I would not have attended Que(e)ry two years ago.
In fact, I probably would not have taken one iota of interest in the "radical, queer, arts convergence"- radical-anarchist-radical-takeover of Ida Noyes Hall that took place in all its glittery, gender binary-shattering (did I mention radical?) glory last Saturday. I just didn't care what anyone had to say about gender and sexuality—These categories just exist, okay? I get it, enough!—And especially not someone with a pink mohawk. Also, I hate wearing make-up and glitter. But that's just me.
But a lot has changed for me since high school, when I was embarrassed to admit I was studying "Gender and Sexuality in Latin American Literature" at UC San Diego; when less than a year ago a certain sociology professor prodded me to justify why I thought "Problems in the Study of Sexuality" would be a useful addition to my Autumn Quarter course schedule, and I lied to my parents that I was actually taking "just an introductory English course" to fill my fourth slot and prevent more awkward conversations.
Now I conspire to get people tied up in the Third Floor Theater and eat vegan food with my hands on occasion. Go figure.
The thing is, I've thought about this a lot, the "where do desires come from?" question, and "why do I expect people to relate to each other in cerain ways?" and "what in me wants to be normal?" I don't have any good answers of course; but since I landed here as a freshman, many personal events, friendships and other experiences outside of academia have led me to appreciate these questions and recognize that the many possible answers are far from obvious—no where near as simple as we might have them be.
I think gender and sexuality are enormous, and enormously important, concepts that we should all pay more attention to. I am dying to hear more people my age talk about the assumptions that we all make about the way men and women should appear, behave, dress, make love to each other—assumptions about sexuality that go beyond what is heterosexual and what is homosexual to include a clusterfuck of kinks, fetishes and preferences.
We don't spend enough time acknowledging that desire exists, power exists, relationship categories are varied and changing, "normal" is a fallacy... If you have to stage an impromptu performance or sit people in a make-up chair and paint their faces to examine gender, to examine behavior, then please do it.
I'm not saying my peers need to drop their Adam Smiths and their Platos and take up reading Gail Rubin and Michael Warner, though these are theorists I have come to love by happy accident. They can just hang out with me and my queer, kinky friends sometime...
But much about Que(e)ry would put off the average UChicago student (let's face it, guys, it takes a lot of dessert food to get us out of our study caves on a given night). First of all, it was an all-day event conceived of, produced, organized and unorganized by a small group of campus activists who emphasized anarchy, art-making, veganism, and using the adjective "radical" every other sentence, as forms of resistance. This broad take on how to resist norms was its strength, but also made the party inaccessible to the people I most want to talk to, who don't already believe these concepts are discussion worthy.
With workshops on "BDSM as Bio-political Resistance" (I didn't attend, but I heard the presenter read a little Foucault out loud, and screamed a lot) and "Radical Cheerleading," the event was like a big inside joke; a ritualistic prank against all sorts of social conventions just a few steps above TP-ing the president's house, that only the iniated could understand. In fact, if you weren't laughing and screaming along, you might develop the uncomfortable feeling that you just don't get the punch-line.
Some workshops were more productive than this (and by productive, I mean accessible to a wide audience not already versed in the ethos of sex positive, queer and kink communities. Other attendees probably had different definitions of productive, or didn't make being "productive" a priority at all): "Practical Non-Monogamy," by Scathe, a presenter I really respect, was one of them. My boyfriend's praise sums it up: "He didn't assume that we all wanted to be polyamorous... he didn't try to convince us that open relationships are great for everybody, if we would only get rid of our hang-ups, which is an argument I've heard. They're not!" it was practical. It didn't make any assumptions.
I wanted people to stop assuming things because I'm a girl; dating a boy; really bossy; don't wear makeup; etc. etc. But this means I, and the sex positive communities around me, need to stop assuming that people share in common the same social leanings and political agenda, or would if only they spent the afternoon with us, some pot and some Judith Butler. If I want everyone to take gender fluidity and alternate sexuality seriously, then I'm going to have to start explaining this stuff to them where their understanding stops, rather than ask them to make the mental leap all the way to an anarchist arts convergence, and what it takes to feel comfortable in such a space.
