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MEAT-FREE CAFÉ TO OPEN ON 53RD

APRIL 10, 2019 SECOND WEEK VOL. 131, ISSUE 34

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In “Flipped” Classroom, Grad Students, Not Professor, Leading In-Class Instruction of Core Course PAGE 3

Empty Kent Lecture Hall jeremy lindenfeld

Fifth Ward Awaits Mail-In Ballots, Alderman Undecided PAGE 2

Calloway and supporters jack cruz-alvarez

Pro-Palestinian Protestors Interrupt Law School Talk

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Protestors outside the talk

Six Former and Current Students Share Their Experiences on Leaves of Absence

LETTER: #CareNotCops Urges Admin to #ReleaseTheBudget

Andrew Bird Spreads Wings at Green Mill

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Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/chicagomaroon and follow @chicagomaroon on Instagram and Twitter to get the latest updates on campus news.

charlie kolodziej

chicagomaroon.com

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

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Tensions High As Fifth Ward Awaits Mail-In Ballots

By JACK CRUZ-ALVAREZ Deputy News Editor As of Saturday, the results for the Fifth Ward aldermanic race were still up in the air. Results from all 41 precincts in the ward show that incumbent Leslie Hairston was ahead of William Calloway with 50.63 percent of the vote, a lead of only 170 votes, according to Chicago Board of Elections data available at 4:30 p.m.

Calloway has not yet conceded the election. According to an

e-mailed statement from Calloway’s communications director Kelsey Kruzel, the campaign has heard that 500 mail-in and provisional ballots are still waiting to be counted and is waiting for that count before conceding or asking for a recount. Mail-in ballots must be counted within the 14 days after election day, so the results could be delayed until April 16.

Board of Elections spokesman Jim Allen said in an e-mailed statement that votes from the fifth and eighth precincts in the ward

Calloway poses with supporters at his election party jack cruz-alvarez

were retabulated “to address obvious discrepancies” regarding vote totals in each precinct, indicating that the total number of votes cast did not initially match the precincts’ returns. It appears that Hairston strengthened her lead after the retabulations, increasing the difference between her and Calloway from 152 votes

according to Board of Elections data available on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Calloway anticipated on election night that the race would come down to mail-in ballots, saying that no matter who had the majority after precincts were counted, the campaigns would ensure that every mail-in ballot

was counted before either candidate concedes.

“It don’t end tonight,” he said at his campaign party on Tuesday as Hairston held a narrow lead with nearly all the precincts counted. “We have to make sure we count these ballots tomorrow.

We have to make sure every vote is accounted for.”

Calloway and supporters watch election returns jack cruz-alvarez

Pro-Palestinian Protestors Interrupt Anti–BDS Talk at Law School, Escorted Out by UCPD

By CHARLIE KOLODZIEJ Senior News Reporter Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted a talk on Tuesday by visiting professor Eugene Kontorovich, who was speaking about anti–Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) laws and their application under the First Amendment. A Law School administrator repeatedly asked the protesters, who were not students at the University, to leave the room.

They were eventually escort-

ed out by University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) officers.

The administrator, Law School Dean of Students Charles Todd, confirmed that he did not call UCPD. It is currently unclear who did.

Several students who witnessed the incident expressed frustration with the presence of police officers in the Law School and questioned the University’s application of its free speech policy by allowing the protesters to be removed. In an

e-mail to Law School students following the incident, Todd said that because the protesters disrupted the talk, they “did violate the University’s policies” regarding free expression and were rightly removed in accordance with them.

Kontorovich is a law professor at Antonin Scalia Law School and an ardent supporter for anti–BDS legislation.

The protesters—who identified themselves as part of Jewish Voice for Peace—entered the public event and sat in the back

of the room, according to law students attending the talk.

The protesters handed out pro–BDS literature calling for political action in response to the Israeli-Palestinian conf lict. Minutes later, several more protesters entered with a Palestinian flag and began chanting, “Free, free Palestine, protesting is not a crime.”

Todd then arrived and repeatedly asked the protesters to stop chanting or to leave the room, he said in his e-mail.

The UCPD then arrived on

the scene to remove the protesters from the event. Three of the protesters were escorted from the room by UCPD officers and were held outside the doors of the event while their license information was recorded. During this time, protesters displayed the Palestinian flag and a sign that read “No occupation, end apartheid, right of return.”

The protesters were then issued trespass warnings, according to Todd’s email, and CONTINUED ON PG. 3

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

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Protestors Chant During Eugene Kontorovich Talk CONTINUED FROM PG. 2

asked to leave the Law School.

Following the event, Kontorovich tweeted, “How is an effective persuasion to shout over speakers with slogans unrelated to their topic? Maybe I am missing a trick, but it seems they made the anti-BDS point far more eloquently than I could.”

A first-year law student who spoke with Todd following the protest expressed his frustration with the UCPD presence in the Law School. He said that af-

ter talks in which administrators promised to reform their protocol, reforms were either not put in place or not carried out.

“Our takeaway was that [Todd] endorsed what happened,” the student said.

The student went on to say that given the nature of Kontorovich’s talk on the First Amendment, he felt as though, “This runs counter to the fact that all these lunch talks are open to the public, and that we are reportedly told that we

should fight bad speech with good speech.”

In his e-mail, Todd explained why the protesters were allowed to be removed by UCPD officers.

“As the University’s Student Manual states in the Disciplinary System for Disruptive Conduct, there are limits to free expression. There are ‘forms of expressive conduct [that] are not protected, including violations of the law, defamation of individuals, invasion of privacy or confidentiality,

and disruption of ordinary University activities.’

“This chanting did violate the University’s policies. It is the right of any speaker invited to our campus to be heard and for all who choose to be present to hear the speaker. Moreover, it is the right of members of the audience to ask tough questions of those speakers.

The heckler’s veto is contrary to our principles. Protests that prevent a speaker from being heard limit the freedoms of other students to listen, en-

gage, and learn.”

Todd also made a distinction between cases of protests by students versus by protesters unaffiliated with the University: “When non-students disrupt, our procedure is to ask the individuals to cease the disruption. When those engaging in disruptive conduct refuse to comply with this directive, the next step is to request the assistance of UCPD. While I did not personally call UCPD today, that would have been my next step in our process.”

Over 350 Students Taking “Flipped” Physical Science Class

By MILES BURTON News Editor The popular physical sciences class titled Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast has adopted a “flipped” class format this quarter, in which students receive primary instruction through videos on Coursera, an online education platform. Rather than traditional lecture-style classes with a faculty member, the format relies on graduate students for nearly all the in-person teaching.

Geophysical sciences professor Dorian Abbot, who took over the course this year from professor David Archer, told The Maroon that he developed the flipped curriculum to improve attendance in a class that has historically been poorly-attended, and also to reduce cheating. He piloted the new format in fall quarter of 2018, and has adopted it in full this spring.

Instead of lectures given in class by a professor, students learn the material by watching videos from a Coursera class created by Archer, who taught Global Warming to undergrad-

uates in the College for many years, including in 2017 and 2018. Coursera is an online learning platform that hosts classes created by instructors at many universities. The classes offered by UChicago professors are available online to anyone, including those with no UChicago affiliation, for free, or for $49 to receive a certificate upon completion. Other than having created the Coursera class, Archer has no involvement with the class being taught at UChicago this quarter.

One goal of the f lipped classroom is to increase the number of students who regularly attend class meetings.

Abbot told The Maroon via e-mail that with the new course structure, attendance “has run about 90-95%, which is a great improvement over the lecture version,” which he said had an attendance rate between 20 and 25 percent. Moving away from the lecture format has also increased the number of students who can enroll in the course, since each section has its own graduate student instructor.

Flipping the class also has the potential to reduce cheat-

ing. Abbot said that in the past “there has been a major issue with cheating in the class.”

Some students in the old version of the class “were handing in bit-wise identical files for assignments.” He designed the new course to alleviate this issue by creating quizzes that accompany the video lectures.

“You can answer them as many times as you need to in order to get the right answer,” he said.

There is a similar policy for inclass assignments.

Although graduate students run class meetings, the Department of Physical Sciences lists Abbot and professor Douglas MacAyeal as instructors for Global Warming. The University’s course registration website lists Abbot as teaching 13 sections of Global Warming this quarter, including multiple lectures that occur at the same time in different classrooms. “I will visit each section at least once and I have two hours of office hours per week,” said Abbot.

