Chicagomaroon042817

APRIL 28, 2017

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

Student Government Candidates Debate, Discuss Goals for the Year Ahead

Changes to Art History Major, 101 Class

BY VIVIAN HE ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Brooke Nagler The unopposed Rise Slate, consisting of Chase Harrison, Calvin Cottrell, and Sabine Nau (left to right), discusses its plans for leading student government next year.

BY MARJORIE ANTOHI NEWS STAFF

On Wednesday night, the candidates for Student Government (SG) Slate and liaison positions debated in the Cloister Club at Ida Noyes Hall, where they discussed their visions for Student Government next year.

T here is on ly one slat e r unn ing on the ballot this year. The Rise Slate consists of third-year Calvin Cottrell, second-year Sabine Nau, and third-year Chase Harrison.

The slate discussed some of the changes they would like to make to Student Government next year. The discussion was moderated by third-year Max Freedman, Election and Rules Committee chairman.

A f ter introducing themselves, the Slate candidates spoke about why they decided to run in this election. “ The reason we decided to run was we thought that Student Government wasn’t doing enough on campus,” Harrison said. “We saw that there had been no major accompl ishments this year and that the past Student Government really hadn’t had its priorities in

the right place, so we’re really excited to double down on communication with the student body to talk about issues like mental health awareness and ways that we can support more RSOs on campus.”

W hen asked about their plans to focus SG on more impor tant issues, Har r ison replied, “In the future, we’re planning on having themed A ssembly meetings.” T hese will be meetings focused on certain themes or campus issues, such as mental health resources. “Currently, there are 16 or 17 undergraduate reps and similar numbers of grad reps. They get together at least once a quarter to vote on and discuss these larger campus issues. The way that that’s handled right now is really ad-hoc…it’s currently unproductive.”

The Rise Slate also intends to improve communication between SG and the student body.

Nau spoke about implementing “small weekly updates” including descriptions of “what we’ve been focusing on” or “what we’ve been talking about lately,” as well as holding weekly office hours in C-Shop.

Second-year Zander Cowan,

third-year Christina Uzzo, and second-year Steve Berkowitz, who are the three candidates running for the position of Undergraduate Liaison to the Board of Trustees, then took the stage. After taking 90 seconds for their opening statements, the candidates took turns answering each question and spoke about the issues they felt were most important.

Berkowitz spoke about engaging people outside of SG in order to show them that “their ideas can be heard.” For example, he said, “student athletes here are really a huge part of campus, but yet, for them, they’re really sort of removed from the rest of the student body in that people are very busy with their academics and their extracurriculars, and it can be hard for people to juggle all these responsibilities. I think that being in a position in Student Government where you can engage everyone with all of their different commitments is something I’m really looking forward to.”

Cowan detailed the unique perspe c tive that he wou ld bring to the position, saying, “I have been on Student GovernContinued on page 2

Au Revoir, Madame Le Pen

Page 8

Marine Le Pen will not be the next president of France, predicts Ashton Hashemipour.

Zimmer Talks Discipline, Free Speech, and Student Life Page 3 Other topics discussed included the Obama presidential library, future construction projects, and Zimmer’s personal leadership style.

T he a r t h ist or y depa r tment is expecti ng a major overhau l of its i ntroduct o ry Art History 101 class and its major curriculum. The proposed changes are aimed at responding to evolving trends in the field of art history and streamlining some existing logistical complexities.

The new major curriculum will be the standard curriculum for incoming first-years, is optional for current second-years, and excludes current third-years and fourthyears.

Starting in spring 2018 , a newly designed A rt History 101, which is a signature art history class fulfilling the arts Core requirement, will replace the current 101 class.

Richard Neer, the William B. Ogden distinguished service professor of art history, cinema and media studies, and the College, explained that the overhaul of Art History 101 is driven by both logistical and pedagogical deliberations.

A r t H ist or y 101 is consistently a class for wh ich demand greatly outnumbers supply. The class’s popularity arises not only from its content, but also for its role as both a Core offering and a required survey course for art history majors. “ Regardless of the size of the class, in the Core, there is always a waitlist and [there are] always people trying to pin k-slip in, because there are more students who need to take these classes than there are slots for them,” Neer said.

T h is c ongestion i n registration is expected t o be solved as the new Art History 101 will no longer be required for art history majors.

Instead, students in the major will take what are called “Art and Context” classes, which survey narrower areas within the field as opposed to studying everything about a region within a chosen time period.

As concentrators hone in on

South Siders Look to Bounce Back Against Grinnell

Page 4

After a disappointing four-game series against Case Western Reserve, the baseball team looks to rebound.

Start: Kick-starts Student Art in Hyde Park Page 5 A pop-up gallery in Harper Court showcased work by Chicago-based student artists.

VOL. 128, ISSUE 42

more specific topics within the field, those who are taking the class out of mere interest will be offered a new A rt History 101 experience that covers more diverse topics than the current one.

“We want to make art history really available, attractive, and exciting,” said Wu Hung, the Ha r r ie A . Va nderstap p en d i st i n g u i she d s er v ic e professor of art history, East Asian languages and civilizations, and the College. “[Of cou rse] we bel ieve th is a lready, but we want to convince young people why art history is so exciting.”

The new A rt History 101 class will include objects and areas of study, such as the Chicago cityscape and architecture, which are not part of an ordinary introductory class to art history. The class will also be structured around themes, such as “monuments and sites,” “emerging media,” a nd “museums a nd ex h ibitions,” instead of traditional geographical and temporal divisions.

