficult for students to express themselves to Zimmer in general. As representatives of the College student body, we would like to invite our president to a College Council meeting for a discussion on free speech. The members of the College Council and the signatories of this letter hold diverse opinions on the complex matter of free speech on campus. This letter is not meant to affirm a position on that issue. We are seeking clarity and discussion on a topic that affects those we represent and ourselves. Along with this public letter, we have submitted a formal invitation.

If Zimmer believes so deeply in open discourse, he should welcome this invitation and come prepared to answer tough questions.

Sincerely, Louisa Richardson-Deppe, Class of 2017 Rep Chase Harrison, Class of 2018 Rep Dan Lastres, Class of 2018 Proxy Rep Ari Mulgay, Class of 2018 Proxy Rep Qudsiyyah Shariyf, Class of 2019 Rep Elizabeth Ortiz, Class of 2019 Rep Mahi Senthilkumar, Class of 2019 Rep Satyen Gupta, Class of 2020 Rep Veronica Myers, Class of 2020 Rep Jahné Brown, Class of 2020 Rep Kosi Achife, Class of 2020 Rep

Tech’s Biggest Problem? Uber-Masculinity Silicon Valley Creates a Toxic Culture That Devalues Women

Jasmine Wu When I ask you to say the first word that pops in your head when you think of Silicon Valley, it might be along the lines of “ambitious” or “innovative.” That is all true. Silicon Valley without a doubt has launched the dreams of brighteyed entrepreneurs and has made start-ups into powerhouses of the tech industry. It is the embodiment

of a meritocracy, but latent within is the embodiment of unconscious biases and discrimination against women.

This culture of meritocracy has most recently come under scrutiny with Uber, the $70 billion ride-hailing company that began as a start-up. Susan Fowler, a former engineer at Uber who left in

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.

NEWS

GREY CITY

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

Wendy Lee, editor SOCIAL MEDIA

Jamie Ehrlich, editor ONLINE

Euirim Choi, editor Vishal Talasani, director of data analysis

VIEWPOINTS

PHOTO

Cole Martin, editor Sarah Zimmerman, editor

Zoe Kaiser, editor

ARTS

Kenny Talbott La Vega, editor

VIDEO

Hannah Edgar, editor Grace Hauck, editor

BUSINESS

SPORTS

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

Rhea Bhojwani, editor Britta Nordstrom, senior editor Siddharth Kapoor, associate editor Cavell Means, associate editor DESIGN

Stephanie Liu, production manager Kay Yang, head designer COPY

Sophie Downes, head editor Morganne Ramsey, head editor Michelle Zhao, head editor Katrina Lee, deputy editor Patrick Lou, deputy editor THIS ISSUE

Design Associates: Helen Chen, Henry Gao, Kristen Izquierdo Copy: Mohammed Bashier, Kate Blankinship, Whitney Halperin, James Kon, Marco Laghi, Sarah Pan, Olivia Shao, Kuba Sokolowski

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 Regina Filomeno, business manager Harry Backlund, distributor Editor-in-Chief E-mail: Editor@ChicagoMaroon.com Newsroom Phone: (773) 702-1403 Business Phone: (773) 702-9555 Fax: (773) 702-3032 For advertising inquiries, please contact Ads@ChicagoMaroon.com or (773) 702-9555.

Circulation: 5,500. © 2016 THE CHICAGO MAROON Ida Noyes Hall / 1212 East 59th Street / Chicago, IL 60637

December, published a blog post detailing her experience of gender discrimination and sexual harassment at the company. When employees join Uber, they subscribe to the idea of a meritocracy where only the brightest and most talented can rise to the top. Yet from Fowler’s account, “meritocracy” meant that her manager was unduly protected solely based on his talent and intelligence. When he made sexual advances, Fowler immediately reported the incident to Human Resources. She was told that because her manager was a “high performer,” the company would not feel comfortable punishing him. Meritocracy meant that Fowler—who not only completed all projects on schedule but also had plans to publish a book with the publisher O’Reilly and speak at major tech conferences—was given a negative performance review because she did not have an “upward career trajectory.” Because of this, she was no longer eligible to enroll in a Stanford computer science graduate program sponsored by Uber that her previous performance scores enabled her to attend.

