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DAYS UNTIL THE “APOCALYPSE”
11
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MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012
VOLUME 48, ISSUE 15
Transitioning transfers to Columbia
by Ivana Hester
Assistant Campus Editor THE RISING COST of higher educa-
tion has many students searching for affordable alternatives, such as attending community college to complete general education classes before transferring to a fouryear institution. To attract these transfer students, Columbia launched an initiative at the beginning of the year to make transfer students’ transition more seamless and create a more transfer-friendly community, according to Keri Walters, head of the initiative and assistant dean 2500
[
for faculty advising in the School of Fine & Performing Arts. “We want students who are interested in coming to Columbia … to be able to readily see how the work they have already done would map onto Columbia’s requirements,” said Louise Love, interim Provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. The initiative follows the lowest transfer student enrollment numbers since 2004. According to the college’s General Summary Report of Student Registration, there were a total of 1,258 transfer students at xx SEE TRANSFER, PG. 8
Number of Students
2,082 1,948
]
Registration Status of Transfer Students from 2004 – 2012
of incoming = number transfer students per year
1,977 1,891
2000 1,725
1,691 1,573
1,614
1500
1000
1,258
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Year
2009
2010
2011
2012
Information from Office of Research, Evaluation & Planning
A letter from the editors The Nov. 26 issue of The Chronicle carried a story on its front page reporting that the Chicago Police Department’s long-running CAPS program is being dropped for lack of funds, a development that will deal a serious blow to neighborhood policing efforts. The story quoted a number of sources, including Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd Ward); Elizabeth Rios, a CAPS community organizer; 14th District police officer Thomas McNamara; and Police Sgt. Scott Oberg of the 21st District. On Dec. 1, we received an email from Sgt. Oberg stating that he had never spoken with the reporter who wrote the story. This was a shocking charge. When confronted, the writer admitted that he had,
in fact, interviewed none of the people named in the story and had fabricated all of their quotes.Our response was immediate. The writer was terminated and, as is required under the college’s academic dishonesty policy, the case has been reported to the interim provost’s office, since the newspaper is considered an educational arm of the Journalism Department. To say the least, making up any form of information, including putting words into people’s mouths, is unforgivable behavior for journalists, whose entire enterprise is built upon the public’s faith that what is presented to them is the truth as best we can attest
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at the time of publication. It is difficult to restore a news organization’s credibility once it has been damaged. We at The Chronicle know that. All we can do is to assure you, our readers, that we have always made the utmost effort to provide factual information and will continue to do so in the future. That does not, of course, excuse this unfortunate incident. And so, to the entire Columbia community and the sources who were misrepresented, we offer our deepest apologies. We understand the implications of this incident are many, and we vow to do our best to rectify whatever damage has been done because of it. chronicle@colum.edu
SPORTS & HEALTH
Heidi Unkefer THE CHRONICLE
Apocalypse now or later by Brandon Smith
Assistant Sports & Health Editor AS THE INFAMOUS Mayan calendar
doomsday date of Dec. 21 approaches, one question persists: Will the world end? There have been some pretty outrageous apocalyptic theories throughout history, but people have never been able to scientifically calculate their probability until recently. From the Yellowstone su-
ARTS & CULTURE
pervolcano to solar flares, scientific institutions have been working for years to predict and anticipate cataclysmic events. But what does calculating the end of the world mean? According to Ames Hawkins, an associate professor in the English Department who teaches Writing, Language and Culture: Rhetorics of Apocalypse, the word “apocalypse” originates from the ancient Greek language and actually means “to
METRO
unveil or reveal something.” She said that definition could completely change what people think about the end of the world. “What is being unveiled?” she asked. “Our fears.” While the Mayan calendar may be the trending apocalyptic prediction in Western culture, there are several scientific apocalyptic theories that are equally valid. xx SEE APOCALYPSE, PG. 12
Campus ..................................................3 Sports & Health ....................................11 Arts & Culture .......................................17 Commentary .......................................30 Metro ..................................................33
Transgender student fights policy • page 3
Risks and rewards of cannabis• page 14
Industry fights battle over piracy • page 20
Wireless scams on rise• page 33
2 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 10, 2012
The importance of integrity
by Heather Schröering Editor-in-Chief
GROWING UP, INTEGRITY was a
value that many of my mentors impressed upon me. Part of my high school’s mission is “Integrity matters,” and the phrase was printed in every classroom and often spoken during announcements. Being honest with my family was the number one rule at home, and I’ve always carried my mother’s words with me: “At the end of the day, your integrity is all you’ve got.” Being honest is generally an important value for everyone to follow in life, but for journalists, it is vital. Journalistic integrity is the most integral of the field’s tenets. A reporter’s credibility depends on it, but perhaps more importantly, the public relies on it. Without integri-
ty, a journalist cannot be trusted to accurately and objectively deliver the news to countless readers on a daily basis. As journalists, we understand the gravity of making mistakes in print. However, reporters are not exempt from human error. Being wrong is a part of life, but accepting responsibility for our faults and being honest with our readers is the other side of upholding journalistic integrity. The Chronicle’s apology for the falsified story on the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy program that ran on the front page Nov. 26 is an extension of this tradition. One person’s decision to violate the journalist’s code of ethics is the responsibility of the entire publication, and being open and honest with the Columbia community about this mistake is vitally important to The Chronicle. There was no more appropriate place to express our honest remorse than on the front page of our publication. We hold our reporters to a very high standard, and every one of our employees is required to sign a contract promising to follow the journalistic code of ethics. We work from sun up to sun down to
ensure that our publication is of the highest quality. While this incident of fabrication could be seen as an aberration, we are taking it very seriously and re-evaluating our procedures to ensure this never happens again. The circumstances that force a reporter to resort to fabrication or plagiarism confound me, but such acts are clearly a result of deeply flawed judgment. Journalists operate in immensely stressful environments, which can make poor choices seem like a solution when the pressure is on, as with more well-known cases like the New York Times’ Jayson Blair or The New Republic’s Stephen Glass. But it’s crucial that reporters are able to think rationally in these moments and remember their oath of integrity. As Editor-in-Chief of this publication, I truly apologize, both to our readers and the sources in the story. I take responsibility for overlooking this incident, but I can honestly avow that The Chronicle staff and I are whole-heartedly committed to rebuilding the trust of our readers and community, no matter what it takes.
Dec. 10 “Israel Inside” Screening
5:30 p.m. / Conaway Center, Room 504 / 1104 S. Wabash Ave. / FREE
Pop Orchestra in Concert
Noon / Music Center, Concert Hall / 1014 S. Michigan Ave. / FREE
Dec. 11 Viva Documentary Holiday Pot Luck
5 p.m. / Conaway Center, Room 407 / 1104 S. Wabash Ave. / FREE
Songwriting Recital
Noon / Music Center, Concert Hall / 1014 S. Michigan Ave. / FREE
Dec. 12 Jokin’ @ the Hokin
7 – 9 p.m. / Quincy Wong Center / 623 S. Wabash Ave. / FREE
“Chicago”
7:30 – 10 p.m. / Getz Theatre / 72 E. 11th St. / FREE for Columbia students; $10–$15 general admission
Dec. 13 III Voices: Winter Edition
6:30 – 9 p.m. / Conaway Center / 1104 S. Wabash Ave. / FREE
Suicide: An Individual’s Perspective
Noon – 3 p.m. / Haus / 623 S. Wabash Ave. / FREE
Dec. 14 Repertory Performance Workshop & Faculty Concert 8 p.m. / Dance Center / 1306 S. Michigan Ave. / FREE
Cultural Studies Forum
10 a.m. – noon / Alexandroff Campus Center, Room 101 / 600 S. Michigan Ave. / FREE
hschroering@chroniclemail.com
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James Foster THE CHRONICLE
Melissa Swift and Derrick Greenwood, senior radio broadcast majors, play Mr. and Mrs. Claus to raise money during the Holly Jolly Trolly event in front of the 33 E. Congress Parkway Building Dec. 6. Columbia held the annual food drive in partnership with the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
The Chronicle is a student-produced publication of Columbia College Chicago and does not necessarily represent, in whole or in part, the views of college administrators, faculty or students. All text, photos and graphics are the property of The Chronicle and may not be reproduced or published without written permission.
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2 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
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Transgender students want change
Monday, December 10, 2012
The Columbia Chronicle
by Alexandra Kukulka Campus Editor
Rena Naltsas THE CHRONICLE
Cameron Spiegel, a transgender male, junior film & video major and president of Common Ground, is fighting for better transgender policies on campus.
IT’S THE FIRST day of the semester and the instructor begins to read the attendance sheet, searching the crowd for students after each name. Suddenly, a young man turns red and shifts in his seat, palms sweating and heart pounding as his name is called and a personal secret is revealed. This is a reality for trangender students at Columbia, as the college does not acknowledge their preferred names on official documents. According to Cameron Spiegel, a transgender male, junior film & video major and president of Common Ground, Columbia’s LGBTQA student organization, the college has limited transgender-inclusive bathrooms on campus and is unaccommodating of housing arrangements. He said he has been working to improve conditions for transgender students since his sophomore year. “I am not willing to sit back and let this be what it is going to be,” Spiegel said. “I need to fix this while I am here. [If ] I am going to be here for four years, I should make this school be accommodating to not just me but other students.” Spiegel said there is an unidentified number of transgender students on campus, but that he receives numerous emails from incoming transgender students asking about campus policies. Transgender students are unidentified by the college be-
cause it does not ask for extremely personal information on applications, according to Mark Kelly, vice president of Student Affairs. “[Columbia] better understands that, like sexual orientation, the selection of gender is a far more complicated issue and that someone in the end gets to pick their gender,” Kelly said. “[Columbia] totally supports that.” Spiegel said he has been trying to implement policies that allow transgender students to use their preferred name on OASIS, Moodle, campus ID cards and U-Passes without having to legally change their names, which can be a lengthy and expensive process. When a transgender student sees his or her legal name after transitioning, it triggers complicated emotions, he added. “It is mentally unhealthy for them to have to see [their legal name],” he said. Spiegel said one of his recent successes was revising the applications for king and queen of the Blood Ball, an annual celebration honoring Mary Ann Blood, who co-founded Columbia in 1890. The previous electronic application took student information from OASIS to identify the candidates, which would discourage transgender students from running, he said. This year, Common Ground was able to change the application so students can fill in xx SEE TRANSGENDER, PG. 10
Holipalooza raises holiday spirit, funds by Alexandra Kukulka Campus Editor
WHEN A CRISIS strikes, students
are forced to figure out how to balance school and get through a tough time. To help those in crisis, two classes in the Arts, Entertainment & Media Management Department created an emergency fund. The fund, Creating ¢hange For Students By Students, will be administered through the Dean of Student’s Office and the Student Relations Team to provide students with food, clothing, shelter and transportation in times of need. To promote the fund, the AEMM Event Management: Practicum classes hosted the third annual Holipalooza celebration Dec. 6 at the Conaway Center. “[The class] wanted [Holipalooza] to give a sense of holiday, and part of holidays is giving to the community,” said Stephanie Kosgard, a senior AEMM major in one of the classes. “As a class, we were having
a difficult time trying to think of one charity that everybody at Columbia would want to sponsor, so we made [one] up.” According to Kari Sommers, assistant dean of Student Life and one of the Event Management: Practicum instructors, the class has created a bucket campaign in which students can donate change at 40 campus locations, including campus cafes and Shop Columbia. The class also sold candy canes in the 33 E. Congress Parkway Building on Dec. 5 to raise money for the fund. Sommers said the Alumni Office also recently adopted the name Creating ¢hange and formed its own emergency fund called Creating ¢hange For Students By Alumni. “As [alumni] raise funds, those funds will be administered through a committee,” Sommers said. “[Alumni funds] are tuition and textbook funds, so more ongoing support. The Creating ¢hange For Students By Students fund is an
AJ Abelman THE CHRONICLE
(Left to right) Meghan Allen, a junior Arts, Entertainment & Media Management major, Merideth Hagerty, a junior marketing communication major and Shelby Flannery, a junior AEMM major, decorate ornaments during Holipalooza Dec. 7 in the Conway Center.
acute, immediate emergency need.” Kosgard said Mark Kelly, vice president of Student Affairs, approached the class about creating the fund and promoting it during Holipalooza. “[Kelly] really wanted our class to set the precedent for an awesome
Holipalooza because most kids in our class have never heard of Holipalooza,” Kosgard said. “[Kelly] said he wanted it to get to the scale of Manifest.” Kosgard said all proceeds from Holipalooza will go toward Creating ¢hange For Students By
Students. In addition to the money raised, Kosgard said she wrote a donation request to Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Business Affairs Ken Gotsch. Gotsch said he showed the letter xx SEE FUND, PG. 10 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 3
4 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 10, 2012
Columbia helps Bob’s move trees
by Senah Sampong Assistant Campus Editor
THE BICYCLES AND garden boxes that sit in the Columbia-owned lot at the corner of South Wabash Avenue and East Eighth Street have a new roommate, and his name is Bob. Bob’s Christmas Trees has set up shop in Columbia Papermakers’ Garden and bike lot and will be open until Dec. 24. After being forced to relocate from the lot on the corner of Dearborn and Polk streets, coowner Bob Levy was desperate to find a new home in the South Loop. When he noticed the Papermakers’ Garden while scouting for a new location, Levy approached the college’s Operations Coordinator Joanne Harding about moving his business there. “Columbia had made the decision to have the Christmas tree lot because the garden has literally been put to bed with bulbs for the end of the season,” said Melissa Potter, an assistant professor in the Interdisciplinary Arts Department and adviser to Pulp Ink & Thread, Columbia’s interdisciplinary book and paper arts organization. Bob’s was displaced when the owner of its former lot was foreclosed on earlier this year, and the
bank refused to let them stay another season, said James Miranda, a Bob’s salesclerk. Levy liked the Wabash and Eighth Street site because it is already fenced in, Miranda said. Harding said she eventually agreed to let Bob’s have space on the lot but only after consulting with students involved with the garden. “The only request students had was they didn’t want Bob’s using the actual flowerbeds to place trees,” Harding said. However, Potter said the Center for Book & Paper Arts was not directly consulted about Levy’s use of the space and is concerned the garden won’t be as visible. She said she learned about the new occupant when her husband called her as he passed Bob’s operation. Harding said that Gethsemane Garden Center on the North Side, which Levy co-founded, has offered assistance with maintaining the garden plants in the spring as a way to strengthen the relationship between the college and Bob’s. Miranda said he was aware of the lot’s primary purpose and that Bob’s is being careful not to bother the planters. “We’re trying to go ahead and put our best foot forward and meet
the college’s expectations as well as those of the neighborhood,” said Gary Fidanzia, a co-owner of Bob’s. Potter said she does not believe there are plans to use revenue from Levy’s lease on the lot for the garden or the college’s green initiative. The college has not commented on where that revenue will go. “I realize that the space is very valuable property and that the school needs and wants to create revenues,” Potter said. “We
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on the lot for classes that use the Papermakers’ Garden. “We [could’ve] partnered earlier with Bob’s Christmas Trees to create signage in the front that spoke about their corporate investment in the project,” Potter said. “As we’re moving faster, we’re just getting smarter and better at discussions with other shareholders and investors.” ssampong@chroniclemail.com
James Foster THE CHRONICLE
Gary Fidanzia, co-owner of Bob’s Christmas Trees, bales a Fraser Fir Dec. 6. Bob’s is renting space in the Papermakers’ Garden lot at the corner of Wabash Avenue and East 8th Street .
The Music Center at Columbia College Chicago 1014 S. Michigan Avenue
C o n c e r t
just need to be smart about how we do that so that in the end the garden is most prominent and not the business.” While Bob’s continues adjusting to its new location, the Center for Book & Paper Arts will meet with Campus Environment Dec. 14 to talk about related concerns and new ideas, Potter said. She said she wants to maintain the garden’s visibility and expressed interest in keeping Bob’s enclosure
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THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 5
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Store Hours: M - F 11AM to 6PM 33 E. Congress Pkwy 1st Floor (entrance off Wabash) • 312.369.8622 computerstore@colum.edu We accept:
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6 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 10, 2012
Administrators address Faculty Senate concerns James Foster THE CHRONICLE
Top administrators met with the Faculty Senate on Dec. 7 as a result of the Senate’s Nov. 27 letter concerning transparency and communication.