T h i s i n c lu s i o n o f n e w objects a nd themes, a nd a non-traditional approach to dissecting them, highlights a ref lection the department has been having on its discipline as a whole. “ Historically, the core of the field in the late 19th-century was the Italian Renaissance, and that’s not what it is now,” Neer explained. “And I think all of us are happy to say that we don’t know what the core is [anymore]. There isn’t a core. It’s diverse, and multiple, and cosmopolitan, and we are trying to build a program, both in the Core and in the department, that respects that.”

The new A rt History 101 will be jointly taught by three faculty members with different methodological backgrounds and areas of expertise, thereby offering students contrasting perspectives on themes explored in class.

There will be significantly increased involvement among Continued on page 2

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 28, 2017

Events 4/28 — 5/1 Today Smart Lecture: Irene Small Cochrane-Woods Arts Center, 4:30 p.m.

The lecture will examine the representation of politics in 1970s Brazilian photographs. The work of Carlos Vergara will serve as the model for analyzing the artistic interpretation of the country’s military dictatorship, which was in power 1972 –1974.

Sequentia Logan Center for the Arts, Performance Hall, 6:30 p.m.

Sequentia will preform a selection of songs originally sung by Medieval monks. The range of topics presented go far beyond the Bible—monks would often sing chants inspired by Roman myths and heroic tales. A lecture will be given at 6:30 p.m. on the subject matter, and the ensemble will perform at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 29 Holi: Unleash the Colors Eckhart Quad, 2 p.m.

The Spiritual Life Office, Hindu Student Sangam, and the South Asian Students Association (SASA) will host this traditional Hindu religious festival to celebrate the arrival of Spring.

Sunday, April 30 “ W hat are the Blind Men Dreaming?”

Seminary Co-Op, 3 p.m.

Author Naomi Jaffe will discuss her novel, which approaches themes of remembrance and faith through the eyes of three generations. Using the diary of her mother, written when she was freed from Auschwitz, her own thoughts on the war, and her daughter’s reflections on Jewish culture, Jaffe presents a unique take on what it means to be a survivor.

See more at chicagomaroon.com/ events. Submit your own events through our intuitive interface.

Art History 101 Will No Longer Be Required for Students in the Major Continued from front

tenured faculty in the new Art History 101, which is another noted change. Previously the class was taught predominantly by graduate students.

Professors will evenly divide among themselves 10 lectures every quarter, but will each lead all 10 discussion sections with the smaller student groups assigned to them.

According to Chelsea Foxwell, an assistant professor i n the a r t h ist or y depa r tment, one reason for accentuating the focus on local scenery and artifacts is because previous Art History 101 students have given overwhelmi ngly positive feedback on class discussions that touched upon the local env ironment and field studies.

Patrick R. Crowley, another assistant professor in the art history department, added that the theme-based format of the new class makes better use of the short quarter system. He stated that a traditional introductory art history class often has difficulty covering its expected range of information in ten weeks.

Hung explained that the new Art History 101 class is envisioned to be a “gateway” class into the world of art history. Emphasis will be placed much less on transmitting dis-

crete knowledge-facts than on introducing students to a fundamental way of thinking.

“A kind of thinking that is visual, particular to this field, neither literary nor numeric,” Neer said.

T he depa r tment is a lso modifying parts of its major curriculum, with the aim of providing a more tailored and f lexible design for those who major in art history.

Major concentrators will no longer be required to take the survey classes, which are also the depar tment’s Core offerings, originally meant to ensure breadth in their studies.

Art history majors will now achieve breadth by satisfying thei r d istr ibution requ i re ments. W hereas the old distribution requirements mandate students to cover specific regions and time periods, the new design will allow students much more freedom in class choices.

The department in general now sees its underg raduate training to be not only preparing students for graduate studies in art history, a traditionally emphasized focus, but also to serve those who choose professions outside of the academy.

Candidates Focused on Strategies to Engage Students and Improve Access to Resources Continued from front

ment for the past year serving as a Class of 2019 Representative, so I’ve seen a lot of what Student Government can do and how Student Government can directly affect students.”

Uzzo expressed her excitement about running for this position in light of a recent change that was made to the position that allows the liaison to call meetings with the Board of Trustees. “ I would def initely stick with the current method of picking who gets to meet with the B oa rd of T r ustees and have them meet through an open application that’s open to everyone on campus,” Uzzo said. “ Then [we’ll] try to pick the issues that are both most salient on campus and also relate most directly to the Board of Trustees so that those meetings can be as productive as possible.”

When the candidates were asked about the changes they wanted to make on campus, Cowan also spoke of his goal of improving mental health resources on campus.

“An issue that actually can be changed would be to provide better and quicker responses for mental health and counseling services to students at the University,” Cowan said. “I think that if you were to call

Grocery Store to Be Built on 61st Street

BY MICHELLE BRITO NEWS STAFF

On T uesday, Jewel- Osco announced that it will open a new grocery store on East 61st Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue in 2018.

The development is expected to occupy 48,0 0 0 square feet and will feature a drivethrough pharmacy that will be

open 24 hours a day.

The grocery store will be constructed on vacant land on the northwest corner of East 61st Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue.

The Jewel-Osco is expected to add around 200 jobs and will feature on-site parking that will accommodate 180 vehicles. The building will have a largely steel and glass exte-

rior, similar to the Jewel-Osco in Lakeview.

Currently, the only major grocer in Woodlawn is an Aldi on East 66th Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue.

