ChicagoMaroon041216 by The Chicago Maroon

APRIL 12, 2016

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

As SG Elections Start Up, A Revised Set of Rules BY EMILY FEIGENBAUM SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

After rule disputes during last year’s Student Government (SG) elections, any instances of complaints and negative campaigning in this year’s elections will be handled through a revised set of rules passed last week. The Elections and Rules Committee (E&R) presented amendments to the General Assembly ByLaws and a new Election Code at last Tuesday’s College Council (CC) meeting and Monday’s Graduate Council Meeting. These legislative reforms were approved three days before the process for this year’s elections began with the release of candidacy petitions. Second-year Max Freedman, Chairman of E&R, stated that the rules have in no way changed but the committee hopes that that these reforms will help clarify for candidates what is and is not acceptable in the election process. “The process of looking into

which of the Election Rules should be changed and which of the applicable documents should be amended began with a post-mortem assessment of last year’s election and how E&R handled or failed to adequately handle certain high level complaints that arose,” he said. Last spring’s elections were marked by accusations of University policy violations in the hanging of a campaign poster in the dining hall, slate collusions, and the inappropriate use of school e-mails and Facebook to promote a specific slate. The Open Minds Slate withdrew from last year’s election because of objections to election proceedings deemed to be noncompliant with SG regulations. In a Facebook post explaining its decision, the Slate stated “[O]ur team has become aware of and subject to private SG election proceedings that clearly fall outside of the purview of the SG Election By-laws, Continued on page 2

New Becker Friedman Initiative Explores Economics of Healthcare BY ISAAC TRONCOSO SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

Late last month, the Becker Friedman Institute announced a new initiative studying markets and health care. The Health Economics Initiative will study health care markets and the forces that affect them by funding original research and building a community of scholars within this field. The fi rst phase of the initiative will be the Program on Foundational Research in Health Care Markets and Policies. This program will combine the resources of the Harris School of Public Policy, the University’s Department of Medicine, and its Department of Economics. “The program will encourage analysis of the economic forces that shape health care costs, coverage, provision, and outcomes: incentives, innovation, regulation,

competition, labor markets, public financing of health care programs and fiscal constraints, and international differences in health care policies, markets, and technology,” the Institute’s statement read. The pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and the Charles Koch Foundation, which supports research that advances “free societies,” were among the donors to the initiative. This program represents the latest example of cooperation between the graduate schools on the study of health care and economics. The Health Economics Initiative builds upon a history of collaboration between the social science and medical departments in the University, such as the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine (HIPS) B.A. program. “There’s a long history of interdisciplinary collaboration Continued on page 2

Alexandra Davis

Bo Rothstein outlines how Scandinavian countries have avoided governmental corruption.

Political Scientist Considers How Scandinavia Avoided Corruption BY GREG ROSS MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

On Monday even ing, po litical scientist Bo Rothstein delivered a lecture on government corruption, outlining the path that Scandinavian governments— considered among the world’s most tra nspa r-

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The City of Chicago’s Finance Committee authorized a $4.95 million settlement to the family of University of Chicago graduate Philip Coleman (A.B. ‘96) on Monday. The civil lawsuit by Coleman’s family was filed after the city released the surveillance footage of Coleman’s cell, which shows Chicago Police Department (CPD) employees repeatedly striking Coleman with a Taser and then dragging him down a hallway. In December 2012, Coleman was taken into custody for aggravated battery, according to a police report. Coleman had suffered a mental breakdown and assaulted his mother, Lena, who called the

A Foreign Feeling

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Page 8 South Asian students reconcile their ambitions with their roots at SASA.

Chalk It Up to Freedom of Speech Page 5

A fourth-place finish of 16 teams is nothing to sniff at.

Alex’s Food Journal: Salonica, Hospitality on a Rainy Day Page 6

Support of Trump should promote discussion, not silencing.

Show up in sneakers and sweatpants, tuck in to Greek comfort food, and continue with your day.

BY PETER GRIEVE DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

police but told the officers that she did not want to press charges. When she pleaded with the police to take Coleman to a hospital, a sergeant said, “We don’t do hospitals. We do jail,” Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton told the finance committee, according to The Chicago SunTimes. After Coleman died in a hospital due to a fatal reaction to an antipsychotic drug, an autopsy report showed that Coleman received severe trauma with more than 50 bruises and abrasions on his body, according to The Chicago Tribune. The lawsuit filed by his family contended that Coleman would be alive if he had first been taken to a hospital instead of jail. The finance committee de-

ent—have taken to establish non-corrupt institutions. Rothstein, a professor at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University at Oxford , also heads the Quality of Government Institute at the University of Gothenburg. The Institute researches how government can avoid the corrup-

Handful of Top Finishers Pushes Team to Fourth Place Finish

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AS COLLEGE COUNCIL VOTE APPROACHES, PUSH FOR DIVESTMENT CONTINUES U of C Divest, a coalition calling for the University of Chicago to divest from ten companies active in Israel, continued its campaign yesterday and over the weekend in advance of a possible vote on its College Council (CC) resolution tonight. An info session Sunday was pitched as an opportunity for students to learn about the coalition from student groups and RSOs that have endorsed its campaign. Yesterday, the coalition held an event featuring four alumni speakers who presented their case for the University to divest. The coalition’s resolution for divestment has been endorsed by Al Sharq: Middle East Meets West, the Chicago Justice Initiative, the Fight for Just Food, Friends of Washington Park, Hyde Park Pagans (HPP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Latinx Students Association at SSA (LSA), Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), the Phoenix Survivors Alliance (PSA), Queers United in Power (QUIP), the Socioeconomic Diversity Alliance (SDA), Students for Health Equity (SHE), and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The coalition was disappointed not to receive the endorsement of J Street UChicago, an RSO in favor of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and opposed to the Israeli occupation. J Street came out against the resolution in a Facebook post and a Letter to the Editor last week. “J Street agrees that the occupation is bad, but I just don’t really understand why they would oppose divestment from these companies… that are directly complicit in those

Family of Alum who Died in CPD Custody Receives Settlement BY JAEHOON AHN

VOL. 127, ISSUE 38

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 12, 2016

Events over the weekend highlight support from Civil lawsuit ﬁled after City of Chicago released alumni, RSOs surveillance footage of Coleman’s cell Continued from front

sort of human rights violations, without also really advocating anything that I think would credibly address the occupation,” said fourthyear U of C Divest leader Sara Rubinstein at the info session on Sunday. “We want to encourage an open, rigorous, inclusive conversation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not polarize the issue to a point where there is no potential for engagement and cooperation,” the J Street UChicago Board wrote in its letter. In a Facebook post on Saturday, U of C Divest said that four posters it had put up on the quad were removed. We have reported the incident, and hope that the administration will help us to find the individuals who vandalized our installation and get the signs returned,” reads the Facebook post. “It’s really frustrating and disappointing,” Rubinstein said. University spokesperson Marielle Sainvilus confirmed in an e-mail that the Office of the Associate Dean of Students in the University for Disciplinary Affairs received a complaint about the removal of signs from an installation on the Quad. The University is investigating the complaint, Sainvilus added. Last Tuesday, U of C Divest presented its resolution to College Council (CC) in an extraordinarily long meeting. The meeting, which started at 7:30 p.m., was ultimately tabled after several hours of debate around 10:30 p.m. Asked whether members of U of C Divest expect to see a vote on the resolution at its meeting tonight, Rubinstein, who presented the resolution to CC last week, said that they are optimistic: “We certainly hope so.” In 2013, Stop Funding Climate Change

