ARG! ACADEMICS
"Pirates Class at University of Chicago Among Most Popular" (Chicago Tribune, Mar. 18, 2009)
The undergraduate anthropology class "Intensive Study of Culture: Pirates" covers Johnny Depp–style Caribbean pirates, software piracy, and investment “pirate” Bernard Madoff.

• "Sally Marks the Spot" (University of Chicago Magazine, May-Jun/08)


• "Digital Pirates of the Midway" (University of Chicago Magazine, Sept-Oct/07)

FOOT TAPPIN' FUN
"The Cure for a Rainy Sunday: Live Music at Jimmy's" (The TOC Blog, TimeOut Chicago, Mar. 9, 2009)
Jimmy's Woodlawn Tap serves up blues and jazz along with inexpensive grub and suds on Sunday nights.

COURTIN' FOR COURT
"Five Bidders Compete to Redevelop Harper Court" (Chicago Sun-Times, Mar. 16, 2009)
City planners winnowed the pool of 11 developers looking to revamp Hyde Park's Harper Court.

I SCREAM FOR iCREAM
"iCream, Take Two" (The TOC Blog, TimeOut Chicago, Mar. 6, 2009)
Cora Shaw, MBA’07, and Jason McKinney, MBA’06, reworked their formula and process for customizable, flash-frozen confections, just in time the reopening of their Chicago-based store, iCream.

• "They've Created a Monster" (UChiBLOGo, Mar. 9, 2009)


• "The Scoop" (julib.com, Feb. 3, 2009)

WHAT IS MATTER?
"Simulating Cosmic Evolution" (International Science Grid This Week, Feb. 25, 2009)
The U of C ASC/Alliances Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes runs simulations to solve the problem of thermonuclear explosions on the surfaces of compact stars.

GET WITH THE PROGRAMMING
"He Codes... He Scores!" (Chicagoist, Mar. 19, 2009)
Forget about basketball. The real action this March is happening among student programmers. After defeating 136 other teams, the U of C's Works in Theory heads to Stockholm for the Association for Computing Machinery's International Collegiate Programming Competition World Finals, which begins April 18.

• "Computer Programming Team Advances to World Finals" (News Office, Dec. 11, 2008)


• U of C ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest wiki

MAGIC MUSIC
"Ben Folds to Release A Cappella Album" (PASTE, Mar. 19, 2009)
Student group Voices in Your Head's cover of "Magic" made the final cut for Ben Fold's upcoming album featuring university-based a cappella groups.

VIRTUAL IMPROVEMENT
"Cloud Computing Helps Scientists Run High Energy Physics Experiments" (Science Blog, Mar. 24, 2009)
High energy physicists can now run heavy ion simulations thanks to the Nimbus Context Broker, a mechanism developed by computer scientists at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago, and a portable software environment developed at CERN.

HOW DOES OBAMA THINK?
"Obamanomics: Ivory Tower of Power" (Chicago Tribune Magazine, Mar. 19, 2009)
Former U of C colleagues of President Obama—including professors Geoffrey Stone and Richard Thaler—share their ideas on how they believe he thinks.

LIFE AFTER CAMPAIGNING
"5 Questions with: Charlie Wheelan" (Chicago Public Radio blog, Mar. 6, 2009)
After finishing sixth with 7 percent of the vote in the primary race to fill Illinois's Fifth District congressional seat, Charles Wheelan, PhD’98, goes back to living a normal life: "It feels like that post-final exam period in college, only I feel like I just finished three months of finals."

ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR
"What Is Transhumanism?" (Exception Magazine, Mar. 23, 2009)
In an editorial about technological progress and medical care, Russell Blackfrod and Parijata Mackey, '09, ask: "Is transhumanism too outlandish, too futuristic to be taken seriously?"

A CLOSER LOOK AT HEALTHCARE REFORM
"Should We Finesse One of Reform's Thorniest Issues?" (The Treatment blog, New Republic, Mar. 23, 2009)
Public-health-policy researcher Harold Pollack writes that the "proposed public health care plan's bargaining power over providers is a feature rather than a bug."

BUMPER TO BUMPER
"New iPhone App Works By Bump, Not Touch" (ERIC 2.0 technology blog, Chicago Tribune, Mar. 30, 2009)
David Lieb and Jake Mintz, first-year students at Chicago Booth, along with friend Andy Huibers, developed an iPhone app that transfers data from one iPhone to another (or an iPod Touch) simply by bumping each other.

CHICAGO ORIGIN FOR MED SCHOOL RITUAL
"20th Anniversary of the White Coat Ceremony" (EzineArticles.com, March 2009)
In 1989 students at the Pritzker School of Medicine participated in what is thought to be the first white-coat ceremony.

BRAND CHANGE RISK?
"Fans Say Don't Mess with Dora the Explorer" (Finding Dulcinea, Mar. 19, 2009)
In the hulabaloo surrounding the makeover of Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer, marketing professor Jean-Pierre Dube says, "We could certainly make a case that the public is overreacting… but there's some important information there, and that is, don't mess with this brand unless you're very careful.”

REGAINING ECONOMIC VIBRANCY
"A New Regulatory Framework" (Forbes, Mar. 31, 2009)
"The current financial crisis is not due to lack of regulation, as many like to say, but to poorly designed and poorly enforced regulation," writes Chicago Booth professor Luigi Zingales.