by Alexandra Kukulka Campus Editor
AT ITS MEETING Dec. 7, the Faculty Senate
had an open discussion with college deans and top administrators to address concerns about transparency that the Senate raised in a Nov. 27 letter to administrators, as reported by The Chronicle Dec. 3. The discussion focused on the merger of the Marketing Communication and Arts, Entertainment & Media Management departments, the possible split of the School of Fine & Performing Arts and the search for a permanent dean of the School of Fine & Performing Arts. Senior Vice President Warren Chapman, one of the six administrators at the meeting held in the Alexandroff Campus Center, 600 S. Michigan Ave., told the Senate that no decisions have been made about these issues and that only discussions have taken place. “This is a dynamic moment,” Chapman said. “We are not trying to squash the imagination and the ideas. We are trying to allow people into the room to have those discussions to come up with what they are going to come up [with].” Other members of the administration who attended the meeting included Louise Love, interim Provost and vice president for Academic Affairs; John Green, interim dean of the School of Fine & Performing Arts; Robin Bargar, dean of the School of Media Arts; Deborah Holdstein, dean of the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences; and Debra Parr, chair of the Fashion Studies Department and the Chairs’ Council. Alton Miller, a faculty member in the Marketing Communication Department, said he was surprised the administration was considering combining the Marketing Communication and AEMM departments because President Warrick L. Carter’s prioritization recommendations suggested to “increase resources” for the Marketing Communication Department. Miller recommended forming a new department dedicated to arts management, entrepreneurship and marketing out of the Marketing Communication and AEMM departments. “That is a structural recommendation that is meta curricular and ought to come before some venue here at the college with the provost at its apex, or the president, but its a process that involves fact finding …. before it’s presented to a department and they are asked to implement [the recommendation].” In response to Miller, Bargar said that increasing resources for a department and ask-
6 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
ing it to combine with another department are two different things. “Increasing resources is increasing resources,” Bargar said. “Asking people to work more closely with others administratively might actually make it more possible to increase resources, so let’s think of those as separate things and not conflict them.” Green said the prioritization process inspired a series of discussions that took place this fall among the chairs and faculty members in the School of Fine & Performing Arts about the possible split that would create a School of Fine Arts and a School of Performing Arts. Green said he has been working with other members of the school to ask various departments to discuss this plan. Green clarified that the idea for the split did not come from Chapman or Love but from various chairs and faculty members in the school. He admitted that sharing information about the split had been “slow.” “This is because I was in a position where I had to check both ways,” Green said. “I had to make sure that all the chairs were on board with whatever we agreed and … I had to check back with [Chapman] and [Love] to make sure we can get to the next step.” For the split to become finalized, a formal recommendation has to be presented to the administration, which will present it to the Board of Trustees for consideration, according to Chapman When asked about the next steps in the search for a permanent dean for the School of Fine & Performing Arts, Chapman said it will be a lengthy process that will require another year and a decision to be made about splitting the school. Once the decision is made, the school will begin defining the role of the new dean and reviewing candidates, he added. “There is a lot of engagement here,” Chapman said. “There are a lot of agreements that have to be made.” Some members of the Senate expressed thanks for the discussion and the six administrators who attended to answer questions. “I am pleased that the Senate could provide a forum for communication across departments and schools and between faculty and the administration,” said Pegeen Reichert Powell, Faculty Senate president and an associate professor in the English Department. “I think we must all work hard to build the processes and structures that allow for this type of communication, and I hope it continues.” To see a full video of the Faculty Senate meeting, visit ColumbiaChronicle.com. akukulka@chroniclemail.com
DECEMBER 10, 2012
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THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 7
Student designs to adorn coffee sleeves by Ivana Hester
Assistant Campus Editor CUPS OF COFFEE purchased on
campus will soon feature a “gallery on the go”—student-produced designs that decorate the sleeves. A jury composed of Senior Vice President Warren Chapman, Assistant Vice President of Creative Services Mary Forde and Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications Diane Doyne will choose 12 student designs to be featured on the coffee sleeves. The students whose designs are selected will receive a $50 cash award. “We are looking for something creative,” Doyne said. “We want to make sure that the artwork created would maintain its integrity when reproduced in such a small, limited medium.” Creative Services will continue to accept student designs until Jan. 7. All submitted artwork must be scalable to fit on the 2-inch by 4-inch space provided and will be printed in one solid color, Doyne said. “One of the things that is great about [this juried process] is that we have the opportunity to use a functional, mundane item and transform that into something [that is] interesting, attention-getting and expose[s] our student talent,”
she said. The jury has received several submissions already, according to Doyne. There are no limitations on the type of designs, Forde added. “We are an art school that is always re-inventing ourselves,” Forde said. “To take this space and make it a ‘gallery on the go’ speaks to the innovation that Columbia is always searching for fresh ideas.” The idea for the contest came about when Phil Tadros, owner of several on-campus cafes, suggested to Tim Bauhs, associate vice president of Business Affairs, that Columbia use Sleeve a Message, a company that prints messages on coffee sleeves. Haley Franker, a freshman art & design major, found out about the coffee sleeve opportunity from one of her instructors. She said she was excited to submit her design because she is anxious to publicize her work. “I got my inspiration from birds on telephone lines,” Franker said. “I’m interested in getting involved as much as I can, and I thought it was a great opportunity.” Design entries should be submitted to Creative Production Coordinator Edward Thomas at ethomas@ colum.edu. ihester@chroniclemail.com
Photo illustration Heidi Unkefer and James Foster THE CHRONICLE
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8 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 10, 2012
xx TRANSFER
Continued from Front Page
Columbia in 2012, down from 1,614 in 2011 and 1,573 in 2010. Enrollment at Columbia slipped 7.2 percent from 2011 to 2012, while the number of transfer students enrolled dropped 22 percent during the same period. To help increase transfer student enrollment, Walters chaired a committee last spring focused on possible changes to improve the current transfer student evaluation process. The committee was composed of Andrew Whatley, assistant dean for faculty advising and LAS Initiatives in the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences; Pattie Mackenzie, assistant dean for faculty advising in the School of Media Arts; Susan Sindlinger, director of degree evaluation; and Patrick Fahy, director of admissions and recruitment in the Undergraduate Admissions Office. According to Walters, the committee produced a report called “Strategies for Transfer Student Success,” which was later broken down into five points that should be implemented in May 2013. The first point requires an update of the courses and academic requirements Columbia will accept for credit from various community colleges students are
transferring from, Walters said. This will allow transfer students to see which courses will count toward their major at Columbia, something Walters said was happenstance in the past. Walters said the second step in the initiative is for the college to purchase the online program u.select, a website which allows transfer students to view the equivalency of their community college courses to Columbia’s. She said many colleges and universities use the website.
may face when they get here and will make the whole transfer process more seamless.” The fourth step in the initiative will be a review of transfer credits and how classes taken at community colleges can transfer to a student’s major at Columbia. According to Walters, this is already in place, but the goal is to systematize it on a larger scale. Lastly, the college would like to implement transfer-friendly programs at the college. Walters said she plans to launch a
We want students to know that we are concerned about them and that we are working really hard to improve services.” – Keri Walters
Additionally, the college hopes to form strategic bonds with the 18 feeder schools the majority of transfer students come from, Walters said. These bonds would be with faculty, staff and administrators and would hopefully include onsite visits to the community colleges by Columbia faculty members, she said. “[The initiative] is a proactive approach to what is already happening,” Walters said. “[The visits] will lessen any surprises students
website that acts as an online transfer center on which students can plan their college career path two years before transferring. “Certainly the school is always watching trends, both in our own enrollment and in national enrollment and is reacting to [them],” said Murphy Monroe, executive director of admissions at the Undergraduate Admissions Office. “It is essential that [transfer students] understand how their previous work will fit into their Columbia experience.”
According to Walters, the committee modeled its recommendations after programs offered by DePaul University and Governors State University. “We were able to find that [those universities] had presented at national conferences on their outstanding transfer services,” she said. “We have to keep up with best practices that other institutions are incorporating.” Pamela Lee Kadirifu, director of the Transfer Admission and Adult Enrollment Center at DePaul, said the university has multiple transfer student programs that allow students to meet with an onsite adviser to discuss their course equivalencies. Kadirifu said DePaul representatives regularly visit community colleges to talk with students and develop relationships with faculty members and recently adopted the Degree Admissions Partnership Program in 2011, which guides students through their community college courses for two years and offers them a scholarship once admitted to DePaul. “We pride ourselves here on being available to students and setting up resources that empower our students to use the same resources [on their own],” Kadirifu said. “That is why we give them access to so much before they enroll at the university.” Ashley Tarasiewicz, a senior
journalism major, is in her last semester at Columbia. She transferred after spending 3 years at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Ill., one of the 18 feeder schools. Tarasiewicz said she took some journalism classes while at MVCC to go toward her major. However, Columbia accepted only one of those courses for credit toward her major, and the other counted as an elective. “It was kind of disappointing because I took Intro to Journalism and then News Writing,” Tarasiewicz said. “Everything that I took in Reporting and Writing I, I took at Moraine.” Tarasiewicz said she thinks the college’s initiative is a good idea and an opportunity she would have taken advantage of. Walters said she thinks the initiative will ultimately benefit the student body because the college is auditing its programs that will help students better calculate the amount of time needed to complete a degree. “Every student needs to know about that and how to plan their schedule in the way that makes the most sense,” she said. “We want students to know that we are concerned about them and that we are working really hard to improve services.” ihester@chroniclemail.com
LET ANTONELLI LAW PROTECT YOU The Columbia College Chicago Library will be offering extended hours on the last three Fridays of the Fall 2012 Semester. We will be open until 8:00 p.m. on the following Friday:
Friday, December 14, 2012 For assistance or more information, visit us in person at 624 S. Michigan, call us at 312-369-7900 or online at www.lib.colum.edu.
ONE DOWNLOAD CAN BE THE BEGINNING OF COUNTLESS LAWSUITS For a free consultation or more information contact Jeff Antonelli Law at (312)201-8310
ISP SUBPOENA DEFENSE BIT TORRENT LAWSUITS
visit our blog http://torrent-defenders.com 8 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
DECEMBER 10, 2012
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THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 9
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10 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
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If you’re creative and interested in story and writing, check out the award-winning Fiction Writing Department. Our courses will improve your writing, reading, speaking, listening, and creative problem-solving skills.
Useful for every major! For information visit Oasis* or the Fiction Writing Department, 12th floor, 624 S. Michigan, or call (312) 369-7611. *You can add classes online until 12 midnight 2.2.13 on Oasis . See your department advisor with questions.
OIN US! J E M O C star t is o t e c a l p p A good riting Worksho 1W Fiction
xx TRANSGENDER Continued from PG. 3 their preferred name. “[Common Ground] is able to say, ‘Look, we changed this form. You can’t say as an administration that we can’t change these things because we just did,’” Spiegel said. “It is possible.” Convincing the school to change its policies is difficult because administrators shuffle students’ requests around, Spiegel said. However, he said he has been meeting with Joy Conway, coordinator of LGBTQ Office of Culture and Community, and Bill Friedman, assistant dean of Student Development, to compile a list of the four buildings that have gender inclusive bathrooms on campus in an effort to raise awareness. “There are so many students who can’t use the restroom because they feel so uncomfortable going to [a gender marked] restroom … which is known to be a major health concern in the [transgender] community,” Spiegel said. Transgender students also have minimal on-campus housing accommodations, he said. However, he said he has not yet begun on this issue because some concerns are easier to address, such as changing policies on preferred names. Conway said she meets with transgender students to talk about how to change and implement policies so that they don’t have to experience mental and emotional triggers on campus. “These [issues] can be constant reminders, even if they seem minor to some folks,” Conway said. “To transgender folks, they are
xx FUND
Continued from PG. 3
to President Warrick L. Carter, who donated $10,000 to the fund. “[Holipalooza] is the kind of thing that during these difficult times, whatever [Columbia] can help raise through this terrific program, I think would help everybody,” Gotsch said. Holipalooza consisted of a dance party, ornament making, games and a student disc jockey battle. Student DJ Ramon Alverez-Smikle, a junior AEMM major, won the battle, along with a $150 gift card to Guitar Center. “I think it is really cool that we got student DJs to be a part of [the event] and we are showing off Columbia talent,” said Merideth Hagerty, a junior marketing communication
a huge part of everyday life.” According to Colden Oleskevich, a student at Harrington College of Design who attended Columbia in 2009 and lived in the University Center, 525 S. State St., being a transgender man in the dorms was a challenge because he was forced to live with his female cousin, as the dormitory has a rule requiring all students to live with peers of the same sex. Oleskevich said his time at Columbia was frustrating because he had to ask teachers before class to call him by his preferred name and had to use his legal name for his student email and OASIS. “When you first meet a teacher, you are not very close with the teacher,” Oleskevich said. “For [someone] to have to come out to somebody right away, not knowing anything about the person [or] how they are going to react … is really hard.” According to Oleskevich, Harrington is a smaller school, which made it easier for him to change his name on his ID, email and the student roster. However, it took him a year and a half to finalize the process, he added. Columbia is working to complete changes to its nondiscrimination policy to include gender identity, Kelly said. The policy will ensure the availability of gender-inclusive bathrooms, name preferences on classroom rosters and an educational campaign to help the college community understand what it means to identify as transgender, he added. “Does [Columbia] have to continue to work at all these things?” Kelly said. “Like everything, the answer is yes. We are not just going to assume we have it right, but we learn from this and continue it.” akukulka@chroniclemail.com major who helped organize the event. Along with DJs, the event included other student organizations such as Common Ground, Columbia’s LGBTQA student organization, the campus library, the Christian Filmmakers Club, Multi-Cultural Affairs and Battle of the Bands. “I am proud of all the partnerships that have showed up … to make the event something other than our class being a part of it,” Hagerty said. “I think our mission was to make a Columbia event for everybody, and … we have been able to do that” Jeannie Haze, a junior theater major, heard about the event through a friend and said she had a good time. “Compared to other events, [Holipalooza] was really nice, and overall it had a very relaxed atmosphere,” Haze said. akukulka@chroniclemail.com
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AJ Abelman THE CHRONICLE
Two disc jockeys perform at the Conway Center Dec. 6 at Holipalooza in support of the Creating ¢hange For Students By Students fund. 10 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
Monday, DECEMBER 10, 2012
The Columbia Chronicle
Musicians’ brain scans give creativity good rap Researchers look into minds of freestyle rappers, study finds increased brain activity. by Kyle Rich
Assistant Sports & Health Editor THE ’80S, lyrical magicians from Canibus to Chiddy Bang have intertwined their rhymes and rhythms to prove their linguistic dexterity. This improvisational art form is known as freestyle rapping, and a group of researchers have used it to shed light on what happens in artists’ brains when they are experiencing these moments of spontaneous creativity. A study conducted by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, published online in November’s issue of Scientific Reports, details how researchers scanned 12 rappers’ brains while they performed one rehearsed song and one improvised song. All subjects had at least five years of freestyle experience at the time and were observed performing eight bars of each song while inside an MRI machine. SINCE
“We think there are two phases to creative behavior,” said Siyuan Liu, lead researcher of the study. “First, [there is a] spontaneous phase, and second, a phase in which the material is revised and refined.” Brain scans showed that when the rappers freestyled, there was increased activity in a region of the prefrontal cortex that relates to motivation and sustained behavior, while activity that relates
between words and generation of novel rhythmic patterns that are the hallmark of freestyling,” Braun said. Freestyling was also found to increase brain activity in areas relating to language production, emotion and motor skill functions, which suggests that this type of improvisation stimulates a network in the brain that links motivation, language, mood and action.
A lot of rappers come up with their best lines off the top of their heads.”
– Mike Waxx to planning and self-monitoring decreased, said Allen Braun, study researcher and chief of the language section at the NIDIC, in an email. “This improvisatory state must be one in which highly motivated performance is conducted in the absence of self-censoring, in a state of free-flowing attention that may facilitate unplanned associations
Michael Scott Fischer THE CHRONICLE
Liu said the researchers had previously studied neural activity in jazz musicians’ brains as they performed improvised melodies. The researchers are currently working on a follow-up study to analyze people’s brains as they compose poetry. Mike Waxx, founder of the hiphop blog IllRoots.com, said freestyling requires talent.
“You need a good vocabulary, and it’s definitely a stream of consciousness you can’t force,” Waxx said. “A lot of rappers come up with their best lines off the top of their heads.” Darnell Williams, a rapper based out of New York who has been rapping for more than seven years, said he has worked hard to reach a skilled level of freestyle lyricism. During an exercise with a mentor, Williams was instructed to rap
at least one bar about each word written on a board. “When you’re freestyle rapping, it’s more so an emotion,” Williams said. “It’s whatever you’re feeling on the beat. It’s a certain mood you get from a beat and from there you just pull out ideas—basically what rhymes and how it fits with the mood.” krich@chroniclemail.com
Courtesy NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
Researcher Ho Ming Chow runs test on rapper Mike Eagle, who was one of 12 participants in the study. Using an MRI machine, researchers found freestyling leads to increased activity in the part of the brain that relates to motivation and sustained behavior.
EVENTS
THIS WEEK IN
SPORTS
Dec. 11
Dec. 16
Dec. 17
Dec. 30
Chicago Bulls vs. LA Clippers
Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears
Texas State Bobcats vs. NU Wildcats
Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions
8:30 p.m. United Center Comcast Sportsnet
Noon Soldier Field Fox Network
6 p.m. Welsh-Ryan Arena Big Ten Fan Network
Noon Ford Field Fox Network THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 11
12 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 10, 2012
Kick out kick-offs
by Lindsey Woods Managing Editor
NFL LONG SNAPPERS may have a reason to celebrate if Commissioner Roger Goodell has his way. In an interview with Time magazine, Goodell suggested getting rid of kickoffs and replacing them with a fourth-down-or-punt scenario. He said that instead of kicking off after a score, the scoring team would get the ball on its own 30yard line and face fourth down and
xx APOCALYPSE Continued from Front Page Magnetic Pole Reversal: Some believe that if the magnetic poles suddenly reverse, it could cause massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. However, Kim Koverman, a professor in the Science & Mathematics Department, said only part of this theory is true. She said shifts in Earth’s magnetic poles have occurred several times throughout the planet’s history, but there is no physical evidence suggesting they have ever caused natural disasters, just directional problems with compasses. Yellowstone Supervolcano: According to Gerald Adams, an associate professor in the Science & Mathematics Department, the eruption of the supervolcano underneath Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is long overdue. He said there is evidence in rock layers that indicate the volcano erupts approximately every 610,000 years. Adams said it last erupted 650,000
Featured Athlete
15 yards. They would have the option of gunning for a fourth-down conversion or punting. In addition to increasing the number of job opportunities for professional long snappers, the proposed rule change would supposedly help reduce instances of head injury, a goal the NFL has been emphasizing recently. Kickoffs have been cited as one of the most injurious plays in the game because defensive players have the length of the field to gain momentum and run full speed into whomever they’re tackling. Because teams line up closer to each other during a punt, the risk of injury, particularly to the head, is reduced because there is less time and space to pick up speed. While the proposal was informal and will probably not be enacted any time soon, the premise has sparked an interesting debate between football traditionalists and those who support the idea. For me, one of the most exciting parts of the game is the kickoff. During every Bears game last season, the moments before the ball hit Devin Hester’s hands were pure anticipation, and watching him dodge tackles and find holes during his record-breaking returns was like watching a well-choreographed ballet. But beauty is not an excuse for brutality, and tradition
doesn’t trump human suffering. Sure, a rule change like this may shift some strategies and further minimize the roles of special teams, but player safety should always be facilitated whenever possible. I will admit, when I first heard about the idea, I wasn’t sold on it. I thought of all the reasons it was bad, including that it would be a pain in the ass to implement and hard to adjust to never seeing a kickoff. But then I thought of Eric LeGrand, the Rutgers University defensive tackle who was paralyzed from the neck down in 2010 while making a tackle during a kickoff. When I thought of LeGrand and his devastating injury, I asked myself: Isn’t it a little bit selfish to hold on so tightly to tradition when new rules could help prevent such injuries? I think its time we let go of our proclivity for brutality and rules in the name of protecting the players, who are real people with real bodies and feel real pain. Football will still maintain its brute physicality that makes it so appealing during the rest of the game, so adjusting the kickoff is a relatively small price to pay to protect players.
years ago. If it were to erupt again, the streets of Chicago would be buried under at least a foot of ash that would blanket the country, and heavy ash clouds would cut off sunlight, Adams said. The ash would block sunlight for such an extended period of time that plant life would completely obliterated in the Northern Hemisphere, he said. Though this may not kill off humanity, Adams said it would certainly cause a mass exodus from the U.S. to places below the equator.
tems vital for airplane navigation. “It is a problem like hurricanes are a problem,” NASA said in statement on its website. “One can protect oneself with advance information.” Let’s just hope that when the next solar maximum occurs in 2013, we don’t get the Superstorm Sandy of solar flares.
