The Chronicle, March 18, 2019

PAGE 3: College offers Voluntary Separation Incentive Program

PAGE 11: Kodie Shane at Reggies Chicago

PAGE 7: Chicago-based Instagrammer talks people, pancakes and polaroids PAGE 13: OPINION: Invalidation of transgender lives cannot continue behind bars Volume 54, Issue 23

March 18, 2019

ColumbiaChronicle.com

Marcella David on Columbia: “There is nothing that would keep me from coming”

“[I am] a problem solver. That’s what lawyers do,” David said. “I have that experience in solving problems, identifying problems, barriers and opportunities and working to either eliminate the problems or ... move towards that opportunity in a positive way.”

Student Government Association President and junior cinema art and science major Jazmin Bryant was a part of the committee that helped select the provost.

Bryant said she felt David stood out because she specifically wanted to be at Columbia.

“It will be important for her to listen because she is coming into Columbia at such a pivotal moment,” Bryant said. “We

have a lot of merging departments, a student center in the works [and] a lot of changes being made. It is going to be key for her to be able to take initiative but also listen.”

David will be a professor in the Business and Entrepreneurship Department.

“It will be interesting as she continues as provost,” Bryant said.

“I wonder if she’ll be able to handle the workload of both. It seems like a lot to me, but Marcella is very well-rounded. I know she is completely capable.”

SEE PROVOST, PAGE 3

MARCELLA DAVID WILL be the new senior vice president and provost starting June 3, according to a March 13 email from President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim. The college has been searching for a provost since Summer 2018, after former provost Stan Wearden announced he would be stepping down in June 2019.

David is currently the Betty T. Ferguson visiting professor of law at Florida State University and was the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Florida

Agricultural and Mechanical University.

“I’ve been aware of Columbia College for a long time,” David said. “I really am looking forward to being immersed in the Columbia College environment, getting to know the staff, the faculty, the students and learning more about Columbia from the insider’s perspective.”

With experience in academic administration at the collegiate level, David said she has learned a lot about how the different pieces of higher education fit within each other and work together.

David graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1989.

» KACI WATT STAFF REPORTER

editor’s note

College admissions scandal: Testing brains and morals » ARIANA PORTALATIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

P

eople were shocked to learn about the recent college admissions scandal, which alleges that 50 people—including celebrities, CEOs, college coaches and test administrators—took part in schemes to finesse unqualified high school graduates into several elite schools. Not only are the allegations disturbing, it demonstrates a clear disconnect between upper and lower-class families’ educational opportunities and puts the morals of such parents and students up for question.

Colleges and universities involved in the scandal are conducting internal investigations to identify students involved to decide whether they should be allowed to continue their enrollment, according to a March 15 CNN.com article. Christine Helwick, the former general counsel for the California State University system, said in the article schools will make their decision on a case-by-case basis. Schools would take into account whether the student knowingly participated and if they are applicants or current students.

If students were unaware of the scheme, there is an opportunity to prove themselves worthy of their place on campus. Why should a student be punished for a crime their parents committed? Students who knowingly participated in the scandal should be expelled. They knowingly committed the crime while their parents did the bulk of the dirty work.

To make matters worse, their bad decisions don’t just affect themselves.

Scheming their way into school means they likely took the place of a more deserving applicant.

These applicants could have been the hardworking, dedicated students the schools actually wanted: people who worked hard to get through high school and care enough about their education to not have it handed to them. The students who volunteer in their communities, stay up late studying for tests, are active on campus and wake up early and stay out late for team practices.

The University of Southern California is taking a step in the right direction to recover from being at the center of the scandal by making the decision to deny all applicants 2 THE CHRONICLE MARCH 18, 2019

MANAGEMENT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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Ariana Portalatin Blaise Mesa Molly Walsh Zack Jackson Micha Thurston

CREATIVE DIRECTOR AD & BUSINESS MANAGER

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OPINIONS EDITOR

connected to the scam and dedicate

tainted money to additional scholarship students, COPY CHIEF funding for underprivileged

COPY EDITORS which could help make room for more deserving students. How other students involved are treated will be a moral test for the schools as well.

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Some have defended the parents for GRAPHIC DESIGNERS taking part in the scandal. However,

there is nothing that warrants defense.

These parents bribed coaches and test administrators for scholarships and

SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR higher scores. That’s in comparison to

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS the parents who work twice as hard to

pay for their kids’ education, who teach the value of hard work and make getting an education about the journey, not the destination.

Some may say the parents simply were trying VIDEOGRAPHERS cared for their children and to do what was best for them. They ask, “If you had the money and resources, wouldn’t you do the same?” But surely, the possibility of expulsion, damaged

MEDIA SALES REPS reputations and prison sentences cannot be worth the risk.

BRAND MANAGER The parents’ motivation to do this much in order to get their children into

top schools also devalues community colleges and smaller institutions that WEBMASTER are often overlooked. Getting into a well-known and elite university does not equal a better education. It was always possible for the students to get a

GENERAL MANAGER valuable and rewarding education from

FACULTY ADVISER whatever school would have accepted them from a proper application process.

