Anda di halaman 1dari 24

digitalPLUS

THE RISKS OF FRATERNITY LIFE ARE SO HIGH, ONLY 4 INSURERS WILL COVER COLLEGE-AGE MEN WHO LIVE IN CHAPTER HOUSES.

9 FRATERNITIES LINKED TO TWO-THIRDS OF DEATHS.

Magazine
Thursday, April 4, 2013

8 DEAD IN 2011. 8 MORE IN 2012.


THE MOST FATALATIES

GREEK TRAGEDIES
When students are killed or injured at local chapters, national fraternities deflect the blame, sue members, avoid paying and, meanwhile, get richer. PAGES 3-8

IN A DECADE.

52 DEATHS
LINKED TO
FRATERNITIES
GETTY-AFPPHOTO

2 DEATHS

LINKED TO

FRATERNITIES

SINCE 2005.

2013.

SO FAR IN

digitalPLUS

Magazine

In this new premium section for digital subscribers, youll find stories and commentary that explore the issues, events and people that make news and affect our lives. We will entertain, inform and surprise you through storytelling that delves beneath the surface of world events, politics, culture and personal well-being. Youll find this bonus section only in the digital replica edition of the Chicago Tribune Monday through Thursday. On Friday, look for digitalPLUS OT, our new sports magazine. We hope you enjoy these expanded offerings in addition to our daily indepth coverage of the Chicago region. Gerould Kern, Editor

Welcome.

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S + T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 4 , 2 0 1 3

Viral prose: Writing becoming more like speech


PAGE 9

The importance of neighborhood bars


PAGE 11

Paul, Rubio and the Grand New Party


PAGE 13

Why sharks are the new whales


PAGE 16

Building a kitchen with soul


PAGE 19

Eva Mendes: In search of darkness


PAGE 22

Savor the flavor of the perfect tomato


PAGE 24

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

COVER STORY

A family photo of Lee John Mynhardt with his mother Charmaine. Mynhardt broke his neck when he was grabbed from behind and dragged out of a keg party held by the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at Elon University in Elon, N.C. in 2007.

GREEK TRAGEDY
When students are killed or injured at local chapters, national fraternities deflect blame, avoid paying and get rich
By David Glovin |
Bloomberg News

ld photographs adorn the mantelpiece in Lee John Mynhardts living room. In one, hes standing beside his parents and sister. In another, hes all smiles as he wraps his arms around some college buddies. Today, Mynhardt, 28, is confined to a wheelchair, a quadriplegic unable to move from the chest down,

burdened with medical expenses that at times have topped $10,000 a month. As a senior at Elon University in Elon, N.C., he broke his neck when he was grabbed from behind and dragged out of a keg party held by a chapter of one of the largest national fraternities, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Mynhardt says he is a casualty of the strenuous efforts by national

fraternities such as Lambda Chi to avoid paying compensation for deaths and injuries at their local chapters. After he sued, Lambda Chi Alpha and its insurer won court rulings that they werent liable for his plight. As soon as theres an incident, national fraternities start distancing
Please turn to Next Page

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

COVER STORY

Continued from Previous Page

themselves, Mynhardt said at his Charlotte, N.C., home. Its irresponsible. National fraternities, which grant charters to campus chapters and collect dues from undergraduate members, have at least $170 million in annual revenue, along with valuable holdings ranging from real estate to Tiffany windows. The nonprofit organizations often protect their growing wealth by insulating themselves from legal and financial responsibility for a wave of alcohol and hazing-related deaths and injuries. Besieged by lawsuits alleging negligent supervision, some of the biggest national fraternities have limited insurance coverage they provide to members, shielded funds in hard-to-tap foundations and cast blame on local chapters with few or no assets. Rather than intensify monitoring of branches, some fraternities have ceded daily supervision to undergraduates. Such strategies are paying off. While at least 57 people have been killed or paralyzed since 2005 in incidents involving fraternities or their members, the low-profile national bodies have enjoyed increases of 13 percent in revenue and 29 percent in membership. Its a curious business model, said Peter Lake, a professor at Stetson University College of Law in Tampa, Fla., who specializes in higher-education law. Youre establishing a national brand and franchising. And then when your core customers are in a pinch, youre turning away. James Ewbank, a lawyer who has represented at least 10 national fraternities, urged them at a conference last summer to deflect blame when they are sued by bringing cases against chapter members and colleges. Share the fun, he said, according to an outline of his remarks posted online by the Fraternity Executives Association. The comment was hyperbole, Ewbank said in an interview. While Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., have begun cracking down on local chapters, many

schools have found it futile to prod national fraternities to take control, said Brett Sokolow, who has advised Lambda and other fraternities on risk management. Colleges have been trying to get a handle on these issues for a long time, and they havent seen nationals step up so they figure why should it change now, Sokolow said. The national fraternities success in avoiding liability reinforces their intransigence, he said. They want to wash their hands of the problem and say its their brothers fault, its their chapters fault. These are million-dollar organizations that sponsor activities that are harmful. here are at least 75 national fraternities with branches on college campuses across the United States Some have fewer than 10 chapters while others have more than 200. Membership is almost all male. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton all belonged to fraternities. Membership in national fraternities increased to 327,260 in 2011 from 253,148 in 2005, according to the North-American Interfraternity Conference, a trade group. Revenue from dues and other sources for national fraternities and their related charitable groups rose to at least $170 million in 2010 from about $150 million in 2005, Internal Revenue Service filings show. Local chapters earned many tens of millions more. Fraternities own and operate more than $3 billion in real estate, according to the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition, a lobbying group. Reflecting a national surge in binge drinking by college students, fraternity mayhem today can be far more dangerous than the hijinks celebrated in the 1978 movie Animal House. Since 2005, 52 students died and five were paralyzed in incidents linked to fraternities, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from lawsuits, news accounts and interviews. Nine fraternities, including some of the largest, are linked to 38 of the 57 cases, or two-thirds. Eight students died in both 2011 and 2012. Those are the most fatalities in at least a decade, according to Hank Nuwer, a professor at Franklin

College in Franklin, Ind., and author of four books on hazing. Two have died this year. The risk of fraternity life is so great that only four insurers cover college-age men living together in chapter houses, said Ned Kirklin, who sells fraternity insurance for a unit of Willis & Co. To make coverage affordable, a group of fraternities self-insures part of the risk. At colleges, which value fraternities as a lure to prospective students and breeding ground of generous alumni, it often takes a death or serious injury to spur discipline. California State University in Chico temporarily suspended Greek life in November after a senior pledge drank himself to death. National fraternities dont always avoid liability. After becoming intoxicated at a 2011 New Years Eve party at the University of Pennsylvanias Phi Kappa Sigma House, 20-year-old Matthew Crozier fell over a railing, hit his head and died. His parents received a $3 million settlement from the national fraternity, based in Chester Springs, Pa., and from a related corporation that owned the chapter house. Greek life, with its secret rituals and traditions, fosters leadership and brotherhood, fraternity leaders said. Out of all the organizations on a college campus, fraternities and sororities are founded on the concept of high values and moral leadership, said Rick Barnes, a board member of the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values in Fort Collins, Colo. Some deaths and injuries, which took place off-campus or at unofficial events, shouldnt be counted as fraternity-related, the leaders said. Most national fraternities havent had any fatal incidents at their chapters since 2005. National fraternities are not to blame when members at faraway branches breach rules against hazing and drinking, their executives said. Many dispatch representatives to teach chapters about risk management. They reinforce the lessons at annual conventions and after fatalities and serious injuries. Still, national fraternities often take a hands-off approach to daily
Please turn to Next Page

