<p>Update:</a> 40 People Shot In Chicago In 50 Hours [Video] Hip-Hop Wired</p>
<p>Has anyone else seen this? I was just like, WHOA. </p>
<p>WHOA.</p>
<p>And I did spell the title of the thread wrong. :( My bad.</p>
<p>I thought it was only 24…now it’s 40?! </p>
<p>Wow…should I let this affect my decision in terms of choosing colleges…? >.></p>
<p>Oh my ****ing GOD.</p>
<p>This happens every year in Chicago when temperatures start rising, and every year, they make it sound like it’s the first time it’s ever occurred. Yes, it’s a serious problem caused by gang violence, but it’s contained to very low-income areas (where gangs are prevalent) and doesn’t affect Hyde Park.</p>
<p>Just stay in the ivory tower and we’ll all be safe. I don’t recommend trying to pay tuition by selling drugs, then the odds of this happening to you would greatly increase.</p>
<p>^^bahahaha</p>
<p>Caused by a rise in temperatures? So this is just people getting outside more –> people interacting more –> people shooting each other more? That seems strange.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it! Think of it as part of UChicago’s world class education. Learn some economics, learn some physics, learn some philosophy, learn to survive… It’s all part of their famous core curriculum! The urban environment of the school plays a major role in preparing students for the real world.</p>
<p>Hahaha, I told my mom about this and she said, “What is it the mating season for the gangsters?” :)</p>
<p>Too bad it’s not the responsibility of the upper-class university, astronomically rich students, and ultra private police force to help lower crime and promote racial understanding in surrounding neighborhoods, given its status as a world class university that promotes the solving of social issues. o.O</p>
<p>Just kidding, just kidding, just some socio-anthropological wit and devil’s advocacy… lol…</p>
<p>I’m gonna go now…</p>
<p>Yeah, I hate to put it this way also, but as the weather heats up, the gangs start to come out again. Seriously though, gangs tend to not mess around in Hyde Park. Besides, the University of Chicago has the second largest private police force in the world (next to Columbia). </p>
<p>Any city is going to have gangs. Sucks to be sure, but hey… at least it’s not Baltimore! </p>
<p>“If Baltimore had New York City’s population, we’d be clearing 4,000 murders annually.” - The Wire</p>
<p>I’d heartily advise against finding your nearest ALKQN or Conservative Vice Lords hangout and offering to solve their social issues. ;-)</p>
<p>“Conservative Vice Lords” is the name of a vicious gang? That’s surprising.</p>
<p>
That’s been tried!</p>
<p>For a summer reading treat, I recommend Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. It was written by a Chicago Sociology PhD student (now teaching at Columbia) and details life in the Chicago gangs in the 1990s (though I doubt its much different today) from the inside. It will prepare you for the big city. It is a remarkable book. You will “like” JT.</p>
<p>
[quote]
the University of Chicago has the second largest private police force in the world (next to Columbia)[\quote]</p>
<p>The University has the second largest private police force in the world. …Second only to the Vatican.</p>
<p>
[/quote]
For a summer reading treat, I recommend Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. It was written by a Chicago Sociology PhD student (now teaching at Columbia) and details life in the Chicago gangs in the 1990s (though I doubt its much different today) from the inside. It will prepare you for the big city. It is a remarkable book. You will “like” JT.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Or you can get the cliff’s notes version in Freakonomics. It’s very tempting to try a similar thing for a good party story…</p>
<p>The Freakonomics account restricts itself primarily to economics of the drug distribution system. Gang Leader for a Day goes into the lives of the people. A very compelling read. One example, mothers in the projects would have their children urinate in the stairwell nest to their apartments. Sounds irrational until one learns that by doing so it discourages the prostitutes from bringing their customers there.</p>
<p>Go police!</p>
<p>If you liked Gang Leader for a Day [which I admittedly have not read] you might like Heaven is a Playground, in which a young SI journalist spent a summer in the Brooklyn projects in the early 1970s. It’s ostensibly a basketball book, but I think there’s a fair amount of sociology in it.</p>
<p>Sadly, hearing this kind of thing about Chicago is normal. However, Hyde Park is a super safe neighborhood, I’ve never felt threatened, yadda yadda yadda.</p>
<p>That said, the University of Chicago prides itself on reaching out to the surrounding communities that might have problems with violence. I’m involved in an organization called Splash! Chicago that organizes unique learning experiences for kids from all over Chicago (and consequently, I’ve taught street drumming classes at MIT and Northwestern this year), and I work for the Consortium on Chicago School Research, a great group of researchers who study Chicago Public Schools. The University violently combats the idea that we’re an Ivory Tower, and I wouldn’t say that we are. </p>
<p>Also, read Gang Leader for a Day, it’s excellent!</p>