Several grocery stores have opened recently in neighborhoods across the South Side, including a W hole Foods in Englewood and a Mariano’s in Bronzeville.

ONLINE: A HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO 53RD FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF A MAN, A DRIVE-BY SHOOTING, AND A NEW DEAN OF THE GRAHAM SCHOOL.

SUBSCRIBE! Subscribe to the Maroon newsletter for e-mails every Tuesday and Friday

chicagomaroon.com/newsletter

An artist’s rendering of the new store suggests there may be a Starbucks retailer inside.

Courtesy of Jewel-Osco

today to make an appointment at Student Counseling, you usually can’t be seen for three or four weeks. I don’t think that’s okay, and I think we have the resources to improve that.”

Uzzo voiced her agreement w ith Cowan’s initiative, in addition to talking about her belief that funding for Student Disability Services should be increased as well.

“Currently, there are only two employees in that whole division,” Uzzo said. “I think that division should definitely be expanded in order to observe everyone’s needs.”

Berkowitz also expressed i nt e r e s t i n work i n g w it h groups on campus to improve mental health, saying, “I think there are lots of different ways of addressing the issue, and I think that we can definitely do more to offer people different avenues through which they can improve this aspect.

“I would definitely love to explore the ways with different organizations on campus…to really look at different ways in which we can tackle this problem.”

Voting will open on Blueprint at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 3. All students are eligible to vote, including those on extended status.

Nondorf Spills Admission Numbers

BY KATIE AKIN NEWS EDITOR

According to prospective students surveyed by T HE M AROON , Dean Jim Nondorf said that the admissions rate for the Class of 2021 was 8 percent.

Nondorf addressed the prospective students when they visited campus for the April overnights. According to some, he said the admissions rate was the “lowest ever.”

According to reports released by the University, the admissions rate for the Class of 2020 was 7.9 percent, and the admissions rate for the Class of 2019 was 7.8 percent.

The University has not yet released the official admissions numbers for this year. According to a University spokesperson, the numbers will not be finalized until next fall. In previous years, the numbers have been released in the early spring.

When asked for confirmation of the accuracy of the 8 percent, a University spokesperson declined to comment further, and indicated that the initial release plan would be followed.

Additional reporting contributed by Katherine Vega

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 28, 2017

Zimmer Talks Discipline, Free Speech, and Student Life

BY PETE GRIEVE SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

For an hour last Thursday afternoon, President Robert J. Zimmer took questions from T HE M AROON. He was at his usual seat at the center of a conference table in Levi Hall, back facing the quad, with the dean of students and a University spokesperson accompanying him for the interview.

On lobbying since the election Although Zimmer said that the University is not necessarily lobbying more under the current administration than it did previously, he acknowledged that there’s been a shift in the issues that the school is prioritizing. “ The emphases of the issues may shift as different administrations come and go, but there’s always a large amount of things we do. The most active place where we’ve had a type of shift is obviously in immigration.”

The University fi led legal briefs opposing both executive orders to ban individuals from Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, and the University president and provost wrote a public letter to Trump stating their opposition.

“The decision was based on the issue that this was a direct difficulty for a number of our students and a number of our post-docs and their capacity to do their work,” Zimmer said. He did not rule out the possibility of similar condemnations of presidential action in the future, however, he preferred not to speculate on what could happen.

The major cuts to science in the President’s budget proposal are concerning to Zimmer, but he stressed that it’s Congress that approves the budget, not the President.

“It is certainly the case that if that budget were implemented it would have a very significant negative effect on science research in the country, and it would have a significant negative impact on every major research university, including us,” he said. “If that budget were enacted, it would be a concern.”

On controversial speakers The big college news story right now is the University of California, Berkeley’s decision to postpone an event with conservative commentator Ann Coulter over safety concerns. The University of Chicago administration has made it clear over recent months that campus groups can invite anyone to speak at the University, no matter how unpopular the speaker’s views may be. T HE M AROON asked if the University is capable of safely facilitating speaker events with anyone, even individuals prone to violent responses.

Zimmer noted that the University of Chicago was the fi rst school to host Charlie Hebdo writer Zineb El Rhazoui after the attack in 2015 that killed 12.

There was a very high security presence because she was being threatened, he said, but the event went on as planned.

“Any institution’s capacity is fi nite.

I’m not saying anybody has infi nite capacity because we don’t. But we’re certainly committed to doing what we can.”

He affi rmed his belief that it is vital that members of the University community be allowed to invite anyone they want to come speak.

“It’s important to be striving to have a civil society, but the idea that the best way of doing that is to allow an environment where you have some group, some committee, who sits in judgement upon

Darren Leow President Zimmer meets with THE MAROON quarterly to discuss campus issues.

other people’s desire to hear somebody, is very problematic.”

Zimmer said that the “structure” of allowing groups to invite anyone has “difficulties,” but he believes that there is no alternative. He said that a college cannot prevent someone from speaking and then pretend that particular action does not have broader implications on the so-called structure.

“The minute you set up something where you think you’ve identified all the bad people, you may be surprised what other people think. And they think that the people you like are the bad people.”

On the Obama presidential library Community organizers have been pushing for the Obama Foundation, the City, and the University to sign three written agreements committing to benefitting the community with regard to things like job creation and affordable housing. Zimmer said that the University has been largely hands-off with the library, and that it has not engaged with this issue of a community benefits agreement (CBA)—that would be up to the Obama Foundation.

“We’ve been doing a lot with South Side communities, and we expect that the Obama library will also, but exactly what form that takes is going to be up to them.”