Degrees and successful careers are the reward for hard work and dedication, not a simple perk you get for stepping on the backs of deserving students who do not have the privilege of scheming their way through school. @ aportalatin@columbiachronicle.com

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PROVOST, FROM FRONT

However, David said she will not begin teaching until she is acclimated with her role as provost.

“I love interacting with students,” David said. “I am looking forward to teaching when it can reasonably be incorporated into the time I will need to accomplish my administrative responsibilities.”

Sean Andrews, Faculty Senate president and associate professor in the Humanities, History and Social Sciences Department, was also a part of the committee that helped make the decision. He said he was excited for a new provost to be named. He added that the decision of a new provost was up in the air until an offer was made and accepted.

“She comes from a different background than previous provosts. [It’ll] be a different

2015 in which eligible staff and faculty could receive compensation and benefits for early termination of their employment as reported Oct. 26, 2015, by The Chronicle.

More than 15 staff members were notified when their positions had been eliminated in 2016 due to budgetary constraints the college hoped would be eased by staff buyouts, as reported June 6, 2016, by The Chronicle.

Tarrer said he is not able to currently predict whether there will be layoffs.

The second employee buyout was announced March 1, 2017, for eligible faculty and staff.

Communications Academic Manager Craig Sigele, who is also an adjunct professor in the Communication Department and president of the United Staff of Columbia College, said he believes VSIP will allow the college to compensate union staff members with competitive salaries.

“Union staff members have been compensated at below-market rates and have borne the brunt of the college’s financial challenges over the last five years, including layoffs,” Sigele said. mwalsh@columbiachronicle.com » FILE PHOTO

DESPITE CONCERNS FROM Faculty Senate over equity and fairness, tenured faculty in select departments are being offered participation in a Voluntary Separation Incentive Program for the third time in five years, according to a March 6 email to faculty and staff.

The departments being offered VSIP include Art and Art History; C om mu n ic at ion ; E n g l i s h a nd Creative Writing; Dance; Fashion Studies; Humanities, History and Social Sciences; Photography; and Science and Mathematics.

The college is offering VSIP to address budget and personnel expenditures, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Suzanne Blum Malley and Vice President of Business Affairs and CFO Jerry Tarrer said in the email.

Tarrer said he wanted it to be clear that it was a voluntary program and some faculty had made inquiries about the program prior to its launch.

These departments were selected because they have resources to deliver high-quality instruction even if they lose a number of faculty, the email stated.

“Not that the faculty members aren’t valued, but the department has the ability to still continue to provide an optimal experience to students,” Tarrer said in a March 15 interview with The Chronicle.

Sean Andrews, Faculty Senate president and associate professor in the Humanitites, History and Social Sciences Department,

said the program is insulting to faculty not included. He added that faculty members were not able to give any input regarding the program.

“It is targeting specific departments, and that seems unfair to the departments that aren’t included,” Andrews said. “That is a calculus that we weren’t invited to weigh in on.”

Tarrer said a VSIP can cost the college money so administrators needed to be prudent while deciding what departments to include in the program.

The college first launched a VSIP in

CFO Jerry Tarrer said the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program will hopefully help address budget and personnel expenditures on campus.

perspective,” Andrews said. “Any time there’s a leadership change it’s kind of a wild card, [but] I’m hopeful that when she gets here we’ll be able to work well together with the faculty.”

Andrews added he thinks it will be beneficial for her to have a teaching position.

“It’s really important the leadership still have contact with the students and still have contact with everyday life of the college,” Andrews said.

During a Nov. 13 Let’s Chat event, Kim said he was leaning toward hiring a woman as the new provost to increase diversity on campus and bring a different understanding to the community, as reported Nov. 17, 2018, by The Chronicle.

David said she brings a different experience to the role because she is uniquely herself, not because she is a woman.

Still, Bryant said she was excited to see a woman take over the role.

“At this time specifically, it is important that women have a seat at the table. Women are influential, poised and professional individuals. We can command a space differently than a man can,” Bryant said.

As a whole, David said it is hard to pick one thing she wants the Columbia community to know about her but that she is excited about the role.

“I’m going to do my best for Columbia College,” David said. “I want to do my part to help [the] college achieve its strategic goals, vision and mission. There is nothing that would keep me from coming and enjoying this opportunity and doing the best I can.” kwatt@columbiachronicle.com

Faculty Senate President Sean Andrews was a part of the provost search committee.

MARCH 18, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 3

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Leading ladies of SGA » ALEXANDRA YETTER STAFF REPORTER

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Despite coming so far, women still need to fight for their seat at the table and to have their voices heard, King said.

“There are still these hierarchical views on women and men in the workforce,” King said.

“Women have already proved so much. They don’t need to prove [anything] anymore; it’s just about letting them do what they are more than capable of.” ayetter@columbiachronicle.com

DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE

Student Government Association leaders (from left) Veronique Hall, Jazmin Bryant, Kinza Zia, Kierah King and Loreal Marshall reflected on Women’s History Month.

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4 THE CHRONICLE MARCH 18, 2019

Bryant recognized her power after creating a documentary for her teenage niece who was experiencing mental health and eating disorder issues at the time and was emboldened by the film project to get better.

