11
Let us take you out to a movie. Exclusive advanced-screening tickets to “Stoker” and “21 and Over” are available at The Chronicle front desk. Commentary: Rahm for president in 2016? See pg. 31
Uncovering Chicago’s Neighborhoods
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VOLUME 48, ISSUE 20
Campus Editor
HAYLEY HOLDER, A 21-year-old
personal assistant, dropped out of Columbia after her freshman year in the spring of 2010. Holder said her plan was to return to Columbia the following semester to pursue a degree in theater, but the cost became too high. According to Holder, she did not receive a bill for an entire year after leaving the college and continued to receive campus news to her Loop account. However, in 2012, her family started to receive letters
card, a new tool launched this month on WhiteHouse.gov that provides data on the cost of each college in the country, students at Columbia and DePaul and Loyola universities average the highest monthly student loan payments in Chicago. During a 10-year period, Columbia students have paid approximately $302 per month while DePaul students pay about $283 per month and Loyola students about $276 a month. According to Ken Gotsch, Columbia’s chief financial officer, one reason Columbia students have high monthly loan payments is that few alumni support the college financially, which drives up tuition xx SEE LOANS, PG. 8
$27,934
Columbia College Chicago
$24,205
DePaul University
$28,976
Loyola University Chicago
$25,011
Roosevelt University
$39,800
National private school average 0
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
11.4%
Columbia College Chicago DePaul University 4.4%
Loyola University Chicago 5.7% Roosevelt University 6% National private school average 2.3% 0
6
3
9
13.4% 12
15
Columbia College Chicago
$302.09
DePaul University
$283.39
Loyola University Chicago
$276.19 $212.19
Roosevelt University
[National private school average varies based on loan type] 0
100
200
300
Zach Stemerick THE CHRONICLE
by Alexandra Kukulka
asking her to pay $12,000 in full, which forced her to default on her freshman year loans. After losing her job in January, Holder is worried about paying back her loans, which most students begin paying six months after graduation, and the bad credit she has accumulated since defaulting. “It does worry me that I don’t have good credit,” Holder said. “My parents don’t have great credit so I can’t just be like, ‘My parents will just cosign for me. Everything will be fine.’ [Defaulting] does complicate things.” Holder is not the only Columbia alum who has to repay steep loans, according to a White House college report. According to the College Score-
Loan default rate within 3 years of beginning repayment
White House tool exposes 3 Chicago colleges with highest student loan debt
Median federal loan payment per month
Columbia flunks College Scorecard
Net price for undergraduate students
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013
Spray paint sheds light on asteroid defense by Doug Pitorak
Assistant Sports & Health Editor
Rena Naltsas THE CHRONICLE
Jerry Adams, an associate professor in the Science & Mathematics Department who teaches geology courses, said using spray paint to deflect Earth-bound asteroids is a safer option than nuclear weapons.
CAMPUS
SGA raises activity fee • page 3
SPORTS & HEALTH
NU Wildcats limp to finish • page 13
SPRAY PAINT CANNOT stop a pope from resigning or prevent lightning from striking St. Peter’s Basilica at an incredibly coincidental time, but it may be able to halt another rare occurrence: a large asteroid hitting Earth. In 2007, David Hyland, professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University, asked his students to design a spacecraft that could engage the asteroid Apophis—a rock with a diameter of approximately 300 meters that is scheduled to pass close to Earth on April 13, 2029—and record its physical properties.
ARTS & CULTURE
Lunar New Year in Chinatown • page 24
According to Hyland, one student, Shen Ge, discovered a practical way to avert a potential impactor, like Apophis, from crashing into the Earth, although the method would not have been of much use to Russia on Feb. 15 because there was no advanced warning of the meteorite that exploded. Ge’s method relies on disrupting the Yarkovsky effect, which occurs when an asteroid is propelled forward by the thermal energy produced when sunlight reflects on an asteroid. The more light that is reflected on the asteroid, the greater the thermal energy boost. According to Hyland, Ge’s design simply spray paints the asteroid to alter how much light it absorbs and,
METRO
2nd District candidate field narrows • page
therefore, how much energy and momentum it has. Painting the asteroid black would allow it to absorb additional light, slowing it down. To speed it up, one would paint it white so it can reflect more light. Upon having its speed altered, the asteroid gets to the point where its orbit path intersects Earth’s orbit path at a different time, Hyland said. “The two locomotives don’t have to collide just because their tracks intersect,” Hyland said. “To collide, they have to be at the same place at the same time where the tracks meet.” Painting a rock may seem like a xx SEE ASTERIOD, PG. 14
INDEX
Campus .......................................................3 Sports & Health ..........................................11 Arts & Culture ..............................................17 Commentary ..............................................30 Metro ........................................................33