A&E
PHOTO
INDEPENDENCE DAY
THE UPSIDE DOWN Logan Square’s Netflix-inspired pop-up bar page 11
Volume 49
Pilsen celebrated Mexican Independence Day with a parade page 9
Issue 5
September 20, 2017
LOYOLA PHOENIX LOYOLAPHOENIX.COM | @PHOENIXLUC
Proposed Title IX changes cause concern for students CHRISTOPHER HACKER AND MARY NORKOL chacker@luc.edu mnorkol@luc.edu
The Trump administration may change rules for how colleges handle sexual assault allegations involving students, raising concerns at Loyola that protections for victims could be rolled back. President Donald Trump’s secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, recently criticized Obama-era policies
that told schools receiving federal funding, including Loyola, how to handle allegations of sexual misconduct. She argued they “failed” students by forcing schools to assume someone accused of sexual assault was guilty. “Through intimidation and coercion, the failed system has clearly pushed schools to overreach,” DeVos said at an event at George Mason University on Sept. 7. “With the heavy hand of Washington tipping the balance of her scale, the sad real-
ity is that Lady Justice is not blind on campuses today.” Designed to protect sexual assault survivors, the policy directs schools to treat sexual harassment and assault as violations of Title IX, a 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on sex. It directs schools to protect the alleged victim during investigation and to provide equal opportunity for both sides to present evidence and call witnesses. TITLE IX 4 Steve Woltmann
Loyola Athletics
The Loyola women’s soccer team currently has 31 goals on 152 shot attempts.
Women’s soccer creates offense through its defense ABIGAIL SCHNABLE aschnable@luc.edu
Courtesy of Blanca Vega
Loyola lost its spot in a report of the top 100 universities in the nation, dropping to 103rd from 99th, but its overall grade increased from last year in the same report. MOLLY KOZLOWSKI mkozlowski@luc.edu
Loyola lost its ranking as one of the 100 best universities, moving down to 103rd, according to U.S. News and World Report’s 2018 list of best colleges. In the 2017 rankings, Loyola placed 99th in the national universities category. Loyola was first included in the top 100 universities at 99th place in 2016 rankings. In the national universities category, schools are evaluated in 15 different academic categories which are weighted by importance from U.S. News, including graduation rate, selectivity and faculty resources. The composite scores of each college or university are then compared to other institutions.
Though Loyola’s overall ranking may have dropped, its composite increased from 48 to 49 points this year, showing Loyola has made improvements within the U.S. News criteria. Loyola fell in placement because six other universities scored at 49 and technically tied for 98th place — Auburn University, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of New Hampshire, University of Oregon, University of South Carolina and University of Tennessee. Since the next highest composite score of 50 ranks 97th on the U.S. News list, the publication chose to rank all six schools with a score of 49 as 103rd to remain objective. Consequently, spots 98-102 weren’t assigned to any of the universities ranked in the current edition.
U.S. News also recognized Loyola as 58th in best value rankings — which evaluates academic quality alongside the average student’s net cost of attendance — 62nd in best schools for veterans and 75th in high school counselor rankings, which measures each school’s reputation among high school guidance counselors. Brian Deiekan, a first-year biology major, was surprised that Loyola took a dip in the rankings. “I think it’s a great school, a great education, with great teachers, so I don’t see why we would drop,” the 18-year-old said. However, Loyola’s provost, John P. Pelissero, is unfazed by the new stats and encouraged others to look at the ranking in context. RANKING 3
Fresh off a win at home on Sept. 8, the Loyola women’s soccer team (6-3, 1-0) headed to Iowa and beat Big-10 Conference foe University of Iowa (3-0). This season has marked high scoring games for the Ramblers, including a 9-0 win against Chicago State. While the offense has been exceptional, many players credit the defense for their success. In nine games, the team has 31 goals on 152 shot attempts, already matching the number of goals scored in all of last season. “We try to get everyone involved [in the play] and get numbers ahead of the ball. We tell the team: everyone defends, everyone attacks,” head coach Barry Bimbi said. “You can see that in our score line with outside backs getting goals and assists, Mad-
ison Laudeman scored a goal against Iowa State, she’s a central defender. It’s just a team mentality that everyone is attacking.” The team didn’t always play this kind of offense. Bimbi said he recently switched how they played in order to integrate the new players. “We went through our spring games playing the 4-4-2 system, with four defenders, four midfielders and two forwards. The girls liked it and it fit the team very well,” Bimbi said. “I think we created a ton of chances in the spring games, the goals weren’t there but the chances were there. … We worked at it, fine tuning the little aspects of the systems, and now we are reaping the rewards from that. The goals are going in and hopefully we can keep it going.” The team generates their offense from the pressure the defense creates, and it’s working. OFFENSE 15
New ‘1984’ production brings modern twist LUKE HYLAND lhyland1@luc.edu
The year 1984 has come and gone, yet George Orwell’s vision of a totalitarian war state still feels prophetic. Exploring themes of privacy, censorship, nationalism and violence, Orwell’s renowned 1949 novel, “1984,” brings its readers to the horrifying Oceania, a “superstate” that is run by the ever-present Big Brother. “1984” depicts a world that we’re continually inching closer to each day. AstonRep Theatre Company’s intimate Raven’s Theatre (6157 N. Clark St.) production of the Broadway stage adaptation will leave audiences mulling over questions that Big Brother
would never allow. The play follows the story of Winston Smith (Ray Kasper), a middle-class citizen in Oceania who works as an editor in the “ministry of truth,” Big Brother’s censorship department. There, he helps Big Brother translate various works of literature into “newspeak,” Oceania’s budding new language that limits one’s ability to articulately express one’s personal identity and challenge the status quo. When Winston meets Julia (Sarah Lo), a new editor at the “ministry of truth,” the two fall in love. The new lovers begin to break away from Big Brother’s grasp and join a resistance movement against the oppressive regime. 1984 11