CPS

(SFCC) successfully campaigned for CC to put a student referendum calling on the University to divest from fossil fuel–intensive companies on its ballot. Rubinstein said that currently, U of C Divest wants CC members to vote on the issue rather than put out a referendum. “I think we might do a referendum in the future, but definitely not instead [of a CC vote], Rubinstein said. “We are going through CC now because they are representative of the student body…It’s very much our business where the University’s money is spent…This idea that you can look at the University within a bubble, as if it doesn’t have an impact on the outside world is really problematic, it is really damaging.” Rubinstein added that the coalition has not planned its response to either a “yes” or a “no” vote but that the coalition will continue pushing for divestment either way. “We definitely recognize and are prepared to continue these sorts of…campaigns in the future, because we know that if history is any precedent, even if this passes in CC, which we really hope it will, the University might not choose to divest, just because CC does it. So we will be continuing these types of campaigns and these kinds of events until we win.” CC’s decision on the resolution is not binding to the University’s Office of Investments. Citing the 1967 Kalven Report each time, the University decided not to divest from South Africa during apartheid or from corporations affiliated with Sudan during the war in Darfur, and President Zimmer told THE MAROON last Spring that it is unlikely to divest from fossil fuel companies. CC will convene at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Stuart Hall for its weekly meeting.

Chicago Psychoanalytic Society MONDAY APRIL 18, 2016 – 7:00 p.m. Scientific Program UNIVERSITY CLUB, 76 E. Monroe St., Chicago, IL Cosponsored by The Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis

Mark Solms, PhD

Brain Mechanisms of Dreaming Implications of recent research for psychoanalysis

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bated for three hours before approving the settlement to Coleman’s family, along with a smaller settlement of $1.5 million to the family of Justin Cook. Cook died in police custody after being stopped for a traffic violation in 2014. The lawsuit, filed by the estate of Cook, alleged that Cook was falsely arrested and that officers showed “deliberate indifference” to his medical condition. According to court records, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration reached a settlement with Coleman’s family on February 19—several weeks after the video was released on December 7. Prior to the committee’s decision, Emanuel’s office briefed city council on the settlement and recommended an approval, Sixth Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer told The Chicago Tribune. In December, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly ruled that the CPD employee used “brute force” when dragging Coleman out of a cell, which bolstered the claims of Coleman’s family. Sawyer, who is the Chairman of the council’s Black Caucus, approved of the deal because it compensates the family and prevents the city from going to trial, where he said it would have faced the risk of a jury watching the surveillance footage and awarding an even bigger payment to the Coleman family.

Rule-breaking candidates told to expect an “agile” response Continued from front

Code, and the Candidates’ Packet…we as individuals are unfortunately unable to bring public awareness to this issue while remaining in the race.” A large part of the reforms included revisions to the Election Code to address this situation. Additional clauses regarding candidate conduct were inserted to Article III. These amendments prohibit unwarranted personal attacks that do not clearly highlight the candidate’s platform deficiencies and can be replaced by provable measures. Defamation, the alleging of provably false accusations, is strictly forbidden. Upon review, E&R members recognized that previous legislation violated Article II § 3, which prohibits the Assembly from writing legislative code governing standing committees. Standing committees exist year-to-year without any action by SG, including the Committee on Registered Student Organizations and several funding committees, and Articles II § 3 and X § 10 as they were written meant that the SG Constitution contradicted itself by giving the same power to both E&R and the Executive Committee. E&R worked to revise these inconsistencies in the documents from January through March. “This was a glaring oversight,” said

www.chicagopsychoanalyticsociety.org

Freedman. “Either we’re the final judge or we’re not.” In a separate change, Article IV § II of the Assembly By-Laws was edited to specifically state that members of E&R are to be chosen by confirmation of the Assembly by means of instant runoff voting. Instant runoff voting is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference, the candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated, and the voters continue to vote until there is a final committee. The stacking of the committee was previously a threat as the Assembly had the ability to collectively choose the E&R members and thereby influence the creation and enforcement of election rules. According to Freedman, the implementation of instant runoff voting will prevent stacking of E&R and ensures consensus picks as committee members. The newly proposed amendment to the Assembly By-Laws, now Article IV § 14, states that all unenumerated election rules and procedures in the Assembly By-Laws and SG Constitution may be adopted and amended by E&R in an Election Code. Freedman warned that would-be rule breakers will find a much more “agile” E&R this year.

Initiative will study health care markets and the forces that affect them Continued from front

Admission is free. No reservations are required. University Club dress code: “business casual”

“I accept the decisions of the (city) lawyers that it would be wise to settle this case,” Sawyer said in an interview with the Associated Press. Sawyer and First Ward Alderman Proco Joe Moreno agreed that the officers involved in the Coleman case should be held accountable for their actions. “We are going to the public for dollars and the accused [CPD employees] are still walking around collecting a paycheck. I can tell you the mood during my briefing is that people were very upset about that,” Moreno said to the Associated Press. While the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) initially ruled Coleman’s death as an accident and the force used against him as justified, they reopened the case one day after the release of the surveillance tape. Newly appointed director Sharon Fairley told reporters on March 29 that the IPRA is wrapping up its investigation, which could bring disciplinary action against two involved officers. “I would like it to be done in a couple of weeks,” Fairley said. Ed Welch, chief of the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau, also said mental health treatment is supposed to be offered to detainees “at any time” and that the policy was violated in the Coleman case, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.

across the University. I run the Center for Health and the Social Sciences, which is committed to connecting people around the University from different social science disciplines and the graduate schools that practice social science, with the medical school to do research at that intersection,” said associate professor and co-director of the program David Meltzer. The Becker Friedman Institute’s pro-

gram will focus more on the research of economic theory than its counterparts. “I think part of the interest here is in understanding some of the contributions that more rigorous theory can make that may not have been as appreciated before,” Meltzer said. The program is currently taking applications from doctoral students in economics and public policy for fellowships and research positions.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 12, 2016