The prevalence of flipped classes at UChicago has been increasing in recent years. In addition to Global Warming, Abbot teaches another class,

The Atmosphere, as a flipped classroom. Britni Ratliff, a senior lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, also teaches a flipped introductory chemistry course.

“Flipped classes are the way of the future, and The University of Chicago needs to establish itself as a leader in this area in order to continue our tradition of academic excellence,” Abbot explained.

Second-year A lice May, who is currently taking Global Warming, had a positive outlook on the new format. “[The flipped format] allows smaller class sizes with more direct contact with qualified adults than the single professor, large lecture model,” she told The Maroon.

Two students, who wished to remain anonymous because they are currently enrolled in the course, had mixed feelings about the change.

One student hoped that flipping the course structure would increase the rigor of PhySci Core classes, which students often think “are sort of easy classes.” That student also told The Maroon that “the new style seems interesting and a

bit odd. It might be better, but it also could be worse; I’m ambivalent.”

Another student said they are “tired of having classes with Ph.D.s” instead of professors.

The student felt that listing full professors as instructors while having graduate students teach classes was “false advertising.”

“I wanted to take the class because I thought it would be with an actual professor,” the student said.

Grant MacDonald, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geophysical Sciences and member of Graduate Students United (GSU), is one of the graduate students helping to teach Global Warming this quarter. When asked to share thoughts about the course, he raised questions about the role of graduate student labor in the teaching of Global Warming and expressed dismay that UChicago continues to refuse to recognize graduate students as workers, although they teach undergraduate classes.

“The fact that the University admin argues that the teaching we do is not ‘work’...is absurd and galling—any student in our CONTINUED ON PG. 4

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

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“Flipped classes are the way of the future,” Abbot said.

CONTINUED FROM PG. 3

classes can see what we do,” MacDonald told The Maroon.

“Whatever the larger-scale political discussion associated with unionization is, I see it as my duty to improve undergraduate education and help graduate students develop, and I’m trying to do that as best as I can,” Abbot said.

He also explained that he had redesigned the course with an eye toward “[making] sure the graduate student lecturers are not doing more hours than they did as teaching assistants” in the previous version of the class.

“In some areas of the University, graduate students have serious concerns about their experiences,” Abbot

acknowledged. But he hopes members of the University community “can all work together to ensure the best possible outcomes for both undergraduate and graduate students, whether that involves a graduate student union or not.”

When reached for comment, GSU said “as this class (like so many others) demonstrates, the administration is

more than willing to rely on us to perform the essential teaching duties that are crucial to the University’s functioning. We’re dedicated to teaching, and we have no objections to innovative classroom structures. But we have to ask if grad instructors are receiving the support they deserve, in terms of both compensation and pedagogical guidance.”

A Meat-Free Café on 53rd Street? You Better Believe It

By CAMILLE KIRSCH News Editor Can’t Believe It’s Not Meat, a vegan café, is the latest addition to Hyde Park’s dining scene.

The meat-, egg-, and dairy-free restaurant opened Sunday, April 7.

Its menu features vegan renditions of American classics, including pasta, burgers, nachos, and hot dogs. Prices range from $7.75 for a “Chicago St. Hot Dog” to $16.95 for “LA’s Chicken and Waffles.”

The restaurant was packed during Monday’s lunch rush, with patrons forming a line out the door and down

Fundamentals: Issues and Texts announces a public colloquium:

THE POWER OF BOOKS

the block. Most took their meals to go; Can’t Believe It’s Not Meat’s small interior offers limited counter seating and no tables. The interior also features a mirrored brick–accented wall, ring chandeliers, and abstract wallpaper.

The cafe is the fifth Hyde Park location from local restauranteur Rico Nance, who also runs Litehouse Grill and Mikkey’s Diner. Can’t Believe It’s Not Meat sits next to Soul Shack, another Nance-owned property, which opened just last month and focuses on meat-heavy soul food dishes.

Nance opened Litehouse Grill, his first restaurant, in 2013, and now owns seven Chicago-area dining establishments. He is also a pastor with City of God Christian Ministries. His restaurants are known for serving up healthy options with a side of social justice— Litehouse Grill gives away 20–30 free meals daily to patrons who cannot pay.

Can’t Believe It’s Not Meat is located at 1368 1/2 East 53rd Street. The restaurant’s hours are not yet fixed; call (773) 531–2948 to check opening and closing times.

with

Robert Bird

Slavic Languages and Literatures and

Thomas Pavel

Romance Languages & Literatures

Tuesday, April 16th, 4:30-6:30 pm — Classics 110 — Reception to follow This event is recommended for students considering a major in Fundamentals.

Persons who may need assistance should contact fundamentals@uchicago.edu.

Customers lined up around the block for the restaurant’s opening Monday camille kirsch

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

New Café in Crerar

By EMMA DYER News Editor Englewood native and chef Clifford Rome has partnered with UChicago Dining to open Peach’s at University on the first floor of Crerar Library.

Rome is a founding partner of Rome’s Joy Catering, Peach’s Restaurant, Blanc Gallery, and Parkway Ballroom, all located between 44th and 47th streets on King Drive. He recently became the head chef and owner of the Currency Exchange Café, located opposite the Garfield CTA Green Line Station, which re-opened in November as Peach’s at Currency Exchange Cafe.

The Peach’s flagship diner is located on East 47th Street and South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Peach’s restaurants offer specialty coffee, baked goods, and breakfast and lunch options. Peach’s focuses on Southern comfort food with entrées in-

cluding shrimp and grits, duck bacon, biscuits and gravy, and fried chicken.

Students can expect the café in Crerar to offer baked goods, coffee, and light lunch offerings, according to a UChicago Dining newsletter.

Rome studied culinary arts in Paris and has worked alongside world-famous chefs Wolfgang Puck, Roger Verge, Bobby Flay, and Todd English. Rome returned to Englewood to found Rome’s Joy Catering.

Rome is committed to promoting Black participation in the culinary industry, and aims to hire and train people in the culinary arts and hospitality services who may be seen by others as unemployable. Rome partners with numerous programs, including Careers Through Culinary Arts Program, After School Matters, and Healthy Schools Campaign, to increase interest from Black youth in the culinary field.

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Booth to Relocate London Campus

By CALEB SUSSMAN News Reporter The Booth School of Business has announced that its London campus will relocate to a larger facility in the city of London by spring quarter of next year.

The move follows the University’s recent expansions in Hong Kong and Paris.

Booth’s new campus will be located in One Bartholomew Close, a brand-new office building in the center of London. The campus will be across the street from the Barbican Underground station, steps away from London’s financial center, and a few Tube stops away from many of London’s other landmarks and business centers.

The 43,796-square-foot facility will occupy the first three floors of the One Bartholomew mixed-use building and feature two tiered classrooms along with event space and open study space for students, alumni, staff, and guests. The new urban campus, which has easy pub-

lic transport access to London Heathrow Airport, will expand the University’s presence across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

The campus will continue to host Booth’s Executive M.B.A. program as well as additional non-degree programming, conferences, and speaker series.

The campus will be a sister facility to the Booth School’s Hong Kong location, which opened in December of last year.

According to President Robert Zimmer, the new facility reflects Booth’s international approach to business and finance, as well as the University’s mission to increase the number of opportunities for its students across the globe.

“Global engagement is fundamental to the University’s ambitious efforts to create new opportunities for research and education, and it is an integral part of Chicago Booth’s distinctive model of business education,” Zimmer said in a press release.

Law School Alum Carmelo Chimera (J.D. ‘13) Holds Essay Contest to Give Away Comic Store

By TONY BROOKS News Editor University of Chicago Law School alum Carmelo Chimera (J.D. ’13) will be giving away the Oak Lawn branch of his comic book store, Chimera’s Comics, to the winner of an essay contest. Contestants submitted 500-word essays describing what makes a great comic book store.

In addition to running his two comic book stores and working as a lawyer, Chimera has organized several Kickstarter campaigns and published his own graphic novel, Magnificent.

He said that after making the decision to leave one of his stores, he considered selling it, but none of the possible ways to do so “really made me happy,” until he decided to hold the essay contest. “When I had the idea to give it away, it just kind of came to me. It was a Friday, and the next Tuesday I made the public announcement.”

The application closed on February 5, with 720 submissions.

“In that first early stage, I didn’t know what I was looking for,” he said.