Hall credits her moment of realization to a black female professor from her field who told her: “You are a storm; do not let your voice be silenced.” The moment has stuck with her ever since, continuing to give her confidence.

» PATRICK REPONSE/CHRONICLE

FOR THE FIRST time, the Student Government Association executive board is made up of only women.

“The world today—they’re scared of [having] women leaders,” said Loreal Marshall, 2012 radio alumna and coordinator for the office of Student Organizations and Leadership. “When they think a woman is in charge, [they assume] they’re going to be [aggressive]. That’s not the case.

We’re smart; we’re capable of making decisions that will impact others for now and years to come.”

SGA Vice President and junior dance major Kierah King said she was excited coming into the 20182019 academic year with women running SGA, and the experience has helped her grow.

“It’s been this long journey of making mistakes, falling and get-

ting back up. I may ‘F-up’ sometimes, but I still know what I’m striving for,” King said. “That’s what SGA helped me with—to feel like I can actually do something and be a leader.”

SGA President and junior cinema art and science major Jazmin Bryant said her responsibilities as president, such as delivering impromptu speeches, speaking with high-profile administrators at the college and giving her opinion on college issues, have given her confidence as a woman.

Having many female senators also allows them to mentor

women who see themselves in the executive board’s shoes, Bryant said.

King said her female role model is her mother, who “lets no one stand in her way.” A filmmaker herself, Bryant said black female filmmakers Ava DuVernay and Issa Rae have proved women truly can do it all.

But for Veronique Hall, junior public relations major and SGA student representative, her female role model is her younger self.

“I feel like my younger self is always watching me,” Hall said.

“I feel that sense of connectivity between that fearlessness that you just automatically have as a kid.”

Each described the moment they realized the power they held as a woman, and how it was life-changing.

King had an epiphany this past summer while walking down the street on her way to work. She was overcome by the realization that what she was doing was valuable and that her opinions mattered.

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“Having the Civic Media program is a necessity,” Friesem said.

“Other institutions in Chicago have a lot of civic engagement programs, but none of them are addressing producing media with the community the way that we’re offering—to come to the community and together offer solutions through media production.”

Hironao Oka-

ACE

WITHOUT KNOWING HOW to expunge a juvenile record, young people can have a difficult time finding employment or housing when trying to chart a new path in life. An app guiding youth through the process could change that.

This is the kind of issue students enrolled in Columbia’s new Civic Media master’s program may tackle on their way to changing the world.

“Columbia is known for its civic engagement, so it’s natural Columbia would offer such a degree,” said Yonty Friesem, assistant professor and director of graduate studies in the Communication Department.

Beginning in fall 2019, the program will combine business, interactive arts and media and journalism courses to train 15

students in using civic engagement for social change. Students will be required to earn 30 credits in the year-long program, including a practicum during the summer semester.

The program was initially approved by Faculty Senate in December 2017 and was introduced to the campus in February 2018.

The estimated tuition cost for the program during the 2019–2020 academic year, including tuition and fees, is $34,989 according to Columbia’s website. A new Columbia Rise Award—a scholarship for alumni covering almost half of graduate tuition—will help immensely, Friesem said. » GR

» ALEXANDRA YETTER STAFF REPORTER

campus hana, associate vice president in research and policy analysis for the Council of Graduate Schools, said the uniqueness of the new program may help satisfy an untapped market for programs.

“It seems like a niche program,” Okahana said. “That is certainly one way to attract students, being a unique, specialized program when there are needs for that particular side of education.”

Nationally, enrollment in graduate programs has stayed the same due to workforce needs and a declining rate of international students, he said. At Columbia, where enrollment has gone down by 27.9 percent within five years, graduate student enrollment has remained in the 200–300 range since 2015.

“We have put a lot of effort into the digital campaign, which has brought applicants who have said they found us through social media,” Friesem said.

Dean of the School of Media Arts Eric Freedman said in a March 8 email to The

Chronicle that the program aligns with pivotal real-world issues.

“The general goal is to work with our civic partners to improve quality of life for Chicago-area residents and communities,” Freedman said. “There are truly a diverse set of problems that ... cut across media and information.”

Freedman added that Chicago’s reputation as the third-largest media market will be influential.

“Chicago is an ideal environment to develop these skills while helping others,” Freedman said. “Our work in civic media is an important cornerstone for a broad range of fields.”

Graduate degrees are becoming more important when it comes to procuring entry-level jobs as more employers require higher education, Okahana said. “[There are] a variety of jobs that are the jobs of the future,” Friesem said. “[The program] will help them to find jobs in an industry that is evolving and looking for innovative and creative people.” ayetter@columbiachronicle.com

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arts culture

Chronicle staff discusses separating art from artists » ColumbiaChronicle.com

‘Food, people and art’: @whatwasbreakfast talks passion and yogurt » MIRANDA MANIER NEWS EDITOR

darting around looking for potential subjects, but when they connect with something, he has a laser focus. He was once a club promoter in Las Vegas and has spent much of his adult life working in sales, but he sees WWB as an opportunity to examine bigger topics through a micro-representation of people’s days.