Solar flares: According to NASA’s website, the sun tends to flare every 11 years when it reaches a “solar maximum.” These flares produce geomagnetic bursts of energy and particles with the potential to interfere with electronics. However, it is impossible for solar flares to destroy the planet, according to the website. The only real fear is an extremely powerful solar flare called a coronal mass ejection. If a flare like this were to occur, it could reach the planet’s surface, causing transformers to blow and disrupting satellites that control cellphones and GPS sys-
lwoods@chroniclemail.com
Planet Nibiru: Of all the Earth-shattering natural phenomena that could occur, the planet Nibiru is probably the most ridiculous, said NASA researcher David Morrison in a YouTube video. Nibiru is allegedly a rogue planet that travels through the solar system every now and then. Some people speculate it will either crash into Earth or come so close that it will destroy all life in a truly hellish way: by burning off the planet’s atmosphere. Morrison explained that this scenario is completely fake, and if there were a rogue planet zooming around space on a collision course for Earth, every single astronomer would be tracking it. bsmith@chroniclemail.com
STOCK PHOTO
12 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
Rena Naltsas THE CHRONICLE
Tim Gorski, co-captain by Brandon Smith
Assistant Sports & Health Editor
Age: 24 College/Team: Columbia Renegades AFTER THIS FALL season, Tim
Gorski, a junior marketing communications major, will step down as co-captain of the baseball team to become secretary of the Renegades. A native of La Grange, Ill., Gorski came to Columbia three years ago to study public relations. Gorski said one of his favorite hobbies is working out and staying fit, and writing is his creative release. Though he is relinquishing his co-captain title on the baseball team, he said he is still planning to play. The Chronicle pulled Gorski out of the gym and pitched him some questions about the team’s fall season and what he expects for next year. The Chronicle: How does it feel to be the new secretary of the Renegades? Tim Gorski: I’m still learning a lot about the position because I was just voted in on Dec. 3. I’m really looking forward to the position, though. This way I’m not just involved with one sport but all of them, and I like that responsibility. And being in public relations will look good on my resume. I’m going to get to learn things through the position that I haven’t learned in previous years at the college. Are you looking forward to next season?
It starts up the week just after Spring Break, so I’m pretty excited about it. We have all of the same guys from the fall team, and all 16 guys always show up, so it makes for a really nice team. How will you prepare for the spring season? We practice a lot. We have team workouts five times a week, and we have a sign-in sheet so we really make sure everyone is there. I like to just make sure we are working to keep everyone fit and in shape so that we have a good season when it rolls around. How do you feel about leaving the co-captain position? Well, I have only been co-captain for one season. Last spring, I just played, and then I became cocaptain for this semester. The reason I can’t do it anymore is because it’s technically a conflict of interest, since I’ll be secretary of the board. I am still going to get to play on the team though, so it was short lived. But I loved it. How was the fall season? It was a lot of fun. We got to travel up to Wisconsin for a tournament, which was really cool, but we didn’t do so well. The team we had this fall was pretty fresh, and sometimes we play schools that have really strong club teams, like the University of Wisconsin, for example. We had a lot of talent on the team, but the teams we played were just out of our boundary of skill. bsmith@chroniclemail.com
DECEMBER 10, 2012
SPORTS & HEALTH
THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 13
THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 13
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DECEMBER 10, 2012
CHRONIC RELIEF DESIGNED BY: MICHAEL SCOTT FISCHER
WRITTEN BY: KYLE RICH & NADER IHMOUD
R
A LOOK INTO THE RISKS, REWARDS AND LAWS OF MEDICINAL CANNABIS
AFTER BEING BEDRIDDEN
for 1,000 days, Mike Graham’s nurse gave him a choice: Use medical cannabis or continue taking the same medication and eventually die from those drugs—if his disease didn’t kill him first.
“I didn’t want to be a criminal, but I didn’t want to die either,” Graham said. Graham, an Illinois resident who uses marijuana as medicine, has lumbar radiculopathy, a degenerate spinal disc disease. He said he did not begin using cannabis until after approximately 14 different pharmaceuticals failed to work and almost killed him, causing depression, three heart attacks, a stroke and severe weight loss. “I was down to 130 pounds—about half my body weight,” he said. “I couldn’t keep food down. It was a fight every day. There was no quality of life.” Now, Graham uses less than two grams of medical marijuana daily and can complete tasks that were once impossible. Despite his family’s background in law enforcement, Graham
14 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
said his desperation outweighed his concerns about the legality of medical marijuana. While Graham’s marijuana use is a crime under federal and Illinois regulations, laws legalizing the use of weed for numerous purposes have been enacted around the country. Illinois lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would provide medical marijuana only to patients with debilitating medical conditions, according to Eric Berlin, a partner at Jones Day, a global law firm. The conditions outlined in State House Bill 30 would provide limited access to cannabis for those suffering from HIV and AIDS, multiple sclerosis or cancer, as reported by The Chronicle Dec. 3. Berlin has been involved with proposing an Illinois bill for almost three years, acting as a representative of medical marijuana patients with debilitating medical conditions. Berlin said he has personally used marijuana in the past to alleviate symptoms of Crohn’s disease and recognizes its
medicinal qualities. “The first part is trying to convince … our legislators to look at the science over their preconceived notions or ideological beliefs,” Berlin said. “I feel like I was invited to help progress the bill.” Berlin was not able to comment on what was said during the closed-door meeting between representatives and members of the Senate on a date when they discussed HB30 but said the bill was just a few votes shy of being passed. He said he was optimistic it could pass while satisfying the needs of patients and the concerns of legislators. However, some decriminalization advocates say action at the federal level is necessary, too. Under the Controlled Substances Act—a primary federal statute—possession, distribution and cultivation of a Schedule 1 drug such as marijuana is illegal in all 50 states. Schedule 1 drugs have been deemed to have no medicinal value, according to Ann Toney, a private practice lawyer in Colorado and author of “Colorado Medical Marijuana Law.”
DECEMBER 10, 2012
between strain. Researchers found that both groups had approximately the same number of users, though the strain of weed and how frequently it was used varied. Those who had psychotic episodes were more likely to be current users. Among those, 78 percent used Sinsemilla, compared to 37 percent of the control group. Among those experiencing psychosis, 59 percent had used marijuana for more than 5 years, compared to 38 percent of the control. “If you use cannabis daily and you are genetically susceptible to the effects of cannabis, your chances to develop psychosis [from] using cannabis are even greater,” Di Forti said. Psychosis is not the only concern researchers have about cannabis usage. Like many pain medications, researchers found that withdrawal symptoms may occur when users quit using. David Allsop, a lecturer at the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre at the University of New South Wales in Australia, led a study quantifying the significance of cannabis withdrawal. Researchers asked users to stop using the drug for two weeks to study the effects. The volunteer-based study used 49 subjects from Sydney who admitted to using weed recreationally five or more days per week, were dependent on it and described at least one or more withdrawal symptom. As outlined in the study there are currently seven diagnostic markers that indicate drug dependence, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. Three of the seven markers are needed to classify drug dependence, the seventh being the presence of characteristic physical or mental withdrawal symptoms or use of a substance to
SPORTS & HEALTH
THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 15
this was not the most significant finding. “We found a three-fold increase in a type of testis cancer, nonseminoma, which occurs earlier, and it’s a more aggressive type of cancer,” she said. Cortessis said her study’s conclusion does not deem marijuana as positive or negative and explained there should be concern about male teenagers using cannabis. But she added that the drug could still have realistic benefits for people with specific ailments. “When you think about cannabis use, you can’t conclude in absolute terms that cannabis is good or cannabis is bad,” she said. These risks are just a few concerns of those opposed to medical marijuana. In some states, like California, the current law allows patients to obtain medical marijuana for less serious ailments. Patients can come in with a laundry list of complaints and are almost never denied, according to Alec Banks, a writer based in LA. Banks conducted a loose social experiment for an article he was writing for ThoughtCatalog.com in which he tried to get himself denied a medical marijuana card by Los Angeles County. “On paper, I thought it was funny,” Banks said. “The doctors all guided me and helped me find an ailment [for medical marijuana use]. You could have no ailment, and they will find one. Smoking pot out here is seen as taking an Advil.” For his article, Banks told doctors he had ailments such as “a bad case of the Mondays” and an “intense phobia of kite flying.” He even told a doctor he wanted medical marijuana
NAME OF PERSON “Part of the struggle is to get marijuana reclassified on a federal level,” Toney said. “It can’t be seen helpful if it [remains] a Schedule 1 drug.” Marla Levi, an Illinois resident who uses marijuana to help alleviate her multiple sclerosis, swears by the drug. She was initially turned on to marijuana by a friend who continues to supply her with it. “Of all the stuff I have taken, [marijuana] has helped my symptoms tremendously,” Levi said. “Before I was a nightmare. I couldn’t [attend] physical therapy.” Levi explained that the most excruciating effects of her condition were stiff legs and muscle spasms that she described as having “a mind of their own.” Her preferred method of using marijuana is not smoking but ingesting it in the form of cookies, oil and lollipops. “I was just at the neurologist, and he told me as soon as a bill passes, he will write a script for me,” Levi said. While state legislation remains up in the air, patients like Levi are left breaking the law. Although cases are being made for
do you listen to ska, watch aqua teen hunger force, game and order a lot of cheap take out?
“I didn’t want to be a criminal, but I didn’t want to die either.”-MIKE GRAHAM
medical cannabis, new studies have emerged on the negative side effects of the drug, giving opponents more reasons to question its safety. Marta Di Forti, a clinical lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College in London, led research that explored the psychological impact of daily marijuana use. The study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2009, found that the daily use of high-potency cannabis is associated with psychosis. The researchers collected information on cannabis use from 280 people who sought psychiatric services after having an episode of psychosis and 174 mentally stable subjects. The study analyzed two strains of marijuana that are used throughout the U.K.: Hash, which contains 2 to 4 percent Tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, and Sinsemilla the more popular of the two that contains 12 to 18 percent THC, according to the study. The amount of THC in medicinal marijuana reflects Sinsemilla but varies
alleviate withdrawal. Cannabis, unlike other drugs, doesn’t currently include this seventh marker to classify a disorder in the DSM, although researchers have found withdrawal symptoms in the observed cases. “You have symptoms shown similar to nicotine withdrawal, like irritability, outbursts and anxiety,” Allsop said. “All of these symptoms seemed to show within 24 hours of the last smoke and peaked within four to five days, of abstinence.” According to the study, the more dependent users showed more functional impairment than the less dependent. However, all subjects shared similar symptoms when they stopped usage. “People’s inability to sleep was most [common],” Allsop said. “Sleep really affects their day and could also lead to this anger and short temper that was also seen across these withdrawal symptoms.” But those with debilitating conditions can be dependent on the drug to be able to function. “It allows me to eat,” Graham said. “I haven’t found any negatives. I’m able to function and be involved with my family. I feel better.” Victoria Cortessis, an assistant professor of research at the University of Southern California, conducted a study in Los Angeles that found a relationship between marijuana use and testicular cancer. She said the study was the third of its kind to indicate that recreational marijuana use can increase the chance of developing testicular cancer. Cortessis explained that her study explored what young men were doing differently, as the risk of testicular cancer has continued to increase during the past 100 years. Cortessis and her team concluded that a look into the use of drugs might hold the answer. “It really seems plausible that it is the marijuana exposure to young men that’s leading to the increased risk [of testicular cancer],” she said. “What has happened in California is that when medical marijuana became available, marijuana actually became the drug choice [for] young people.” Despite the study’s results, the importance of how frequently users ingest marijuana can be disputed, as those who reported using marijuana less than once per week were more than twice as likely to develop testicular cancer than those who reported more frequent use. But Cortessis said
MEDICIN
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because he was too paranoid when he smoked pot. He said all of these reasons were enough to get him a card, and the information was processed in less than five minutes. Although his experience is comical, Banks reflected that medical marijuana for those with debilitating illnesses is no laughing matter. “I had guilt during my experience taking a doctor’s time when they could have been using it to treat somebody who was actually sick,” Banks said. “I hope the misuse of medicinal marijuana wouldn’t affect somebody who actually needs it.” Cannabis supporters in Illinois have worked toward making medical marijuana available only to those with chronic health conditions. According to Graham, the current bill waiting to be voted on would not allow patients who only describe chronic pain or nausea to obtain cannabis cards. He said those two conditions account for almost 80 percent of the abuse in the 14 states with functioning medical marijuana programs. “In the legislation, it provides for specific conditions that have research–based proof that patients benefit medicinally from using cannabis for that condition,” Graham said. Berlin is positive that an agreement can be reached that will satisfy proponents and opponents of the drug’s medical purposes. “We need to satisfy the opponents with a law tight enough that it won’t lead to diversion from the program or go to the youth, [which] folks are so concerned about,” Berlin said. “I have a feeling we can get a bill drafted in a way that would provide patients with safe, legal and affordable access [while] still getting enough votes to take care of people’s concerns.” krich@chroniclemail.com nihmoud@chroniclemail.com
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THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 15
16 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
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Go loco over cocoa INGREDIENTS 4 cups milk 1 1-oz. square semisweet chocolate 1/4 cup crushed candy canes 1 cup whipped cream 4 peppermint candy canes 4 dashes cinnamon
AJ Abelman THE CHRONICLE
by Sylvia Leak
Ad & Business Manager NOVICE
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Pour milk into a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. 2. Heat milk until hot. 3. Lower the heat and add the square of chocolate and crushed candy canes. 4. Stir with a whisk until candy canes and chocolate are melted. 5. Divide cocoa between four mugs. Top with whipped cream and garnish with a dash of cinnamon and a candy cane.
16 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
SOUS CHEF
GURU
THERE’S NOTHING LIKE celebrat-
ing the holidays with a nice cup of candy cane cocoa. Walking down Michigan Avenue in the freezing winter weather is unbearable, but when I have my cocoa, I feel like I’m strolling along South Beach in a sexy bikini. I don’t mind telling you that this is the only drink that can make me “hot and bothered,” which is the best way to feel when you’re around that someone special. I say spread the cheer (and love)! The first time I made this drink was for my current boyfriend. It was a cold, snowy night in Chicago. I had the day off and winter break had just started. I wanted to cuddle up with someone that night, so I
called him up and invited him over. My main goal was to impress him, and we all know men love a woman who can cook. So I whipped up this recipe, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. First thing’s first: When making candy cane cocoa, you must always have someone to drink it with. If you have a hot date coming over, I highly recommend this to turn him or her on. If the cocoa doesn’t score you any points, I don’t know what will. But if you just got out of a relationship, I guess a couple of friends or roommates will do. I advise all you single ladies out there to try this recipe. It’s guaranteed to get you a man, so break out your whisk and let’s get stirring. To begin, you will need 4 cups of milk, 1 1-oz. square of semisweet
chocolate, 1/4 cup of crushed candy canes, 1 cup of whipped cream, 4 peppermint candy canes and a few dashes of cinnamon. Pour the milk into a mediumsized saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the milk is hot but not boiling. Lower the heat and add the crushed candy canes and square of chocolate. Stir with a whisk until the chocolate and candy cane bits are completely melted. Pour the cocoa into four mugs and top with whipped cream. Add a dash of cinnamon to each mug and garnish with a candy cane, which makes the best stirring stick. If you have a bigger sweet tooth, I suggest serving your cocoa with butter cookies. sleak@chroniclemail.com
Monday, DECEMBER 10, 2012
The Columbia Chronicle
College musician “gets low,” gets exposure by Alex Stedman
Assistant Arts & Culture Editor FOR FORMER COLUMBIA student
Dan Henig, fame came in the form of an acoustic guitar, a rap song and a coffee house gig. Henig, who studied music at Columbia in 2010 and is now a student at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Mich., had a friend record his performance of an acoustic cover of Lil Jon and The East Side Boyz’s “Get Low” in a Ypsilanti, Mich., coffee shop called B-24’s. He uploaded the video to YouTube Nov. 26, as he had done many times before. It has since received more than 1.5 million hits and an endorsement from Lil Jon via Twitter. “I was assuming it would get a few thousand hits because I started getting subscribers from my other videos,” Henig said. “The most I had on any videos on [Nov. 26] was 9,000. This much was not expected.” Billy Jackson, Henig’s friend and director of the “Get Low” video, said the pair began posting Henig’s original songs and covers to his YouTube channel in early November, including an acoustic mashup of Justin Bieber’s “As Long as You Love Me” and Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” Henig said he had been performing the “Get Low” cover at live shows for almost a year before Jackson convinced him to put it on YouTube. The duo decided it would be funny to perform the uncensored song for an unsuspecting coffee shop audience and film their reactions, Jackson said. The reactions ranged
from attempts to ignore the show to stifled giggles and outright displays of approval. “They didn’t know specifically what song I was going to do, but they knew I was going to do a song that had profanity in it,” Henig said. “I think they assumed it would be a word or two, but it was pretty rad.” Jackson said that the next morning he woke up to a text message informing him that Henig’s video was featured on the front page of Reddit, a popular social news website. The number of views on Henig’s other videos rapidly increased, and celebrities like Carson Daly tweeted the video. Henig’s website received so much traffic that it crashed within 12 hours of the video being posted, Jackson said. Henig, who’s been writing music since he was 15, said the sudden notoriety has been exciting, but the increased attention does bring some concerns. He said he’s worried that he might only be known for the cover, and hopes that viewers use the video as a jumping-off point to seek out his other musical endeavors. “I hope my image doesn’t become the guy who covers rap songs,” he said. “I really am a singer/songwriter at heart.” Joe Bogdan, an assistant professor in the Arts, Entertainment & Media Management Department, said releasing song covers on YouTube can come with some legal risks. “Even if the artist thinks it’s cool, the company that owns that publishing might not,” Bogdan said. xx SEE YOUTUBE, PG. 27
Courtesy DAN HENIG
Dan Henig’s acoustic performance of Lil Jon’s “Get Low” has more than 1.5 million views on YouTube. THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 17
18 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 10, 2012
Sweatpants are the DEVIL
by Sophia Coleman Managing Editor
GREEN IS THE new tangerine.
I must hold some sort of authority over at Pantone, the trendsetter in color for the design industry, because in my Nov. 26 column, “Toxic, tempting fashion,” I said the 2012 color of the year should be Forest Green. My dream is nearly coming true because Pantone announced Dec. 6 that the color of 2013 is emerald green. It’s unlikely this magnificent jewel-tone will inspire the ecoconscious mindset in the fashion industry that I hope for, but if the color’s symbolism holds any truth, the New Year might be one of regeneration. I imagine this will pair nicely with the shifting of
Green with it, rock with it consciousness that comes with the impending apocalypse. No one can deny the power of Pantone’s influence. Every year the company scours the globe in search of the next “it” color. Inspirations range from films and socioeconomic conditions to travel destinations and technology. In the next few months, we will see the 2013 color in makeup palettes, on clothing patterns and inside homes. The world will truly be taking a trip to the Emerald City. “Green is the most abundant color in nature—the human eye sees more green than any other color in the spectrum,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, on the company’s website. “As it has throughout history, multifaceted Emerald continues to sparkle and fascinate.” The Pantone press release said there will be an emeraldhued Sephora + Pantone Beauty Universe beauty and makeup collection released in spring, which Pantone says “beautifully enhances green eyes, is compatible to blue eyes, emphasizes the green undertone in hazel eyes and intensifies brown eyes to make them appear deeper.” Let’s just hope no one has the bright idea to wear green on their lips.