Meritocracy means being part of an organization where the percentage of women engineers dropped from over 25 percent to only 3 percent during Fowler’s time there. Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick has set the tone for such a workplace by in one instance referring to Uber as “Boob-er” because the company helped him attract women. How can women in the workplace be taken seriously when the CEO himself associates their value with their body parts and not their professional competency?

And Uber isn’t alone; in all of Silicon Valley, 60 percent of women in tech reported unwanted sexu-

Emily Xue

al advances. A 2010 experiment from MIT and Indiana University also showed hostile attitudes toward female employees. In the experiment, 445 business school participants were asked to act as managers and award bonuses to employees based on merit-based guidelines. Yet in a stark paradox, managers rewarded fictional male employees bonuses that were $46 higher than those for equally performing female employees. By devaluing women, companies like Uber are degrading their intrin-

sic worth. How much press does a company need to finally take action over a toxic culture? Our society does not benefit from systematically excluding half the population from STEM. Uber is just one example of such discrimination; it points to a greater systemic and cultural issue that everyone, and not just this company, needs to address.

Jasmine Wu is a second-year in the College majoring in economics and philosophy.

5

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MARCH 3, 2017

The Establishment Survives The Political Establishment Is Our Greatest Hope for the Future of America

BY CASE NIEBOER MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Whatever happened to the American establishment? It was supposed to be the unassailable wall, the enemy of the populist candidates that tried to take their parties’ nominations during the 2016 election cycle.

This great demon of American politics manifested in Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton, who were supposed to be effectively unstoppable.

Yet, today, the most reviled of the populist opposition is in the White House with a Republican party on the verge of civil war and a Democratic party only unified by “resistance.”

So it was with high hopes to understand just what is going on that I attended an IOP debate last week to determine whether “the political establishment has failed America.”

Despite a strong foursome of three professors and a journalist, most of the debate was filled with semantics and devoid of argument. Only Georgetown’s professor Michael Eric Dyson actually and aptly dealt with the question, though his condemnation of the establishment left much to be desired.

Dyson argued that the job of the political establishment is to ensure that all Americans can enjoy their fundamental rights. While this is a part of their mission, I disagree with any position that says this is the primary task and, subsequently, that failing in it is “failing America.” Rather, the fundamental purpose of the political establishment is to ensure the continuation of the United States of America as a democratic republic. Trump himself will not destroy the American republic—some members of his own party have already shown opposition to some of his more disquieting

proposals such as his travel and his outreacj to Russia. And, so long as the filibuster is in place, the Democrats can block what the Republicans will not. This is the establishment working! The issue is that our democratic principles are eroding and action needs to be taken to preserve them—but the election of one populist does not kill a democracy.

In fact, the establishment did an excellent job in opposing Trump during the primaries— the GOP’s attempt to defeat him only failed because of the sheer number of well-qualified establishment candidates in the ring, any of whom would have beaten Trump in a head-tohead fight. It is important to remember that Trump is the first Republican nominee to fail to get a majority of primary votes. If anything, the primary election was a certification of the establishment’s success rather than a revolution against it. But plurality winner-take-all state primaries hamstrung the GOP. It is unimaginable that Trump would have won had he been playing under a superdelegate system. Meanwhile, the Democrats held off a major populist challenger and chose a candidate that, for all her ethical and rhetorical problems, was the most qualified in a generation and went on to win the popular vote. In both cases, the establishment failed because the systems in place failed, not from any fault of their own.

Trump seems to be a singular event in American politics that will not leave a substantial legacy. His “alt-right” base certainly has political influence, but no congressmen or senators have been primary-ed out of office by “alt-right” candidates—in fact, down-ballot Republicans usually ran well ahead of their party’s nominee and those running against

them were from the Tea Party rather than from white nationalists or the “alt-right.” Unlike an Erdogan or Orbán, Trump is not leading a movement with serious power to remake law; his own party supports him for now, but has already shown opposition to his and Bannon’s ideology. The party of Reaganism has yet to cede ideological ground to Trumpism— making the Republican establishment the strongest bulwark against potential tyranny.