People avoid corruption when they trust others will do the same Continued from front

government can avoid the corruption that often accompanies economic development. Rothstein rejected the “principal agent” theory that has long dominated anti-corruption efforts. The theory asserts that corruption can be eliminated by offering political actors an incentive greater than the benefits derived from corruption. Such an actor cannot exist, argued Rothstein, because political leaders naturally derive their power from charisma and popularity rather than purely financial sources. Instead, R othstein adheres to a “collective action” theory that assumes political actors are driven not by utility-maximizing self-interest but by reciprocity. “People are willing to do the right thing only if something can convince them most other agents are willing to do the right thing,” he said. “ It makes very little sense to be the only one to pay your taxes if you think that very few other agents are paying their taxes.” If the “collective action” theory is correct, argued Rothstein, policymakers must approach corruption through a different lens. Instead of tinkering with incentives, as is often pursued, “the stimulus for change must be so strong that not only the agent [is persuaded to change], but must also think that agents who are also in [his] position must be willing to change.” With the U.S. in the midst of a presidential campaign that has cast a spotlight on issues of honesty and ques-

tioned the integrity of the so-called “establishment,” Rothstein’s lecture offered a look into how political scientists and policymakers contend with corruption. Rothstein also stated that while the U.S. has experienced a significant number of political scandals, unlikable policies are often misidentified as corruption. Democracy, however, should not be associated with non-corruption. Rothstein noted the tendency for voters to re-elect corrupt politicians. To further highlight this difference, he cited the examples of Singapore and South A frica. Singapore, whose government is one of the world’s least corrupt, is far less democratic than South Africa, whose government operates with high levels of institutional corruption. Rothstein noted the lack of research on corruption. This does not mean the issue is insignificant, he emphasized. “ Today, if one were to investigate the root of human suffering in the world, one would find it has most to do with the majority of the world’s population living under corrupt and dysfunctional institutions,” Rothstein said.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW SCHOOL PRESENTS

THE 2016 MAURICE AND MURIEL FULTON LECTURESHIP IN LEGAL HISTORY

Weapons of Truth: Money, Propaganda, and Civil Liberties in World War I America JOHN FABIAN WITT Allen H. Duffy Class of 1960 Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Tuesday, April 19th 4:00 p.m. Weymouth Kirkland Courtroom University of Chicago Law School 1111 East 60th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 Reception Following

This lecture is free and open to the public. No response is required but seating is limited. For special assistance or needs, please contact Erin Wellin at 773.834.4326 or ewellin@uchicago.edu.

Philosophy Professor Addresses the Purpose of Life in Virtue Lecture BY VARUN JOSHI MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Anselm Winfried Müller, the Chicago Moral Philosophy Seminar Visiting Professor in the Department of Philosophy, gave a lecture entitled “What Do We Live For?”, where he outlined the conflict between living for moral perfection and living for our own well being. Müller argued that the practical question of which type of life to pursue can only be “meaningfully asked, but not argumentatively answered by philosophy.” He traced through several philosophers and philosophical movements that attempted to answer how we should live our lives, and pointed out their weaknesses. Müller found Stoicism, Aristotle, Epiricus, the “Tragic View” or the idea that the “virtuous life is doomed to involve suffering,” Kant, and Immoralism each unsatisfying. “Philosophy, though certainly called upon and able to give a fuller and more accurate account than presented here, of the matters at issue, may yet be unable to take the discussion of this topic far beyond the point or points that this lecture has taken it,” Müller said. Müller also suggested that religion might be a source of answers that “philosophy has no argumentative access to.” Müller’s lecture was a part of the larger Virtue, Happiness, and Meaning of Life initiative, a 28-month project funded by the Templeton Foundation. The initiative believes that self-transcendence—the feeling of belonging to something bigger than oneself— is the foundation of a virtuous and meaningful life. To study how self-transcendence can

help make virtuous living lead to meaning and happiness, the initiative attempts to bring together theologists, philosophers, and psychologists. Müller, also Professor Emeritus at the University of Trier, is part of the Visiting Scholars Program, which brings scholars to teach courses at the University of Chicago which relate to the Virtue Initiative’s research. Müller is teaching the course Final Ends this quarter. The other visiting scholar is Stephen Brock, who is the Professor of Medieval Philosophy at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce. Müller and Brock were chosen to be part of the Visiting Scholars Program for their interest in the virtue ethics of Aquinas, which the initiative is focusing on. Candace Vogler, one of the two Principal Investigators of the initiative, mentioned that Aquinas scholars are not commonly available, so the Visiting Scholars Program does the initiative a great service by bringing them to the University. Vogler also mentioned that taking the courses offered by the visiting scholars is the “only opportunity for undergraduates to participate in the program.” “The great thing about undergraduates is that you have no idea where they are going to wind up. So, if it is useful, and fruitful, and productive for them, they will take whatever they get to wherever they wind up, which could be anywhere,” Vogler said. Vogler suggested that lectures like the one Müller gave might provoke us to think differently about how we live our own lives. “Human beings whose thinking is affected by this stuff are the real important outputs [of the initiative],” she said.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 12, 2016

VIEWPOINTS Cui Bono? Should UChicago Ph.D. Students in the Humanities Join a Union? BY JASON MERCHANT MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Unions have often been agents of salutary and laudable change, and union activity has been at the heart of many of the most important labor achievements of the 20th century: the five-day, 40-hour workweek; overtime pay; sick pay; occupational safety laws; child labor laws; healthcare and retirement benefits; and dependent benefits, among others. Every educated person understands the importance of unions and collective bargaining in the struggles for fair pay and workplace safety. Recently, some graduate students have been seeking to create a union for doctoral students here at the University of Chicago. It is important to discuss what concerns and issues are at stake, whether a union is the right mechanism for addressing these specific concerns, and if so, whether the positive aspects of having a union would outweigh potential negative ones: in short, what the pros and cons of having a union representing grad students would be. Earning a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in the Division of the Humanities is an intense experience, demanding long hours of study and reflection, years of coursework, faculty mentoring, and pedagogical training and experience in the classroom, all over several years. Our departments and the Division they are part of are committed to helping students succeed from the moment we admit them—and only 8 percent of all applicants to Ph.D. programs in the Humanities are offered a place here—to well beyond the moment we proudly place the doctor’s hood over our advisee’s head. We strive to be the best pro-

fessors we can; to teach and guide research; to have world-class facilities (libraries, labs, studios, etc.); to support a robust cohort of likeminded graduate student peers; and to train graduate students to be teachers by giving them classroom experience with outstanding undergraduates. All these things require time and money. That’s why the University created the Graduate Aid Initiative (GAI), which provides direct and indirect support for five years of graduate study: indirect support is a scholarship for tuition ($51,624 in 2015–16), and for a student in the first five years of a program who receives a summer stipend, direct support is the nine-month stipend (a minimum of $23,000), the summer support ($3,000), and the health insurance premium ($3,432). This direct support totals $29,432 this year, and, together with indirect support, the Division and the University invests a total of $81,056 annually in each student’s education. In addition, many students also get funding for conferences, research travel, and other field-specific training necessary from their departments, the Division, centers, and other internal sources. The University also devotes significant resources to students who are beyond the GAI. Students who have advanced to candidacy by the end of their fifth year receive full health coverage ($3,432) in years six and seven. All students receive scholarships that discount their tuition: post-GAI students are responsible for only $784 of the $6,768 per quarter Advanced Residency tuition, the equivalent of an annual scholarship of almost $18,000; though tuition has gone up, the $784 has

