ChicagoMaroon051316

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MAY 13, 2016

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

University to Offer Neuroscience Major Starting in Fall 2016 BY ANJALI DHILLON ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Peggy Mason, a professor in the Department of Neurobiology, announced Tuesday on Twitter that the University will offer a neuroscience major for undergraduates starting this fall quarter. Mason also announced that she will be the director of the new major. More information about the major and its requirements will be shared at town hall meetings at 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 19 at an undetermined location and at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24 in BSLC 115. The first meeting is scheduled to give students a chance to learn about the major before they bid for classes. Current third-years will not be able to participate in the major because of a required laboratory class

that will not be available until the 2017–18 academic year because it will take time to organize all of the resources, equipment, and preparations. While Mason expressed regret over this limitation, she also emphasized the importance of such a course. “A laboratory course in neuroscience is unbelievably thrilling. I took one. I remember almost every day and every experiment that I participated in that course 30-plus years ago. I loved it. It’s fundamental, it’s thrilling, it’s fabulous. Many, possibly most, undergraduate neuroscience majors have such a course, such a beast. So we felt it was important for us to offer such a course as well,” Mason said. As director, Mason will oversee the curriculum, assess its functionality, and adjust the demands of Continued on page 4

25 Years Later, Assassinated Professor Remembered BY ADAM THORP NEWS EDITOR

The fi rst and only politically motivated killing of an academic in the United States may have taken place at the University of Chicago less than a quarter of a century ago. Ioan Culianu was a professor renowned for his study of the Renaissance, magic, and religion and as vocal critic of Romania’s post-Communist regime. Around 1 p.m. on May 21, 1991, Culianu was shot in the back of the head in a Swift Hall bathroom stall. The murder was never solved. This Wednesday, scholars familiar with Culianu’s life, work, and death remembered him at an event hosted by the Franke Institute for the Humanities. At several points during the event, speakers ref lected on how little-remembered Culianu’s story seemed to be, even on the campus where he died. Pablo Maurette, an assistant professor in the Department of Comparative Literature who or-

Healthier Conversations Page 7

Hagel Talks American Foreign Policy BY EILEEN LI DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

Forrest Sill Second-year Sara Zubi leads a chant during a protest on Bartlett Quad across from a group celebrating Israeli Independence Day.

Whistleblower Snowden Hosted Over Video Call BY ALEX WARD SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

W h i s t le bl owe r E dwa r d Snowden spoke over video call yesterday with one of the men President Obama asked to recommend an official government response in the wake of Snowden’s 2013 data leaks. The IOP-sponsored event was hosted in Ida Noyes Hall by University of Chicago Law School professor Geoffrey Stone. In 2013, Stone served as part of Obama’s Review Group on Intelligence and

Communications Technologies, a five-man panel created in light of revelations by Snowden and others of potential surveillance technology abuses by the United States Intelligence Community (IC). The panel’s recommendations included creating an agency to help whistleblowers voice their objections and creating a new federal oversight agency to ensure the protection of civil liberties. In a January 2014 interview with THE MAROON, Stone referred to Snowden as a “criminal,” but expressed ambiguity

ganized the event, remembered that he had not learned the history of Culianu’s death until he came across a book about it in a used book store. Continued on page 4 “I knew professor Culianu as a Renaissance scholar, but I didn’t know about his tragic death, let alone the fact that it happened in Swift Hall at the University of Chicago, where I get coffee every morning,” Maurette said. Ted Anton, an English proBY PETE GRIEVE as large a crowd at an IHFSRB fessor at DePaul University, meeting. UChicago Medicine said DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR wrote a history of Culianu’s in a press release that around death called Eros, Magic, and The Illinois Health Facili- 100 supporters showed up to the the Murder of Professor Culianu ties and Services Review Board meeting. (Eros and Magic in the Renais- (IHFSRB) voted 9–0 to approve “With this regulatory approvsance was Culianu’s best known UChicago Medicine’s $269 expan- al, UChicago Medicine can begin book). At Wednesday’s event, sion plan, which proposes to build construction of a new and larger he linked Culianu to the life an adult Level I trauma center emergency department, which and ideas of Giordano Bruno, a on the medical campus, expand will house four trauma bays, and Renaissance theorist of magic its emergency room, and create a a dedicated cancer-treatment whom Culianu had studied at new cancer facility. facility,” reads the press release. length. The board convened at 10 a.m. “UChicago Medicine also will seek “Bruno was executed in 1600, in Normal, IL, and roll call vot- approval to be a Level 1 adult following a chain of events ing on the plan began around 3:40 trauma center from the Chicago somewhat similar to those lead- p.m. Prior to the vote, the board Trauma Network and the Illinois ing up to Ioan Culianu’s death. allocated time for public comment Department of Public Health. In fact, there are so many par- on the plan. According to Twit- Plans are underway to recruit allels between the two men’s ter reports, one board member staff who will be necessary for said that there has never been Continued on page 2 Continued on page 4

State Regulators Unanimously Approve UCMC’s $269 Million Trauma Plan

On Thursday, former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel visited campus to discuss the major challenges of American foreign policy and his faith in the American people. Robert Pape, professor of political science and director of the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism (CPOST), moderated the talk at the Logan Center for the Arts. The event, sponsored by CPOST, began with Hagel’s assessment of the current political situation in the United States and his view of America’s security architecture. His remarks were followed by a conversation between Hagel and Pape and a Q&A session with student audience members. Hagel began by speaking about the post–World War II system of alliances and international institutions, acknowledging its imperfections but emphasizing its overall success. “No World War III. That’s pretty significant. We take that for granted…. Every leader that helped build this world went to their graves very concerned about a World War III and a nuclear exchange. There’s been no nuclear exchanges,” Hagel said. A former Senator from Nebraska, Hagel also spoke about the unprecedented nature of the past year in domestic politics. He highlighted his concern about the disillusionment much of the American public feels about large institutions, citing Gallup polls and votes cast for Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. “When a society starts to feel that way about its most important societal institutions, that represent the functioning of a society, that’s a very dangerous thing if it’s not corrected. And that’s where we are,” Hagel said. Despite the turbulent primary season, Hagel emphasized his faith in the American constitution and the unique political processes that guide the country. “Process is important. I know that is often disContinued on page 5

All Packed Up and Ready to Go

Senior Spotlight: Brian Weisbecker

Contributing to THE MA ROON

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Did the corn dog really need to be in dumpling form?

Fourth-year swimmer Brian Weisbecker’s presence extended beyond the pool.

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

Love This Club, in Theory: Club Sueto Page 10

The complexities of mental health necessitate a culturally specific discussion.

VOL. 127, ISSUE 47

The sold-out event... featured tracks by artists like DJ Sprinkles, Mark Fell, and Raw Silk.

Excerpts from articles and comments published in T he Chicago Maroon may be duplicated and redistributed in other media and non-commercial publications without the prior consent of The Chicago Maroon so long as the redistributed article is not altered from the original without the consent of the Editorial Team. Commercial republication of material in The Chicago Maroon is prohibited without the consent of the Editorial Team or, in the case of reader comments, the author. All rights reserved. © The Chicago Maroon 2016


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