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NEW PH.D. POLICIES SPELL HARD TRADEOFFS FOR HUMANITIES

OCTOBER 30, 2019 FIFTH WEEK VOL. 132, ISSUE 5

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University to Award Latin Honors PAGE 2

Ahead Halloween, School, Community Tighten Security

Volleyball Nabs #1

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OP-ED: Requiem for the Taxi Building

EDITORIAL: The Answer to Grad Education Woes? Itâ€™s Still a Union

ARTS: On Humanities Day, Everything Is Everything Becoming Everything

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THE CHICAGO MAROON — OCTOBER 30, 2019

University, Hyde Park Community Take Steps to Increase Safety Ahead of Halloween By MATTHEW LEE Deputy News Editor Officials from the University of Chicago are taking several precautions on Halloween this Thursday, including closing parts of 53rd Street to vehicles, increasing University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) staffing, and setting up a Halloween crime alert text system, according to the University. Members of the Hyde Park community have also organized a night of festivities called Halloween CollaBOOration aimed at welcoming visitors and fostering a positive atmosphere on Halloween. As of Sunday, residents of 23 blocks in Hyde Park and Kenwood have signed up for the

initiative. University spokesperson Jeremy Manier said in a statement to The Maroon, “While most people come to enjoy the holiday, in recent years we have also seen an increase in criminal activity on Halloween night in parts of Hyde Park and South Kenwood.” Last Halloween, property was vandalized and a UChicago student was hospitalized after being struck by “a large group of unknown subjects,” according to UCPD reports and a University security alert sent out that night. The security alert also said the group “forcibly took the victim’s wallet, cell phone and keys.” During 2016’s Halloween in Hyde Park, vandalism occurred and people were shot with paintball

guns, according to eyewitness accounts and UCPD reports. Manier said that parts of 53rd Street will be closed to vehicles on Thursday from noon onwards. Additionally, the University has opened a Halloween crime alert to all members of the Hyde Park and Kenwood communities which can be activated by texting “Halloween2019” to the number 226787. The University is also encouraging students to make use of University shuttles and the UChicago Safe app, which allows students to immediately dispatch UCPD officers to their location. Community members are planning on promoting a safer Halloween by organizing an evening of block parties, dog-walk-

ing, and being out and about. Halloween CollaBOOration Night, described on Facebook as a movement to “fill our streets with light and positive human activity,” is intended to foster a safe and welcoming atmosphere on Halloween night. The event’s lead organizer Bennie Currie, a financial advisor and Hyde Park resident, told The Maroon that the event is a time to “build community while celebrating Halloween night. It should [be] a night of family fun, as you know, the neighborhood attracts scores of visitors.” Currie continued, “We’re not looking for anything than for people to be present and be positively occupying their block.”

In Unannounced Move, University To Begin Awarding Latin Honors By ADYANT KANAKAMEDALA News Reporter The University of Chicago will begin awarding Latin honors to their student body according to a new policy published in an updated version of the College Catalog. All students with GPAs in the top 25 percent of their major compared to

a five-year average will graduate cum laude. Students in the top 15 percent and top eight percent will be eligible to graduate magna cum laude and summa cum laude, respectively, depending on a College committee’s decision. They will “review each student’s record to gauge broad engagement with the curriculum.” The top 10 percent of second years by GPA will be recognized as “Robert

Maynard Hutchins Scholars,” which “is designed to honor students who have performed exceptionally in their core courses and introductory courses for their major,” according to the Course Catalog. The College has also changed the requirements for the Dean’s List. Students who have a GPA in the top 20 percent of all undergraduates will be placed on the

list at the end of the year. Previously, any student with a cumulative GPA above 3.25 for that year earned a spot on the Dean’s List. The University made these changes by updating a section of the College’s Course Catalog. No general announcement was made to the student body. The University could not be reached for comment by time of publication.

New Ph.D. Policies Spell Hard Trade-Offs for Humanities By LEE HARRIS and DARCY KUANG Editor-in-Chief and News Reporter Faculty members in the humanities and social sciences divisions were taken by surprise earlier this month when provost Daniel Diermeier announced major changes to doctoral education. The changes, which also apply to the School of Social Service Administration and the Divinity School, include caps on total enrollment and guaranteed funding for the duration of Ph.D. students’ programs. Though they are not expected to take full effect until the 2022-2023

academic year, their announcement has set off debates within departments over how to reconfigure graduate student teaching and coursework requirements under compressed academic timelines. In conversations with The Maroon, faculty members—several of whom asked not to be named—said the restrictions on department size present a set of difficult trade-offs. Grad Student Population to Shrink Faculty in the social sciences and humanities divisions have been told that their graduate student populations

will shrink, but it is not yet known how many students individual departments will lose. An FAQ sheet published by the provost’s office following the initial announcement says only to “expect a decrease in the total number of doctoral students once the framework is fully implemented.” The size of the caps has not yet been decided, University spokesperson Jeremy Manier told The Maroon on Wednesday, but “will be determined by the cognizant Dean in discussion with the department chairs and faculty.” According to one tenured professor

in the division, the dean of the Humanities informed department chairs that the humanities division is expected to contract significantly, becoming “on the order of 25 percent smaller” relative to the current size. Once enrollments have adjusted to meet the new cap sizes, departments will have some autonomy over how they keep enrollment beneath the new ceiling. Faculty will have the choice of either moving students through programs more quickly—generally within five or six years—or admitting fewer new stuCONTINUED ON PG. 3

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dents. Faculty members expressed concern that the caps will force professors to compete for students and incentivize professors to allow students to graduate with incomplete dissertations. “Am I going to have to advocate for my students having another year, against my colleagues and their students?” one professor in the Humanities Division asked. “Structurally, there’s going to be competition. Each year, we’re going to be in the position of having to move people out of the department either by kicking them out or graduating them.” Something’s Gotta Give Professors in several departments said that the enrollment caps will require faculty to choose between graduate students’ time in class, teaching time, and dissertation work. “The administration’s saying to us, ‘in order to minimize your losses of graduate students, you have to get your graduate students out and defended sooner,’” one professor in the history department told The Maroon. “Well, something has to give,” he went on. “What’s gonna give? Coursework might give. I suppose quality of the dissertation might give, but really no one wants to give on that. So really, the likely candidate [to give] is teaching.” With fewer spots available, he added, departments like history are likely to become more risk-averse: recruiting fewer interdisciplinary candidates and more candidates from blue-chip schools at the expense of those from lesser-known programs. Other departments are concerned that the trade-off between size and time to degree could be a blow to smaller programs. In departments like Near Eastern languages and civilizations (NELC), with highly specialized subfields, professors worry that speeding up degree time might require paring down fundamental coursework. The pressure to cut down class time is particularly concerning, faculty say, because programs like NELC’s Assyriology and Egyptology are only taught comprehensively at a handful of universities,

and the breadth of UChicago’s curriculum sets the University apart. “Right now, our Assyriology program requires four years of coursework before you can advance to candidacy, to train in the linguistic skills, the philological skills. There’s just a lot of stuff that you also can’t learn anywhere else,” said NELC professor Na’ama Rokem. English professor Elaine Hadley, a representative of the UChicago chapter of the American Association of University Professors who, with Rokem, sits on the faculty senate, echoed the concern that shrinking departments could make it harder to offer specialized classes. “If you have four students, you can’t offer eight Ph.D. seminars,” she said. The time-to-degree squeeze, which was already felt before the new policy, is leading programs to outsource specialized training, faculty members say. In departments with intensive language requirements, once-qualified applicants are increasingly turned away and encouraged to attend master’s programs before returning, which professors say could discourage low-income students from pursuing graduate studies in many fields. “We realize that we don’t have the time to provide them with all the skills they need while they’re in graduate school under our support,” Rokem said, “so we basically require them to go and get another $100,000 into debt acquiring an M.A. before they can even come here.” Teaching Decoupled from Stipends The Graduate Aid Initiative (GAI), the financial aid system which the new funding model will replace, tied the amount of money graduate students earned to the amount of teaching they did. To earn their stipends, students were required to complete various types of teaching, ranging from teaching assistantships to solo course instruction. Students could sometimes complete teaching responsibilities early and earn income ahead of schedule. In quarters when the supply of graduate students outstripped demand for teaching assistants, however, graduate students sometimes found themselves unable to secure jobs, leading to delays in funding.