UNVERBALIZED AWARENESS
"The Life of Gertrude Hendrix" (DePauw University News, Mar. 31, 2009)
In 1946 Gertrude Hendrix (1905-2008), while doing advanced work at the University of Chicago, offered proof of the existence of unverbalized awareness.

INCONSEQUENTIAL CONSERVATION?
"Earth Hour Returns" (Chicago Tribune, Mar. 28, 2009)
Chicago Booth student David Solomon found that the original Earth Hour, celebrated in 2007 in Sydney, only marginally affected energy use.

CREATIVE DARWINISM
"Rage Against the Art Gene" (Newsweek, Apr. 6, 2009)
"The fact is you cannot give me a human behavior for which I can't make up a story about why it's adaptive," argues Jerry A. Coyne, professor in ecology and evolution.

STILL CLOWNING AROUND
"500 Clown and the Elephant Deal Opens at Steppenwolf" (Forbes, Apr. 2, 2009)
In residence from 2005-2007 with University Theater/TAPS, 500 Clown prepares for its new show inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s Man Is Man, set to open in late June as part of Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s visiting-company initiative.

ISSUE AT HAND
"A Functioning Hand" (Philadelphia Inquirer, Apr. 6, 2009)
Bioethicist John Lantos questions whether hand transplants are better than modern prosthetics, given the surgical risks and lifelong need for medications.

PRIME GROWTH
"Disease-Resistant Plants Are Study's Focus" (UPI.com, Apr. 6, 2009)
Two Chicago researchers found a naturally occurring compound that triggers a plant’s immune system. Published in the April 3 Science, the discovery might lead to better food quality and higher agricultural yields.

SACRED TEXT SCHOLARSHIP
“Bookshelf: A People and Their Karma” (Wall Street Journal, Apr. 1, 2009)
Reviewer Tunku Varadarajan notes the “tartness” with which Divinity School professor Wendy Doniger writes about the cultural history of Hindu people in her new book, The Hindus.

LONG-TERM FISCAL BALANCE
“A Working Man’s Tax Break” (Baltimore Sun, Apr. 7, 2009)
In Thomas Schaller’s recent op-ed about a payroll-tax holiday, he quotes SSA professor Harold Pollack: “Although conservatives exaggerate the long-term fiscal challenge posed by Social Security, we do need to stay disciplined to maintain the program’s public legitimacy and to reduce the need for future tax increases if we face new fiscal challenges.”

FUNDING FOR THE LABS
“U.S. Gives Two Chicago-Area Labs $48 Million” (Chicago Tribune, Mar. 24, 2009)
Fermi and Argonne received government funds for construction, infrastructure, and research through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

MUMMIFIED FACEBOOK FRIENDS
“Twitter Need: Can Social Media Transform Museums?” (Time Out Chicago, Apr. 2-8, 2009)
Meresamun, the Oriental Institute’s popular 3,000-year-old mummy, can credit her growing notoriety to social-networking sites like Facebook, where she interacts with friends—and fans.

OUTSMARTING BACTERIA
“Research Could Lead to New Non-Antibiotic Drugs to Counter HAIs” (Infection Control Today, Apr. 8, 2009)
“It’s almost as if the bacterium sense when to strike,” surgery professor John Alverdy says. “That should come as no surprise since the bacteria are smart, having been around for two billion years.”

SMOKING TAXES
“Do Smokers Cost Society Money?” (Associated Press, Apr. 8, 2009)
Health economics and policy professor Willard Manning weighs in on the debate about tobacco taxes and the price nonsmokers pay for smokers' health care.

TAX DEBATES
“Richly Undeserved” (New York Times, Apr. 10, 2009)
In his story about the economic problems of the wealthy, columnist David Leonhardt examines former Chicago Booth professor Austan Goolsbee’s study of Clinton tax increases.

ECONOMIC CHEERLEADING
“Economy Needs Cheerleaders, and a Pep Band” (Morning Edition, NPR, Apr. 9, 2009)
Chicago Booth professor Richard Thaler explains how speaking positively about the economy will have a positive effect on it.

ROUTINE MAMMOGRAMS
“Experts Support Annual Mammogram Regimen Under Fire in Britain” (Medill Reports Chicago, Apr. 9, 2009)
Radiology professor and mammography expert Robert Schmidt disagrees with a new study that challenges the practice of regular screening for breast cancer. “The study really tried to dismantle screening women in the 40–50 year range,” he says. “That’s very ill conceived. This is certainly the best thing we’ve got right now.”

TEACHING TEENS ABOUT FINANCES
“CV Grad Promotes Financial Literacy” (Cresenta Valley Sun, Apr. 10, 2009)
College students Ted Gonder and Greg Nance, cofounders of the nonprofit education organization American Investment Fellows, teach high-school students in urban public schools about finances.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO OBAMA
“Ritual on Jesus’ Words Includes a Familiar Voice” (New York Times, Apr. 10, 2009)
At last Tuesday’s annual Vermeer String Quartet performance of Haydn’s “Seven Last Words of Christ” at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, it was President Obama’s voice reading the accompanying Gospel (Matthew 27:51–54)—from a recording made in 2000, when he was a senior lecturer in the Law School.

INCOMING MONSTER OF THE MIDWAY
“Driscoll Shows Fight” (Chicago Sun-Times, Apr. 10, 2009)
Quarterback Steve Schwabe, a senior at a small Catholic school in west suburban Addison, Illinois, heads to the University of Chicago this fall.