The workshop I organized with two lovely, lovely people, Vincenza and Wren, possibly had one of the tamer titles descriptions: you can look it up, it was called "Intro to Bondage." What we like about rope, what you might like about rope. Some practical, hands on demonstrations. Hopefully some fun. I didn't ask anyone to hog-tie the patriarchy or wrap their heads around Foucault's biopower or Agamben, and I'd like to think that's why we had close to 30 attendees.
I'd also like to think that this practical ethos will serve future sex positive, kink positive events on campus well, if we can get some started.
Thanks, Que(e)ry, for making me feel more supported than ever before on this campus; now, any suggestions to keep the inquiries going?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Convocation ceremony stresses substance over pomp and circumstance
Another News Office article by me is up! Here it is.
“Today you must face the fact that you are not educated people.”
When Cyril Orvin Houle, Professor in Education, began his convocation address with these words to the Winter Quarter graduating class of 1948, he paid homage to the academic notion that one’s education is never complete, and the University of Chicago tradition of educating its community through the graduation ceremony.
Since the University first celebrated its accomplishments under founding president William Rainey Harper in January 1893, 499 convocations have taken place. Though past speakers have ranged from Professor Janet Rowley and legendary chemist Robert A. Millikan, to President Bill Clinton and a student who made a hastily arranged address against the Vietnam War, convocations all share a common purpose: to foster academic inquiry, stir up debate around pressing social and political issues, and, above all, honor the intellectual clout of the University’s faculty.
Martin Marty, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Divinity School, will deliver the 500th convocation address on Friday, Oct. 9 in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel―in fewer than 15 minutes, he is quick to point out. “At many universities’ commencements, it takes 45 minutes just to get through the introduction. At UChicago, you have to say it briefly, or it doesn’t get said.”
Marty’s speech, titled “Laying Siege to Problems,” will celebrate the University’s propensity to make discoveries and its intellectual spirit. “Discovery is our business at this University, and I always have been impressed by the way our faculty always talk about how interesting something is,” regardless of their academic field.
In the past, the convocation speaker has alternated between foreign dignitaries, professors and University presidents (in fact, during his tenure, President Robert Maynard Hutchins insisted on giving an address at least once a year). The convocation speeches thus have a tradition of discussing anything but the graduation itself―with subjects ranging from the state of the University to contemporary political issues.
Another hallmark of the convocation is the bagpipe procession, a trail of graduating students, bagpipers and the University Marshal that wends across the Main Quadrangle toward Rockefeller Memorial Chapel or Harper Court.
“There’s a certain sort of old-style, Oxford attractiveness to the convocations in Rockefeller Chapel,” recalls Lisbeth Redfield, AB’09, who was a Student Marshal as a College third-year and earned the honor of ushering graduates and attendees at two ceremonies. The combination of marching across the Quad in a long stream of robed students, and the sound of bagpipes playing ‘Scotland the Brave,’ she said, “makes it feel like a special ceremony to me.”
According to University archivist Dan Meyer, Harper wanted to establish the convocation as a special ritual for graduating students, distinguished faculty and visiting speakers and recipients of honorary degrees.
“Most universities refer to their graduation as a commencement,” explained Meyer, “but Harper chose ‘convocation’ to indicate that this wasn’t just a routine ceremony. It means a gathering together; a coming together to share an event.”
Although convocation typically employs a faculty speaker, one graduating student was asked to speak in place of a professor in June 1969―the only time a student has given the address.
On the heels of a massive student protest against the Vietnam War, Paul Brown, AB’69, MD’75, PhD’75, was given four minutes to address the controversy and reflect on his time at the University. Though he was not a leader of the protest, he had some harsh words for the University administration.
“It was a pretty radical address,” said Brown, who is now a physician. “We got a standing ovation from the students, but I don’t think the parents cared for it very much.”
What Brown would say if he could address the University again?
“I would want to talk about the life of the mind, the importance of a liberal education. Those are the kinds of things the University has always stressed, and have always appealed to me.”
“I had a great time at UChicago,” he said. “If I hadn’t gone there, I wouldn’t have all these multiple interests; I wouldn’t be reading everything in sight.”
―Rachel Cromidas
“Today you must face the fact that you are not educated people.”
When Cyril Orvin Houle, Professor in Education, began his convocation address with these words to the Winter Quarter graduating class of 1948, he paid homage to the academic notion that one’s education is never complete, and the University of Chicago tradition of educating its community through the graduation ceremony.