A problem with the GAI model, faculty members said, was that students could find themselves in a vicious cycle, teaching additional classes in order to make a living but without enough time to finish their dissertations. This inflated time to degree and could lead to attrition—concerns raised in the report of the Committee on Graduate Education and stressed in internal memos by the Provost’s office. Since professors no longer need worry about providing students teaching duties tied to pay, faculty are now faced with an open question: how to structure teaching requirements. They could decide to increase requirements—or decide that they won’t require graduate students to teach at all. In many departments, professors are divided over the question. Much of the debate revolves around time-to-degree. Some faculty argue that although teaching slows time to degree, graduate students need teaching experience to get a job, so departments should accommodate that need. Others point out that before students get a tenure-track job, many will teach during a postdoctoral fellowship. Diermeier’s changes also recast teaching requirements as “mentored teaching opportunities.” Some see this shift as a cynical attempt to make teaching look more like training, and less like work. Claudio Gonzáles, co president of Graduate Students United, told The Maroon that he thinks the administration has rebranded graduate student teaching requirements as “teaching experiences” in order to discourage an association between graduate students’ tasks and work. “Considering the fact that the Trump administration is trying to take away graduate students’ power to bargain, the new policy is clearly trying to say, ‘Look, they are students, not workers,’” Gonzáles said. Still, Gonzáles acknowledged, the new funding guarantee will benefit graduate students. “There is a big increase in funding for a lot of people, and that is definitely a win,” he said. Labor Shortage If departments choose to scale back graduate students’ teaching obligations,

they will also have to figure out who picks up the slack. Diermeier’s changes include an expansion to the Postgraduate Teaching Fellows program, a two-year postdoctoral position intended to serve as a landing pad for students who have completed their research but aren’t ready to enter the academic job market. However, the scale of this expansion is unclear. If faculty decide to reduce requirements for teaching assistantships and instructorships, in order to accelerate students’ time to degree, they may need to start grading more papers themselves—a task that will compete with their own research time. Another option, which faculty in some departments in the humanities said is already being relied on more heavily: recruiting recently graduated bachelor’s and master’s students to grade exams and lead discussion sections. Several faculty members expressed reservations about the increasing reliance on groups with less formal training. “I don’t have anything against recent College graduates and M.A. students, but it just seems weird to say that our graduate students can no longer do this, and now we’re going to hire this other cadre,” one faculty member in the Humanities Division who serves on faculty senate said to The Maroon. “Part of me wonders—what will they do when these people start unionizing? Then they’ll just move on to the next population?” Council of the University Senate Not Consulted Diermeier’s announcement notes that the changes follow on recommendations made in the report of the Committee on Graduate Education. The Committee included members of faculty chosen by the provost and graduate students recommended by the Graduate Council. At a spring quarter meeting of the Council of the University Senate, which consists of 51 elected members from the faculty senate, the Report by the Committee on Graduate Education was discussed. According to faculty members present, Diermeier told the assembled faculty that the report would result in CONTINUED ON PG. 4

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substantive changes to University policy. However, no timeline for changes was discussed, and council members were unaware that administrators were designing an overhaul of graduate student funding. Upon returning for fall quarter, members of the faculty senate learned of the new changes when Diermeier sent out an all-school email on October 8. This was before the senate had convened for the first meeting of the year, which took place on Tuesday.

Several faculty senators expressed frustration over the lack of University senate input. “It is stunning that these [changes] are announced to the faculty and students after it has already been decided, and released to the press before to the people that are centrally involved in graduate programs,” English professor Zachary Samalin said in a statement to The Maroon. “If you look at the bylaws of the Council, it is very clear that something like this would have to go up for a vote,”

Samalin said. The constitution of the council reads, “The Council shall be the supreme academic body of the University, having all legislative powers except concerning those matters reserved to the Board of Trustees, the Office of the President, or the other Ruling Bodies.” Others noted that, while the role of the faculty senate has varied over the history of the University, the senate’s current role is narrow: Faculty senators vote to authorize the creation of degree-granting programs at the Univer-

sity and have little say in other matters. When asked why the council did not participate in the decision-making process, spokesperson Jeremy Mainer said in a statement to The Maroon, “[T]he Council of the Senate has been updated in recent months and will continue to be updated as the framework is further developed.” Provost Diermeier declined to be interviewed for this article.

State Senator Robert Peters Talks Progressive Lawmaking By ALEX DALTON Grey City Editor The University of Chicago Democrats hosted State Senator Robert Peters in the Trophy Room of Bartlett Dining Commons last Monday. Peters spoke about the origins of his political career and his experiences in the state legislature. Peters represents the 13th district of the Illinois Senate, which covers parts of East Side, Hyde Park, Kenwood, South Chicago, South Shore, and Woodlawn. The district was once represented by former president Barack Obama. He was appointed to the Illinois Senate in January to replace Kwame Raoul, who was elected Illinois attorney general in 2018. Peters’s appointment drew criticism from some community members, in part because Peters had previously worked as a field deputy director and paid political consultant for Toni Preckwinkle, the Cook County Board president and a candidate in this year’s mayoral election, and had also worked for Fifth Ward Alderman Leslie Hairston. Both served on the committee responsible for Peters’s selection. Peters addressed the criticism in his remarks, recalling it as “the most watched appointment I’ve ever seen.” “A lot of people had a lot of doubt.… It was one of the most stressful times of my life,” he said. Peters said suspicions that

he might be a “machine hack” were unfounded in light of his progressive qualifications. “I’m doing civil disobedience, I had supported Bernie Sanders, and I’m pretty radical in terms of my views.” In August, Peters endorsed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary for the 2020 presidential election. Peters said he found his footing as a legislator following a brief brush with failure early in his term when he proposed a bill to end the so-called “pay to stay” system, under which formerly-incarcerated people could be sued for the cost of their incarceration. “I get up there, and I present this bill, and I give this mediocre speech,” he said, “and then all of a sudden you see everyone’s ready to jump up and attack this bill.” Criticism came swiftly from conservative senators. Peters said he wasn’t properly prepared and eventually tabled the bill in the absence of sufficient support. “It taught me such a valuable lesson, which is why I’m so glad I took on a hard bill,” Peters told attendees. When another version of the bill was introduced in the Illinois House of Representatives, Peters had the necessary votes and “had become pretty good at doing the grandiose speech on the floor thing.” “I just straight-up said, ‘The other side wants us to continue indentured

State Senator Robert Peters spoke at UChicago collegiate democrats’ weekly meeting courtesy of uchicago college democrats

servitude. So, if you support indentured servitude, you don’t need to vote for this bill.’” The bill was successfully passed into law in August. Peters has championed progressive causes in the State Senate, including increasing youth access to preventative HIV medication, banning private detention centers, and requiring the Department of Corrections to provide civic education to incarcerated people. One attendee asked Peters if he saw Illinois as a model for enacting progres-

sive reform in other states, in light of its heavily-Democratic state legislature. “Illinois and California are models—if you’re going to have that much power, you go bold, and they did that…and of course there’s more to be bold on,” Peters said. He added, however, that “this may not hold forever.” “We have to just always be organizing,” he said. “Let’s keep pushing. Let’s make areas that we were told aren’t progressive progressive because we’ve organized that much power.”