Ryan and McConnell have an established distaste for Trump; they will oppose him where they can, moderate him where they will, and support him where they must.

While the establishment has yet to fail America, it is in danger of doing so in the future. The lessons of this election need to be learned. Whatever the mildly anti-democratic nature of the superdelegate system, it

has deep value in blocking populist hijackers like Trump. The Democrats should retain the system and the Republicans adopt it as a necessary way of protecting democracy. While the Electoral College is unlikely to be eliminated in the near term, states could restore part of its original purpose—to block potential dictators from the presidency—by allowing them to vote their conscience. But the efforts to maintain democracy must go further; we cannot rely on laws alone. We must establish new norms that protect our democracy from future would-be tyrants; the establishment is our best hope for the future—to call it a failure is to invite the end of our democracy.

Case Nieboer is a second-year in the College majoring in philosophy.

CLASSIFIEDS 5115 S. ELLIS AVE, (5) BED. (3) BATH APARTMENT IN RENOVATED SIX (6) UNIT APARTMENT BUILDING FEATURING: NEW KITCH W/ S.S. APPL, LARGE ROOMS, HARDWOOD FLOORS & PARTIALLY FURNISH. ON-SITE LAUNDRY. STEPS TO U OF C SHUTTLE STOP. $3450 INCLUDES WIFI. CALL CHAD 312-720-3136, CJOHNSON@HALLMARK-JOHNSON.COM

ARTS His Muse Is Metaphysics: The Art of Jitish Kallat

BY NICK OGILVIE MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

On Monday, renowned Indian contemporary artist Jitish Kallat delivered a short talk at the Logan Center as part of the tour for his Here After Here exhibition, currently at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi. Kallat discussed a variety of his multimedia works, speaking on his artistic process.

In his work, Kallat plays on the theme of cosmology as a symbol of the metaphysical.

Epilogue, a beautiful labyrinth of photos, features the roughly 22,000 different moons that Kallat’s father would have seen during his lifetime, replacing them with traditional Indian roti

bread. The effect was a touching tribute to Indian life and culture. Kallat’s latest project is a highway roundabout in Germany made of road signs, bent into mobius strips and arranged into a towering f lower-like structure. The signs—with directions to everywhere yet nowhere—serve as both the promise of a new path and as a reminder of the infinite size of the universe.

Kallat meditated on the themes of creation and revelation throughout the talk—revelation, not so much in finding something new, but in finding the new in something. One work titled Sightings (d9 m4 y2015), an extreme closeup of fruit, blurs and changes color as the viewer engages with the work from different angles. In this way, seeming-

Samuela Mouzaoir Public Notice 2, a collection of over 4,000 fiberglass sculptures that invokes a historical speech

by Gan

Samuela Mouzaoir 22,000 Sunsets (2001), an “urban moment” that simultaneously captures every sunset the artist’s father ever saw.

ly static fruit takes on an extra dimension, revealing the metaphysical embedded in the quotidian. Another work, annexation, builds upon this idea in sculpture form: Kallat rebounded and repurposed images found in metro stations, making art of trash. Pieces like The Cry of the Gland, a wall made up of a photo collage of people and the back pocket of their pants, also drew attention to an easily-overlooked aspect of the everyday.

From fruit to experimentations with fire, the exhibit explored the power of nature and human interactions with it. The Infinite Episode aligns various sculptures of different sleeping animals, and Sacred Geometry (covariant) features 150 different human and ani-

mal eyes. In another series, Kallat laid lines of flammable liquid on paper, set them on fire, and left them outside to the whims of the wind. Combining these two elements together—fire and air— with a light human touch, Kallat’s transient fire drawings elegantly explore the delicate balance between control and freedom.

Kallat’s most touching piece, Covering Letter, features a 1938 letter from Gandhi to Hitler, begging him not to go to war, projected onto a wall of recycling water; the words are almost invisible until the audience approaches the wall. This piece perhaps most directly reflects Kallat’s philosophy that art is not so much about what you create, but the way you get people to look at things.

6

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MARCH 3, 2017

uchicago MANUAL OF

STYLE

NAOMY GRAND’PIERRE / SECOND-YEAR

When I’m home, I’ll go raid my mom’s closet.