Since the University first celebrated its accomplishments under founding president William Rainey Harper in January 1893, 499 convocations have taken place. Though past speakers have ranged from Professor Janet Rowley and legendary chemist Robert A. Millikan, to President Bill Clinton and a student who made a hastily arranged address against the Vietnam War, convocations all share a common purpose: to foster academic inquiry, stir up debate around pressing social and political issues, and, above all, honor the intellectual clout of the University’s faculty.
Martin Marty, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Divinity School, will deliver the 500th convocation address on Friday, Oct. 9 in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel―in fewer than 15 minutes, he is quick to point out. “At many universities’ commencements, it takes 45 minutes just to get through the introduction. At UChicago, you have to say it briefly, or it doesn’t get said.”
Marty’s speech, titled “Laying Siege to Problems,” will celebrate the University’s propensity to make discoveries and its intellectual spirit. “Discovery is our business at this University, and I always have been impressed by the way our faculty always talk about how interesting something is,” regardless of their academic field.
In the past, the convocation speaker has alternated between foreign dignitaries, professors and University presidents (in fact, during his tenure, President Robert Maynard Hutchins insisted on giving an address at least once a year). The convocation speeches thus have a tradition of discussing anything but the graduation itself―with subjects ranging from the state of the University to contemporary political issues.
Another hallmark of the convocation is the bagpipe procession, a trail of graduating students, bagpipers and the University Marshal that wends across the Main Quadrangle toward Rockefeller Memorial Chapel or Harper Court.
“There’s a certain sort of old-style, Oxford attractiveness to the convocations in Rockefeller Chapel,” recalls Lisbeth Redfield, AB’09, who was a Student Marshal as a College third-year and earned the honor of ushering graduates and attendees at two ceremonies. The combination of marching across the Quad in a long stream of robed students, and the sound of bagpipes playing ‘Scotland the Brave,’ she said, “makes it feel like a special ceremony to me.”
According to University archivist Dan Meyer, Harper wanted to establish the convocation as a special ritual for graduating students, distinguished faculty and visiting speakers and recipients of honorary degrees.
“Most universities refer to their graduation as a commencement,” explained Meyer, “but Harper chose ‘convocation’ to indicate that this wasn’t just a routine ceremony. It means a gathering together; a coming together to share an event.”
Although convocation typically employs a faculty speaker, one graduating student was asked to speak in place of a professor in June 1969―the only time a student has given the address.
On the heels of a massive student protest against the Vietnam War, Paul Brown, AB’69, MD’75, PhD’75, was given four minutes to address the controversy and reflect on his time at the University. Though he was not a leader of the protest, he had some harsh words for the University administration.
“It was a pretty radical address,” said Brown, who is now a physician. “We got a standing ovation from the students, but I don’t think the parents cared for it very much.”
What Brown would say if he could address the University again?
“I would want to talk about the life of the mind, the importance of a liberal education. Those are the kinds of things the University has always stressed, and have always appealed to me.”
“I had a great time at UChicago,” he said. “If I hadn’t gone there, I wouldn’t have all these multiple interests; I wouldn’t be reading everything in sight.”
―Rachel Cromidas
Friday, October 2, 2009
Project Exploration mentors CPS students, teaching value of science
New article of mine up on UChicago's webpage:
When Sara ElShafie was asked to explain “scientific method” to a classroom of teenagers, she started talking about Supercrocs. They’re the prehistoric crocodiles whose fossil remains were discovered by University of Chicago professor Paul Sereno on an expedition to Niger in 2000.
“You’ve seen the Supercroc skull—it’s 6 feet long,” she said. “We don’t have the entire animal, but Dr. Sereno was able to say that it was probably 40 feet long. How did he do that?”
The group of 14 Chicago Public Schools students receiving a crash course in paleontology as part of Project Exploration’s Junior Paleontologists field program was silent. “Sereno studied measurements of living crocodiles,” ElShafie said, and he found a ratio between head size and body length that he was able to apply to the Supercroc. “You have to have solid evidence like this. And only then can you present your data to other scientists,” she explained. “I love that fact.”
According to ElShafie, a third-year in the College studying biology, students first must learn the importance of scientific assumptions before getting their hands dirty as part of the nonprofit science program called Project Exploration.
