Perspectives
A Timely Conversation
Norma van der Meulen says that she is getting old, that she can’t quite remember as well as she used to. She is modest, seated in front of a pot of tea in her Hyde Park apartment. Her eyes come alive behind her glasses. Opera comes from WFMT in the background. A small-town Ohio... »
Closer to Home
April 26 marked the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl power plant explosion in northern Ukraine. Eight days prior, on April 18, a crowd gathered at the Henry Moore Sculpture to Atomic Energy on the University of Chicago campus. »
Cracking the Code
The show has left many wondering whether the Chicago Police are really the superheroes in the SUVs, and why they should be portrayed as such if they are not. »
Tapping the Neighborhood
This community with so many assets—population density; diversity of color, age, and class; short, walkable blocks; neighborhood institutions— is for the most part dead after 10pm. »
Fully Furnished
At the entrance to Windy City Furniture at 22nd and Michigan a colossal pile of furniture stands. Stacks of chairs rise toward the ceiling in precarious columns. Lampshades pop out above the horizon of upholstery, while others spill out from an opening in the ceiling. »
Southern Lights
On a poster mailed to incoming University of Chicago students, the campus is portrayed looking north. The gothic architecture lining the Midway Plaisance is in the foreground, while the remaining portion of campus holds the middle of the frame. »
Giving Thanks
When you ask people what they are thankful for, they tend to be specific. When you ask them what they are thankful for on Thanksgiving Day at Valois on 53rd Street, they tend to be prolific. It was around 4pm and a dozen diners were sitting behind heaping trays of food. A bearded man... »
The Open Door to the Ivory Tower
Last April was a hard month for Cindy Agustin. Despite massive protests, the State of Arizona passed immigration reforms that the University of Chicago College fourth-year sees as discriminatory. Perhaps worse, Congress voted down the DREAM Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation for which she had been advocating since high school. By the end... »