The Foundation opposes a CBA. On construction projects “I think we’ll see a lot of development south of the Midway but north of 61st Street,” Zimmer said. The University was at one point supposed to break ground on a new 11-story conference center at 60th and Woodlawn last year, but construction has yet to begin. Zimmer said it’s still in progress, and that it’s “remarkable” how long it takes to complete large construction projects.

Asked about further construction, Zimmer said they’ve been talking about the possibility of another residence hall, as it’s the University’s goal to get a higher percentage of its students in College Housing.

On fraternities and sororities T HE M AROON asked about the University’s relationship—or its lack thereof relative to other schools—with Greek or-

ganizations on campus. Zimmer said that he spends little time thinking about student life issues like these. He said that he’s not involved with “housing kinds of issues” aside from the construction of new dorms and the visits he makes to residence halls to talk to students.

Dean of Students Michele Rasmussen answered a question about Harvard’s attempt to curtail single-gender social groups unaffi liated with the university.

Harvard will place various sanctions on members of these organizations because they are “rife with power imbalances” and “propagate exclusionary values.”

“We’re not Harvard,” she said. “It doesn’t seem very UChicago-esque to tell students who they can and cannot fraternize with—excuse the word—but that’s just my point of view. It’s not something we have talked about at any kind of length.”

On sexual misconduct The Obama administration’s Offi ce for Civil Rights, part of the Department of Education, issued a Dear Colleague letter in 2011 requiring that all colleges receiving federal funds use the “preponderance of evidence” standard in disciplinary cases regarding sexual assault. T HE M AROON asked if the University would revert to a higher burden of proof if the government rescinded this guidance.

Zimmer did not want to speculate and said he had not thought about it. Rasmussen said, “It’s the standard we’ve been using now for several years. I don’t really see any compelling reason to not use it.”

On the Neo-Nazi posters A man was arrested last month by University police for affi xing racist and anti-Semitic posters to campus buildings with an adhesive glue. When asked if this was somehow inconsistent with Zimmer’s statement that it would be “fi ne” for white nationalist Richard Spencer to speak if he was invited, Rasmussen said the removal of the posters was not—at least for the most part—due to their content. The posters were removed because of the adhesive glue, although she did note that the University pushed for the state’s attorney to charge him with committing a hate crime.

On discipline for disruptive conduct The faculty senate will vote in May on a measure that would create a new disciplinary system to handle disruptive behavior like speaker silencing and sit-ins. T HE M A ROON reported that the administration is giving the senate an ultimatum: if the vote were to fail, it would revive a disciplinary system for this kind of behavior that has not been used since 1974.

Zimmer would only indirectly answer a request to confi rm this reporting. “Well, the ’70s system exists so the question is ‘what is a better structure?’” he said, referring to the faculty senate vote on the proposed new system. Asked if this comment meant he was confi rming that the administration would revive the 1970’s system, he continued to leave it open.

“I’m just saying that it exists, so I’m not saying anything about any particular cases. I’m just saying it exists. The question on the floor [of the senate] now is, ‘is that better? Or is what [the] committee has recommended better?’” he said. “Here, the Council has a very clear responsibility, and they need to exercise it one way or the other after discussion debate. And one way or the other they will.”

On his leadership style and his priorities Zimmer is not hesitant to say that he cannot answer a question when he simply has little knowledge of an issue T HE M A ROON asked about. He often directs questions to other administrators whom he thinks are more capable to speak about that particular issue.

T HE M A ROON asked if he thinks his lack of engagement with certain student life issues is a product of his leadership style, as other university presidents frequently make statements on issues of student life. He sees it as a matter of priorities.

“It’s been my experience that there’s a set of issues where one’s judgement and abilities in a particular position can add more value, and there are other places where maybe you’re not as experienced and other people are and they can do it better than you can,” he said. “You look at one president after another and different ones are going to prioritize different things in terms of which ones get their attention.”

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 28, 2017

VIEWPOINTS Au Revoir, Madame Le Pen Marine Le Pen Will Not Be the Next President of France

Ashton Hashemipour On May 7, France will be holding a historical election between two anti-establishment candidates: liberal centrist Emmanuel Macron and right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen. A Le Pen victory would have radical implications for the rest of Europe. She hopes, like Britain, to hold an in-out referendum on France’s E.U. membership, deport all foreign criminals with Islamist links, and prioritize jobs, welfare, housing, and schools for F rench nationals over “ foreigners.” Macron’s vision for France isn’t as earth-shattering. He is socially liberal and fiscally conservative, meaning that he is pro-E.U. and pro-business. His status as an independent has made him a maverick of sorts, but without views as extreme as Le Pen’s.

Many have been quick to compare the current French presidential elections to the U.S. election and Brexit, saying that this is another instance that points to the rise of the far right. But these events should not be equated. Le Pen and Macron are far cries from thei r supposed equiva lents in the United States and the U.K., and, judging from both past French elections and the ci rcumsta nces a rou nd th is election, it’s safe to assume that Macron will be the next

president of the Fifth Republic.

Donald Trump was a foreign concept to many American political analysts, yet Marine Le Pen and the Le Pen family name have been fixtures in French politics for years. Even more telling, the French have seen a Le Pen in a runoff before: in 2002, Jean-Marie Le Pen, then leader of the National Front (F.N.), faced Jacques Chirac in the runoff election.

When French voters across the spectrum united against Le Pen, he was thrashed, winning a mere 18 percent of the vote.