Project Exploration programs for middle and high school Chicago Public Schools students met on the University campus throughout the summer. The Junior Paleontologists is a three-week program that starts in Chicago and culminates with a weeklong expedition with researchers at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, S.D. After the summer portion of the program, Junior Paleontologists participate in Project Exploration science programs and mentoring—and stay in touch with budding scientists like ElShafie—year round.
Sereno, Professor in Organismal Biology and Anatomy, co-founded Project Exploration in 1999, with his wife, Gabrielle Lyon, AB,’94, AM,’94, after realizing the science announcements that were traveling around the world were barely reaching students at area elementary schools like Fiske Elementary, where Lyon was teaching.
Since 1999, Project Exploration has brought nearly 1,000 Chicago minority youth and girls together with scientists from around the country in after-school, summer and weekend programs. Many of those programs have launched from the University of Chicago campus.
Learning by Doing
Sereno and Lyon share a passion for teaching unconventionally. Lyon credits her years as a teaching assistant in the University’s Neighborhood Schools Program for showing her the value of “learning by doing.”
“I was personally interested in public education, school reform, social justice, and equity. My work-study job [at NSP],” she said, “gave me hands-on, real-life experience working alongside real teachers in a school.”
To the teaching duo, the hallmark of Project Exploration is its ability to inspire teenagers with hands-on experiences alongside caring adults, many of whom are scientists.
“A lot of these kids will travel outside of Chicago or Illinois for the first time through our programs. In the Junior Paleontologist program, students actually excavate and study real fossils, basically participating in a formal dig program as guest interns,” Sereno said.
ElShafie said volunteering for Project Exploration has helped her realize her love for teaching, and she wants to pursue academia after graduation.
She said the program’s hands-on activities and mentorship make the program effective. “I have no idea where these kids are coming from or what their grades were before this program, but it doesn’t matter: When they come back [from South Dakota], I know they will see the world differently and have a sense of purpose in their lives.”
ElShafie is one of dozens of enthusiastic undergraduates, graduates and faculty scientists who have participated in Project Exploration programs, trainings and outreach efforts in the past nine years. Many of them get connected with Project Exploration through Sereno’s Fossil Lab and the University Community Service Center.
Journaling the Fossil Hunt
Though Rey Alcala had only been on campus one week, his field journal already held pages of notes about the mammoth site, where he and his peers would later be digging for bones.
“We put a big emphasis on journaling,” said Kristin Atman, Project Exploration program director. “These kids will only have five days at the site to record in their journals what they see. We want them to build skills like reading, writing and sharing what they observe.”
Sereno and Lyon are sketching out larger plans to expand the program and establish a permanent community center, where local youths, families and University faculty can come together to make discoveries.
“It would be like a community center focused on science and science activities,” Sereno said. “As the South Side continues to develop, Project Exploration can be a real bridge between the students, their communities and the University community. It’s so clear that this personalized approach has a huge impact, and this kind of model doesn’t yet exist anywhere else in the country.”
By Rachel Cromidas, third-year in the College
When Sara ElShafie was asked to explain “scientific method” to a classroom of teenagers, she started talking about Supercrocs. They’re the prehistoric crocodiles whose fossil remains were discovered by University of Chicago professor Paul Sereno on an expedition to Niger in 2000.
“You’ve seen the Supercroc skull—it’s 6 feet long,” she said. “We don’t have the entire animal, but Dr. Sereno was able to say that it was probably 40 feet long. How did he do that?”
The group of 14 Chicago Public Schools students receiving a crash course in paleontology as part of Project Exploration’s Junior Paleontologists field program was silent. “Sereno studied measurements of living crocodiles,” ElShafie said, and he found a ratio between head size and body length that he was able to apply to the Supercroc. “You have to have solid evidence like this. And only then can you present your data to other scientists,” she explained. “I love that fact.”
According to ElShafie, a third-year in the College studying biology, students first must learn the importance of scientific assumptions before getting their hands dirty as part of the nonprofit science program called Project Exploration.
Project Exploration programs for middle and high school Chicago Public Schools students met on the University campus throughout the summer. The Junior Paleontologists is a three-week program that starts in Chicago and culminates with a weeklong expedition with researchers at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, S.D. After the summer portion of the program, Junior Paleontologists participate in Project Exploration science programs and mentoring—and stay in touch with budding scientists like ElShafie—year round.