This one time I found a shirt with a really deep V and I thought to myself, “I have to find a way to wear this!” So then it’s about creating an outfit around that one central piece. One time I went thrifting and found these super dope leather pants—they’re very loud, a total statement piece. Once you find that statement piece it’s about finding the very simple things to add to it. It’s the same with buying a very expensive piece of clothing, the entire outfit doesn’t have to scream expensive. By combining all the pieces you get a very balanced look.

I’m a psychology major, on the varsity and Haitian national swim team. I competed in the 2016 Olympic Games.

“We’ve been thrifting since before it was cool.”

Naomy is wearing a corduroy button-up from Ann Taylor, a crop top from H&M, DIY distressed jeans she thrifted, shoes from Via Spiga, and a cowhide purse.

by david farr, christian hill, & mj chen

Home for me means a lot of different places, each with their own unique sense of style. In Haiti it’s all about color—and the weather is better—so there’s a very different look. But I tend to shy away from color. I prefer earth or neutral tones, with maybe a pop of red. I try not to drown out parts of my outfit with other pieces I’m wearing. Montreal, on the other hand, is very European. I love that classy, put-together look. In Atlanta, there’s a very distinct style, but at the same time that’s all what everybody wears: It’s either an oversized shirt with shorts, which is a very Southern-prep look that I hate, or a streetwear look that’s very influenced by rappers and hip-hop culture.

Vogue is also a big influence. I have a subscription which I read often. I’m always looking at how they always mix pieces that would normally never go together.

You’re not supposed to match brown with black, according to the “rulebook” of conventional fashion. For my look I tucked my [black] jeans into my [brown] boots, like what Kanye has been doing [in his Yeezy collections]. It’s just the look. High fashion and mixing pieces in an editorial way definitely inspires me. New York Fashion Week just happened, so I’ve been looking at the Chanel or Valentino collection—how they mix odd pieces together has been super cool. When I’m not swimming or doing school, I’m all about fashion and keeping up with the trends. Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid. Seeing how these icons of the fashion industry mix styles is super cool.

I want people to think I’m put together but also unique. I’m all about being different and not fitting any boxes. Every day it’ll be something new, combining things in ways that make people think, “Wow, how does she make that work?” —NAOMY

“I want My style is a mix of things: high-fashion and grunge, classic pieces and “out there” statement pieces, worn-in thrifted items and contemporary items.

My first look is a pretty good example of this mix and match approach: I’ve got an Ann Taylor corduroy button-up shirt, which I tied around my waist, with these black denim jeans that I distressed myself. I’m super proud of them—I sat there and tweezed out each fiber to create my own distressed look. The shoes are Italian leather—they’re Usher’s ex-wife [Tameka Foster]’s shoes, actually! My mom gave them to me, since she never wore them.

I find balancing each piece—as in, different aspects of the look—really fun about fashion. If you’re wearing a really bright color or statement piece, then that should be the focus of your outfit, and everything else should be subdued. For the second outfit, I had a bright pink suede work shirt with everything else black. I accessorized with a Louis Vuitton purse, which kept to black but had some color. Those were the two main pieces that popped out but everything else was pretty muted.

My mom has had a big influence on the way I shop and dress. She also taught me very early on to mix up pieces, like very expensive pieces with thrifted ones. We’ve been thrifting since before it was cool. I have four siblings, so obviously getting a wardrobe for five people is very expensive. And my mom, as an immigrant, is all about finding ways to save money. All my jeans as a kid were thrifted—it’s always been a big part of my style—and there’s something very homey about buying something used that I really appreciate. My mom is a pro at finding real treasures in thrift stores, so I’ve been trying to take after her in that regard.

people to think I’m put together but also unique.”

Naomy is wearing a leather jacket from Tibor, dress from Soprano, a suede work shirt she thrifted, socks from Forever 21, shoes from Nine West, and a purse

by Louis Vuitton.

7

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MARCH 3, 2017

Watch Your Language, Cunt Puts New Spin on Growing Up

BY ABBY KUCHNIR ARTS STAFF

Last weekend, audiences settled into a cozy black box theater in Logan, beer and pizza in hand, to enjoy Watch Your Language, Cunt, a new original play written by third-year Grace McLeod.