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

COVER STORY

Continued from Previous Page

supervision. Rather than hire graduate students or older adults as live-in advisers, most rely on undergraduates to ensure that fraternity rules are followed, said Charles Eberly, former president of the Center for the Study of the College Fraternity, based at Indiana University. In 2009, Penn State University freshman Joseph Dado died after drinking beer from an open tub at an Alpha Tau Omega party. Even so, the national fraternitys lawyer recommended against active supervision of local chapters in a 2012 article. The role of a national fraternal organization should be predominately passive in its supervision and involvement in the daily activities of local chapters, G. Coble Caperton, general counsel for Alpha Tau Omega, wrote in the newsletter Fraternal Law. The reason: Most courts wont hold nationals liable if they dont take steps creating a legal duty to supervise chapters. Caperton said in an interview that his fraternity punishes chapters for violating rules and spends enormous sums educating members. Theres no way we could have a person on-site running these 135 chapters, he said. We are anything but passive in preventing alcohol

abuse, drug abuse or hazing. Some national fraternities may be reluctant to restrict drinking for fear of losing dues-paying members. Indianapolis- based Theta Chi learned that lesson after it joined a small group of fraternities that prohibit alcohol in chapter houses. It was the best thing we ever did, said Dave Westol, former executive director of Theta Chi. You may have five knuckleheads who wont join, and the five who replace them will stay out of trouble. Theta Chi membership stood at 5,911 in 1998, when the fraternity voted to go alcohol-free. By 2003, when the ban took effect, it had fallen to 5,126. Westol left in 2006, with membership down to 4,664. In 2010, the national board abandoned the policy. With drinking permitted, membership has rebounded to about 6,700 today. Declining membership played no role in reversing the alcohol-free policy, Theta Chi Executive Director Michael Mayer said in an email. Philip Dhanens died of alcohol poisoning after he and other freshmen were locked in a room last August at a Theta Chi chapter at Fresno State University in California until they finished bottles of vodka and tequila. The national fraternity should

have monitored the local chapter more closely, said his mother, Diane Dhanens. She and her husband filed a lawsuit this month against the national fraternity and the chapter. Fraternity leaders say, Well let you wear Theta Chi, she said. But when something bad happens, Were out of here. Theta Chi said in a statement that it revoked the charter of the Fresno State chapter and that it has strict guidelines prohibiting underage alcohol consumption. ome national fraternities have segregated assets to avoid liability in high-profile cases. Based in Evanston, where its headquarters contains a priceless collection of stained-glass Tiffany windows, Sigma Alpha Epsilon has been associated with eight deaths since 2005, the most of any fraternity. Most recently, University of Idaho freshman Joseph Wiederrick, who had been drinking at an SAE party on a Saturday night in January, got lost on his way back to his dorm. The 18year-old wandered at least five miles, stumbled off an embankment, and froze to death under a bridge. SAE changed its bylaws in March 2011, a month after the hazing death of Cornell University sophomore George Desdunes at the SAE chapter there. SAE pledges kidnapped Desdunes, blindfolded him, tied him up and forced him to drink so much alcohol that he died, according to his family. Cornell withdrew recognition of the chapter, which was convicted in a county court of violating antihazing laws and fined $12,000, and the Desdunes family sued Sigma Alpha Epsilon for $25 million. The case is pending. SAEs revised bylaws state that its related charitable foundation and housing corporation are not part of the national organization. Theyre attempting to have these lines drawn so its harder to get to those assets, said Douglas Fierberg, a Washington lawyer who represents Desdunes family. Today, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation and the SAE Financial and Housing Corp., which together
Please turn to Next Page

MOSCOW, IDAHO POLICE DEPARTMENT PHOTO

University of Idaho freshman Joseph Wiederrick died after drinking at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon party on a Saturday night in January of this year.

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

COVER STORY

Youre establishing a national brand and franchising. And then when your core customers are in a pinch, youre turning away.
Peter Lake, professor at Stetson University College of Law on the business model of national fraternities
Continued from Previous Page

earned $4.6 million in 2010 revenue, are seeking dismissal from the lawsuit. They say theyre separate entities from the national fraternity, which had $5.5 million in revenue. SAE lawyer Frank Ginocchio declined to comment. Mynhardt, whose neck was broken at the Elon fraternity party, visited the school for the first time in 2003, as a prospective student. Born in Phoenix, he had moved as a child to Botswana, where his father was a pilot. He attended boarding school in South Africa and opted for college in the U.S. to study business. Elon, with its Georgian-style buildings, expansive fields and innumerable oak trees on 500-plus acres, appealed to him. Plus, it had a contingent of South Africans and offered rugby, which the six-footer had played since childhood. On a campus tour, his guide touted Elons robust Greek life. Mynhardt went to a fraternity party, where the 17-year-old was served beer. Theyre telling us 40 percent of the campus was Greek, he recalled. It was a huge selling point. Greek life is ingrained at Elon, which dominates a town of 9,500 in a region once populated by textile mills. An up-and- coming university that draws three-fourths of its students from outside North Carolina, Elon is home to 23 fraternities and sororities. A quarter of the 5,400 undergraduates are members, according to the university. Almost all the parties on the weekend are Greek related, said Al Drago, a sophomore. Elon promotes its Greek life, saying on its website that the fraternity and sorority community at Elon has enhanced the lives of thousands of men and women and added many valuable dimensions to the university. The schools bylaws state that students under 21 who consume

alcohol will be punished and that fraternity events on or off campus must comply. In practice, its easier for Elon to enforce rules for oncampus fraternity and sorority houses, which it owns. Private offcampus parties often fall outside its purview, said Dean of Students G. Smith Jackson. Its private property, Jackson said. Its not our jurisdiction to go in and start confronting students. Thats why many Elon students go to parties at off-campus residences rented by members of various fraternities, and known by colorful nicknames, such as The Plantation, The Museum, and The Bullpen. Mynhardt was injured at an offcampus party on Feb. 3, 2007, at 211 North Lee, a one-story red brick house with bushes in front and a barbecue grill on the side. Three Lambda Chi brothers, including John Jack Cassady, vice-president of the fraternity chapter, shared the rental, known as 211, which had been passed for years from one group of Lambda brothers to the next, according to court records. Elons Lambda chapter had a turbulent past. Since 2005, Elon had cited it for breaching school policy at on-campus and off-campus events, placed it on probation and voiced concern about drug use and hazing, court records show. The chapters risk manager, a 20-year-old, was responsible for enforcing the rules set by the national fraternity, based in Indianapolis. Those rules state that no chapter may provide unrestricted access to alcohol and that chapter funds may not be used to buy it. Around that time, each chapter member paid annual dues of $400, including $65 to the national organization and $93 to an insurance brokerage that the national co-owned. Carolyn Whittier, Elons then director of Greek Life, warned a Lambda national executive in August 2006 that there were problems at the

chapter, including drug use. It is highly advised that the Grand High Zetathe nationals board of directorsplace the chapter under alumni control, Whittier wrote. Lambda didnt follow her advice. It did send a representative to meet with the Elon chapter that November. Lambda, which had 2011 revenue of $7.5 million for the national and related foundation, has had three deaths linked to chapter events since 2005. Tad Lichtenauer, a spokesman for Lambda, declined to comment. n the Friday night of the party, Mynhardt started drinking at friends apartments, police records show. Then he and some classmates drank at two local bars. At one, Mynhardt met a sophomore, Mary Kelly. They left the pub at 2 a.m., closing time, and joined the crowd at 211. By then, more than 15 of the Lambda chapters 23 members had made their way to the keg party, court records show. The next day was Lambdas wing bowla chicken-eating gala that was the years top recruiting eventand potential recruits had come by. Partygoers danced and played beer pong in a room bedecked with Lambdas Greek letters and signature cross with crescent. Sober brothers stood ready to drive drunk ones home, according to court records. Mynhardt and Kelly soon locked themselves in a bathroom, kissing, according to court records. After several minutes, someone began banging on the door. Mynhardt stepped out and said they were leaving. With that, Cassadys friend Clinton Blackburn, a student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro who was visiting for the weekPlease turn to Next Page

