ChicagoMaroon051016

MAY 10, 2016

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

2016-2017 SG Budget Passes; Big Boosts to Grad Funding

BY EMILY FEIGENBAUM SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

Student Government’s (SG) General Assembly passed a budget yesterday that significantly expands funding for graduate students by drawing on leftover funds from previous years. After 25 minutes of debate between College Council (CC) and Graduate Council (GC) members, the budget passed with 30 SG members in favor and 4 opposed.

SG President Tyler Kissinger began the meeting by stating two objectives that he hopes the new budget will achieve: to increase support and initiatives where there is high demand for graduate students and to increase funding for programs through GC. “On April 29, 2016, we were informed by Dean Rasmussen that SG would be receiving a total of $2,270,000 in funds from the SLF [Student Life Fund] for the 20162017 academic year. This constitutes a $90,000 increase in funds over the 2015-2016 academic year, which is greater than last year’s $78,000 increase but slightly under our six year average of receiving an annual increase of $103,000,” Slate stated in a memo released on May 8 explaining its budget proposal.

Kissinger explained that the utilization of rollover funding, or unspent funds from previous years’ allocations, is the “unique” way SG plans to address budget concerns.

“The use of rollover funds provides us with the flexibility to not substantially impact existing programming,” the memo stated.

“Given that this is a pretty substantial increase for GC, it’s nearly a 120 percent increase, I think there is a chance we may find that not all of that money will be spent.

It’s a pretty large increase in a given year,” Kissinger said.

GC members voiced disagreement with Kissinger’s forecast. HaZoe Kaiser ley Stinnett, chair of the GC Travel Jon Stewart spoke to students yesterday in Rockerfeller Chapel.

Fund, stated that her committee had used all funding for this year and had no rollover. The GC Travel fund will experience a 254.5 percent funding increase, which Stinnett affirmed would be put to use. on Trump, and the media’s role in

BY RYAN FLEISHMAN Other programs experiencing his rise.

MAROON CONTRIBUTOR substantial increases in funding To back up his “man-baby” include Uncommon Fund (108.09 “Are you eligible to run if you claim, Stewart cited Trump’s percent), GC (92.35 percent), and are a man-baby?” former Dai- angry tweets at The Daily Show the GC Social Fund (73.91 percent). ly Show host Jon Stewart asked in 2013, when he called StewIn order to increase the funding of of Donald Trump’s presidential art “overrated” and took a jab at these groups, three of the 21 line campaign during a live taping of his birth name, Leibowitz, after items will undergo funding cuts: Director of the Institute of Poli- Stewart said Trump looks like a CC (40 percent), Community Ser- tics David Axelrod’s podcast The “boiled ham in a wig.” When Axelvice RSO (CSRSO) Administrative Axe Files in Rockefeller Chapel rod brought up Trump’s appeal for Support (30 percent), and The New yesterday. “He has the physical “telling it like it is” and ignoring York Times Readership Program countenance of a man and a baby’s political correctness, Stewart fur(5.71 percent). ther commented on the hypocrisy temperament and hands.”

Five funding committees reAxelrod hosted Stewart in of Trump’s war against political leased memos making specific re- the first-ever live recording of his correctness in light of his personal quests for funding. podcast. They discussed the 2016 sensitivity.

The Coalition of Academic presidential election, with a focus Continued on page 3 Teams (CAT), which includes College Bowl, Mock Trial, Model U.N., and other competitive student orga-

NEWS EDITOR

Zoe Kaiser Representatives from Scav teams compete to burst all their balloons first in the Scav Olympics.

Misunderstood and Misrepresented Page 5

Student activists held a 24-hour hunger strike and rally last week to protest what they see as the University’s complicity in mass incarceration through its choice of dining providers.

According to the Fight for Just Food (FJF), the student group that organized the protest, by contracting with dining services companies that profit from providing services to prisons, the University supports mass incarceration and other abuses of the criminal justice system.

Bon Appétit Management Company, which recently received the contract to provide dining services

Superdelegates and brokered conventions are undemocratic— but not un-American.

Continued on page 2

Maroons Look to Carry Momentum into Last Week of Season

Page 9

Page 12

Eight emotions were featured and each dance was choreographed to reflect that particular emotion.

The baseball team saw a successful weekend by taking down Edgewood twice and splitting with St. Norbert.

Page 10 Pilsen unapologetically adopts its own culture in this once-Eastern European neighborhood.

DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

Continued on page 2

Apsara Reimagines Classical Indian Dance with Navarasa

Alex’s Food Journal: Pilsen: Tacos and Paletas and Jibaritos, Oh My!

BY SONIA SCHLESINGER

at the University, only works with private colleges, museums and cultural centers, and corporations.

In a statement it released to THE MAROON in response to the hunger strike, Bon Appétit said that it has never provided food services to prisons. Bon Appétit is owned by Compass Group, the world’s largest food services contractor, and other companies owned by Compass Group do work in correctional institutions.

The rally and hunger strike came a little more than a week after the University announced it would end its decades-long relationship with Aramark as campus dining provider in favor of Bon Appétit.

Hunger Strikers: Dining Connected to Prison Profits, Even After Aramark

BY ADAM THORP

SG Tables Free Speech Resolution Last night, Student Government’s (SG) General Assembly voted to indefinitely table a resolution reaffirming the University’s commitment to free expression.

Specifically, it referred to recent instances of speakers interrupted by protesters, including Anita Alvarez and Bassem Eid. Following extensive debate, General Assembly, which is comprised of the College Council (CC) and Graduate Council (GC), first voted on a motion to reject the resolution. Eight students voted in favor of rejection, 10 voted against rejection, and eight abstained. In response, multiple members introduced a motion to table the resolution indefinitely, and only six members voted against the second motion allowing the tabling to pass.

The resolution was proposed by second-year Matthew Foldi.

This resolution calls on the University administration to condemn any student who “obstructs or disrupts” free speech, including making threats to speakers on campus, and to enforce such condemnation.

It cited the University’s Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression and alluded to two campus events disrupted by student protesters earlier this year.

In his presentation to the General Assembly, Foldi explained that he wrote the resolution in response to February events with Cook County State Attorney Anita Alvarez and Bassem Eid, a Palestinian human rights activist and critic of the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement. Both events ended early after student protesters drowned out the speakers.

Foldi added that the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a group that advocates for free speech on college campuses, awarded the University its highest rating for protection of free speech earlier this year.

“In 2016 alone…18 speakers have been shut down or uninvited from college campuses, and two of

Stewart Talks Media, Political Corruption, and the 2016 Elections

Continued on page 2

VOL. 127, ISSUE 46

Contributing to THE MA ROON

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

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All rights reserved. © The Chicago Maroon 2016

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 10, 2016

What got more Graduate Council (+92.4%)

Where it came from Unused funds from previous years

SG Budget Passed Yesterday Relies on Left-over Funds From Previous Years Continued from front

Graduate Council Travel Fund (+254.5%)

Graduate Council Social Fund (+73.9%)

Increase in Student Life Fee Receipts

Coalition of Academic Teams (+9.76%)

Uncommon Fund (+108.9%)

SGFC / AnAll. (+1.34%) Program Coordinating Council (+1.86%) Other

nizations, requested an increase of almost ten percent to make up for cuts made in the 2015-2016 budget. In CAT’s budget request, CAT Chair Cosmo Albrecht said the cuts had caused CAT’s teams to stagnate over the course of the school year, and might restrict access for low-income students if they were not rectified. CAT received its funding request.

Annual Allocations and Student Government Finance Committee (SGFC), which funds most RSOs, and Program Coordinating Council (PCC), which funds the RSOs behind major campus events each received at least their minimum budget requests. The Uncommon Fund (UF) was given $31,214 despite asking for $45,000, and the Community Service Fund did not receive the $5,000 increase they requested.

“In short, Uncommon Fund received an increase of 108% increase in its budget–ultimately, we rely on input from the chairs of the funding committees that we oversee (UF included), but are not always able to meet the full extent of requested funds,” Kissinger told THE MAROON. “We were able to allocate the remainder of the increase to the graduate funds from our annual budget and then what was remaining was made of rollover,” Kissinger said during the meeting.

In their explanatory memo, Slate estimated that, in the 2015-2016 budget, graduate students benefitted from 29.9 percent of SG spending, but paid a substantially larger portion of the student life fee, despite increases in that year’s budget. Kissinger noted that 36.7 percent of the annual budget will be directed toward graduate programs, more than the 33.1 percent graduate students paid in.

A GC member in the back of the room responded, stating that graduate students do not feel equally represented at the University. Citing the fact that the updated budget was emailed by Slate at 2 a.m. the morning of the meeting, the GC member questioned why numbers had decreased without notice.