FEATURED PHOTO
Designers Nanette Lepore and Marimekko will be using the sophisticated shade in their spring collections, according to Pantone, and it can be paired with almost any color on the spectrum. Just take my advice and avoid pairing it with vivid shades of pink, so as not to look like a watermelon—or even worse—a Floridian whose had a little too much sun. I’m not sold on the idea of painting rooms in emerald green, or even having a few pieces of furniture in the color. It reminds me of those jarring, noxious colors the ’70s were so fond of, or the awful colors used in the carpets of state college dormitories. I simply just can’t picture it, but then again, I’m not an interior designer. Admittedly, after all is said and done, I really don’t care what the trending color is. I’ll just wear my usual black because it matches my soul. scoleman@chroniclemail.com
Carolina Sanchez THE CHRONICLE
Dominican performance artist Rey Emmanuel Andújar performs Dec. 5 during the Contratiempos 100 Issue Fundraiser Celebration at the Co-Prosperity Sphere center, 3219-21 S. Morgan St.
Photo AJ Abelman THE CHRONICLE
From left: Heidi Unkefer, Graphic Designer; Brian Dukerschein, Copy Chief; Heather Schröering, Editor-in-Chief; Zach Stemerick, Art Director; Sophia Coleman, Managing Editor; Michael Scott Fischer; Graphic Designer 18 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
DECEMBER 10, 2012
Local improv podcast finds national audience by Alex Stedman
Assistant Arts & Culture Editor COMEDY LOVERS ARE often drawn
to improv for its fast-paced, unpredictable format. One Columbia alumnus is using podcasts to feature improv talent, and his show is receiving nationwide attention. Jimmy Carrane, a Chicago-based improviser and author of “Improvising Better: A Guide to the Working Improviser,” launched a podcast on PodBean.com in October 2011 called “Improv Nerd,” which was recently picked up by Feral Audio, a Los Angeles-based podcast collective that focuses on comedy. The first show produced by Feral will air Dec. 10. “There are so many little pockets of improv communities throughout the country that there never was when I started back in the late ’80s,” said Carrane, who is a 1987 marketing communications alumnus. “I really hope we reach more improvisers out there.” Carrane described “Improv Nerd” as a combination of “WTF with Marc Maron,” during which comedian Marc Maron interviews other comedians, and “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” a Bravo show that features actors, directors and writers reminiscing about their careers. Carrane invites comedians—in-
cluding Brody Stevens, Chelsea Peretti and Duncan Trussell—on the live podcast to perform a 15-to 20-minute improv bit. Afterward, Carrane deconstructs what happened during the bit and takes questions from listeners. Dustin Marshall, founder of Feral Audio, said Carrane reached out to him and expressed interest in the collective, even though the majority of the collective’s original content is produced in Los Angeles. “The stuff that [Carrane] is doing is pretty cool because it’s really coming out from the heart of where improv comedy was born,” Marshall said. “I’m really excited about that. Chicago’s my favorite place in the world.” Marshall said many podcasters have contacted him about getting involved with the collective, but he had to turn some away because they didn’t fit the focus of its website, FeralAudio.com. Marshall said that until “Improv Nerd,” the collective had never had a show on which the podcaster and guests play improv games together. “What really turned me on to ‘Improv Nerd’ was that it’s a live show and very sentimental,” Marshall said. “I think it’s hard to capture improv in a podcast, but ‘Improv Nerd’ just does it perfectly.”
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THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 19
Courtesy LAUREN CARRANE
Jimmy Carrane (left) interviews comedian Brian Stack for his podcast “Improv Nerd,” during which he plays improv games with other comedians.
Carrane said he prefers podcasts to other mediums he has dabbled in because they give him more time and creative freedom. He used to host a segment on WBEZ’s “Studio 312,” during which he interviewed people working in comedy. He said he believes that improv appeals to a younger audience. Doing a live show is important to Marshall because of the participatory nature of improv and what an audience can bring to the show, he said. “Anyone who’s a performer/improviser, they really come to life in front of an audience,” he said. “It’s electric [being] in front of an audience.”
Marshall said he believes that “Improv Nerd” is becoming quintessential listening for those involved in improv, and that the podcast already boasts an impressive following that will bring new fans to Feral Audio. Jennifer Estlin, president of The Annoyance Theatre, where Carrane used to perform, said Carrane is well-known in Chicago’s comedy scene, particularly for his improv. “It’s not hard for somebody who jumps into this community right away to hear about him,” she said. “He’s able to bring a lot of people on to talk about their personal take on how they approach improv, and
I think it’s neat that it becomes a more immediate look at what they’re talking about.” Carrane said one of his goals for the podcast and his work with the collective is to bring more attention to the craft, as he believes improvisers don’t get as much spotlight as others in comedy. “I think improvisers are the most underrated artists in the food chain,” he said. “People can work and work, but they never get any credit. I kind of wanted to change that and I hope with ‘Improv Nerd,’ people are going to get that exposure.” astedman@chroniclemail.com
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THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 19
20 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
STORY BY
Emily OrnberG Zach Stemerick
DESIGN BY
DECEMBER 10, 2012
How the recording industry is coping with digital piracy
IT WAS MARCH, 1990—
years before illegal file-sharing began compromising the music industry. According to a former Warner Bros. Records executive, a company representative was waiting to meet the director of Twin Cities Top 40 radio station KDWB-FM. The representative arrived with a VHS tape of Madonna’s then-unreleased video for her song “Vogue”—a track that would become Madonna’s most successful single of her career. While he waited, the station’s program director was busy wiring a secret reelto-reel recording device to illegally duplicate the song. When the two met, the Warner representative played the tape, and the program director discreetly recorded the audio. As soon as the representative left, the director put an intern on a plane to take the bootlegged version to New York City’s Z100 radio station. A few hours after what was supposed to be a private preview of the embargoed song, “Vogue” scandalously premiered on-air a week before its scheduled release on one of the world’s largest Top 40 radio stations.
This incident kicked off a decades-long struggle by the music industry to play catch-up with the past decade’s technological advancements that allow users to obtain and share music illegally—and it appears to be losing battle. Since the transition from the commercial release of vinyl records in the 1940s, music pirates have freely and illegally shared music on a large scale, weakening the industry’s control over its products. As technology becomes more efficient, it continues to make file sharing simpler and faster on websites such as Gnutella, which have had a crippling effect on the music industry’s ability to make a profit. As new file-sharing technologies emerge, record labels have a harder time protecting their product. Distribution has shifted from record labels to consumers, forcing the industry to try to guard its music as much as possible. According to a 2007 policy report from The Institute for Policy Innovation, global music piracy causes an annual economic loss of $12.5 billion in the U.S. The report also states that music piracy has resulted in the loss of approximately 71,060 U.S. jobs and $2.7 billion in workers’ earnings. Justin Sinkovich, an assisMCT Newswire tant professor in the Arts, Sean Parker, the American entrepreneur and co-founder of the file-sharing computer serEntertainment & Mevice Napster, which played a large part in digital music piracy in 1999.
20 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
Digital theft of music, movies and copyrighted content
take up a large amount of
internet bandwidth
17.5%
from 2004 to 2009
30
billion songs have
in the United States
been illegally downloaded on file-sharing networks
37%
of the music acquired by U.S. consumers in 2009 was purchased
24% globally Courtesy HARDCANDYMUSIC.COM Madonna in her iconic video for her 1990 single “Vogue.” The song went multi-platinum, selling more than six million copies, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
dia Management Department, created Epitonic. com, one of the first MP3 distribution websites. After working in the industry from its peak in the ’80s and ’90s through its decline in 1999—caused by easily shared MP3s—Sinkovich said he is unsure of the industry’s direction after such a profound shift. “Are people going to pay money for music, especially when I can jump [online] right now and float from one band’s site from another and stream music all day and not buy anything?” Sinkovich said. “That’s the mindset we’re in, whereas 10 years ago, that was [in] no way the case.” Online music providers such as Pandora and Spotify have been heralded as two of the first technologies to reduce music piracy because artists can collect payment from digital radio plays, according to Heather Liberman, an entertainment lawyer at Leavens, Strand, Glover & Adler in Chicago. Liberman, who represents artists in copyright matters, said the nonprofit organization SoundExchange is designated to collect fees paid by online radio stations like Pandora and distribute the payments to rights holders and artists as their songs are played online. But when royalties are disbursed, the artist generally makes almost nothing for each play, explains Ted Hoekstra, Mid-Atlantic regional promotion director for Interscope Geffen A&M Records, which is owned by Universal Music Group. “It’s pennies, if not fractions of cents per play,” Hoekstra said. “Even though it’s nice if you’re an absolute [brand new] band and someone might listen to your music since they have access to it
Information courtesy RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
through Pandora, if they choose to only listen to music that way, that does not convince them to actually buy the album. It does not come close to making up to the artist or the copyright holder or the label any of those costs.” Though these royalties are among the last ways artists collect even a small amount of revenue, a bill called the Internet Radio Fairness Act, introduced in Congress in September, would decrease the royalty percentage Internet radio companies pay artists and rights holders, according to Darvio Morrow, CEO of The First Class Broadcasting Corporation, which founded the online radio program Musera Radio. Morrow, whose company supports the bill along with Clear Channel Communications and other groups, said passing the bill would even out the royalties that online radio stations pay the artists because they currently pay the most in royalty percentages of all digital radio mediums—more than half of their income. “Right now, satellite radio, cable radio and every other form of digital radio have their royalties calculated by what’s called the 801(b) standard,” Morrow said. “That takes into account economic conditions to make sure the royalties [paid to the songs’ rights holders] are not so onerous that it could put
DECEMBER 10, 2012
the company out of business. Internet radio is on a different standard.” Morrow explained that online radio stations pay more than 50 percent of revenue in royalties to artists and rights holders, such as songwriters and record labels, compared to 7.5 percent for satellite radio companies and 15 percent for cable radio. Eugene Kalsted, of the Chicago-based alternative band Jolly Korea, said lowering the royalty rate on digital radio services does much more harm to the artists than the rights holders. “Personally, I do hope [the Internet Radio Fairness Act] doesn’t get passed,” Kalsted said. “Regardless, the rights holder is going to make hella money, so they don’t care. It really only solely affects the artist … I need money to keep [my career] going. I don’t even really want the money for myself, I just want to be able to go out to travel and spread the music.” On Nov. 14, more than 100 artists, including Billy Joel, Graham Nash, Rihanna, Nas, Sheryl Crow and the members of
Maroon 5, signed an open letter backed by artists’ rights organizations SoundExchange and the musicFirst Coalition, which criticized the Internet Radio Fairness Act and Pandora Media. The letter stated that although those who signed it celebrate Pandora’s success as a “Wall Street company,” the music community is just now getting acclimated to the digital world, and imposing lower royalty rates would be detrimental to artists’ success. “Why is the company asking Congress once again to step in and gut the royalties that thousands of musicians rely upon?” the letter asks. “That’s not fair, and that’s not how partners work together.” Liberman explained that though lawsuits may seem like the obvious way to stop piracy, legal action is typically a last resort because it is time-consuming and expensive. She said she understands that the industry wants to protect its artists’ work, but asking the government to take care of the problem is difficult. “There is a lag in the law behind technology because of the way it works,” Liberman said. “There’s a very clear-cut system for how a law is passed and how a bill becomes a law, and that takes a lot of time and takes a lot of scrutiny,
scribers. The website also states that the company has paid more than $250 million to the rights holders of its 18-million song catalog since its launch in October 2008. organized by origin of file “I compare it to cable,” Hoekstra said. “Hopefully they get such overwhelming numbers that people start to rely on this format. To survive, you have to up those prices.” Hoekstra said the industry has consistently fought technology that enables people to steal audio content. Although piracy existed before, he said the largest scare to the industry was the birth of the MP3. “When it was introduced, the record labels as a whole didn’t have their head around the new technology,” he said. “As they tried to grasp and agree as a four major corporation entity, that takes some time to get the ball rolling.” 774 The industry is taking preventative measures to ensure unreleased music won’t be leaked, Hoekstra 457 said, and many times the first leak comes from within the industry. He said labels now distribute MP3s that can only be downloaded a limited number of times. He added that labels use several techniques to keep the public from stealing music, including watermarking songs, which involves placing an inaudible imprint in each file that contains information about the person it was sent to. Other methods include audibly repeating the record promoter’s name in each copy of a track, providing only 30 seconds of a song and sending MP3s on digital media players that are locked. Median collection size Destiny Media Technologies, based in VanCopied from friends/family couver, Canada, launched Play MPE, a Downloaded for free
U.S. music file collections 1867 1398
Bought Ripped
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THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 21
whereas I could develop something in my basement tonight and have it available to the public tomorrow. That kind of speed makes it nearly impossible for [the law] to keep up.” Online radio services aside, Hoekstra predicts that the future business model will be subscription-based, like Spotify, which provides access to its entire catalog for a flat rate. He said consumers should take advantage of the $10 monthly fee because having access to such a wide variety of music for the price of a CD is a deal. “I’m rooting for [subscription services] to become the standard,” Hoekstra said. “If you’re a music fan and you’re not doing Spotify or Pandora and you’re not paying the upgrade for those, you’re making a mistake. The amount of music that you have at your fingertips, that you can have on-demand, that you can tell it to play, I think is amazing.” However, Hoekstra said this business model ultimately won’t cover the promotional and marketing costs that a label puts into releasing music. He said he hopes people will eventually start using paid streaming services as their main form of music consumption. According to Spotify’s website, more than 15 million MCT CAMPUS people have used the application in the last 30 days, Spoifty’s website reports having 15 million users in the past 30 days, with more than and more than 4 million of them were paying sub- 4 million paying for subscriptions
a couple shows, you’re in the ballpark of making a decent living,” Sinkovich said. “It’s about building community and working with like-minded people. You create that community, and people feed off of each other.” Sinkovich said that although the industry is at a peak of musical indulgence, the decrease in artists’ compensation may deter them from creating music. “Music is always going to be extremely powerful,” Sinkovich said. “I just hope that musicians can find a way to make a living from it so they don’t have to have two jobs. I hope opportunity still exists for music.” Kalsted said that being a working artist is bittersweet in a digitally obsessed culture. “It’s definitely a gift and a curse,” Kalsted said. “The gift is that you can get your music out to a lot more people a lot faster. You have all this access to all these people and they can all love your music, but the problem is they don’t necessarily have to pay for it.” Although the music industry has long battled piracy, the advancement of digital technology has created a deeper appreciation for and a –Justin Sinkovich wider conversation about music, Hoekstra said. He said digital download sales are boomSinkovich said the future of the music industry relies heav- ing in growth each year. ily on community, something that is lost among most major “The upside of all this: Everybody’s now into music more labels today because of impersonal forms of communica- than they ever have been before,” Hoekstra said. “When tion. He said more artists have relied on social media like I was growing up and I had 500 records, I was the weird Facebook, YouTube and Bandcamp to replace the duties of guy. But music is so accessible and so portable that eva record label, and at times the indie bands end up more erybody could be that crazy about music, and they’re not just crazy outcasts somewhere.” successful than major-label artists. “For smaller artists, if you can get half of your Facebook eornberg@chroniclemail.com friends to buy a nice deluxe version of an album and come to digital distribution system created for sharing and listening to music files within the industry, in October 2003. The files distributed through Play MPE are uncompressed and watermarked MP3s or WAV files, according to a Play MPE representative for Interscope Geffen A&M Records. The representative explained that with more than 62,000 users and 912,900 songs from more than 2,700 record labels—including majors labels like Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment—Play MPE is a way for the industry to control how music is shared. “[The labels] needed something secure that would be just within the music industry so that it’s contained,” the representative said. “MP3s are evil to the industry because they are easily copied and sent. They’re such small files, [and] those things can go viral.”
Music is always going to be extremely powerful.”
THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 21
22 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 10, 2012
Half of Sundance films directed by women by John Horn MCT Newswire
THE ODDS AGAINST getting into the Sundance Film Festival have been astronomical for years, but an even more remarkable statistic that jumps out from the dramatic competition lineup for January’s festival is what festival programmers say is a Sundance first: Half of the narrative features were made by women. Culled from 1,227 submissions, the 16 dramas playing in the 2013 festival announced Nov. 8 cover a wide array of subjects and are populated by both complete unknown and well-known actors such as Casey Affleck, Daniel Radcliffe, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Biel. “[The eight directed by females] are very much women’s stories,” said Trevor Groth, the festival’s programming director. In the 2012 festival, only three of the 16 dramatic competition films were made by women. According to San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, women directed 5 percent of last year’s 250 highest-grossing films. The festival director John Cooper said the increased number of female directors for 2013 was not intentional, although he was proud of the 50 - 50 split. “Every film has to stand on its
own,” he said. “You are just looking for original stories.” Several of those stories are about women seeking physical and emotional connections. “I’m concerned with women’s concerns; I like telling intimate stories about women, about what they want and what they feel,” said Liz W. Garcia, a prominent TV writer (“Cold Case,” “Memphis Beat”) who wrote and directed “The Lifeguard,” which will be shown at the festival. Garcia’s debut feature tracks a woman (Kristen Bell) who returns to her hometown and has a dangerous affair with a high school student. “I’m proud that my movie is very female,” Garcia said. Stacie Passon wrote and directed “Concussion,” about a woman named Abby (Robin Weigert) who feels sexually abandoned in her marriage to another woman (Julie Fain Lawrence) and takes extreme steps to find companionship. Passon said that even though it portrays a lesbian relationship, her film “is really about a midlife crisis within a marriage.” Running from Jan. 17–27 in Park City, Utah, Sundance is the nation’s top showcase for movies made outside Hollywood’s studio system. The 2012 festival launched “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “The Sessions” and “Arbitrage,” all of which were directed by men and are among other
acclaimed independent productions that are considered likely awards season contenders. Though many of the festival’s more prominent big-budget titles are found in its premiere section, the competition titles tend to define the festival’s personality. “The filmmakers are delving into some very compelling relationship stories,” Cooper said. “But it’s coming from both female and male perspectives.” The Sundance competition film with the most star-laden cast, “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” is writer-
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director David Lowery’s account of a fugitive (Affleck) trying to reunite with his wife (Rooney Mara). Lowery said that even with his high-profile actors—like Ben Foster and Keith Carradine—and Texas locations, he was trying to make “a very small film” about a couple’s bond. “I really wanted to tell a story that was exceedingly simple that didn’t have a lot of twists and turns,” Lowery said. Two of the eight films helmed by women feature their directors, Lake Bell and Cherien Dabis, play-
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ing the lead roles. “The performances just come through as more connected and more authentic,” Cooper said. “But we’ve also seen it backfire on some people.” The next test for the competition filmmakers is to find a distributor in Park City. But for now, the directors are enjoying the moment, having survived the first cut. “I was absolutely speechless when John Cooper called to say I was in,” Bell said. “It is so cool.”