RECESSION-REBOUND STRATEGIES
“Obama sees 'glimmers of hope'" (Los Angeles Times, Apr. 11, 2009)
Chicago Booth economics and finance professor Anil Kashyap suggests that the government define its strategy and implement it quickly: “They’re going to get one more shot” with Congress.

NUDGING AGENDA
“The Diary: Richard Thaler” (Financial Times, Apr. 11, 2009)
Chicago Booth professor Richard H. Thaler describes highlights from his recent trip to London to promote his book Nudge.

WRAP MUSIC
“Meresamun Song Contest” (Facebook, Apr. 7–May 7, 2009)
The Oriental Institute’s mummy Meresamun, a high-ranking singer in Thebes’s Karnak Temple around 800 BC, misses her music. To enter her song contest, mummy-loving songwriters can submit new lyrics to an old tune at her Facebook fan page.

CHICAGO’S BEST-KEPT SECRET
“Chicago Museum Opens Magical Doors” (Commercial-News, Apr. 10, 2009)
Reporter Kevin Cullen raves about the Oriental Institute in his review of the museum and its treasures: “The Oriental Institute Museum tells the story of ancient Mesopotamia—that magical land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers—that shaped the modern world in so many wonderful ways.”

CUTTING-EDGE LAPAROSCOPY
“The Future and Past of Surgery” (Popular Science, Apr. 16, 2009)
A photo essay about the past 20 years’ surgical advances includes Kevin Zorn, assistant professor of surgery and codirector of the Medical Center’s minimally invasive urology program, performing a laparoscopic nephrectomy.

CALCULATING IN KANSAS
“Wichita Schools’ New Math Curriculum Has Touch of Old-School” (Wichita Eagle, Apr. 17, 2009)
Starting next year, Wichita teachers will use Everyday Mathematics, a curriculum developed at the University of Chicago, in grades K–5.

BLINDING THEM WITH SCIENCE
“Music for Scientists” (Chicagoist blog, Apr. 21, 2009)
Physics professors Heinrich Jaeger and Sidney Nagel take the stage with Chicago-based band Mira Mira Saturday to perform science demonstrations at the group’s record-release party.

HABITABLE SUPER EARTH?
“Potential ‘Water World’ May Be Just Another Ice Ball” (Discoveries blog, Christian Science Monitor, Apr. 23, 2009)
Ray Pierrehumbert, a Chicago scientist who studies planetary atmospheres, calculates that Gliese 581d—a planet nearly eight times the size of Earth—would have an uninhabitable surface temperature about 100 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

BLACK SHEEP SERENO
“6 Kids from the Chicago-Area Sereno Family Become Powerhouse PhDs” (Chicago Tribune, Apr. 24, 2009)
Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno, who didn’t follow his siblings, including Martin, SM’84, PhD’84, into neurological research, took to academics slowly as a child: “It was sort of insecurity. I didn’t do well with the structured way things are taught in school. I liked the more free-form, hands-on way of learning, like we did at home.”

UNDERSTATED SPENDING
“Government Surveys Underreport Benefits” (Eight Forty-Eight, Chicago Public Radio, Apr. 23, 2009)
Public-policy professor Bruce D. Meyer says government surveys that understate the people’s government benefits have a huge effect on policy and allocating money.

HIGH SCHOOL HI-TECH ECON
“Futuristic Class Coming to Chicago Heights” (Chicago Sun-Times, Apr. 23, 2009)
Using Web cams and Skype, U of C graduate student Trevor Gallen, SB’08, and Chicago Booth professor John List will be among the instructors teaching economics via Internet to Chicago Heights eighth-graders next year.

SATAN'S TOUR GUIDE
“Paul Durica Unearths the Hidden History of the South Side” (Chicago Weekly, Apr. 23, 2009)
“Direct engagement with spaces and places allows for obscured narratives of true crime, social justice, and labor history to reemerge and resonate with the present moment,” says English PhD candidate Paul Durica, AM’06, who runs the Chicago-based Pocket Guide to Hell Tours.

SWINE FLU PREDICTION
“No Reported Swine Flu in Illinois So Far” (ABC 7 News, Chicago, Apr. 7, 2009)
Professor and chief of pediatric infectious diseases Kenneth Alexander predicts swine flu will not be a repeat of SARS: “I do not think this is a coming flag. But it’s really just too early to tell at this point.”

FREE APP FRENZY
“Meet Bump, the App Store’s Billionth Download” (PC World, Apr. 24, 2009)
Bump, created by Chicago Booth first-year students David Lieb and Jake Mintz along with friend Andy Huibers, was the one billionth application download at Apple’s online store last week.

NFL NOSTRADAMUS
“Draft Signals Giants-Patriots Super Rematch” (Bloomberg.com, Apr. 28, 2009)
Kevin Hassett, economic-policy studies director at the American Enterprise Institute, uses the economic model of the National Football League draft created by professor Richard Thaler and his Yale colleague Cade Massey to predict the winners and losers of the annual draft.

CAR TALK
“GM’s New Road Map: Partial Nationalization” (Washington Post, Apr. 28, 2009)
Chicago Booth finance professor Luigi Zingales expresses his concerns about the government’s nationalization of General Motors: “Do you not think they will push GM to make green cars? Maybe that’s the right thing to do and maybe not. But it shouldn’t be decided by Congress.”