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

COVER STORY

Continued from Previous Page

end, grabbed Mynhardt in a fullnelson wrestling pose. Blackburn later told police that he and Cassady wanted to throw Mynhardt out because Cassady needed to go to the bathroom and Mynhardt wouldnt unlock the door. Blackburn, who was drinking beer that night, put his arms under Mynhardts arms and his hands behind Mynhardts head, Kelly told police. Blackburn, then 22, pushed Mynhardts head forward, according to police reports. Were leaving, Mynhardt protested as he lost control of his legs and collapsed to the floor. Blackburn fell on top of him while someone else kicked him, Cassady said, according to court records. Kelly went to Mynhardts side. I cant feel my legs, Mynhardt exclaimed. Cassady, then a month shy of his 21st birthday, had drunk about eight beers, according to court documents. He and others grabbed Mynhardt by the legs, dragged him through the kitchen and dumped him outside, aggravating his injury. Kelly urged them to bring him inside. Call 9-1-1, Mynhardt shouted, cursing. When police arrived, a panicked Mynhardt asked if he was paralyzed. Cassady told an officer he was worried about his fraternity chapter, according to a police report. Cassady and Blackburn were arrested for serious assault. The charges were dismissed in 2010 after Mynhardt chose not to pursue them. It was a terrible, terrible accident, Blackburn said. I just pray for Lee every day and hope he comes out of this thing alright. Kelly declined to comment. Mynhardt was flown to the UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, where he underwent surgery. His lungs collapsed, almost killing him. While he once contemplated suicide, its not something I would ever do, he said. You either put up with it and do your best, or you give up. I was 21 turning 22 at the time, and I figured I had a lot more going for me. Mynhardt spent five years as an inpatient and outpatient at Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation hospital in

Atlanta. He learned to use his biceps, which he can still control, to offset the paralysis of his triceps. Eating, sleeping, controlling pain, using a catheter to urinateeverything was new. To get that small bit of independence, you work harder than anything youve ever worked at in your life, he said. Anticipating millions of dollars in lifelong medical bills, Mynhardt filed suit in a North Carolina superior court in 2008. He claimed that the university failed to police a dangerous fraternity and that the Lambda national ignored warnings about its troubled chapter. He also sued the chapter, six of its members and two other partygoers. Elon and the national fraternity ignored a known risk, said Michael Petty, one of Mynhardts lawyers. The university was very involved in its fraternities, and Lambda should have been. key issue in the case was whether the fraternity sponsored the off-campus party. Cassady, the locals vice president, testified in a deposition that it was an informal chapter party intended as a warm-up for the next days wing bowl recruiting. Lambda argued that it had no day-to-day control over the Elon chapter and no role in organizing a party where its rules were broken. Its lawyers cited Lambdas extensive risk- management rules and said the national organization had previously sent delegates to brief members on them. Judge Howard Manning dismissed Mynhardts claims against Elon and the Lambda national in 2011, and his ruling was upheld on appeal last May. The fraternity hadnt assumed a duty to protect the chapter or its members, the appeals judges said. We want to encourage universities and Greek organizations to adopt policies to curb underage drinking and drinking-related injuries, the judges said. That does not make a university or Greek organization an insurer of every student, member or guest. Courts in 12 other states have issued similar rulings clearing na-

tionals of liability for local wrongdoing, Lambda said in court documents. Mynhardts lawsuit still had life. Because Cassady had testified that the party was a fraternity event, a judge allowed him to pursue his case against the chapter itself. If Mynhardt were to win, he hoped to collect from Lambdas insurance company, which covered the chapters and individual members. Instead, the national fraternitys insurer, Liberty Corporate Capital Ltd., sought to walk away from the tragedy. It filed suit, seeking permission not to cover the chapter or several members. Liberty is increasingly filing and winning such cases, court records show. Lambda chapters and members cant choose their insurer. The fraternity requires them to buy insurance through James R. Favor & Co., a brokerage based in Aurora, Colo., that is owned by Lambda and other national organizations. Favor places the insurance with Liberty. That coverage has narrowed in scope. In 1996, Lambda reduced coverage for chapters and members to end the subsidization of inappropriate conduct, James R. Favor, the brokerages late founder, said in a 2012 affidavit in Mynhardts case. As a result, Lambda has controlled its rising cost of insurance premiums. The restricted overage is of dubious benefit to chapters and their members, said Jeffrey Stempel, who teaches insurance law at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and reviewed the Lambda policy. This strikes me as being perilously close to saying we cover you unless youre bad, Stempel said. Liberty Corporate argued that the events at 211 werent covered because they violated Lambda policies, including rules barring kegs, underage drinking and public access to alcohol, and requiring professional security at parties. Its terrible when someone is injured, but it doesnt mean we should be held liable if the national fraternity isnt negligent, said Jon Pavey, former chairman of James R. Favor. A federal judge in Greensboro,
Please turn to Next Page

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

COVER STORY

A family photo shows Philip Dhanens with his mother and father. Dhanens died of alcohol poisoning after he and others were locked in a room at a Theta Chi chapter at Fresno State University until they finished bottles of liquor in August of 2012.

Continued from Previous Page

N.C., agreed, ruling in August that Liberty need not provide coverage for the chapter or members. Since the chapter has virtually no assets, the decision meant Mynhardt couldnt collect damages from it even if he won his case, said Joseph Williford, the chapters lawyer. Mynhardt appealed the ruling. He reached settlements with half a dozen students, including Cassady, who were covered under their parents homeowners insurance. Mynhardt, who Williford said was seeking as much as $20 million, collected less than $2 million from the parents policies. apping the parents insurance is particularly distasteful when the national fraternity requires every single member to contribute to the purchase of liability insurance that is very unlikely ever to pay out a dime, said Richard Pinto, Cassadys lawyer.

According to court records, Mynhardt dismissed his appeal after the insurer, Liberty, agreed to a confidential settlement. Libertys lawyer, Nolan Burkhouse, acknowledged it made a five- figure payment before declining further comment. Its a horrible, horrible result, said Petty, who declined to comment on the settlement amounts. Mynhardts medical and rehabilitation costs, including onetime expenses such as a $70,000 specially outfitted van, have already exceeded $1 million, Mynhardt said. The family has dipped into savings to pay costs not covered by the insurance settlements. Lees health comes first, said his father, Louis Mynhardt. Despite Mynhardts misfortune, off-campus frat parties still dominate Elons social scene. At midnight one recent Saturday, girls in short skirts and guys in tropical shirts braved the 44- degree temperature to gather at a house rented by members of one fraternity. Elons student-run Safe Ride van ferried some guests to the door. The keg was out back and the

dancing inside, with a strobe light pulsing. Only members, friends and women were welcome, said a fraternity brother, beer cup in hand. Anyone else, he said, should find another party. Mynhardt moved into a ranch house in Charlotte last year near Carolinas Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized before. He has friends nearby and an aide living with him full- time. Another visits part-time. Every morning, an aide sits him up in bed, moves him to his wheelchair, transports him to the shower, dresses him and helps with dozens of activities he cant do alone. Seeking some measure of independence, Mynhardt is now in his first year at Charlotte School of Law. Unable to use his fingers, he takes notes with a stylus attached to his palm and a touch-pad computer. I believe a lot of positive things can come out of fraternities, he said. But if theyre not run correctly, things are going to get out of control. +