With a sparse set featuring a white sofa and end-table, the play began with fourth-year Dee Nitz, who took the stage as the dramatic Duchess Jean von Franzia. The Duchess situates the plot in the present day, describing Billboard hits of 2017 and the eventful early days of the Trump presidency. The protagonists—sisters Sam and Kat (second-year Margaret Glazier and third-year Emma Maltby)—appeared and immediately began bickering, setting the tone for their relationship. Their arguing establishes the main themes that develop throughout the play: Kat’s queerness, her older sister’s nervous energy, and their complex relationship with their mother and grandmother.

This play is a set as a bildungsroman in reverse. As the scenes progress, the characters travel backward from the brink of real adulthood to the tribulations of childhood. They start out discussing the prospect marriage and children and ultimately end worrying about how to clean up a party before their parents find out.

Once more, Duchess Franzia sets the scene, this time in 2008, with news of Obama’s recent election and an excerpt from Flo Rida’s classic “Low.” Sam attempts to persuade a stubborn Kat to attend a Thanksgiving dinner at their grandmother’s house. The third scene rewinds to 2004, with Sam and Kat on

Brooke Nagler In the play, Kat (Emma Maltby) and Sam (Margaret Glazier) face the joys and pains of growing up.

summer break—from college and high school respectively—avoiding taking their ailing grandfather for a walk. The piece ends with unruly high school party and a heart-to-heart between the sisters about teenage insecurities.

McLeod’s play hits all the right notes of a coming-of-age story: angst, tenderness, and a relationship rooted in tension. Witnessing these familiar elements unwind in

reverse, accompanied by reminders of pop culture of the day, made the play feel like a nostalgic memory. To anyone growing up with a sister, a shouting match where Sam tells Kat to “watch her language, cunt,” rings hilariously true.

McLeod’s characters shone. The two main actresses inhabit their characters at four extremely different stages of their young adult lives, each portrayal building

on the one before and exposing a new facet of the character’s personality. As the play progresses and Sam and Kat become younger, their different but overlapping stages of growth are tense, beautiful, and realistic.

Make sure to catch some more original student plays during UT’s New Work Week, fourth week of spring quarter.

SPORTS IN-QUOTES... “I’m coming back to prove I’m the best” —Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas

True Test for Maroons Women’s Tennis

BY MINNIE HORVATH SPORTS STAFF

This weekend, the University of Chicago women’s tennis team will head to Murfreesboro, TN, for the ITA National Indoor Championship.

The No. 10 Maroons are coming off of a dominant weekend at home.

L a s t S at u r d ay, t hey s t e a m r ol le d Principia 9 – 0 and John Carroll 8 –1, bring ing their 2017 record to 7– 0.

Against Principia, the team won all six singles matches, and four were 6 – 0, 6 – 0 victories. Additionally, the team only dropped one game in three doubles matches. The Maroons were nearly equally dominant in their second matchup of the day against John Carroll, with victories in five singles matches and all three doubles matches.

The South Siders will hope to use this momentum to generate success in their matches this weekend. Head coach Jay Tee was pleased with the team’s ability to stay focused this weekend, remarking, “ These were some great matches as our final tune-ups before the ITA Indoor National Championships.” He expects that the team will be confident and ready to compete this weekend in Tennessee.

F irst-year Marjorie A ntohi only dropped two games in four matches last weekend. For a little perspective, she won 40 games total to claim two

singles victories and take part in two doubles v ictories with her partner, second-year Rachel Kim. Antohi says that the team has been preparing for this weekend by “fixing small things to make sure that we stay dominant on the court.” The Maroons have been dominant in all of their matches so far this season, so they have had a lot of opportunities to work on polishing and taking care of the little things that will translate to victories in bigger matches against tougher competition. She says that the team is “excited for ITAs…and it’ll be a good experience regardless of the result as long as we keep competing and doing what we’ve been working on in practice.”

On Friday the Maroons will face off against No. 13 Sewanee of the Southern Athletic Association. The Tigers are 4– 0 in 2017 and have only dropped one match all season. However, they have not played against any ranked teams, and the Maroons should have no trouble finding and exploiting their opponents’ weaknesses. UChicago has the No. 3 seed in the tournament, behind Emory and Pomona-Pitzer, seeded No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. Conference rival Wash U is seeded No. 4. The Maroons will see the winner of Johns Hopkins vs. Pomona-P itzer, should they advance to the semi-final match on Saturday.

