Chicago faculty chimes in on Summers debacle

By Kenneth Aliaga / January 28, 2005

Ka Yee Lee, an associate professor in the chemistry department, recalls that soon after earning her Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University in 1992, Mattel was being criticized for its product line of Teen Talk Barbie. Lee said the doll’s catch phrase, “Math is hard,” upset many who felt it perpetuated the stereotype that women...

Kimbark Plaza to welcome CVS as soon as early March

By Kenneth Aliaga / January 18, 2005

For months, placards surrounding the construction site have touted CVS’s imminent arrival to Kimbark Plaza, the only cooperative shopping center in the city. This week, construction workers erected the CVS/Pharmacy insignia onto the storefront, signaling that construction is nearing its closing stage. According to Charles Newsome, the board president of the commercial cooperative, unexpectedly agreeable...

New group will mentor incoming students

By Kenneth Aliaga / May 18, 2004

A new campus group aims to make the transition to college life easier for incoming students, matching mentors with new students, and hopefully sponsoring activities each quarter for students to meet in the program. The group, U of C Student Mentors, is being organized by second-year in the College Danny Wasserman, who said it would...

Campaign TV ads showcase editors’ talents

By Kenneth Aliaga / March 9, 2004

Just recently the Association of Independent Creative Editors held a contest for editors in the advertising business. The challenge was to edit a new trailer for a popular film, placing it in an entirely different genre. Forrest Gump became a stalker-thriller. Platoon became a love story. The winner of the contest was Kevin Halleran who...

B.A. woes keep scholars on their toes

By Kenneth Aliaga / February 6, 2004

This quarter, a select group of College fourth-years are braving an array of socially unattractive symptoms, such as sleep-deprivation, schizophrenic behavior, weight gain, bad hygiene, and impotence. Ask this affected population to explain the cause of their symptoms and they are likely to respond like fourth-year Amy Hickman: “I don’t have time to answer your...

Law professor fights for civil liberties

By Kenneth Aliaga / January 20, 2004

Over the past several years Geoffrey R. Stone, a Distinguished Service Law Professor at the University, has challenged the Bush administration’s prolonged detainment of suspected terrorists, claiming that the suspension of their civil liberties violates their constitutional rights. Now, after months of remaining in legal limbo and solitary confinement, Stone’s clients may get their day...

Concerns raised over university presidents’ pay

By Kenneth Aliaga / November 18, 2003

This year, the nation’s college student body has faced an unwelcoming economic climate—a 5.1 percent rise in tuition, a waning economy showing faint signs of recovery, and a general state of economic anxiety. Given this, it is unsurprising that the Chronicle of Higher Education’s (CHE) annual survey on university presidents’ salaries has generated a healthy...

Chauncey outlines work in gay history

By Kenneth Aliaga / November 6, 2003

Upon taking the podium, George Chauncey apologized to the packed room. He explained that he had recently caught a bug and might “fade in and out” during his “Lawrence vs. Texas: Sexual Identity/Politics in the Twentieth Century” lecture. However, throughout the course of the evening Chauncey adroitly guided his audience through the historical changes involving...

Group raising money for Indigenous Hondurans

By Kenneth Aliaga / October 23, 2003

When recent graduate Della Moran and fourth-year Mateo Ginsberg-Jaeckle decided to assist the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH)—an organization that focuses on protecting and regaining the rights of indigenous groups—they did not anticipate that their summer commitment would extend into the following spring. Immediately after Moran and Ginsberg-Jaeckle had arrived,...

New Starbucks brewing near campus

By Kenneth Aliaga / October 9, 2003

At the corner of Woodlawn and 55th Street, next door to Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap, construction workers are putting the finishing touches on a Starbucks, marking the corporation’s second retail operation in Hyde Park. The 55th Street Starbucks—set to open October 24—comes soon after the arrival of another chain coffee store, Borders Book and Music Café....

In defense of the forgotten, Librarian Avenger opens possibilites

By Kenneth Aliaga / September 11, 2003

Now that the summer is coming to an end, it’s time to ask ourselves what significant trend marked the summer of 2003. A national epidemic of inexplicable weight-loss that affected all demographics? No…sigh. Movie sequels that lived up to their predecessors if not surpassed them? Unfortunately not. Over the course of the summer, we witnessed...

Celebrities and the rest of Us

By Kenneth Aliaga / February 28, 2003

Some of you might be familiar with the publication Us, a magazine that celebrates the lifestyle, fashion decisions, eating habits, exercise regimes, and relationships of A-list, B-list, C-list, and D-list celebrities. Situated at the very bottom of this list is Kelly Clarkson, who exudes as much charisma as a slice of crustless wheat toast. My...

Dating I: Dress well to seduce

By Kenneth Aliaga / February 21, 2003

When Cher Horowitz of Clueless uttered the infamous words “Searching for a boy in…school is like searching for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie,” she was obviously speaking in reference to the U of C…or was she? In explaining their single status or their sexual inactivity ever since they donned a U of C emblem,...