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

TECHNOLOGY

Prose goes viral


Thanks to digital communication, writing is becoming more like speech
eres a snippet from an email exchange I had with a colleague the other day: Colleague: Thought it was a bit too easy! Ill go back to them and see when the next times are. Thanks Simon. Me: Sorry about this. If you cc me, then I can take over planning and make your life easier. Colleague: i dont mind - lets see what she says next but if it gets silly ill step aside. This is a very modern phenomenon: writing that reads like conversation. Day by day, prose is becoming blessedly more like speech. Social media, blogs and emails have hugely improved the way we write. Before the internet, only professional writers wrote. I remember when we were taught to write essays at school. Most of my classmates just endured it. Theyd never written down their extended thoughts before, and were sure theyd never need do it again. Email kicked off an unprecedented expansion in writing. Were now in the most literate age in history. I remember in 2003 asking someone, Whats a blog? By 2006, analysis

By Simon Kuper |

Financial Times

firm NM Incite had identified 36 million blogs worldwide; five years later, there were 173 million. Use of online social media rises every month. In fact, writing is overtaking speech as the most common form of interaction. Pessimists like to call this the death of civilization: a vision of mute youths exchanging semi-literate solipsistic messages. BBC broadcaster John Humphrys once dismissed texters as vandals who are trying to do to the language what Genghis Khan did to his neighbors. Hes wrong. As Columbia University linguist John McWhorter points out, pedants have been lamenting the decline of language since at least AD 63. Clare Wood, development psychologist at Coventry University, says very little research exists to back up claims such as Humphrys. Her own study of primary schoolchildren suggested that texting improved their reading ability. Texters, after all, are constantly practicing reading and spelling. Sure, children tend not to punctuate text messages. But most of them grasp that this genre has
Please turn to Next Page

E-mail, texting and instant messaging have improved writing skills.

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

TECHNOLOGY

In fact, writing is overtaking speech as the most common form of interaction.


Continued from Previous Page

different rules from, say, school exams. Thats a distinction we adults are slowly learning: Ive only just begun dropping commas from texts. But texts, blogs, emails and Facebook posts are infecting other kinds of writing, and mostly for the good. They are making journalism, books and business communications more conversational. Social media offer a pretty good model for how to write. First, the writers mostly keep it short. People on Twitter often omit I, the and a, which are usually wastes of space anyway. Vocabulary tends to be casual: bloggers say but instead of however. They dont claim a false omniscience but proclaim their subjectivity. And the writing is usually unpolished, barely edited. Thats a great strength. Major Memory for Microblogs, a recent

article in the academic journal Memory & Cognition, found that people were much better at remembering casual writing such as Facebook posts or forum comments than lines from books or journalism. One possible reason: The relatively unfiltered and spontaneous production of one persons mind is just the sort of thing that is readily stored in anothers mind. Thats probably why Twitter, Facebook and reality TV are successful. The unfiltered productions of peoples minds are often stupid. However, they dont have to be. Nobel Prize-winning academics tweet too. You can say brilliant things even in casual conversational prose (except perhaps if youre an astrophysicist). Its just that conversational prose improves your chances of being heard and understood. True, other styles are valid too. Jane Austen wrote formally. But for an aver-

age writer with no particular gift, the conversational mode works best. Bad writing still abounds. The Onion loves parodying newspaper prose, as in this fake news story naming North Koreas leader Kim Jong-eun as the sexiest man alive: With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every womans dream come true. But, mostly, social media have done wonders for writing. George Orwell in 1944 lamented the divide between wordy, stilted written English, and much livelier speech. Spoken English is full of slang, he wrote, it is abbreviated wherever possible, and people of all social classes treat its grammar and syntax in a slovenly way. His ideal was writing that sounded like speech. Were getting there at last. +

BILL HOGAN/TRIBUNE PHOTO

From the dawn of e-mail, our prose has evolved to sound more like conversation.

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

10

ECONOMY
BILL HOGAN/TRIBUNE PHOTO

Despite residents opposition, neighborhood bars are key to urban economy

Pub politics
By Matthew Yglesias |
Slate

ASHINGTONAn interesting thing happened in my Washington neighborhood recently. A small posse of local busybodies organized as the Shaw Dupont Citizens Alliance proposed a moratorium on new liquor licenses for the increasingly vibrant night life corridors on 14th Street and U Street in Washington. Similar moratoria already constrain longer-established D.C. drinking hubs, and when I heard about the Shaw Dupont proposal, initially I felt

despondent. But, in fact, the NIMBYs look set to lose. A guy named Michael Hamilton founded a countergroup called In My Backyard D.C. to argue for growth-friendly policies. At a neighborhood listening session, moratorium proponents were vastly outnumbered. For now it looks as if Logan Circle and U Street will continue to be safe for entrepreneurs who want to turn vacant storefronts and derelict structures into bars and restaurants. Similar fights play out in cities all around the country but not always

with the same happy outcome. Almost invariably, these fights give the extreme deference to the concerns of immediate neighbors. But this deference has a cost for everyone else. Cities need to recognize that bars and restaurants are not the ugly stepchildren of the modern urban economy: They are its greatest strength. They spur small-business growth and creation citywide. When cities consider whether to allow them, they should think about the
Please turn to Next Page

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

11

ECONOMY

Continued from Previous Page

overall benefits to the region, not the particular complaints of near neighbors. My neighborhood is hardly the only night life cluster in urban America featuring a version of this controversy. Last fall a group of residents of the Lower East Side in New Yorksome oddly appropriating the Occupy brandtried to bring a halt to the issuance of new liquor licenses. Chicago has areas that have voted to become completely dry and moratorium zones where existing businesses stay open but no new liquor licenses can be issued. In California, many whole countiesincluding all of San Franciscohave gone into moratorium status. Proponents of curtailing licenses typically cite local nuisance effects as the key reason. One of the Lower East Side anti-booze crusaders was quoted as worrying about a Wild West atmosphere. In Washington, agitators cite the nightmare of becoming the next Adams-Morgan, while the actual Adams-Morgan community is itself one of the areas operating under a moratorium. These complaints ought to be understood in the larger context of urban economics. Moratorium boosters often seem to think theres something unnatural about the heavy concentration of booze-serving establishments in a single area. They also think restricting bars and restaurants will cause the kind of thriving local retail they remember from old Jane Jacobs books to magically appear. In reality, theres nothing particularly unusual about similar firms clustering together. Auto companies were all near Detroit for a long time; high-tech firms huddle in the Bay Area; And night life hubs arise for similar reasons. Drinking and dining establishments want to be where people are likely to look for them. And people want to go to places where theyll find options. Complicated interdependencies and complementaries can arise. The latenight pizza joints proximity to the dive bar increases the value of both. Alternatively, you might want to meet friends for dinner in a neighborhood where youre also likely to

be able to grab a drink afterward. Theaters and live-music venues benefit from proximity to other after-hours activities and also drive customers to bars and restaurants. Forcing the cluster to disperse destroys its value. Preventing new firms from entering the cluster fosters high prices and mediocrity, as underperforming bars and restaurants can essentially free-ride on the rest of the cluster. Providing these kinds of dense networks of related but independent small undertakings is exactly what cities are good at. What theyre not so good at is playing host to modern retailers. Traditional urban neighborhoods feature old buildings with small, often irregularly shaped spaces that are ill-suited to the needs of contemporary retail chains. Refusing to grant liquor licenses undoes the decades of history that brought us big-box stores. It just leads to empty storefronts and car rides out to Ikea or Costco. The good news for cities is that lately Amazon has been crushing the big-box sector, and e-commerce levels the shopping playing field between traditional urban neighborhoods and suburban ones. And those smallish and idiosyncratic structures are ideal spaces for bars and restaurantsmuch better than personality-free malls. Even better is that the Internet isnt going to put

restaurants out of business, for obvious reasons. Under the circumstances, promoting the development and expansion of night life hubs should be a key economic development priority for cities. Or, rather, preventing neighborhood busybodies from stifling them ought to be. That means making decisions about liquor-licensing rules at a higher level, with consideration of the full citywide effects in terms of tax revenue and job creation. And it means attempting to directly address perceived problems with crime and trash. Instead of refusing to issue new liquor licenses, why not send more cops and offer more frequent street cleaning in the hubs? Food service isnt the sexiest sector in the economy. But its one that every city can be strong in. It also provides great opportunities for locally owned businesses, and meaningful opportunities for people with limited formal education to work their way up the ladder and go into business for themselves. Cities need to treat it as a more serious matter than a simple question of neighborhood opinion. + Yglesias (@mattyglesias) is Slates business and economics correspondent. Before joining the magazine he worked for ThinkProgress, the Atlantic, TPM Media and the American Prospect. His most recent book is The Rent Is Too Damn High.