Since Le Pen has attempted to distance herself from her father’s ideology, even temporarily resigning as head of the F.N. in an attempt to woo less extreme voters, she will likely win more of the vote but ultimately meet the same fate as her father. Establishment voters will support Macron, especially seeing that Fillon, the Républicain who received 20 percent of the vote, incumbent François Hollande, and fifth-place candidate Benoît Hamon have already publicly announced their support for Macron. A nd though ma ny will seek to compare Macron’s polling numbers to those of Hillary Clinton and the anti-Brexit camp, Le Pen’s deficit to Macron will be much more

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difficult to make up, according to statistician Nate Silver.

Given the horrible terrorist attacks that have recently taken place in France, many believe Le Pen could win based on her anti-immigration, anti-Islam platform. A nd yes, it is true that many French citizens are worried about the security of their country, seeing that the nation has greatly suffered from extremism and from François Hollande’s incompetent attempts to thwart terror. To an outsider, Le Pen might seem as if she could protect the nation better than the pro-E.U., pro-immigration Macron. But Macron has not shied away from voicing his concerns about security, seeking to increase the scope of the French police, combat terrorism abroad, and work with businesses to share encrypted customer data with the government to infiltrate terrorist networks at home. During runoff campaigning, Macron will capitalize on these policies and, seeing as Le Pen’s numbers did not sharply increase after a terrorist attack just days before the election, security concerns will not translate to a Le Pen victory.

In the U.S. election, many rallied against Clinton, who was largely seen as the establishment candidate. F rance has had a similar discontent with the political establishment, but its election cannot truly be compared to the U.S. election, as the first round rid the race of the establishment altogether. For the first time in the history of the Republic, the runoff will not feature any candidates from the two major parties. Emmanuel Macron is a new face, a 39-year-old who only briefly served in François Hollande’s government, and is with a new movement, En Marche! On the other hand, H i l la r y Cl i nt on a nd those against Brexit were not new to the politics of their respective countries and thus did not seem to offer any meaningful change to disillusioned voters. Macron, who has detailed plans to reduce public spending and lower unemployment that are radically different from those of the incumbent, does appear to offer this meaningful change, and it is this freshness that will carry him on May 7.

Brexit and Donald Trump’s election shocked us because we

weren’t really expecting either to become a reality. Now, the fact that we see Le Pen as a real possibility means that we, and her opponent, are taking her more seriously. And when extreme nationalism was taken seriously in the Netherlands, the right-wing Geert Wilders was handily defeated.

With France in a similar position, we should not expect Marine Le Pen to become the next president of the Fifth Republic.

Ashton Hashemipour is a first-year in the College majoring in political science.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 28, 2017

Start: Kick-starts Student Art in Hyde Park

BY ALEXIA BACIGALUPI ARTS EDITOR

A nyone who has taken Econ 198 knows that investors quickly move to supply a potential market with unmet demand. In true Chicago-econ-major fashion, fourth-year T homas Meerschwam saw an opportunity to run a pop-up show after noticing a lack of art galleries in Hyde Park while reading about art dealers buying student art at NYU and Columbia.

“I saw the work of some DoVA majors at the school, and I thought it was really great,” said Meerschwam, an economics major and art history minor. “I was wondering if it was being sold at all, and it turns out it wasn’t.”

Start:, which displays the work of three student artists, opened last Thursday in Harper Court. The space is sleek and minimalist, with stark white walls and industrial cement f loors. A back wall covered in graffiti is embla-

zoned with the word “Chicago” in giant bubble letters. A quiet buzz reached the high ceilings as students and Hyde Park residents contemplated the pieces and chatted with artists at the exhibition’s opening reception. Curious passersby drifted in from the street.

“A large objective of this project was to bring people in the greater Hyde Park community together through sharing their experiences of viewing artwork,” Meerschwam said. “The opening really seemed to reflect that.”

Fourth-year visual arts major Juliet Eldred displayed a collection of digitally assembled collages, superimposing photos of buildings, streets, and living rooms onto one another, often incorporating silhouettes of people. One popular collage among viewers was a grainy black-and-white photo from the basement of Alpha Delta Phi that had a colorful painting and photo of a mural of Burton-Judson Courts inserted inside the shape of two men standing

Grace Hauck Ma’s self-described pop-surrealism style (top) is infl uenced by her graphic design background. Davis (bottom) described her process as “responsive” and unplanned.

Grace Hauck

in the center.

“I first like to cut out lots of silhouettes, then find textures that would work well with them,” Eldred said about her creative process. “[Much] is determined by chance, which affects the kinds of collages I end up with. I like having a certain degree of randomness.”

On another wall were floating baos on a dizzying disco background and a playfully cocked floating hand holding up a peace sign. Describing her style as “pop-surrealism,” Ellen Ma, a fourthyear at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), straddles the line between familiar and unsettling in her work. It was distinctive for both its saccharine color palette and its depictions of disjointed images—picture a red, stiletto-clad foot jutting out of a cactus and bending backward.

“The racial dynamic as an ABC, or American Born Chinese, has had an influence on my work,” said Ma, whose parents lived through China’s Cultural Revolution and endured a lot to move to America. “Growing up in an academic home with two research scientists as parents and my M.D. sister, I’ve always been surrounded by medical imagery— guts, viscera, cells, tubes,” Ma said. “ I’ve incorporated that into a bodily aesthetic...in my work.”