CONTAGIOUS FEELINGS
“Marital Mood Leak” (Oprah Magazine, April 2009)
Neuroscientist and psychology professor John Cacioppo explains how the brain’s “mirror neurons” cause your partner’s bad mood to transfer to you.

CHICAGO BOOTH IS 'MAG'-NIFICIENT
“Local Biz Schools Among Best in Class, Says Mag” (Chicago Business blog, Crain’s Chicago Business, Apr. 24, 2009)
U.S. News & World Report ranks Chicago Booth as the second-best part-time MBA program in the country, behind New York University’s Stern School of Business.

CENSORSHIP SUFFOCATES
“Educators Teach First Amendment—Then Ignore It” (State Journal-Register, Apr. 22, 2009)
U-High journalism teacher Wayne Brasler wants censoring student news to be the exception, not the rule: “The school is like an octopus that has grabbed and held tighter and tighter to students’ lives. The school has everyone and everything so tightly supervised, monitored, and channeled, there’s little room for anything going wrong.”

NUH-UH MOMENT
“Opraha!” (Static Zombie blog, Apr. 27, 2009)
Neither Mutual of Omaha nor Oprah Winfrey can truly claim first rights to the phrase “aha moment.” Although the Magazine’s editors have used it plenty in recent years and science writer Martin Gardner, AB’36, incorporated it into the title of his 1978 book of puzzles, etymological research reveals that “aha moment” was first used in the 1939 book General Psychology by L. E. Cole.

RESPONSE TO STIMULI
“Counting Jobs a Political Numbers Game” (KansasCity.com, Associated Press, Apr. 29, 2009)
It’s too soon to measure jobs created—and jobs saved—as a result of stimulus money according to Chicago Booth economics professor Steven J. Davis: “How do you know what a saved job is? How do you know what jobs would have been lost without this?”

TOXIC AVENGERS
“Researchers Look for Better Ways to Clean Toxic Waste” (Eight Forty-Eight, Chicago Public Radio, Apr. 29, 2009)
Argonne National Laboratory scientists describe how they’re cleaning up cancer-causing solvents in soil using poplar trees.

FOREVER BLOWING BUBBLES
“Long View: ‘Real People’ Economics” (Financial Times, Apr. 29, 2009)
Chicago Booth professor Richard Thaler talks to the Financial Times about how “real people” economics can help us understand market bubbles and why some are unavoidable.

ARTIFACT AFTERLIFE
“A Fragile History, Besieged” (Chronicle of Higher Education, Apr. 17, 2009)
English and comparative literature professor Lawrence Rothfield, author of the new book The Rape of Mesopotamia: Behind the Looting of the Iraq Museum, answers questions about the items stolen from the National Museum of Iraq.

UNDEAD PUB PROWLERS
“It’s the Dawn of the Zombie Zeitgeist” (Chicago Tribune, May 4, 2009)
Justin Hartmann, ‘10, and his friends were inspired to create the Zombie Readiness Task Force RSO after playing a game of “What would you do if…?”

ANIMAL SPIRITS
“The Interview: 02/05/2009” (BBC World Service, May 2, 2009)
Chicago Booth professor Richard H. Thaler talks to the BBC about why people’s behavior in a crisis is never rational.

PUBLIC SERVICE THROUGH STORIES OF SUFFERING
“Slumdog Millionaire Under Scrutiny” (National Public Radio, Feb. 5, 2009)
“This is not the first slum film ever made, but none have evoked this kind of response globally, and that’s important,” says film professor Rochona Majumdar during a discussion of the Slumdog Millionaire producers’ moral obligation to address the social ills they show on screen.

CAPITALISM IN CRISIS
“A Discussion with Nobel Laureates in Economics: Whither Capitalism?” (Milken Institute, Global Conference 2009, Apr. 28, 2009)
Economics professors Gary Becker and Roger Myerson join Myron S. Scholes, MBA’64, PhD’70 (who taught at Chicago Booth from 1973 to ‘83), for a panel discussion of the economic crisis. (Note: The video on the Milken Institute Web site includes the entire session. To skip to the discussion, start watching the video at approximately 15:30.)

ACADEMIC INTERCEPTION
“Bryce Fisher’s Journey Takes Him Far Beyond Football” (Seattle Times, May 3, 2009)
“If I live to 80 and all I did was play football a few years,” says former Seattle Seahawks player Bryce Fisher, who begins at Chicago Booth this fall, “then I wasted the other 50 years of my life.”

OUT OF EQUILIBRIUM
“Climate Scientist Warns of Underestimated Global Warming Forecasts” (Medill Reports, Apr. 28, 2009)
Climate scientist Raymond Pierrehumbert explains that we have seen only “a tiny part of the warming that we are eventually going to get. We haven’t even seen the warming that goes along with the carbon dioxide we’ve already put into the atmosphere.”

ALL IN THE FAMILY
“Main Street Money” (Newsweek, Apr. 18, 2009)
“We used to struggle to explain to people the value of a community bank,” says Law School student Katy Welter, who with her father recently qualified for a national banking charter. “I don’t think we’ll have to now.”

GIVING BACK
“Program Gives Some City Colleges Students a Leg Up” (Chi-Town Daily News, May 4, 2009)
University of Chicago alumni who tutor through the Illinois Education Foundation help students like Shawn Mayberry from Truman College get back on track academically.