CARLA GOTTGENS/BLOOMBERG PHOTO

Liquor licenses in neighborhoods around the country face opposition from those who want to limit the presence of restaurants and bars.

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

12

POLITICS

Grand New Party


Jockeying by Paul, Rubio hints at future of the Republican Party
ASHINGTONThe fascination with Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio is understandable. Both are young and ambitious Republicans in a party looking for its next leader. They are charismatic risk-takers who can talk to the media beyond just Fox News. Also alliteration may be destiny. Headline writers cannot resist writing Rand and Rubio combination. Both men are also considering running for president. We should leave them to their hobbies. Its three years until the next primary and its silly to assign too much presidential weight to anything they do now. (Though its not crazy to imagine people returning to the Rand Paul filibuster of 2013 the way they did Barack Obamas convention speech in 2004). But even now, the presidential jockeying of these two men is interesting in another context. It tells us something about the Republican Party they would hope to lead. The GOP is going through a molting period. The route each man charts and how
Please turn to Next Page

By John Dickerson |

Slate

U.S. Senator Rand Paul addresses the 2013 Annual Legislative Summit of U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce March 19, 2013 in Washington, DC.
ALEX WONG/GETTY PHOTO

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

13

POLITICS

If a candidate holds the very attributes his party has been arguing are so damaging, you might think that would undermine his pitch. Fortunately for these candidates, politics is not rational...
Continued from Previous Page

successful he is in capturing arguments of the momenton immigration, drones, and whatever else comes upwill tell us something about what the emerging Republican Party values and what it might look like as it tries to get in shape for the next national contest. If the Republican Party of 2016 embraces either of these two senators it will be a radically different party. If either is elevated into a serious national candidate, it would reverse two old truths about presidential politics: that opposition parties promote candidates who are distinct from the sitting president and that governors have the advantage over senators. Parties often nominate candidates that represent a clean break from whomever is in the White House. The youthful John F. Kennedy was a contrast to the aging Dwight Eisenhower. Ronald Reagan, the man of certainty, came after the always vacillating Jimmy Carter. The feel-your-pain governor Bill Clinton was a counter to the aloof patrician George H.W. Bush. Bob Dole, the war hero of the Greatest Generation, was supposed to be an antidote to Clinton the Baby Boomer and in 2000, after four more years of Bubba and his personal transgressions, Republicans nominated the born-again George W. Bush who promised at the end of every speech to restore honor and dignity to the Oval Office. Simply having a different ideology than the sitting president is generally not enough. Opposition parties always offer a different policy view, but in picking their standard bearer, they have historically decided he should also be made of different stuff. This extra differentiating attribute is one of the reasons moderate candidates have often beaten more liberal or conservative candidates: Romney over Santorum, Obama over Edwards, McCain over everyone else, John Kerry over Howard Dean, George W. Bush over Steve

Forbes, Bill Clinton over Tom Harkin, Bob Dole over Phil Gramm and Pat Buchanan. The search for differentiating attributes makes sense when the president has been in office for some time. Thats because the other party has been consistently tying his policy failures to his character flaws. That allows the opposition to wrap its partisan criticisms within deeper truths. So, Obama has been a bad president because he has no executive experience. He doesnt know how to make decisions because he has never run anything. Another flaw is that his political success was built on a series of good speeches. That should have warned us all along that he was only good at playing a politician, not at actual governing. Finally, Obama is a radical. He came to prominence with the support of the far left that opposed the Iraq war. That connection with the partys extreme wing has always defined his essential character. These are three of Obamas flaws. They are also three attributes of Marco Rubio and Rand Paul. Neither has really run a big enterprise. Both will rise to national prominence on the strength of their speechesthat is all that senators can doand both are seen by activists as the true representatives of their core beliefs, though obviously Paul and Rubio are favored by different kinds of activists. If a candidate holds the very attributes his party has been arguing are so damaging, you might think that would undermine his pitch. Fortunately for these candidates, politics is not rational, so partisans will just stop believing these are catastrophic shortcomings when their favorite fellow happens to have them. Still, these similarities to Obama leave fewer ways for these two men to distinguish themselves from the Obama years (and each other) in a national contest. It will be interesting to see if both men will make sharper ideological pitches, since that is the attribute they can point to that

shows the greatest differentiation. If either of theses two senators makes a serious go of it, he will also challenge the historical preference for governors. Both parties have liked men that hail from the statehouse: Carter, Reagan, Dukakis, Clinton, Bush. Four of our last five presidents have been governors. Thats logical: Governors do a lot of things that presidents do. They have to pick a staff and delegate enormous responsibility to them, negotiate with interest groups, battle with a legislature, and make hundreds of decisions when avoiding them is not an option. There are very few senators who prefer their life in the Senate to the sense of accomplishment and agency they had as governors. Governors also shoot straighter, if for no other reason than they are habituated to explaining actions where they cannot duck accountability. The buck stops at their desk. Legislators are expert at diffusion. They take more credit than they deserve for the collective legislative process, and elude blame on controversial matters by citing the process. I was for it before I was against it, as former Sen. John Kerry once said. There is also a political reason to pick a governor. They work outside of Washington. Voters are often looking for figures unstained by the system. The authors of the recent GOP autopsy report are also enamored of governors for another political reason. They represent a synthesis between GOP principles and a reality that has led to electoral success. There are 30 Republican governors, and Congress is less popular than head lice. Which is the better farm team? It seems only natural that GOP voters would pick from their stable of Republican governors or former governorssomeone like Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Jeb Bush or Scott Walker. If Republicans do not rally around their governors, they will be making a conscious choice to ignore all of
Please turn to Next Page

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

14

POLITICS

Continued from Previous Page

these arguments in favor of some other attribute they value more highly. And we see that happening as Gov. Christie of New Jersey and Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia are heckled for not being conservative enough. At the moment, ideology trumps experience in the Republican Party, which is extraordinary since a lack of executive experience has long been presented as one of Obamas signature flaws. Rubio and Paul have three possible roads they can take. They can reach the usual historical place occupied by the likes of Sen. Howard Baker, Sen. John Glenn, and Sen. Bob Kerrey, men who looked like presidential material until a governor came along. Or, they can wind up like Sen. John McCain and win their partys nomination but flame out in the general election. The best possible outcome is to follow Obamas route. But it is not entirely up to Rubio and Rand. Which road they have available to them will depend on how much the Republican Party is willing to change. + Dickerson is Slates chief political correspondent and author of On Her Trail. He can be reached at slatepolitics@gmail.com.

DIRK SHADD/TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS PHOTO

Sen. Marco Rubio speaks at the 2012 Republican National Convention August 30, 2012 in Tampa, Florida.