Epstein thinks you can learn certain things about a person through their breakfast habits, like if they are a meticulous planner or if they are just winging it. He has also learned specific patterns.

“I do know that business people eat yogurt, from my market research,” Epstein said.

He is primarily interested in the way people communicate and thinks asking them about breakfast is a way to simply get them talking so he can document who they are in that moment.

“We’re all human beings who have the same functions and feelings,” Epstein said, “Breakfast is a way of saying, ‘[These are] our shared experiences.’ How does somebody wake up and eat? We all do it. And you can read into [it] however you want.”

Epstein said he hopes WWB grows into other projects that explore the way

food intersects with people and their stories. He wants to create a show called “Eggsistentialist,” which would talk about bigger human issues using food as a vehicle to enter those conversations.

He also has an idea for a podcast called “Sandwiches with Storytellers,” where he would meet up with storytellers from various mediums—anything from filmmakers to standup comedians—and discuss storytelling with them over a sandwich.

Epstein finds a creative outlet in the community aspect of food. He said he spent about six years in Argentina and felt like he was not able to share the culture of American food with anyone. He created a space for that himself, an American burger joint called The Office.

His desire to cultivate community has continued with WWB. He recently held what he dubbed a “Polaroids and Pancakes” party that brought together the different aspects of what people like about WWB. “Food, people and art, right? Those are the three things that I’m working with,” Epstein said. “And instead of just [existing in] the internet world, I just transferred those things to the real world.” mmanier@columbiachronicle.edu

»IGNACIO CALDERON/CHRONICLE

DURING HIS TIME as a waiter Alan Epstein was always amused by the follow-up questions he had to ask patrons interested in the restaurant’s two-of-everything breakfast: Toast? What kind of bread? Eggs? Cooked which way?

It was a running joke with his fellow morning-shift workers, until one pointed out that there is a lot you can learn about someone from what they ordered for breakfast.

Epstein thought his co-workers at the Cherry Circle Room, 125 Michigan Ave., might be onto something.

Since August 2016, Epstein has run an Instagram account called What Was Breakfast, with a relatively simple premise: He walks around Chicago, stops people he thinks look interesting and asks what they had for breakfast. “[It’s like a] little window into that person,” he said.

Epstein was studying improvisation during his time at the Cherry Circle Room, and had a DSLR camera for a sketch he had filmed. He started taking pictures of co-workers and asking what they would

get for the two-of-everything breakfast.

When he ran out of co-workers and did not want the project to end, What Was Breakfast was born.

Now, WWB has about 7,500 followers, and Epstein has stopped working in the restaurant industry to make time for the neither full-time nor part-time but “sometime,” as he calls them, freelance photography gigs he has been working.

Epstein’s relaxed, friendly demeanor coupled with his enthusiasm for WWB makes him personable as he approaches passersby on the street. He catches their attention with an easy, “Hey, I’m Alan,” followed by a compliment and a practiced pitch of the project. By his estimate, he has a success rate of around 90 percent.

“Of all of the hundreds and hundreds of people I see a day, [I have to say] why I choose you. It’s important to tell them or else I’m like a telemarketer,” he said. “In a street interaction, you just gotta throw your cards on the table as fast as you can and [say], ‘All I want to do is this, and this is why.’”

Epstein is a smooth, fast-talker and an incredibly sincere artist. He speaks quickly, but leaves long pauses between his sentences. His eyes are constantly

Alan Epstein runs the Instagram account @whatwasbreakfast, where he posts photos of strangers after asking what they ate for breakfast.

Epstein asks strangers what they ate for breakfast because he thinks it is a “micro representation of who they are.” He says these conversations act as a window into those people’s days.

MARCH 18, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 7

arts & culture

Hamilton welcomes high schoolers to ‘room where it happens’

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS from around Chicago were brought into “the room where it happens,” March 13 thanks to the third year of the Hamilton Education Program.

Nearly 2,000 students and teachers gathered at CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St., for EduHam and a matinee performance of “Hamilton” after spending time in their classrooms studying American history.

Of the 29 schools that participated from across the Midwest, students from 13 performed pieces onstage inspired by the lessons taught in their history courses as well as the life of Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury.

Diego Aleman, a junior at Golder College Prep, performed a poem called “Soldier Stand” inspired by the brutal winter at Valley Forge, a military encampment during the Revolutionary War. “It’s [about] a soldier trying to motivate his comrades to continue fighting in this war,” Aleman said. “During the first year of the Revolutionary War, America wasn’t doing so hot. And in this winter, all of the problems stared at them in the face.”

Other performances included spoken word, songs and raps influenced by different subjects of the American Revolution, including Benjamin Franklin, Abigail Adams and Thomas Paine.

Myles Gillespie, a junior at Kenwood Academy High School, said it was interesting doing the research on the Whiskey

8 THE CHRONICLE MARCH 18, 2019

Rebellion in order to succesfully perform the rap he wrote for his class and EduHam. “There was a tax on whiskey, and farmers didn’t like that because they drank it and made money by selling it,” Gillespie said.

“George Washington taxed it. They hated it, so they started this huge riot and the Battle of Bower Hill, where a ton of people were killed.”