Kissinger explained that there was a typo in the original budget that miscalculated UF funding. When UF funding was corrected, there were subsequent cuts across all programs.

Kissinger explained that not all rollover will be exhausted. With the overall increase in the annual budget and an anticipated increase in discovered efficiencies over the next year, Kissinger stated that there will be no issue in continuing to fund budgets not assigned out of rollover.

Another graduate student questioned how Slate determined the budget. Kissinger explained Slate decided allocations based upon what they deemed was a reasonable buffer of funding for major funding pots. The student then asked GC Chair Casey Anthony to comment on the budget proposal.

“And I think that moving forward next year we’ll really get to look at is it necessary to fund New York Times Readership program or is that something that the library should be doing, is the Uncommon Fund the best use of resources in a student leadership program, are these things that are successful or are they not,” Anthony said.

Representatives Debate Affirmation of University’s Free Speech Committment Continued from front

those events are the ones stressed by this resolution,” he said. “We are looked upon as an example by other institutions who adopt our speech policies and as such I think it’s important to affirm the importance of free inquiry at the University of Chicago.” 136 people signed the resolution, including 52 professors and Ph.D. students from a wide range of departments and 83 undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni.

Foldi also co-sponsored two resolutions last week calling on the University to divest from China and the investment RSO Blue Chips to divest from Israeli companies listed in CC’s April 12 resolution.

In debating the resolution, several General Assembly members referenced the event with Anita Alvarez, who has been widely criticized for her office’s role in delaying the release of a video of a Chicago Police Department officer shooting 17-yearold Laquan McDonald.

“I do think that at a university, a variety of viewpoints are supposed to be put in front of us,” said Class of 2018 CC Representative Calvin Cottrell. “I was going to show up [to the Alvarez event] and ask very tough questions about what had happened in her office and I think many people were denied the opportunity to ask those questions.”

Class of 2018 Representative Cosmo Albrecht disagreed. “I don’t think we should use this idea of elected officials being…

banned from speaking as evidence that free speech is under attack,” he said. “If you’re an elected official you should be willing to face the consequences of your actions…. I think these protests are a necessary part of a democracy.”

SG President Tyler Kissinger explained that while he does not usually speak on these issues, he urged General Assembly members to vote against the resolution. “As a public official it is my obligation not to run out of the room. I was at the Anita Alvarez event, an event with someone whose office has consistently refused to meet with black and Latino communities that her office has over-policed and I don’t think that’s right,” he said. “I think it is well within the rights of people to protest events particularly for public officials…and I urge a no vote.”

After voting against the motion to reject the resolution, multiple SG members motioned to table the resolution indefinitely. Following the passage of this motion, Class of 2017 Representative Mark Sands made a point of order, saying, “postponing indefinitely is the lowest priority motion and I had another motion so it should’ve been voted on first.” In response, Kissinger said, “I didn’t hear the motion,” and adjourned the meeting.

The indefi nite tabling of the resolution means that the resolution may be brought up for discussion in future academic quarters.

Activists argue that the University financially supports mass incarceration Continued from front

FJF had previously indicated that it would not be satisfied by any of the three companies that bid to become the University’s dining contractor, since Sodexo, Aramark, and Compass Group all have some corporate affiliation with prisons. FJF instead advocates self-operation, managing dining entirely inhouse.

According to head of UChicago Dining Richard Mason, the University will not consider dining contractors’ relationships with correctional facilities because of the Kalven Report, a university document that generally prohibits the consideration of political questions when making institutional decisions.

In a meeting with THE MAROON earlier this year, Mason said that the University had considered self-operation, but had decided, at least for the time being, that it made more sense to continue relying on companies that specialized in dining services.

The 10 participating students began their hunger strike Thursday afternoon. Before the strike, a series of posts on FJF’s Facebook page gave individual activists’ reasons for striking.

“I am hunger striking because the University needs to listen to its students. Large food service corporations that serve prisons benefit from mass incarceration. The Uni-

versity of Chicago needs to take a stand against our corrupt criminal justice system and move toward self-operation,” first-year Claire Hagerty wrote in her post.

At Friday’s rally, held around 24 hours after the hunger strike began, FJF hosted several guest speakers who had spent time in prison. The speakers reflected on the conditions they had experienced and praised FJF’s protest.

“I did my crime, I deserved to go to jail. I didn’t deserve to be tortured. The food they allegedly serve is not food, in prison. It’s soy, it’s garbage that’s made into a little pattie that they say is food,” said Brian Nelson, who spent years in solitary confinement and now works with the Uptown People’s Law Center.

Roughly 30 protesters met outside of Bartlett Dining Hall and then marched to Levi Hall, the University’s administrative hub.

“Prisons profit off our tuition—how about prison abolition? This food funds prison labor—this is not a taste we savor. It’s a moral obligation to choose self-operation,” protesters chanted as they walked.

Once the protesters arrived at Levi they chalked messages on the stairs and the side of the building. A few minutes later, sandwiches provided by FJF arrived, and protesters broke their hunger strike.

Cuts to CSRSO Admin., etc.

Adam Thorp

To the left, the increase in spending by line item, with the percentage increase over last year’s budget. To the right, the spending cuts and revenue sources that made that those increases possible.

$10,000 of new grad. spending $10,000 of other spending $10,000 of cuts $10,000 of revenue

Adam Thorp Fight for Just Food marches to Levi Hall at its May 6 rally.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 10, 2016

SG General Assembly Rejects Call to Provide Dining Services In-House

BY MAX MILLER MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Last night, the Student Government (SG) General Assembly rejected a resolution calling on UChicago Dining to transition to providing dining services in-house instead of contracting them out, which the resolution’s advocates argue would reduce the University’s financial support of mass incarceration.

After a short discussion, a motion to reject the resolution calling for self-operation passed with 13 members voting yes, 11 no, and eight abstaining.

The resolution was proposed by The Fight for Just Food (FJF), a student group that argues that the University is complicit in criminal justice abuses because it contracts with food suppliers who profit from serving food in prisons. FJF recently held a hunger strike in protest of the University’s affiliation with these companies.

Bon Appétit Management Company, the food service provider that the University recently announced will serve food in the dining halls next year, is owned by Compass Group, which also owns companies that provide food to prisons, though Bon Appétit itself does not.

Members of FJF briefly presented their resolution, which states in part: “UChicago Dining’s decision to sign a contract with Bon Appétit demonstrates continued complicity in mass incarceration” and “the poor quality of food [Compass Group] has served in Canadian prisons (for example, raw eggs) has led prisoners to launch multiple hunger strikes.”

FJF argues that self-operation would give students more control over dining options, provide greater transparency, and allow dining hall employees more influence over their working conditions. According to FJF, eight of the top ten universities in U.S. News and World Report’s national university rankings

self-operate their dining halls.

The resolution also calls for UChicago Dining to supply 40 percent of the food provided campus-wide through locally owned businesses on the South Side. According to third-year and FJF member Natalie Naculich, FJF has been in contact with local companies and believes its proposal is feasible.

Class of 2018 Representative Calvin Cottrell stated that the contracts with Aramark and Bon Appétit both included minimums of how much food UChicago Dining must source from South Side communities. Naculich responded that the “local sourcing” mandated in these contracts includes soda and ice, among other items, which she argued is insufficient.

Richard Mason, executive director of UChicago Dining, has stated that it would take three to five years for the University to transition to self-operation. The resolution FJF presented resolves for SG to call upon

Karen Warren Coleman, vice president for campus life and student services, and Mason to “implement the University’s transition to self-operated dining services within 3 years.”

Class of 2016 Representative Mark Sands questioned whether transitioning in three years would be possible considering Mason’s statement.

Third-year Kenzo Esquivel, vice president for student affairs, asked how long the University’s contract with Bon Appétit is. Naculich responded that she doesn’t know, “but you can generally break contacts before they’re up.”

Graham School student Cesar Dominguez, SG director of fi nance, argued that breaking the contract with Bon Appétit would impose a significant cost on the University. “You’re going to impact a lot of students with additional costs…and in the end, we’re going to suffer,” Dominguez said.

Plagiarism, Hacking, and Sexual Assault Appear in Disciplinary Report

BY ALEX WARD SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

On April 26, the Office of Campus & Student Life (CSL) released its report on University disciplinary proceedings for the 2014-15 academic year. The CSL reports on an annual basis all student disciplinary proceedings to the Council of the University Senate, headed by President Zimmer and Provost Isaacs.

According to the report, the University’s Area Disciplinary Committees, which are specific to various divisions of the school, met a total of 35 times during the year. 28 of those hearings were in the College, with another six in the Booth School of Business and one in the Division of Physical Sciences.

The numbers are a significant increase from previous years, with 23 meetings in 2013-14 and an overall average of 21.4 meetings annually since the 2005-06 academic year.