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

15

CONSERVATION

From tourism to conservationism, sharks are the new whales


even years ago, I jumped into shark-infested waters. Three dozen black-tipped reef sharks swarmed around me while two 12-foot tiger sharks circled the perimeter. There was no cagejust 12 divers and a swarm of sharks, sometimes literally brushing past us. They darted above, below, and beside me in the silent and shallow blue waters off South Africa. Sharks are in. Who wants to sit on an overcrowded boat, squinting queasily through binoculars or struggling to click your camera in time with the flip of a humpbacks tail, when you can come face-to-face with one of the top predators of the sea? Sharks are the new whales, my friends. And Im not just talking about tourism.

Save the sharks


By Tara Haelle |
Slate

What really makes sharks the new whales is a global change in conservation priorities from Save the whales! to Save the sharks! Five species of sharks and both species of manta rays finally received trade restriction protections at an international meeting in Bangkok this month. The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species meeting brings together 177 nations every two years to determine which species should be listed in one of three appendices with varying levels of trade protection. The last CITES meeting was a total bust for sharks. Four shark-protection proposals were rejected. This year was different. All three hammerhead species, the porbeagle shark, the oceanic whitetip and manta rays have joined the basking

shark, whale shark and great white shark on Appendix II, which requires permits to export these species. That may not sound like much, but countries can issue permits only if fishermen prove they caught the sharks legally and sustainablya tall order because many populations of these species have declined more than 90 percent in just the last halfcentury. In fact, a week before CITES convened, a study found that approximately 100 million sharks are being killed each year, primarily to meet demand for the shark fin trade. Oceanic whitetip fins can bring in $45 a pound; hammerhead fins can fetch double that. These seriously threatened sharks and rays can finally get some breathing room to
Please turn to Next Page

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

16

CONSERVATION

DAVID LOH/REUTERS PHOTO

A whale shark looks for food off the coast of Tan-awan, Oslob, in the southern Philippines island of Cebu, March 1, 2013.

Continued from Previous Page

recover, says Rick MacPherson, the conservation programs director at the Coral Reef Alliance. Sharks and whales share the same basic history: the same bad PR, the same enemies, and even similar biological characteristics that contributed to their vulnerability in the first place. Lets start with sharks image problem. Its origin is no mystery: Shark attacks do happen, even if theyre 47 times less common than being struck by lightning. In 1975, Jaws took shark phobia to new heights, galvanizing whole generations into misbelieving that sharks were bloodthirsty man-eaters, MacPherson says. But whales once played pop culture villains, too: Moby Dick took Ahabs leg (and Ahabs vindictive quest didnt work out too well for him or his crew), and Monstro swallowed Geppetto and killed Pinocchio. Just as our fear of whales turned to awe, so has our attitude shifted about sharks. Bruce, the smiling shark in Finding Nemo, and friends chanted Fish are friends, not food, and a Shark Stanley campaign at the CITES meeting portrayed a friendlier kind of shark. Theres a loud

chorus of people in the scientific community and conservation world doing their best to dispel stereotypes, says David Shiffman, a graduate student in ecosystem science and policy at the University of Miami. Its working. People across the world are learning why sharks, like whales, are essential to marine ecosystems and why we should be concerned as their populations plummet. Sharks, many of which are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, are finally being seen that way. The rise of shark tourism has helped: The Bahamas, for instance, which has outlawed all shark fishing, has pulled in $800 million in sharkrelated tourism over the past 20 years. Most people find sharks fascinating, says Elizabeth Wilson, the manager of the Global Shark Conservation Campaign at the Pew Charitable Trusts. When they learn how at-risk they are, most want to do something to change the situation. But not everyone is onboard with saving the sharks. For all their historical animosity, Japan and China are united in their opposition to restrictions on whaling and shark hunting. Japan has argued for years, first with whales and now with sharks, that CITES has no business

regulating trade on marine species, claiming thats the job of regional fisheries management organizations. China repeated the argument; it has a financial stake as the worlds largest importer of shark fins, used in shark fin soup. But CITES regulates trade. Regional fisheries management organizations regulate fishing and cannot easily enforce regulations on the open seas. The two groups complement, rather than conflict with, one another. Japan and China touted a second argument: that shark-trade restrictions cant be implemented because its too hard to tell different shark fins apart. Thats preposterous, says Shiffman. Saying fisherman cant tell the difference between fins is lying while implying your fishermen are significantly less intelligent than fisherman across the world, which isnt true. Its playing dumb to get what you want. That argument flopped this year. The delegates to the CITES meeting attended a shark fin identification workshop given by shark researcher Demian Chapman before the vote, and they could already tell the fins apart themselves. At past CITES meetings, Japan and Chinas opposition was enough
Please turn to Next Page

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

17

CONSERVATION

Continued from Previous Page

to shoot down most proposals restricting shark trade. This year, with 37 countries sponsoring the shark proposals, the two economic powerhouses couldnt prevent the necessary two-thirds majority from adopting the proposals, though the oceanic whitetip barely scraped by with 68.6 percent of the vote. Weve seen this pattern of triumph over opposition before. In the 1970s, researchers became aware of how dramatically whale populations had fallenfrom an estimated 4 million in the 13th century, at the dawn of commercial whaling, to about half that in 1975. The numbers were starker for certain whales: About 450 blue whales cruise the seas today, down from an estimated 210,000 before whaling began, and humpback whales are thought to be at 1 percent of their pre-whaling population. As technology made whaling more efficientand devastatingin the 1970s and 1980s, the conservation efforts picked up steam as well, and the familiar Save the Whales slogan was soon on the lips of environmentalists and schoolchildren across the world. Yet whale stocks continued to plummet, to the extent that the whaling industry itself was in danger of collapsing if it hunted the great mammals to extinction. Whale tourism had begun in the 1950s and

the animals growing popularity raised awareness about their precarious future. The International Whaling Commission tried and failed multiple times to tighten whaling regulations until it finally issued a moratorium on all whale hunting in 1982. Still, Japan objected and has issued scientific permits for whale kills, and Iceland and Norway disregard the moratorium altogether. But whales finally got the opportunity to recover from centuries of hunting. There are biological reasons why sharks are as threatened as their cetacean neighbors. Sharks arent like other fish. In terms of age to sexual maturity, length of gestation periods and litter size, sharks are more like marine mammals. Nearly all fish reach sexual maturity in a year or two and then spawn millions of eggs. Sharks, like whales, can take two or three times as long to sexually mature. They mate once every one to three years and gestate for up to a year or more. Litters include one to 75 pups, depending on the species. In short, fish tend to reproduce quickly. Sharks and whales dont, so they cant recover quickly from overfishing. So shark researchers and conservationist are taking a page out of the Save the Whales playbook by increasing public awareness of the issueand taking it one big step further with technology. Sharks have

one ally whales lacked 30 years ago: social media. For the first time, the full CITES meeting was live-streamed this year. The Twitterverse was aflutter with commentary from conservation organizations, marine scientists, and shark enthusiasts. What I think was the most interesting component of this CITES meeting was the extent to which online outreach played a part, says Shiffman, who pulled an all-nighter to watch the live stream, tweet the proceedings, link to supporting studies for delegate arguments and then blog about it. It made it easy for people all over the world to pay attention and participate in a live conversation. Its a conversation long overdue. Sharks are absolutely the new whales, says Chapman, the Stony Brook University marine scientist who taught the fin identification workshops at CITES. Before the 70s, nobody cared about whales. Then people started getting interested and we had a moratorium on whaling. In the last five years, countries all over the world are suddenly taking the problem of unsustainable shark fishing seriously. And finally, peoples fears about sharks are focused not on avoiding or surviving an attack by the predators, but on ensuring that the predators themselves survive. + Haelle is a science and health journalist based in Illinois.

A scalloped hammerhead shark swims near the Galapagos Islands.


