Features

Tunnel Vision

by Hayley Lamberson

Seasoned U of C students know that nearly all the buildings on the quad are connected to each other—Cobb and Gates-Blake, for example. But it's a well-kept secret that the entire University is connected underground by miles of steam tunnels.

The Master of Ceremonies

by Jake Grubman

A personal essay about the rise of JaQman Entertainment from the memory of Fro2000.

Gangs in Chicago

by Hayley Lamberson

And how to [try to] stop them

Out of the U of C, into the recession

by Chris Boots

After earning their degree, the class of 2009 enters the worst job market in recent memory

Kim Goff-Crews and the reshaping of the U of C

by Asher Klein

A top administrator brings her own approach to changing student life

The Way Things Work

The Way Things Work: Tuition Hikes

by Jordan Holliday

As competition for top faculty, staff, and students has increased, so has tuition.

The Way Things Work: Lab School admissions

by Jordan Holliday

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Maroon

A storied history and a reputation as a feeder for the nation's top colleges make the Lab School a highly appealing choice for students and parents. Getting Lab to choose you, though, is another story.

The Way Things Work: Land ownership

by Michael Lipkin

The University's recent investment in Washington Park, and the community’s tense reaction, raise an important question: Just how much land does the University own?

From our archives

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Chris Salata

Fear factor

by Kat Glass

When University officials called an open meeting on November 19, the afternoon after graduate student Amadou Cisse was killed, they were still piecing together a response plan. Administrators hauled in several rows of chairs and some tissue boxes, presumably anticipating that this would be a time to reflect on the tragedy—the first student murder in 30 years.

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Maroon File Photo

Interview with J. Z. Smith

by Supriya Sinhababu

A word of advice for anyone hoping to contact Jonathan Zittell Smith before he returns to campus next fall: Use the mail slot. The religious studies professor— better known as J.Z.—doesn't pick up the phone and has never "seen the Internet." In a two-hour interview, Smith weighed in on chain smoking, dead religions, and the Babylonian Talmud.

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Chris Salata

Grassroots: The next generation

by Tim Murphy

The road to the Democratic nomination has taken on a distinctly local flavor in 2008. The U of C can lay claim to both the presumptive nominee, Barack Obama, a former Law School professor, and also the man least likely to win the nomination: his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who holds an M.A. from the Divinity School.

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More than a game

by Supriya Sinhababu

Sculptor Lorado Taft may have just been making a statement on human morality when he installed the Fountain of Time statue on the west end of the Midway in 1922. But as it towers over the rest of Washington Park, the wizened concrete form points just as well to various incarnations of the changing park over the past 86 years.

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Sharat Ganapati

The Way Things Work: The endowment

by Michael Lipkin

As the University's endowment has reached record levels of growth, it has come under increased scrutiny from all directions. In Washington, the Senate has considered placing caps on endowment spending for the richest institutions, while closer to home, graduate students on campus have called for more endowment dollars to be spent on their financial aid. What is an endowment, and how does it work?

From the Grey City editors

by Tim Murphy and Kat Glass

The U of C may look different now, but many of the forces that made it tick 40 years ago are still active today.

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Chris Salata

Full J. Z. Smith interview

by Supriya Sinhababu

J.Z. Smith refuses to use the Internet, but you can still read the full text of this two-hour interview here.

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Tom Tian

Fiction: 61st Street Revisited

by Sara Jerome , Joe Riina-Ferrie, Claire Tolan, Noah Weisz, Helen Gregg, and Katy McNeil

Inspired by a prompt on this year’s Uncommon Application (“Tell us the story of a street....”) we asked you for tales about East 61st Street, the U of C’s southern edge. The catch? Stories must be exactly 61 words.

Out on the street

by Alison Sider

Even as the markets continue to plunge, U of C students and recent graduates on Wall Street aren't panicking yet

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Maroon File Photo

The sit-in: 40 years later

by Supriya Sinhababu

The two-week takeover of the Administration Building in 1969 is nearly absent from the collective memories passed down to each new generation of students, leaving a vacant seat next to tales of Leopold and Loeb, urban renewal, and Hyde Park homicides.

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Tom Tian

Obama's economist

by Tim Murphy

In just a few years, Austan Goolsbee has gone from being just another star professor at an institution brimming with them to the next big thing—an economist in a position to help shape public policy from the top down.

