BIGGEST MOUTH: Columbia’s most talented musicians take the stage for the year’s first Biggest Mouth, which kicks off with freshmen ready to make a name for themselves among veteran competitors. For full story and video, visit ColumbiaChronicle.com.
A green rider’s manual to pro-skateboarding Go to ColumbiaChronicle.com for exclusive video content
OPINIONS: Anti-vaccination groups
need to vet their sources. See pg. 33
14
No. 1 Non-Daily College Newspaper in the Nation MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013
THE OFFICIAL NEWS SOURCE OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO
VOLUME 49, ISSUE 2
U-(shall not)Pass
Students stuck at transit centers while CTA denies issues KATHERINE DAVIS Assistant Campus Editor TRANSIT TROUBLES HAVE left some
students stranded as a result of the college’s switch to the new Ventra U-Pass system, but Chicago Transit Authority officials have not acknowledged any problems with Columbia students’ cards. According to Jennifer Waters, executive director of Student Financial Services, students have been calling Columbia about activated cards not allowing them to board trains and buses. Waters said the college cannot directly assist students with Ventra card troubles because only the CTA has the ability to fix faulty cards. She said the college has received about 50 calls from students since the U-Passes were distributed. SFS has been referring students to Ventra’s customer service hotline. However, Lambrini Lukidis, a CTA media representative, said
the introduction of the new Ventra cards is going smoothly and her office has not received any complaints from Columbia students. “Columbia has told us that the transition has been smooth, and the school hasn’t received any complaints of Ventra cards not working,” Lukidis said. “[On] our end, we have not had any incidents reported to CTA.” However, Lukidis said there have been incidents of students simply not activating their Ventra cards, which accounts for their inability to board trains and buses. Tori Shapow, a junior photography major who commutes daily from Edgewater, said she activated her U-Pass but was still unable to pass through the Red Line turnstile. She said she reported the problem to SFS and the CTA. “They said it just wasn’t working for anyone and thought it should be working by [Sept. 3],” Shapow said. After Shapow reported the failure, her Ventra card began working
Sept. 3 even though it should have worked starting Aug. 29. Joseph De Luca, a junior art & design major, said his U-Pass has not been working since he activated it Sept. 3. De Luca has had to use his own money to commute between home and school. Despite having already paid $130 for his U-Pass, he said he gets the same response every time he tries to tap his card. “I tried to just slap my card right on top of the little scanner and then ‘stop’ came up in red and it wouldn’t let me go through,” De Luca said. Despite several students having issues with the new U-Pass, many have had positive experiences with the new system, Waters said. “It’s more convenient just putting your wallet up against [the scanner],” said Miles Kenner, a junior music major. “I’m less tempted to lose [the card] rather than just some flimsy looking piece of paper.”
xx SEE VENTRA, PG. 9
Heroin use shooting up ZACH MILLER Assistant Metro Editor HEROIN USE IS on the rise, particular-
xx SEE HEROIN, PG. 40
Columbia rewrites curriculum Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction are merged into one department
TYLER EAGLE Campus Editor HEROIN OVERDOSE DEATHS INCREASED BY 115% in Lake County 50% in McHenry County 100% in Will County from 2007–2011
HEROIN OVERDOSE DEATHS DECREASED BY 16% in Chicago from 2000–2009
Information from Roosevelt University
Michael Scott Fischer THE CHRONICLE
ly among the city’s youth. According to an August 2012 study by Roosevelt University, heroin use among those 20 years old and younger is increasing and spreading from the inner city into Chicago’s neighborhoods and suburbs. As of Aug. 29, Chicago has seen 3,496 arrests for heroin possession so far this year, according to city data. In 2012, Chicago police made 5,257 arrests for heroin possession. “[Heroin use] is socio-economically diverse and is increasing,” said Kathleen Kane-Willis, who co-authored the study as interim director at the Institute for Metropolitan Affairs at Roosevelt University. According to the study, heroin use is increasing most among younger individuals. The study notes that emergency room mentions, which
are references to a substance during a patient’s visit to the E.R., increased in the Chicago metropolitan area by 27 percent from 2008–2010 among those 20 years old and younger. Additionally, treatment admissions for heroin from 2008–2009 increased by 22 percent for those aged 18 and younger and by 17 percent for those aged 18–20. “[Heroin] is being used by young people who are often introduced to it by either snorting it or smoking it,” according to an emailed statement from the office of Jack Riley, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Chicago Field Office. “They’re treating it like it’s a recreational drug, and nothing could be further from the truth. Heroin is extremely addictive and too often results in death by overdose.” Education is one method of combating heroin abuse among teens.
Anthony Soave THE CHRONICLE Columbia students have experienced technical issues with their new Ventra U-Passes when trying to scan them at Chicago Transit Authority turnstiles. The students have expressed frustration about being stranded during their commutes, requiring them to pay the fare with cash.
AS THE ENGLISH language evolves, so does Columbia’s method of teaching it. Students studying fiction writing, poetry and creative nonfiction have a new home this year through the formation of the new Creative Writing Department. The entire Fiction Writing Department and certain faculty members from the English Department have been folded into the new department, a move which was approved and implemented in May, according to Louise Love, interim provost and vice president of Academic Affairs. She said the new department will be housed under the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, a dramatic change for the Fiction Writing Department that was formerly part of the School of Fine & Performing Arts.
“We are bringing faculty from two different schools and trying to create a unity and a new departmental culture among people that used to work in [two] schools,” Love said. Love said the formation of the Creative Writing Department stemmed from recommendations that were rendered during prioritization, an extensive process that generated ideas for Columbia’s future. “This is something that the college has talked about for a long time,” Love said. “It makes sense to bring all of the creative writing programs together.” As reported March 19, 2012 by The Chronicle, changes to the Fiction Writing Department through prioritization have evoked mixed reactions from students in the past, most notably when Randall Albers,
xx SEE CREATIVE, PG. 10
FEATURE
SPORTS & HEALTH
ARTS & CULTURE
Can clairvoyance be taught? • pg. 22
Beer, football and unicycles unite • pg. 11
Natalia Kills talks Trouble • pg. 26