FRED BAVENDAM/GETTY PHOTO

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

18

HOME
DOMENICA MARCHETTI/PHOTO FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Todays kitchen is the heart of the home, featuring calming colors and practical touches
By Jura Koncius
The Washington Post

Home with soul


practicality. The kitchen of 2013 has soul. That industrial, commercial style was looking a little cold, says Samantha Emmerling, kitchen editor at Hearst Design Group. People are spending all their time in there, and they want it warm and inviting, as well as low-maintenance. A kitchen renovation is still costly. The average 2013 kitchen remodeling job is $47,308, down $3,742 from last year, according to the National Kitchen & Bath Association. Designers say the look today is less tradition, more transition. Clients are choosing more modern touches such as white or gray cabinets, gray walls

he reign of the trophy kitchen is officially over. The dream kitchens of today arent about the sexiest six-burner range or the most exotic countertop material. As cooking has returned to center stage and remodeling budgets have sobered, the kitchen island is nurturing family togetherness and reviving casual entertaining. In kitchens with a small footprint, glass tiles, quartz counters and dish drawers are adding sparkle and

and neutral quartz counters, individualized with different textures and touches of color. Ten years ago, everyone showed up with the same photos of what they wanted, says Paul Lobkovich, an architect and kitchen designer at Lobkovich Kitchen Designs in Virginia. Now people are much more creative. Theyve seen plenty of HGTV shows and scoured Houzz and other Web sites. They have a Pinterest board full of stuff they like. This gives people a wide range of unique looks. And it makes it more exciting for us designers.
Please turn to Next Page

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

19

HOME
ANN SACKS PHOTO

Continued from Previous Page

White painted cabinets


The choice of cabinets is arguably the most important decision when redoing a kitchen. The selection sets the look. In the National Kitchen & Bath Association survey, 67 percent of respondents said that white was their first choice for cabinetry, a jump of 20 percentage points in the past two years. Over the years, white is always a popular color and there are times it is the No. 1 color, says John Morgan, president of the association and owner of kitchen products supplier Morgan Pinnacle in Glyndon, Md. I would say that white and dark cherry are both timeless.

Yes, the kitchen is still the most obsessedabout room in the house, but its clear homeowners want more than just trends. They are seeking a calming space that makes them happy. Lately its been less the kind of stars-in-theeyes approach and a bit more practical with a simplified aesthetic, says designer Eric Lieberknecht, who owns a kitchen design firm in Alexandria, Va. People have a wide portfolio of things they want, and not just what their neighbor has. Nadia Subaran, senior designer at Aidan Design, calls the design direction modern cottage. Its not stark modern design, Subaran says. It has natural materials, textures and layering, with lots of whites and grays. There is nothing fussy or frou-frou about it. Although stainless still reigns, there is growing interest in white ranges and refrigerators in a new glossy finish, as well as soapstone countertops and floating shelves. People are really looking to make the most of their space. They want practical and functional, says Liza Hausman, a vice president at Houzz, a home design Web site and mobile app. The 2013 member survey by the National Kitchen & Bath Association identified a menu of some of todays top style choices in kitchens. Here is insider information on seven of them:

Quartz counters
Consumers are demanding products that are easy to care for, including quartz counter surfaces such as Caesarstone and Silestone. These durable products are made of about 90 percent natural quartz mixed with pigments, polymers and resins. They require no special maintenance and cost about $40 to $100 a square foot installed. Silestone produces 70 colors in polished or matte finish and contains an antimicrobial agent. According to Lorenzo Marquez, vice president of marketing for Cosentino North America, Silestones parent company, the most popular colors right now are white and gray. Its a pretty honest material, and it functions so nicely, says Washington designer Paul Sherrill of Solis Betancourt & Sherrill. If you dont have a tolerance for natural stone and what its going to do over time, go for it.
Please turn to Next Page

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

20

HOME

Continued from Previous Page

Electronic faucets
When people renovate their kitchen, its not just functionality and beauty, says Houzzs Liza Hausman. They are thinking about how to include the latest technology. One of these new toys is the trickedout faucet. Both touch-activated faucets and hands-free faucets are beginning to appear in kitchen remodeling contracts. According to Tom Tylicki, Moens senior product manager for kitchen, the Moen MotionSense hands-free faucet responds to consumers kitchen work styles and helps prevent the spread of germs. Its also a good choice for gardeners whose hands are frequently covered in dirt. Moen has three MotionSense styles priced at $399 to $690.

Many shades of gray


Gray seems to be the color of the moment. Although white and off-white are still the top colors, grays are showing up on cabinets, counters and walls. Gray is another neutral that can be paired with many accent colors and looks chic and modern, whether a driftwood gray wood finish or glossy gray coating. Color consultant Jean Molesworth Kee of the Painted Room says, Im seeing a lot of quick redos where they are painting old wood cabinets a light gray and totally getting rid of anything Tuscan red or yellow. But she cautions against gray overload. If there is too much gray, it can look really chilly and depressing. Youll think you are stirring your pot in an operating room. You need a lot of white to balance it out.

Satin nickel finishes


Satin nickel is the new oiled bronze, Sherrill says. For him, the matte nickel finish reflects the increasingly modernist kitchen look. The survey found that polished nickel and polished chrome were less requested than last year, and the duller finish was growing in popularity. Some designers feel that this finish best complements stainless steel appliances; others say the gray metal color sets off gray cabinets, counters and walls.

LED lighting
More and more remodeled kitchens now have LED lighting, especially below cabinets. LED bulbs are more efficient and generate little heat. We are doing a lot of LED under-cabinet lighting, says Larry Rosen, owner of Jack Rosen Custom Kitchens in Maryland. Halogen and Xenon lighting actually burn very hot. If you accidentally touch a bulb, you can burn yourself. LED is more expensive, but they save on electricity, are cool and last a really long time.

Glass backsplashes
Glass tiles are the jewelry of a kitchen for interior designer Tynesia Hand-Smith. They add great shimmer, she says. With neutral colors ruling in cabinets and counters, glass tile is one way to add color and personality. Reds, greens and blues, vibrant colors are trending right now, as is iridescent glass, says DeeDee Gundberg, an Ann Sacks Tile product development manager. Instead of using the ubiquitous white subway tile backsplash, she suggests substituting new large-format glass tile in a similar shape. Light blue glass tiles are still very traditional with white cabinets but look very fresh, Gundberg adds. +

DAVID PHILLIPICH FOR AIDAN DESIGNS

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

21

ENTERTAINMENT

In search of darkness
Eva Mendes likes shopping for skulls and playing against type
By Jada Yuan |
New York Magazine

va Mendes is lost in thought, staring into the face of the devil. Hmmm Interesting, she mutters, twirling a painted wooden Satan on a stick that caught her eye while browsing the macabre wares at Obscura Antiques & Oddities in the East Village, her favorite home-decor store. Whats so interesting? Sorry! she says, her trance broken. Its a private moment. Mendes hasnt sold her soul shed just been thinking of her favorite devil of all time, Tim Curry in 1985s Legendbut she knows that, right now at least, it looks like Hollywood owns it. She says shes embarrassed by the black SUV that brought her here, and self-conscious about being so conspicuous a presence among Obscuras vampiric clientele in her bright-tangerine dress and seventies-glam smoky eyes. The makeup and the outfit are for work, she explains. Todays work seems to include courting the paparazzi whom she usually tries to avoid. Its all in the name of putting attention on The Place Beyond the Pines, the ambitious new indie drama she shot with now-boyfriend Ryan Gosling in Schenectady two summers ago (they reportedly started dating after it wrapped). In it, a carnival stunt motorcyclist (Gosling) learns he fathered a child with Mendes character, then turns to bank robbery until his fate be-

comes entangled with that of a rookie cop (Bradley Cooper) who has his own son and family issues. And thats just the first act. At least Mendes isnt daunted by complexity or messiness which helps when perusing Obscuras cluttered shelves. She steers clear of the taxidermied birds and gets bored quickly by turn-of-the-twentieth-century medical journals with instructions on the soft, easy passage of fecal matter. (This is all the same subject? Why? Give us some variety here!) Before we leave, though, she buys a $225 papiermache skull that she sees as a memento mori, a reminder that we all die someday. I just fell in love with him, says Mendes. The shopkeeper tells us that the skull comes from an Odd Fellows lodge, where he was likely used during initiation ceremonies to frighten blindfolded inductees, and probably dates back to 1910. Mendes gasps: He doesnt look a day older than 1925! The Place Beyond the Pines is of a piece with her recent impulse toward dark, idiosyncratic roles. Mendes, 39, is still probably best known for her racy Calvin Klein ads and playing hot girlfriends to Denzel Washington (in 2001s Training Day), Will Smith (2005s Hitch), and Joaquin Phoenix (2007s We Own the Night). But following a 2008
Please turn to Next Page

Eva Mendes stars as Romina in Derek Cianfrances sweeping emotional drama, The Place Beyond the Pines.