LIVING THE QUESTION
“College Presidents Pen Admissions Essays” (Wall Street Journal, May 6, 2009)
When Wall Street Journal editors turned the tables on the presidents of 10 top colleges and universities with an unusual assignment—answer an essay question from their own school’s application—University President Robert J. Zimmer responded.

DEAD OF THE CLASS
“Students Exposed to Careers in the Autopsy Lab” (Chicago Tribune, May 1, 2009)
Thirty 7th graders from Paul Revere Elementary School participated in the University of Chicago Medical Center’s “Best of the Best” program, an initiative started in 2003 for South Side students in grades 6-12.

STARTLING EMISSIONS
“Humans Halfway to Causing Dangerous Climate Change” (Wired Science blog, Wired, Apr. 29, 2009)
Wired bloggers dissect the highlights of University of Chicago geoscientist Gavin Schmidt’s recent paper in Nature—written with Oxford’s Myles Allen—in which they posit that climate change is going to be hard to avoid: “Unless emissions begin to decline very soon, severe disruption to the climate system will entail expensive adaptation measures and may eventually require cleaning up the mess by actively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”

ENVELOPE PUSHING ECONOMIST
“The 2009 Time 100” (Time, May 11, 2009)
The annual issue of short essays on 100 of “the world’s most influential people” includes Roland Fryer, who as a postdoctorate fellow worked with Gary Becker, AM’53, PhD’55.

TEACHING TREASURE HUNTERS
“Field Museum, University of Chicago Training Iraqi Archeologists” (Chicago Tribune, May 6, 2009)
Over the next two years, scientists from the University’s Oriental Institute and Field Museum will tutor 18 Iraqi archeologists and cultural preservationists in conservation techniques, including preserving artifacts, using ground-penetrating radar, cleaning pottery shards, and analyzing sediments.

POWERED UP
“Scientists Receive Tech Transfer Award for Battery R&D” (Argonne News Office, May 8, 2009)
Three Argonne National Laboratory scientists were recognized by the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer for their research on a battery system expected to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

GENDER GAP EXAMINED
“Why the Earnings Gender Gap in Business? Women Work Less.” (New York Times, April 29, 2009)
Research by Chicago Booth’s Marianne Bertrand and Harvard economists Claudia Goldin, AM’69, PhD’72, and Lawrence F. Katz provides a statistical explanation for why women with children earn less than men.

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.

BOOKMARK IT
"Review: The Chicago Blog" (Beachwood Reporter, May 13, 2009)
The University of Chicago Press blog earns high marks for its posts that are "straightforward with the occasional dash of wry humor" and "smartly written and based on interesting books."

IDA NOYES GOES SEMPER FI
"Generals Talk at Local University" (Today in the Military blog, Military.com, May 13, 2009)
Three general officers in the Marines held a one-hour Q&A with students and faculty to discuss how their experiences in the military apply to business skills like effective team building and flexible decision making.

TRIVIA WINNERS
"University’s Three-Time National Champion Quiz Bowl Team Has All the Answers" (Chicago Maroon, May 8, 2009)
The University's Quiz Bowl team swept both the Academic Competition Federation (ACF) and National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT): “We’ve had the most successful year in the history of the game,” says team president-elect Michael Arnold, '11.

PRESIDENTIAL TEST
"Just for Fun: Obama's Con Law Exam" (ZDNet Government blog, May 18, 2009)
View the constitutional law exam that President Obama gave his Law School students in fall 1996, and read the explanations.

3D MUMMY
"Computed Tomography Scanning of Meresamun" (SPIE Newsroom, SPIE.org, May 18, 2009)
Oriental Institute Egyptologist Emily Teeter, PhD'90, and Medical Center radiologist Michael Vannier review the 3D scans of the 3,000-year-old mummy Meresamun: "Inspection of the results revealed many previously unrecognized details, including subtle post-mortem fractures of the upper skeleton, dental features, jewelry, radiodense inclusions in the casket, and degenerative changes in the spine."

BIG BANG THEORISTS
"QUIET Team to Deploy New Gravity-Wave Probe in June" (Science Centric, May 16, 2009)
University physics professor Bruce Weinstein and his team detect remnants of the radiation emitted a fraction of a second after the big bang.

I.T. GOOGLE IT
"Spreading the Summer of Love" (Google Open Source blog, May 12, 2009)
Computer-science PhD student Borja Sotomayor recaps the local kick-off party for Google's 2009 "Summer of Code"—a program that offers student developers stipends to write code for open-source software projects. Chelsea Bingiel, '11, who spoke at the event, will be adding support for the Atom Publishing Protocol.

MILESTONES

• "Time Out Chicago Announces New Theater Writer" (Theater Loop blog, Chicago Tribune, May 18, 2009)
  Social Thought PhD candidate John Beer was named Time Out Chicago's new theater writer.

CHARGE AHEAD
“The Brave New World of Restricted Credit” (Forbes, May 26, 2009)
Law School professor Richard Epstein laments Congress’s recent credit-reform legislation, calling the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act of 2009 too good to be true: “It’s the old story that high-minded legislation bites the very individuals whom it is intended to protect—now in a market starved for credit.”

FLOORED BY RESULTS
“Why the Elevator Floor Is So Interesting” (Wired Science blog, Wired, May 26, 2009)
Mouths shut. Eyes straight ahead. Professor Dario Maestripieri—who studies human and nonhuman primates—finds that during an elevator ride people act as if they have serious concerns about their own safety despite virtually no chance of being attacked.