“There was no right answer to the question. I was hoping to find the answer among the essays.”

After about a week he narrowed the pool down to about 170, and then asked an informal committee for advice. “I looked at their feedback and from there narrowed it down to 50. That took 10–14 days to get their feedback, then I spent a week with their notes.” Last Friday, he had narrowed it down again to 10 essays from which he plans to choose the winner.

Chimera said that after he contacts the winner, he will first “try to talk them out of it.” Then, once all the legal work is “down on paper,” the store will make a public announcement.

He also plans on turning his remaining store into a franchise.

“I think I’ll offer my winner the

chance to be the first store of the franchise, but they don’t have to. I’m going to leave it up to them.”

Chimera’s Comics opened its first branch in 2011 while Chimera was a first-year student at the Law School.

A friend had suggested the idea to him while they were collaborating on an early draft of Chimera’s graphic novel Magnificent. They opened the store on Free Comic Book Day, an industry-wide event that happens in early May each year.

Chimera said in an interview with The Maroon that they had both worked at a comic book store in high school and were disappointed by how it had changed.

“He said to me, ‘Why don’t we open our own store?’ and I’m not the kind of guy to turn that down without looking into if it was possible, and it was possible.”

By the end of his third year at the Law School, he opened a second branch

of the store in Oak Lawn. “At the time, it was like, ‘Everything’s going well, so why not?’”

But Chimera still had his studies to attend to. “I remember studying for the Bar Exam in the back of my store.”

He decided to give away one of his Chimera’s Comics stores to someone who could dedicate more time and energy into it, he told The Maroon.

“Looking back on it, maybe I was never the right guy to do the job,” he said, referencing how he used to study for law school while at the stores.

He said that in addition to working on his own comics, he will also focus on the distribution of comic books to vendors other than comic book stores, but he said that the past few months have affected the way he views the industry.

“This whole experience has been really humbling to see what comic books mean to people and what the store means to people,” he said. “I wish everyone could see what I see.”

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

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“A really interesting confidence thing”: what it’s like to take a leave of absence Six Former and Current Students Share Their Experiences

By LUCIA GENG Grey City Reporter

Why do UChicago students take leaves of absence?

Campus conversations on campus surrounding leaves of absence have swelled up in recent years. The College’s website states, “a leave of absence might be voluntary or involuntary, might occur while a student is in good standing or on academic probation, and might be associated with a medical condition.”

It turns out that many different experiences with leaves of absence are possible within that description. THE MAROON spoke to five current students and one alum about why they chose to take time off and what it’s like to be away from school.

Some of their stories matched the leave-of-absence narrative currently dominant on campus. But some didn’t fit that mold.

I. Before Third-year Ronen Schatsky’s decision to take a leave of absence was not the first time he had decided to take time off from school.

Schatsky, an economics major, took a gap year before coming to UChicago, for similar reasons to those that led him to take a leave during autumn quarter of 2018.

“At any given time, I want to look at what I’m doing and I want to say: Is this actually what I want to be doing?” Schatsky said. “Or is this what I’m doing because it’s just the inertia of what people have told me to do?”

Keeping with that principle, around February 2018, Schatsky looked to see what competitive Congressional races

were going on in the area. He decided to get involved with Kelly Mazeski’s campaign in Illinois’s Sixth Congressional District, which covers much of Chicago’s western suburbs.

There was just one problem: During the Democratic primary election in March, another candidate, Sean Casten, defeated Mazeski. Schatsky was disappointed, but he was still interested in doing campaign work in a competitive House district for the November general election.

So he called the Casten team.

“I was like, ‘Hey, I just spent the last couple months trying to defeat you guys, but I would really, really like you to give me a job, especially one that pays, if you wouldn’t mind,’” Schatsky recalled. “They said, ‘Sure, we’ll give you one that pays.’ It was ridiculous!”

Schatsky originally planned to work for the Casten campaign while taking “the easiest quarter [of classes] you could possibly construct.” However, he later realized that because of the time commitment, he could only become an organizer for the campaign if he wasn’t a full-time student.

That summer, Schatsky told his parents he had made up his mind to take autumn quarter 2018 off.

Kaesha Freyaldenhoven, a joint A.B./ A.M. student studying art history and cultural policy, took two leaves during her time at UChicago: one in autumn quarter 2016 and winter quarter 2017, and again in spring quarter 2018.

Freyaldenhoven decided to take time off after learning that her grandfather had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that occurs when lung tissue is scarred.

“He was gonna move out [to California]

with my family and the idea of him being there with them without me was really tragic,” she said. “And so I decided I wanted to spend time with him…. I actually didn’t have any hesitation [about taking a leave]. I knew that my family was really important to me, and I could come back and things would just continue moving on, and that was OK with me.”

She recalled that the process to get her leave approved was “very simple.”

“Everyone I talked to…was just very, very supportive…. I scheduled a meeting with [my counselor]…. She was like, ‘OK, here’s the paperwork. Just sign this and get it back to me.’ And so it was like a very short piece of paper that said like, here’s your name, here’s what year you are, what major you are, write like a paragraph about why you want to take time off and then submit it,” Freyaldenhoven said.

Jade Cool, a psychology major entering their tenth quarter of classes, took a leave starting in autumn quarter of 2014 for a very different reason than Schatsky and Freyaldenhoven. Cool returned to campus in autumn quarter of 2015.

During the summer before their first year at college, Cool underwent treatment for an eating disorder and other conditions. Their treatment team reached out to the University’s Student Health and Counseling Services to ask them to look after Cool’s case.

To Cool’s surprise, at their first appointment with Student Health in their first month of college, they were told that although Student Health had approved Cool before they arrived at UChicago, the University had decided they were not ready to be at school.

“I don’t think that I was going to have a

choice about whether I was going to leave,” they said.

“I was put in an exam room with the door closed, by myself and with…voluntary leave of absence forms, with the understanding that if I didn’t sign those then I would be put on a forced leave.”

According to Cool, it would be “a little easier” to get back to school from voluntary rather than involuntary leave, and that perhaps the administration prefers to put students on voluntary leave for optics.

“Maybe it just makes them look better,” Cool said.

However, Cool made clear that their leave in 2014 was “voluntary” in name only.

Rachel, a fourth-year majoring in comparative human development, recalled hearing stories from her friends about “voluntary” leaves like Cool’s. Because of those stories, her friends cautioned her not to get too comfortable with Student Counseling Services (SCS), even though Rachel had had problems with suicidal thoughts.

[Rachel asked for her name to be changed to protect her privacy.]

“I told people like, ‘Hey look, do you know anything about student counseling?

Are they good?’ And they were like, ‘make sure…[you] don’t tell them that you’re suicidal because if you…do tell them that, you’re going to get forced to leave,’” Rachel said. “And I was like, ‘well, I can’t do that because I’ll lose my scholarship.’”

Rachel, a QuestBridge scholar, had been awarded a full ride for four years, but her award package was contingent on maintaining a certain GPA and remaining in good academic standing.

During autumn quarter 2017, she beCONTINUED ON PG. 7

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

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“If I didn’t sign those then I would be put on forced leave”

Alvin Shi CONTINUED FROM PG. 6

gan to have a difficult time with her mental health and felt that her academics were suffering as a result.

“I didn’t know that [leaves] were…a possibility at all until like, my friend who was going through a lot of very tough personal struggles and contemplating…other options that she could take and she was like…‘I could do this thing a called leave of absence’ and I was like, ‘What? I didn’t know it was a thing.’”

Rachel felt that taking time off was definitely the best option for her.

“I was like, well, I definitely can’t keep going in this quarter. I’m either going to fail all my classes, and then ruin my GPA, lose my scholarship, all of that.”

Though she felt it was necessary for her to take a leave in order to not burn out academically, Rachel worried about the financial repercussions that would occur if she did so.

She contacted her academic adviser, who was part of the Center for College Student Success (CCSS), to try and figure out what would happen to her financial aid package if she took a leave. She expected that someone who was part of the CCSS would know about working with first-generation, low-income students.

But that was not the case.

“He didn’t know anything and could not direct me anywhere to get information about financial details about taking a leave,” Rachel said.

Rachel then went to the Office of Financial Aid, and was told that she would only be notified if there was an amount she had to pay the University after her leave was processed. This, she said, was shocking.

“It’s like, what? You think I’m just gonna make a decision and then just pay whatever? Like it doesn’t matter? That’s not a thing! That’s not a thing that I can afford to do,” she said.