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

22

ENTERTAINMENT
Continued from Previous Page

stint in rehab (for reasons that remain undisclosed), she started sending up her image, in a Funny or Die commercial for Eva Mendes Sex Tapethe punch line is that its an ad for adhesive tapeand in The Other Guys as the oblivious-to-hergood-looks wife to Will Ferrell, who complains about how dowdy she is. Mendes doesnt regret her earlier work. I love everything Ive done, in a way. But right now, I just want to work with amazing directors and challenge myself. Directors like Werner Herzog, for whom she starred in 2009s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans; Pedro Almodvar, Mike Leigh, and David Lynch are all on her bucket list. Doing films that really mean something to me, thats been my jam lately. Also among those films is last years bizarre Holy Motors, from French surrealist director Leos Carax, in which she played a model carried off into the Parisian sewers by a goblin, who licks her armpit, eats her hair, and prances around her with a prosthetic erection. I let my mom know it was a fake right away, says Mendes. I didnt want to freak her out. By now weve moved from Obscura to nearby Motorino, where Mendes unscrews the lid of a jar of redpepper flakes and dumps a pile onto her pizza. She sneezes, pours more pepper, and sneezes again. I love it

so much I dont want to not have it! she says. Its worth the sneezes. Fighting for the parts she wants has been worth the occasional battle, too. When she heard that Pines director Derek Cianfrance (who had previously directed Gosling in Blue Valentine) didnt see her as a girl whod get knocked up by a carnival daredevil, she arrived to her audition in ill-fitting high-waisted jeans, her lips surrounded by brown eyeliner. She was trying her hardest to be unattractive, and she was failing miserably, says Cianfrance. But it meant so much to me. I could tell she was really nervous. (A similar trick involving sweatpants and a unibrow helped secure her role as a formerly overweight woman in Larry Davids upcoming HBO movie, Clear History. Come on, its pretty hideous, she says, showing me a picture.) Instead of reading lines for Cianfrance, Mendes took him on a driving tour of the Los Angeles neighborhood where she grew up (Silver Lake, pre-gentrification), the daughter of divorced Cuban immigrants. She showed him the laundromat where shed go with her mother, a homemaker, and told him about meeting her father, a meat distributor, after work, not knowing that that was blood all over his clothes. Mendes no longer eats meat. Eva always says shes playing a version of what she could have become if her mom hadnt been so hard on her,

Ryan Gosling stars as Luke and Eva Mendes stars as Romina in Derek Cianfrances film The Place Beyond the Pines.

says Cianfrance. By the end of the tour, Mendes had the part. To prepare, she put in full shifts at the diner where her character, Romina, waitresses. She shaved back her eyebrows and lost fifteen pounds because she wanted to look stressed and malnourished. She helped pick her own wardrobe, too. Not wearing a bra was a really conscious choice, says Mendes of an early scene. I thought it said a lot about her without verbalizing it; it was raw, not sexy. I wanted her to be a real girl who didnt make the best decisions in her life but was desperately trying to figure it out. Because she and Gosling play star-crossed lovers, Cianfrance tried to keep them apart for most of the production. But he purposely scheduled a sex scene between them on the first day to create an immediate intimacy. Mendes and Gosling have known each other for years; he recommended her to Cianfrance for Pines. But when I ask how the couple met, Mendes cuts me off. Thats where I start to shut down, because it gets into personal territory that I dont feel comfortable talking about. So sorry. She wishes that tabloids would blur the faces of their dogs, Hugo (hers) and George (his), in photos, like British papers do to kids faces. Ill go somewhere and theyll be like, Hey, Hugo! and Im like, How do you know Hugos name? Thats so creepy! Pushing my luck, I ask if she wants kids. Im so out of here! she says, laughing. You know the cartoon where the steam comes out and it says, Boopbeep-boop. System down!? She disappears into the bathroom for a long time, but returns just as I begin to wonder if Ive been ditched. Shes reluctant to discuss even her part in Goslings upcoming directorial debut, How to Catch a Monster. I dont want to disclose anything because I feel like there are no more surprises anymore, whether its in film, about the ending of a story, or what a character looks likeby the time we see the movie, weve seen paparazzi shots of the actor wearing the wig. Wheres the mystery? Whered it go? I want it back. + www.nymag.com Distributed by Tribune Media Services

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

23

FOOD
ROSS HAILEY/MCT PHOTO

Savor the flavor


In pursuit of the perfect tomato
By Clive Cookson |
Financial Times

or supermarket shoppers, the tomato symbolizes what we have lost in terms of taste and texture, in exchange for being able to buy cheap vegetables and fruit year round. But a fightback for flavor is under way, and its scientific champion is Harry Klee, horticulture professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville. The big problem with the modern commercial tomato is that growers are not paid for flavor, theyre paid for yield and shelf life, says Klee. There is a complete disconnect between breeders and consumers. The answer, according to Klee, is to put together an integrated system that starts with consumers and what they want. We have come up with a recipe to breed a really great tomato but a lot of work will be needed to get it into the commercial system, which is loaded against the consumer.

The Florida research started with heirloom tomatoes, which date back to the period before mass commercialization. In general the loss of flavor coincides with the intensive breeding that began after World War II. Since flavor started going down, yields of tomatoes have gone up by 300 percent, says Klee. Biochemical analysis of the bestflavored varietieswith input from many tasting panelsidentified 68 flavou-associated compounds. Most important are volatiles, many of which also contribute strongly to the enticing scent of freshly picked tomatoes. Some chemicals (such as cis-3-hexanal)which scientists had previously thought important for tastewere not. Others (such as geranial), which had been regarded as marginal contributors, were actually key to good flavor. At the same time, scientists are discovering the genetics of tomato flavor, appearance and durability. One particular mutation, favored

because it gives ripe tomatoes a beautifully even scarlet surface, turns out to reduce the biosynthesis of flavoring compounds. Now the Florida researchers have bred hybrids between great-tasting heirlooms and modern commercial lines, which consumers love and which are easier to grow, Klee says. Id say we have 100 pe cent of the flavor [of old varieties] and 80 per cent of the performance [of modern ones], but we need 100 per cent of the performance before commercial growers will take them up. Although Klee worked for Monsanto until 1995, developing genetically modified crops, he does not see a role for GM technology in breeding better tomatoes, because of consumer resistance and because it would be too costly and time-consuming to obtain regulatory approval for a transgenic tomato. We can do it through conventional breeding, using modern genetics and flavor chemistry, he says. +

Chicago Tribune | digitalPLUS Magazine | Section 1A | Thursday, April 4, 2013

24

Anda mungkin juga menyukai