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DJANGO DJANGO THURSDAY MARCH 19
STRFKR
SATURDAY MARCH 23
STARS
THURSDAY MARCH 28
ALT-J
THURSDAY MAY 16
SHOUT OUT LOUDS
Tickets to Metro and Smart Bar shows are available via the Metro and Smart Bar websites and the Metro Box Office. There are NO SERVICE FEES atTHE theCOLUMBIA Metro BoxCHRONICLE Office!
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DECEMBER 10, 2012
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Apocalypse jams
ZACH STEMERICK, ART DIRECTOR
SOPHIA COLEMAN, MANAGING EDITOR
EYES WIDE OPEN // Gotye DON’T FEAR THE REAPER // Blue Oyster Cult A BAD DREAM // Keane SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE // Muse
APOCALYPSE PLEASE // Muse DEMONS // Sleigh Bells THE END // The Doors THE FOUR HORSEMEN // Metallica
TREVOR BALLANGER, ASSISTANT ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
BRIAN DUKERSCHEIN, COPY CHIEF ANOTHER WORLD // Antony & The Johnsons SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW // Keane LET IT BE // The Beatles WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD // Louis Arm-
END OF THE LINE // Sleigh Bells THE MAN COMES AROUND // Johnny Cash FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS // Metallica MAD WORLD // Michael Andrews
AUDIOFILE
All American ‘Mystery’ by Trevor Ballanger
Assistant Arts & Culture Editor THE SMELL OF sweet smoke lin-
gers, and a flurry of long red hair whips past Alex White’s face as her voice pumps through speakers and her brother, Francis, loses himself in the rhythm of his drums. The sibling duo calls itself White Mystery, a rock ‘n’ roll band that emphasizes politics and themes of empowerment. With original songs like “People Power” and “Respect Yourself,” the band’s music is reminiscent of the political songs of the ’60s and ’70s. The siblings listened to rock ‘n’ roll classics from Led Zeppelin and others growing up, which helped mold their political and artistic direction. They released their latest EP, “People Power,” April 20 and will be giving a New Year’s Eve performance at the Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Blvd. The band will tour Europe in January and February. The Chronicle talked with White, 24, about performing with her brother, her politically charged lyrics and the state of female musicians in the industry. The Chronicle: What do each of you bring to the table that allows you to work so well together? Alex White: Our two different personalities complement each other and make it possible to be a functional sibling band. While we
jammed together [previously], it wasn’t until White Mystery that it was a formal band and musical project. Two years ago, we went completely full time doing music. That’s what our days and nights are consumed by—rock ‘n’ roll. Did you get along well while growing up? Totally. People that we meet are sort of surprised by the nature of White Mystery being this brother/ sister band, but it’s all we’ve ever known. As children, we played with toys, and as teens, we learned how to play music together. Now, we’re in our 20s and in White Mystery. It’s always felt normal to us. It’s unusual to hear a sound like yours that is so authentic to bands of the ’60s and ’70s. Why is that? At night, as I was falling asleep, I would have my radio under my pillow and listen to all the old Rolling Stones songs and The Monkees, everything that they were playing on what was then Oldies 104.3 FM. I think that there’s some oldies stations now, but oldies are like ’80s and ’90s songs now, where in the ’90s, it was ’60s and ’70s. I had a lot of exposure to that and our parents’ record collection—The Who, and Led Zeppelin and all these great vinyl records. It was very influential
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as a kid, and there’s so much energy in that music. You can be young and maybe not totally understand the lyrics, but you feel the energy of it. How were you able to incorporate politics in your creative process? The universal message, especially in the song “People Power,” is it’s not just girl power, like feminism. It’s not just boy power, like being a misogynist. It’s people power. Our songwriting has a lot to do with topics we tend to find to be more interesting than, let’s say, love songs. For us, we’re more interested in reaching out to people. What are your thoughts on female rockers in the music industry today? I like to think of myself as kind of a guy or a dude, [because] touring and stuff, you have to be pretty tough. It’s not an easy thing. A couple of years ago, I would have told you that it doesn’t make much of a difference whether you’re a man or woman in the music industry, [that] you get treated equally. But [now] I’ve seen a lot more of the politics in the music industry and how it impacts women. You hear about equal pay for men and women and how important that is, and a lot of times that bias does occur when female bands get paid less in some circumstances. But it is important to recognize women as equals in the music industry and not to take them for granted. To hear their music, visit WhiteMysteryBand.com or us.Myspace. com/WhiteMysteryBand. tballanger@chroniclemail.com
Courtesy DIANE ALEXANDER WHITE
Alex White (left) and Francis White (right) of the sibling duo White Mystery sing politically charged songs with sounds from the ’60s and ’70s.
DECEMBER 10, 2012
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Silver Tongue Presents
Bloggers Blogging about Blogging_ December 12, 7-9pm The Conaway Center 1104 S. Wabash A Panel Discussion Featuring: Samantha Irby (Bitches Gotta Eat) Dmitry Samarov (Hack) & Ben Tanzer (This Blog Will Change Your Life) Reading followed by panel discussion and Q&A Moderated by Wyl Villacres (So Unsanitary) Door Prizes? Yes. Free Food? Yes.
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Art’s last stand
Courtesy RITCH WEDEKING
Chicago production company Rascals & Rogues filmed an apocalyptic beer commercial in the Financial District for Stevens Point Brewery, which can be seen at PointBeer.com. It features subliminal Mayan messages referencing 2012’s apocalyptic predictions.
by Trevor Ballanger
Assistant Arts & Culture Editor ACCORDING TO THE now infamous Mayan calendar, humanity’s days have been numbered since the dawn of time, and come Dec. 21, all life on Earth will cease. For several Chicago artists, the apocalypse is a subject that inspires them to create new works depicting the end of the world and how it will happen. Richard Laurent, an illustrator and adjunct faculty member in the Art & Design Department, said people today have a more nihilistic vision of the future because of the media’s fascination with the Mayan prophecy. Films like “2012” and “Independence Day” along with TV shows like “The Walking Dead” also postulate the apocalypse’s imminence, he said. Laurent has been to Chichen Itza, Mexico, a large Mayan city where the supposed apocalypse is
more than folklore. He said the religions of native North and Central Americans, who still practice shamanism and foresee prophecies, inspired him to create work based on Armageddon. His painting “The Simple Life” depicts a person standing idly behind a red curtain, watching as a dinosaur holding a Starbucks mug walks through a green pasture with a small cottage. A silver city sits in the distance as a representation of the future. He said the scenario is symbolic of the merging of the past and present and the shrinking middle class. “There are elements that are symbolic, and they do relate to this conflict between the ideal and the real,” Laurent said. Local artist Jason Hawk has a different take on the apocalypse in his work showcased in “Perceptions From the Parallaxis,” an exhibition at the Jackson Junge Gallery, 1389 N. Milwaukee Ave., through Jan. 13. The exhibition also
features the work of artists Jason Brammer and Keelan McMorrow, who both chose to exemplify different themes and emotions about the apocalypse. Hawk said the inspiration for his apocalyptic art came from doomsday themes like chaos, failing economies and war. He said although no one wants to see the end of the world, people should face death with courage. Hawk added that he was able to focus on the positive aspects of death by using bright colors and chromes. The result is a conceptualized version of the bird of paradise flower, which symbolizes joy. Hawk said his art forces viewers to look at death from a unique perspective that helps them feel at peace with their lives. “This is probably true for every generation: The world’s always in chaos and immediate peril,” Hawk said. “Apocalyptic themes naturally happen because of us being right at the boiling point. It’s not like we’re on the brink of war all the time, but
it’s something that seems we’ve always had going on.” The apocalypse has also found its way into commercials. Stevens Point Brewery in Wisconsin commissioned a commercial for its black ale depicting Chicago’s destruction by way of an asteroid. Ritch Wedeking, executive producer of local production company Rascals & Rogues, which produced the commercial, said he and partner/director Kerry Shaw Brown wanted to make a video inspired by the Mayan prediction. Wedeking said his company wanted to do something completely different with the end-of-the-world concept and yet remain Chicagocentric, so they filmed the commercial in the Financial District. Instead of the violent chaos associated with humanity’s demise, Wedeking and Brown depict the end in cold gray tones and soft snowfall set against the background of a riot. The commercial captures a brief romantic encounter just before
life’s chapter is closed. According to him, there are several subliminal Mayan symbols hidden in the commercial. Even though he’s advertising a product, Wedeking said there’s artistry in the work. “With some of the new cameras and editing systems and the ability for people to go out and shoot wonderful things that they probably couldn’t do before … you see a lot more artistic work within technology,” he said. “That’s something we really wanted with this project.” Laurent said every generation theorizes what the fate of our world will be, and sometimes predictions can get out of control. However, he said art will survive the apocalypse. “I don’t see an apocalypse for the arts,” Laurent said. “Art is part of culture. If there’s the last man or woman standing, we’ll be scratching something into the side of a cliff and that will be art. Art will be with us forever.” tballanger@chroniclemail.com
Courtesy RICHARD LAURENT
Failing economies and technology are common themes in Richard Laurent’s “The Simple Life” (above) and Jason Hawks’ “Battleground” (left). 26 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEBMER 10, 2012
Courtesy JASON HAWK
DECEMBER 10, 2012
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xx YOUTUBE
Continued from PG. 17
“The more success [Henig] gets, the more likely it is that some lawyer is going to come knocking on his door.” Still, Jackson said he’s happy his friend is receiving so much attention and is proud to have helped introduce him to the world. “Thousands of people are starting to see it and they’re all like, ‘Oh my God, why aren’t you signed? You’re the next big thing,’” Jackson said. “That’s just really nice to hear that there is something coming at the end of this.” Henig said that he considers himself blessed to be the center of attention and that the cover is bringing in new fans. Plus, he said being called a “pimp” by Lil Jon on Twitter was a highlight. Henig said he’s currently working on an EP, and though he planned on transferring to Mercy College in New York in January, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen with the recent attention. He said he wants to tour and make a career out of music and hopes this cover will help. “I’m not exactly the kind of guy who would sit behind a desk from 9 to 5, five days a week,” he said. “I’m the kind of guy who goes into a coffee shop and does a dirty cover. So if I can make [music] my career, I’m going to be extremely pleased.” astedman@chroniclemail.com
IMDB
Five essential holiday films
Left: James Stewart and Donna Reed in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” a 1946 Christmas drama directed and produced by Frank Capra and based on the short story “The Greatest Gift” written by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1943. Above: “Hannah and Her Sisters” stars Mia Farrow and Barbara Hershey alongside Dianne Wiest in her Academy Award-winning performance as Holly for the 1986 role.
IMDB
by Sam Flancher
with a list of five films that qualify as “essential holiday viewing.”
HOLIDAY FILMS HAVE long been an
“Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986)
Film Critic
indicator of the winter season. With such a constant influx of holidaythemed cheer, December viewing lists often become cluttered because of the daunting task of balancing old classics with new favorites. I’ve attempted to sift through the annals of seasonal fare to come up
Perhaps the most out-of-place film on the list, Woody Allen’s hilarious and tender story explores relationships within the context of Thanksgiving. While much of the film is exceedingly dark, its ending
INVITE YOU TO A SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING
Stop by the offices of the Columbia Chronicle located at 33 East Congress, Suite 224 • Chicago, IL 60605
for your chance to win a pass for two. Screening is on Monday, December 17. Each pass admits two. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Employees of all promotional partners and their agencies are not eligible. One pass per person. Screening passes valid strictly for Columbia College Chicago students, staff, and faculty only and are distributed at the discretion of the promotional partner. Those that have received a screening pass or promotional prize within the last 90 days are not eligible.
OPENS NATIONWIDE DECEMBER 21
is about as life-affirming as Allen has gotten during his career. While awaiting a potentially terminal medical diagnosis, Mickey (played by Allen) wanders into a movie theater playing the Marx Brothers’ 1933 film “Duck Soup.” Watching the film his character eventually comes to the conclusion that, “I should stop ruining my life searching for answers I’m never gonna get and just enjoy it while it lasts.” It stands as a perfectly heartwarming moment at the end of a film filled with anxiety and angst. It’s a Thanksgiving classic.
“Jingle All the Way” (1996) A relatively new entry in the holiday film canon, “Jingle All the Way” stands as a magnificent and perhaps unintentional satire about the negative effects of rampant consumerism during the holidays. In his quest to buy a coveted toy, Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) reminds audiences of the absurdity of the holiday season. The film’s message about materialism and its many evils seems to ring truer each year. xx SEE MOVIES, PG. 28
INVITE YOU TO A SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING
Stop by the offices of the Columbia Chronicle located at 33 East Congress, Suite 224 • Chicago, IL 60605
for your chance to win a pass for two to the special advance screening on Tuesday, December 18. No purchase necessary. While supplies last. A limited number of passes are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Limit one admit-two pass per person. Screening passes valid strictly for Columbia College Chicago students, staff, and faculty only and are distributed at the discretion of the promotional partner. Those that have received a screening pass or promotional prize within the last 90 days are not eligible. This film has been rated R.
IN CHICAGO THEATERS DECEMBER 28 PromisedLandFilm.com * Facebook.com/PromisedLandMovie * #PromisedLand
THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 27 COLUMBIA CHRONICLE MONDAY, DECEMBER 10
COLUMBIA CHRONICLE MONDAY, DECEMBER 17
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DECEMBER 10, 2012
Jeff Lyon // Faculty Advisor
Chris Richert // General Manager
Stephanie Goldberg // Assistant Faculty Advisor
Worst decisions by Chicago city government in 2012
Songs for the end of the world
Haikus for the end of the world
To phase in new CTA rail cars that seat riders on both sides facing each other: They must have allotted butt space by measuring 8-year-olds. The biggest problem: Fewer seats. Now it’s sardine time, with old ladies expected to hang on to flimsy, unreachable straps.
blog MyDrunkKitchen. Tumblr.com Many Chicagoans love food, and love booze. So it makes sense for this website to offer an inside look into the life of Hannah Hart, creator of a video series in which the host is a delightful lush who fumbles around her kitchen chugging booze while attempting to prepare a feast in a way that can be relatable to many.
video Queen of Etsy FunnyOrDie.com is expert at making people remember celebrities who have fallen off the radar. This time around, Rachael Leigh Cook, star of “Josie and the Pussycats,” debuts what is left of her acting skills as Ellie Harper, queen of Etsy.com, where arts and crafts seem wholesome enough, until craft enthusiasts realize Harper will do anything to stay on top.
xx MOVIES
Continued from PG. 27
“Fanny and Alexander” (1982) Many may not consider it a “holiday film,” but Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander” touches on a lot of common holiday themes. A significant portion of this episodic five-hour film is devoted to chronicling a scrumptious Swedish Christmas dinner. The film branches off into complexity but delves into
To cut down 1,000 trees to make room for ... 1,200 trees: The idea: Create a Grant Park space honoring the late Maggie Daley. Besides the tree tradeoff (look for city insiders to invest in tree farms) a playlot and tennis courts will be replaced by a playlot and climbing walls, all for a low $55 million. To close dozens of underutilized, underperforming public schools: One reason there are empty schoolrooms? People moved to the suburbs to find . . . better schools. Biggest problem: six school CEOs in 11 years. To award a $100 million O’Hare Intenational Airport contract to a firm owned by a business partner of William Daddano Jr.: Authorities say Daddano has mob ties and is the son of late mob enforcer Willie “Potatoes” Daddano. Oh, and the firm’s vice president did time for a kickback scheme that allegedly involved Tony “Big Tuna” Accardo. Gee, just like the old days. To start charging nonprofits for water and sewer service: This could cost even a small charity huge bucks. I hope when these do-gooders have to close their doors, the homeless and poor they help line up outside City Hall asking for food and clothing.
many ideas aligned with the holiday season such as tradition and decadence. In his meditation on faith and existence, Bergman uses Christmas to craft his indelible rumination on family and the conflicted lives of the bourgeoisie. “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) Perhaps the most loved of all Christmas classics, “It’s a Wonderful Life” is an annual tradition for many people. Frank Capra’s trademark sentimental tale remains
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” by R.E.M.: That’s great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane / Lenny Bruce is not afraid / Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn / World serves its own needs, regardless of your own needs/ It’s the end of the world as we know it / It’s the end of the world as we know it / And I feel fine
The Ho Ho’s demise Saddens me but not enough To make me eat one Goodbye Sidewalk Daredevil:
“The End” by The Doors: Beautiful friend / This is the end / My only friend, the end / It hurts to set you free / But you’ll never follow me / The end of laughter and soft lies/ The end of nights we tried to die / This is the end “Until the End of the World” by U2: In my dream I was drowning my sorrows / But my sorrows, they learned to swim/ Surrounding me, going down on me / Spilling over the brim/ Waves of regret and waves of joy / I reached out for the one I tried to destroy / You...you said you’d wait ’til the end of the world
Downtown skateboarder If the pavement does not kill You, then I just might Goodbye Hipster Wannabe: Bulges on your neck, Weird dents and bumps on your skull, Rethink that shaved head Goodbye Mitt Romney:
“Apocalypse Please” by Muse: Declare this an emergency / Come on and spread a sense of urgency / And pull us through / And pull us through / And this is the end/ This is the end of the world “Burn It Down” by Linkin Park: The cycle repeated/ As explosions broke in the sky / All that I needed / Was the one thing I couldn’t find/ And you were there at the turn / Waiting to let me know/ We’re building it up / To break it back down / We’re building it up / To burn it down
the perfect rendering of holiday reflection and examination. The film warms hearts while craftily weaving a tale of social acceptance. Unhappy with his life, it takes George Bailey (James Stewart) an act of heavenly benevolence to truly accept his role in his community. It’s a tale of responsibility and morality—two themes continually associated with the holidays.
You’ve been self-deported, And it’s too bad we can’t strap, You atop your car Goodbye No. 11 Lincoln Bus: Oh, Forrest Claypool, Your run for the county board Got hit by a bus
must-see.
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas !” (1966) The gold standard of animated holiday classics, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” offers audiences a moralistic parable about the true meaning of Christmas. In a culture consumed by corporate greed and commercialism, the movie serves as a prudent reminder of how far we’ve strayed from holiday ideals. If the lessons are too cheesy or blunt, the clever poetry and hand-drawn animation are sure to make up for it. The sly songs and animation make the film a must-see. sflancher@chroniclemail.com
28 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
Goodbye Hostess Factory:
IMDB
(left) “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” (top) “Fanny and Alexander” (bottom) “Jingle All the Way”
DECEMBER 10, 2012
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THIS IS GOLD. Nicccccceeee. Tolerable. Uhmmm, wut? No—just no.