Sereno, Professor in Organismal Biology and Anatomy, co-founded Project Exploration in 1999, with his wife, Gabrielle Lyon, AB,’94, AM,’94, after realizing the science announcements that were traveling around the world were barely reaching students at area elementary schools like Fiske Elementary, where Lyon was teaching.
Since 1999, Project Exploration has brought nearly 1,000 Chicago minority youth and girls together with scientists from around the country in after-school, summer and weekend programs. Many of those programs have launched from the University of Chicago campus.
Learning by Doing
Sereno and Lyon share a passion for teaching unconventionally. Lyon credits her years as a teaching assistant in the University’s Neighborhood Schools Program for showing her the value of “learning by doing.”
“I was personally interested in public education, school reform, social justice, and equity. My work-study job [at NSP],” she said, “gave me hands-on, real-life experience working alongside real teachers in a school.”
To the teaching duo, the hallmark of Project Exploration is its ability to inspire teenagers with hands-on experiences alongside caring adults, many of whom are scientists.
“A lot of these kids will travel outside of Chicago or Illinois for the first time through our programs. In the Junior Paleontologist program, students actually excavate and study real fossils, basically participating in a formal dig program as guest interns,” Sereno said.
ElShafie said volunteering for Project Exploration has helped her realize her love for teaching, and she wants to pursue academia after graduation.
She said the program’s hands-on activities and mentorship make the program effective. “I have no idea where these kids are coming from or what their grades were before this program, but it doesn’t matter: When they come back [from South Dakota], I know they will see the world differently and have a sense of purpose in their lives.”
ElShafie is one of dozens of enthusiastic undergraduates, graduates and faculty scientists who have participated in Project Exploration programs, trainings and outreach efforts in the past nine years. Many of them get connected with Project Exploration through Sereno’s Fossil Lab and the University Community Service Center.
Journaling the Fossil Hunt
Though Rey Alcala had only been on campus one week, his field journal already held pages of notes about the mammoth site, where he and his peers would later be digging for bones.
“We put a big emphasis on journaling,” said Kristin Atman, Project Exploration program director. “These kids will only have five days at the site to record in their journals what they see. We want them to build skills like reading, writing and sharing what they observe.”
Sereno and Lyon are sketching out larger plans to expand the program and establish a permanent community center, where local youths, families and University faculty can come together to make discoveries.
“It would be like a community center focused on science and science activities,” Sereno said. “As the South Side continues to develop, Project Exploration can be a real bridge between the students, their communities and the University community. It’s so clear that this personalized approach has a huge impact, and this kind of model doesn’t yet exist anywhere else in the country.”
By Rachel Cromidas, third-year in the College
Friday, September 4, 2009
UChicago in the news: some tidbits from my job
One part of my summer internship in the University of Chicago News Office that I have been loath to mention here (it's mostly grunt work) is the Daily Clips Blast. Basically, I or my awesome co-worker Susie will take a couple hours each day to search for all the recent news articles that substantively mention the University of Chicago or quote a professor or administrator, archive them, and mail out the top 7-12 stories to about 200 University personnel.
Lucky for me, this means I get paid to read the news, and today's clips blast was chock-full of cool stories. Here are a few that I enjoyed:
*Dr. Stefano Allesina discusses the algorithm he devised to study food webs, based on an algorithm Google uses to order pages in its search engine.
*Former Dean of Admissions Ted O'Neill answers questions about applying to college. I couldn't get enough of articles like this one when I was applying to College three years ago, and I wish I had known that it was okay, even expected of me, not to have a major! I arrived on campus 2 years ago—minus a week or two—the quintessential type-A kid, with everything in its right place from my resume to my course-schedule, and it stressed me out to no end that I was missing The Perfect Double-Major program. Since then, I've obviously bounced from Spanish Lang. and Lit. to Art History to Law, Letters and Society and Gender Studies, and I don't think I'm too worse for wear, do you?
*Prof. Jens Ludwig examines Chicago Public School plan to combat youth violence. 320 CPS students were shot last year—that's a huge figure. This plan is definitely worth keeping an eye on, since it would identify at-risk kids and give them more attention, in the form of job-training and mentoring.
*Sr. Lecturer Allen Sanderson criticizes a recent survey on the economic impact of Chicago's Olympic bid. When I interviewed Allen Sanderson for my other blog, No Small Plans, he said he was incredulous about the economic impact survey and was certain that the consultants Chicago 2016 hired were the only people who would have produced such a stellar prognosis. I wish I could talk to consultants at other firms to create a comparison.
