Table tennis welcomes all comers as club grows

By Abby Seiff / June 2, 2006

Few people realize there is a table tennis club at this school, let alone that it’s been around for some time. But if they were to wander around the basement of Ida Noyes, as club president third-year Matthew Mao was doing several months ago, they might even stumble across some ancient ping-pong robots. The robots...

Velo’s Yezefski takes second at nationals: Sports Shorts 5/19/06

By Abby Seiff / May 19, 2006

With the wind buoying them on, sailing made all the right moves as they closed their season on a high note. In their last race of the year, the University of Chicago Sailing Team tied with the Northwestern I squad at 112 points for fourth place out of 12 overall at the “Wet Your Willie”...

Max Palevsky’s Team Wombat conquers Scav competition

By Abby Seiff / May 16, 2006

Sunday evening in Ida Noyes must have looked strange to outsiders. Groups of students, anxious and exhausted, kept up their energy by shouting back and forth at each other while waiting for the Scav Hunt judges to name Max Palevsky’s Team Wombat this year’s winner. Max Palevsky, which tied for first place last year and...

Velo chasing national title in Kansas: Sports Shorts 5/12/06

By Abby Seiff / May 12, 2006

From the club’s inception nine years ago, until three years ago, no one from the University of Chicago’s velo team went to the Collegiate Nationals. And then something happened. One member made it to nationals. Then three did. Now the team, which is still too small and underdeveloped to be able to compete in all...

Scavvies prioritize, forget about sleep

By Abby Seiff / May 12, 2006

Scav Hunt 2006 commenced in silence late Wednesday night at the Regenstein Library, where judges presented teams with a fake course syllabus that, when deciphered using real library call numbers, revealed the location of this year’s coveted List. Just like any formidable U of C assignment, the teams were up to the challenge. This year’s...

Crew makes waves at MACRA Regatta: Sports Shorts 5/9/06

By Abby Seiff / May 9, 2006

Racing with boats lent by the competition generally isn’t considered a formula for success. Yet in last Saturday’s Mid-America Collegiate Rowing Association Regatta, it proved to be just what crew needed to catapult straight to the finals. The women’s novice boat followed this unusual recipe for greatness for a fourth-place finish in the top-flight race,...

Harvard President Summers resigns amidst faculty pressure

By Abby Seiff / February 24, 2006

Harvard University President Larry Summers resigned last Tuesday, bowing to faculty pressure that had been steadily building for nearly a year. The decision came in reaction to numerous complaints, but most concretely in anticipation of a no-confidence motion slated to be passed by the Faculty of Arts and Science during an upcoming meeting. In a...

Social Sciences Division creates new Committee on Education

By Abby Seiff / February 21, 2006

The Division of the Social Sciences officially approved the Committee on Education two weeks ago, making it the first of its kind in terms of research breadth to address the department’s goals for increased interdisciplinary studies. The faculty roster includes professors of economics, psychology, public policy, human development, math, social service administration, and sociology. “Normally...

K&G tenants cite utility, security problems

By Abby Seiff / November 8, 2005

Sometimes referred to as the “Slumlords of Hyde Park” by disgruntled residents, K&G management has nevertheless carved out a niche in the student-housing market in Hyde Park. With an abundance of apartments and relatively low rent, K&G has attracted thousands of students over the years—tenants who, because of the temporary state of their living situations,...

Pro-Israel posters defaced for fifth straight year

By Abby Seiff / November 1, 2005

Last weekend marked the fifth consecutive year when posters advertising an upcoming Chicago Friends of Israel (CFI) event were found defaced. The posters announced a talk to be given by Michael Barone, senior writer at U.S. News and World Report. When CFI members arrived at Cobb to refresh the supply Sunday evening, they found the...

Boyer leads bikers on trek through South Side

By Abby Seiff / October 3, 2005

Nearly 40 students continued the now five-year-old tradition of dodging pedestrians and halting traffic as they wended their way around the South Side under the tutelage of Dean in the College John Boyer, Sociology Professor Terry Clark, and Vice-President of Community and Government Affairs Hank Webber. The South Side Pedal used to be a privilege...