After repeated visits to the Office of Financial Aid and many e-mail exchanges, Rachel says she was eventually told that there would be no financial consequences for her taking a leave.

With her financial situation seemingly settled, Rachel began her leave in autumn

2017, intending to return to campus winter 2018.

Responding to a request for comment, a University spokesperson said that the University could not comment on individual cases.

Emily, a current student majoring in East Asian languages and civilization, also took a leave of absence in autumn quarter of 2018 in order to focus on her mental health. [Emily’s name has also been changed.]

“My parents got sick, and I suspected I was developing clinical depression as a result of that and some other events that were happening in my family,” she wrote in a message to THE MAROON. “This mix prompted me to take some time off to see a therapist, focus on my personal issues and spend more time with my family.”

Emily decided she wanted to take a leave after the add/drop deadline, which is at the end of third week. Although the official registration policy of the College would have left her with no choice but to withdraw from all her classes that quarter, she benefited from an unexpected kindness from an administrator who handled her leave request.

“The dean was super nice and changed it so that all of my classes were ‘dropped,’ considering I informed the University on Tuesday of week four, and she just changed the drop date to last day of week three,” Emily said.

Students taking leaves from the College to focus on their mental health is not a new phenomenon. Soren Dayton (A.B. ’99), who studied math and anthropology, took a leave starting the autumn quarter of 1995 and returned to campus the autumn quarter of 1996.

As a second-year, Dayton moved alone into an apartment off campus. His social isolation and his living situation contributed to the beginning of his depression, and he stopped attending classes for the last five weeks of fall quarter. Dayton said he ignored his situation at first.

“After a period of time…I started not ignoring it and then went…and visited [campus mental health resources],” he said.

“They helped me negotiate withdrawing from some classes, taking incompletes in others…and just checking out until I got my stuff in order.”

CONTINUED ON PG. 8

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

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“[Leave]... gave me some space to think about what I wanted to do. It gave me some confidence that school wasn’t the end-all, be-all.”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 7

Dayton said he knew others at the time who took leave to take care of their depression, and that people on campus were aware of the concept of mental health.

Dayton’s mother is a licensed clinical psychologist, so he was familiar with discussions of mental health prior to starting college.

Despite this, he remembers, “We just didn’t have the language to think about things in those [mental health] terms as applied to myself.”

“There were campus counseling resources,” Dayton told THE MAROON. “At the time it was, I think, next to what is now the Seminary Co-Op…. I don’t know where it is now. It would actually be an interesting point because people probably physically don’t know where it is.” [Student Counseling Services are now located in Alumni House, at 5555 South Woodlawn Avenue.]

II. During Dayton’s decision to take a leave turned out to be a good one: he was able to improve his housing situation by moving into a coop, and he began working downtown as a systems administrator for a software start-up.

“It felt like great money at the time,” Dayton said.

His time as a systems administrator also helped him realize that he wasn’t as interested in math and physics as he had thought, and that he was looking forward to taking philosophy and anthropology classes when he returned. “[My leave] gave me some space to think about what I wanted to do. It gave me some confidence that school wasn’t the end-all-be-all. And so in those two ways it was an enormously positive thing for me,” he said.

Schatsky’s experience of leave was also positive overall. Work as an organizer kept him busy—he canvassed, phone banked, led trainings for volunteers, and was in charge of recruiting volunteers—but he enjoyed it. He also relished the job’s challenges.

“I really liked trying to get people to sign up to volunteer,” Schatsky said.

“That’s a challenge for me. I am very good

at giving a performance kind of thing, like a training, but when it comes to sitting down someone and really, really persuading them of a thing, that’s like next level.”

The work paid off, it seemed: Casten defeated his opponent, Peter Roskam, by six points, even though the latter had won the district by 18 points in 2016. But Schatsky’s leave didn’t end with the elections, so he found himself adjusting to a post-campaign, classes-free life.

Schatsky seized his chance to eat real food again, after subsisting on Jimmy John’s and Domino’s during his campaigning days. He hosted Friday dinners for his friends, spent time on hobbies like gardening and playing piano, and drove home to New York for Thanksgiving break.

During his last few weeks off, Schatsky also solidified his choice of major.

“I looked through the entire course catalog of the University of Chicago…and found any possible class that I could have a conceivable interest in taking, and investigated those and met with teachers who taught those classes to try to figure out things…. I also sliced off one of my majors [by getting] rid of pub pol,” he said.

Freyaldenhoven’s time off was also eventful: She spent autumn quarter 2017 with her grandfather and made a documentary about his experience as an immigrant.

“Our entire family is based now in the U.S. because of him. And so I got to learn a lot about my family history,” she said.

She spent winter quarter 2018 doing marine biology research about lionfish in Belize, after finding out about the opportunity following her first year.

“I was on a family vacation [in Hawaii] and I was diving, and then we met some people who had been doing research with this organization that’s based in the U.K. named Blue Ventures,” Freyaldenhoven said. “I worked at an aquarium in high school and I’m from the beach area. And so I was like, ‘this sounds like an interesting experience.’”

Emily also found her time off served its purpose. “[I did] exactly what I wanted to—I spent time with my parents, traveled with them, and saw a therapist on a regular ba-

sis…. I also found the time to revisit many of my old hobbies—I took up French again, made significant progress on my reading list, and started to learn the piano. These experiences reminded me that I have an identity that is independent of my accomplishments or who I am in college.”

Fortunately, her parents’ conditions also stabilized during her time off.

During ninth week of that quarter, when she felt she had a “better grip on [her] mental health,” Emily notified the University that she would be returning.

The College’s leave of absence policies state a student must notify the Dean of Students in the College “at least six weeks prior to the start of the quarter in which the student intends to return.” Ninth week of autumn quarter was around six weeks before winter quarter was due to begin.

However, that very policy, along with other College policies, caused Rachel to have a difficult time during her leave. She originally intended to take only autumn 2017 off, but made the decision to take winter 2018 off as well after realizing that she wasn’t ready to commit to returning to campus.

“I [had] just started taking care of myself, being in my leave, and really doing things. And then two seconds later you have to notify the University that you’re coming back, and it’s hard to know six weeks in advance like, ‘hey, what’s my mental health going to look like?’”

That wasn’t the only difficulty Rachel ran into during the leave. Though she’d been told that she wouldn’t face negative financial consequences, she received a call while she was on her leave from a financial aid officer, saying that her leave had been processed and that a balance of two thousand dollars had been incurred.

“I e-mailed back and was like, ‘where did this number come from? What is the thing I’m supposedly having to pay for?

I’ve removed myself from the University.

I’m not using any resources from the University. I’m not taking any courses, like I am not a cost to the University anymore.

So…what am I being told to pay for?’”

After many e-mail exchanges with the Office of Financial Aid, Rachel was told that she needed to make up the cost of a

Pell Grant, a federal source of funding.

Withdrawal and taking a leave of absence are different things at UChicago: A withdrawing student has decided to take their names off of the University’s roll book, while a student on leave remains enrolled. But according to Rachel, because the federal government only categorizes a student as one who is currently enrolled in an institution, she was not a University student while on leave. As a result, she was responsible for paying the balance incurred by the lack of federal funding that her leave caused.

Despite all the setbacks she faced during her leave of absence, Rachel said that the process of filling out all the leave-related forms was very simple.

“It’s not the process itself that’s difficult. It’s all the consequences that it has for particular subsets of students.”

There were positive parts of her time off as well: Rachel went to therapy, biked all the time, wrote and read creatively, and “got really, really good at curating my Instagram.”

“That was a really great outlet for me creatively and also for solidarity, because I had posted on my social media about my leave and people knew that I was taking this time and they were just voicing support or if I had issues with the University I’d ask for help. And even if people didn’t know how to deal with a leave of absence because it’s something that’s not like crazy common, that solidarity or just reaching out to people and keeping in touch was important.”

Eventually, she felt that her personal mental health had improved enough for her to return to the University again, and she did so in spring 2018.

During their leave of absence, Cool attended an intensive outpatient program to treat their eating disorder and mental health issues.

When asked what the University could do to better support its students, Cool responded: “One of the most important things that’s feasible is for the University to trust that students are telling the truth when they’re talking about their experiences with mental health…. I don’t know if CONTINUED ON PG. 9

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“For me, the University played exactly the role I needed” CONTINUED FROM PG. 8

it’s really ethical for them to assume that you’re lying rather than giving the benefit of the doubt and trusting that what you’re saying is the truth.”