SET TO SPIKE AT CHICAGO
“Trinity Valedictorian Headed to U of C” (RiverForest Leaves, Sun-Times News Group, May 26, 2009)
When she arrives on campus this fall, Caroline Brande—who hopes to be a surgeon—plans to study biology and Islamic religion and join the volleyball team, whose members she met during a campus visit: “I loved the people on the team so much,” she says. “They were so friendly. It was a perfect fit socially for me, too.”

A DIG THROUGH NEWSPAPER ARTIFACTS
“Historical Trove, Freed From Storage, Gets a Home” (New York Times, May 26, 2009)
Associate professor Jacqueline Goldsby helps preserve treasures she uncovered from the Chicago Defender’s archives, including unpublished pictures of Duke Ellington and Jack Johnson.

INSIDE BECKER’S MIND
“A Freakonomics Quiz” (Freakonomics blog, New York Times, May 27, 2009)
How well do you know Chicago Booth’s Gary Becker, AM’53, PhD’55? Attendees at the econ department’s annual skit party tried to figure out how Becker answered questions such as: Who’ll win the next Nobel Prize in economics? When will the recession end? Who’s his favorite economist?

SCOTUS REALITY CHECK
"Legal Realism Informs Judge's Views" (Wall Street Journal, May 28, 2009)
Law School professor Brian Leiter considers Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a legal realist: "The idea that appellate judges never make law, and only apply the law as written, is a fiction, as every American lawyer knows."

A MORE SELF-ASSURED INDIA
"Good News for Democracy" (American Spectator, May 26, 2009)
In an essay about Indian politics, Harris School lecturer Frank Schell writes, "To state that the challenges to absorb more people into the economic mainstream of India are enormous is a gross understatement. We should take stock that amidst all the world's tumult, occasionally the forces of reason and light can prevail."

PUBLIC HEALTH CARE
"Yeah, We Need That Public Plan" (The Treatment blog, New Republic, May 27, 2009)
Associate professor in the School of Social Service Administration Harold Pollack writes about why "we need a public health plan to have any prayer of making health reform work."

INCOMING PHYSICIST, ACTIVIST, AND DRAMATIST
"Lakewood Resident to Attend University of Chicago" (YourHub.com, Lakewood, June 5, 2009)
Incoming first-year Hunter Davis—whose interests include charity work and musical theater—plans to study physics when he arrives at the University of Chicago this fall.

MARKET WATCH
"How Unusual Was the Stock Market of 2008?" (Fama/French Forum, May 4, 2009)
Chicago Booth's Eugene Fama and Dartmouth's Kenneth French write an in-depth analysis of 2008's market volatility.

MILESTONES

• "Scientist Wins Prestigious L'Oreal Fellowship" (Argonne Newsroom, May 27, 2009)
  Argonne National Laboratory scientist Tiffany Santos has been awarded the sixth annual L'Oreal fellowship for her work at the Center for Nanoscale Materials. Santos will use the funds to investigate transition metal oxides: "If we can understand the origin of a material's properties at the nanoscale, then we can design and create new materials for the next generation of electronic devices that meet these global challenges."

EDUCATION FIRST
“More College Grads Join Teach for America” (Education Week, May 28, 2009)
Teach for America is the No. 1 employer of the College’s graduating fourth-year students, including one of the Magazine’s interns—good luck, Rose!

TOO CLOSE TO JUDGE
“Alito and Sotomayor Have Striking Similarities” (Newsday.com, May 28, 2009)
Current Supreme Court justices have a lot in common, says Law School professor Eric Posner: “If you take the broader perspective, basically everybody on the court has the same résumé.”

MAN’S BEST FRIEND’S FEELINGS
“In That Tucked Tail, Real Pangs of Regret?” (New York Times, Jun. 1, 2009)
Do dogs feel sorry when they pee on the rug? University of Chicago Press author Marc Bekoff thinks so: “Regret is essential, especially in the wild.”

NUCLEAR NATIONS
“Are We at War With North Korea?” (Slate, May 26, 2009)
Professor Bruce Cumings helps Slate assistant editor Juliet Lapidos assess the situation between North Korea and the United States.

LEAN TIMES, FAT BEHINDS
“Is the Recession Making Americans Fatter?” (Newsweek, Jun. 1, 2009)
“Both in terms of people’s individual lifestyles and in terms of our public response, recession does give us an opportunity,” says SSA assistant professor Harold Pollack. “This is a good time to examine the ways we look at public health and say, how are we doing that, and can we do that better?”

RELATIVITY REVOLUTION
“Books to Read Now” (Seed, June 2009)
Seed editors list University of Chicago Press author Richard Stanley’s Einstein’s Generation: The Origins of the Relativity Revolution as a must-read.

ODDS FOR CHICAGO 2016
“The Olympics of Voting” (Forbes, Jun. 22, 2009)
University of Chicago professors Allan R. Sanderson and John Mark Hansen analyze the likelihood of Chicago winning the International Olympic Committee’s vote for the 2016 Games.

A HEAD FOR FINANCES
“Control Yourself” (Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2009)
“One could try to explain all the events of the last several months with models and ratios,” says Chicago Booth behavioral economist Richard Thaler. “But it’s become more and more difficult to do so.”