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remained frozen since 2009–10. For those students in candidacy who teach beyond their fifth year, TA stipends will be increased next year to $3,600 from the current $3,000 per course and Instructor stipends to $6,000 per course (from the current $5,000). And the departments and the Humanities Division have secured funding for a substantial number of dissertation-year completion fellowships (DYFs), making it possible for many students to secure a final, sixth year of full funding support. A small but vocal group on campus calling itself “Graduate Students United” (GSU) has claimed credit for almost all of these things, writing that “Since it was founded in 2007, GSU has won a number of significant improvements in graduate student life” and listing the increases in TA and instructor stipends, the freeze in Advanced Residency tuition, and other things. These claims are not accurate, and in part confuse temporal coincidence with causality and advocacy with agency. All of these improvements and changes came about in fact through the active engagement and planning of faculty and administration, particularly through the efforts of Deputy Provosts for Graduate Education Cathy Cohen (political science), Deborah Nelson (English), Vice Provost Sian Beilock (psychology), and their colleagues, working in close consultation with deans, department chairs, directors of graduate studies, deans of students, other faculty, and with students. The GSU didn’t “win” any of these things: these are accomplishments of a faculty and University that are committed to making it possible for graduate students earning a Ph.D. to be supported as students and to be prepared to become scholars and professionals in their chosen fields. It’s not possible for me to know why the GSU is claiming credit for these advances, for the work done by others (particularly by women, in this case). It does a great disservice to the hard work of the faculty and staff, women and men who actually conceived of and implemented these changes, including making difficult budget choices to pay for them, for the GSU to claim that it was somehow involved. It wasn’t. These positive changes have happened without the intermediation of a union, and while it may be unclear whether the majority of graduate students would benefit from forming a union, we can still ask: cui bono? Well, the union will collect dues in the amount, typically, of two percent. It is not clear what the base is for these dues: next year, when GAI stipends in humanities will increase to $24,000 for the academic year, a doctoral student in her first five years also receiving a summer stipend of $3,000 will receive a total

of $27,000. Two percent of that is $540. That’s a significant amount for an individual but even more significant when every graduate student in the humanities has to pay it: with about 700 current doctoral students, students in the humanities alone would contribute about $378,000 to union coffers. When one considers also the doctoral students in the social sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences, molecular engineering, and divinity (leaving aside the doctoral students in the professional schools, who may or may not be included), a union stands to collect as much as $2 million annually from Ph.D. students. And it is important to know that every current and future doctoral student would have these dues payments deducted from their stipends. This will be true whether a current student votes in favor of being represented by a union, votes against it, or even chooses not to vote at all. A union is certified by a majority of the votes cast, not by a majority of eligible voters. It is obviously in the union’s interest to collect dues from graduate students. But is it really in students’ best interest? To answer that honestly, every doctoral student must ask questions about what she or he most wants to change, if anything, what the costs and consequences of such change might be, and how best to accomplish it. Collective action doesn’t have to happen in the context of a union. Any group of students concerned about an issue can organize an e-mail campaign, hold a teach-in, write editorials, hold a protest, or even go the dean’s office hours, to advocate for a desired change. The University is deeply invested in the success of grad students: we want grad students to learn, to become experts, to complete their degrees, and to commence careers. The entire structure of our graduate programs is designed with these goals in mind, which are subscribed to not just by every faculty member, but by every level of the administration. A union may well make it harder to realize these goals. At a minimum, a union would add a layer of cost and bureaucracy between students and their departments. It may lead to longer times to degree—and hence to greater costs to the University and to every student, and to diminished life-time earnings. It may be more difficult to appoint students as grad student lecturers. It may be harder to work in the kind of research environment necessary in order to have a competitive CV for academic or non-academic employment. Even if union negotiations were to lead to higher individual stipends, it is likely that they would be paid for at least in part simply by reducing the number of admitted doctoral students: and anything that curtails opportunities for higher education would

endanger the ecology of teaching and research that is crucial to the success of our Ph.D. programs. There are other questions that every doctoral student should have answers to in order to make an informed decision whether to support a union or not: 1. How might the departmental process for teaching assignments be affected? Would it make it harder for a student to request to teach a particular class or section? Would the union have to sign off on every assignment? If so, who at the union would be responsible for approving job assignments? 2. Could the union require that a student be replaced by a more senior graduate student if that more senior person had lost their teaching assignment at the last minute? Would the union have a voice in Core teaching assignments? Would the union have a say in Stuart Tave Teaching assignments? 3. How would GAI teaching be handled differently from post-GAI teaching? 4. What happens if a union negotiates terms that improve conditions for some students but in fact are worse for others? Is there a line-item veto or vote on the contract? 5. What graduate student contracts has the union successfully negotiated at private research universities? Are those negotiated terms better or worse than the conditions for graduate students here at UChicago currently? 6. Would pay from non-teaching employment at the University (working at the library, at a center, as an editorial assistant, a lab manager, a research assistant) be subject to the union dues? 7. Would the 2 percent union dues be calculated on pretax (gross) income or net? Any vote on unionization that current University of Chicago doctoral students may be asked to take will be binding on all future doctoral students as well. It is all the more crucial, therefore, to consider whether a union will make it easier or harder for departments to admit and enroll the best graduate students and to help them succeed. Can the environment for graduate student education be improved? Of course, and every professor and administrator is invested in such improvements. Would a certified union be the best way to secure such improvements, and would the costs of the union outweigh potential benefits? That’s the question every graduate student must consider, and it’s the question that all of us who strive for the success of graduate programs at the University have a duty to develop an informed opinion about as well. Jason Merchant is a professor of linguistics and the Chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 12, 2016

Chalk It Up to Freedom of Speech Support of Trump Should Promote Discussion, Not Silencing

Felipe Bomeny Where Fun Comes to Write

A bundle of sidewalk chalk, an explosive presidential candidate with a habit of inciting racial violence, and a generation of college students whose adopted vernacular includes “safe spaces” and “microaggressions”: it’s not difficult to predict what happens when these three react on a college campus. Emory University swept headlines less than a month ago after students complained about various pro–Donald Trump slogans scribbled across their campus, specifically in well-known meeting areas for Hispanic and African-American student groups. Citing concerns for their safety, a group of 40 students protested the appearance of the slogans. Since this publicized furor on Emory’s campus, chalk reproductions have been popping up around other campuses—including our own, where “Trump 2016” chalk drawings recently appeared on Harper Memorial Library’s facade, among other highly populated campus locales. The drawings were accompanied by outcries from those on campus who felt that the chalk drawings were offensive and hateful and called for them to be removed.