Fourth-year Gabby Davis, whose B.A. thesis project was a performance installation, used paint as her primary medium for this exhibit. “ Paint is a very f lexible material, both conceptually and physically,” Davis said. “[It] can be as complex or simplistic as you want it to be.” Pairing bright colors with sharp geometric shapes and thick, f luid paint strokes,

Davis’s collection was an exploration of the planned and the improvised. “When I make art, nothing is planned. Generally, I start with an idea or an attraction to an object or material, then I’ll start making moves and responding to the reality of those choices.”

Her piece, green/orange speaks to this improvisational quality: an orange triangle at the top of the painting appears sharp and distinct while different shades of green blend and blur to create a different texture on the canvas.

The name Start: was inspired by the fact that Meerschwam and the artists featured in the exhibition are at the beginnings of their forays into the art world. Meerschwam will be working at an art brokerage firm after graduation, Davis plans to be a full-time artist, and Ma has collaborated with Chance the Rapper on a coloring book to accompany his album of the same name. Although Eldred will not be working in the art industry, she nonetheless hopes to continue making and exhibiting work.

“I’m really doing this because I want to increase visibility and increase awareness of the talent of our own undergraduate artists,” Meerschwam said.

“I think it’s surprising how people don’t realize how talented we are in that area.”

For now, Start: remains a one-time event, but Meerschwam hopes that it will be the start of something new at the University.

Start: is located at 1520 South Harper Court and will run through May 20.

There will be a conversation with the artists at the exhibition space on Friday, May 5, at 2 p.m. To reserve a seat, please contact Thomas Meerschwam at thomasmeerschwam@gmail.com

For of Montreal, Hyperbole Feels Like an Understatement

BY CHRIS GOOD MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Case in point: the band’s endorph i n-f r y i ng show at T h a l i a H a l l last Satu rday, wh ich opened t o a white-feathered hunchback wandering the stage with a butcher’s knife. There were sphynx cats (the hairless kind), cops stripping down to muscled bodysuits, the USSR and U.S.A. in a pas de deux—and all this before the confetti-spewing papier-mâché dragon and the half-hour rendition of “The Past is a Grotesque Animal.” In a time when lowercase on social media pretends to be casual, of Montreal exists in a permanent caps lock: the unlikely Jenny Holzer to the usual E.E. Cummings of indie.

Of course, this isn’t news: In the two decades between the band’s 1997 debut and last month’s Rune Husk EP,

frontman Kevin Barnes and co. have lyricism and synth forays of last year’s the STRFKR-lite synths of “it’s differcarved out a reputation for the extreme. Innocence Reaches LP could make for a ent for girls” (2016) were shriller live There’s the gonzo album artwork, the half-dozen think pieces. What’s left to than on wax; “fugitive air” (2013) and Joyce-ian wordplay, and a workman- ask, then, is whether a band that’s been “ambassador bridge” (2016) really just like consistency behind it all, with LPs speaking this long has anything new to ambled around.

There aren’t easy answers here. One landing year after year like clockwork. say in 2017.

W hether the zigzags and pivots man’s genius is another man’s lysergic Then, there are the live shows.

Like his disemvoweled Polyvinyl of the band’s last few LPs constitute burnout; what looks like choreography labelmates STRFKR and PWR BTTM, growth or stasis depends on your per- to my eyes might look like chores to Barnes is known for performing in spective. The contemporary music scene a Pitchfork staff writer. But whether drag. Unlike his labelmates, Barnes’s is often portrayed as a “loudness war,” you’re enamored or inured with them, band is unmistakably weird. If you in which music is mastered right up to of Montreal remains a moving target— squint hard enough during the quiet- the point where it clips. Of Montreal and Lord knows they’ve got more varier moments, they scan like Ziggy-era doesn’t literally suffer from this—all of ety on stage than the critics do on the Bowie—but most of the time (e.g. when their records are evenly produced—but page.

2013’s lousy with sylvanbriar and a leather-clad dominatrix pressed her the descriptor seems fitting for a band heel on Barnes during “Let’s Relate”), whose output can feel like a war of at- 2015’s Aureate Gloom were each marketed as “back-to-basics” genre works— they just feel like Animal Collective if trition.

Some of the songs from Saturday’s but you can’t “return to form” when they got laid more.

If nothing else, this is a band that setlist delivered: “Empyrean Abattoir” there’s no form to return to. In an ingives you plenty to talk about: its on- (2015) locked into a motorik groove, creasingly formulaic genre, that’s more stage antics offer enough material for “We Will Commit Wolf Murder” (2012) blessing than curse. several concert reviews while the queer bobbed heads. Others, frankly, didn’t:

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 28, 2017

In “ACSA Aesthetics,” a Cultural Showcase Sees Unity in Diversity

University of Chicago students model clothing by local stylist (Instagram: @akesestylelines) for the annual ACSA Aesthetics Cultural Show.

BY RAFAEL PALOMINO MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

This year’s annual African Caribbean Students Association (ACSA) cultural show, “ACSA Aesthetics,” sought to demonstrate the beauty of the group’s many cultures through art. Guests arrived Saturday night at I-House for jerk chicken, jollof rice, and puff puff ahead of dance, music, fashion, and comedy.

Host Chukwunonso Ofi li, a member WowoBoyz, an up-and-coming comedy group, opened the show with a self-introduction and program of the night’s performances. With a few of his jokes, he helped to warm up the audience and build excitement.

The diversity of acts and cultures

present throughout the show worked in its favor. Each minute of each individual performance was significant. A glance at your phone was likely to rob you of something new and fascinating happening on stage. The sheer variety of its presentation made the two-and-a-half hours of “ACSA Aesthetics” go by too quickly.

