MAY 29, 2018
Debating UCPD Transparency BY ALIA SHAHZAD LOCAL POLITICS STAFF REPORTER
In the Hyde Park area, calls for increased transparency from the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) kicked off in 2014, when campus activists and local representatives collaborated to draft House Bill (HB) 3932. This bill, introduced to the Illinois General Assembly (GA) in March 2015 by State Representative Barbara Flynn Currie (D-25) (A.B. ’68, M.A. ’73) and State Representative Christian Mitchell (D26) (A.B. ’08), would have amended the Private College Campus Act such that campus police forces would be mandated to disclose similar (but not identical) information to that mandated of public offices under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The bill unanimously passed in the Illinois House in April 2015, and was introduced to the Senate floor in May. The bill eventually died after activists who initially supported the bill opposed the bill’s amendments and couldn’t reach a consensus on how to move forward. After the shooting of Charles Thomas in April, members of UChicago United, a coalition of multicultural student organizations, revived talks about UCPD transparency. They demanded UCPD to comply with FOIA in a list of demands they submitted to President Robert Zimmer and Provost Daniel Diermeier. The story of HB3932’s birth and eventual death speaks to the difficulties of subjecting a private police force to public scrutiny, a problem that activists continue to face today as calls for increased UCPD transparency resurface. A Private Institution With A Public Function In 2011, the city’s Committee on Public Safety passed a city ordinance expanding UCPD’s extended patrol area north to East 37th Street, south to East 64th Street, east to South Lake Shore Drive, and west to South Cottage Grove Drive. “My understanding is that the Superintendent of the CPD has in fact ‘deputized’ the UCPD to have
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CodeNow CEO Declares Mayoral Candidacy BY FIROUZ NIAZI LOCAL POLITICS STAFF REPORTER
At his first campaign rally in April, Neal Sáles-Griffin repeated phrases about “getting real” and expressed that he was “vulnerable” and “scared.” He apologized to the attendees, and admitted that he had “bombed this speech.” Sáles-Griffin is the CEO of CodeNow, a non-profit program that teaches coding to high school students, an adjunct professor of engineering at Northwestern University, and a faculty coach at the Booth School of Business. Last month, he declared his candidacy for mayor of Chicago, running on a platform of term limits for the mayor’s office, campaign finance reform, and full budget transparency. He is running against nine other candidates, including the incumbent mayor Rahm Emanuel, former superintendent of the Chicago Police Department Garry McCarthy, and former Chicago Police Board president Lori Lightfoot. The three candidates are leading the pack in campaign
donations so far. Unlike several of the candidates, Sáles-Griffin has never served in a public position or in a publicly elected office. Despite the lack of funding and experience, and despite the missteps in his first rally, Sáles-Griffin has continued to campaign and persist in the race for mayor. T he M aroon sat down with Sáles-Griffin to discuss his background and campaign. Background Sáles-Griffin grew up in Kenwood and Hyde Park, where he attended local schools, including St. Thomas the Apostle School and Mount Carmel High School. While he described some of the more difficult experiences he had growing up on the South Side, he also recalled fond memories of engaging with his community—he helped cofound a health care media business when he was 18 and opened a chain of barbershops on the South Side when he was 19. After graduating from Northwestern University, where he served as associated student government president, Sáles-Griffin founded Code Academy, a cod-
Courtesy of Neal Sáles-Griffin
Mayoral candidate Sáles-Griffin. ing boot camp for students from all over the world, which later changed its name to The Starter League. After selling The Starter League to FullStack Academy in 2016, Sáles-Griffin joined CodeNow. Sáles-Griffin’s tech background has granted him networks that have carried over into his developing mayoral campaign. Jason Fried, the CEO
of Basecamp, a Chicago-based tech company, has been one of the biggest contributors to Unite Chicago PAC, which has donated almost $50,000 to Sales-Griffin’s campaign. The PAC was co-created by Max Temkin, the co-creator of Cards Against Humanity and a University of Chicago alum. Platform Running for mayor wasn’t alContinued on page 4
Singles Turned to Doubles in Snell-Hitchcock BY NEHA LINGAREDDY Several single rooms in the Snell-Hitchcock Hall will become doubles in the upcoming fall quarter, according to several students in the dorm. The University News Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The news follows reports from other dorms that singles are being transformed into doubles. This year in Campus North Residential Commons, rooms that were large RA singles last year were turned into doubles this year. “Because of the old design of the building, we are lucky to have access to rooms that are much larger than what you might find in some of the newer dorms,” said fourth-year Gabrielle Dulys, president of Hitchcock house. “[But] many of these ‘larger’ singles honestly are not
quite fit to become doubles.” Eugene Miravete, a second-year in Hitchcock house told T he M aroon that Housing decided not to inform residents of the changes they were making until April. The students said that Housing administration also did not consult with members of the house at all and selected rooms that were not optimal for changes. “A lot of residents do not think the University is dealing with the [housing] problem in the right way,” Miravete said. Dulys said that in light of these modifications, Snell-Hitchcock’s traditional sense of community might change for the worse. “I am worried that placing first-years in rooms that are typically occupied by upperclassmen will result in more social isolation during O-Week as they will not have an accessible social cir-
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VOL. 129, ISSUE 52
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Courtesy of Wikipedia The Snell-Hitchcock dorm on campus.
cle with the people who live on their floor,” she said. Dulys also expressed concerns about the rising number of upperclassmen leaving Snell-Hitchcock due to housing changes. “I am afraid that this change may lead to a higher number of up-
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Advertising in The Maroon 20. Band with the hit song NO SLEEP IN NASHVILLE ? 35. Band with the hit song Trumpets Over Omaha ?
Columnist Natalie Denby: The way we spend our consumer dol- “[American Idol] was my stamp of lars doesn’t have quite the politi- approval,” remembers Shuba, who cal sway we think it does. competed on the show at age 17.
perclassmen moving off campus instead of deciding to stay in housing,” she said. She expressed further frustrations that College Housing chose to add students to Snell-Hitchcock instead of reopening buildings such as the old satellite dorms.
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