Conservative students and spectators around the country gleefully point to debacles such as this one as examples of free speech losing out to “PC culture” on college campuses. Although Trump’s outrageous and frequently xenophobic and racist remarks push the boundaries of taste and bring hate speech into play, concerns about perceived violations of the First Amendment are not entirely misplaced. To be clear: “Trump 2016” is not, in any legal sense, considered hate speech. Yet Trump’s name, through his peculiar brand of demagoguery, is synonymous with hatred, especially among minority students. Between his outlandish comments on Mexican immigrants, espousal of torture, Islamophobic declarations, and unabashed support from the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups, it is no surprise that anything related to Trump is quickly labelled as derogatory and that he is often associated, for many, with feelings of discomfort or even danger. The violent atmosphere at Trump rallies—where Trump has pledged to cover legal fees for those who physically harm protesters and has even displayed gestures shockingly reminiscent of Third Reich pageantry— led to a headline-grabbing response last month, when anti-Trump protestors successfully shut down a Trump event in

Chicago. The same tension between free speech and hate speech dominated the usual partisan media bickering in the canceled rally’s aftermath. While there has been no major uproar at UChicago over the Trump chalk (which, given the recent spell of April showers and sleet, haven’t been as visible as the Emory posts), it is not inconceivable to imagine a similar response from our student body. But neither the students nor administration should give in to such provocation: to do so would undermine the University’s commitment to free speech and further perpetuate the prevailing caricature of the college student as a coddled child woefully un-

prepared for life outside the comforts of their campus. Instead, rational discourse is the answer. Even if such symbols as swastikas, Trump banners, and Confederate battle flags are embedded in a history of hate and controversy, to destroy them is iconoclasm. Instead, we must debate and revise history side by side, instead of shouting over it or scribbling out the offensive bits. Offended by the “Trump 2016” slogans on campus? Do not erase them; pick up the chalk and begin a dialogue. Felipe Bomeny is a first-year in the College.

Sarah Komanapalli

A Foreign Feeling South Asian Students Reconcile Their Ambitions With Their Roots at SASA

Urvi Kumbhat

Alphabet Soup On the evening of April 2, Mandel Hall felt less like an auditorium in Chicago and more like a theatre in Mumbai. The sounds of high-end Delhi nightclubs and bustling Calcutta streets alike echoed across the stage, and all my Bollywood-esque fantasies were realized thanks to the annual South Asian Studetn Assocaition (SASA) show. Along with 200 or so other students, I sang and danced my heart out in an exhibition of South Asian culture. The madness, chaos, and hard work of more than a quarter culminated on stage that night, and some part of me felt blissfully happy in a way I hadn’t in a long time. Now that I’m slowly recovering from my SASA withdrawal symptoms, I’m intrigued by this rather strange phenomenon. My roommate is tired of hearing about SASA, and I’ve looked through all the pictures more times than my homework realistically permits. Passing other performers in the quad merits more than a head nod or smile—there’s a friendship that comes from costume malfunctions and last minute dance run-throughs. It’s not as though I’m a fourth-year for whom this last show is a bittersweet reminder that my time as a college student is up. I didn’t choreograph any dances or contribute to the conceptualization of the show— it isn’t my brainchild, my personal project. In truth, all I did was show up and follow instructions to the best of my abilities (and eat all the free food). So why do I feel like I was a part of something big and significant, something that transcends what you can see on stage? When I was talking to my brothers a few days ago, they said I sounded

“too American.” Apparently I was using phrases that were detestably un-Indian, and my accent just wasn’t Calcutta-enough for their liking. Only a few hours later, someone in my house said I was very obviously Indian and made me repeat the word “coat” five times to hear it in my accent because I evidently said it in the funniest way known to humanity. Having been accused of being too American and too Indian in the same

things to me—the elections, baseball, the Kardashians…I often feel left out of conversations because I can’t pick up on American pop culture references. My accent sometimes sticks out like a sore thumb and I feel incongruous. Though Indians have an unhealthy and reprehensible racist obsession with light skin, there is a whiteness to the standard of beauty here that I never comprehended before, and it’s easy to feel less attractive. It’s easy

day, I was rather confused. My family complained that I was too disconnected from them, from my brothers’ latest exploits and my parents’ work troubles and the domestic gossip about the cook and the security guards. I also felt like a second-rate citizen, unable to feel first-hand the political tensions in Delhi, doing nothing but writing an article about it from the confines of my bedroom in Chicago. Facebook was my only window into what home felt like when India lost a pivotal cricket match. I watched a highly anticipated Bollywood movie on a tiny laptop screen in Cancun last month, a quintessentially American spring break destination, I’m told. At the same time, I’m always asking my American friends to explain

to feel like I’m on the outside looking in. It’s easy to feel like an imposter. What’s difficult is aligning these two warring concerns—how does one resolve feeling too American and not American enough simultaneously? SASA was the answer. Admittedly, it’s an easy route—a solution that requires no thinking, a solution that doesn’t even really answer any of these questions. But it makes me feel at one with my identities, even if it’s temporary. I’ve been here all of six months, and I’m beginning to develop a slightly skewed sense of who I am (or rather, who I could be). I can only imagine what it must be like to grow up Indian in America. As an Indian-American friend put it, “it can be confusing to conform to the pressures of two very different cul-

Wei Yi Ow

tures.” I realize I have a privilege that few others do: a college education from an elite university. Many Indians, especially Indian girls, don’t even have access to primary schools. Maybe my prospects are better in the United States, but I know that for me, home is where the heart, work, and future is. I also know that it’s easy to get swept away by this lifestyle, by the freedoms of this culture and its charming global appeal: the great, glamorous, American dream. I’m not insinuating that the Indian diaspora, or millennials in general, are shallow or superficial, but sometimes it can be difficult to reconcile our ambitions with our roots, especially in the face of more tempting opportunities. There are no easy answers for those who face this problem. However, in those 12 weeks that go into putting the show together, everything seems to fall into place. There’s a kinship that pervades everything, the familiarity of shared heritage, and the common goal of celebrating that culture. Missing India is no longer an acute sense of having left something behind. Missing home is now the joint vexation at that one relative who always comments on your appearance. It’s the mutual excitement when a song comes on and you burst into spontaneous synchronized dancing. It’s the shared irony when you joke about finding each other suitable brides and grooms. It’s the laughing friendliness in explaining ridiculous song lyrics and movie dialogues to nonSouth Asians. People aren’t attached just to the show itself, they’re attached to the people that make it. And in this whirlwind of song and dance, an often disorienting confusion turns into something truly special: the feeling of belonging. Urvi Kumbhat is a first-year in the College majoring in English.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 12, 2016