THE CHICAGO MAROON — OCTOBER 30, 2019

Administrators Address Results of Campus Climate Survey By ALEX DALTON & KITTY LUO Grey City Editor & News Reporter The University has faced criticism over its response to a survey report detailing high rates of sexual assault and misconduct, especially in University dorms and fraternity houses. Student Government executives said that a meeting to discuss the results was held at a time when many were unable to attend, and criticized the length of the report. Universit y administrators addressed the results of the Campus Climate Survey, released two weeks ago, at a “Community Conversation” on October 21. Sociology professor Kate Cagney, who chairs the Faculty Advisory Committee tasked with reviewing the survey’s results, led the meeting. More than 20 members of the University community attended the meeting and took part in a Q&A session that followed. The 132-page report shows that almost 40 percent of University of Chicago students have experienced at least one form of sexual harassment. Findings show that 13 percent of students reported being victims of nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force or inability to consent. 33 institutions participated in the survey, which was conducted by the Association of American Universities (A AU). At the University of Chicago, 32 percent of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students responded. The University conducted a similar campus climate survey in 2015, which found that more than half of undergraduate women and one in five undergraduate men had experienced nonconsensual sexual contact. Since then, the University has taken steps to address issues of sexual assault on campus, including establishing the Office for Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Support and redesigning sexual assault and misconduct training for first-year students. In an e-mail announcing the survey results, Provost Daniel Diermeier called the results of the survey “deeply troubling.” At the Community Conversation,

Cagney asked Bridget Collier, the University’s Title IX coordinator, to comment on the finding that 82 percent of women and 80 percent of men who were victims of nonconsensual sexual contact reported telling a friend about their experience, while only 15 percent reported incidents to University programs or resources. “I think that’s important information for my office in terms of how we provide information to individuals who are the friend [of a victim],” Collier said, calling the relatively low rate of reporting to a program or resource “concerning.” “What I’ve seen in the past three years in the office is [that] our reporting rates continue to go up in my office, but [are] clearly not keeping up with the prevalence rates,” she said. The survey also analyzed locations where sexual misconduct is most like-

ly to occur. University residence halls were the most common, followed by fraternity houses, which, according to the survey, were also the most common place for women to experience nonconsensual sexual touching. The University of Chicago does not recognize fraternities as university-affiliated organizations, and does not oversee or regulate their activities. On the same day that the report was released, The Maroon reported that the University of Chicago Panhellenic Council had suspended all events with Sigma Chi following allegations that “several dangerous instances involving date-rape drugs” occurred during the fraternity’s O-Week parties, according to a document distributed to sorority members. In response to these revelations and to the report, the CARE Executive Slate, which leads Student Government

(SG), wrote that “the time is now to hold fraternities accountable and recognize their influence on campus.” At the Community Conversation, fourth-year Andy Hatem asked why the University does not recognize the fraternities nor take steps to enforce safety on their premises. Collier said that she is “not in a position to answer” the whole question but stressed the importance of collecting more data to better understand the relationship between Greek life and sexual misconduct. “I think we’d want to know more in terms of where the precipitating events started and where they ended,” she said, adding that comparing the University’s data with that of peer institutions that recognize fraternities would be a potentially fruitful area for future analysis. The survey also found that prevaCONTINUED ON PG. 6

Percentage of students who experienced penetration or sexual touching involving physical force and/or inability to consent since entering the University. source: report on the aau campus climate survey, westat

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lence of sexual assault is much higher among undergraduate women and TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, non-binary, questioning or not listed) students than among their male counterparts. Non-heterosexual students, the report says, are also more likely to be victims of sexual assault than other students. During the Q&A period, one student asked about how the University plans to address the high rates of sexual misconduct faced by LGBTQ students. “Obviously, those are more vulnerable populations within our community,” Collier said. “We need to think about how we’re communicating with those populations. Where are they accessing support, if it’s not on campus? There’s opportunities with community agencies where we are looking to develop some

partnerships where they have deep expertise in supporting those communities.” Cagney said that TGQN students and those with disabilities “are places where we would want to focus our additional analyses.” Multiple attendees raised concerns over the timing of the Community Conversation, which was held at noon on a Monday, when many students and faculty might be unable to attend. University staff declined to make the slides from the presentation accessible to students following the meeting or to share them with The Maroon, citing the importance of providing appropriate context for the data. Attendees were told that student organizations could reach out to the administration in order to arrange another presentation.

In a statement sent to The Maroon, the CARE Executive Slate criticized the length of the survey results and the inaccessibility of the community meeting. “For comparison’s sake, the climate survey on race released 3 years ago was only 40 pages, [and] included more graphs that breakdown the information in a more consumable form,” CARE said. “We do appreciate the breakdowns that the results showed. Being able to pinpoint the racial and gender breakdown of survivors is helpful in having an intersectional and comprehensive approach in sexual misconduct prevention and in addressing post-incident trauma.” CARE also told The Maroon that addressing sexual assault and misconduct in Greek life should be a priority for the University. “It is imperative that the University

recognize fraternities and start to hold them accountable for their heinous actions.” In light of the results, the SG Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Committee (SAAP) told The Maroon it will work to have more targeted outreach for students, which includes having events and materials that center on the experiences of queer students and women of color. The Committee will host a town hall event on Wednesday, October 30 to discuss the survey results and answer student questions. The Committee will also debut a collaboration with Porchlight Counseling Services, an organization that offers free counseling for college students who are survivors of sexual assault.

Alderman Jeanette Taylor Endorses Bernie Sanders for President By PRANATHI POSA Deputy News Editor Aldermen from four other Wards announced their endorsements of Senator Sanders for the 2020 Democratic Primary last Thursday. Jeanette Taylor, alderman of the 20th Ward, endorsed U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders early on Thursday afternoon on her official Twitter and Face-

book accounts. In the announcement, Taylor wrote, “Senator Sanders is not in this to do the popular thing but to do the right thing, even when it’s not easy or convenient. This is why I support his candidacy for President of the United States.” The 20th Ward encompasses parts of Woodlawn, Back of the Yards, Canaryville, Washington Park, and Englewood. Taylor took office this past

May after winning the runoff election in April against nonprofit employee and former school teacher Nicole Johnson. She is known for her community activism in the area and is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Taylor’s campaign platform consisted of progressive policies that have been championed by the Senator as well, including raising the minimum wage, the creation of affordable housing, and

universal childcare. Other alderman endorsements for Sanders came from fellow DSA members Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd Ward), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward), Andre Vasquez (40th Ward), and Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th Ward). The 2020 Illinois Democratic Primary will be held on March 17, 2020.

Trees or OPC? Activists and Counter-Protesters Clash in Jackson Park By ALEX DALTON Grey City Editor On Saturday, community activists with Protect Our Parks (POP) staged a demonstration in Jackson Park at East 61st Street and South Stony Island Avenue to protest tree removal as part of the current Obama Presidential Center (OPC) construction plans. About two dozen protestors tied red ribbons around trees threatened by the de-

velopment. On Friday, POP appealed its lawsuit against the city and Chicago Park District, which attempted to block construction of the OPC in the park. Charlotte Adelman, a protester and plaintiff in POP’s case, said she filed the case because “I did not want to see the destruction of hundreds of mature trees in a migrating bird flight path.” Adelman believes the planned OPC is

disrespectful to the vision of renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Jackson Park in 1871. “His memory is being desecrated in order to build a commercial building,” Adelman said. Ross Petersen, a POP member and former president of the Jackson Park Advisory Council (JPAC), does not believe that the new trees that will be planted as part of the OPC development will adequately replace

the old ones, some of which are over a century old. “If you were to chop all these down and plant saplings, basically that would be fine if you could get into a time machine and come back in 150 years,” he told The Maroon. In the short term, however, “you’ll see a bunch of scrawny saplings.” Fellow protester and Hyde Park resident Frank Avalon agreed. CONTINUED ON PG. 7

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“Mature trees anchor us and remind of us of time and history and our place in it,” he told The Maroon. “New trees don’t have the same effect—both in terms of nurturing the environment and cleaning the air—but they also don’t mean the same thing to us as humans.” Not all community members were pleased by the demonstration. South Shore resident Juan de la Rosa confronted protesters, loudly telling them, “You all need to stop.” “They’re just doing this in their interest,” he told reporters, adding that “the city needs the money.” He also drew attention to the racial makeup of the protesters, nearly all of whom were white. More than half of Hyde Park residents are people of color. Several individuals were present in opposition to the protest, including Erin Adams, the chair of South Side Neighbors for Hope, a member of JPAC, and biology professor at UChicago. She said that she

believes the OPC will bring with it both an improved park space, and improved biodiversity with newly planted trees and other plants. “This is going to be kind of a smaller version of the Maggie Daley Park, yet it’s going to be on the South Side, so kids aren’t going to have to go all the way downtown to actually be able to enjoy something like that,” she said. POP says it does not oppose the construction of the OPC, but would like to see it built on an alternative site in order to preserve Jackson Park’s current landscape. “It would [bring] just as great prosperity if you moved it across the street to 60th Street, which was the site of the Plaisance Hotel,” Ross said. “Putting it in a park is a cheap, skin-flinted, frugal, second-rate approach.” De la Rosa rebutted, saying, “This is totally disrespectful to President Obama. He deserves it. If he wants it here, then it should be here.”