At last year’s tournament, Pomo-

na-Pitzer captured the title by knocking off the No. 1 Carnegie Mellon Tartans in the finals. Sewanee fell in the semifinals to Pomona-Pitzer. Wash U lost in the first round but went on to win the consolation draw. UChicago’s last appearance at ITA Indoor Nationals was in 2015, where the squad finished third after beating Wash U in the third-place match.

The Maroons will look forward to competing against elite competition this weekend, and they will use this opportunity to improve and to prepare for the upcoming outdoor season.

8

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MARCH 3, 2017

SPORTS IN-QUOTES... “I’m coming back to prove I’m the best.” —Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas

Springing Into Action BASEBALL

SIMONE STOVER SPORTS STAFF

This upcoming weekend, the UChicago baseball team will take to the field for the first four games of its 2017 season. The Maroons will travel to Jacksonville, IL, for what will be a very rigorous opening weekend schedule. On Saturday, the South Siders will take on Lawrence and Loras, and on

Sunday they will go on to face off against Elmhurst and Illinois Wesleyan.

After a long hiatus, the team is extremely excited for its first few games, and its enthusiasm is palpable. “We are really looking forward to this weekend. We feel good about our preparation so far and are really looking forward to getting outside and playing on a real field against another school,” said third-year outfielder Maxi-

University of Chicago Athletics Department

Third-year Ricardo Fernandez throws a pitch.

miliano Larsen.

“We hope to build on the momentum we picked up last year as the season went on and carried into the fall,” he continued.

“We’re a very young team, but a lot of guys have a lot of experience, and we know we have to rely on everyone to be successful.”

With the start of the new season, the Maroons will be looking to improve upon some of last year’s mediocre performances.

The South Siders finished the 2016 season with an 18–19 overall record. In addition, they finished out the season with a fourgame losing streak.

However, despite the disappointing end to last year’s season, the team is going into this weekend’s games with a sense of optimism.

“Our guys are very confident,” said second-year pitcher Joe Liberman, who set the third-best earned run average in the school’s history last year. “We know that we let a lot of games slip away from us last year, but all of the guys have been working very hard throughout the offseason and these last few weeks of practice, and we know we’re ready

to take the next step as a team.”

During the 2016 season, the Maroons faced off against three of the four teams that they will compete against this coming weekend. They suffered a 3–0 loss to Illinois Wesleyan but managed to achieve wins against both Lawrence and Elmhurst. The Maroons were victorious over the former with a solid 3–1 win and accomplished an even more impressive 9–3 win against the latter. These victories, along with the team’s attitude, seem to indicate that the South Siders have a very good chance at victory this weekend.

“We have the ability to compete with any team in the country,” Larsen said of his teammates. “And we’re itching to get out on the field and prove it.”

All four of the South Siders’ games will take place at the Lenz Field & Sports Complex in Jacksonville, IL. The games against Lawrence and Loras will take place on Saturday, March 4, at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively. The games against Elmhurst and Illinois Wesleyan will take place the following day at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.

First Bid in Five Years WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

BY MICHAEL HINKLEY SPORTS STAFF

The Maroons begin postseason play on Friday when they travel to Minneapolis to take on Wartburg in the fi rst round of the NCAA tournament. This is Chicago’s fi rst playoff appearance since the 2011–2012 season when they reached the Sweet 16 round. This year, the squad fi nished with an overall record of 18–7 and an impressive conference mark of 11–3, which earned them a second-place fi nish in the UAA. Moreover, the Maroons have faced one of the toughest schedules of any team in the tournament and have knocked off ranked teams on five separate occasions. The Maroons are hoping to defeat yet another ranked team in Wartburg on Friday and move on to face the winner of the St. Thomas vs. UW– Superior matchup in the Round of 32.

Wartburg, currently ranked eighth in the country, enters the contest with an impressive record of 25–2 and a 15–1 mark in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (IIAC). In their last game, the Knights defeated Luther College to win the IIAC tournament title.