ARTS

Pilsen Exhibition Showcases Beauty of Science BY CAITLIN HUBBARD ARTS STAFF

At this weekend’s Second Fridays in Pilsen, the Chicago Arts District’s galleries featured a show called The Art of Science, an artistic collaboration between scientists from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. The University of Chicago’s Graduate Council partnered with Northwestern’s Science in Society research center to display artwork inspired by the research of—and created by—graduate students and post-docs at both schools. Adam Brown, a Ph.D. candidate in computational neuroscience at UChicago, and Kevin Song, a Ph.D. candidate in biophysical sciences, reached out to their counterparts at Northwestern to coordinate the event. Since 2010, Science in Society has held an annual scientific images contest titled “Capturing the Beauty of Science.” “I find that there’s a great disconnect between the scientific community and the public, and there are some scientists that have trouble explaining their work to the public without using jargon,” Song said in an e-mail. “I thought this would be a great way to reconcile the two communities.” The greatest success of Friday’s event was its ability to make complicated research interesting and accessible. All of the scientist-artists were present at the event to discuss

their art and explain the more complicated research behind them. Throughout the gallery, there was a sense of pride among the scientists, both in the scientific work they were doing and in having a means of sharing the beauty of that work. The gallery effectively merged scientific objectivity with artistic subjectivity. Scientists are usually trained to be objective: they go to great lengths to ensure that any claim they make is grounded in fact. However, this event gave them the opportunity to subjectively express what they feel is beautiful about their work. “One of the reasons I chose to do my Ph.D. training in the Biron lab was the striking visual aspects of the research,” Brown said in an e-mail. “We work with a tiny nematode worm called C. elegans and almost 100 percent of what we do involves microscopes and cameras. I started making ‘art’ in the lab to share what I was seeing with my friends and family and whomever else might be interested.” The Art of Science displayed not only research, but also the artistic influences of the scientists behind it. There were paintings, drawings, and a vast range of digital media ranging from pop art to abstract expressionism. The personality of the researcher acted as a lens for interpreting scientific research, adding a very human aspect to a field that too often gives little opportunity for personal

Christine Laramy

Christine Laramy created Practice Makes Perfect while testing a new method for measuring gold nanoparticles over several months.

expression. One particularly remarkable piece of art was Practice Makes Perfect by Christine Laramy, a researcher in Northwestern’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The photo from her transmission electron microscope was well-balanced with a lightness reminiscent of a watercolor. The way she colored the originally black-and-white photo was bright and comforting. The title was a reference to the many weeks she spent perfecting the process of separating gold nanoparticles from soap: she captured the image after many

weeks fine-tuning a new nanoparticle measurement software. Presenting scientific research through art benefits both the art world and the scientific community. University-level research provides not only new subject matter to art, but also tools such as high-powered microscopes, through which most people would never otherwise look. Scientists receive a way of presenting their research to a wider audience with their own unique flare. But the audience benefits most of all, seeing the beauty of the physical world.

Alex’s Food Journal:

Salonica, Greek Comfort Food on a Rainy Day April 6 / 1440 East 57th Street

BY ALEX YE MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

When I wrote in THE M AROON’s February 19 issue that The Promontory was Hyde Park’s only “serious dining experience,” I hardly meant that it was the only place worth eating in the neighborhood. Salonica’s hospitality kept me warm on a rainy, gloomy Wednesday afternoon, and I have grown fond of the cozy establishment. Our waitress skipped the small talk; service was prompt and attentive. Situated on the corner of 57th and Dorchester, this not-so-American diner greets you with black vinyl–cushioned wooden booths and subdued, unobtrusive music. Feel free to show up in sneakers and sweatpants, tuck in to Greek comfort food, slap $20 on the check, and continue with your day.

~ SOUPS ~ (Complimentary with entree or $3.50 each) Cream of Mushroom: Smooth, silky and not too salty or overpowering. The quality compared to something out of a can of Campbell’s. Winner for best bread dunk. Split Pea: My personal favorite. A slight smokiness accompanied the sweet fragrance of the peas, onion, carrots, and hint of celery. Perhaps not the ideal choice if you don’t like your soups with a slightly grainy consistency. Vegetable: The roughly-chopped vegetables were hearty, but the soup was watery with only some basic seasoning, reminiscent of a cup of instant noodles. Least favorite. ~ MAINS ~ Big Fat Greek Omelet ($6.95): I was pleasantly surprised. Everything good in a gyro stuffed into a diner-style omelet.

Braised Lamb ($12.95): The combination of braised lamb and potato was a winner, but the meat was dry. I ended up using the tzatziki, a tangy yogurt and cucumber sauce served with the omelet, to salvage it. Loukaniko ($10.95): Portion sizes were generous, except where this dish was concerned. This featured one sausage link amongst a mound of seasoned rice and steamed vegetables. And the lean, spiced sausage didn’t pass the snap test—unfortunately, the biggest disappointment of the outing. ~ DESSERT ~ Baklava ($2.50): This homemade pastry sends you off happy. Sweet crumbled walnuts layered between flaky phyllo pastry, drizzled on top with honey—a sticky, delicious dessert. Come in early for a fresh slice; phyllo goes stale quickly.

~ BONUS ~ Greek extra virgin olive oil ($13): Shelved by the cashier, a bottle of this oil will cost you less than it would at Hyde Park Produce and Treasure Island, and, while fairly mild, it really does the job drizzled on pastas, salads, and seafood. Salonica isn’t a greasy diner that will have you feeling worse after you eat. Rather, it’s a convenient, budget-friendly option for UChicago students to have a quick meal or to catch up on some readings with a cup of coffee and hot soup. The quality of food is more than compensated for by a stressfree, no-frills atmosphere that provides a temporary safe haven we all could use during the week. Open daily 7 a.m.–10 p.m. 1440 East 57th Street Chicago, IL 60637. $$.

Angela Sun

The Big Fat Greek Omelet is one of Salonica’s standout, value-packed mains.

Angela Sun

Leave room for dessert—Salonica’s baklava is sweet, sticky, and decadent.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 12, 2016

TAPS B.A. Explores Andromeda Myth BY KARDELEN SERTSOZ MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Fourth-year Dani Wieder’s Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS) B.A. performance, All choiceless She, premiered at the Logan Center this past Thursday. The half-hour performance was based on the Greek myth of Andromeda and featured an interactive experience with harrowing feminist imagery. The myth of Andromeda explores the constrictions of stereotypical standards of female beauty and the female dependence on men. A beautiful princess, Andromeda is offered as a sacrifice by her parents and saved by a hero. Wieder’s Andromeda, however, doesn’t seem the type to care for her looks or to submit to a man. In the midst of tours for prospective students and parents, a group of expectant students stood still by the East Theater. We were advised to wait for Andromeda (fi rst-year Sophie Hoyt) in or-

der to enter the theater with her and follow her lead throughout the play. When she fi nally appeared, she guided us to three separate girls: the fi rst, played by fi rst-year Livia Reiner, became increasingly agitated as she cut up her paper dolls with a pair of scissors, eventually cutting her own flesh; the second, played by second-year Julia Hanson, wrestled with and eventually accepted her captivity in a bathtub to which she is bound; the third, played by third-year Eloise Hyman, stood on a box and shouted at her reflection, cast in three mirrors. Most jarring was Hyman’s performance, in which she interacted with a dress, lipstick, and pearls. She put them on, only to become frantic when presented with her reflection. Panicked, she tore the dress off and wiped away her lipstick, only to put it back on and remove it again over and over. And then Andromeda herself fell under the spell of the play. With the other girls calling her name, Andromeda, distressed, took her dress off, undid her hair, and danced as

if fi nally free—only to put it all back on and lose her freedom once more. The play ended when Hanson is freed from the bathtub by a snip from Reiner’s scissors, and the women all walk out of the theater. Both Hanson and Hoyt worked with Wieder previously in the play Miss Julie, which she directed. To Hanson, All choiceless She and Miss Julie both “regard femininity and object theory.” These themes, which appeared in Miss Julie “appear again in this piece, so it kind of in some ways is a continuation of that project.” Hoyt agrees, in that the play was about “taking the story of Andromeda and reworking it to show her as a person:” All choiceless She is a powerful expression of the prison of female objectification, as evidenced by its title. From the wrestling with lipstick to the emancipation from the wedding dress, the message of the play is clear: there are expectations of femininity for women to fulfi ll, and outright rejection of them is not a simple task.