A counter-protester speaks to two Protect our Parks protesters.

alex dalton

Professors Receive $43 Million to Merge Genomic Databases By RANIA GARDE News Reporter University of Chicago computer science professor Rick Stevens and J. Craig Venter Institute Bioinformatics director Richard Scheuermann were awarded funding to launch the Bacterial and Viral Bioinformatics Resource Center (BV-BRC), a new online tool that merges two databases: the Pathosystems Resource Integration Center (PATRIC), a bacterial resource, and the Virus Pathogen Resource (ViPR). This is part of a larger National Institute of Health–funded push toward greater consolidation of bioinformatic resources. While the bioinformatics boom has provided a wealth of information, its abundance has also become overwhelming. BV-BRC is part of a consolidation of eight databases housing genomic data from all four types of infectious pathogens—bacteria, viruses, eukaryotic pathogens like malaria, and disease-carrying vectors like mosquitoes. The merging of bacterial and viral

databases into BV-BRC offers better organization for analyses of bacterial hosts and infecting virus coevolution. “These resources allow you to take your new bug and compare it to everything that’s currently in the database, and you can make some sense out of it. How similar is it? Are there any new genes in there, new variants of the genes in there? Is it something that is likely to be resistant or susceptible to antibiotic[s] or any other drug?” Stevens says. Since the first human genome was sequenced in 2003, the ever-cheapening cost of sequencing has allowed researchers to harness data from labs across the globe and search across the genome in a few seconds. The combination of multiple sequencing efforts per species and collaborative efforts across the globe has amassed 200,000 bacterial genomes and 1.5 million viral genomes. With the conglomeration of large amounts of data, scientists have now harnessed the power of machine learning in bacterial genomics. An algorithm can combine bacterial antibiotic resis-

tance data with short DNA sequence data and build a correlative model of those DNA sequences. This creates a model that strongly predicts gene association with antibiotic resistance. Then, without additional information from biologists or annotations in the genomic data sets, the algorithm can take a new bacterial genome and predict its antibiotic susceptibility with up to 95 percent accuracy. The algorithm’s findings rival traditional wet lab methods and are aiding efforts to develop new antibiotic therapeutics. As bacteria can evolve rapidly to gain antibiotic resistance while in a single human host, this algorithm has immediate utility in the clinic, as well as in biological research on bacterial evolution. As for the evolution of machine learning and data science in biology, Stevens envisions its impact down many avenues in the near future. One potential clinical application is tabletop DNA sequencing platforms, which allow sequencing to run off a laptop. Stevens envisions that a clinician could input a

patient’s bacterial swab, sequence their DNA, and enter the data into a predictive model. From there, the algorithm could output antibiotic resistance predictions based on a combination of mechanistic knowledge and machine learning from genomic resources such as BV-BRC. In biology research, Stevens is working on automating complex analytical workflows. In this approach, the algorithm would present scientists with the results from a number of analytical processes, freeing them to work from a more “meta” level, pursuing whichever avenue presents the most interesting results. Stevens says that biology involves so much data, yet there are so many unknown mechanisms, making it particularly suited to data-driven models relative to physics or chemistry. Stevens emphasizes that data processing is an iterative process that requires follow-up wet lab experiments. Big data could be integrated by, for example, feeding multifaceted clinical data into the computer algorithms, which find unexpected links between CONTINUED ON PG. 8

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the number of early childhood virus infections and autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Then, biologists form hypotheses about why immunosuppression and autism may be linked, and these mechanistic hypotheses are then tested at the lab bench. The machine learning approach has highlighted previously ignored DNA sequences, such as non-coding DNA in

mycobacterium tuberculosis which confers antibiotic resistance. In medicine, machine learning models are immediately useful, as they have been used to build predictive models for cancer treatment. The conglomeration of large biological datasets has other benefits, such as allowing those outside the field, experts in computer science but not wet lab experiments, to partake in and contribute

to biological research. Stevens reflects on the opportunities for collaboration opened up by big data: “Biologists have always collaborated with each other, but with large-scale data sets, they now need new expertise in their lab. So, they need somebody who can do the computing.” Stevens has witnessed that computer scientists can do more than offer their technical skills. “The really interesting

collaborations are when the computer scientists are willing to ask questions that might be too stupid for the biologists to ask,” Stevens said. “Sometimes [those questions] turn out to be useful. I think what’s really important in these collaborations is to be really open to any method or idea or approach that can actually make some headway on a question...and it’s a really great fit for the way [U]Chicago works.”

Law School Holds First Amendment Symposium By ADYANT KANAKAMEDALA News Reporter The Law School held a symposium on Friday titled “What’s the Harm: The Future of the First Amendment,” which was organized by one of the Law School’s student-run academic journals, Legal Forum. Panelists included academics and journalists from across the country. The keynote address was delivered by Cass Sunstein, a former UChicago professor and administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. At the keynote lunch, Sunstein spoke about “lapidation,” which he defined as a disproportionate response to an individual’s transgression by some group and its implications for free speech and the First Amendment. He argued that lapidation is unproductive and hinders the potential for the “redemption and forgiveness” of the transgressor. He ended his remarks by

urging the audience to be more empathetic and to see “people as 1,001 people, not just one.” Panels consisted of three or four speakers and a moderator. Each speaker spent 10 minutes discussing a specific topic before answering questions from a moderator and audience. The first afternoon panel posed the question “Is the First Amendment Democratic?” to its participants. University of Alabama Law School professor Ronald J. Krotoszynski, Jr., presented on how the Supreme Court has changed the way it applies the First Amendment to curtail certain expressive freedoms. “For those seeking to use government property to speak, government employees who seek to speak out about matters of public concern, persons engaged in news gathering and reporting, students and faculty at the nation’s public schools, colleges, and universities, and persons and organizations engaged in transborder speech activities, free speech rights have

been declining,” he said. Krotoszynski argued this is due to more recent courts rejecting “legal tests that vest judges with broad discretionary authority” in favor of “bright-line rules” that lead to “a less vibrant, open, and inclusive marketplace of political ideas.” The final panel, “The Tension Between Free Speech and Equality Values,” included UChicago history professor Adam Green and journalist P. E. Moskowitz. Green reexamined three Civil Rights– era First Amendment cases in light of a more recent democratic theory that stipulates that “public and political mechanisms to encourage—and duly regard— the perspectives of all” are a necessary condition for democratic participation. His work aims to advance “understanding of civil rights protest as a landmark advancement of First Amendment principles.” Moskowitz presented an essay drawn from their book The Case Against Free Speech: The First Amendment, Fascism,

and the Future of Dissent, which traces how conservatives used money and influence to mold the current understanding of free speech. “Far-right groups,” they said, “have pushed for a version of free speech that defines money as speech, and ensures conservatives are protected wherever they speak.” Each panelist will contribute a paper to the journal’s annual issue. Nika Arzoumanian, the editor-in-chief of Legal Forum, said that this year’s decision to include panelists from beyond the legal academy was part of an effort to provide “different sorts of perspectives” of the First Amendment. In previous years, panelists were almost exclusively Law School professors. The symposium occurs annually and focuses on a different topic every year. Arzoumanian said that the number of topical free-speech issues and the presence of many eminent First Amendment scholars at the Law School played a role in choosing this year’s topic.

Megan Thee Stallion to Headline Major Activities Board’s Fall Show By JUSTIN SMITH Deputy News Editor Megan Thee Stallion will headline the Major Activity Board’s (MAB) annual Fall Show on Saturday, November 16, according to an announcement by the group on Monday. She is known for her hit song, “Hot Girl Summer,” featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign, which has already received 76 million listens on Spotify and

reached the top of Billboard’s Rhythmic Songs Chart. The show will be held at eight p.m. in Mandel Hall, with tickets being sold online starting November 2. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for staff members. Doors will open at 7 p.m. According to MAB, the first 250 people in attendance will be granted access to the pit, while other ticket holders will receive seats within Mandel Hall.