III. After Since their return to campus, Cool has raised awareness regarding the issue of students being pressured to take “voluntary” leaves. In 2015, they were interviewed for an MSNBC investigation into forced leaves at colleges around the country. They also told THE MAROON that in their view, campus has more mental health resources than when they took their first leave in autumn 2014. (Cool took two leaves in total: the second one was in March 2016. According to them, the second leave was “a little bit more like actually voluntary,” since they were relapsing and were hospitalized before finals week.)

Rachel is preparing to graduate on time, this June. She had taken four classes every quarter while at the University, since she had been interested in a fiveyear A.B./A.M. program with the School of Social Service Administration, which would have required her to complete most of her undergraduate requirements in the first three years. She reflected that taking four classes each quarter contributed to her burning out, but will also allow her to graduate on time.

“The thing that caused me the most harm ended up kind of helping.”

She acknowledged that it’s not possible for all students to graduate on time after taking leaves.

“If I had not taken so many courses and I had just gone through the college

experience like an average student, taking expected to cater for all of their individual a quarter [off] would have implied that I needs through one-size-fits-all programs,” couldn’t graduate on time. I think it’s also Emily elaborated. “The current adviser important to note that supposedly every system (so long as you have a caring advisstudent at the University can take a leave. er) is pretty efficient at directing individBut, like many other things, not every stu- uals to the resources that would be most dent has the same ability to do so.” helpful for them individually. I don’t see For example, Rachel noted, it’s impos- anything wrong with it.” sible for some international students to Freyaldenhoven also felt that her retake leaves because they might lose their turn went well. visa if they’re not full-time students (visa “I can’t speak to anybody else’s experequirements stipulate that the holder rience, but for me the University played must take a minimum course load to re- exactly the role that I needed,” she said. tain their student status).

“They directed me to the information Since returning to campus, Rachel has that I needed. They approved my leave encouraged people she’s talked to on cam- and let me come back in the times that I pus to be more vocal about their mental wanted and I could reach them while I was health and willing to seek help. on leave.”

“There’s definitely groups on campus Freyaldenhoven’s time off also helped that are trying to cultivate a more positive her realize that she wasn’t studying what mental health culture, which is good. But I she really wanted to study. think individuals also have to take that up “I went from econ to pub pol and then because organizations like RSOs and stuff only after taking time off did I decide [to can’t always reach everybody.” major in] art history,” she said, explaining She also believes that the University that her time off allowed her “to reflect and ought to provide more resources to sup- realize that I really love looking at paintport students through their entire college ings and learning about like the culture experience, such as culturally competent from which that painting…came from.” therapists at SCS as well as grief support Freyaldenhoven also says that her groups. leave hasn’t been an issue in situations Although Rachel and Cool were dis- where she’s applied to competitive opporsatisfied with the support they received tunities. from the University before and after their “I worked at Goldman Sachs and they returns to campus, Emily felt that her re- were very understanding of taking a leave. turn went smoothly and that she was sup- I’ve applied for grants and they’ve also ported. She also believes that the Universi- been very understanding,” she said. ty cannot be expected to set up its support 4/2/2019 system to cater to every individual case.

“Students take time off for many different reasons and the University cannot be

Dayton also told THE MAROON that he hasn’t felt judged by potential employers for taking time off. His resume states only the year he graduated from college and not when he entered, meaning that his leave makes no appearance on his resume.

Even the institution that would have the most access to his transcripts was uninterested in Dayton’s time off.

“I got into a Ph.D. program [in anthropology] at Chicago, and they can look at the whole thing and they clearly didn’t care,” he said.

Dayton ended up dropping out of the anthropology program and starting a software company. Today he’s the communications director of Protect Democracy, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C. Four weeks after the election, Schatsky was eager to get back to school. He ended up taking a “mind-blowing” class (American Grand Strategy, taught by Professor John Mearsheimer) that he would never have learned about if he hadn’t sifted through the course catalog.

Schatsky also discovered a connection to his campaign life on campus: Peter Roskam, the former Congressman whom he helped to oust from public office, was a Winter Quarter Fellow at the Institute of Politics.

“I went there [to meet him], having totally destroyed his ass,” Schatsky said, smiling. untitled - Vectr

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10

VIEWPOINTS

#CareNotCops Urges UChicago Administration to #ReleaseTheBudget The University of Chicago has made headlines for its commitment to the values of freedom of expression, transparency, and discourse. However, while the administration expects students to live by these stated values, administrators themselves rarely give students the same courtesy.

This year alone, we have seen Robert Zimmer and the University’s administration as a whole refuse to recognize the Graduate Student Union and evade demands for recogni-

tion. In addition, the University refuses to release information pertaining to the funding and operation of its private police force. The University proudly boasts that the UChicago Police Department (UCPD) is one of the largest private police forces in the world, presiding over a jurisdiction of about 65,000 people (50,000 of whom are not affiliated with the University).

But despite the scope and scale of the UCPD, information about the number of officers, the details of their weaponry, and its

Lee Harris, Editor-in-Chief Elaine Chen, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Deepti Sailappan, Managing Editor Peng-Peng Liu, Chief Production Officer The Maroon Editorial Board consists of the editors-in-chief and editors of The Maroon.

NEWS

Tony Brooks, editor Miles Burton, editor Daksh Chauhan, editor Camille Kirsch, editor Caroline Kubzansky, editor Madeleine Zhou, editor VIEWPOINTS

Meera Santhanam, editor ARTS

Zoe Bean, editor Perri Wilson, editor SPORTS

Alison Gill, editor Brinda Rao, editor DESIGN

Jessica Xia, head designer Shanyu Hou, design associate Michelle Liu, design associate Kate Lu, design associate

COPY

Mohammed Bashier, copy chief Olivia Shao, copy chief Kuba Sokolowski, copy chief GREY CITY

Caroline Kubzansky, editor Anant Matai, deputy editor BUSINESS

Michael Vetter, chief financial officer Brian Dong, director of marketing Gianni LaVecchia and Kelsey Yang, co-directors of marketing Alex Chung, director of development Jennifer Phu, director of operations Editor-in-Chief: Editor@ChicagoMaroon.com Newsroom Phone: (312) 918-8023 Business Phone: (408) 806-8381 For advertising inquiries, please contact Ads@ChicagoMaroon.com or (408) 806-8381.

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operating budget is impossible to find. This is because as a private police force, the UCPD is not subject to the same legislative accountability measures as public police forces like the Chicago Police Department (CPD), and so is not legally compelled to release budgetary information.

However, we believe community members have a right to know exactly where the UCPD’s funding comes from, and how it spends the money it receives.

We are not alone; members of the University and surrounding communities have long called for increased accountability and transparency that would shed light on the UCPD’s operations.

These calls for action have led to change. For example, as a result of past organizing by the Coalition for Equitable Policing (CEP), the UCPD now releases a detailed log of daily incident reports, which are available on their website. However, daily incident reports do little to assuage community concerns about the jurisdiction and tactics of the UCPD, especially in light of repeated incidents of brutality. Notable examples in recent UCPD history include the 2010 incident in which the UCPD assaulted and arrested a Black student in the main library for “making too much noise,” and the 2013 incident in which the UCPD brutalized a student and three community activists campaigning for a trauma center on the South Side. More recently, in March of 2018, a UCPD officer drew his weapon on a young, Black, autistic man who had been ac-

cused of stealing cookies. Less than a month later, in April of 2018, a UCPD officer shot and injured then fourth-year student Charles Thomas while he was in the midst of a mental health crisis, sparking the #CareNotCops campaign. In addition to these publicized incidents of excessive force, the UCPD regularly stops, frisks, and questions Black and Brown students and residents, who are routinely targeted and racially profiled by UCPD officers.

The UCPD’s website boasts its efforts to “enhance the transparency of our policing activities” and describes the police force as one which holds an “unwavering commitment to a code of honesty.” However, in practice, a daily incident report is hardly enough to get a full and transparent picture of the UCPD’s “policing activities.”