“Pocket Like It’s Hot” video This Hot Pockets commercial is exactly what it sounds like—a full-length parody of “Drop it Like It’s Hot” by Snoop Dogg featuring Andy Milonakis and someone dressed as a Hot Pocket. Forget the old Hot Pockets jingle, this song is hotter. “Got some cheesy drizzle, dripping on my shizzle.” —T. Davis
“Glee” Season 4 As it nears its midseason finale, Glee has had an interesting season so far. Two main couples broke up, the New Directions lost sectionals and the new characters aren’t that bad. Hopefully the newbies will get better character development in the second half. —D. Valera
“Ride” music video by Lana Del Rey I’m basically obsessed at this point. Whatever. This 10-minute music video features gorgeous cinematography and reveals Lana’s daddy-issues through the story of a girl lost in an Americana world and trying to break free. A moving poem is also spoken in the video’s intro and outro. —T. Ballanger
“Pop Danthology 2012” music video Daniel Kim’s Pop Danthology 2012, an 8-minute YouTube mashup of more than 50 pop songs includes this year’s most sugary guilty pleasures. It is indulgent to say the least. It’s a fun last-call for the year’s forgotten one-hit-wonders as well as the year’s defining hit classics. —E. Ornberg
“The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway This is one of Hemingway’s earliest novels but probably one of his best. It’s a brilliant perspective of the Lost Generation that resonates throughout time. Any reader can relate to his characters. Understanding love and destiny are big themes. —B. Smith
“Gift Guide for Your Depressed Friends” It’s holiday season, which means gift guides abound. I never found one helpful until I stumbled upon the “Gift Guide for Your Depressed Friends” by Holden Desalles. The list has suggestions such as Moleskin notebooks, deep fryers and the book “Love’s Executioner.” —H. Zolkower-Kutz
“Bhagavad-Gita” by Ved Vyasa I was walking down Belmont Avenue the other day when a Hare Krishna monk approached me and gently handed me a copy of this poem. This Hindu epic imparts wisdom about devotion, selflessness and finding divinity within oneself. I’m not a saint, but I will be in no time with this scripture. —G. Rosas
“Essentials of Economics” by Bradley Schiller I spent many hours reading your infinitely fascinating economic theories. Alas, you are borrowed, and I must now return you to the bookstore. We’ve had some great times and some terrible times. It will be bittersweet returning you and moving on from my short-lived life as an economic expert. —L. Woods
“Get Disowned” by Hop Along Hop Along wrote my favorite album of 2012. Much like watching a car crash, lead singer Frances Quinlan’s haunting lyrics and vocal approach hurt to witness but captivate in a way that is nearly impossible to turn off. Listen to “Get Disowned” with headphones on and eyes closed. —M. Nuccio
“Locked Out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars I did not really start listening to Bruno Mars until he released the song “Our First Time” from his album “Doo-Wops & Hooligans.” “Locked Out of Heaven” is a new, hyper-energetic, slightly retro and funky song that shows a new side of Mars that I enjoy for once. —C. Sanchez
“Dirty Love” by Ke$ha feat. Iggy Pop This collaboration is Ke$ha’s latest single off her new album, “Warrior,” and though I often tire of hearing her on the radio, I’d be fine with hearing this over and over again. She stays true to her pop sounds, which will satisfy fans, but Iggy Pop’s contribution will even get haters moving. —A. Stedman
“Christmas ’64” by Jimmy Smith So you want that holly jolly feeling but can’t listen to one more candy cane-coated carol? Check out “Christmas ’64” by Hammond B3 legend Jimmy Smith. His songs are swinging renditions of your perennial favorites played fast and loose and accompanied by a 10-piece orchestra. —J. Foster
Volcanoes I’m well aware that volcanoes cause a lot of inconvenience to people, but there’s something exciting about when they erupt. Some benefits of volcanoes are that they release opals, obsidian and numerous minerals that come from the thick fluids in a volcano’s eruption. —J. Reese
Swollen lymph nodes Oh, hey there, swollen glands! Perfect timing! Of course you show up with just one week left in the semester. While I’d be upset if this happened during break, I could at least sit in the coziness of my parents’ house and feel as though it’s acceptable to relax. . —S. Coleman
To-do lists My workload is overwhelming. I have a mess of names, appointments and assignments sloshing around my brain. The only way I can keep things straight is to channel the mess into at least two daily to-do lists. Unfortunately, I have tons of them floating around my apartment. —K. Fowler
Mr. Clean Magic Erasers I’m a pretty jaded person, but the wonderful performance of this cleaning tool prompted me to pick up the phone and call Procter & Gamble to congratulate them on their fine product. Scuffed baseboards, soap scum and greasy stovetops have met their match. —B. Dukershein THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 29
Monday, DECEMBER 10, 2012
The Columbia Chronicle
EDITORIALS
STUDENT POLL
Add ‘gender identity’ to anti-discrimination statement COLUMBIA’S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION
statement reads, “Columbia will not tolerate harassment or discrimination based on religion, race, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or ethnicity by or of its students, faculty, or staff.” One category that is noticeably absent from the statement is gender identity. Should transgender students face discrimination, there is no guarantee they will receive the same protection against discrimination as other students under the categories outlined in the statement. Gender identity is included in 498 colleges’ and universities’ nondiscrimination statements, according to the Transgender Law & Policy Institute. Although Columbia is fairly progressive when it comes to sexual orientation, the college’s current policies affecting transgender students are embarrassingly out of date. Columbia does have a set of transgender inclusive policies ready to be implemented, Vice President of Student Affairs Mark Kelly told The Chronicle for this week’s issue, but there is no set
date for when these policies will go into effect. Residence Life at Columbia does not have an official policy for housing transgender students in accordance with their gender identity. Some colleges and universities offer housing options that address the needs of transgender students, such as Ithaca College in New York, where students can submit a special transgender housing request to specify what living arrangement would make them most comfortable. Columbia should have a process that considers the needs of transgender people in housing that makes them a priority. Columbia’s transgender students also lack the ability to change their preferred name and gender on school records, which means their transgender status is revealed every time their name appears on an attendance sheet or email list. Transgender students shouldn’t be outed by their college email address, and they shouldn’t have to explain their gender identity to every teacher and hope they will be treated with the respect they deserve.
Minimum wage should be living wage
THE WORKERS ORGANIZING Com-
mittee of Chicago, a union of restaurant and retail workers, started a campaign called #FightFor15 on Nov. 15 to raise the minimum wage to $15. To emphasize their argument, WOCC members rallied for their cause on Black Friday near shoppers, according to the union’s website. Illinois’ minimum wage is currently $8.25 per hour—$1 more than the federal minimum—but still may be too low to live on, especially for large families. Working full time for Illinois’ minimum wage adds up to $17,160 per year before taxes if one worked full time every single week, which many don’t. The federal individual poverty level is $11,170, but the poverty level for households of three or more people starts at $19,090. The Illinois legislature proposed a more moderate increase in February to $10.55, as reported by The Chronicle Feb. 13. The WOCC’s campaign is noble, but
the previously proposed increases to the minimum wage are a good start. The process for determining minimum wage is a bit too complicated to simply demand that it be set at $15 per hour, but Chicago, or Illinois as a whole, should pass legislation requiring the minimum wage to be a living wage that can support an average-sized household living on a single income. More than 120 municipalities in the U.S. have already passed living wage laws requiring companies that receive government funds to pay their employees a fair wage that is usually much higher than minimum wage, according to a report by the National Employment Law Project. In 2006, the City Council tried to pass an ordinance that would require large retailers like WalMart to pay their employees a wage that supporters of the ordinance defined as a living wage. Former Mayor Richard M. Daley vetoed the bill, which was his first veto while
At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, students can choose to display a preferred name on records seen by faculty and students without needing to have their name legally changed. Trans-inclusive housing and bookkeeping policies still aren’t the norm at U.S. colleges, but the simple act of including transgender people in a nondiscrimination statement has already happened on campuses around the country, and it should happen here. It could take time for an institution as large as Columbia to implement trans-inclusive policies for housing and college records, but it would take very little time and effort for it to update its policy on discrimination. Promising to officially treat transgender people with the same basic respect as everyone else is the bare minimum and would represent the college’s first step toward total equality on campus. Columbia should implement the transgender policies it has created as soon as possible, starting with the addition of gender identity to its anti-discrimination statement. in office, according to a 2006 Associated Press article. The bill would have required big-box retailers to pay their employees at least $10 per hour. The Illinois minimum wage at the time was $6.50. The bill was vetoed because of the belief that a higher wage would create fewer jobs, according to a Sept. 11, 2006 press release from Wal-mart. Even if a low minimum wage creates more jobs, they will be jobs that barely support the workers. A living wage for a single adult in Cook County would be $10.48 per hour for those working full time, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator. The federal minimum wage would be $10.55 per hour right now if it paralleled inflation, according to RaiseTheMinimumWage.org. As nice as a $15 per hour minimum wage seems, $10.55 would be a sufficient minimum wage as long as future increases are regularly made to keep up with the cost of living. Workers will always ask for higher wages, but they should focus on making sure their wages are set at a living wage.
Editorial Board Members AJ Abelman Photo Editor Tyler Davis Commentary Editor Michael Scott Fisher Graphic Designer Nader Ihmoud Assistant Sports & Health Editor
Alex Stedman Assistant Arts & Culture Editor Dennis Valera Multimedia Editor Senah Yeboah-Sampong Assistant Campus Editor Hallie Zolkower-Kutz Assistant Metro Editor
30 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
Should transgender students be put in housing based on their expressed gender or birth gender? I would say their expressed [gender]. Making people live in an identity that is something they don’t see as true to themselves, it’s really damaging and makes people feel self-conscious. Christopher Tyioran junior journalism major
They should be housed by whatever [gender] they feel more comfortable with. It shouldn’t matter if they used to be a boy and now they’re a girl. Krystal Mayomi junior photography major
I’d say their birth [gender] even though I really don’t have a problem with it. Maybe Columbia could give an option, but I’d say birth [gender]. Dalton Viggers freshman film & video major
EDITORIAL CARTOONS
MCT Newswire
See page 32 for the letters to the editor for this week
Did you catch a mistake, think we could have covered a story better or believe strongly 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 Columbia Chronicle Editorial Board
DECEMBER 10, 2012
#Democracy by Tyler Davis
Commentary Editor THE U.S. HAS more than 245 mil-
lion Internet users, or 78 percent of the population, according to InternetWorldStats.com. Based on the recent election, this means the country has more Internet users than voters, as only 57.5 percent of eligible voters turned out this year, according to a Nov. 8 CNN. com article. Politicians are now beginning to take advantage of the
hyper-engaged audience they’ve found online. California Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-16th) posted a thread on Reddit Nov. 19 asking for suggestions on a bill that would limit the government’s ability to take down websites allegedly involved in criminal activities. She received hundreds of responses and promised to post the bill again once it was fully written. Following Lofgren’s lead on Nov. 27, California Rep. Darrell Issa (R-49th) posted the full text of a bill on the website that would put a two-year moratorium on Internet legislation such as SOPA and PIPA to allow Internet advocates to gather their resources and lobby against harmful regulation. He asked Reddit users to comment on the bill, and because Internet legislation has become a controversial issue, Issa’s thread garnered more than 2,500 comments.
Many Reddit users questioned his motives and pointed out that he voted for CISPA, a bill that would make it easier for the government to gather information from websites about their users. Issa may have been expecting a warm welcome from the Reddit community, but the criticism he received was likely very informative and helpful. Hopefully the harsh reaction to his posts won’t make him shy away from social media in the future. He could gain a lot of credibility by engaging in discussions with Internet users, which could also lead to Internet legislation that actually addresses their concerns. Issa also did an Ask Me Anything thread on March 7, in which Reddit users asked the congressman questions. President Barack Obama did an AMA in August, but his answers seemed more like canned sound bites than the honest, onthe-spot answers Issa gave in his AMA thread. Reddit is the perfect platform for a virtual town hall meeting. The website allows any user to post a
GRADUATE COLUMNS
If graduating from Columbia was like winning an Oscar
by Brian Dukerschein Copy Chief
[WAITS FOR APPLAUSE to die down.]
Oh my god, this is unbelievable! Honestly, I never expected this. Oh, and I have nothing prepared! [Surreptitiously removes folded piece of paper from jacket pocket.] Well, first I need to thank Dianne Erpenbach, former director of the Fashion/Retail Management Program, who was an indispensable resource when I transferred to Columbia. She was always accessible and did her best to minimize the loss of three years I spent at an unaccredited institution that shall remain nameless. It was she who first broached the idea that I combine my love of the fashion industry and the written word by declaring an interdisciplinary major, for which I’ll be forever grateful. Janet Talbot, associate director of the Advising Center, got the ball rolling and made the process a smooth one. Betsy Edgerton, my adviser and director of the Magazine Writing & Editing Program, I cannot thank you enough for your immediate support and belief in my potential. Thank you for pushing me (despite my many protests) to enroll in a summer session of Reporting & Writing II taught by Jeff Lyon, which was perhaps the singular
class of my college career. Jeff, you took a terrified, insecure journalism newbie and patiently helped me develop my skills as a reporter. I will never forget the lessons I learned in your class, nor the fact that it was you who suggested I apply to The Chronicle (again, despite my many protests). To my Chronicle family, both current and those who have moved on to the real world: Matt Watson, thank you for taking me under your wing and answering all of my tedious questions. Amber Meade, I’ll always remember the cursing and laughter we shared at the copy desk, traditional Native American hula hooping included. Heidi Unkefer, from my very first day to my very last, you have been an eternal delight, a wonderful friend and a fantastic designer. Gabby Rosas and Jack Reese, you’ve survived 15 weeks of close, continuous contact with me, and therefore deserve medals, or at least a bottle of vodka. I hope I wasn’t too much of a nightmare. Heather Schröering, you are a gifted editor, and your commitment to excellence will take you far. It has been an honor working with you. Lindsey Woods, I’ve so enjoyed our friendship and discovering our similarities. Sophia Coleman, you, more than anyone, have been my companion and confidant during the last two years. I wish you nothing but success and happiness. Stephanie Goldberg, your humor and guidance were always appreciated. Chris Richert, you are a god among men and deserve a 200 percent raise and an office with a view. To the many reporters who’ve put up with my exasperated sighs, eye-rolls and f-bombs: You’re all saints for not murdering me in my sleep. But rest assured, every edit
I’ve ever made was to help your work shine (and protect us from libel). Remember to always confirm name spellings and stay away from clichéd ledes. To the entire staff and faculty of the Journalism Department and the 33 E. Congress Parkway Building: Thank you for the memories. I’ve spent more time here in the last three semesters than in my own apartment. Thanks for waiving the security deposit. Jennifer Halperin, you deserve sainthood. Keep sending those emails. Kristen Menke, thanks for sharing the Kool-Aid and letting me gripe about my copy woes.