TOO CLOSE TO JUDGE
“Alito and Sotomayor Have Striking Similarities” (Newsday.com, May 28, 2009)
Current Supreme Court judges have a lot in common, says Law School professor Eric Posner: “If you take the broader perspective, basically everybody on the court has the same resume.”

ENGAGING ZEST
”’Exiled’ Jewish Cabaret Songs Find a Home on CD” (All About Jazz, Jun. 6, 2009)
The New Budapest Orpheum Society, an ensemble in residence at the University of Chicago, released a new CD including 25 songs of “love, lament, observational humor, and social satire” that address the concept of exile from “external and internal, physical and psychological” perspectives.

CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS...OVER-PROTECTED?
“Professor Argues ‘Less’ Is More in Consumer Protection Law” (Madison/St. Clair Record, Jun. 9, 2009)
“Unsophisticated consumers can find more relief in arbitration than in litigation,” says Law School professor Omri Ben-Shahar. “The courts tend to consider other types of behavior as quasi-fraudulent that aren’t.”

CONSERVATISM, TERRORISM, AND EMPATHY
“Seven Questions for Richard Posner” (Economist, Jun. 6, 2009)
In an interview with the Economist editors, Law School professor Richard Posner answers an array of hot-topic questions.

FEWER ZZZZZS = HYPERTENSION?
“Lack of Sleep Can Raise Blood Pressure Over Time” (U.S. News & World Report, Jun. 8, 2009)
University of Chicago researcher Kristen Knutson and colleagues find more health benefits of getting enough sleep: “Laboratory studies of short-term sleep deprivation have suggested potential mechanisms for a causal link between sleep loss and hypertension.”

FISCAL BIPARTISANSHIP
"What Does the President’s Party Affiliation Have to Do With the Economy?" (Freakonomics blog, New York Times, Jun. 9, 2009)
In a guest post to Professor Steven Levitt's Freakonomics blog, Dmitri Leybman, '09, writes about the "impact of politics on macroeconomic outcomes."

RECOVERING MEDICAL JUDGMENT
"Atul Gawande on Regaining Medical Judgment" (Science Life blog, Jun. 4, 2009)
Pritzker School of Medicine commencement speaker Atul Gawande proposes that medical communities "ensure patients get cheap but effective preventative care by rooting out unnecessary operations and perverse financial incentives."

ALL TOGETHER NOW
"Virtual 'Tipping Point' Leverages Group Deals" (Reuters, Jun. 10, 2009)
Former public-policy graduate student Andrew Mason organizes action around tipping points: "If you can give people a way to take action where they feel it's actually going to make a difference, they'll do it."

SINGAPORE STAYING POWER
"Western Universities' Asian Programs Endure" (Wall Street Journal, Jun. 12, 2009)
The Wall Street Journal profiles Chicago Booth's presence in Singapore.

STICKING POINT
"New 'Electronic Glue' Promises Less Expensive Semiconductors" (Freakonomics blog, Science Daily, Jun. 11, 2009)
Developed in assistant professor of chemistry Dmitri Talapin's laboratory at the University of Chicago, "electronic glue"—created from the coupling between nanocrystals in inorganic molecules—accelerates advances in semiconductor-based technologies.

NET WORTHLESS
"Americans' Wealth Drops $1.3 trillion" (CNN Money, CNN.com, Jun. 11, 2009)
Debt levels are unsustainable and have to come down to bring back financial health, says finance professor Amir Sufi: "Household deleveraging has to happen even though it's painful."

MILESTONE

• "A Franklin Celebration" (Duke Today, Jun. 11, 2009)
  Former President Bill Clinton led a celebratory ceremony at Duke University to remember professor emeritus of history John Hope Franklin.

FAITH EVOLVED
"Could a Fish Fossil Challenge Your Faith?" (USA Today, Jun. 12, 2009)
USA Today's Faith and Reason Book Club reviews organismal biology professor Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish.

RENAME DOWN THE ROAD
"Should the New GM Start with a New Name?" (Associated Press, Jun. 12, 2009)
If GM rebrands during its attempt to come back, "they have little to lose," says Chicago Booth marketing professor Jean-Pierre Dube. "The brand isn't in good shape."

SPACE ROCK
"Meteorite Grains Divulge Earth's Cosmic Roots" (PhysOrg, Jun. 15, 2009)
Postdoc scientist Philipp Heck studies meteorite dust to improve understanding of interstellar processes: "The knowledge of this lifetime is essential to better contain the timing of formation processes of the solar system."

COLBERT CAMEO
"Austan Goolsbee Looks to Infuse Economic Adviser's Job with Edgy Wit" (Chicago Tribune, Jun. 15, 2009)
"Most folks don't read policy fact sheets," says Austan Goolsbee, a Chicago Booth professor on leave to serve on the White House Council of Economic Advisers. "If we want them to hear it, sometimes the only way is to explain it while being mocked by a comedian."

NOVEL UCHICAGOAN
"Meet the Milquetoasts" (New York Times, Jun. 12, 2009)
Fictional University of Chicago paleontologist Jonathan Casper is the protagonist in Joe Meno's book The Great Perhaps.

FALL QUARTER PREP WORK
"Top SHS Grad Diving into College Already" (State Journal-Register, Jun. 13, 2009)
Incoming first-year Carl Butt is getting a jump on his math course work over the summer before starting at the University of Chicago in September. An artificial-intelligence aficionado, Butt plans to study computer science and linguistics.