Ugochi, a Nigerian singer, delivered a standout performance with a mix of song and poetry. In her fi rst piece, “Don’t Mind Them,” she tackled the struggle of staying out of jail in the hope that she might help a listener do just that. As she spoke, she prompted the audience to repeat the title after her, lending this simple fragment great collective power.

She also performed “Nigeria,” a piece celebrating the love and passion she felt

for her ancestry.

T wo fa sh ion shows wer e held throughout the night. While a local designer provided many of the clothes, it was the student participants who stole the show. Second-year and ACSA president Nala Bodden explained that they “are always looking to expand the types of African and Caribbean culture we showcase.” She described how, in a stroke of luck, “a few Ethiopian and Nigerian students reached out to us wanting to showcase their own clothing and culture in our fashion segment.” The show featured fi ve different Ethiopian styles, an increase in diversity Bodden hopes the show can continue to develop in the years to come.

For over 10 years now, ACSA has

Daniel Labrousse

worked to showcase the African and Caribbean diaspora in all its diversity and authenticity. Its cultural show works to promote unity rather than highlight difference: It offers the possibility of coming together to appreciate what makes each individual culture unique, in the melting pot that is America.

“It’s important for [the University] community to pay attention to these kinds of events,” said fi rst-year attendee Jack Balch. “By doing so, we celebrate the cultures that make up…our world.”

Bodden pointed to the role of student involvement in the show as its most inspiring characteristic. She hopes to build an even more diverse roster for future shows, a challenging goal ACSA looks forward to taking on.

Daniel Labrousse

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 28, 2017

Skepta-cal No More: U.K. Rapper Brings Grime to Chicago

BY MAX MILLER MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

This Monday night, British rapper Joseph Adenuga, known as “Skepta,” took the stage in front of hundreds of excited Chicagoans at Concord Music Hall.

He packed the venue to the brim, no doubt riding the wave of fame attained from his recent collaboration with fellow rapper Drake on the latter’s latest album More Life. Skepta, throughout the night, made a few brief references to his own latest album, Konnichiwa. Staying true to contemporary hip-hop performance style, Skepta delivered a show filled with floor-shaking bass, masterful rhythms and synths, and face-melting lyrics.

Skepta’s body of work explores the possibilities of grime music, a subgenre of electronic music pioneered in London in the early 2000s. Grime draws on the Jamaican roots of dancehall music, which recently gained prominence in Drake’s “Controlla” with its pertinent sound clips and use of Jamaican patois in its lyrics. If Drake’s collaboration with Skepta is any indication of current trends and music fashions, then we can expect to see many more artists soon incorporating and exploring grime.

When Skepta took the stage, there was a massive roar of approval from the audience, further prompted by an admission that it was his first Chicago appearance. Hundreds of 20- and 30-somethings piled onto the sticky, beer-covered f loor to see the rapper

work his performative magic live. Skepta did not disappoint, and launched the show by performing the titular song of his latest album, Konnichiwa. Skepta’s style is mainly characterized by his cool, raspy voice over an electronic medley of scratchy “808” drum machines or melodic pirouettes on synths. In the aggressive and jagged style typical of grime music, the song begins with a tranquil female voice—“looking for me/ konnichiwa”—before devolving into an air raid siren interspersed with tinkling glass fragments and an ominous piano backing.

Skepta’s songs incited the audience into a frenzy from the sheer intensity of the music coupled with the fluidity and cultural pertinence of his lyrics. One song, “It Ain’t Safe,” points to the crime and volatility of Skepta’s hometown of Tottenham, North London, where riots broke out in 2011. The Chicago audience tapped into a sense of a dark and “grimy” solidarity as the song repeated “It ain’t safe on the block / not even for the cops.”

During many parts of the show, Skepta’s D.J. cut the sound from the song to let the audience finish the lyrics.

During one song, Skepta even stopped the track midway to restart it more powerfully. “Energy!” he demanded of the crowd as they cheered in approval. The song in question was “That’s Not Me,” a critique of materialism overlaid with blobby, whimsical synth notes.

All things considered, Skepta delivered an incredible performance that more than satisfied its fiery attendees.

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Chicago might prove an effective staging ground for grime, as well as for new, experimental music ventures. The rap-

per’s gritty exploration of urban motifs surely has new potency when put into the context of the city of Chicago.

Courtesy of Cynthis Garcia Skepta delivered an explsovie performance with a pounding bass line and fl uid lyrics at his fi rst ever Chicago concert.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Malcolm Gladwell The Brown Decision and the Trouble with Psychology Appearing on the Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people, Malcolm Gladwell is a Canadian journalist based in New York. In addition to being a bestselling author of four books, Gladwell is also a speaker and has been on job as a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. His books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference (2000), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), and What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (2009) have all appeared on The New York Times bestsellers list. His works deal with research in the areas of psychology, social psychology and sociology.

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Thursday, May 4, 4pm Rockefeller Chapel, 5850 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

SPONSORED BY THE CENTER FOR COGNITIVE & SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE Questions about the event and persons with disabilities who need an accommodation to attend this event should contact bsawyer@uchicago.edu

ccsn.uchicago.edu

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - APRIL 28, 2017

SPORTS Maroons to Continue Momentum at Valparaiso TRACK & FIELD

BY ALYSSA RUDIN SPORTS STAFF

The men’s and women’s track and field teams will be continuing their outdoor seasons by heading to Valparaiso, Indiana, this weekend for the Valparaiso University Crusader Open. Both teams look to carry momentum from a very successful conference meet. The women took second, earning 182.5 points to champion Wash U’s 213.5 points while the men earned fourth place, ending the day with 118 points compared to champion Carnegie Mellon’s 186 points.