The College Disciplinary Committee heard a variety of cases on topics ranging

from plagiarism to assault. Seven students were found responsible for hazing, with five receiving two-quarter suspensions and the other two receiving four-quarter suspensions.

Two students were brought before the College Area Committee for allegedly stealing a video camera from an unnamed fraternity house. Both students were placed on disciplinary probation for their remaining time in the College.

According to the report, “A student was brought before a disciplinary committee for allegedly assaulting a Chicago police officer while intoxicated.” The undergraduate was found responsible for “not adhering to the expectations the University has of its students,” and was given a disciplinary warning.

The report only included one expulsion, which was given to a Chemistry doctoral student who was found to have sold “ghostwriting services and academic work, supposedly done by current students in the University”

to parties unaffiliated with the University.

Five students in the College were suspended for academic misconduct. Three were for separate incidents of plagiarism, and the remaining two for cheating on a homework assignment. All six cases heard by the Booth Committee also involved academic misconduct.

The report also described the proceedings of the then-newly implemented University-wide Student Disciplinary Committee (UWSDC), which hears cases involving alleged incidents of sexual misconduct, harassment, and discrimination.

Throughout the year, the UWSDC met four times in total. In one case, an undergraduate student was accused of hacking a popular social media site, as well as of “knowingly providing false information to a University official; disruptive behavior; and misuse of the university network.” The student was found responsible of all but the last accusation, and was suspended for two

quarters.

Two of the four cases involved a student in the Law School who was issued a No-Contact Directive, mandatory counselling, and restrictions on course and event registration, after being found responsible for dating violence against another student.

The same individual was later suspended for one quarter after failing to follow the directive.

The fourth case heard by the UWSDC was an incident of sexual assault in the College in which the respondent was given a disciplinary warning. Both the respondent and the complainant requested reviews of the case, but only the respondent’s request was granted, and the Committee’s decision was not changed.

In all divisions, both complainants and respondents were able to request a review of the committee’s decision. Review was requested in 12 cases, though none of the original decisions were overturned.

Over 1,000 Crowd Rockefeller Chapel to Listen to Live Axe Files Taping Continued from front

“With Muslims, all he’s saying is they’re evil and shouldn’t be in this country,” Stewart said. “But God forbid you say ‘happy holidays’ in December. It’s war.”

Stewart added that he does not think this election cycle has been radically different from past cycles. “If you took Sarah Palin’s head and jammed it on Donald Trump’s body, it wouldn’t make less sense,” he said, referencing Palin’s 2008 vice-presidential campaign with presidential candidate John McCain.

Stewart credited 24-hour news channels and the Republican Party’s fear-mongering with fostering the political environment that led to Trump. He said that such a

political environment gives people the sensation that “their country” is being taken away from them by “rapist immigrants” and Muslims. “If that’s what you’re buying into, Donald Trump makes more sense than anybody out there,” Stewart said.

Stewart dismissed those fears, saying that people are clinging to a paradigm that never existed.

He added that, like past election seasons, the media and the public have been focused on the wrong issues, and ignoring more pressing issues, such as the enormous sums of money still flowing into campaigns.

On the topic of news and media, Stewart said, “The problem is that the system is incentivized in all the wrong directions.”

He said that, while news programs should focus on clarity and information sharing, they instead devote themselves to conflict and sensationalism.

“News works in the same way as a crack dealer. It can do tremendous damage, but as long as people are buying crack, the dealer is good,” Stewart said.

Stewart further decried the current state of media and its manipulation and skewing of information, specifically in favor of the powerful. He observed a subservient relationship between the media and politicians, in which the media is used to bolster politicians rather than seek out truth in the government. “The media is no longer predator and prey, but a remora attached

underneath, feeding on the crumbs of politicians,” he said.

Stewart didn’t save all of his satirical criticism for Trump and the media. Asked

by Axelrod about Hillary Clinton, he said, “I imagine her to be a very bright woman without the courage of her convictions, because I’m not even sure what they are.”

Stewart also said that the state of Washington D.C. is as bad if not worse than how his show portrayed it. He cited his frustrating experience lobbying for what he saw as no-brainer legislation to provide healthcare for 9/11 first responders. “[D.C.] is a cesspool—there are some good people trying to survive within the lava, but it is a fucking horror show.”

THE ROMANOVS AUTHOR DISCUSSES HIS HISTORY OF THE DYNASTY

BY ANJALI DHILLON ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

On Monday, the Seminary Co-Op Bookstore welcomed British historian and critically acclaimed author Simon Sebag Montefiore to discuss his new book, The Romanovs: 1613–1918. Alexander Herbert, a Ph.D. student in the Department of History, guided the conversation, which was attended by approximately 20 people.

In his book, Montefiore writes about 300 years of the Romanov dynasty’s history while exploring themes of power, violence, and sex. During the discussion, he drew connections between Russia’s historical affinity

for state-condoned violence and the nature of Putin’s government today.

On why he chose to write The Romanovs: 1613–1918, Montefiore said, “Benjamin Disraeli always said, ‘When I want to read a book, I write it’ and so as sort of a tribute to him I really wanted to read this book, but I couldn’t find it. I wanted to find a book that weaves all this together, the whole dynasty.”

Herbert noted that this has a layout that is different from Montefiore’s previous work.

His previous book on Stalin is a conventional book written in parts, while The Romanovs: 1613–1918 is divided into acts and scenes like a play. According to Herbert, the style allowed him to see the upbringing of the tsars

and their individual personalities.

Regarding why he chose to present the Romanovs’ story in such a unique style, Montefiore said, “The reason why is actually very practical rather than a great statement about the Romanov dynasty, ironically. I actually did it because I wanted my readers to follow all these characters. For example, I have cast lists and I divided the book…into very small sections.”

According to Montefiore, the biggest challenge is that while he tries to write with academic rigor and academic sources, he still wants his books to remain accessible.

Montefiore then characterized this book as a study of power and the nature of autoc-

racy. He noted that six of the 12 last tsars were murdered by their families or the court.

According to Montefiore there is a certain insecurity and paranoia that comes with such incontrovertible power, one that even Putin feels today as he builds his new National Guard. When one has total power and control and creates a society with no rules, there is no way to remove these autocrats other than conspiracy and violence.

Montefiore is a best-selling author most widely known for his work on Jerusalem, Stalin, Catherine the Great, and most recently, the Romanov dynasty. His talk was co-sponsored by the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 10, 2016

NEWS IN BRIEF

University Elects Two New Trustees to Board The University announced last week that the Board of Trustees has elected two new members, Frank Baker, A.B. ’94 and Guru Ramakrishnan, M.B.A. ’88.

Baker co-founded, and serves as managing partner of, Siris Capital Group, LLC, a private equity firm focused on value and control equity investments in data, telecommunications, and technology. He was previously managing director at Ripplewood Holdings, LLC, another private equity firm. He began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in mergers and acquisitions.

Baker has been a strong supporter of the College, especially the New Leaders Odyssey Scholarships. Baker and his wife, Laura Day, donated $7 million to the Odyssey program in March, for which the University will name the new Campus North dining hall the Frank and Laura Baker Dining Commons.

Ramakrishnan founded and serves as CEO of Meru Capital Group, an employee

owned hedge fund sponsor. Before founding Meru Capital, Ramakrishnan was CEO and co-CIO at Old Lane, L.P., an investment management committee. Prior to that, he was a managing director at Morgan Stanley. Ramakrishnan has contributed to publications including the South China Morning Post, Business Line, and The Economic Times. He has provided support to the University of Chicago’s Division of the Humanities and the Booth School of Business.

—Tim Cunningham

Reward Offered for Missing Medical Student The Chicago police have still not found the 28-year-old medical student who went missing over two weeks ago. Ambrose Monye, the fourth-year medical student, was last seen on Friday, April 22, walking west on East 55th Street.

According to the Chicago Police Department, Monye is a 5 foot 10, 180-pound black man with browneyes, black hair, and medi-

um complexion. Monye frequented the Crerar Library and coffee shops in Hyde Park, according to Chicago-based news sources.

Monye’s family has announced a $7,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.

Raul Montes, a community activist working with the Monye family, said to the Hyde Park Herald that the reward gives an incentive for people to give information that could lead to an arrest.

Monye’s younger brother, Joseph Monye, is a third-year medical student in the same clinical rotation as his brother. Joseph told the Hyde Park Herald that nothing was out of the ordinary when he last spoke with Monye on Thursday, April 21, and there was no reason to believe something was amiss.

Joseph led a search party of over 50 medical students on Sunday, May 2, across the South Side. So far, they have not discovered a lead on Monye’s whereabouts.

