Arts & Culture: Ariel Pink sells out Thalia Hall,
11
See pg. 15
Opinions: Congress sharpens knives over Obama’s Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) proposal, See pg. 28
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No. 1 Non-Daily College Newspaper in the Nation MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2015
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Taxi drivers protest UberX
VOLUME 50, ISSUE 20
SARAH MARTINSON Metro Reporter TAXI DRIVERS HONKED their horns to
protest the unregulated ridesharing industry, swarming Daley Plaza continuously, circling the block for hours until a later press conference was held on Feb. 17 by the United Taxidrivers Community Council at City Hall. Mayoral hopeful and Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia attended the press conference and was the only mayoral candidate to make a personal appearance. Alderman Bob Fioretti was represented by Amara Enyia, CEO of ACE Municipal Partners, who dropped out of the mayor’s race in December. Clark, Dearborn, Randolph and Washington—the streets that surround Daley Plaza—were packed with taxicabs. The drivers had ceased picking up riders and drove around the block, the signs in their windows reading, “Ride Share Steal,” “No More Taxi Regulations” and “Uber: Show Us Your Insurance.” Bystanders seemed confused and annoyed.
Kelly Wenzel THE CHRONICLE Students have the opportunity to speak directly with President Kwang-Wu Kim with the resumption of president-student office hours.
Student office hours return SAM VINTON
Campus Reporter WITHIN 24 HOURS of the announce-
lieving the burden of regulations on taxi drivers, Enger said. Ridesharing companies are not regulated the way taxi companies
ment that president-student office hours will return to Columbia, all four available dates in the Spring 2015 Semester had been filled. The Office of the President sent out a collegewide email Feb. 16 announcing dates and times for this semester’s president-student office hours, a chance for students to schedule a one-on-one meeting with President Kwang-Wu Kim. With meeting times available on a first come, first served basis and only 20 spots open for the semester, it is an opportunity in high demand.
xx SEE PROTEST, PG. 35
xx SEE PRESIDENT, PG. 10
Kelly Wenzel THE CHRONICLE Chicago taxi driver Rocky Mmoma protests ridesharing apps, such as Uber, outside City Hall on Feb. 17 as other drivers circled the building from 6–10 a.m.
Standing and shouting on North Clark Street outside City Hall, veteran taxi drivers Fayez Khozindar, chairman of UTCC, and Peter Enger, secretary of UTCC, held signs that read, “Rahm ‘Uber’
Emanuel” and “No More Taxi Regulations Level The Playing Field: Let The Competition Begin!” The UTCC staged the “Occupy the Loop” protest because no mayoral candidate has addressed re-
Genetic variety in gut critters tied to disease MAX GREEN Sports & Health Editor THE HUMAN GUT is a teeming lo-
cus of bacterial enterprise. This ever-changing clump of activity—our gut microbiome—spans the length of the stomach and intestines and is colonized by trillions of microbial residents, more than anywhere else in the human body. In the recent decade or so that human gut microbiome research has taken off, scientists have established relationships between different types of bacteria and a variety of physiological outcomes both beneficial and adverse. Most conclusively, a relationship has been identified between imbalances in different bacterial groups and obesity related symptoms.
Students get funky at Reggies • PAGE 3
However, new research was pre- cisco. “I think a number of variables sented Feb. 13 at the 2015 American are at play. The first one is that Association for the Advancement there is real, biological variability— of Science’s Annual Meeting in San quite a bit of it—between people’s Jose, California suggesting that the gut microbiomes.” relationship between obesity Pollard said not only is there and the kinds of bacteria livgreat variability between the gut ing in one’s stomach may be bacteria of difa red herring of ferent people sorts. who live in close “It’s a bit p rox i m i ty complito one ancated,” said other, sharKatherine ing meals Pollard, a and common senior investispaces, but gator at the Gladstone the bacterial Institutes content of an inand a prodividual’s gut can Alexander Aghayere THE CHRONICLE fessor at the vary from day to day. University of This shifting array of microCalifornia, San Franscopic guests led Pollard and a team
Columbia partners with CrossFit • PAGE 11
of researchers to perform a systemic review of prior studies that implicated particular strains of bacteria and imbalances between those strains as having a causal link to obesity. “What we saw when we reanalyzed lots of studies is if you have a background and a lot of variability and then you take a small sample—a handful of individuals who are lean and a handful who are obese—you could find differences just by chance,” Pollard said. “Because people are so different from each other.” The team has hypothesized that the genetic makeup of the bacteria present in the microbiome, rather than the type or amount of bacteria itself, may play a more causal role in presenting disease outcomes like diabetes.
The Dance Center presents Dance Crash • PAGE 18
“There’s really striking evidence [of this] even within the same species,” Pollard said. “You and I could both have what microbiologists would call the same exact species of bacteria but your version could have 30 or 40 percent of their genes be different from my version.” According to Sean Davies, an assistant professor of pharmacology at Vanderbilt University, although there is a body of scientific research establishing that gut bacteria do contribute to obesity in some way, much of the original research focused on the ratio of two specific phyla, or divisions, of bacteria that appear in the human gut, which is an approach that minimizes the complexity of the microbiome and its inhabitants.
xx SEE GUTS, PG. 14
Illinois legislature challenges red light cameras • PAGE 31 T HE COLUMBIA C HRONICLE