Lucky for me, this means I get paid to read the news, and today's clips blast was chock-full of cool stories. Here are a few that I enjoyed:
*Dr. Stefano Allesina discusses the algorithm he devised to study food webs, based on an algorithm Google uses to order pages in its search engine.
*Former Dean of Admissions Ted O'Neill answers questions about applying to college. I couldn't get enough of articles like this one when I was applying to College three years ago, and I wish I had known that it was okay, even expected of me, not to have a major! I arrived on campus 2 years ago—minus a week or two—the quintessential type-A kid, with everything in its right place from my resume to my course-schedule, and it stressed me out to no end that I was missing The Perfect Double-Major program. Since then, I've obviously bounced from Spanish Lang. and Lit. to Art History to Law, Letters and Society and Gender Studies, and I don't think I'm too worse for wear, do you?
*Prof. Jens Ludwig examines Chicago Public School plan to combat youth violence. 320 CPS students were shot last year—that's a huge figure. This plan is definitely worth keeping an eye on, since it would identify at-risk kids and give them more attention, in the form of job-training and mentoring.
*Sr. Lecturer Allen Sanderson criticizes a recent survey on the economic impact of Chicago's Olympic bid. When I interviewed Allen Sanderson for my other blog, No Small Plans, he said he was incredulous about the economic impact survey and was certain that the consultants Chicago 2016 hired were the only people who would have produced such a stellar prognosis. I wish I could talk to consultants at other firms to create a comparison.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Heirloom tomato soup and roasted chili-lime acorn squash
It's true. I haven't done anything this summer except work, work some more, and cook vegan food that can make even the most dedicated carnivore (namely, my boyfriend), ask for seconds. Just doing my part to make Mr. Mark Bittman and Mr. Michael Pollan proud.
Heirloom Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
4 medium heirloom tomatoes, peeled
1-2 large peeled cucumbers
1 large, Sweet Banana pepper (they're white and long; if you can't find one, red, orange and yellow work about as well), peeled
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to taste
optional: 1/2 cup stale bread, crumbled; Gives this otherwise deliciously light soup a heartier, creamy texture
How to make it: Combine all the ingredients in a pot and blend until smooth. Makes 4-6 generous servings.
(Alternatively, you can just pepper the squash with loads of cinnamon, as shown above)
Roasted Chili-Lime Acorn Squash
This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite blogs, and arguably your best shot at finding truly appetite-stimulating food porn short of kidnapping Rachael Ray, Smitten Kitchen.
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 limes, juiced
1 medium-sized acorn squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
How to make it: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slice the acorn squash into fourths with a strong, sharp vegetable knife. Continue slicing into 1/4-inch-thick slices, following the arc of the squash. Remove seeds; wash and set them aside. Combine chili powder, salt, pepper and lime-juice in a shallow bowl. soak each slice in the mixture thoroughly, then spread them out evenly on an olive oil-greased baking sheet. Soak the acorn squash seeds in the remaining chili-lime mixture, then spread those out on a greased baking sheet as well. Bake for 20-30 minutes, switching your pan(s) between the top and bottom racks half-way through cooking. squash should be tender but not burnt; likewise, seeds should not be burnt, but should be crispy enough to bite through with ease.
I made this side dish for my boyfriend's family when I visited his grandmother's summer house in Michigan last week. Now isn't that darling?
Heirloom Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
4 medium heirloom tomatoes, peeled
1-2 large peeled cucumbers
1 large, Sweet Banana pepper (they're white and long; if you can't find one, red, orange and yellow work about as well), peeled
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to taste
optional: 1/2 cup stale bread, crumbled; Gives this otherwise deliciously light soup a heartier, creamy texture
How to make it: Combine all the ingredients in a pot and blend until smooth. Makes 4-6 generous servings.
(Alternatively, you can just pepper the squash with loads of cinnamon, as shown above)
Roasted Chili-Lime Acorn Squash
This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite blogs, and arguably your best shot at finding truly appetite-stimulating food porn short of kidnapping Rachael Ray, Smitten Kitchen.