Despite its stated commitment to transparency, the UCPD refuses to release any information on the finances of the department, arguing that doing so would not constitute a “best practice.” However, we fail to see how upholding a stated commitment to transparency and honesty is anything less than a “best practice.” The UCPD exists within the larger ecosystem of the University, and money that goes to hiring officers or expanding jurisdiction is money not spent on mental health services for students or resources for community members. We deserve a say in these funding allocation decisions. We need transparency and dialogue that goes beyond daily incident reports, and we need a sense of the big picture of UCPD pres-

ence on campus and in the surrounding communities. Without a detailed breakdown of the University and the UCPD’s budget, or even an accurate annual figure, the administration refuses the campus community the opportunity to have a say as to how our money is spent.

Recognizing this need for more detailed information about the inner workings of the UCPD, we call on President Zimmer to release a complete and thorough breakdown of the University’s most recent annual budget, including the total quantity of the Safety & Security funding and the individual dollar amounts allotted to the UCPD and to each of its programs and operations. We demand that this breakdown include a detailed account of the UCPD’s arsenal, as well as the annual cost of employing the UCPD’s officers on and around campus. We demand that this information be made readily accessible from the University’s Department of Safety & Security website and updated annually, with any significant budget changes, restructuring, or expansions published immediately and announced through a campus-wide e-mail upon approval. Transparency is but a means to an end. In this case, that end is a University that is safe for all, including for the communities that are currently targeted and harassed by the UCPD. We stand in a long tradition of student activists, community organizers, South Side residents, University faculty, and elected officials who have recogCONTINUED ON PG. 11

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“We need transparency and dialogue that goes beyond daily incident reports, and we need a sense of the big picture of UCPD presence on campus.”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 10

nized the need for more publicly available information about the UCPD, particularly with regard to its policing practices and spending decisions. In addition to writing in solidarity with students and community members who have issued past calls for increased UCPD accountability, we write as part of a national student movement, #FreedomCampus, which demands that our universities divest from the prison industrial complex and reinvest into communities. The

University need not wait for a legal impetus; it should instead respond to the concerns of students, alumni, and community members who deserve to know how their money is being put to use by the University.

This call for the release of the UCPD budget is only one part of our efforts to imagine a world that functions without police forces and instead prioritizes investment in the mental and physical well-being of community members. We want to situate these demands

within the context of a larger vision that seeks ultimately to find other methods of creating safety and security, both on and off campus. In order to build a healthy campus community, UChicago must go beyond the current plans to expand the mental health center. This might look like investment in community-driven health and education programs, expanded financial support through grants, scholarships, and other programs for first-generation, low-income students, or invest-

ing in truly inclusive structural changes, such as creating cultural centers and a comparative race & ethnic studies department.

We call on President Zimmer to #ReleaseTheBudget immediately, and to make good on the University’s promise of honesty and transparency when it comes to policing practices.

If you’re interested in getting involved, reach out to us through the UChicago United or Students Working Against Prisons (SWAP) Facebook pages.

#CareNotCops is a joint campaign by student groups UChicago United and SWAP that is committed to building alternatives to police and educating the UChicago community about the University’s impact on Hyde Park, Woodlawn, Washington Park, Kenwood, and other surrounding neighborhoods. We advocate for the redirection of University funds from policing to mental health and other services for communities both on and off campus.

A Word of Advice for the Overachieving Prospie Prospective UChicago students should embrace failure and the unknown as necessary components to success and self-discovery in college.

By ALEX BISNATH Dean of Admissions James Nondorf recently announced that the acceptance rate for the Class of 2023 dropped to an alltime low of 5.9 percent. Reading this in the news gave me a bit of déjà vu, as a nearly identical story came out around this time last year. The realization that it’s been almost a full year since I myself was a starry-eyed prospective student floored me; I was prompted to reflect on my first year here at UChicago: what went well, what didn’t, and what I wish I had done differently. To all the soon-to-be members of our community, here are a few pieces of advice I wish that I had received as a prospie.

Most of my advice—which, like all unsolicited advice, should be taken with a few grains of salt—can be summarized by the following: Don’t be afraid to quit. In high school, the pressure to assemble the best college applications possible created an obsession with

doing everything right the first time: Your grades had to perfect, you had to join the most impressive clubs and teams, and you had better join them early, so you could secure those coveted leadership positions.

But college is different. Even though our infamous stress culture might make it seem like college is just the same rat race that high school was, most employers consider more than just one’s GPA. It’s not just grades that students think need to be perfect; it’s their extracurricular record too. Talk to any UChicago student, and they’ll rattle off a list of clubs and internships they are involved with, in addition to a demanding academic schedule. However, having an impressive list of internships and RSOs isn’t as important as it might seem. In fact, I’d encourage you to not be afraid to quit RSOs. Students often tend to wed themselves to a few RSOs, and end up missing out on the opportunity to explore their genuine curiosities and

discover new interests in the process. In such an unfamiliar social landscape, it can be difficult to feel a sense of belonging, or even identify a place to start looking. To that end, the tendency for students to stick to the first RSO they find should come as no surprise; of course we all want to find a club where we can feel like we belong and establish a tight-knit group of friends. Sign up for all the listhosts and info sessions you can stomach, but as soon as you decide you don’t like something, drop it. You will never run out of things to try, and you won’t know if you enjoy something if you keep a closed mind.

Similarly, students are afforded more flexibility with their class schedules than the demands of the Core might lead us to believe. So don’t be afraid to add, swap, and drop classes.

At 18, it is nearly impossible to know what exactly you want to pursue after your undergraduate years. So if your Introduction to Proofs class is starting to feel like more than you can

chew, save yourself the stress, consider dropping it, and speak to older peers and advisors for necessary guidance. Conversely, don’t be afraid to sign up for classes that interest you, even if they may seem impractical to your major prospects or overly challenging. Many departments allow students to take classes pass/fail, and in the worst-case scenario, withdrawing from a class isn’t the end of the world.

Even when it comes down to actual assignments, it is possible to be just as fair with the expectations you’re placing upon yourself. It’s no secret that UChicago is known for a culture of mental health issues exacerbated by academic demands, and thus, asking for deadline extensions is an important part of prioritizing your happiness and quite frankly, your sanity as well. I have personally had very positive experiences when asking for extensions; your professors want you to be able to hand in your best work, even if it’s a

few days late. Though it might not seem like adding, dropping, or swapping classes and clubs has a real impact on the grand scheme of things, the small steps you take to prioritize yourself (dropping a class, changing your major) actually have a profound impact on your mental health, as well as the trajectory of your interests over your four years of college and beyond. College, especially here at UChicago, is a time for self-transformation—these four years are all about striving to shape yourself into the person you want to be, whoever that is. Don’t feel locked into the organizations you joined and the major classes you took your first year. Ultimately, investing in yourself and in your changing interests will pay off in the long run.

Alex Bisnath is a first-year in the College.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

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ARTS

Still Here: Torture, Resilience, and the Art of Memorializing

By LYNN CHONG Arts Reporter

The Arts Incubator—located across from the Garfield Green Line station and a part of the University’s Arts + Public Life initiative—is currently holding an exhibition titled Still Here: Torture, Resiliency, and the Art of Memorializing. The show displays six design proposals for the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials, aiming to commemorate more than 120 African-American men and women who were unjustly tortured under the orders of former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge from 1972 to 1991.

This memorial is the final component of the Reparations Ordinance, which was passed in 2015 to make Chicago the first American city to offer reparations for racially motivated police brutality. The ordinance promises an official apology, financial reparations, the inclusion of the Burge police torture in Chicago’s public education, and more. Hannah Jasper, the curator for Still Here, believes that “Chicago can lead the way in showing what reparations can be, what they should be, and how public memorials can help define our public spaces.” With the creation of the memorial, the ordinance will be entirely fulfilled.

This acute concern for public art, education, and healing was a theme constantly reinterpreted throughout the six works. The commissioned artists—Monica Chadha and Nelly Agassi,

Juan Chavez, Sonja Henderson, Andres Hernandez, Preston Jackson, and Patricia Nguyen and John Lee—presented wildly different pieces, envisioning mobile and static sculptures, architectural pieces, healing garden sanctuaries, and even conceptual pieces with no tangible form at all. But the artists were not the only masterminds behind the project.

Anthony Holmes, one of the earliest survivors of the Burge police torture, frequented the artists’ studios to provide feedback on the designs. Jasper emphasized that the project is “not about telling the story, but providing space for those stories to be told.” The stories of the survivors and their memories were the fundamental visions for the designs.

