Stuff We Like: In debt we trust, mathmasters, Hyde Park heroine, violence on video, and budgeting for an Olympic mess

IN DEBT WE TRUST
“The Real Problem with Credit Cards: The Cardholders” (Time, May 12, 2009)
Chicago Booth professor Richard H. Thaler suggests that credit-card companies should provide a statement of customers’ yearly fees, interest, and other charges to make comparison shopping easier.

MATHMASTERS
“Seventh-Graders Create iPhone App” (Chicago Sun-Times, May 11, 2009)
Tapware, a software company started by Lab School seventh-graders Sam Kaplan and Louie Harboe, released its first application: the Mathmaster. “Our goal was to get approved by the app store, sell a bunch of copies, and make more apps,” says Kaplan.

HYDE PARK HEROINE
“Found Horizons” (Chicago Sun-Times, May 10, 2009)
Chicago writer Christina Henriquez’s debut novel, The World in Half, follows Miraflores Reid, a U of C student, as she searches for the Panamanian father she’s never met.

VIOLENCE ON VIDEO
“Sexual Assault Awareness Documentary” (Chicago Defender, Apr. 29, 2009)
University of Chicago artist-in-residence Aishah Shahidah Simmons documents rape survivor stories to demonstrate that slavery was at the root of sexual abuse and assault: “You have to talk about what happened during slavery, in terms of interracial rape, and the silence of black men being lynched at the turn of the century, many for allegedly making advances towards white women. All of this plays a role in the silence in our community.”

BUDGETING FOR AN OLYMPIC MESS
"Hurdles and Hassles" (Chicago Tribune, May 12, 2009)
Chicago economist Allen R. Sanderson asks the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid backers—from Mayor Daley to construction crews—to repay debts from their own pockets if the event becomes a fiscal burden for Illinois citizens.

May 13, 2009

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