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 limes, juiced
1 medium-sized acorn squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
How to make it: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slice the acorn squash into fourths with a strong, sharp vegetable knife. Continue slicing into 1/4-inch-thick slices, following the arc of the squash. Remove seeds; wash and set them aside. Combine chili powder, salt, pepper and lime-juice in a shallow bowl. soak each slice in the mixture thoroughly, then spread them out evenly on an olive oil-greased baking sheet. Soak the acorn squash seeds in the remaining chili-lime mixture, then spread those out on a greased baking sheet as well. Bake for 20-30 minutes, switching your pan(s) between the top and bottom racks half-way through cooking. squash should be tender but not burnt; likewise, seeds should not be burnt, but should be crispy enough to bite through with ease.
I made this side dish for my boyfriend's family when I visited his grandmother's summer house in Michigan last week. Now isn't that darling?
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Chicago cops mentor teenage boys who lack male role models
My latest article out of the news office:
Cordell Taylor was ready to speak. Cordell, 14, an incoming freshman at Chicago’s Dunbar High School, recited his name for the 30 boys and seven police officers gathered in Stuart Hall, with plenty of enthusiasm for someone who had been awake since 6 a.m.
His less-alert neighbor was drooped over his desk until a policeman’s stern voice brought the teenage boy’s attention back to the meeting. Instead of the economics and linguistics classes usually taking place in Stuart classrooms, this was a meeting of the Chicago Youth Leadership Academy, a flagship program for local teenagers that the Chicago Police Department administers in collaboration with the University of Chicago and the New Communities Program in Woodlawn.
For one week, the teenage boys —all Chicago Public Schools students and residents of Woodlawn or neighboring South Side communities—experienced college life first-hand and got to know 3rd District police officers as mentors, not rivals.
Temporarily living in the Max Palevsky residence hall and eating their meals in Bartlett dining hall, the boys were challenged both physically and mentally with training exercises in the morning and leadership seminars in the afternoons. The activities made for an exhausting and an enriching week.
“Are you tired?” Lt. Bennie Bowers, a Michigan state police officer and the program’s creator, bellowed at his students during a group reflection. “How you feel right now is how I felt several times in college. I was tired, 700 miles away from my home, away from my mom and dad, and just 17 years old. And I didn’t go to class because anybody told me to get out of bed. Not like you the other day,” he said pointing at the front row. “You had me banging on the door telling you to get up.”
Bowers, who brought the academy to Chicago for the first time this summer, doesn’t mind the mundane parts of his job, waking up the boys and reminding them to brush their teeth. In fact, he says the chance for Chicago police officers to support and bond with local youth outside their normal roles as law enforcers is exactly the point.
“The intimacy of the residential stay helps provide a bond that goes beyond the classroom setting,” Bowers explained—something particularly important for the students, most of whom do not have fathers in their lives. “It allows us to say to them, ‘we’re adult men, professional men, and we’re concerned about your well-being.’ These boys are 13, 14, 16 years old, and half of them are the oldest man in their homes.”
Besides chaperoning the students on campus, the police officers led day trips to the lakefront and to visit Michael Jackson’s birth home and memorial in Gary, Ind. They met the CPD’s mounted and canine units, and the officers also provided the boys with an opportunity to talk with Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis.
“I told their parents, for one week you don’t have to worry about your kid being shot, shooting someone, or getting harmed,” said Chicago Police Officer Charles O’Connor, the program’s team leader. “And that’s a real concern for those parents … some were actually crying because they were so happy for their child.”
Deonte Lemons, 16, a junior at Dunbar, couldn’t believe how quickly he grew close to the officers. “I thought I didn’t like police officers,” he said over a lunch of chicken nuggets and fruit in Bartlett dining hall. “But these guys have really influenced my life in this one week’s time,” says Lemons. The officers fostered those bonds by encouraging long discussions about school and home over meals and in the classrooms, and by sharing the struggles they faced growing up.
O’Connor knows it can seem unusual to see police officers eating lunch with teenagers who aren’t getting in trouble. He recalls a woman and her young daughter walking by the line-up of boys on 56th Street earlier in the week. “She said: ‘Those kids are bad, so they have to clean up out here.’ And I said, ‘that is not true.’”
Once O’Connor described the academy program to the residents passing by, they were enthusiastic. But he wishes the program were better recognized for its positive influence on the teens, who do not necessarily have other activities to keep them busy in the summer months.