Around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 8, a man’s body was recovered from Lake Michigan at Promontory Point. However the body could not be identified, and the police do not yet have reason to believe that it is Monye.

—Pete Grieve

Police Recover Body From Lake Michigan Near Promontory Point On Sunday, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) Marine Unit recovered the body of what police said appeared to be an adult male from Lake Michigan near the 5400 block of S. South Shore Drive.

The CPD Office of News A ffairs said that the Marine Unit got a call at around 10:30 a.m. concerning a possible body in the lake. “Identity is unknown at this time, and the investigation is ongoing by Area Central Detectives,” the Office of News Affairs said.

CPD spokesperson Officer Jose Estrada told DNAinfo Chicago that the body wasn’t immediately identifiable because it had been in the lake “for some time.”

—Austin Lai

Council on University Programming to Host Summer Breeze Carnival On May 14 at 5 p.m, the Major Activities Board will host the Summer Breeze Music Festival in Hutchinson Courtyard featuring Jeremih, Joey Bada$$, SOPHIE, and TOKiMONSTA. The Council on University Programming (COUP) has organized a carnival before the show that will run from 12–5 p.m. on the quad.

“Similar to previous years, we’ll have fun inflatables, tons of free food, an R.A. dunk tank, free giveaways, and RSO tabling,” COUP said. “We’re also very excited for our awesome lineup of RSO performances as well as [Inter-House Council’s] Family Feud and a professional hypnotist!”

Student groups including Chicago

Raas, Voices in Your Head, Rhythmic Bodies in Motion, the UC Pep Band, UChicago Maya, PhiNix Dance Crew, Kojo Daiko, and The Koong will perform at the carnival.

COUP will serve burgers, chicken, pulled pork sliders, ice cream, cotton candy, and popcorn. There will also be a mechanical bull, a rock ’em sock ’em

game, and a bungee trampoline.

The R.A. dunk tank is sponsored by the coed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega’s Gamma Sigma Chapter and will offer three balls for a dollar.

The carnival event is free and will be open to all students.

—Austin Lai

UChicago Astrophysicist, Students Create Free Curbside Parking App

BY HILLEL STEINMETZ MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

Two University of Chicago students and an astrophysicist have created an app that helps users find free curbside parking spots.

ParkZen was released as a free app on Apple App Store on March 17 and is a finalist in the New Venture Challenge at the Booth School of Business.

ParkZen was founded by post-doctoral fellow at the Fermi Institute Manos Chatzopoulos, fourth-year computer science major Zachary Jenkins, and first-year Booth MBA student Russell Corey.

The app uses motion sensors in a user’s phone, GPS tracking, and data from the City of Chicago Data Portal. It detects a phone’s

motion and uses GPS tracking to determine whether a car leaves a curbside parking spot.

The app uses the data of the location of bus stops in Chicago from the city’s Data Portal, predetermined speeds, and the distance a car travels away from a street to rule out activities such as walking, getting on a bus, or parking in a lot.

ParkZen uses data from the city of Chicago Data Portal in order to notify users of scheduled street cleaning, snow clearing, and overnight parking bans so that users can avoid receiving a fine for leaving their cars parked at those times.

Chatzopoulos said he was motivated to create the app after he moved to Hyde Park in 2013, and struggled to find curbside parking spots.

“It would take me at least 15 to 20 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes—circling around the block, blind-searching for a free spot,” Chatzopoulos said. “The truth of the matter is parking in Hyde Park, as well as many other areas in Chicago, is highly congested.”

Chatzopoulos decided to use the programming skills he developed as an astrophysicist to develop the algorithm that ParkZen uses to find free curbside parking. According to Chatzopoulos, the methods of mathematical and statistical analysis used in astronomy helped him develop the app. He began writing the algorithm in his spare time in 2014.

“My background is astrophysics, so I could write the code for the app and do the data analysis of the algorithm based on a similar kind of science that we use to study black holes

and supernovae,” Chatzopoulos said.

In 2015, the app was a Phase 2 semifinalist in the University’s App Challenge. In the spring of 2015, ParkZen was accepted to a program designed to teach management and entrepreneurship called the Innovation Corps (I-Corps), which is run by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Booth. ParkZen is also a finalist in the New Venture Challenge, a highly-acclaimed accelerator program run by the Polsky Center.

Chatzopoulos said that he is not concerned with revenue at the moment, but rather gaining users, and has recently launched a Facebook ad campaign.

Since ParkZen is so data driven, it becomes more effective as its user base grows.

So far, ParkZen has 80 users in Hyde Park.

Clarke’s Temporarily Closed for Maintenance, Hopes to Reopen

BY PETE GRIEVE DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

Clarke’s Diner, Hyde Park’s only 24/7 sit-down restaurant, is temporarily closed for maintenance, but hopes to reopen next week under new ownership, restaurant chain owner Tom Tsatas said last night. The Hyde Park restaurant is a franchised diner under the ownership of Stan Karagiannis, who closed the restaurant for personal reasons, the Hyde Park Herald reported.

Tsatas plans to make the restaurant independent of the franchise, and he plans to try to take ownership and management of the restaurant.

“We are meeting with the franchise dean. We should have everything worked out. I was hoping we could maybe reopen this week, but we might have to wait until next week.”

Asked whether he could confirm that the restaurant would reopen, Tsatas said,

“Probably, yes.”

The University owns Clarke’s space and brought the restaurant to Hyde Park in 2011. Director of Communications for Civic Engagement Calmetta Coleman confirmed yesterday that Clarke’s has not terminated its lease.

“Clarke’s is currently leasing the space, and the University does not comment on tenant leases,” she said. “If Clarke’s chooses to end its lease, we would seek a new restaurant tenant for the space.”

On May 2, a picture of a sign on the front door of Clarke’s was posted to the Overheard at UChicago Facebook group, reading: “Due to maintenance Clarke’s will be closed…Until further notice.” The Herald reported on May 6 that the restaurant was permanently closed after another sign showed up on the door notifying customers of the restaurant’s closure. “Clarke’s Hyde Park is closed.

Thank you so much for your loyal business,” read the handwritten note signed by Kara-

giannis. “We will miss you.”

However, by May 7, the note from the owner had been covered up by lined paper taped to the door, and, on May 9, The Herald corrected its initial reporting after speaking to Tsatas, who confirmed that the closure was temporary.

Executive Director for the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce Wallace Goode told the Hyde Park Herald that there was talk of another restaurant moving into the location of Clarke’s at 1447 East 53rd Street, but he said that those plans fell through.

Karagiannis said that he could not discuss his reasons for forgoing ownership of the restaurant until “some things run their course.” The recent opening of Mikkey’s Retro Grill, which serves breakfast until 4 a.m. six nights a week, at 5319 South Hyde Park Boulevard, and a string of complications with food inspections may have contributed to his decision to close the restaurant.

Clarke’s is classified as a “Risk 1 (High)” restaurant due its service of potentially hazardous foods—namely, eggs and soup. Risk 1 restaurants are typically inspected two times per year, according to the City, but Clarke’s has already been inspected three times this year, twice in response to a complaint. The restaurant passed all three inspections, but with “conditions.”

The three recent inspections note a “serious violation” for the restaurant not having a certified food service manager to oversee the preparation and service of highrisk foods. The most recent inspection on March 11 also issued a “serious violation” for a malfunctioning freezer door, according to City food inspection data.

Karagiannis told The Herald that he wants to “start again new” under new management, adding that the restaurant has gotten complaints about its service that he wants to resolve before reopening.

5

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 10, 2016

VIEWPOINTS Misunderstood and Misrepresented Superdelegates and Brokered Conventions Are Undemocratic—but Not Un-American Natalie Denby

Ink by the Barrel Superdelegates and brokered conventions have both come under fire during the current presidential campaign.

Before Trump all but secured the Republican nomination, his supporters fretted over a brokered convention, arguing it would be undemocratic if it nominated anyone besides Trump. If Trump has a plurality of the Republican vote, the argument goes, how could the party justly deny him the nomination?

On the Democrats’ side, superdelegates remain the target of attack from the Sanders camp. They face withering scorn for allegedly rigging the voting process by underrepresenting support for Sanders.

Although there’s certainly no love lost between Trump and Sanders supporters, the two groups have revealed a shared concern for the voting process: both groups posit that checks against the will of the people, whether in the form of superdelegates or brokered conventions, improperly diminish the democratic aspect of our political process.

Both sides assume that the majority opinion ought to be upheld—whether or not it’s actually right. They also assume that if brokered conventions and superdelegates were eliminated, our electoral process would be representative of the will of the people.

Part of their argument is correct. The majority opinion is inviolable—to a certain extent. But there are two serious problems with opposing the use of brokered conventions and superdelegates: first, our form of government isn’t intended to be a pure, unconstrained democracy, and second, even without the use of brokered conventions, our electoral process wouldn’t be representative of the will of the people anyway.