In fact, as Jasper said, “The title of the show came from Anthony, because that’s what he would tell everyone during the studio visits.” The Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Project is particularly powerful because it is not simply about commemorating a past event; it confronts a current, ongoing issue. Not only do survivors of the Burge police torture still struggle from traumatic memories, but there are also still many victims who have yet to be released. “Yeah, it’s happening right now, they’re still here! They’re still fighting!” Jasper exclaimed. The exhibition is a strong reminder of the pertinence of the fight against police brutality in Chicago. courtesy of arts incubator

Andrew Bird Spreads Wings At Green Mill

By BILLY MALÈS Arts Reporter

On Wednesday night, the wellworn dance floor of the Green Mill was packed with an assortment of new fans and long-time devotees of Andrew Bird, all thrilled to see the musical polymath return to Chicago. Mostly performing

material from his newest album My Finest Work Yet (released March 22 of this year), Bird and his band graced listeners with a heartfelt evening of fresh tunes, old favorites, and classic jazz standards.

The Chicagoland native performed about an hour and a half of music with his eyes closed, though from time to time he’d glance up at his fellow musi-

cians or fix the audience with a brief, wry look.

The set was bookended by the jazz standards “I Fall in Love Too Easily” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” two fitting tributes to the atmosphere of the historic Green Mill.

Established over a hundred years ago, the jazz club is one of Chicago’s most

beloved small venues. Bird himself remembers coming to the bar in the mornings to listen to the jukebox—he’s now the one providing the music, watched over by the club’s eerily lit statue of the goddess Ceres. Bird’s song “Sisyphus,” another reference to classical mythology, opens his new record. The songwritCONTINUED ON PG. 13

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“[Andrew Bird] is a master of creating spacious, unhurried melodies” CONTINUED FROM PG. 12

er is a master of creating spacious, unhurried melodies—a skill immediately evident in “Sisyphus.” My Finest Work Yet is full of such genre-bending songs with tongue-twisting lyrics that reflect Bird’s musical versatility.

Bird has a bit of a reputation as a one-man band. The self-professed “singer, violinist, whistler” often uses an electronic looping system to layer his tracks. This makes it easy to forget about the influence of his musical collaborators. However, it became evident in person just how much the other members of his band have contributed to the sound of the new album. A standout among Bird’s brilliant accompanists was singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham, who performed her own song, “Something to Believe in.” Cunningham’s controlled, soaring vocals shone in this sincere tune. She and Alan Hampton (vocals, bass, guitar) also lent an understated, beautifully blended harmonic depth to “Cracking Codes” and “Fallorun.”

Bird did add a few surprises to the set. “Why?” from Bird’s The Swimming Hour (2001) was a playful throwback.

The song showcased Bird at his most conversational—he changed the tone of the drawled refrain (“Damn you for being so easygoing…”) every time he repeated it, sometimes speaking, sometimes singing, and accompanied by a relaxed pizzicato violin.

A highlight of the evening was “Pulaski at Night,” a song popularized by Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black and HBO’s The Young Pope. Nowhere would it have been more appropriate to perform that song than here in Chicago, Bird’s tongue-in-cheek “city of light.”

The band was clearly having a rollicking good time with this one: The live performance was much more driving, up-tempo, and percussion-led than the comparatively sedate studio version. I sure didn’t expect to hear a 16 bar drum solo in the middle of a song that made me cry when I was 18, but you know what? It works.

Despite the obscurity of Bird’s lyrics, they retain the charm and poetic appeal of a songwriter who clearly loves to experiment. In his own words, “And

though I may speak to you in tongues/ we don’t need Rosetta Stone/ to know how this song is sung/ and that what I say is true…./ You can read between the lines/ and you can savor every word.”

The audience at the Green Mill did indeed savor every word. Bird’s repertoire reflects a number of traditions—folk, classic rock, jazz, orchestral modernism—but the compelling combination of bleakness and yearning hope that permeates My Finest Work Yet is entirely his own creation.

Andrew Bird plays at the Green Mill. renee wah

Album Cover for My Finest Work Yet courtesy of consequence of sound

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

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SPORTS Distance Runners Excel at First Meet of the Season

By THOMAS GORDON Sports Editor

While most of the UChicago population was enjoying the first Saturday of the quarter with beautiful weather, the track and field teams were at work at their first meet of the quarter. The weather was a big plus, as second-year Ted Falkenhayn stated that “we were really lucky [with the] great weather for so early in the season.” Outdoor meets early in the spring are always a risk, especially given Chicago’s unpredictable weather, so a beautiful, sunny, but not-too-hot day was the ideal condition. The Maroons took advantage

of it and performed admirably in the first meet of the season.

Overall, the women’s team won the team title and had five first-place finishes, while the men’s team was able to finish as runner-up in the meet. The women’s team captured multiple titles in distance running, capping off a dominant meet of longer distances. Second-year Zoe Smith took first place in the 3000-meter steeplechase, while third-year Claire Brockway won the 5000-meter race by more than 23 seconds and fellow third-year Maggie Boudreau added a championship in the 10000-meter race. In addition to the long-distance victories, third-year Isabel Garon was vic-

torious in the pole vault and fourth-year Nicole VacaGuzman won the 800-meter.

In addition to finishing second overall, the men’s team claimed victories in three different events. The 5000-meter race was the epitome of complete dominance by the Maroons as UChicago claimed the top five spots, with first-year Henry Myers winning first place and bragging rights over his teammates. Additionally, second-year Will Shine was a shining star with his victorious performance in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Alexander Scott won the last victory of the meet for the men’s team in the hammer throw with a whopping throw that went over 50 meters.

Both Falkenhayn and third-year Laura Darcey were happy with the promising start and are gearing up for the conference meet that is on the horizon. Darcey said, “The first outdoor meet is always a little difficult, getting used to the outdoor track and competing in a different environment; we had a promising start and we are excited to keep building on these performances in preparation for Conference in a couple of weeks.” Similarly, Falkenhayn proclaimed, “The team is healthy and gearing up for a big push for the conference meet.”

Both teams are excited to build upon their amazing indoor performances from the winter.

WORDS TO A-MUSE

By CHRISTOPHER JONES

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2

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5

6

11

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14 15

8

9

10

19

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21

16

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23 25

24 26 28

7

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27 31

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Across 1. * 6. “Time and tide wait for no man” 11. Curry go-withs 12. Trendy hair coloring 13. Painting and drawing, por ejemplo 14. What a rowboat lacks 15. League of Legends league (Abbr.)

16. Photo ___ 17. One way to recite a poem 19. Trois - deux 22. Westminster Abbey area that inspired this puzzle 24. Bread-butter joiner 25. Cure-all 26. Appropriate beginning?

27. Big flop 28. One of the four elements 31. Sushi rice ingredient 33. Neighbor of the Dominican Republic 34. Place to see 13-Across 35. * 36. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”

Down 1. (up) “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it,

change your attitude” 2. Near the beginning 3. Deadbolted 4. Length of a quick workout 5. Battleship inits.

6. “Straight Outta ___” 7. Health insurance grps.

8. Regarding, in texts 9. Related to pee: Prefix 10. * 16. Subjects of the 2013 documentary Blackfish 17. Compound in water bottles 18. It’s a relief 19. Take off a hex, say 20. Requiring more attention 21. Chapter in history 23. Highly radioactive element 26. Self-referential 28. “Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself; / (I am large, I contain multitudes.)”

29. Star Wars: Episode I battle tank (only true fans will know this one!)

30. Director Burton of The Night Before Christmas 31. French counterpart of Mrs. 32. *

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

15

Softball Splits Against Kalamazoo

By ALISON GILL Sports Editor

The University of Chicago softball team split their doubleheader with Kalamazoo (MI). The Maroons won the first game, which was dominated by first-year pitcher Beth Regnerus and capped off by a dramatic walk-off from first-year outfielder Lainey Hughes. The team dropped the second game, as the Hornets’ offense stayed hot throughout the game.

In the first game, the Maroons carried control of the game into the final inning behind Regnerus’ accurate pitching and just enough offense. Regnerus proved unflappable on plate during the first six innings, and first-year catcher Katie O’Donnell put the Maroons up 2–0 with a home run in the bottom of the third.

The Hornets, though, would not go away without a fight. Kalamazoo broke up Regnerus’ no-hitter bid with a leadoff single, and an error derailed a potential double play for the Maroons. With two already on base, Kalamazoo’s Keelin McManus hit a bomb over the fence. With the three-run homer, the Maroons’ lead disappeared and the team entered the bottom of the seventh in need of some offensive heroics, which several underclassmen readily provided.