Megan Thee Stallion.

courtesy of amg music group.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — OCTOBER 30, 2019

Professors Debate the Philosophy of Sex at Night Owls Lecture By AVI WALDMAN Grey City Editor Philosophy professor Agnes Callard opened the latest edition of the popular Night Owls lecture series by asking, “What is sex, and why are we interested in having it?” College and graduate students filled University Church last Thursday night for the event, titled “Let’s Get Philosophical about Sex,” which featured a conversation between Callard and Rebecca Kukla, professor of philosophy at Georgetown University. Night Owls is a fixture on campus. The series was profiled in the Chicago Tribune this past May. The profile explored the novelty of late-night academic lectures that draw standing room–only crowds, and quoted Callard: “I wanted Night Owls to feel like what you thought philosophy is, before you found yourself in a class and actually

had to do it. I wanted philosophy to speak to an outside world, and take steps to lead people to it.” The discussion began with both professors attempting to define sex, balancing biological imperatives with ideas of desire and social significance. Kukla said her eightyear-old son encountered sex while watching the HBO series True Blood, and told her that sex is “when two people who like each other want to play with each other’s bodies to have fun.” The conversation turned to how Western society generally tends to view sexuality through a free-market economic model—framing sex as a commodity that sets up the possibility of obligation. Callard and Kukla analyzed how the commodified construction of sexuality contributes to rape culture and suggested alternative approaches to sex that could avoid becoming transactional. Kukla sug-

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gested that the BDSM community, where consent and exit conditions like safe words are established beforehand, could serve as a new paradigm of open sexual discourse, allowing partners to be free to experiment sexually within established parameters. “There’s just a lot less bad sex in explicit kink communities,” Kukla said, going on to explain how precautions like safe words allow participants to explore riskier sexual scenarios, such as those that involve playing with power dynamics. “There’s no relationship so otherwise revolting that it can’t be made into fun sex-play,” she said. Much of the evening was spent trying to determine what makes sex “good” or “bad,” a question that inevitably led to a debate over what people who engage in sex want out of a sexual experience. Kukla touched on the distinction between public and private bodies, and how using what Americans euphemistically refer to as “private parts”

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1. “Oops” elicitor 7. Opioid-like 10. Olive-green reptiles 12. OTOH 13. 2016 Offensive Rookie of the Year Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys 14. Oh wow! Word meaning in both Italian and Chinese 15. Old units equivalent to 100 ergs/gram 17. Opening night appearance? 19. Ornate tapestry

21. One who goes marching in, per a classic tune 22. Ogres 24. Option for Hamlet 25. -ology 26. Overseer of pollution levels, among other things 28. Once-___ (The Lorax deuteragonist) 29. Thematic space disaster of 1/28/1986 32. Ostracizing (oneself ) 33. Old West rope, obscurely

is a key component of what makes sexual intimacy enjoyable. “What gets us sexually excited and gives us sexual pleasure is doing something with our bodies that feels transgressive,” she said. As the clock ticked toward midnight, audience questions ranged from the abstractly philosophical—what about a sexual encounter requires the suspension of practical reason?—to more grounded concerns on how to determine compatibility in a sexual partner. “The best indicator of sexual compatibility is conversation,” Callard said. The final question of the night, posed near midnight, asked the professors to consider whether philosophy was better than sex. After deliberating, both Callard and Kukla concluded that it was a difficult, if not impossible, comparison to make. “There’s some really bad philosophy, and there’s some really good sex,” Kukla said.

Down 1. Overly emotional theatrical pieces 2. Out sick 3. Offered covertly 4. Old WrestleMania superstar 5. Opens one’s eyes in the morning 6. Obstruction of juice taste? 7. Old Sanskrit title meaning “great seer” 8. Opting for peaceful methods 9. Okay 2010 Stiller film 11. Offspring of

one’s parents, maybe 12. Of a calamitous nature 16. Opener for many California cities 18. Ox preceder 20. Over-21 beverage ___ Artois 23. Obsidiantipped weapon 27. Opposed 30. “OMG haha” 31. Openly bisexual Carangi who was one of the first supermodels

the chicago maroon — OCTOBER 30, 2019

VIEWPOINTS Requiem for the Taxi Building Demolishing Historical Architecture Like the Taxi Building Raises Concerns about Patterns of Luxury Development across Hyde Park By Sam joYce Last month, the historic American Taxi Service Building, built in 1928 and located at 56th Street and Stony Island Avenue, became the latest Hyde Park building to face the wrecking ball. While the Taxi Building was not a particularly notable piece of architecture, especially in a neighborhood that boasts multiple homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, its loss is yet another needless casualty in the relentless transformation of Hyde Park into a destination for luxury retail and residential development. In September, the University announced the building’s fate.

Described as “unsafe” and in “terrible disrepair,” an Office of Civic Engagement administrator presented the demolition as an unavoidable outcome, fated since the building failed a City code inspection this June. At first, it may seem like there’s little to mourn in the loss of the Taxi Building. It was “historic,” but only in the way that decrepit buildings often are. Unlike, say, St. Stephen’s Church at 57th Street and Blackstone Avenue, the Taxi Building added little to an already poorly traveled stretch of Stony Island Avenue—just another uninviting, crumbling facade. That impression was strengthened by the scaffolding that, for

the past few years, stretched in front of the building along Stony Island Avenue. Ironically, removing some of the scaffolding to demolish the building has afforded passersby a clear view of some of the building’s beautiful terracotta. The large hole carved by the demolition team also allowed light to shine through the glassblock windows, offering the building one last moment of glamour. Previously used by the Court Theatre and Facilities Services, the Taxi Building has been University property for decades. This history is what makes me skeptical of the University’s official line on “terrible disrepair.” It’s not as if the University purchased a building that turned out to be uninhabitable; instead, they allowed a building they owned to gradually deteriorate. Somewhere

along the line, a good renovation would have kept the building alive; instead, the cumulative effect of decades of neglect doomed a historic structure. More concerning than the building’s maintenance, however, are the University’s future plans. Per The Maroon’s reporting, there aren’t any: The lot will remain vacant indefinitely. Maybe for now, sure, but I’m willing to bet that a lot this size, across the street from Jackson Park and just steps from a major Metra station, won’t stay vacant for long. The Taxi Building sat catty-corner to Solstice on the Park, a luxury apartment complex. The most immediately obvious possibility for its future is more luxury housing. Demolition alone is one thing, but seeing a unique historic building replaced by another gro-

tesque luxury development along the lines of Solstice, Vue53, 5252, City Hyde Park, or Campus North Residential Commons would be a genuine tragedy, both on aesthetic grounds and—more importantly—for low-income residents already feeling squeezed by the rising rents that accompany gentrification. But, luxury housing aside, it’s hard not to draw a line from the Taxi Building south, to the soon-closing Stony Island Hall on 57th Street, and an underutilized University parking lot on 60th Street, and wonder if the University has bigger plans to cash in on the Obama Presidential Center. I just hope it doesn’t end up a parking lot. Sam Joyce is a fourth-year in the College majoring in Environmental Studies.