The women’s team dominated at home in both track and field events, recording four event winners and 13 AllUA A performances, which are earned by a top-three fi nish. Third-year Khia Kurtenbach continued her career-long ownership of distance events, winning the 5000-meter race in 17:22.04, an astonishing 17 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Third-year Claire Costelloe won the 10,000-meter, and fi rst-year Laura Darcey won the long jump with a 5.60 meter leap. Lastly, third-year Ade Ayoola earned her fi rst conference title in the high jump with a jump of 1.64 meters.

However, that was just the begin-

ning of the Maroon women’s success.

In the track events, third-year Kelsey Dunn placed third in the 5000-meter, third-year Megan Verner-Crist placed third in the 1,500-meter race, and fi rstyear Alisha Harris placed third in the 100-meter dash. Additionally, fi rst-year Robin Peter earned third in the 100-meter hurdles. The relay teams also earned All-UA A status. The 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays both came in third.

The field athletes were not to be outdone.

Darcey placed third in the high jump, Ayoola placed second in the shot put, and fi rst-year Isabel Garon placed second in the pole vault.

Darcey, who was voted UAA Outdoor Rookie of the Year after her performances during the weekend, credited her success to a number of different factors. “I was disappointed with my performance in the long jump at indoor conference and just missed out on a medal in the high jump, so I was looking for redemption and felt really determined to jump well. I was really inspired by what my coach told us before the beginning of the day. He reminded us that where people are seeded to come means nothing (I was seeded to come eighth), because what matters is what you do on the day. That made me believe that anything was pos-

Aleksandra Majka

First-year Robin Peter races in the 100-meter hurdles. sible.”

The men produced three event wins and six All-UAA performances. Fourthyear Andrew Maneval fi ttingly closed out his fi nal UAAs with a pair of wins in the shot put and the discus and a thirdplace fi nish in the hammer throw. Firstyear Alex Scott fi nished right behind him in the discus. Third-year Obinnaya Wamuo won his fi rst-ever conference title in the 400-meter hurdles. The 4x100 and 4x400 relays both placed third.

Looking ahead to the team’s up-

coming meets, individuals fall into two camps: those who will probably qualify for NCAAs and those who are still trying to qualify for the championships. Thus, those who are most likely already into NCA As are hoping to stay fit at these meets while those who are still trying to qualify are hoping to improve their times, jumps, or throws, or simply gain a new personal best. Of the upcoming NCA As, Darcey said, “I think that my training is fi nally coming together, and I feel faster and stronger than ever.”

South Siders Look to Bounce Back Against Grinnell BASEBALL

Zoe Kaiser

First-year Payton Jancsy begins to run the bases after crushing a pitch.

BY SIMONE STOVER SPORTS STAFF

This past weekend, the UChicago baseball team went up against Case in a fourgame series during which they suffered four losses. Despite the disappointing showing, a chance for redemption is on the horizon.

The team will look to get its season back on track in a three-game series against Grinnell this upcoming weekend.

The Maroons began their weekend against Case with a close 7–5 loss. During the second game, the Spartans did not manage to pull ahead until the fifth inning, during which they scored one run. After the top of the eighth inning, it seemed as though Chicago may have been in a place to make a

comeback after scoring one run to tie up the game. However, the Spartans came back in the bottom in the eighth to score a total of six runs. The Maroons were unable to make up the difference during the ninth inning.

The next two games followed in a similar fashion, with the Maroons suffering 9–4 and 6–4 losses. These four losses bring the Maroons’ season record to 17–10.

Given the weekend’s outcome, the team seems to be looking back on it with understandably bitter feelings.

“This past weekend was a good wake up call for us,” fourth-year Thomas Prescott said. “To be a good team, we need to be doing the little things right and not make the same mistake twice.”

While this past weekend’s matchup was

UPCOMING GAMES SPORT

DAY

Opponent

TIME

Softball

Saturday

Kalamazoo

12 and 2 p.m

indeed a disappointing one, the Maroons seem to be using that disappointment as a motivating factor going into this weekend’s series. “[W]e are looking forward to this weekend,” second-year Justin Lo said. “We’ve been making small adjustments in our approach during practice. In order to be successful against Grinnell, we’ll have to make these adjustments and execute both on the field and at the plate.”

The matchup against Grinnell—who Chicago has not played since 2013—should prove to be an interesting one. Despite having not faced off in four years, the two schools have gone up against six common opponents over the course of this current season. The Maroons and the Pioneers had differing results against two of those opponents; Chicago was victorious against Elmhurst while Grinnell was victorious against

Loras. With this in mind, it appears as though these two teams will be fairly evenly matched going into this weekend.

Despite the somewhat high stakes, the Maroons do not seem to be letting the pressure get to them.

“When we make an error, it is important to shake it off, flush it, and move on. The beauty of baseball is that the momentum of a game can change with one pitch,” Prescott said. “Having a short memory, staying focused, and not letting the past haunt you is the best thing we can do, and we are looking to have that mentality going into this weekend.”

The first game in the series against Grinnell will begin at noon on Saturday, April 29, here at UChicago. The second game will begin at 3 p.m., and the final game will take place at noon the following day.