He and Bowers are hoping that in coming years the CPD will be able to fund similar academies in other neighborhoods, for girls and boys.
The Chicago Youth Leadership Academy “gives the students something to aspire to; it shows them that there is another life besides gangs, drugs and violence [on the South Side],” said Rudy Nimocks, the University’s Director of Community Partnerships.
“In that sense, it is the perfect opportunity for the University to reach out to and share its resources with Woodlawn.”
Cordell Taylor was ready to speak. Cordell, 14, an incoming freshman at Chicago’s Dunbar High School, recited his name for the 30 boys and seven police officers gathered in Stuart Hall, with plenty of enthusiasm for someone who had been awake since 6 a.m.
His less-alert neighbor was drooped over his desk until a policeman’s stern voice brought the teenage boy’s attention back to the meeting. Instead of the economics and linguistics classes usually taking place in Stuart classrooms, this was a meeting of the Chicago Youth Leadership Academy, a flagship program for local teenagers that the Chicago Police Department administers in collaboration with the University of Chicago and the New Communities Program in Woodlawn.
For one week, the teenage boys —all Chicago Public Schools students and residents of Woodlawn or neighboring South Side communities—experienced college life first-hand and got to know 3rd District police officers as mentors, not rivals.
Temporarily living in the Max Palevsky residence hall and eating their meals in Bartlett dining hall, the boys were challenged both physically and mentally with training exercises in the morning and leadership seminars in the afternoons. The activities made for an exhausting and an enriching week.
“Are you tired?” Lt. Bennie Bowers, a Michigan state police officer and the program’s creator, bellowed at his students during a group reflection. “How you feel right now is how I felt several times in college. I was tired, 700 miles away from my home, away from my mom and dad, and just 17 years old. And I didn’t go to class because anybody told me to get out of bed. Not like you the other day,” he said pointing at the front row. “You had me banging on the door telling you to get up.”
Bowers, who brought the academy to Chicago for the first time this summer, doesn’t mind the mundane parts of his job, waking up the boys and reminding them to brush their teeth. In fact, he says the chance for Chicago police officers to support and bond with local youth outside their normal roles as law enforcers is exactly the point.
“The intimacy of the residential stay helps provide a bond that goes beyond the classroom setting,” Bowers explained—something particularly important for the students, most of whom do not have fathers in their lives. “It allows us to say to them, ‘we’re adult men, professional men, and we’re concerned about your well-being.’ These boys are 13, 14, 16 years old, and half of them are the oldest man in their homes.”
Besides chaperoning the students on campus, the police officers led day trips to the lakefront and to visit Michael Jackson’s birth home and memorial in Gary, Ind. They met the CPD’s mounted and canine units, and the officers also provided the boys with an opportunity to talk with Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis.
“I told their parents, for one week you don’t have to worry about your kid being shot, shooting someone, or getting harmed,” said Chicago Police Officer Charles O’Connor, the program’s team leader. “And that’s a real concern for those parents … some were actually crying because they were so happy for their child.”
Deonte Lemons, 16, a junior at Dunbar, couldn’t believe how quickly he grew close to the officers. “I thought I didn’t like police officers,” he said over a lunch of chicken nuggets and fruit in Bartlett dining hall. “But these guys have really influenced my life in this one week’s time,” says Lemons. The officers fostered those bonds by encouraging long discussions about school and home over meals and in the classrooms, and by sharing the struggles they faced growing up.
O’Connor knows it can seem unusual to see police officers eating lunch with teenagers who aren’t getting in trouble. He recalls a woman and her young daughter walking by the line-up of boys on 56th Street earlier in the week. “She said: ‘Those kids are bad, so they have to clean up out here.’ And I said, ‘that is not true.’”
Once O’Connor described the academy program to the residents passing by, they were enthusiastic. But he wishes the program were better recognized for its positive influence on the teens, who do not necessarily have other activities to keep them busy in the summer months.
He and Bowers are hoping that in coming years the CPD will be able to fund similar academies in other neighborhoods, for girls and boys.
The Chicago Youth Leadership Academy “gives the students something to aspire to; it shows them that there is another life besides gangs, drugs and violence [on the South Side],” said Rudy Nimocks, the University’s Director of Community Partnerships.
“In that sense, it is the perfect opportunity for the University to reach out to and share its resources with Woodlawn.”
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