The musical’s creator Lin-Manuel Miranda worked closely with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History—a nonprofit organization dedicated to American history—to create an educational component for students.

Swing and understudy Jared Howelton was a supportive host of the student performances segment and said the cast’s diversity is important for students to see.

“We didn’t get any of this when we were in high school,” Howelton said. “We didn’t see anybody up here who looked like us either.”

He told students to take advantage of arts education programs like EduHam and continue to shine.

John Devine, a social studies teacher at Elgin High School, said he attended EduHam in the past, and it had an impact on the rest of the school year.

“After trying hard for engagement in the classroom, coming here helps make it happen,” Devine said. “It opens up the idea that history is inspiring, interpretive and relevant. I can’t do that alone as a teacher in the classroom. The arts help.”

Myles Gillespie, a junior at Kenwood Academy, performed a rap inspired by the Whiskey Rebellion.

mwalsh@columbiachronicle.com

Diego Aleman, a junior at Golder College Prep, performed a poem he wrote called “Soldier Stand.”

» STEVEN NUNEZ/CHRONICLE

» MOLLY WALSH MANAGING EDITOR

television program dedicated to introducing new artists.

The benefit show, organized by FOR DECADES, JBTV legend Jerry Charity Bomb—a nonprofit organiBryant has been the key to the zation that produces benefit shows Chicago music scene, helping for a variety of charitable organibands such as The Smashing zations in the scope of music— Pumpkins, Green Day and Arctic JBTV, Metro and 101WKQX, Monkeys get exposure. exceeded the fundraising goal of On March 8 at Metro, 3730 $50,000. All ticket proceeds went N. Clark St., musicians and fans to Bryant’s cancer treatment fund. joined forces to give back to Bryant, JBTV President Michael who was diagnosed with stage four Harnett said Bryant was grateful colorectal cancer last summer. He for the overwhelming support from is currently undergoing six months artists and musicians. The benefit of chemotherapy. show featured a number of artists, The show, Strange ‘90s, including Naked Raygun, Andrew featured artists playing ‘90s W.K. and Local H, plus members of hits as well as covers by other Kill Hannah, Plain White T’s and musicians. The highlight of the Stabbing Westward. show was when Bryant came “Some of the people who get hurt out to thank musicians and his the most by high medical bills are supporters. musicians and artists because Bryant has hosted JBTV since they don’t have the proper insurhe created it in 1984. JBTV is ance,” Harnett said. “This is our America’s longest-running music way of helping him raise funds to » KENDALL POLIDORI STAFF REPORTER

pay his medical bills.”

The benefit included an auction put together by musicians who could not make it to the event, as well as special merchandise made for the show.

Charity Bomb put the Strange ‘90s show together in four months after Greg Corner, music director and co-host for JBTV and bassist for Kill Hannah, contacted them.

In a March 11 email response to The Chronicle, Charity Bomb co-founder Matthew Leone said his organization produced the show, creating an event that entertained fans and generated financial support for Bryant.

Leone said being on JBTV with Bryant is the first rite of passage into the music scene for any artist.

According to JBTV’S press release, the program is dedicating its end of the year marathon in December to promoting health, raising cancer awareness, educating others and helping artists like Bryant.

“Jerry has done so much, not just for my band, but for the entire Chicago and national scene,”

» STEVEN NUNEZ/CHRONICLE

Chicago artists show support for JBTV legend

arts & culture

After being diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer, bands and artists gathered to raise money for JBTV legend Jerry Bryant.

Corner said.

Despite his health, Bryant is still involved with JBTV and goes into work every day, Corner said.

Chicago native Lauren Lewis said her family are long-time Kill Hannah fans and it was important for them to attend the Strange ‘90s event.

“Jerry is an iconic person in the Chicago music scene,” Lewis said.

“It’s terrible that he is sick, and it’s important that we raise money for him. Everyone wants him to stick around.” kpolidori@columbiachronicle.com

: 5/31/19

MARCH 18, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 9

arts & culture

in comedy classes. improvisor Facklis said she But Cohen was not raised to back chooses the characters she perdown and credits her confidence to forms onstage. Facklis can wear her New Jersey upbringing. multiple hats within one night, “There’s been that roadblock for whether that be playing a male or » BRIDGET EKIS women of feeling like they need female role.

STAFF REPORTER alumna, had a male instructor who to wait to speak, like some sort of At the root of all improvisers, called her acting “brash” during an politeness,” she said. “But I think there is a sense of insecurity, IN A NASHVILLE-based improvisa- improv class. it’s impolite for someone to be Facklis said. tion class, junior musical theatre “He couldn’t think of any other talking over me.”

“Someone recently major Caitlin Dobbins was 16 [positive] words, [such as] bold,” Cohen said one way to build told me I have ‘Big d--k when she was told she would have Cohen said. women’s confidence while study- energy,’ which is hilaran issue doing comedy as a woman.

Dobbins and Cohen say there ing comedy is for colleges and ious to me because I do Almost six years later, Dobbins is more work to be done for other theaters to make sure classes are not,” Facklis said. “I get will be performing as an ensemble marginalized groups, including full of people whom women feel intimidated just like anymember in The Second City’s show people of color and transgender, safe around. body else.”