First-year Savannah Pinedo led off the inning with a home run over the foul pole that brought the score up and gave the Maroons back their momentum. Second-year Skye Collins registered a single in the next bat to get on base and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Then, Hughes stepped to the plate for the first time that afternoon as pinch hitter. In a clutch performance, she smacked the ball into the right-center gap for a double and the walkoff win, 4–3.

The game proceeded at a brisk pace, finishing in roughly an hour thanks to two strong pitching performances. Regnerus recorded the complete game and collected the win, improving her record to 5–3. The team

tallied seven hits to one error and moved to 7–10 on the season.

The second game saw Kalamazoo take an early lead and make a late push to secure the win, 9-5. The Hornets connected on a sacrifice fly to go up 1–0 in the top of the second inning, but the Maroons responded in the same inning to take a 3–1 lead. Fourthyear first baseman Carly Schulz nabbed an RBI double and second-year Abby Hayes added an RBI single.

The Maroons lost the lead in the third inning. First-year pitcher Olivia Dunne struggled to find a tightly-called strike zone, and the Hornets went up 4–3. Kalamazoo kept up their hot offense, though, in the fourth inning after a pitching change for Chicago. Two more runs in the inning extended the Kalamazoo lead to 6–3.

Behind a RBI single from first-year Maddy Mudrick and another home run, this time from second-year catcher Gabi Angellotti, the Maroons carved into the score to make it 6–5 entering the sixth inning. The Hornets went up 9–5 in the sixth inning, but in the bottom of the inning, it looked like Chicago would once again lessen the deficit with the bases loaded and fourth-year power hitter Maeve Garvey at the plate. But, a pop-out fly ended the inning without a score.

Both teams were shut out in the final inning, and the Maroons lost by the final score of 9–5. On the game, Hayes went 3–4, while Schulz was 2–2 and Angellotti 2–4. Dunne fell to 1–3 on the year, while Regnerus and fourth-year pitcher Jordyne Prussak appeared in relief.

The Maroons will look to bounce back with another slate of games this week. The team takes on Finlandia in a home doubleheader on Tuesday, April 9, before travelling to Bloomington, IL over the weekend for the Illinois Wesleyan tournament. The team hopes to improve on its 7–11 record in the final several weeks of the season and, with a streak of wins, could push for postseason competition.

SCOREBOARD SPORT

Softball Women’s Lacrosse Baseball

W/L Tie W W

OPPONENT

Kalamazoo St. Mary’s College Cornell College

SCORE 1–1 16–10 2–1

STUDENT HEALTH ADVISORY BOARD (SHAB) Do you want an opportunity to influence student health and wellness on campus? Are you interested in working on a team to enhance mental health, physical health and health promotion/ wellness services on campus while alsoproviding feedback on UChicago’s Student Health Insurance Plan (U-SHIP)? This is your opportunity to provide input to members of the senior leadership team of Student Health and Counseling Services.

Join the Student Health Advisory Board!

We are currently accepting applications for the Student Health Advisory Board for the 2019-2020 academic year. Please click here to apply. You can also find the link on the SHCS website.

The deadline to apply is Friday, April 26, 2019 The Student Health Advisory Board is comprised of undergraduate and graduate students, Deans of Students, campus partners, and SHCS Leadership. SHAB members play a key role in collecting student feedback and influencing the ongoing development of SHCS programs and services.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 10, 2019

16

Tennis Remains Dominant

By MATTHEW LEE Sports Reporter

Men’s tennis successfully captured a win against the Illinois Institute of Technology last Thursday, besting them in an uncontested match. With their 9–0 victory, the Maroons improved their record for the year to 12–1. For the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks, it was prepare for trouble—make it double. The Maroons rocketed to a dominant position early in the afternoon, racking up three early victories across men’s doubles. The duo of fourth-year Max Liu and second-year Jeremy Yuan blasted off at the speed of light, winning their match 8–2. Meanwhile, third-years Eric Kerrigan and Ninan Kumar were clearly prepared to fight, besting their opponents in an 8–4 victory. Finally, the Maroons extended their reach to the stars above once more as the doubles team of first-year Joshua Xu and fourth-year Charlie Pei blasted their opponents off 8–6.

The tennis team’s stamina did not abate in singles. First-year Shramay Dhawan and second-year Alejandro Rodriguez proved to be the very best; both were able to defeat their opponents while letting fewer than four points get away. Dhawan managed to secure a 12–2 win across two sets; Rodriguez 12–3 in the same number.

The rest of the Maroon’s six-man singles party also performed admirably: Other singles victors include Kerrigan (12–6), Yuan (12–3), Xu (13–9), and first-year Alex Guzhva (12–4).

The Maroons continue their quest to become champion across the region this Wednesday, April 10, against Augustana College—who, at 15–4 and 1–0 in their conference play, serve as suitable rivals.

Regardless of their opponent’s merits, the Maroon tennis team’s proven strength and undefeated record thus far lend confidence to its quest to catch them all—victories, that is.

Lacrosse Runs Past Opponents

By DIESTEFANO LOMA Sports Editor

After suffering their first loss at the end of March, the University of Chicago women’s lacrosse team continues to bounce back. On Saturday, they defeated North Central College 19–9. The following day, they defeated St. Mary’s College 16–10 to maintain a 10–1 record while going 2–0 in conference play.

Defeating a North Central team that reached the CCIW championship game the previous year was not a simple task. The Cardinals quickly imposed themselves by scoring first at the 27:50 mark, to which the Maroons responded by scoring two goals to take the lead. The Cardinals intensified their offensive play and secured three consecutive goals to take the 5–2 lead. Despite the tide shifting towards the Cardinals, the Maroons remained unfazed. Regaining and maintaining possession translated to five straight goals scored. The first half concluded with both teams scoring two goals, leaving UChicago with a 9–7 lead.

As the second half commenced, the Maroons made the necessary improvements to not only make fewer turnovers, but also subdue the Cardinals on both ends of the field.

They went on an 8–0 run with 18:14 left, diminishing the Cardinals’ hopes of overcoming this deficit. While North Central scored two more goals, the Maroons iced the game by scoring two goals of their own. The game concluded 19–9, with first-year players Karina Schulze, Lally Johnson, and Audrey Kaus each scoring hat tricks.

In their match against St. Mary’s, the Belles opened up the scoring and took an immediate 2–1 lead. Schulze countered with two goals of her own to give the Maroons the lead. The Belles never had the opportunity to come back and regain the lead, as the fi-

nal 12 minutes of the first half saw UChicago score four more goals. First-years Anne Sensenig and Abbey Pouba each scored one, and Schulze added another two to the score sheet. At the end of the half, the Maroons held a 7–4 lead.

The second half demonstrated how the Belles would not go down without a fight. Constant pressure and attack from St. Mary’s allowed them to score two goals and only have an 8–6 deficit. The Maroons created separation by scoring four straight goals. Despite the back-and-forth exchanges, which led to four more goals scored by the Belles, the Maroons were relentless in maintaining the lead and freezing their opponents out for the remainder of the game.

The Maroons outshot their opponents by a 37–27 margin. They capitalized on 15 free position shots and scored five goals off of them.

When asked about the team’s performance, Schulze said, “I think our team is in a unique situation as the majority of us are freshmen. Having less experience than other teams based on our age has been a challenge, but so far we have been supportive of each other, which has led to our success. I have been playing lacrosse my entire life and becoming a college athlete brought the intensity of the sport to a new level. I wouldn’t be as successful on the field if it weren’t for the friendships and support of my team. From a leadership standpoint, every player has to step up at some point because our team (including the upperclassmen) is new to college-level lacrosse and we have to set examples for each other. I think working hard in practice sets an example of work ethic, which can then be translated into games.”

The UChicago women’s lacrosse team will return to action on April 10, as they take on Augustana College at 7:00 p.m.

UPCOMING GAMES SPORT

Track and Field Baseball

Softball

Tennis Baseball

Softball

Lacrosse

OPPONENT

Benedictine Relays Grinnell IL Wesleyan WashU

Knox Hope IL Wesleyan

DAY

April 12 April 13 April 13 April 14 April 14 April 16 April 17

TIME

12 p.m.

12 p.m.

2 p.m.

10 a.m.

12 p.m.

3 p.m.

7 p.m.