We aren’t living in a pure democracy, nor are we supposed to be. When we question the validity of checks on the democratic process, like brokered conventions or superdelegates, because they reduce our political system to something less than entirely democratic, we implicitly assert that pure democracy is the ideal. And if pure democracy is indeed the ideal, then it follows that our democracy should be entrusted entirely to the will of the people. And such an assertion is nonsense.

In our constitutional democracy (emphasis on “constitutional”), the majority cannot do whatever it wants. This should make sense; the majority has a long history of making terrible mistakes. If you seriously believe that large groups of people, by virtue of being numerous, don’t run the risk of formulating awful and illegal policy decisions, then you might

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expect a considerably less spotty record. Our government is built on the acknowledgement that the will of the people can be, and often is, horribly wrong.

This is something we seem to know when we talk about policies we dislike; it’s something we very conveniently forget when the candidates and policies in question are ones we support (in which case, any attempt to stop the majority is unquestionably despotic).

The Constitution itself acknowledges the potential for disaster, so far as majority rule is concerned. What else do we imagine the Bill of Rights exists for? How about the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments? We all know that the president can veto legislation produced by the democratically elected Congress. The Supreme Court is vested with the power to override both the democratically elected executive and legislative branches. Evidently, what the majority says doesn’t always go. It isn’t supposed to!

The structure of our government was articulated with the understanding that a democratically elected government can do outrageous and illegal things, and that, where necessary, checks should be put in place to balance the process. It shouldn’t be surprising that our nomination processes reflect this spirit; just as the will of the people has failed to uniformly produce appropriate legislation, the will of the people has also failed to reliably produce qualified and electable candidates.

The Democratic Party introduced superdelegates to prevent embarrassing losses, following the McGovern campaign’s disastrous loss in 1972 (he won only 17 electoral votes) and Carter’s equally disastrous reelection effort in 1980 (he won 49 electoral votes, a historical low for an incumbent).

Superdelegates are supposed to offset the effect of voters flocking to grassroots candidates who perform poorly in general elections. To be fair, the measures instituted to make the voting process less erratic—including superdelegates and brokered conventions—are undemocratic. But they are certainly not un-American.

Beyond the fact that the power of the majority is supposed to be constrained, there’s another, more significant problem with our voting process.

It isn’t really representative.

When we claim that brokered conventions and superdelegates thwart the will of the people, what we ought to say is that they thwart the will of the people who actually voted, or, to get

Meera Joshi

even more convoluted, that they thwart the will of the voting population as represented by pledged delegates. And those two groups—the voting population and their representatives—are not at all equivalent.

A Pew study from 2015 puts average U.S. voter turnout (as a percentage of the eligible population) at a lackluster 53.6 percent. Voters, as it turns out, are not representative of the general population; minorities are less likely to vote than whites.

The Census Bureau pegs turnout for eligible voters with an “advanced degree” at 62 percent, which is far higher than the 33.9 percent of high school graduates. Those in the highest reported income bracket had a turnout of 56.6 percent, compared to 24.5 percent in the lowest income bracket.

The people voting are not representative of the general population at all, but issues with the voting process aren’t confi ned to turnout alone. On the Democrats’ side, low turnout combined with the realities of pledged delegate distribution has made the delegate count even less representative.

According to an analysis from FiveThirtyEight, not only does Clinton lead Sanders in terms of popular votes, but Sanders’ pledged delegate support is inflated. Sanders’ delegate count draws heavily from caucus states with low voter turnout.

As a result, Sanders’ support among pledged delegates was actually overrepresented as of early April—Sanders had 46 percent of pledged delegates but 42 percent of raw votes.

It’s unfair to cast the blame on

superdelegates for making the nomination process inequitable; in reality, pledged delegates are themselves unrepresentative, and not in the direction that you might think.

Evidently, the voting population is only part of the eligible population. It’s richer, more educated, and whiter than the general population. And, when this demographic goes to vote, the results are distributed so bizarrely that candidate support no longer ref lects raw votes. All of this raises the question: how can we confuse a skewed representation of the will of American voters with the will of the American people, when the two are clearly not interchangeable?

Checks on the will of the people, including brokered conventions and superdelegates, should be appealing for fairly intuitive reasons. Governance by majority rule may be the best form of government, but it isn’t always a safe one. This holds true in the electoral process just as much as it holds true in the legislative and executive processes. What should be genuinely disturbing is not the fact that both the Republican and Democratic parties reserve the right to nominate an establishment candidate over a more popular insurgent—we should be far more alarmed by the fact that the Americans who will ultimately vote for these candidates make up only a small part of the population, and an unrepresentative part at that.

Natalie Denby is a first-year in the College majoring in public policy.

6

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THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 10 , 2016

ARTS From Weiner to Loser: The Fall of a Representative

BY ZEKE GILLMAN MAROON CONTRIBUTOR

“ This is the worst. Doing a documentary on my scandal,” opens Anthony Weiner, former congressman and 2013 Democratic nominee for New York City mayor. People familiar with the Representative’s 2011 scandal may understand why Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, the directors of the documentary screened last Friday at the Institute of Politics (IOP), found Weiner’s campaign worthy of depiction. And worthy it is.

Wein er is a do cument a r y that prompts the same question the filmmakers ask Weiner at the end of the film, namely, “Why did you let us film this?” After all, the film is an unsparing depiction of the former Representative’s mayoral campaign. Following what was thought to be his career-destroying scandal that forced him to resign from Congress, Weiner tenaciously pursued the mayoral office, seeking redemption for his wife and two-year-old son.

The film begins with pre-scandal Representative Anthony Weiner. Weiner had a reputation as a stereotypical New York Representative—spirited, unflinching, loud, and mad as hell. Weiner’s first experience going viral was when a clip of him yelling on the House f loor, chiding House Republicans for using government procedure as an excuse for not voting in favor of a bill that would guarantee medical treatment to 9/11 responders, got over 339,000 views.

A year later, Weiner went viral once more. In 2011, the Representative’s Twitter account posted a photo of a man’s bulging underwear. While

Weiner f irst denied the photo was of him, he was soon compelled to admit the truth after more photos were leaked to the media. Soon enough, Representative Weiner resigned, but vowed to “clean up the mess [he] made.”

The appeal of Weiner is not so much the man himself as it is those surrounding him. The film ably demonstrates the effects of the scandal on Weiner’s two marriages —to his city, and to his wife. In the early stages of Weiner’s campaign, the people of New York were willing to absolve him. At town hall meetings, the public even heckled candidates who discredited Weiner on the grounds of his misconduct. In fact, Weiner was leading polls at the start of the race. The time was ripe for what could only be described as a Rocky-esque comeback of a political campaign.

Kriegman and Steinberg capture that energ y in their documentary, compelling you to celebrate with Weiner as he parades through the streets.

Unfortunately, a man’s past never dies. In the summer of 2013, more risqué photos dating from before and after the earlier scandal were leaked. The public subsequently turned on Weiner and his campaign for mayor tanked.

More interesting than his relationship with the public, however, is that with his wife, Huma Abedin. Abedin is considered to be among Hillary Clinton’s closest advisers, and Clinton has even referred to Abedin as her second daughter. While Abedin did not want to participate in the documentary, her presence is felt throughout the film. When the second batch of photos was released, all eyes looked to Abe-

Kathy Willens / Associated Press

Weiner follows the 2013 mayoral campaign of former New York congressman Anthony Weiner, who resigned in 2011 amid a scandal where a series of lewd photos were leaked.

din. The movie at times seems just as much about her as it is about Weiner.

I n o ne o f t he mo r e p owe r f u l scenes following the leak of the second batch of photos, K riegman and Steinberg disregard their “f ly on the wall” status and ask Abedin, “ How a r e you doi ng? ” A bed i n sm i le s , turns to make her coffee, opens the cabi net t o swa l low her pi l ls, a nd turns to the filmmakers with a grin: “It’s like I’m living in a nightmare.”

The most important question the film asks is whether a politician’s per-

sonal life should determine his eligibility for elected office. Weiner may have had good ideas for housing in the Bronx or employment for the middle class, but the media never asked, preferring to psychoanalyze him instead.

Perhaps Weiner would have made a good mayor; many argue that Bill Clinton was a good president. But, as the opening quote by Marshall McLuhan states, “ The name of a man is a numbing blow from which he never recovers,” and so we are left only with Weiner, in all his scandalous glory.

Ensemble Dal Niente Celebrates 10 Years of Eclectic Musicmaking

BY HANNAH EDGAR ARTS EDITOR

If you were to wander into 4045 North Rockwell Street somewhere between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on April 30, you’d stumble upon what was perhaps the most eclectic pregame in history. The pre-concert hour of Ensemble Dal Niente’s Party 2016 kicked off with live performances of works by Erik Satie and Esa-Pekka Salonen (with an arrangement of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” thrown in the mix) before segueing into a faux-Dating Game segment featuring members of the audience.