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Chris Salata

The Way Things Work: Nuclear waste

by Claire McNear

The U of C's nuclear experiments—as well as modern efforts to clean them up—trace their roots to a killjoy administrator, an Italian physicist, and a gang of singing teenagers.

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Courtesy of the Oriental Institute

Trial of the Centuries

by Alison Sider

Since 2004, the Oriental Institute has found itself at the unlikely nexus of archaeology, law, and terrorism. At stake are millions of dollars, a collection of 2,500-year-old tablets, and possibly the future of archaeological research.

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Sara Jerome

Grey City Preview Podcast: Inside Teach for America

by Sara Jerome and Matt Barnum

Sara Jerome and Matt Barnum discuss the upcoming a feature in Grey City, the Maroon's quarterly magazine. Matt's article provided a look inside the high-pressure world of Teach for America. Check out Grey City in this Tuesday's issue of the Maroon, and at chicagomaroon.com/grey-city

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Thalia Gigerenzer

The Mayor of 57th Street

by Thalia Gigerenzer

For nearly half a century, Constantinos "Gus" Lukis has been waking up before dawn to fix Hyde Park's broken soles and rundown heels.

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Chris Salata

Corps Curriculum

by Matt Barnum

Over the course of the first year in TFA, through early mornings and frustrating days, with a few bright moments and positive encounters, one U of C grad would stick with the program’s mission despite considerable challenges. The other would quit.

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Tom Tian

Perchance to Dream

by David Brooks

In a 1982 column, former Maroon editor (and current New York Times columnist) David Brooks envisioned a life without Pac-Man, the Brady Bunch, and freedom of movement.

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Maroon File Photo

The new urban renewal

by Tim Murphy

Ann Marie Lipinski takes charge of the U of C's plan to engage with the surrounding community.

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Courtesy of the Israel Archaeology Institute

Dead Sea Scrolls Scandal

by Sara Jerome

An academic scandal erupted in early March, and professor Norman Golb found himself at its center. As newspapers rapidly seized on the tale, a narrative emerged about Golb’s son Raphael, 49, who allegedly used false e-mail accounts to impersonate and undermine his father’s scholarly critics. Arrested in New York City, Raphael, with his family’s support, denies the charges. But the scandal overlays an already contentious debate about the Dead Sea Scrolls, adding another argument where many say the evidence disfavors Norman Golb.

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Sharat Ganapati

Leaving the force

by Thalia Gigerenzer

After 20 years with the UCPD, Rudy Nimocks hangs up his badge.

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Crime Report: October 20, 2009

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Two men approached two University students entering an apartment building on South Kenwood Avenue and demanded their possessions at gunpoint. The two victims surrendered their cell phones, credit cards, and wallets. Both suspects were described as black, 18-20 years old, and about 5 foot 7 inches. One of the suspects wore a black hooded sweatshirt; the other wore a red hooded sweatshirt.

Discussion of the importance of the Latke-Hamentash debate no laughing matter

by Sonia Hinson

Professor Ted Cohen feigned exasperation at the Humanities Festival for belittling the November tradition by implying it is humorous; the festival's theme this year is humor, which Cohen summed up as, “God made us die; laugh.”

Life in a fishbowl

by Andrew Lovdahl

Grey City Fiction -- a short story

Q&A with John Cochrane part III

by Jordan Holliday

More of Grey City's interview with John Cochrane

Q&A with John Cochrane, part two

by Jordan Holliday

More of Grey City's interview with the Booth School economist.

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Tom Tian

The Zimmer Program

by Michael Lipkin

Before he was president, before he was provost at Brown University, before any of his administrative work, Robert Zimmer was a powerful mathematician who carved out a complex discipline that now bears his name: the Zimmer Program.

Q & A

Q&A with John Cochrane

by Jordan Holliday

Why he loves economics and the U of C—but not the talking heads on cable news.

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Sharat Ganapati

Q & A with Paul Sally

by Supriya Sinhababu

The math department's infamous pirate prof talks about meeting Gwynyth Paltrow, pulverizing cell phones, and achieving Peep immortality.

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Chris Salata

Richard Epstein lays down the law

by Supriya Sinhababu

After 40 years of teaching and scholarship, drawing quick, frank conclusions is in Epstein’s nature. The outspoken Law School professor takes aim at Vice President Biden, his political opponents, and his most famous former colleague.

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Chris Salata

Q&A with Bert Cohler

by Sara Jerome

The comparative human development professor weighs in on student stress, “that kid,” and the prospect of a University institute devoted to Sigmund Freud.

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