Shrinks, Torture, and Terror Donald H. J. Hermann Professor of Law and Philosophy, DePaul University Tuesday, January 20 5:30-8:30pm The Lounge at Iwan Ries 19 S. Wabash Av, 2d floor

Don Hermann, Professor of Law and Philosophy at DePaul University, will lead a discussion of the participation of psychiatrists and psychologists in the interrogation of military detainees and prisoners of war, with a focus on ethical restrictions and the proper role of these professionals in assisting military personnel.

Before joining the faculty of DePaul, Professor Hermann taught at the law schools of the University of Washington and the University of Kentucky.  He is a graduate of Stanford University, where he majored in economics and history.  He earned law degrees at Columbia University and Harvard University.  He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Northwestern University, a Masters in Art History from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Masters in Liberal Arts from the University of Chicago.  Professor Hermann has held a number of positions involving government and public service including Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Washington and Judicial Fellow at The United States Supreme Court.  Professor Hermann has published extensively on a range of subjects in law reviews as well as other scholarly and popular publications. 

Asad Hayaud Din, Consul of Pakistan, addressed the Cigar Society on November 18, 2008, in the Lounge at Iwan Ries

A report from the Secretary on the History of the
University Club Cigar Society in Exile
(reprinted from the last issue)

After the state-wide ban on smoking in almost all indoor spaces, including private clubs, went into effect in Illinois on January 1, 2008, the University Club Cigar Society was forced to find an alternative venue for its meetings.  For the previous few years the Society had met regularly at the Tower Club, with the support of Tower Club managers Sarah Lewis and later Laura Herold, and before that the Society's quarterly Cigar Dinners were very ably organized by Mary Holloway in the main clubhouse.

Over the course of this past year in exile, the Cigar Society was very hospitably welcomed into several private residences, and we were also very fortunate that Chuck and Kevin Levi, of Iwan Ries and Company, were just completing a new cigar lounge on the second floor of their Adler and Sullivan building at 19 South Wabash, just around the corner from the clubhouse.  (Tobacco shops are exempt from the ban.)  Late in 2007, John Spidalette, the General Manager of the University Club of Chicago, along with the secretary of the Cigar Society, met with Mr. Levi about the possibility of the Cigar Society's convening meetings there, privately.  Mr. Levi was agreeable. 

Mr. Spidalette and the University Club of Chicago generously agreed to cover the rental expense for the lounge at Iwan Ries for the times that the Cigar Society would meet there in its first year outside of the clubhouse.  This amounted to a total of nine meetings in that location in 2008, at a cost to the UCC of a total of $2700, which, for comparison, is less than the amount that one regular resident UCC member pays in dues each year.  (Also note that, in general, affiliated societies are not assessed room charges for meetings within the main clubhouse.)  Club catering provided the snacks and soft drinks, at regular prices, and, it must be said, at some inconvenience to themselves, we being outside of the clubhouse and across a block of heavy construction.  Ms. Lewis, and over the summer, Ms. Lazaro, managed the billing and made sure that everything ran delightfully smoothly.  This last fall, the leadership of the University Club of Chicago decided (independently of the antics of the "U-Club 4"; see the previous issue of Cigar News) that in 2009 it would discontinue its underwriting of the cost of the space any further, and that the Cigar Society members would be directly responsible henceforth.

While the support of the University Club of Chicago did indeed make for an orderly transition of the Cigar Society out of the clubhouse (for which we imagine the entire membership must be grateful) there remain some inadequacies today with respect to the privileges that used to be enjoyed by the Cigar Society before the state-wide ban.  Before January 1, 2008, all club members were allowed to smoke in the Presidents Bar at most times of the day, and the Cigar Society was able to meet as a group every Tuesday (three of them informally, one with a speaker) at the Tower Club or the main clubhouse.  In 2008, Cigar Society members lamented that they missed the old days of casual meetings in the Presidents Bar, and the "Informal Smokers" on Tuesdays at the Tower Club.  I am happy to report that the leadership of the Cigar Society has negotiated a broad agreement with Iwan Ries and Company that will greatly expand the number of nights that Cigar Society members will be able to use the Lounge at Iwan Ries for its private meetings, as well as have privileges at any time during regular business hours.  Separate dues will be required.  Look for more information on this in the coming issues of Cigar News.           

About the Cigar Society

ONE OF THE OLDEST AND greatest traditions of the University Club of Chicago was the discussion of intellectual, social, legal, artistic, historical, scientific, musical, theatrical, and philosophical issues in the company of educated, bright, and appropriately provocative individuals, all under the beneficent influence of substantial amounts of tobacco and spirits.  The University Club Cigar Society in Exile embraces this tradition and extends it with its fortnightly Informal Smokers, monthly University Series lectures, and quarterly Cigar Society Dinners, in which cigars, and from time to time pipes and cigarettes, appear as an important component of our version of the classical symposium.  To be included in the Cigar Society's mailing list, write to the Secretary at CigarSociety@logicophilosophicus.org.

Visit the Cigar Society archive at logicophilosophicus.org.