Recession is a terrifying thing: it destroys industries, communities, and families on a global scale. With the stakes so high, it’s natural that all the major players would start searching desperately for a place to lay the blame—preferably, a place as far away from theirs as possible. One possible cause for our current recession that has been bandied about is the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a 1977 law that requires federally-insured banks to make loans to their entire service areas, not just the most affluent parts. Placing the blame here is misguided—in fact, it’s been convincingly argued that the CRA actually counteracted some of the most destructive forces driving the recession—and deflects attention from the larger causes. Read the rest of this entry »

Reminding us that Barack Obama once dismissed Bill Ayers as just “a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” the Weekly Standard last June asked what kind of a person lives in a neighborhood like that. The Washington Post’s coverage of Hyde Park celebrates the proximity of an Aveda salon “only steps” from a payday loans franchise. And in a video debate on the New York Times’ website, a pooh-poohing Eli Lake wonders how many hacky sack stores the neighborhood supports.
Is that really our Hyde Park they’re talking about? Drum circles, organic gardens on every corner, munificent racial tolerance, and, as the Standard put it, “‘cranky old domestic terrorists wandering through the yard’”? Read the rest of this entry »

While everyone has analyzed and reanalyzed the presidential campaign this year, it’s easy to forget that Chicago’s many ballots contain a long list of judges to appoint or retain, a proposed constitutional convention, and individual ballot initiatives about various local issues. One local issue concerns Chicago’s prospective hosting of the 2016 Olympics. Voters in certain precincts in Wards 2, 3, 4 and 20 can encourage Mayor Daley and the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee to use part of any potential Olympic windfall to benefit Bronzeville residents. The ballot initiative asks that at least 26% of the city’s vacant lots in Bronzeville be used for affordable housing for moderate-income residents. Generally, “affordable” means residents are spending no more than 30% of their gross (before taxes) income on housing. Moderate-income residents earn between 80% and 120% of Chicago’s Median Income, targeting the middle class. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard enough for a person to be green. It requires a detailed awareness of how such trivial acts as leaving the light on or eating a burger can have environmental consequences, and enough commitment to change one’s lifestyle in the face of habit and convenience. Now think about the challenges confronting an entire university. How do you change the practices of a whole web of buildings and organizations? How does an institution reduce its impact in a time when the link between human activity and environmental destruction becomes more evident every day, and everyone is to blame? Thus far, the University of Chicago has failed to meaningfully grapple with this crucial question. But that’s about to change. Read the rest of this entry »

With the announcement that a University of Chicago physicist won the Nobel Prize two weeks ago, the official count of people associated with the University who are Nobel Laureates grew to 82. But that doesn’t include a few prizes that the University prefers not to celebrate Read the rest of this entry »

The blog “Stuff White People Like” has been experiencing a lot of success recently, as author (and white person) Christian Lander has made the New York Times bestseller list with a paperback version of the site. For a long time I have had a problem with his brand of mean-spirited self-righteous sarcasm, but it is only recently that I have been able to pin down what about the site bothers me so much. My aversion to Stuff White People Like can be explained through the sociolinguistic concept of markedness, which is easy to grasp and extremely useful. Read the rest of this entry »

Last spring, the University of Chicago released a proposal to build an institute named for the late Milton Friedman. The institute was intended to provide a home for economics in Friedman’s tradition, but the proposal struck a negative chord for many who recoiled at the prospect of potentially endorsing a one-sided political approach. Over 100 professors banded together to form CORES, the Committee for Open Research on Economy and Society, who put together a petition protesting the institute’s development. Amid much controversy, President Zimmer decided to convene the faculty senate, which includes all 1200 faculty members, to discuss the issue. In the meantime, CORES continues to campaign for its cause, hosting events such as a discussion with Naomi Klein, author of “The Shock Doctrine,” on October 1. Read the rest of this entry »

What makes summer resonate so strongly? Just the recitation of those syllables—sum-mer—conjures feelings tinged with lightness and possibility. Whatever it is, summer contains all the opportunity in the world for hijinks, mishaps, and lessons. Here are a few stories from our staff that reflect the grandeur, triviality, and scope of summer. Read the rest of this entry »