Then, hardly pausing for breath, the game show “host” broke into a rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s “Losing My Mind” from Follies, an accompanist springing out of nowhere to take a seat behind the piano. “ I have no idea what ’s goi ng on,” someone near me whispered.

Whatever you do, don’t tell Ensemble Dal Niente to focus. Embarking on everything from audiovisual projects to cultural exchanges with Latin American composers to its latest venture—a CD produced in collaboration with the indie rock band Deerhoof—the Chicago-based music collective traverses contemporary music’s far-flung worlds with giddy ease.

“As it should,” Michael Lewanski said.

Since 2007, he has been Dal Niente’s conductor and one of its artistic coordinators, along with cellist Chris Wild.

“Our diversity in practical and aesthetic scope is very broad—so broad you might even criticize us for it,” he admitted. “But my impulse is to embrace

that aspect of what it’s like to live in this country in 2016, where everyone’s looking at their phones all the time.”

This season, Dal Niente reached a milestone that few contemporary music groups of its kind reach: its 10th anniversary season.

“Many of these ventures fail, but this one…” Lewanski paused. “Well, I guess it could still fail, couldn’t it?”

Possible, perhaps, but not likely: Dal Niente has carved a niche for itself in Chicago’s vibrant contemporary music scene, standing alongside ensembles like the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), eighth blackbird, Fifth House Ensemble, and Fulcrum Point.

But founders Kirsten Broberg, Robert Reinhart, and Marcos Balter encountered a far different state of affairs when they first conceived Dal Niente in 2004. Then composition students at Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music, the three were frustrated by the “practically nonexistent” contemporary music scene in the Chicagoland area.

“We had some groups that played music by older, established composers; the [Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s] MusicNow series, which had just started, was more focused on the prominent contemporary composers of our time,” Balter remembered. “But there was nothing serving the young generation of composers.”

When the time came to name their hypothetical group, the three pitched and nixed plenty of suggestions (Zeitgeist, Pantonal, Soundbat, among others) before Balter suggested Dal Niente, after the 1970 piece by German composer Helmut

Hannah Edgar

Vocalist Amanda DeBoer performs “Witford Rimley and his Robotic Dog Seize Burger King in a Bloodless Coup.”

Lachenmann. The name was a nod to the repertoire the group sought to defend, and dal niente—Italian for “from nothing”—was also an apt description of the group’s genesis, springing from a void they sought to fi ll. The group dubbed itself a “contemporary classical music collective,” with “collective” being the operative word.

“I want to de-emphasize my role a little bit. Normally, ‘conductor’ is synonymous with ‘music director,’ and I’m not that; I’m not Riccardo Muti,” Lewanski stressed.

“Everyone has input, and everyone is genuinely, desperately sought-out and valued.”

Though Dal Niente’s mission was established early on, the ensemble itself took longer to crystallize. When Le-

wanski came on board as the ensemble’s first permanent conductor, Dal Niente was primarily a side-project for its members, most of whom were still students.

“For the fi rst few years, Dal Niente was just kids running around trying to make concerts happen; no one was getting paid,” he remembered. “It was sort of like, ‘Let’s program what we wanna program, and how do we do that?’”

But with time, Dal Niente became more organized—and busier. Broberg went on to become the ensemble’s first executive director in 2009, and in 2010, the group made an award-winning appearance at International Festival for Continued on page 9

9

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 10, 2016

Apsara Reimagines Classical Indian Dance With Navarasa

BY MAY HUANG ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR

Apsara, the classical Indian dance RSO on campus, performed its annual spring show last Saturday. Presented in collaboration with UT/TAPS, Navarasa: Reimagined, Exploring Classical Emotions through Pure Dance intertwined choreography and poetry to exhibit Aspara’s art form in both a traditional and contemporary light.

“The show was first conceptualized as a way of uniting two pretty different aspects of classical dance: the storytelling elements and the elements of pure dance that showcase technique,” explained fourth-year Mythili Vinnakota, a member of the Apsara board.

According to Vinnakota, the steps in a classical dance usually separate the process of illustrating the narrative being told and featuring technical skill, instead of doing both at once. The idea to go against this stereotype was what inspired Apsara to explore the Navarasa, the nine classical emotions of dance that are usually explained through abhinaya (“dance storytelling”) and nritta (“pure dance”).

Eight emotions were featured in the show: happiness,

anger, wonder, fear, heroism, love, sorrow, and peace. Each dance was choreographed to reflect that particular emotion.

“The moves we came up with had to convey the emotion desired,” said third-year Elora Basu, who co-choreographed Happiness and Love. The emphasis was therefore primarily on the dance instead of more traditional indications of emotion, like facial expressions.

Similarly, the music that accompanied each dance also influenced how it was performed. Although the audience may have wondered why the dancers did not look particularly angry when dancing during Anger, Vinnakota explained that the song to which it was danced, “Radha Kaise Na Jale,” describes the jealousy that the Hindu goddess Radha felt towards Krishna.

Although the dancers choreographed their dances to ref lect classical emotions, their performance was interspersed with modern elements.

“I was trained in ballet as well as bharatanatyam, so [I] was dying to choreo fusion,” said Vinnakota, whose choreography of Fear had the performers dancing to the Foo Fighters’ “Let it Die,” using elements of Western and classi-

Frank Yan

Tradition and modernity come together in Navarasa: Reimagined, Exploring Classical Emotions through Pure Dance.

cal Indian dance. Similarly, two performers danced to a mashup of A.R. Rehmnan’s “Tere Bina” and Rihanna’s “Stay” during Love.

Before each dance, an excerpt from Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro’s magnum opus “Altazor” would be read in a performative way to indicate the mood that would follow. Explaining the reasons behind the poetic interludes, Vinnakota said that she had read “Altazor” in Hum as a first-year and fell in love with the way it wove emotions through pure words.

“I thought it was fitting that my last show [would] use “Altazor” to further highlight the emotions [...] and narrate the show,” she said.

Second-year Noel Rubio, who performed the lines, was given artistic license to interpret the text. Using a few feeder lines from the epic, he crafted the script based on the storyline and emotional elements ref lected in the choreography.

“My goal was to string together the right amount of excerpts to form a cohesive but concise

storyline [and convey] a journey toward nirvana,” he explained.

A sense of collaboration underpinned the production: Vinnakota credits Apsara’s teamwork to UT for enhancing the way they told the story through lighting. As a theme, collaboration can be felt throughout the show, from the fusion between classical and contemporary music to the combination of storytelling and technique to the union of dance and poetry. Apsara has indeed reimagined and explored a classical art form through Navarasa.

The piece calls for eight musicians, four playing instruments and four operating PlayStation controllers...

Continued from page 8

New Music in Darmstadt, which has long been associated with the most celebrated names in new music (It has since returned twice). In 2014, it released its fi rst full-length CD; four others followed in quick succession.

Dal Niente concludes its season with its annual Parties, usually held in art galleries. But this year, Dal Niente moved Party 2016 to its rehearsal space on Rockwell Street, in Irving Park—essentially a studio space in a warehouse.

“I can’t think of anybody who has [had this idea] of a five- or six-hour event where you have no idea what you’re going to hear,” former Dal Niente Executive Director Reba Cafarelli said. “It’s about enjoying the people around you and having a space to talk things over as they come at you.”

The event was organized in collaboration with Parlour Tapes+, a contemporary classical cassette label, as known for high-quality recordings as for its quirky “happenings” throughout the city, which unite performance art with new music.

“Their involvement seemed like a way to shake up the party this year, for sure,” Cafarelli said. “It’s good to have that match: Dal Niente is like the serious uncle, and Parlour Tapes+ is the fun cousin.”

However, Dal Niente doesn’t always feel obligated to take itself seriously. Hijinks abounded at Party 2016, beginning with the aforementioned pre-concert game show. In response to the question “Why do you want to be a composer?”, one contestant answered to much laughter, “’Cause I want to be rich and famous.”

Hannah Edgar

Dal Niente cellist and lead artistic director Chris Wild prepares for Stefan Prins’s “Generation Kill”.

A s the characteristically animated Lewanski gave opening remarks for the performance portion of the evening, three Dal Niente members mischievously mirrored his gesticulations behind him.

“We want this party to be like your life,” Lewanski said, his whirling hands multiplied threefold. “Don’t like to sit? Stand!

Don’t like to stand? We have some nice chairs! Want to sit, but confusingly, don’t want to do it in a chair? We have a nice floor for you.” He gestured to the air mattress and cushions laid out near a sofa in the back of the space.