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the chicago maroon —OCTOBER 30, 2019

The Answer to Grad Education Woes? It’s Still a Union By Maroon Editorial Board The University’s primary objection to graduate student unionization has long been that a union would drive a wedge between graduate students and faculty, creating a layer of bureaucracy and interfering with faculty autonomy in program design and instruction. Ironically, recent changes to the structure of Ph.D. programs will have exactly this effect. In June, as Graduate Students United (GSU) picketed buildings across campus, Provost Daniel Diermeier sent an all-school e-mail reiterating the administration’s primary objections to unionization. “Unionization would fundamentally alter the decentralized, faculty-led approach to graduate education that has long been a hallmark of the University of Chicago,” he wrote (emphasis ours). “A collective bargaining agreement would likely create an environment of standardization without room for differentiation, changing the nature and scope of the relationships of graduate students to their advisors, other faculty, and degree programs.” Four months later, on October 8, Diermeier announced sweeping changes to graduate education. Key among them: cap sizes on Ph.D. enrollment in the Divisions of the Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Social Service Administration, and the Divinity School. Those sizes have not yet been decided, but the Office of the Provost states unequivocally that the Ph.D. population will shrink. To maintain the new, smaller program sizes, faculty will need to move Ph.D. candidates through their programs more quickly—or kick them out—before bringing on new students. By placing the burden on faculty to rush candidates through their programs,

the administration is interfering in the relationship between faculty and students and impairing departmental autonomy in exactly the manner it threatens a union would do. The new changes expose the dishonesty of the administration’s stated aim to guard the faculty-student relationship—and departmental autonomy—from interference. Faculty members had little say in these changes, which retrofit a one-size-fits-all structure onto disciplines with different needs. True, the cap sizes will vary by department and will be determined by deans “in discussion with the department chairs and faculty,” according to a University spokesperson. But it seems obvious that all departments will press for the fewest possible cuts, leaving decisions on how to allocate resources largely in the hands of administrators. Administrators point to the report by the Committee on Graduate Education as evidence that faculty views are represented in the changes, but the eight faculty members on the committee were handpicked by the provost. The report—while a useful diagnostic tool—has no real claim to speak for the faculty. Indeed, members of the Council of the University Senate were not consulted, and learned of the changes along with the rest of the University in their e-mail inboxes. Bypassing the faculty senate is a particularly glaring misstep at UChicago, a university that has historically been comparatively decentralized, granting impressive autonomy to academic departments and schools. Our further concerns about the new changes are neatly sketched out by linguistics professor Jason Merchant in his 2016 Chicago Maroon op-ed, “Cui Bono?' “Even if union negotiations were to lead to higher individu-

The old Administration Building, where Levi Hall currently stands, circa 1948 courtesy of special collections

al stipends, it is likely that they would be paid for at least in part simply by reducing the number of admitted doctoral students: And anything that curtails opportunities for higher education would endanger the ecology of teaching and research that is crucial to the success of our Ph.D. programs,” Merchant wrote. The irony here cuts deeper than the fact that, having declined to recognize GSU, the administration has announced its intention to shrink the graduate student population. Merchant, now vice provost, could not have put it better: It is precisely the ecology of teaching and research that is undermined by shrinking program size. Since the changes were announced, faculty have called attention to adverse effects of capping department size—consequences that might have been pointed out if professors had been consulted on the design of the reform. Programs need a critical mass of graduate students to continue functioning, and subfields like Byzantine history, medieval literature, Assyriology and other

smaller programs could be suffocated by the squeeze on admissions, faculty pointed out. Others said that with fewer spots and students expected to graduate in fewer years, faculty members will be doubly incentivized to play it safe and admit students with unimpeachable pedigrees. This not only means that they may recruit students from costly M.A. programs, but also that they will think twice about recruiting students with interdisciplinary backgrounds or with experimental proposals that are not tried-and-true. The provost’s changes aim to address serious problems. Time to degree has drifted up; as tenure-track posts have dwindled, students who do not see academic openings in their field bottleneck around the end of their degree programs, postponing graduation like airplanes circling over the airport waiting for the runway to clear. The University’s expansion of postdoctoral teaching fellowships is a partial solution: It provides students a much-needed landing pad, even as it diverts resources away from tenure-line hiring, compounding the mac-

ro-level problem. Likewise, the guarantee of funding for the duration of students’ programs is laudable. While this guarantee is undercut by the corollary announcement that the size of the Ph.D. population will shrink, taken together, these changes are far from a money-saving measure; depending on final cap sizes, the University appears poised to spend considerably more money on grad students. The administration has identified serious issues with graduate education that deserve substantive solutions. However, the University’s insistence on a top-down process, which involves little to no input from the faculty and students affected by these changes, is not the answer. Solving these problems requires the deep engagement of faculty, students, and administrators in a deliberative process. In other words: GSU. Editor-in-Chief Lee Harris and senior News reporter Darcy Kuang recused themselves from this editorial due to related reporting.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — OCTOBER 30, 2019

ARTS On Humanites Day, Everything Is Everything Becoming Everything By ZEFF WORLEY Arts Reporter

“Everything is everything.” It’s hard to disagree with this sentiment from the presentation “Art in the 21st Century” when one so much as glances over the 39th Annual Humanities Day’s list of events: an interdisciplinary analysis of the future of climate change, Greece in both “space and time,” Italian novels, and the effects of deceit upon everyday life. It seemed as if the very humanities themselves converged upon campus, inviting insight, interconnection, and interrogation of what the humanities still mean in a world that sometimes appears to pass them by. Or, at least, that was my first impression of it. Since 1980, the University has celebrated Humanities Day with a host of speaking events. Previous years’ topics include truth in media, fairy tales, and the voice of Bob Dylan. This year, with guided tours and almost 30 different presentations, the event offered something for everyone. My second impression was that there were fewer attending undergraduate students than I had anticipated. Rather, the presentations I attended hosted a diverse mix of members of the Hyde Park community, from students to older residents. Concerned with the intersection between data and societal ills, “Imagining Climate Change Futures” focused on discussions of the research and engagement within the campus community regarding a sustainable future. Ashlyn Sparrow, assistant director of the University’s Weston Game Lab, spoke about how her video game research informs people about climate change issues, which culminated in an alternate reality game for incoming students to play over the summer and during O-Week. She proposed that video games should be utilized in the mainstream as a tool

The humanities converge on campus, inviting insight, interconnection, and interrogation. courtesy of uchicago humanities department for responding to and grappling with human struggles. Other speakers included professors Sarah Fredericks, Kristen Schilt, and Dipesh Chakrabarty, as well as panel moderator professor Patrick Jagoda, all of whom shared their own research and their impact upon climate change outreach and advocacy. Professor Schilt also emphasized the importance of going beyond simply presenting data in outreach efforts, saying, “This is where the social sciences need the humanities.” In contrast, the next two panels I attended were in a more traditional lecture format. In “Keats’s Odes at 200,” professor James Chandler delivered a presentation on the legendary poet and his odes to nature. He also expanded on the themes prevalent within Keats’s poetry, namely dreams, poetic sensation,

the psyche, and the human soul. Out of all the presentations I attended, I was most impacted by the last: “Art in the 21st Century.” Presented by professor Matthew Jesse Jackson of the art history and visual arts departments, it opened with a rapid blast of images accompanied by a rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” quotes and images vanishing almost as quickly as they appeared. Professor Jackson then discussed the notion of art in the age of the Internet, in which he divided 21st-century artists into two categories: those who leap into the social media vortex for their own gain and those who believe in the power of social media as the medium itself. The latter, he said, are the artists worth examining because they are truly utilizing the primary medium of today’s society. He cited artists

who he believes do this—among them, Thomas Hirschhorn, Walid Raad, and Theaster Gates, Jackson’s colleague in the Department of Visual Arts. “Looking at good art in an intelligent way will make you an intelligent human being,” he said. And as the way that we have traditionally accessed art has changed, so too should our way of examining it. Jackson ended the presentation with some aphorisms. The one that most resonated with me: “Everything is how anything becomes something today.” Humanities Day proved yet another success, challenging attendees to embrace the newest expressions of art and research in the rapidly-developing age of technology while remaining aware of their impact on the criticism of societal issues.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — OCTOBER 30, 2019

Arting Around: Week Five By ARTS EDITORS Wednesday, October 30 Diwali: Festival of Lights Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 7–9:30 p.m. UChicago Hindu Student Sangam invites one and all to celebrate the traditional Diwali puja, one of India’s biggest religious celebrations. Usher in the lights with prayer, music, dance, and food. Thursday, October 31 From Dusk Till Dawn: Robert Rodriguez on 35mm Doc Films at the University of Chicago,

10–11:30 p.m., $7 per ticket. What better way to spend Halloween night than with a film at Doc? Catch this action-packed vampire thriller after dark, directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Pull up in costume for your chance at a quarterly movie pass. Saturday, November 2 Chicago Humanities Festival: Hyde Park Day Logan Center, International House, and Oriental Institute, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Tickets available online. Chicago Humanities Festival rolls through campus for its Hyde Park Day

events. Listen to the likes of National Book Award–winning historian Ibram X. Kendi and Pulitzer Prize finalist Suketu Mehta in a day dedicated to this historic neighborhood. UAV Women’s Committee Swift Hall, Third floor, 1025 East 58th Street, 3–5 p.m. Members of the United Auto Workers Women’s Committee talk with LaToya Ruby Frazier about their work as it continues both in public and behind the scenes. This event is part of the Renaissance Society’s current exhibition, The Last Cruze.

