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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