As promised, the audience— which included everyone from retirees to UChicago faculty to slouchy college students—decided what it wanted to get out of Party 2016. The venue’s shoebox-shaped layout was arranged so that those farther from the stage could continue socializing quietly or move to a separate room on the lower floor, while those who wanted to listen to the music uninhibited were encouraged to move closer to the stage.

For certain pieces, the definition of said “stage” was blurred, to great effect. I plopped down on the air mattress for James Tenney’s “Critical Band,” which stationed musicians in different positions around the room. The piece begins on a unison concert A, diverging by fractions of a tone and passing through grating dissonances before returning to an overtone-rich reiteration of the original pitch. The effect was hypnotic and acoustically sublime.

The evening’s repertoire also challenged the definition of

“music,” at least in the absolute sense. Parlor Tapes+’s world-premiere contribution “Inside-Outside Rave Pyramid” resembled an avant-garde theater piece more than anything, “scored” for four amplified performers. Other works, like Natacha Diels’s “Elpis” and Jessie Marino’s “Witford Rimley and his Robotic Dog Seize Burger King in a Bloodless Coup” (worth mentioning by merit of its name alone) were similarly performative.

Receiving its North American premiere, Stefan Prins’s “Generation Kill” (2012) was easily the most ambitious undertaking of the evening, and perhaps the most representative of Dal Niente’s try-anything ethos. The piece calls for eight musicians, four playing instruments and four operating PlayStation controllers. The “gamers” manipulate pre-recorded audiovisuals of the musicians as the actual musicians perform behind projection screens in real-time.

“Kill” seems at fi rst to be a relentless sensory assault—the violinist bowing her instrument with a hairbrush, the guitarist whirring a milk-frother over his.

Then, aerial images with crosshairs are projected on the screen, coupled with an eerie, pregnant silence. Confronted by images of drone bombers, the blithe button-mashers in “Kill” take on a whole new meaning. Image contextualized sound and performance met political statement in a disarming one-two punch.

“What music feels like the music of its time and place? I feel like we ask ourselves that question a lot,” Lewanski said. “I’d

much rather have someone come to our concert and be like, ‘Fuck that!’ than assume they don’t understand new music. I don’t want people to think they’re supposed to like because it’s supposed to be ‘important,’ for some reason they don’t understand. It’s important because it’s about their lives.”

Because the involved set-up for “Kill” delayed the rest of Party by a half-hour, Dal Niente had to cram in its last few pieces; someone bellowed something about city ordinances requiring that the crowd vacate the building no later than midnight. The ensemble hurriedly set up for its final set, ending the evening with Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier’s smartly-orchestrated “Deerhoof Chamber Variations” from Balter / Saunier, the collab album celebrating its launch that night.

The piece was met with an enthusiastic ovation by all those who remained. While trying to beeline offstage, Lewanski was stopped short by a cry: “Speech!”

“Thanks!” was all he chirped.

Then he zipped away to join the rest of Dal Niente on cleanup duty.

Lewanski’s promise rang true: where the concert hall prescribes escapism as entertainment, Party 2016 held up a mirror to our media-saturated lives, without cushioning nor pretense. It was eclectic, it was accessible, it was honest—and yes, sometimes it was a little chaotic. In short, it was the kind of birthday bash only Dal Niente could pull off.

As for what the next 10 years in have in store? “It’s not gonna get any more in-the-box,” Lewanski predicted. “I suspect that it’ll only get weirder.”

10

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 10 , 2016

Alex’s Food Journal

Pilsen: Tacos and Paletas and Jibaritos, Oh My! april 29 / pilsen, chicago

BY ALEX YE ARTS STAFF

Anyone new to Chicago will notice that its hyper-sectionalized neighborhoods have created distinct food scenes. This is a blessing and a burden: generally, what our cultural neighborhoods preserve in tradition, they lack in cultural exchange.

Pilsen, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, stands out from its faux-traditional neighbor Chinatown. Unanticipated murals, cozy coffee shops, and lively bars accompany the Mexican neighborhood establishments. With each visit, I consistently feel welcome, comfortably practicing my shaky, high school Spanish and hopping around from taquerias to vintage clothing shops to panaderias and more. When the weather allows, bring an Uber XL–sized party and keep the food crawl tradition alive. ~ THE JIBARITO STOP ~ This Puerto Rican joint is a refreshing spot that adds variety to the large collection of Mexican establishments in the area.

Bistec / Pernil Jibarito ($8.99 / $7.99): These Puerto Rican sandwiches replace bread with crispy fried plantains. Garlicky mayo and succulent meat make this sandwich irresistibly savory, while the lettuce and tomato keep it fresh. The bistec featured unctuous, less-charred skirt steak, marinated in onions and its own juices—well worth the extra dollar. While the pernil was wonderfully tender, it was tragically undersalted. Throw on some of

their habanero sauce for a quick fi x.

Alcapurria ($2.25): A medley of fragrant oregano, cumin, and coriander permeate the palate after biting into this crunchy Puerto Rican fritter, while fatty ground beef coats the mouth in oil.

Highly recommend having a cheap, pale cerveza on hand.

Open 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Tuesday–Friday, noon–8 p.m. Saturday, noon–5 p.m.

Sunday, closed Monday. 1646 West 18th Street, Chicago, IL 60608. $ ~ TAQUERIA L OS COMALES ~ I won’t turn down an opportunity to grab a few tacos, each under $2, but the general understanding at this Pilsen institution is that you’ll be adding your own seasoning. All the tacos here were somewhat bland on their own, so be sure Peggy Xu to dress them with plenty of the tableside Taqueria Los Comales serves value and variety in its taco selection—load ‘em up with toppings! pickled veggies, salsa, and lime. any heat, but is less refreshing in com- Paletas de Leche ($1.50 each): GuaTacos ($1.79–$1.89): Lengua—Under- parison to the Jamaica. I’m a Jamaica nabana—At fi rst, the fl avor of this ice seasoned and overcooked. Does not do fan, but either will do the job as taco-ac- cream resembles a combination of strawberry and pineapple. Then citrus notes justice to what is otherwise my favorite companiment. tingle the palate, followed by a creamy, taco stuffing. Sesina—A thin slice of beef that does the job. Nothing special. Open 8–1 a.m. Monday–Thursday, 7–4 custard-like fl avor, almost like banana.

Tripa—Crispy-fried glory. For the more a.m. Friday and Saturday, 7–midnight I highly recommend giving this one a try.

Sunday. 1544 West 18th Street, Chicago, Elote—Yes, this staple street corn has its adventurous eaters.

IL 60608. $ own ice cream flavor but it’s nothing special, tasting, predictably, like sweet corn.

Drinks ($1.85): Jamaica—This chilled ~ PANADERIA NUEVO L EON ~ Mamey—Another fruit I fi nd indescribhibiscus drink is my go-to whenever I able. The velvety texture plays well with grab tacos. Refreshing, sweet, and fragrant, it’s perfect for washing down the Don’t end your Pilsen trip without the ice cream, and the fl avor resembles oily, spicy grub. sweet treats. This Mexican bakery is that of a sweet potato and papaya.

Horchata—This lovely marriage of fi lled with churros, pan dulces, custard sweetened, creamy rice milk and cinna- muffi ns, cakes, and more—grab a tray (Flamin’ Hot) Cheetos Con Queso: If mon does a better job of mellowing out and collect all your favorite goodies. My you’re craving Mexican street grub and favorite is the one-dollar churros, but have the stomach for spicy junk food, come in early for fresher batches, as most this concoction is defi nitely worth a try. of the product goes stale by the end of Topped with gooey queso and dressed with everything from pico de gallo to the day. pickled pork rinds, this dish is the perOpen daily 5 a.m.–9 p.m. 1634 West 18th fect comfort food when you’re feeling the quarter system struggle.

Street, Chicago, IL 60608. $ ~ LA MICHOACANA PALETERIA Y NEVERIA ~ This ice cream shop features some staple Mexican flavors, so skip the ordinary offerings.

Paletas de Agua ($1.50 each): Guayaba (Guava)—Seeds and bits of guava pulp emphasize this popsicle’s authenticity. My personal favorite.

Mangonada (Mango)—Bursting with flavor paired with tart, spicy, salty hot sauce. Definitely an acquired taste.

Tamarindo (Tamarind)—The sweetness in this popsicle comes with a savory kick.

Open 8 a.m.–10 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 8 a.m.–11 p.m. Friday–Sunday. 1855 South Blue Island Avenue, Chicago, IL 60608. $ Pilsen unapologetically adopts its own culture in this once-Eastern European neighborhood. Coming from Orange County in Southern California, which is home to vibrant Asian and Hispanic communities, I feel much more comfortable in Pilsen than in any other Chicago neighborhood, even as a Chinese American. Stay tuned for why I feel don’t feel the same ease within our lower-west side Chinatown.