Wait, does this mean I no longer get a U-Pass and access to free color printing? Last and most of all, I would never have made it this far without my parents, Gordon and Beverly Dukerschein. Your unwavering support, unceasing love and preternatural patience are the only reasons I’m here today. Thank you for limiting my TV viewing to two hours per week, never letting me play video games, encouraging me to read, forcing me to pick rock in the fields, attending every parentteacher conference and instilling in me an invaluable work ethic. I love you both from the bottom of my heart. [Cue music. Cut to commercial.] bdukerschein@chroniclemail.com
COMMENTARY
thread, and other users can vote on it positively or negatively. The threads with the most “upvotes” make it to the front page. Users can also vote on individual comments, so the most popular questions in AMA threads make it to the top and are the most likely to be answered. The whole process is inherently democratic. The bills crowdsourced on Reddit thus far have centered around Internet regulations because many of the website’s users are knowledgeable and passionate about the subject, but it would be great to see politicians ask people on the Web for input on other issues. Politicians began using social media as soon as it became an obvious platform for attracting voters, but many of them are approaching it like old media by promoting themselves without listening to their followers. Most congressional Twitter accounts are ambiguous about whether or not they are ghostwritten by a staff member, according to an Aug. 1 analysis by TheHill. com. Although many of Obama’s
THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 31
tweets are written by his staff, he allegedly writes personal tweets on the account, signing his initials when he does. Composing a tweet doesn’t take much time, and when used properly, it can be a great way for politicians to engage with their constituents. Politicians should start posting their own tweets, or at least be transparent about who is actually writing them. The Internet provides a great opportunity for politicians to have real conversations and get feedback from the public. The country just needs politicians who know how to use social media effectively. As the Millennial generation comes of age, hopefully we will elect politicians from our own ranks who know how to use the Internet to listen to the general public and answer its questions. The Internet can be used for more than just self-promotion, pornography and cat pictures, and its potential for democratic community building has just began to be realized. tdavis@chroniclemail.com
What will I do with a writing degree? A lot
by Amber Meade Office Assistant
I’LL NEVER FORGET the first story I
wrote as an 18-year-old freshman in the Fiction Writing Department. I had watched “My Own Private Idaho” for the first time, so naturally my piece was about male prostitutes. Despite not knowing what the hell I was doing and being one of the few students in the department who hadn’t grown up consuming literature religiously, it was an exciting time because no topic was untouchable. And I owe my biggest thanks to one man who led me here. Billy Kaplan, you inspired me to take the huge leap of applying to Columbia’s Fiction Writing program. Although I still grapple with the insecurities that popped up midway through my time here, and I have to sometimes knock out that bastard internal critic, I wouldn’t have believed that I have stories to tell if it weren’t for you. Allison, my big sister, best friend and partner in crime, I know you wanted a little brother so you could name him Sylvester, but you managed to eventually accept me instead. Thank you for not caring that I write about you—or are you flattered? Your story is one that people should know because it’s proof of your resilience. And though I don’t express it enough,
that’s one of the attributes I admire most about you. If only Mom could see us now. She would be proud of the badass women we’ve become and will continue to be. Oh, The Chronicle, while my relationship with you and copy editing is filled with hostility, affection supersedes that. Spending countless hours and 90 or so production days hunched over that desk, maintaining the battle wounds of pen marks and Wite-Out stains, as they were once described to me, it has all made me a better copy editor and writer. Brian, Gabby and others I’ve worked with on the copy desk, especially my mentor, Lisa Wardle, I would’ve lost my mind if it weren’t for you all. Thanks for the laughs galore, peeps. Chris, it’s been an honor being your right and left hand this semester. I can only hope my future bosses are like you. Blanca Sandoval, my relationship with you is a lot like the one I have with The Chronicle. I cherish the hilarious moments we’ve shared during the last six-and-ahalf years, especially throughout college. I also appreciate your candid critiques of my writing and psychoanalyzations of my semiautobiographical characters. I look forward to our married-couple arguments as we dive into our separate fields. We made it! I have only one regret: passing up my first possible publishing opportunity sophomore year because I was too much of a coward to release such a personal account out into the world. I also believed it wasn’t good enough, but when I think this way now, I always remember what my Screenwriting I professor once said: “There are three steps to writing: s--t, bulls--t and holy s--t.” ameade@chroniclemail.com THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 31
32 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
DECEMBER 10, 2012
Benjamin Cohen, vice president of SGA
In Mr. Ihmoud’s [Top 5] “Reasons America’s ties with Israel need to end,” I was offended and appalled by the omissions and distortions. 1. Children: Some 42% of Israeli children suffer from some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the rockets that rain down on Israel from Gaza. Imagine for a moment that you have a child in the south of Israel. You send her off to school every day knowing that when that siren sounds, she has 15 seconds at most to take shelter, there is nothing you can do. Even after the fighting stops, she panics and runs toward a bomb shelter every time she hears an ambulance. This is no way to live. On the other side, according to the Palestinian Center For Human Rights, 23 Palestinian children were killed in the most recent round of fighting. This is an absolutely tragic result of Hamas locating its rocket launchers and munitions depots amongst its schools, mosques and hospitals. Israel avoids killing any civilians at all costs, while Hamas makes this its number one goal. Hamas has proudly boasted that it uses its women and children as human shields, whereas for Israel, protecting children is of paramount importance whether they are Jewish, Muslim, or Christian. 2. Civilian Deaths: Israel makes protecting the lives of all civilians, Israel and Palestinian, its top priority. While Hamas invests in bombs, Israel invests in defensive measures such as the US-backed Iron Dome system which can shoot down rockets from Gaza that are likely to hit Israeli population centers. Israel has also invested billions of dollars in bomb shelters, air raid sirens, and emergency alerts. All these measures have kept Israeli civilian casualties low. The Israel Defense Forces also does all it can to warn Palestinian civilians of attacks on the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including LETTER TO THE EDITOR
sending SMS text messages, phone calls and dropping leaflets in Arabic to warn them to evacuate the area. In the words of Colonel Richard Kemp, the Israeli army does “more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.” Despite all of these amazing measures, Palestinian civilians are inevitably killed due to Hamas’ cynical use of its people as human shields. 3. 10,000 displaced : In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip, removing thousands of families from their homes in an attempt at peace. Instead of peace, Israel got rockets. 10,000 Palestinians were displaced in the fighting. But the fact of the matter is that there would be none displaced if Hamas would stop the rockets. Furthermore, Israel has sent tons and tons of aid into Gaza just about every day since 2005. Even amid rocket fire, Israel continues to send aid to Gaza. Israel cares more about the people of Gaza than Hamas does. 4. Racism: Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, has said that in a future Palestinian state, there cannot be a single Jew. Hamas and Hezbollah are committed to murdering every Jew in the world. This is racism and genocide. Israel, on the other hand, is a free and democratic society, open to people of all religions and ethnicities. In Israel, there are Arabs in the Israeli parliament, on the Supreme Court, an Arab woman was voted Miss Israel, etc. etc. 5. Future Conflict: Along with most Israelis, I want to see a peaceful future, a Palestine living sideby-side in peace and prosperity with the nation-state of the Jewish people. Until the Palestinians prove themselves able to do this, Israel can and must continue to defend itself and we must support its right and obligation to do so.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Joseph Wulfsohn, junior film & video major
I read the Columbia Chronicle every Monday morning, and in the December 3rd issue, I came across “Top 5 Reasons America’s ties with Israel need to end” by Nader Ihmoud on page 26. As a Jewish student and a proud Israeli supporter, I found this piece to be completely offensive and biased towards the Palestinians for all of the wrong reasons. As you probably know, the conflict between Israel and Palestinians has been an ongoing problem for decades. The land of Israel, officially declared a Jewish State in 1948, has been fought for and fought over for centuries, since before biblical times. The conflict between Israel and Hamas, a terrorist organization, has risen to new levels this past few weeks. Hamas has bombarded Israelis with rockets for years, killing hundreds if not thousands of innocent lives, and LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Israel finally stood up against the threat and retaliated. And with Israel’s Iron Dome (which was funded by the U.S.), thousands of lives were saved. Ihmoud points out that 70 of the 105 Palestinians killed were civilians, as well as 23 Palestinian children were among them, but he does not point out how Hamas uses those civilians as human shields as schools, hospitals and other public facilities become their own bunkers to hide out and store ammunition. Again, the members of Hamas are some of the many people in the Middle East who were chanting “Death to America! Death to Israel!” this past September 11th over a viral antiMuslim video. A subject like the IsraeliPalastinian conflict is deserving of front page news, instead of such headlines you have pub-
Aymen Abdel Halim, adjunct professor, DePaul University
I am writing to express my appreciation for Nader Ihmoud’s “Top 5 reasons America’s ties with Israel need to end.” Like Ihmoud, I believe we should be critical of our government’s relationship with Israel, or any state that violates human rights and international law. Israel is in violation of numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.N. Charter, and the Geneva Conventions, among countless other crimes against humanity that Palestinians have been subject to. The U.S. government, however, continues to express its unwavering support for Israel through diplomatic gestures and continued monetary aid. I appreciate the facts and figures Ihmoud shares because they illustrate the reality of the PalestinianIsraeli conflict. It’s not often that the American public is presented with realistic reporting on the
conflict. For this reason, I’d like to add 5 truths about the conflict to help provide more awareness on the issue. 1. This is not a centuries-long religious war between Jews and Muslims. It’s a political conflict over territory. 2. Between 1947 and 1948, nearly a million Palestinians were dispossessed of their land to create the state of Israel. In 1967, Israel began illegally occupying the Palestinian territories (West Bank and the Gaza Strip) and have continued to establish large numbers of illegal settlements in the West Bank. 3. Israel’s illegal siege of the Gaza Strip (1.7 million Palestinians, mostly refugees) prohibits anyone from leaving or entering and restricts essential goods from entering the region. 4. The conflict is not on a “level
Louis Silverstein, distinguished professor in the Humanities, History & Social Sciences Department
As the college goes about its prioritization process, I wish to share my perspective on the issue based on my long-term journey as an educator on planet Earth. “One of the most disturbing facts that came out in the trial of Nazi Adolph Eichmann was that a psychiatrist examined him and pronounced him perfectly sane. I do not doubt it at all, and that is precisely why I find it disturbing. The sanity of Eichmann is disturbing. We equate sanity with a sense of justice, with humanness, with prudence, with the capacity to love and understand other people. We rely on the sane people of the world to preserve it from barbarism, madness and destruction. And now it begins to dawn on us that it is precisely the sane ones who are the most dangerous. It is the sane ones, the well-adapted ones, who can without qualms and without nausea aim the missiles and press the buttons that will initiate the great festival of destruction that they, the sane ones have prepared. We can no longer assume
that because a man is ‘sane,’ he is therefore in his right mind.”– Thomas Merton Or, to put it succinctly, when asked what he thought about Western civilization, Gandhi allegedly replied: I think it would be a good idea. I do trust that the wisdom of Winston Churchill: “As the technological capability of humans continues on its relentless march to who knows where, we must remember that there is a thin veil that separates civilized man from savage man. Unless there is as much effort put into the cultivation of the teachings of the heart—compassion, mercy and caring—as there is into the cultivation of the mind, history teaches us that the human race is in store for barbaric tragedies on a scale that dwarfs the imagination.” And Krishnamurti, “Without inner richness worldly things become extravagantly important, leading to various forms of destruction and misery. When we are inwardly poor, we indulge in every form of outward
32 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
lished in the past like “Wicker Park: Top Ranked Hipster Hood” and “Cancer in Movies Lacks Positive Vibes.” Like most people, I pray for peace in the Middle East and that this conflict will finally end. Israel may have one of the greatest armed forces on the planet, but it is a nation of peace. Israel has never incited a war. Nader Ihmoud’s “Top 5 Reasons America’s ties with Israel need to end” does not depict this conflict fairly and makes Israel look like the bully when it is truly the victim. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can sum up the conflict in one sentence: “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.”
show, in wealth, power and possessions.” To be sure, we wish to turn out the best and the brightest as customarily defined with the halls of academia, but surely given the Columbia legacy and mission (“author the culture of their times?”), we do not want our students to go into the world and join the minds from Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Stanford who were the architects and those who implemented the Vietnam War as so brilliantly written about in David Halberstam’s “The Best and The Brightest.” Perhaps, Parker Palmer, writing in “To Know As We Are Known: Education As A Spiritual Journey,” put it best when he speaks to the absolute necessity of including the fostering and nurturing of the heart of loving kindness in the educational process: “If knowledge were to be infused with love, then knowing, a process in which the subjective and the objective interact would involve students and subject meeting in ways that allow facts to be warmed up, made fit for hu-
man habitation by passions. The minds we have used to divide and conquer creation were given to us for another purpose: to raise to awareness the communal nature of reality, to overcome separateness and alienation by a knowing that is loving, to reach out with intelligence to acknowledge and renew the bonds of life. The failure of modern knowledge is a failure to allow love to inform the relations that our knowledge creates—with ourselves, with each other, with the whole animate and inanimate world. Hence, a central question facing educators is how can the places where we learn to know become places where we also learn to love as brothers and sisters all of existence.” To be sure, critical and creative thinking, modes of expression of a high order, skilled way above the commonplace are to be included among the specific desired learning outcomes of a core curriculum. But why not students who are more compassionate, more just, and more loving?
playing field.” It is a matter of a powerful military occupier crushing an essentially defenseless people and occupying their land. Fact: Nearly 1,400 Palestinians (including over 300 children), were massacred during Israel’s attack on Gaza in 2008-2009. Ten Israeli soldiers, and 3 civilians were killed in the fighting. 5. According to international law, Palestinians have a right to resist their occupier, Israel. Considering these facts along with Ihmoud’s, maybe the U.S. government’s aid to Israel (over $3.1 billion a year) should be contingent upon Israel’s compliance with human rights and international law. It simply wouldn’t make sense to continue funding a state that violates the very principles of dignity and respect for all humanity. Thank you for all your great work.
Monday, DECEMBER 10, 2012
The Columbia Chronicle
LGBT-FRIENDLINESS
Illinois could be next to recognize gay marriage LGBT friendliness may foreshadow marriage equality by Hallie Zolkower-Kutz Assistant Metro Editor ALTHOUGH
INFORMATION COURTESY FREEDOMTOMARRY.ORG Marcus Nuccio THE CHRONICLE
SAME-SEX
COUPLES
can’t marry in Illinois, Chicago scored 95 out of 100 for LGBT-friendliness on the new Municipal Equality Index published Nov. 27 by the Human Rights Campaign. The MEI scores cities based on a list of 47 criteria under six broad categories, including “nondiscrimination laws,” “relationship recognition by the city” and “municipality as employer,” according to Paul Guequierre, the HRC’s deputy press secretary. The city received high marks in all categories except “municipality as employer,” the most heavily weighted section. It evaluates nondiscrimination ordinances in city employment, city contractors’ equal benefits ordinances, domestic partner health benefits for employees, legal dependent benefits and equivalent family leave. Chicago scored 16 out of 26 for that sec-
Cell phone bills new frontier for fraud
by Kaley Fowler Metro Editor
CELLPHONE BILLS MAY be the new hotbed of fraud, according to a recent Citizens Utility Board report. The report, released Dec. 7 in conjunction with the wireless research firm Validas, shows that the number of cramming charges, or fraudulent third-party fees for services that customers have not solicited, has almost doubled during the last year. The findings indicate that scam artists are targeting cellphone users who do not closely examine their wireless bills, said CUB Executive Director David Kolata during a Dec. 7 news conference. “The analysis suggests that wireless cramming is a growing problem in Illinois,” Kolata said. “As they’re driven from landline bills, scam artists may see our cellphones as a new frontier for fraud.” According to John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud for the National Consumers League, three parties facilitate cramming practices: wireless service providers,
xx SEE LGBT, PG. 36
Blood donations needed as holidays near
billing aggregators and third-party service providers. “Most consumers don’t realize this, but their phone bills can be used almost like a credit card to charge them for different products and services,” Breyault said. He explained that third-party service providers tack on charges for services such as ringtone downloads and enhanced voicemail without consumers’ consent. The scammers are able to do this because they work with billing aggregators who allow them to sneak miscellaneous fees onto cellphone bills, he said. Although many customers are charged for services they have not purchased, wireless service providers do not seek to end the practice because they also profit from it, according to Breyault. “Unfortunately, all three of the players have a financial interest in making sure that the system continues as it is because they all get a cut of what consumers pay,” Breyault said. The best way for wireless xx SEE CRAMMING, PG. 35
tion, according to the report. Chicago lacks city contractor nondiscrimination and equal benefits ordinances but scored 5 out of 5 in the criteria of “nondiscrimination in city employment,” according to the report. Chicago does not have any ordinances that prevent sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, which Guequierre believes are essential to ensure LGBT residents are protected. “It’s really become the new normal in employment—typically in the corporate America but growing in the public sector as well—to provide protections for employees,” he said. “It’s become the rule and not the exception.” Springfield was also evaluated and received a score of 70. State laws were not incorporated into the relationship recognition section of the report because a city can support marriage equality regardless of state laws, according to Guequierre. “You have to remember Illinois is very diverse,” said Jacob Meister, governing board president
by Elizabeth Earl Contributing Writer
AS THE HOLIDAY season approach-
es, blood banks nationwide are encouraging people to donate in an effort to combat a possible blood shortage. “Generally during the holiday season, people are more preoccupied with shopping and decorations than giving blood,” said Karen Schwarz, senior marketing representative for Heartland Blood Centers, adding that blood shortages are very common during winter months. There are 9.5 million blood donors in the U.S., but that’s not enough to meet demand if there was a sudden catastrophe this time of year, said Andrew Ross, a blood donor program recruiter for the University of Illinois Medical Center. Ross said there would be a deficit of blood if thousands of people went to the hospital at once for transfusions. Even if healthy people donated immediately, it wouldn’t matter
Marcus Nuccio THE CHRONICLE
xx SEE BLOOD, PG. 36 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 33
34 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 10, 2012
Combatting winter tourism lull
by Angelica Sanchez Contributing Writer
AS WINTER SETS in, Chicago will
amp up its tourism efforts to encourage travelers to visit the city during cold weather months. The plan will expand on the city’s summer tourism initiatives, which included TV spots and digital advertising. The summer initiative generated $207 million in revenue, according to a Nov. 14 press release from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office. Emanuel and ChooseChicago. com, the city’s official tourism website, will launch a winter tourism campaign effective in January. “Chicago’s regional campaigns deliver significant revenues, especially during need periods,” said Meghan Risch, Choose Chicago’s vice president of communications, in an email. “Increased leisure visitation to Chicago delivers immedi-
ate value for the city’s overall economic development efforts, as well as our hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail and cultural attractions. The overwhelming positive response to this effort clearly shows that a well-developed and flawlessly executed campaign drives increased visitor spending and the new tax revenues.” The details have yet to be finalized, but such a campaign is likely to benefit the city during cold months, according to Dan Hibbler, an associate professor in DePaul University’s School for New Learning. “Regionally, [tourism] dies down after the holidays, especially from January to February,” Hibbler said, adding that people are more likely to stay home during the winter. If the winter campaign is successful, the result could be more jobs and a surplus in tax revenue, according to the mayoral press release, which notes that Chicago’s
I tend to believe that as the economy grows, tourism grows.” – Dan Hibbler
Rena Naltsas THE CHRONICLE
Chicago is expanding on summer tourism initiatives to combat the tourism lull the city experiences in the winter. The initiative could open a door to jobs and a surplus in tax revenue.
tourism industry is responsible for 128,000 jobs, $725 million in tax revenue and $12 billion in direct spending. A regional winter tourism campaign would stimulate tourism for many winter-related attractions, said Sondra Katzen, a spokeswoman for the Brookfield Zoo. “We offer free days this time of year to try to encourage people to come out in the wintertime and see the zoo in a different way,” Katzen said. “A lot of people don’t know
that [we’re] open no matter what the weather is.” Other areas in the region have winter attractions that continue to draw crowds. According to Dan Cunningham, director of tourism in East Peoria, local attractions are successfully drawing tourists. He said the East Peoria Festival of Lights has been attracting visitors since 1984 and is a destination for more than 600 tour buses each winter. Regardless of what efforts are
made to encourage tourism, Hibbler said he believes that a strong economy will prevail this winter. “I tend to believe that as the economy grows, tourism grows,” Hibbler said. “It’s one of the largest and fastest growing revenue streams in the world. When investors and consumers don’t have confidence in the economy, they will be much more cautious in their spending and leisure activity.”
g o t as l
?
