Wednesday, September 25, 2013 VOLUME 32 / NUMBER 5 www.uicnews.uic.edu facebook.com/uicnews twitter.com/uicnews NEWS UIC youtube.com/uicmedia For the community of the University of Illinois at Chicago Photo: Britney Musial Artist Nick Goettling works on a mural under way at Morgan and 15th streets. The artwork includes symbols of the neighborhood’s diversity, its history — including the railroads and South Water Market — and the impact of UIC. “The mural is so colorful and vibrant,” says Elsa Soto, a UIC graduate and staff member who is one of the project’s organizers. For more about the mural, see page 11. Morgan Street mural makes history INSIDE: Profile / Quotable 2 | Campus News 4 | Calendar 8 | Student Voice 9 | Sports 12 Sociologist Maria Krysan studies Time to map detours for Circle Grad’s gift to bioengineering Five straight for soccer, location and segregation Interchange project boosts biotechnology at UIC with four shutout wins More on page 2 More on page 3 More on page 5 More on page 12 2 UIC NEWS I www.uicnews.uic.edu I SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 profile Send profile ideas to Gary Wisby,[email protected] Maria Krysan examines racial integration in neighborhoods By Gary Wisby continue to live in separate neighbor- hoods,” she said. “Other factors are Maria Krysan reminds us that it’s all driving segregation.” about location, location, location. One such factor is how much one “So much of what happens to you in knows about various Chicago neigh- life depends on where you live,” she said. borhoods or suburbs. Are the schools good? Are home val- “It’s hard to move to a place if ues on the rise? What about crime? you’ve never heard of it,” she said. Also — and this is where Krysan comes in — is the For one study she designed, Kry- neighborhood racially integrated? san showed participants a map of 41 That’s important because “residential segregation has Chicago-area communities. been called the structural linchpin of racial inequality,” said “Whites were more likely to know Krysan, professor of sociology. about white communities, and blacks “My interest is in what causes these patterns of segrega- knew more about black communities tion. Researchers refer to the ‘Big 3’ causes of residential — that’s not rocket science,” she said. segregation.” But whites were less likely to know They are, she said: about integrated neighborhoods like 1. discrimination: blacks, whites and Latinos are treated Beverly and Homewood-Flossmoor. differently when they look for a place to live Blacks, for their part, were less 2. income likely to have heard of Libertyville 3. preferences: some people prefer to live in segregated and Crystal Lake. neighborhoods. Krysan is also director of the Chi- “The foundation of preferences could be prejudice,” cago Area Study. Krysan said. “This is an initiative with three “Whites may not move into a neighborhood with more main goals: one, collect data and do than a few blacks. And blacks may not want to move into basic research on urban issues in the a neighborhood where they are afraid of how they may be Chicago metropolitan area; two, do treated.” policy-relevant research on press- As for preferences, if what motivates them is a desire to ing issues; and three, train graduate live among one’s “own kind,” then “there is no problem to students in social science research solve,” she said. methods,” Krysan said. “A part of my work is unpacking preferences to show Guided by faculty investigators, what is at the root.” the grad students help design and Some whites say it’s not that they have anything against execute research surveys. blacks, but they dislike the social-class characteristics of The research subjects are some- neighborhoods they imagine African Americans live in. thing “the world would care about, Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin “There’s a race-class debate,” Krysan said. not just other professors,” she said. In Sociology professor Maria Krysan studies racial integration in neighborhoods. “Whites may not “The popular perception is that racial attitudes have one recent study, child care directors move into a neighborhood with more than a few blacks,” she says. “And blacks may not want to changed, it’s no longer legal to discriminate and there is a were interviewed on the question: move into a neighborhood where they are afraid of how they may be treated.” growing black middle class,” she noted. “What is high-quality child care?” As a result, some think that African Americans in all- Krysan was raised in Brookings, black neighborhoods live there because they want to. S.D. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Stanford, then worked “I haven’t mastered bread,” she admitted. “But my research shows that African Americans prefer as a research assistant for a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., Krysan lives with her 6-year-old daughter, Katerina, in diverse neighborhoods, and the desire to avoid all-white for two years. Chicago’s Galewood neighborhood, across the street from neighborhoods is due to not wanting to be discriminated At the University of Michigan she received a master’s and Oak Park. against, or to be blamed or harassed if anything goes wrong Ph.D. She taught at Pennsylvania State University for four “Yes, Galewood is an integrated community,” she said. in the neighborhood,” Krysan said. years before joining UIC in 2000. “Whites, African Americans and Latinos are the three larg- Her most recent research suggests that the “Big 3” is too She bakes cakes, pies and cookies for sociology depart- est groups, and there are significant numbers of all three.” narrow, that “it’s not a good enough explanation of why we ment functions. [email protected] quotable “It’s an ideological wave. [Politicians] try to argue that “The policy implication is not that we should reduce “Whenever a mainstream institution takes a stand on privatization is about sheer dollars and sense, that it’s liquor stores.” something, whether it be black studies or women’s cost benefit analysis. That’s hogwash.” studies or gay and lesbian studies, it is a statement of Robert Kaestner, professor of economics, on the validity legitimacy and recognition.” Evan McKenzie, associate professor of political science, of a Northwestern University study linking gun violence to on the privatization of city assets and services, Sept. 20 liquor stores, Sept. 19 Crain’s Chicago Business John D’Emilio, professor of gender and women’s stud- Salon.com ies and history, about a new project led by the University of North Carolina-Charlotte library to archive the history of Charlotte’s LGBT community, Sept. 23 Charlotte Observer SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 I UIC NEWS I www.uicnews.uic.edu 3 Morgan Street Bridge closes for Circle Interchange work By Sam Hostettler to the platform of the UIC-Halsted Street CTA Blue Line train station closed Sept. 23. In about four years, the Circle Inter- It will be shuttered until the construction of change will look totally different. the Morgan Street Bridge is complete. Changes are occurring daily with the The CTA entrance and exits to the Peo- $475 million project, which links the Dan ria Street Bridge will remain open until the Ryan Expressway to the south, Eisenhower Morgan Street Bridge is rebuilt and that Expressway to the west, Congress Parkway entrance and ramp to the train station are to the east and Kennedy Expressway to the reopened. north. In preparation for work on the Peoria The project is in its first phase, but it’s Street Bridge next year, the Illinois Depart- already affecting travel to and from UIC. ment of Transportation will begin col- The Morgan Street Bridge has been lecting soil samples Wednesday from 19 closed, as well as the westbound I-290 exit different sites adjacent to both ends of the ramp to Morgan Street, until the end of bridge — near College of Urban Planning April 2014. The detour for the bridge closure and Public Affairs Hall to the north and is Van Buren Street to Racine Street to Har- between the bridge and Harrison Street to rison Street. the south. Most of the work will be done by Detours for the westbound I-290 exit boring through portions of the sidewalks to ramp to Morgan Street are: from south- gather samples of the soil. bound I-90/94, exit Adams Street; from The samples will be tested for contami- northbound I-90/94, exit Ashland Avenue, nants, which will determine whether the backtrack east via Jackson Boulevard or soil can be reused or disposed of safely. Harrison Street. Exiting access is prohibited To receive up-to-date information on Photo: S.K. Vemmer from westbound I-290/Congress Parkway. the Circle Interchange project, visit The Morgan Street Bridge and entrance to the CTA Blue Line are closed as construction begins on the The Morgan Street entrance and ramp circleinterchangestatus.uic.edu Circle Interchange project. Traffic will be detoured from the bridge through the end of April 2014. Consistency key to better safety at railroad crossings By Anne Brooks Ranallo • distractions: Talking on a cell phone, pushing a stroller or listening to music The risk of pedestrian and bicycle ac- on headphones can limit awareness when cidents at railroad grade crossings would approaching a crossing. Awareness also decrease with sustained enforcement and diminishes with age. education by local governments, along with • crossing in groups: Groups of pe- consistency in design standards for warning destrians and cyclists, at train stations for devices, according to a study by the Urban example, often exhibit “platoon behavior,” Transportation Center. with individuals following the crowd rath- “Pedestrian and bicycle fatalities at high- er than checking for signals on their own.