“Make America Gag Again!” from nonbinary and disabled people.

Dina Facklis, producer of and Prior to joining The March 29 – April 5.

“The thought of female empow- performer in The iO Theater’s Annoyance Theatre’s “Most girls who are pretty and erment has been stuck in this box, “Virgin Daiquiri,” which has an “Holy F--k Comedy Hour” want to do comedy aren’t taken but there are more stories to tell,” all-female cast, said the dynamic cast, Cohen said she noticed a seriously,” Dobbins said the trend of men on the show stripping improv instructor in Nashville Female empowerment has been stuck in down to their underwear during told her. “That’s something that the performances. has always stuck with me. If you this box, but there are more stories to tell.

“As soon as I became a part of really want to do something, then the cast, I decided I’m not going CAITLIN DOBBINS do [it].” to feel left out of that,” Cohen said.

YouTuber Lilly Singh will soon Dobbins said. of women in comedy has changed. “It doesn’t feel fair that they can do become the only woman hosting a Cohen has heard from her “I feel very respected from the it so comfortably, and for me, it’s a late night show on one of the four female friends who also do improv men and women in the commu- ‘wow’ [from the audience].” major TV networks. that they feel as though men have nity,” Facklis said.

Within the past year, Cohen Jordan Cohen, 2016 comedy consistently bulldozed over them Similar to Cohen, as an tried her first McDonald’s

10 THE CHRONICLE MARCH 18, 2019

cheeseburger on stage and performed in her underwear like she has seen male comedians do. “[Because] it’s so uncommon that women feel like they can’t do things like that,” Cohen said. “But I don’t see why they shouldn’t.” bekis@columbiachronicle.com

» FERNANDA WEISSBUCH/CHRONICLE

Chicago comedy scene no longer a boys’ club

arts & culture

the

Young Heartthrob Kodie Shane’s Young HeartThrob Tour made a stop in Chicago March 13 at Reggies Chicago, 2105 S. State St. The R&B artist is currently touring worldwide in support of her debut album Young HeartThrob featuring hit tracks “Love & Drugz II” and “Thinking Bout U.”

hits chicag o

» STEVEN NUNEZ/CHRONICLE

MARCH 18, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 11

opinions

Students deserve more testing and treatment

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as reported March 8 by The Chronicle. At a college with thousands of students who are likely sexually active, this is unacceptable.

Both DePaul and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago offer free testing for STIs and HIV as well as STI treatment, according to their websites. Northwestern offers STI and HIV testing on campus, but there is a fee between $30–$55 depending on the test. The University of Chicago offers STI and HIV testing on campus, covered by its Student Life fee.

Columbia’s Health Center is run by Sage Medical Group, an independent organization.

There are no laws requiring a private institution such as Columbia to provide STI testing, but as a progressive college that prioritizes social justice, Columbia must do everything it can to affirm F » students’ health and wellness.

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eople ages 15–24 are at a much higher risk for Sexually Transmitted Infections than older adults and acquire half of all new STIs, according to the Center for Disease Control.

Testing, diagnosis and treatment for STIs are a basic part of health care, and an area where Columbia is failing. The website of the Health Center, 731 S. Plymouth Court, states it offers “advice and referrals” for STDs, which amounts to being told to go somewhere else. Even if those places may be free or low-cost, students should not be forced to go on a wild goose chase for care when they already pay a semesterly fee for the Health Center. It offers free testing once per month for a mere 10 students,

Chicago must enact rent control

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uring Chicago’s November elections, 18 precincts voted in favor of a non-binding rent control referendum, which would limit the amount landlords can raise rent each year to stay in line with inflation.

Roughly half of all households in Cook County spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent in 2016, according to an April 5 report by the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University.

The city is losing its culture because of skyrocketing rent rates, but the city has an opportunity to fix this tragedy by enacting rent control legislation.

Illinois passed the Rent Control Preemption Act in 1997, making it illegal to pass rent control measures. In Chicago, a group called Lift the Ban is working to reverse and replace the law.

Providing affordable housing keeps people in their home neighborhoods

and reduces the burden of rent on their paychecks. Having extra money each month allows residents to engage with local businesses. As students studying downtown, rent control is critical because it would allow us to live close enough to take public transport and have a reasonable commute. Enabling students to stay in the city after graduation would have a significant positive economic impact.

When rents goes up, people are forced out. Historical buildings are snatched up by corporations with no emotional investment in the city, renovated to the point of unfamiliarity and rented out to higher-income transplants.

Family-owned businesses that were once staples of the area go bankrupt without the residents who supported them, replaced by yet another Starbucks or Target. This is the vicious cycle that Chicago’s current rent process feeds.