SCOTUS & THE KELO FACTOR
"Property Rights Likely to Arise in Sotomayor’s Confirmation Hearings" (New York Times, Jun. 14, 2009)
Law School professor Richard Epstein considers Sonia Sotomayer's ruling in Didden v. Village of Port Chester a rare misfire: “It’s a disappointment and it’s wrong and it’s ill thought out. But it’s not one of six. It’s one of two" poorly handled decisions (the other being Ricci v. DeStefano).

MILESTONES

• "A Franklin Celebration" (Duke Today, Jun. 11, 2009)
  Former President Bill Clinton led the celebratory remembrance of former Chicago historian John Hope Franklin at Duke University.

THE REVOLUTION WILL BE... FAXED?
"Iran’s Internet Battle Hits New Heights" (MSNBC, Jun. 17, 2009)
UChicago activists set-up a fax-to-Web service (iranfax.org) in case Iran's online links to the outside world are cut off completely.

ADMISSIONS OF GUILT
"Three Yards and a Clout of Dust" (Chicago Tribune, Jun. 18, 2009)
"Do institutions' mission statements include the feeding and preparation of athletes for the National Football League or the National Basketball Association?" asks economics professor Allen R. Sanderson in his op-ed about university officials who bend admissions standards to accommodate athletes who might not otherwise be accepted as part to join the student body.

DINOSAUR DISCOVERY
"Dino Want a Cracker? Fossil Resembles Parrot" (MSNBC, Jun. 17, 2009)
Evidence shows that the parrot-beaked dinosaur—Psittacosaurus gobiensis—found in the Gobi Desert in 2001 by University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno ate nuts and seeds.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
"From Friendship to Fascism in One Short Step" (Times (London), Jun. 21, 2009)
Like-minded people are the most dangerous company we can keep, because of the phenomenon of group polarization, says Law School professor Cass Sunstein.

EASY SCIENCE
"The Science of Talking so People Want to Listen" (Symmetry, Jun. 19, 2009)
When teaching science, astrophysicist Michael Turner keeps things simple and gets to the point: "We don't have to use jargon. We can leave some things out. Leave them wanting more."

MORE ALIKE THAN DIFFERENT
"Among Many Peoples, There's Little Genomic Variety" (Daily Herald (Everett, Washington), Jun. 22, 2009)
"Adaptations to the environment absolutely do occur," says graduate student Joseph Pickrell. "But they don't occur according to this simple model that we and others have been looking for."

FUNDING FIREWORKS
"Who Pays for Chicago's Fireworks?" (This Young Economist blog, Jun. 18, 2009)
Economics graduate student Tony Cookson looks into how Chicago funds its fireworks displays and examines how the shows are an example of a government solution to a public goods problem that works.

NUDGE TO STEP UP
"What Would It Take to Get You to Take the Stairs More? How About Music and a View?" (Nudge blog, Jun. 23, 2009)
Chicago Booth Richard Thaler suggests making stairs more centrally located, attractive, and easy-to-use to nudge more people to use elevators less.

ART OF WAR
"Doc Featuring Children’s Drawings from Darfur to Screen at Philly Independent Film Festival" (Philadelphia Independent Media Center, Jun. 16, 2009)
The documentary Crayons and Paper directed by Bruce David Janu as part of his Master's thesis, follows the work of Philadelphia-based pediatrician Jerry Ehrlich, who encourages children to draw the atrocities they endured in war-torn areas.

WINDY CITY PRESSES
"Can Chicago be a Hub for Independent Publishing?" (City Room, Chicago Public Radio, Jun. 19, 2009)
University of Chicago Press director Garrett Kiely talks about Chicago as a publishing city.

ECONOMIC INTERVIEW
"Kevin Murphy Interview" (Banking and Policy Issues, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, June 2009)
Chicago Booth professor Kevin Murphy discusses the causes of inequality, the value of medical research, and rational addition.

TROUBLE FOR TYPE 2 CHILDREN
"Experts: Most Type 2 Diabetes Can Be Stopped in Childhood" (USA Today, Jun. 21, 2009)
"It's really stunning how the percentages for type 2 diabetes are going up in younger and younger Americans," says Siri Atma Greeley, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Medical Center. "Clearly, diabetes is following obesity, and both have huge ramifications on long-term health."

PARTICLES ACCELERATED
"Grains of Sand Reveal Possible Fifth State of Matter" (Wired Science blog, Wired, Jun. 24, 2009)
“Physicists have a rich toolbox for dealing with solids, liquids, and gases," says physics professor Heinrich Jaeger. "We don’t have a manual for when the old categories don’t apply.”

ORGANIZED DONATIONS
"How To Get A Liver When You Need One" (Forbes, Jun. 30, 2009)
Chicago Booth's Gary Becker, AM'53, PhD'55, estimates that we could completely eliminate the shortage of donor kidneys by paying donors about $15,000.

COUNTERTERRORISM CASHOUT
"Compensation Nation" (Slate, Jun. 19, 2009)
"It's time to formally compensate the victims of overzealous counter-terrorism policies," writes Aziz Huq, who joins the Law School as an assistant professor this month.

MILESTONES

• "Fifty Books for Our Times" (Newsweek, Jun. 27, 2009)
  Newsweek editors named professor Jerry Coyne's book Why Evolution Is True as their #39 what-to-read-now tome. "Even innocent bystanders in the culture wars," they write, "should understand the evidence that supports evolution."