Tribune’s Fuller speaks about life and times

By Abby Seiff / June 3, 2005

The room was posh, the free food plentiful, and the few who came to see Jack Fuller, recently retired president of Tribune Publishing, speak at the Alumni House last Tuesday were not disappointed. Student Government and the Chicago Maroon sponsored the Fireside Chat with Fuller, who serves on the University of Chicago Board of Trustees....

Website to facilitate excursions downtown

By Abby Seiff / May 19, 2005

At a recent brown bag, President Randel said, “The day we lose those T-shirts is the day we lose something special about the University.” It is doubtful, however, that anyone in the administration is especially pleased by the University’s image as a soul-crusher. Perhaps in view of altering its stereotype student, the University is embarking...

Student group pushes peers to donate

By Abby Seiff / May 13, 2005

April showers bring May flowers, just as May flowers mean June cash. With alumni weekend approaching, doctors, lawyers, and investment bankers are poised to pour money back into their alma mater. Since July 1999, the University has been undertaking its largest fundraising effort to date: a $2 billion drive known as the Chicago Initiative. Assisting...

Famed historian Michael Oren talks to the Maroon

By Abby Seiff / May 10, 2005

Historian Michael Oren spoke to a packed lecture hall Monday evening as part of Israel Week, sponsored by Chicago Friends of Israel. Oren, a New Jersey native, moved to Israel over 25 years ago, becoming a citizen, soldier, and eventually best-selling author. He proposed in his speech that a fear of power was one of...

Democrats, Republicans debate gun control in Chicago

By Abby Seiff / February 25, 2005

The University of Chicago Democrats (UC Dems) and the College Republicans faced off last Wednesday evening over the issue of gun control in Chicago. The Democrats were represented by second-year in the College Josh Mellen and third-year Tim Fletcher, while second-year Kason Kimberley and third-year Mihai Sturdza spoke for the Republicans. A handful of impromptu...

Some profs use classroom to promote careers, book sales

By Abby Seiff / February 18, 2005

With any busy quarter comes a heavy pile of books and readings. And these books can often bring supplementary income for academics who have the opportunity to publish. Professors at the University are at the top of their fields. They win Nobel Prizes and are featured in the nation’s most prominent media outlets. On top...

From the Core to Watergate, Graham promotes scholarship

By Abby Seiff / February 15, 2005

Four Chicago academics have just become the first set of Katharine Graham Fellows. Julia Kindt, Abraham Stone, Holly Swyers, and Hylton White have been selected to join the University’s Society of Fellows under a new program sponsored by a $4 million bequeathment from the estate of Katharine Graham, former publisher of The Washington Post. The...

Hefty piles of pink slips find their way to the registrar

By Abby Seiff / January 25, 2005

It’s Friday of third week and students are rushing to get their pink slips in. For most, this day is innocuous—interchangeable with any other Friday—but for those who are indecisive, spontaneous, or just plain lazy, today is the last day to change classes. Students taking advantage of shopping period flock to the Registrar’s once third-week...

Woes of Shoreland addressed

By Abby Seiff / November 14, 2003

I must respond to Sarah Birgé’s letter to the editor in Friday’s Maroon (“The University’s Master Plan,” 11/7/03). What she referred to as “respectfully disagree[ing]” I see as an attack on the veracity of my article. I would like to address any misgivings she, or other students, may have had about the facts in my...

Master Plan to change University’s image

By Abby Seiff / November 3, 2003

Lets face it, the Shoreland has problems. It has roofs that leak if it rains too much. It has faulty sprinklers and radiators that have completely flooded at least three rooms in the last two years. Now that work is being done to the façade, it at the very least, bothers people and keeps them...

Lighten up on the New York Yankees

By Abby Seiff / October 31, 2003

There is a serious problem plaguing America right now. I don’t mean the ever-impending threat of nuclear war or the latest economic woes. What worries me is a type of persecution that seems all too prevalent in the wake of the baseball playoffs. I am speaking, of course, of the rampant hatred of the Yankees....