Editorial Board Members Jay Berghuis Opinions Editor Yasmeen Sheikah Staff Reporter Alexandra Yetter Staff Reporter Katherine Savage Staff Reporter Kristen Nichols Copy Chief

12 THE CHRONICLE MARCH 18, 2019

Ethan Sandock Videographer Alex White Videographer Lauren Carlton Brand Manager Jonathan Winicki Webmaster

Students deserve testing and treatment when experiencing symptoms. They should not be forced to go off campus—where they will likely have to choose between an expensive copay or using their parents’ insurance, potentially compromising privacy—for basic testing when the Health Center is supposed to meet their needs. Columbia’s lack of accessible resources is a disservice at best and a serious danger at worst. Testing 10 students once a month is a poor excuse for adequate care. If there is some reason Sage cannot provide testing and treatment at Columbia, then the college has an obligation to its students to choose a health care provider that will. This may cost the college, but protecting the health and safety of the community should always be the first priority on administrators’ minds.

Students need to be able to call the Health Center the moment they begin to suspect symptoms, schedule an appointment within a reasonable timeframe and be tested as soon as possible so they can begin treatment or get resources. For many students, especially those who are This system is begging to be disrupted

by Chicago communities. Legislators must listen to the voices of those they represent, who are calling for systemic change to preserve Chicago.

Those most affected by rent rates give Chicago its character. Without vibrant communities made up of people of color, LGBTQ people, elderly people, low-income people and young people, Chicago will become another boring hub for business hegemony. Neighborhoods centered around art, music, food and community must be preserved by protecting the people who have lived there for decades.

Rent control provides a relatively simple and proven solution. It has worked in New York, and it can work here. Chicago is great because of its people, not in spite of them. Culture is a resource as valuable as money.

Rent control is more than keeping money in residents’ pockets. It promises that dynamic communities will continue living in areas they have

EDITORIAL undocumented or do not have insurance, the Health Center is the only form of health care available. If the college recognizes the weight of this responsibility, it will increase access to testing and treatment for those who need it.

Treatable STIs can cause painful, dangerous and even life-threatening complications if left untreated, according to STDcheck, a service which provides discreet STI testing. Any barriers to testing, such as copays, insurance, physical distance and confidentiality concerns, could prevent those who need treatment from accessing it. The solution is to offer free, discreet testing during all operating hours on campus. If even one student is left untested and untreated, Columbia has failed.

Columbia is—or at least always strives to be—a haven for students who belong to high-risk groups, including a diverse community of LGBTQ people and people of color. It is the college’s job to break down these barriers instead of putting them up. chronicle@colum.edu

EDITORIAL molded for generations. It allows art, music, cuisine, fashion and activism to thrive in places that need them.

Enacting this policy would do more than just respect those who live here; it would protect the hope for a future as lively and diverse as the present.

Eighteen precincts have spoken.

Now it is time for the legislature to listen and make rent control a reality. chronicle@colum.edu

» PATRICK CASEY/CHRONICLE

Did you catch a mistake, think we could have covered a story better or have strong beliefs about an issue that faces all of us here at Columbia?

Why not write a letter to the editor? At the bottom of Page 2, you’ll find a set of guidelines on how to do this. Let us hear from you. —The Chronicle Editorial Board

opinions

COMMENTARY

Incarceration cannot invalidate transgender lives » MARGARET SMITH COPY EDITOR

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msmith@columbiachronicle.com

» SHANE TOLENTINO/CHRONICLE

early one out of every six transgender Americans will face jail time in their life, according to LGBTQ advocacy group Lambda Legal.

More than one-third of those inmates will be sexually assaulted, whereas only 4 percent of the general inmate population will be assaulted. According to a 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, transgender inmates are five times as likely to be assaulted by staff and 10 times as likely at the hands of other inmates. These disturbing numbers reveal our culture’s dismissal of transgender lives.

The target on the backs of transgender inmates is painted long before they’ve reached prison doors.

Transgender inmates are misgenderedand and placed in incorrect facilities.

The refusal to recognize transgender individuals as their real gender is a gross misuse of power.

The injustices continue inside of the facilities: Transgender inmates are refused medical treatment, sent to solitary confinement for longer periods of time and routinely lied about behind bars, often regarding their bodies.

The prison system has taken the restraints and shame placed on transgender people every day and introduced those oppressive measures into the life of the inmate. This carryover of hate is a betrayal of progressive ideology.

Moreover, the ability for

legal officials to go unchecked displays something sinister. It explicitly tells the transgender community it does not matter. The doubling down on biological sex as an excuse to misgender an individual reveals the limited awareness, education and training officials have, as well as how ill-equipped they are to handle proceedings as society progresses around them.

A select few cases have reached some sort of triumph. After a year-long legal battle, Strawberry Hampton, a transgender woman, was finally moved in late December 2018 from an all men’s maximum-security prisonto a facility that houses women. Following Hampton’s lawsuit, a federal judge ordered all corrections staff to attend training on transgender issues. This is a victory, but in a sea of transphobia and people jumping at the opportunity to invalidate a transgender person, the goal posts are still in the distance.

Education and the dismantling of oppressive ideology is necessary from the inside out. There needs to be more support and defense for transgender individuals. The court and prison systems deal with virtually all walks of life, and their disbelief and downplay of others’ existence is nearsighted and unjust. To make the necessary corrections that are due to the transgender community, we have to hold officials accountable for their bigoted actions, especially as these officials are sworn to represent the inherent freedoms in America. Rewriting the past is not possible, but accountability and a promise of future justice is.