Throughout the year, Wartburg has relied on the long-range shot to outscore their opponents. Three of the Knights regular starters have converted over 40 percent of their three-point attempts this season.

The Maroons will be relying on their top-ranked defense to neutralize Wartburg’s high-scoring offense. This year, the Maroons have held their opponents to just 61.6 points per game. Moreover, fourth-year guard Stephanie Anderson was awarded the UAA Defensive Player of the Year award. Additionally, the Maroons will need strong performances

from their offensive leaders like fourthyear Britta Nordstrom and first-year Miranda Burt. Nordstrom, who received fi rst-team all-UAA honors this year, has averaged 13 points per game this season while shooting 52.3 percent from the field. Still, it will take a gutsy performance to advance to the next round.

“This is a position that we have never been in,” Anderson said about making the tournament for the fi rst time in her career. “It’s exciting to make the playoffs, but we have to stay focused because it’s win or go home.”

If the Maroons are able to defeat Wartburg, they will advance to the Round of 32 and play either St. Thomas or UW–Superior, who face off against each other on Friday evening. St. Thomas enters the tournament as the second-ranked team in the country and have posted a perfect 27–0 record. Their

fi rst-round opponents come in with an overall mark of 23–4, and they recently won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference tournament championship.

“We are ready for the challenge and confident that we can make it deep into the tournament, but we cannot afford to look past any of our opponents,” Anderson said. “Wartburg is a good team, and it will take our best to advance.”

Chicago will face rival Wartburg this Friday, March 3, at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, MN. This will be just the second meeting ever between the two teams. Wartburg won the only other meeting back in 1989, but the Maroons will be looking for a different result this time around. If the Maroons are able to emerge victorious, they will move on to face St. Thomas or UW–Superior the following evening in the second round.

Last Chance Qualifications Track & Field

BY MAGGIE O’HARA SPORTS STAFF

The Maroon men and women of the indoor track and field squad will travel this weekend for their last meets of the regular season before National Championships. Both the women and the men will take part in two meets this weekend; both on Friday at the Carthage Invite and Saturday at the U W – St evens Poi nt L ast Cha nce Meet.

This weekend represents the last opportunity for any of the athletes t o qua l i f y for nationa ls, thus the Maroons will race a split squad this weekend to provide ample opportunity for individuals to qualify for that meet. The decision of whom will race where is dependent on which event will be the most competitive where

and thus making it more conducive for qualifying. The better the competition around the Maroons, the better they seem to do.

T he S outh Siders have excel led all season when up against the best competition, rising up to the occasion when racing the best athletes. This attribute bodes well for the chance of qualifying this weekend as there will be added pressure with the last chance meets. A ll week the squad has been running its best, in order to knock off fractions of a second here and there. “ We’re all pretty excited as the team gears up for nationals. We had a pretty good meet as a team last week at the Association’s meet,” said fourthyear Will K ingan. “ We’re try ing to carry that momentum forward as some of us try to qualify for nationals and the rest of us are looking forward to

the outdoor season which beg ins in only a few weeks.

Coming off a strong showing at the UA A conference meet, the Maroons are feeling good going into this weekend. Many individuals will look to top their best marks in order to qualify for the ultimate competition. While a few Maroons have already qualified for nationals, there are a few athletes who came up just short this past weekend and are looking to improve on their best times.

One event that K ingan believes could possibly qualify for nationals this weekend is the men’s distance medley relay. To do this, they’ll have to knock off between three and six seconds off their season best, but as they ran it together for the first time last weekend, there’s a strong chance for them to qualify.

T he Maroons are hoping to continue to ride their successful season into this upcoming weekend, as well as into nationals. While many of the athletes are still looking to qualify for nationals, they’re also beginning to look forward to outdoor season which w i l l prov ide ample oppor tu n ity t o improve. Second-year Grace Penders spoke to this notion. “ UA A s was a n i ncred ible meet for the team; the women’s team won second and the men’s narrowly took third. Now we’re excited to continue our success at nationals and into the outdoor season,” she said.

The Maroons will compete at Carthage at 3 p.m. on Friday and at UW – Stevens Point on Saturday at 10:30 am.