Learn a second language while earning Humanities credits. Register for ASL I or Deaf Culture today! (No prerequisite needed)
The study of American Sign Language sets a strong foundation for those interested in further study in the fields of Linguistics, Education and the Social Sciences. The study of ASL appeals to students in any major, including those who have a special interest in language, communication, theater and movement and who enjoy working with other people. For more information, stop by the ASL-English Interpretation Department at 33 East Congress, Suite 401, or call 312/369-7837. You can visit us on the web at www.colum.edu/asl
34 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
chronicle@colum.edu
DECEMBER 10, 2012
METRO
CTA offers free rides on New Year’s Eve
by Jon Hilkevitch MCT Newswire
THE CHICAGO TRANSIT Authority,
which is raising the price of fare passes by as much as 74 percent next year, offered a New Year’s Eve toast to riders Dec. 4 by announcing free rides for six hours starting late Dec. 31. MillerCoors, the maker of Miller Lite beer, was named the first corporate sponsor of the annual CTA Penny Rides program, which will be in effect from 10 p.m. New Year’s Eve through 4 a.m. Jan. 1 to provide safe holiday transportation. Although the CTA is required by
statute to collect fares from passengers, bus drivers and rail station attendants frequently wave revelers aboard on New Year’s Eve without charging the 1-cent fare. Now that policy will be semiofficial under the three-year $1.3 million sponsorship that MillerCoors is paying the CTA, said CTA President Forrest Claypool Dec. 4 at the Clark/Lake station, where a display of the Chicago skyline composed of 8,000 pennies was unveiled. In return for the sponsorship, MillerCoors will mount a marketing campaign on the CTA system called Great Beer, Great Responsibility and 150,000 farecards with
Rena Naltsas THE CHRONICLE
The CTA will be offering free rides starting at 10 p.m. New Year’s Eve in a program sponsored by MillerCoors.
the marketing theme will be sold over the next month, said MillerCoors CEO Tom Long. Claypool said every penny counts at the CTA. To help balance the agency’s operating budget, next year the CTA will raise the price of one-day, three-day, seven-day and 30-day passes, as well as more than double the fare from O’Hare International Airport toward the city to $5 from the current $2.25. But collecting the penny fare on New Year’s Eve has been more trouble than it is worth. Claypool said customers sometimes try to stick a penny into the wrong slot on bus fareboxes, which jams the machines. An average 150,000 bus and train rides are taken on New Year’s Eve every year, CTA officials said. The CTA recently dropped a 15-year ban on alcoholic beverage advertisements on the transit system. Alcohol ads are now allowed on CTA trains and at some rail stations, but not on buses. The new ads are projected to bring in more than $1 million per year under the current contract and millions more under future advertising contracts, officials said. The MillerCoors agreement is one of the CTA’s first sponsorships. Earlier this year, the transit agency solicited bids for corporate namingrights sponsorships to some of its assets including Bus Tracker and
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xx CRAMMING
Continued from PG. 33
Train Tracker, the Holiday Train, New Year’s Eve penny rides and First Day Free Rides for Chicago Public Schools students. The Chicago Sun-Times will pay $150,000 to help cover the cost of free rides to schools Sept. 4. The transit agency has also offered to sell naming rights and sponsorships for 11 rail stations on the North Side, downtown and both Chicago airports. The stations are Addison, Belmont, Fullerton, North/Clybourn, Chicago, Grand, 79th and 95th on the Red Line; Ashland/63rd on the Green Line; O’Hare on the Blue Line; and Midway on the Orange Line, officials said. The offer of exclusive naming rights at el and subway stations was supposed to help generate revenue from nontraditional sources and help stave off fare hikes, according to officials. The CTA’s search for corporate naming-rights sponsorships is being conducted through IMG, which is a business development consulting company. In 2010, the CTA signed a $3.9 million deal with Apple Inc. to refurbish the North/Clybourn Red Line stop, partly in exchange for a possible future naming-rights contract for the station. No namingrights deal has been reached.
customers to combat cramming charges is to closely watch their cellphone bills, according to Jim Chilsen, director of communications for CUB. The organization is urging cell phone users to monitor their bills and visit its online “Stop Cramming Center” to familiarize themselves with the scam. “Illinois cellphone bills are vulnerable to fraud right now, and anybody who makes a cellphone call should be reading their bills carefully to detect any potentially fraudulent charges,” Chilsen said, adding consumers should demand increased cramming regulations. In May, the FCC tightened restrictions on landline cramming by giving customers the option of blocking third-party charges and requiring telephone companies to list them separately from service providers’ fees. However, Chilsen said the law does not apply to cellphones because it is difficult to discern which third-party services are solicited and which are fraudulent. As consumer advocacy groups call on the FCC to restrict cramming, cellphone users can also help prevent the practice, Chilsen said. “The No. 1 protection against this scam is the consumer,” Chilsen said. “If you read your bill carefully, you’re going to spot these charges before they do a lot of damage.”
chronicle@colum.edu
kfowler@chroniclemail.com
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info@urbanbalance.com THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 35
36 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
xx LGBT
Continued from PG. 33
of The Civil Rights Agenda, an organization that defends the individual rights of LGBT citizens in Illinois through volunteerism and community-driven, project-based education. “Even though Chicago [is] maybe a little more progressive in their view, we are a very large, diverse state. When you move downstate, attitudes haven’t evolved to the same extent as they have in the Chicagoland area.” Meister has been working with both Republican and Democratic state legislators to pass a law that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois. Meister said a foundation of support is growing for the issue of same-sex marriage and has been backed up by a Public Policy poll released Dec. 5. The poll showed that 58 percent of Illinois voters who are younger than 45 years old support samesex marriage, which could indicate the outcome of the proposed amendment to the state constitution legalizing same-sex marriage. The constitutional amendment will likely be presented to the legislature sometime this year, Meister said. “It’s not a question of if it’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s when it’s going to happen.” Meister added that while he has received support from many legislators of both political parties,
DECEMBER 10, 2012
he continues to face opposition from organizations such as the Illinois Family Institute, a nonprofit that promotes public policy initiatives that are consistent with teachings and traditions of Judeo-Christianity. The IFI openly challenges the idea of a marriage bill that would legalize same-sex marriage and is pushing to implement a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union solely between a man and a woman, according to David Smith, executive director of the IFI. “The institution of marriage [between a man and a woman] provides the ideal environment to raise the next generation of children,” Smith said. “Any other union doesn’t provide that.” Smith said he believes the government has not legalized same-sex marriage because it is upholding a traditional and vital institution that cannot be replicated by samesex couples. Meister said he thinks marriage equality will be passed in Illinois if residents become more educated about the issues facing the LGBT community. “I think it’s a matter of making people understand that gays and lesbians are just like [straight people],” Meister said. “The more people who realize that, the more they realize it’s just a matter of civil rights.” hzolkowerkutz@chroniclemail.com
36 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
xx BLOOD
Continued from PG. 33
because blood is required by law to undergo processing for three to four days following donation to ensure it is safe to use, Ross said. The recipients of blood donations are usually victims of car accidents or post-surgical patients, according to Lifesource.org, a Chicagoland blood center. Ross said college-aged people are
ideal candidates for donating blood because of their optimal health. “Probably 75 percent of our donors are students,” he said. “[College students] are actually the healthiest. We know that younger people have fewer health problems.” Eric Griggs, a freshman film & video major, has donated blood several times. “I’ve donated blood all through high school at [blood] drives,” Griggs said. “[I wanted] just to help
Eligibility Requirements for Giving Blood Subjects must be healthy*
*Healthy means that you feel well and can perform normal activities. If you have a chronic condition such as diabetes, healthy also means that you are being treated and the condition is under control.
Subjects must be at least 17 years old Subjects must weigh at least 110 lbs information from redcrossblood.org
Marcus Nuccio THE CHRONICLE
out. I had no opposition to it.” To be eligible to give blood, donors must weigh more than 110 pounds, be older than 17 and not have any diseases that can be transferred through blood, according to Lifesource.org.
We know that younger people have fewer health problems.” – Andrew Ross As more donors are sought, some people question why blood cannot be manufactured. Part of the issue is that blood is a complex substance consisting of multiple parts—platelets, plasma and red and white blood cells—that scientists have been unable to replicate synthetically, according to a 2009 article published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Because scientists cannot manufacture an effective substitute for blood, doctors must rely on blood donations, which only stay fresh for 42 days, Ross said. As the demand for blood increases during the holiday season, numerous drives will be held throughout Chicago to satisfy the need for greater quantities of blood. chronicle@colum.edu
‘T i s
DECEMBER 10, 2012
the Se
METRO
THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 37
n o s a
TO D RINK FOR NO RE A SON
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday EXCHEQUER RESTAURANT & PUB: $4.75 Sam Adams Seasonal! open til 9 p.m. 226 S. Wabash in South Loop Perfect for great deep dish pizza and Sunday night football!
CHEESIE’S PUB & GRUB: $4.00 beer, shots & mixed drinks! open til 3 a.m. 958 W. Belmont in Lakeview Perfect for great food and a great atmosphere!
JOE’S BAR: $2.00 pitchers, quarter beers, 1/2 off 18” Pizza! open til 3 a.m. 940 W. Weed St. in North Side DJ Gusto will be spinning all night, you don’t want to miss THE PARTY!
SOUTH LOOP CLUB: $4.00 Bacardi Gold, $4 Honey Brown Beer $3 Das Komet shots! open til 4 a.m. 701 S. State St. in South Loop EVERY GAME, EVERY DAY!
KINGSTON REBEL: MINES: 1/2 price $20.00 drafts & five bottle wells drinks! buckets! open til 2a.m. 3462 N. Clark St open til 4 a.m. in Wrigleyville 2548 N. Halsted in South Loop Perfect for a great start to the Perfect for live music and late weekend! night fun!
DELILAH’S: $3.00 Chang Thai Lager $3.00 Four Roses Bourbon! open til 3 a.m. 2771 N. Lincoln in Lincoln Park Perfect for great games, people and WHISKEY!
daily bar specials to up your temp not your tab*
*for ages 21+ THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 37
38 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE
DECEMBER 10, 2012
FEATURED PHOTO
Rena Naltsas THE CHRONICLE
Chicago firefighter Jim Tracy collects donations on State Street Dec. 6 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2011, the Chicago Firefighters Union collected $100,000 for children with cancer. The collected money will be used to send children with cancer on trips to destinations such as Disney World and professional sporting events.
IN OTHER NEWS
.25 caliber carry-on
Dangerous dance floor
An offer they can’t refuse
#nicetry
State Sen. Donne Trotter (D–17th), a candidate for Jesse Jackson’s congressional seat, was arrested at O’Hare Airport Dec. 5 for attempting to board a plane with an unloaded handgun, RedEyeChicago.com reported. Police found the gun and a clip containing six live rounds, which Trotter said were from his job as a security guard.
Four men were shot at Ultra Lounge, 2169 N. Milwaukee Ave., Dec. 5, according to DNAInfo.com. The shots were fired at a show featuring West Side rapper Bo Deal, who was onstage at the time. “It sounded like a bottle busted,” Deal said. “We didn’t know what it was until more shots went off.” The gunman has not be found.
Reports surfaced Dec. 6 that accuse the vice president of United Service Companies, which was recently awarded a $99 million custodial deal at O’Hare International Airport, of having ties to the mob beginning in 1987, according to NBCChicago.com. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is skirting questions about the company.
The Chicago Tribune reported Dec. 4 that two teenage boys used Twitter to lure an off-duty Chicago State University police officer to the South Side by offering to sell him an iPhone. When he arrived, they tried to carjack his SUV. The officer identified himself and fired his gun at one boy, wounding him. They were charged with felony armed robbery.
Compiled by The Chronicle staff with information provided by the Chicago Police Department.
Perseverance A woman told police a man stole her CTA pass Dec. 6 while she was at the Roosevelt CTA station, 1167 S. State St. She followed him to the street and onto a bus where he hit her in the jaw twice. Police arrested him.
$2,390 cup of coffee A woman reported that her wallet was stolen from her purse Dec. 5 as she was drinking a cup of coffee at Target, 1154 S. Clark St. Soon after, her credit cards were used to make $2,390 in fraudulent purchases.
38 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE • DECEMBER 10, 2012
Go pee, lose P.C. A resident of the University Center, 525 S. State St., was using his laptop in the lobby Dec. 4 before leaving his seat to use the restroom. When he returned, the laptop was missing. It has not been found.
Police academy Two female students invited a man to their dorm at 2 E. 8th St. to study, but he arrived drunk. When asked to leave, he became angry and shoved them. Police were called and told the women how to press charges.
THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 39
BACK PAGES
DECEMBER 10, 2012
Comics from Columbia’s best and brightest. Edited by Chris Eliopoulos
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Free Ice Cream
HOROSCOPES
ARIES (March 21–April 20) Unexpected business and social reversals are unavoidable this week. At present, colleagues and friends may doubt their own importance in your life. Stay confident because your insights are accurate. After midweek, respond honestly to cancelled plans or family disputes. Loved ones may need private time for reflection. If so, quiet thought will soon create an atmosphere of acceptance. Offer a cheerful response. This is the right time to help friends and lovers make peace with the past.
TAURUS (April 21–May 20)
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SUDOKU
Friendly encounters with work mates, neighbors or new acquaintances may be misleading this week. For many Taureans, private family tensions and hidden disagreements are now a subtle theme. Don’t press for firm commitments or social clarity. Rather, expect new relationships to be better established after a brief period of isolation. Wait for obvious signals, and all will be well. Later this week, a last-minute work assignment will yield unexpected financial rewards. Stay alert.
GEMINI
(May 21–June 21)
This week, secondary income sources may lead to bold career decisions. Before midweek, expect a close friend or relative to propose unique financial changes or rare social risks. Some Geminis will also be encouraged to begin business ventures or controversial partnerships. Don’t hesitate to explore new options but carefully study all facts and documents. The accuracy of small numbers will soon be a key concern.
email Chris Eliopoulos at
3 4 2 5 9
LEO (July 23–Aug. 22)
Romantic invitations may be powerfully seductive this week. Watch, however, for minor social restrictions or group differences to also demand attention. After Wednesday, potential lovers may make unrealistic promises or challenge family values. Listen to the advice of trusted friends and refuse the influence of new overtures. Dramatic flirtations, although appealing, will soon prove unpredictable. Later this week, money tensions will fade. Expect new options in the coming weeks.
VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22)
This week, new colleagues or friends will ask for added social dedication. In the coming weeks, extra daily commitments or group involvement will require consistent attention. If home relationships feel settled, all will work to your advantage. Stay focused, however, on family disputes or sudden financial requests. Your loyalty is expected. Tuesday through Friday accent powerful dreams and passionate discussions. Go slow. Insights and hunches will prove accurate.
LIBRA
1 7 5
6 6
CANCER (June 22–July 22)
Daily budgets, large purchases or new expectations may this week prove problematic. Refuse to be discouraged by intense family discussions. During the next few days, a clear indication of long-term goals and future plans will help resolve unproductive habits. Group support and revised priorities are now the key to lasting success. Stay open. After Thursday, a new friendship may inspire business cooperation. Investments and shared finances are featured. Ask bold questions.
1 7 4 3
8 2 9 7
7 2 8 6
3 1 2 9
3 8 9
Puzzle by websudoku.com
CROSSWORD
(Sept. 23–Oct. 23)
Complex romantic or social decisions are best postponed this week. Lovers and long-term friends may need extra time to resolve family disputes or foster better communications in the home. Serious promises, new obligations and revised emotional rules will soon be forthcoming. Past disappointments, however, will need to be actively resolved also, remain determined. After Thursday, a new colleague may initiate rare group discussions. If so, expect work routines to soon change.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24–Nov. 22)
Public confidence, bold opinions and renewed career ambition will now inspire action from friends or younger relatives. Someone close may wish to adopt new educational or employment goals. Advocate research and careful planning. Your past experiences will provide important insight. Late this week, a colleague or past lover may need to review yesterday’s romantic decisions. Complex social triangles and broken promises will be a key theme. If possible, avoid serious discussions.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23–Dec. 21)
Minor criticism from friends and relatives should not be taken seriously this week. During the next few days, loved ones may react poorly to last-minute business restrictions or revised work schedules. Silent tensions will be resolved through group social activities. Offer creative suggestions and wait for lasting improvement. After Friday, many Sagittarians will experience a wave of physical vitality and confidence. Explore all new social options. Much is changing.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22–Jan. 20)
Nostalgic overtures from old friends or lovers are appealing this week but inappropriate. Before mid-December, relationships from the past may seem delightfully seductive. Addictive behaviors and family stress will, however, again prove draining. Learn yesterday’s lessons and move on. This is not the right time to rekindle old passions. Wednesday through Saturday, pay special attention to home renovations and extra spending. Loved ones will expect concrete decisions: Stay focused.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 21–Feb. 19)
Social politics and workplace alliances may prove briefly disappointing this week. After Tuesday, previous loyalties or emotional agreements will easily dissolve. Refuse to be derailed. During the next few weeks, business obligations will steadily increase. Expect younger or less experienced colleagues to defer to your ideas, insights or experience. Remain patient. Late this week, a close relative may challenge family plans or cancel an important event. Ask gently probing questions.
PISCES (Feb. 20–March 20) Financial proposals, although promising, are unreliable. Close friends or trusted colleagues may this week need to perform added research. Loan applications, corporate permissions or creative partnerships will eventually work to your advantage. At present, however, incomplete numbers or flawed time expectations may prove bothersome. After Thursday, some Pisceans will feel a need to explore outdated relationships. The past will not provide meaningful answers: Stay balanced.
THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 39
ALMANAC
EVENTS
Ice skating in Millennium Park
“Season’s Geekings: A Gorilla Tango Burlesque Holiday Special Special”
Mon – Thu, Noon – 8 p.m. Hours vary Fridays and weekends McCormick Tribune Ice Rink Michigan Avenue & Washington Street FREE; skate rentals $10
Shalom Chicago Mon – Sat 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Sundays Noon – 5 p.m. Chicago History Museum 1601 N. Clark St. (312) 642-4600 $12–$14
9 p.m. Fridays through Dec. 28 Gorilla Tango Theatre 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave. (773) 598-4549 $20
Images of the Afterlife
ZooLights
9 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily The Field Museum 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive (312) 922-9410 Basic admission $10–$15
Sugar Gliders
Fri – Sun 5 – 9 p.m. through Dec. 23 Nightly from Dec. 26 – Jan. 6 Lincoln Park Zoo 2200 N. Cannon Drive (312) 742-2000 FREE
Wednesdays 8 p.m. The Annoyance Theatre 4830 N. Broadway (773) 561-4665 $5
symbol
KEY
Fitness
Culture
FEATURED APP
Music
Food
Nightlife
Exhibit
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Dec. 11, 1978
Foodspotting
A STANDING ROOM only crowd of Columbia students and faculty gathered to listen to renowned singer and actress Eartha Kitt share stories of her career. Kitt spoke at length about being blacklisted after speaking out against the Vietnam War during a White House luncheon hosted by first lady Lady Bird Johnson.
MOST OF YOU foodies are taking pictures of your fancy restaurant dishes anyway, so why not put those photos to use on Foodspotting? This free app lets you tag your photos to the restaurant, enabling other users to get a firsthand visual of the menu. Craving orange chicken? Foodspotting lets you see pictures of all the closest options.
Holiday
WEATHER AccuWeather.com Seven-day forecast for Chicago
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2012
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WORLD NEWS
TWEETS OF THE WEEK Arthur Read @arthur_read8 #ReplaceLyricsWithTwerk If you can learn to twerk and play, and get along with each other...
Barney Stinson
@itsBroStinson
Everything is made in China. Except for babies. They are made in VaChina.
Is it Christmas?
@IsitChrristmas
nooope
your away message @YourAwayMessage to the losers who hacked my password-protected-friends-ONLY livejournal… get a life
» Unicorns were once real, according to North Korea. The country recently announced that its archeologists found the “lair of the unicorn rode by King Tongmyong,” as reported Dec. 3 by TodayNews. com. The site is believed to be hundreds of years old, dating back to 918 A.D., according to North Korea’s state news agency.
» A man attacked an employee at a Pennsylvania McDondald’s Nov. 30 when he was served a hamburger instead of a cheeseburger, according to the Huffington Post. The offender first knocked over a trashcan before storming out of the restaurant. The employee pursued him and he attacked her. Charges will be filed.
» Construction workers in Taiyuan, China, are building a skyscraper around a burial site because the family refused to move the grave, as reported Dec. 6 by dailymail.co.uk. The foundation of the high-rise residential building is being built around the 33-foot mound containing the burial site, which was created in 2004.
» A man left his infant son at home to be watched by his pitbull Nov. 30 in Palm Coast, Florida while he went to a bar, according to the Huffington Post. The man’s wife claims she called him multiple times that night while she was at work, but he hung up on her. When she got home, she discovered her husband urinating on himself.