Answers to Friday’s crossword puzzle, “Trashy Odd Clues.”

U 19

E 30

D 35

S 38

A P

A R

A 70

A 53

P 44

A 43

S U 23

K 28

O 20

SPORTS Chicago Takes First at Chicagoland Championships WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD

BY BRITTA NORDSTROM ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

Although spring break ended two weeks ago, the Maroons were unable to start their outdoor season until this past weekend after the Ted Haydon Invitational, scheduled for April 2, was cancelled due to inclement weather. Despite the hiatus, the women clearly did not miss a beat, as they finished first of 11 teams at the Chicagoland Championship this past Saturday. They continued their success from the indoor season where they finished eighth at the NCAA DIII Indoor Championship and took first place in five out of their seven other meets, including the indoor part of the Chicagoland Championship. At the meet this weekend, the women won five events and placed in 14 additional events, including two one-two finishes. These one-two finishes came in the 400-meter by first-years Nicole VacaGuzman and Emma Koether, while the high jump saw the other from second-year Ade Ayoola and first-

year Alexandra Thompson. VacaGuzman received multiple wins on the day, as she was also part of the 4×400-meter relay team that continued its dominance from the indoor season. In addition to VacaGuzman, the team includes Koether and standout upperclassmen: fourth-year Mikaela Hammel and thirdyear Michelle Dobbs. One could argue that VacaGuzman had a breakout performance at this meet. Attributing that success to her preparation, she said, “I felt like my training this week was harder and more intense, so I felt stronger in my race.” Another winner on the day was second-year Khia Kurtenbach, who took first in the 1,500-meter, adding on to an already stellar year for the three-time All-American. Classmate Megan Verner-Crist followed in third place by less than four seconds. The long distance wins were rounded out by fourth-year Madeleine Horvath, who won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in dominating fashion, by nearly 18 seconds. The other 14 places included four sec-

ond-place finishes and 10 in the third-place slot. The field saw four of these, with fourthyear Nkemdilim Nwaokolo taking third in both the discus and hammer throw, while fourth-year Nelson Trotter finished third in the triple jump and second-year Angel Fluet contributed another third-place finish in the pole vault. Second-year Olivia Cattau also was able to chip in two third-place finishes in the both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Dobbs, who was a national champion in the 800-meter run at the Indoor UAA Championship, finished second in the 800-meter Saturday. The 4×100-meter relay team of fourth-years Rachael Jackson, Hammel, Alison Pilder, and third-year Charissa Newkirk also added a third-place finish for the Maroons. In the long distance events, the South Siders were able to push through the less than ideal weather and add points to the overall score. Second-year Kelsey Dunn took third in the 5,000-meter while the 10,000-meter saw a pair of fourth-years,

Maya Lewinsohn and Christina Leon, take second and third, respectively. However, even though the women won quite handily, VacaGuzman asserts that the team still isn’t satisfied. “Running in this weather was definitely a challenge and since it was windy I don’t think our times were indicative of where the team really stands,” she said. The weather was difficult indeed, as the meet had to be moved from Friday to Saturday due to snow. But the first-year is staying positive about the outdoor season even after the auspicious start. “I really enjoy running outdoors,” VacaGuzman said. “I’ve always done better outdoors and feel much better when on an outdoor 400-meter track. Not having to cut in at the 150-meter mark is a great relief.” Hopefully the Midwestern climate will make for better race conditions this weekend as both squads head to Wheaton College for the Wheaton Twilight Meet on Saturday. This is their last opportunity to fine-tune before the Outdoor UAA Championship at Wash U on April 23–24.

South Siders Sweep Trio of Weekend Games BASEBALL

BY RHEA BHOJWANI ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

This past weekend, the Maroons battled Lawrence University at home on J. Kyle Anderson Field and earned its ninth win of the season. The squad recorded a 3–1 victory against Lawrence, which brought the team to a winning record of 9 –8. Pitching certainly made the difference in the game. On the Chicago side, fourth-year Lucas Friss pitched a complete game, recording four strikeouts, two walks, six hits, and allowing just one run. As for Lawrence, second-year Kyle Duex also pitched a full game, allowing seven hits and three runs (one earned) with just two strikeouts. On the offensive side of the plate, the game was rather stagnant until the start of the fifth inning, when

Lawrence pulled ahead on a single by second-year Anthony Ortiz, which drove in the number seven batter in the line up, second-year Carl Olsen. Lawrence would leave two runners on base to end the inning, and Chicago quickly bounced back, scoring a run in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded, third-year Thomas Prescott hit one to right field, which drove in a run by first-year Ian Bohn. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the South Siders struck again with a two RBI triple sliced to right center field by the designated hitter, thirdyear Nicholas Toomey. Toomey was twofor-four on the day, leading his team in hits and RBI. After the go ahead runs in the sixth, Chicago did not look back. Friss ended the game to boost his record to 3 –2 on the season. The squad was scheduled to play a doubleheader

against Lawrence, but unfortunately due to rainy conditions the second game was cancelled. The Maroons also faced off against Robert Morris (Peoria) in a double header the day before. The squad was able to take down the opposing team in both outings, dispatching Robert Morris in two low scoring games. The final outcomes were 2–1 and 1– 0, respectively. First-year Joe Liberman was able to get one of the wins and shift his pitching record to 2–1. All three wins mean that the South Siders have both started a win-streak, and have been extremely hot in the month of April. The team has won four of their last five games and will look to continue the trend throughout the month and potentially into the post-season. This week, the UChicago baseball

team will travel to Lewis University in Romeoville, IL on Tuesday, April 12 and then travel to Wash U for a tripleheader on April 15 and 16. The game against Lewis University Flyers was added to the schedule late, which provides the South Siders with a warm game before rival Wash U. The Flyers are currently 17–10, promising some tough competition on Tuesday night. As for this upcoming weekend, the South Siders are excited to play Wash U, which should be one of their biggest games this season. “We prepare our best for all our games, but there’s definitely a sense of urgency and energy throughout the team before we play at Wash U,” second-year Robby Fuentes said. The Maroons have brought themselves to a winning record and look to thrash the 20 –11 Wash U Bears this weekend.

THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 12, 2016

SPORTS Handful of Top Finishers Push Team to Fourth Place Finish MEN’S TRACK & FIELD

BY FRANCES MCDONALD SPORTS STAFF

T he Chicagoland Championship for the men’s track and f ield team took place this past Saturday at the College of DuPage. The competition included DI, DII, and DIII teams. This meet kicked off the outdoor season of track and field for the Maroons, as the Ted Haydon Invitational, scheduled for April 2, was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Maroon men placed fourth out of 16 teams, finishing the meet with 88 points. The winner of the entire meet on the men’s side was North Central College, finishing with 186 points. Chicago ended with four top finishers on the day. Additionally, the Maroons placed second in three events. Two of these second place finishes came on the field. Third-year Andrew Maneval placed second in the shotput, throwing 14.62m, just one centimeter ahead of third place. Meanwhile, fourth-year Michael Bennett placed second in the pole vault, managing to ascend to 4.70m before the end of the day. On the track, Chicago secured second- and third-place finishes. In the 400-meter hurdles, fourth-year Ryan Manzuk finished third with a time of 55.56 seconds, coming within a second of first. The 4x400-meter relay team

that included Manzuk, fourth-year Jacob Romeo, third-year Jatan Anand, a nd s e c ond-ye a r Nat h a n D ow ney placed second with a time of 3:30.89. The squad is looking to improve on its results from the indoor season during the winter. While the Maroons did place higher than second in four of their seven meets, they did not send any representative to the NCA A DIII Championship. However, it is important to note that the Maroons already improved upon their 6th place finish at the Indoor Chicagoland Championship that occured in February. Although there were five more teams competing, Chicago jumped up two spots, showing that perhaps a breakthrough is on the way. The next meet for Chicago is at Wheaton College for the Twilight Meet, which will take place this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Due to the cancellation of the Ted Haydon Invitational, which was supposed to be the first meet of the outdoor season, the Wheaton meet is Chicago’s last chance to fine-tune its race form for the UA A Championship on April 23 and 24. T he S outh Siders are poised to make a run for the UA A Championship, and look forward to the Wheaton Twilight Meet as a opportunity to show that they are a force to be reckoned with.

University of Chicago Athletics Department

First-year Alex Markowitz hands off the baton to fourth-year Sebastien Akarmann during UChicago’s Windy City Rumble earlier in the season.

Squad Splits Pair of Matches Maroons Falter Against Case; Against UAA Foes Topple Wash U WOMEN’S TENNIS

BY MICHAEL HINKLEY SPORTS STAFF

Over the weekend, Chicago took on a pair of conference opponents and split the series 1–1. Following an upset victory over Wash U on Saturday, the team fell in a close match against Case Western Reserve the following morning. The Maroons now stand at 9–4 on the season heading into the UAA Championship just two weeks from now. In the first match, the Maroons fought hard and earned a convincing win over the ninth-ranked Bears. The squad jumped out to an early 2–1 lead in the doubles round. At No. 1, the duo of first-year Rachel Kim and fourth-year Lucy Tang dominated their opponents 8–2. Then, following a loss at No. 2, Chicago’s second-year duo of Ariana Iranpour and Courtney Warren finished off doubles with an 8–5 victory. Chicago proceeded to dominate in singles, putting up quick points and defeating Wash U 4–2 in that phase. First-year Kaela Bynoe posted an impressive shutout, as she defeated her opponent 6–0, 6–0 in straight sets. Kim, her fellow first-year, also earned a convincing win at No. 2 with a pair of 6–2 scores. In the end, the Maroons emerged victorious over the Bears by a margin of 6–3. As a result, Wash U fell to a record of 11–7 on the year. This match also marks Chicago’s first triumph over a top 10 team this season. On Sunday, the squad faced off with the Spartans of Case Western. Due to rain, the match was moved to an indoor location at XS Tennis. The Maroons’ first team point came from a dominating doubles performance by

Iranpour and Warren. But the Spartans won the two remaining matches, and took a 2–1 lead into singles. In the singles round, Chicago was able to claw their way back into the match with big wins from Iranpour and Kim. Then, following consecutive Case victories, thirdyear Tiffany Chen secured a clutch three-set win at No. 5 to tie the overall score at 4–4. Unfortunately, the team’s valiant effort was not quite enough as the Spartans won the final match of the day, handing the Maroons a 5–4 loss. In the future, the team is set to compete in the UAA Championship, beginning on Friday, April 22. As of now, the matchups for that tournament are still not set. That being said, Chicago is likely to receive a middle seed. At 18–3, Emory is the favorite to take the top seed, so the Maroons will likely have to go through the Eagles if they hope to hoist the UAA trophy. In any case, the team is poised to compete hard when it comes to tournament time. Fourth-year Stephanie Lee reflected on the weekend. “We had a great win against Wash this past weekend and a tough match against Case. After some rest, we’re looking forward to hitting the courts and getting ready for UAAs next week,” she said. The UAA Championship will kick off next weekend in Altamonte Springs, FL. Last year, the Maroons finished fourth after being defeated in the second round of the eight-team tournament. The squad will be looking to build off of that performance and achieve an even higher finishing position this time around.

MEN’S TENNIS

BY MICHAEL CHEIKEN SPORTS STAFF

On a rainy Sunday, the Maroons were forced a few blocks north to the indoor courts at XS Tennis. It was a special day not only in that it commemorated the hard work and effort put forth by the three graduating fourth-years on the squad, but the match was also against Chicago’s biggest rival, the Wash U Bears. At No. 5, Chicago was looking to bounce back after a tight 5–4 loss on Friday to Case Western, and the No. 13 Bears were on the docket. The day started off well for the South Siders when they took an early advantage with victories in all three of the doubles matches. This meant that the Maroons would only need to take two of the remaining six matches to send the fourth-years off with a win over Wash U. It wasn’t close. The Maroons won five of the six singles matches and decisively snatched the victory 8–1. Second-years David Liu and Luke Tsai garnered wins for the Maroons during both singles matches for the weekend and won each of their matches in straight sets as well. One of the three fourth-years honored Sunday, Gordon Zhang, was particularly impressed with his team’s performance and its growth throughout his tenure as a Maroon. “Senior Day was a special day. It was the first time we beat Wash U in five years, and we put together our most complete match this year. We took a tough loss against Case Western on Friday but the team did an unbelievable job to regroup for

our match against Wash U,” Zhang said. Zhang also expounded on the team’s improvement and development over his four years in the program. “Looking back to my first year, this team has come a long way. We ended my first year ranked 30th in the country and last year we finished in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. Our goals are to win UAAs and to win NCAAs, and we will continue to work hard both on and off the court to achieve our aspirations,” the fourth-year said. Fellow fourth-year Bobby Adusumilli echoed Zhang’s sentiments about the program’s growth. “The biggest thing that I thought about yesterday was simply how much the UChicago tennis program has improved in my four years here. The team works harder than ever before, everyone gets along great, the coaches have done a lot to put us in situations to be successful, and we all really enjoy playing tennis and competing,” he said. “We got the win yesterday against Wash U, but the biggest things I took away from the match is that for the most part everyone was smiling and having fun on the court, competing hard, and making the necessary tactical and mental adjustments to close out really close matches. Probably the most fun match that I have been a part of in my four years at Chicago.” Adusumilli, Zhang, and the rest of the team’s post-season dreams begin after the fi nal regular season match against Gustavus Adolphus, when they travel to Altamonte Springs, FL for the UAA Championship.