South Side Pie Challenge Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, 5480 South Kenwood Avenue, 2–5 p.m., free admission, $4/slice of pie. What is fall in Hyde Park without the South Side Pie challenge? Spend a lovely afternoon eating pie and listening to live music—all for a good cause! South Chicago Dance Festival Mandel Hall, 7–10 p.m., $25 per ticket South Chicago Dance Theater will perform at Mandel Hall alongside other dance troupes from the South Side, including UChicago Maya.

Hope as an Impossible Elephant Sitting Still By LILY MIN REN Arts Reporter

I walked out of Doc Films theater for a break after my second time seeing An Elephant Sitting Still with vertigo and an acute soreness in my body. For this screening, Doc welcomed the film’s Director of Photography and director Hu Bo’s long-time friend from film school, Fan Chao, who flew in from Beijing for a Q&A session. I heard about the film before its festival circulations and prestigious international prizes—before its booming success—from a mutual close friend’s open letter. Zhang Yu, an actor who played one of the film’s leads, wrote in mourning not long after Hu Bo’s suicide on October 12 2017: “Hu Bo embarked alone, and took the lead to arrive. He will no longer be expended… Hu Bo… did you laugh before you arrived? Yet ever since last night, that heavy thud has rung in my head. I want to be happy for you. I can’t.” Hu Bo was 29. Back then, Elephant was a four-hour long debut feature written by a stubborn young filmmaker who was threatened and pushed into an impasse. After a troubled production characterized by the producers’ spiteful insistence to limit the artist’s direction—everything from malicious cost-cutting to constant tirades of verbal abuse beating down on Hu’s “foolish” artistic ideals and vi-

sions—Wang Xiaoshuai, an established Chinese arthouse director and the film’s co-executive producer, along with his wife, gave Hu Bo two choices: either cut the film down to 2 hours for distribution, or lose all writing and directing credits. The matter dragged on unresolved for months until Hu’s death, after which Wang donated the rights to Hu’s parents amid controversy. After all, as our guest Fan Chao recounted, Hu began the script with the idea that every scene would be captured in one take. The film is premised upon the experiential and aesthetic power of long takes; the very nature of its lifeblood, its Idea, necessitates its length. Hu’s cinematic language is composed purely of masterful, unbroken, long sequences, which follow the four main characters as they navigate their bleak industrial town. They all resemble ghosts, and watching their attempts to seek dignity and justice shatter in a miasma of violence is so banal and all-consuming that one could only (barely) hang on within the paradox of misanthropic conclusions. Life is to be endured, and the audience feels that weight. In each of their totalizing and traumatic crises, the characters individually reach a collective hope, eventually embarking on an escape trip to see a semi-mythical elephant which does

An unreachable hope humanizes four dissociated characters. courtesy kimstim nothing but sit absolutely still in a circus. It’s a paradoxical, all-out leap of faith taken only by the truly despaired — a self-deprecating joke on one hand and the final prayer for a miracle on the other. The titular elephant, notes Fan Chao, is a surreal creature in northern China, bordering on the absurd. We do not see it, but in the final moment of the film, we hear its cry, impossibly crisp and resonant, sounding from a faraway place of imagination-made-reality. The characters stop to listen to the fantastical sound in solemn awe, their bodies

lit in the singularly focused, defiantly-bright front lights of the bus stopped on the night road towards Manzhouli. In extremely shallow focus—a cinema of dissociation—Hu blurs out everyone other than the four protagonists into “a homogenized form of external pressure, applied from society to our characters,” as Fan explains for Hu. The alienation of the all-blurred landscape and the eternally unclear face of the interlocutor is immersive and crushing, but the characters become obsessiveCONTINUED ON PG. 14

THE CHICAGO MAROON — OCTOBER 30, 2019

“Shit! I feel guilty I couldn’t protect him properly. It’s a shame. But how can one protect a person constantly surrounded by a storm?” CONTINUED FROM PG. 13

ly detailed, razor-sharp and paradoxically both realist and larger-than-life, embodied and dissociated. We follow the characters, compelled but growing in despair, trudging with them through the routine and the pain that composes life. We, like the characters, are eternally waiting for a hope too good to be true. As screen time begins to match narrative time in its unbearable slowness, the anxious blank spaces in time become increasingly oppressive, despite protection by the dimensional separation of those inside and outside a screen. When asked if Hu ever considered an audience, Fan said Hu aimed to offend them. Within the mise-en-scène, we are at a close distance with the characters— sometimes uncomfortably so to the point of disfiguration of their faces by harsh light and perspective. The characters move in purely natural, realist, dim lighting—the crew “even shut some existing blinds and turned off extra lights,” Fan described. They appear as shades of dark, alien silhouettes indoors, or as numb, frail, isolated individuals in the bleak, foggy, desaturated outdoors. And at times the obsessive sustained focus loses us, and the four protagonists disintegrate, just as the dissociated lose touch with themselves. This is a film language that humanizes the alienated. It grieves and rages for them, and moves the audience to do so in a parallel reality where we are as separated from the characters as we are now from Hu Bo, who cast his shadows in these characters, but left the ugly, desperate world it vividly portrays— taking the lead to arrive. Fan Chao made clear his differences from Hu Bo. He doesn’t like arthouse cinema; he prefers commercial film, citing Alfonso Cuarón. “If [Hu] wasn’t a film school classmate and friend, but a rando with this story, I wouldn’t have

done it… it’s too much. In college, his short films were even more ‘fly’ than this… it was [cinematic] poetry more than it was prose.” I asked if Hu was like a lone believer; our mutual friend Zhang speaks of asking him repeatedly if the film wasn’t too long, and so on. Fan laughed, “I asked the same thing. But he is interesting. The way he talks, he convinces you. He doesn’t talk much usually, but when he’s on set, everyone is convinced. If he was here now, everyone here would be convinced. But he’s not here now. So all we have is what he left behind.” A period of silence followed, opening up the air in the theater for a tiny, poignant moment, for a current of grief to pass through and make its mark physically, more or less, on friends, indirect friends and viewers alike. Hu’s mentor and greatest inspiration in the film industry, Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr (Satantango, The Turin Horse), whose long takes last around 10 minutes, writes of Hu, “Shit! I feel guilty I couldn’t protect him properly. It’s a shame. But how can one protect a person constantly surrounded by a storm?… He burned his candle at both ends. He wanted to have everything right now. He couldn’t accept the world and the world couldn’t accept him.” Here we are, two weeks past the two-year anniversary of his death. This is a tiny tribute of remembrance and gratefulness—for his deep compassion in his anguish, which passes through his art and language into the viewer and comforts us, expecting nothing in return. Editor’s Note: Several of the comments included in the article were translated by the author.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON — OCTOBER 30, 2019

Volleyball’s Victorious Season: Women’s Team Claims First-Ever No. 1 Ranking By THOMAS GORDON Sports Editor