Peggy Xu

Sweet treats on ice abound at La Michoacana Paleteria y Neveria, a Pilsen favorite.

11

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 10, 2016

Marta Ptaszyn ´ska, artistic director

Hear music by today’s most promising up-and-coming talent, University of Chicago doctoral candidates in composition.

Tomorrow’s Music Today I 05.13.16 FRI | 7:30 PM | FREE Rockefeller Memorial Chapel Cliff Colnot, conductor; eighth blackbird; The Decani; ensemble guests Works by Joungbum Lee, Pierce Gradone, Jack Hughes, and Katherine Pukinskis

Tomorrow’s Music Today II 05.20.16 FRI | 7:30 PM | FREE Logan Center Performance Hall Cliff Colnot, conductor; eighth blackbird; Ben Melsky, harp; Amanda DeBoer, soprano; ensemble guests Works by Igor Santos, Timothy Page, Phil Taylor, Alican Çamci, and Tomás Gueglio-Saccone Reception to follow

12

THE CHICAGO MAROON - MAY 10, 2016

SPORTS IN-QUOTES... “I’m guessing the Kentucky Derby is Bob Costas’ favorite event of the year because he’s actually taller than the people in the interviews” —Barstool Big Cat

Maroons Look to Carry Momentum into Last Week of Season BASEBALL

BY EMMETT ROSENBAUM ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

As baseball season wraps up, the Maroons are f inishing strong and playing some of their best baseball of the year. The team played two games each aga i nst St. Norber t C ol lege and Edgewood College this weekend, dropping the first before managing to take the next three. The team has won five of their last six games, averaging more than eight runs per game during that stretch while also conceding fewer than three per contest.

On Friday the crew played their fi rst game at Stagg Field, a nail biter against St. Norbert. The match-up saw the Maroons’ bats held quiet as The Green Knights’ starting pitcher Blake Rutherford went eight strong innings. Holding the team to just six hits, Rutherford came out to start the ninth carrying a 4–1 lead.

However, after walking the leadoff man, third-year Ryan Krob, the Green Knights promptly allowed a double, sac fly, and single, which drove in two runs and brought UChicago within one. Alas, Rutherford was relieved by Eric Feldner, who induced a groundout and a strikeout, and the Knights managed to hold on for the win.

The two teams met again Saturday, but whatever the Chicago bats were missing before, they found in the second game.

The team pounced on St. Norbert starter Sam Neville, tagging him for five runs in the second and chasing him in the fourth after another three came around. Firstyear Alex McGimpsey and fourth-year Tom Prescott threw four and five innings, respectively, and managed to limit the Knights to four runs. The offense continued to unload throughout the day, and the game ended 13–4 in the Maroons’ favor.

The squad suited up again on Sunday for their doubleheader at Edgewood College. The fi rst contest saw fourth-year Lucas Friss toss one of his best games of the season, striking out eight Eagles while throwing a complete-game shutout. “[Lucas has] really been a guy that we know we can lean on when we need a big win,” said fi rst-year Josh Parks, who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the 4– 0 victory. “He’s is the ace of our staff and he’s epitomized what senior leadership looks like on the hill.”

Follow ing F r iss’ gem, the Maroons took the field again minutes later and laid a thumping on the Eagles. The team scored 12 runs on 13 hits, receiving contributions from

University of Chicago Athletics Department

First-year Max Brzostowski pitches in a game this season against Wisconsin-Platteville.

up and down the lineup. Parlaying the offensive explosion with a solid outing from first-year hurler Joe Liberman, the game ended by mercy rule after seven innings with a final score of 12–1.

Parks, who went 7-for-16 over the weekend, had another great day, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. When asked about his improvement, the outfi elder said, “It’s been a culmination of listening and putting into practice what each of our coaches have pressed on me all

year. I’ve been able to grow a lot as a hitter under the direction of our hitting coach since October. I’m confident every time I go up to the plate that I’ll be able to add to our cause offensively.”

Now possessing a record of 18 –15, the Maroons will look to fi nish their season on a high note. The group will travel to square off against Chicago State on Wednesday, and then play host to conference rivals Wash U this weekend for the last three games of the season.

Squad Begins Postseason Play on Wednesday

Both Men and Women Advance to NCAA Midwest Regional

SOFTBALL

TENNIS

BY KATIE ANDERSON SPORTS EDITOR

The Maroons learned just yesterday that they would be taking the field at least one more time this season, as they were selected to play at the NCA A DIII Softball Championship.

The squad received an at-large bid to the 62-team field. The selection is just Chicago’s 10th in history. All of its prior selections have occurred after 2000. The last time the South Siders were selected was in 2014, when they were eliminated after two disappointing losses to Thomas Moore and UW–Whitewater.

T hird-year third baseman Maggie O’Hara, who was a member of the 2014 team, is hopeful about this opportunity to improve upon the 2014 performance. “ Making regionals is such a huge accomplishment for us,” she said. “Everything we’ve done this entire year has gotten us to this place.

But getting to regionals isn’t enough, especially not for us upperclassmen who have been there before. We’re all incredibly eager to improve upon a disappointing regionals berth in 2014.”

O’Hara also commented on the importance of the tournament for the squad’s four fourth-years: Jordan Poole, Devan Parkison, Kathleen Kohm, and Kristin Lopez. She said, “We are led by an amazing senior class, who’ve excelled at every step of the way. There’s no better class in terms of quantifiable talent and leadership to lead us to a successful, and hopefully very long post season.”

The squad will leave Wednesday afternoon for Trine University, and will

then face off against Wheaton College on Thursday in the regional round of the tournament. Regionals are played in a double elimination format, and the champion of the four teams will advance to super-regionals the following week.

Chicago goes into the game confident, having played Wheaton at the end of April. In that match up, they picked up two 1–0 victories over the Thunder. “ We’ll play W heaton as our first game in regionals, who we recently swept in two 1–0 contests, one of which featured a no hitter by Jordan Poole,” O’Hara said. “ The team couldn’t be more excited at the opportunity to face their ace for the third game; this time I think we’ll be ready to clobber her.”

O’Hara is referring to Wheaton’s star pitcher, Katie Thornton. Thornton represented the Thunder on the mound for both games of the doubleheader earlier this season. Thornton was outperformed though, as Chicago’s Poole threw a no hitter while Thornton allowed six hits and one run. In the second, Thornton allowed only two hits, but the Maroons were efficient in converting to secure the lone run of the game.

O ’ Ha ra is con f ident about her team’s ability to secure a third win against Wheaton. “Our team has been firing on all cylinders all season, our pitching staff has been amazing, our bats explosive, and our defense impeccable. I ’m incredibly excited at our chances this weekend and for the rest of the post season to come!”

Chicago’s first tournament game against W heaton will start at noon at Trine University in A ngola, IN.

BY FRANCES MCDONALD SPORTS STAFF

Yesterday, both the men’s and women’s tennis teams were selected at-large to compete in the NCAA DIII Tournament, making it the second consecutive year that both squads were selected.

Following an unexpected fourth place finish at the UA A Championship, the men were feeling skeptical about earning an at-large bid. The NCA A postseason appearance will be the fourth for the Chicago men in the team’s history and its second consecutive bid.

UChicago placed No. 4 in the nation last year after NCAA postseason play.

The fi rst three rounds of the tournament comprise regional play and will be hosted by the University of Chicago on its own Stagg Courts. The NCAA tournament is played in single-elimination format. The Championships will be help later in the month at Kalamazoo College. Altogether, there are 43 teams competing in the tournament, with eight schools hosting regionals, including our very own Maroons.

Five teams will compete in the Midwest Regional this weekend on the South Side.

After an excellent season, going 15–5 and

sitting at No. 8 in the nation, the Maroons have earned a bye for the fi rst round of the tournament, and will play the winner of the Carthage College and John Carroll University match on Saturday. Gustavus Adolphus College will play Coe College in the first round. The South Siders’ chances look strong, as they have already defeated two of the regional opponents, Gustavus Adolphus College and Coe College.

It is the women’s side’s ninth trip to the tournament overall and their eighth consecutive bid. Impressively, all nine of these postseason appearances have come since 2006, demonstrating the program’s dominance in recent years.

The squad will travel to UW-Whitewater for regional play. Also having received a first round bye, the Maroons will need to wait until Friday to face off against the winner of Gustavus Adolphus College and Wheaton College.

Hope College, University of Northwestern-St. Paul, and host UW-Whitewater are the other three competitors.

The South Siders are currently ranked No. 9 in the nation and boast an 11–5 record on the season. They look to improve upon their overall tournament record, which is now 18 –11.