NEVER MISS AN UPDATE The Chronicle @CCChronicle

ColumbiaChronicle.com MARCH 18, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 13

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Potential student debt implications in the 2020 federal budget proposal » ColumbiaChronicle.com/Multimedia

Medicare for All brought into mainstream

» ALEXANDRA YETTER STAFF REPORTER

THE POSSIBILITY OF 18 million people losing

health care coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed piqued the interest of University of Michigan professor Beza Merid, who held a lecture on the issue at the University of Chicago.

Also known as “Obamacare,” the bill was passed in 2010 to provide all Americans with affordable health care. Republicans have tried to repeal the act on more than a few occasions, but have been unsuccessful.

However, President Donald Trump signed a bill passed by the previous Republican-led Congress repealing parts of the act, including a clause requiring all citizens to pay for health care. A Texas judge ruled Dec. 14, that without this clause, “Obamacare” is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court may vote to repeal the law if it hears the case, likely in 2020.

Trump said in a Dec. 14 tweet he wasn’t surprised “Obamacare” was ruled unconstitutional by the Texas judge, and that it was “great news for America!”

“We’re seeing a lot of calls for Medicare for All both growing louder and also becoming more mainstream,” Merid said during his March 7 lecture called “Worlding, Writing,

Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are campaigning on Medicare for All while threats to “Obamacare” from Republicans continue, Merid said.

“Even with the Affordable Care Act, our health care system still needs fixing,” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said in a Dec. 30 tweet.

“There are nearly 30 million Americans who still don’t have health insurance and plenty more who have insurance but can’t actually afford the

rising cost for health care. We need #MedicareForAll.” Sanders has been a long time proponent for Medicare for All, campaigning on it during his 2016 presidential bid and toutE CL NI ing the idea in the early stages of his O R CH 2020 run.

R/ O “Medicare for All is not some crazy idea,” NI E S E Sanders said in a Feb. 27 tweet. “It’s what C A GR we must do to end the international disgrace » of being the only major country not to make health care a right.”

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld Illness Narratives as Health Activism: called for an end to cross-party fighting on Telling Stories About Precarity to Save health care in his Feb. 15 presidential bid the ACA,” held at the University of Chicago announcement.

Wilder House, 5811 S. Kenwood Ave. “Consumers should be permitted to estabOn the presidential campaign trail, lish personal health care savings accounts, many Democratic candidates such as Sen. and to choose their health care provider,”

for having pre-existing conditions, which can include epilepsy, cancer, diabetes, lupus, sleep apnea and pregnancy.

It also allows college students to stay on their parents’ insurance until the age of 26. However, the repealed requirement for everyone to pay for health care was under scrutiny by many young people because they Weld said in the speech. do not use health services as often as older “They should be free to purpeople, making the regular payments seem chase pharmaceutical drugs across state unnecessary if they are not visiting health lines and also in other countries. Their providers that often. choice, not the government’s.”

“There are a group of people who have In some European countries, health care a sort of reliance on the Affordable Care is free to all citizens.

Act,” Merid said. “People were sharing these “As a European, I’m always shocked that deeply-intimate narratives about having Americans aren’t furious,” Vinh Cam, doc- pre-existing medical conditions and being toral student of English language and liter- uninsurable. Being able to have this relief ature at the University of Chicago, said at from the fear and the constant strain of the lecture. “If we were charged [for health knowing that they may suffer catastrophic care] in the U.K., we would literally burn financial circumstances [is important to down the House of Parliament.” them]. They may suffer a premature end One of the most pivotal aspects of of life because they couldn’t get this care.”

“Obamacare” is a clause stating health care providers cannot turn people away ayetter@columbiachronicle.com

Trump proposes end of subsidized student loans in 2020 budget » BLAISE MESA & KENDALL POLIDORI

MANAGING EDITOR & STAFF REPORTER THE PROPOSED 2020 federal budget would eliminate subsidized student loans to fund a new debt forgiveness program.

Subsidized loans do not accrue interest while students are in college or in econom-

MARCH 18, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 14

ic hardship deferment. Cody Hounanian, program director of Student Debt Crisis, a student debt reform advocacy group, said the elimination of subsidized loans could drive students to take out private loans, which provide less consumer protection.

The proposed debt forgiveness program would absolve undergraduate loan payments after 15 years and graduate pay-

ments after 30 years.

The new program would replace the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which denied 99 percent of applicants for loan forgiveness.

The program started in 2007, and students were first able to apply for forgiveness in October 2017.

“These reforms would reduce ineffi-

ciencies and waste in the student loan program and focus assistance on needy undergraduate student borrowers,” the budget proposal stated.

The budget will be voted on by Congress before being implemented.

For additionional reporting visit ColumbiaChronicle.com chronicle@colum.edu

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FEATURED PHOTO

» HALIE PARKINSON/CHRONICLE

R. Kelly appeared in Cook County Domestic Relations court, 50 W. Washington St., March 13 for a hearing regarding lowering his $21,000 monthly child support payment. Kelly is set to return to court May 8.

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