Strength, unity, focus, growth, and selflessness are words that have been used to describe the UChicago women’s volleyball team this year. In what has been a historic year, the Maroons have claimed their first-ever No. 1 ranking, a UAA regular season championship and have defeated the No. 1 team twice in their current 24-game win streak. A massive period of growth has distinguished the program in the last three years. Anabella Pinton, a fourth-year, remembers her “first year when [they] lost [their] first two games of the season and later, didn’t qualify for NCAAs. It’s amazing to see how in just four years the program has really grown and has shifted from being the underdog who won the occasional big game to the team with the huge target on their backs.” This rise of the program has been solely possible through the hard work and determination of this current group. As third-year Fredericka Paulson puts it, “We have been working our butts off since the end of last season.” Similar to this hard work, coach Sharon Dingman attributes this historic season to a very important trait of this team, which is grit. “What makes this team

different is their grit. Their mental fortitude is impressive. We were down 8–22 in one set this season and came back to win that set 26–24. We were losing to Emory 14–21 and again, came back to win 25–22. Those types of comebacks take a belief in yourself, your teammates, skill, and grit!” These comebacks show a team that will not back down or quit no matter what circumstance they find themselves in. Sometimes top teams lack the experience of being in moments where things are not going their way and are struggling; this team, however, shows its capability to overcome those bad days at the office. Paulson believes that this mental toughness and grit that the players show may come from how close this group is: “I think what has really helped us to be successful is how close we all are and how much fun we have. We truly are playing because we love the game and love just being in the gym together. We also have really grown since the beginning of the season and are so much mentally tougher than we have ever been.” In addition to their grit and mental toughness, their selflessness has allowed the Maroons to utilize their depth as a massive advantage this year. The competition for playing time is intense and has improved every player on the roster. Coach Dingman hails this attribute

The volleyball team huddles before their game against then No. 4 Carthage. chloe zheng

Fourth-year hitter Madison Pearson (center) lines up to defend the serve. chloe zheng as the most important one throughout their season. “Our depth has been the most important contributor to our success. We make each other better every day at practice because we have so many skilled players. Unlike any team I’ve ever coached, [all the players] knows their roles, accepts the responsibilities that come with those roles and understands how each of them contributes to every win, whether they played that night or not.” Having all the players of the team accepting their role makes a coach’s life easy and shows the selflessness of this

group. Coach Dingman, through this depth, has such confidence in all of the players on her roster that there has not been a surprise contributor, at least in her opinion. “There is no single player that has been my biggest surprise. I know what they are capable of and it has been so fun to see those who have been patiently waiting for their turn to shine rise to the occasion.” This team has already created long-lasting memories for this roster and coaching staff. However, Paulson depicts the defeat of Calvin at Ratner as the best moment of the season. “The crowd was insane, our bench was incredible, and everything just clicked on the court. The energy in the gym that night was something I had never experienced before and the stuff block that Ellie [Alden] had for match point was absolutely crazy.” Similarly, coach Dingman hailed the atmosphere as “amazing,” and she is “thrilled [that] our players got to experience that environment playing at home and, of course, beating [Calvin] made it even more amazing.” This team is primed to create even more memories down the stretch and hopefully make Ratner rock even more in the upcoming weeks. Pinton explains their goal perfectly, saying “[we] hope that we can be the one team that ends our season with a win.”

THE CHICAGO MAROON — OCTOBER 30, 2019

SPORTS

Men’s Soccer Goes Global By MICHAEL KAYDIN Sports Reporter

The University of Chicago’s initiative to recruit athletically talented and technically gifted athletes from Lisbon and São Paulo has resulted in increased success for the team and a strong likelihood of continued domination of DIII soccer. Two current members, Jorge Branco and Vicente Mateus, have spoken of their transition to the much more physical soccer leagues of the United States and the process of adjusting to a new athletic culture. “While I was predominantly taught in an athletic environment that prioritized technicality and precision, learning to cope with the physicality of Division III soccer has improved my game,” Mateus said. “As a result, I see myself as a much more complete overall athlete and I hope to continue to help the team put in strong performances and win more games.” The dichotomy between the European/South American emphasis on technicality contrasts with the physicality of

Division III soccer. These changes provide recruited players a platform to develop previously untapped areas of their play and give the team a much-needed competitive advantage. In terms of the process of integrating into the team’s cultural dynamic, Mateus said that he could not have asked for a more warm and welcoming reception than the one he received on his first day of training. Branco described his introduction to the team: “Upon my arrival to the United States, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect of the campus or the fellow soccer athletes of the team.... On my first day, every American-made athlete introduced themselves to me, gave me advice on how to manage my academic and athletic commitments while leaving enough leisure to experience the unique beauty of the city of Chicago and UChicago’s diverse student body, and how to cope with the new playing style of the league. In addition, I was advised to join the heavily soccer-involved fraternity, Psi Upsilon, to continue building my relationships with a diverse variety of athletes coming from

all over the world. Today I consider my teammates and brothers—Nate Johnson, Sam Barovick, Renato Corghi, Jonah Moore, Isaiah Holquist, and of course, Vicente Mateus—to be some of the best friends in my life. “I honestly could not have asked for a better integration into the team and campus and encourage all potential international recruits to follow in my footsteps if they aren’t entirely sure they are ready to make such a large change in their life. Being a recruit for UChicago has permanently changed my life and I hope to see a greater percentage of international recruits for all teams in the future,” Branco said. UChicago’s admiration of international recruits is by no means unconventional. One of the best high school soccer team in the nation, Martin Luther King High School—famous for regularly clinching Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) Class A titles and sending academy players to top athletic universities and even Major League Soccer—is mostly composed of athletes from Trinidad, Latin America, and West

Africa, the majority of whom lived in New York City before enrolling at the school. Their head coach, Martin Jacobson, claims that the most time-sensitive part of his job is the process of finding the best talent for his team. Over the past two decades, Jacobson claims that the variety of diversity at his disposal was a fundamental cornerstone behind the club’s team dynamic and long-term success. While relatively modern, UChicago’s decision to increase the number of internationally recruited players has seen unprecedented levels of success for the team’s cultural dynamic and record (eight wins, one loss, five draws). In addition, the team’s foreign introductions have led to an emphasis on technicality which has improved the individual performance of each athlete. Based on current team opinions and results, the integration of international athletes has been a tremendous success and the University of Chicago should continue to scout the world for international talent.

Swim and Dive Make a Splash in First Meet of Year By MATTHEW LEE Sports Reporter

The University of Chicago men’s and women’s swimming teams drenched Wheaton College on the road, winning 26 out of 28 events on Saturday, October 26. The men, ranked No. 6 nationally, won by a score of 197–64. Standout performers for the male team included firstyear Alexander Sun, who came first in the 100-yard breaststroke. Fellow firstyear Arthur Kiselnikov began his career as a Maroon with a splash, taking first in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events. Meanwhile, second-year Nick Ding took the gold in the 100 and 200 butterfly events. To cap it off, the Maroon men, in a team made up of Kiselnikov, first-year Lucius Gao, second-year Sam Nickson,

and fourth-year Byrne Litschgi, took first in the 400 freestyle relay. All in all, 12 different Maroons contributed first-place finishes. The women’s team dominated their Wheaton College foes 209–53. The women, ranked No. 7 nationally, won every single event in a thorough sweep for the Maroons. First-years performed well for the team: Filippa Kolokotsa won the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events; Morgan Simon took the 500 and 1000 events; and Chanell Kann won the 200-yard individual medley. The women’s freestyle relay team, made up of Kolokotsa, first-year Grace Schwieters, and third-years Nicole Lin and Gillian Gagnard, also claimed victory. The aquatic Maroons have high hopes for the season. Following six consecutive seasons of top-15 finish-

es at the NCAA Division III national championship, UChicago looks to finally break through and claim the top spot this season. Last season saw the program reach unprecedented heights with highest-ever finishes for the women (sixth) and the men (eighth). The men graduated seven members but return a talented group, most notable among them fourth-year and 200-yard backstroke national champion Litschgi. The women graduated four All-Americans but similarly return with plenty of star power, headlined by fourth-year diver Agnes Lo, who finished as the national runner-up in the three-meter dive and third in the one-meter dive. “Our entire first-year classes on both sides are extremely talented as well, and with excellent leadership from our upperclassmen and captains, I think

we can have another record-setting year,” head coach Jason Weber, who has coached 293 All-American performances in his 14 seasons at UChicago, said in the season preview. After the performances against Wheaton, the team should certainly feel confident. The veteran performers demonstrated their talent and experience, while the first-years provided a great boost. The team are sure to get tested with a nationally competitive slate, especially in the conference meet, which features five top-20 men’s teams and women’s teams apiece, including defending women’s national champion and men’s runner-up in Emory. The Maroons will next dive into battle against Carthage at home on Saturday, November 2, at 1 p.m.