2013-14 Blue Demon basketball preview special section inside
Volume #98 | Issue #7 | November 4, 2013 | DePauliaonline.com
Soul food :
Chartwells, students work to help feed the homeless
By Megan Deppen
By Nathan Weisman
Staff Writer
Chartwells, the university’s food service provider – and frequent target of student ridicule—is now an unexpected recipient of praise for doing something it has done for years: donating leftover food and raising funds to feed those in need at the St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen. Every DePaul student knows that Brownstone’s shelves are always stocked with “graband-go” food items like club sandwiches, Cobb salads, and fruit and yogurt parfaits. James Lee, the Director of Operations for Chartwells at DePaul, said these items are offered to students for two days and then taken off the shelf. Where does the food go? “We don’t want to throw [the food] away,” Lee said. Instead, the food is given to the St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen. “It’s a nice change of pace for [guests of the soup kitchen],” Joe Colgan, St. Vincent DePaul Parish Coordinator, said. Compared to the bologna sandwich, fruit, pastry and coffee that soup kitchen guests
Without buyer, Dominick’s will close Dec. 28 Asst. News Editor
Miss Black Illinois, Mariah Scott, will now compete in the Miss Black USA competition.
Dominick’s parent company Safeway Inc. announced in a letter to employees Oct. 1 that unsold stores will be closing Dec. 28. The closing of the stores puts 6,600 Chicagoland jobs at risk if the stores are not bought by a competing grocer before the closing date, making it potentially the largest Chicago layoff in years. The Dominick’s on the corner of Sheffield and Fullerton avenues and part of DePaul’s Centennial Hall may be safe from the closures, however. According to Joe Boateng, the store’s customer service manager, Jewel-Osco has shown interest in acquiring the store. The deadline for bids was Nov. 1, but the store will not know what is to become of it until the end of the month. “I think it would be convenient for the Dominick’s to be replaced by another grocery store,” Jack Tansey, freshman, said. “The prices are ridiculous at ETC and there isn’t really another option around campus.” John Boghossian, freshman, also said he thought the Dominick’s should be replaced by another grocery store. Boghossian said he would prefer a Jewel to take over the location. “I don’t think it should be replaced by a major chain if it’s going to be a grocery store,” Rachel Soich said, who works near the Dominick’s at the Chicago School of Yoga. “It would be nice to get a smaller, local chain to take over the space.” News of the closing date for the stores spread after a letter informed employees of the closure. The letter was in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Training Act, which requires employers who have more than 100 employees to give a 60 day warning of any possible layoffs of more than a third of the workforce or more than 500 people. Many of the 68 stores that are up for sale have caught the attention of Dominick’s competitors. Jewel-Osco’s parent
See CROWNED, page 7
See DOMINICK’S, page 7
megan deppen | the depaulia
Student volunteer Daisy Gabriel helps prepare sandwiches for the St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen. normally receive each day, Lee said that Chartwells’ donations help provide nutritious meals that guests wouldn’t otherwise receive. At least once a quarter, with the help of student volunteers, Chartwells serves eggs, sausage, bacon and pancakes as a hot breakfast for the soup kitchen, and foots the bill. “[The breakfast] costs us more than we expected,” Lee
said. Lee said Chartwells manages these costs by being conscious of food waste in the kitchens and preparing only enough food that is needed per day. By reducing waste, Chartwells saves money to help cover the costs of the breakfasts. Besides donating leftover food, Chartwells gives students the opportunity to donate leftover meal plan money at the end of
the school year. According to Colgan, who temporarily oversaw the soup kitchen’s operations, it was from these donations that the soup kitchen was able to buy weekly supplies of fresh fruit for 14 weeks over the summer. Lee said that Chartwells normally raises $8,000-$10,000 a year from student donations.
See SOUP KITCHEN, page 5
Student crowned Miss Black Illinois By Aziza Khamitova Contributing Writer
It was a shock. She couldn’t realize it was her name announced as: “Miss Black Illinois 2014.” Her father teared up and her mother proudly yelled, “It’s my baby! My baby!” It all happened Oct. 19 when Mariah Scott, a 20-year-old junior studying broadcast journalism at DePaul, was crowned Miss Black Illinois 2014. Growing up, Scott was always into sports and never saw herself as a pageant person, but family was very important. From a family of five, Scott’s role models are her grandmother and mom. “My grandmother was a phenomenal woman and my mom is the strongest woman I’ve ever known, and I guess that inspired me,” Scott said. Scott’s mother pushed for the importance of education and community involvement from an early age. She is very passionate about education, the youth, and art being incorporated into the school curriculum. At DePaul, Scott is the president of Speaking Out as Unified Leaders (SOUL), a program that teaches creative writing and public
speaking to middle school-aged children in Chicago Public Schools. “I always had a passion for giving back to my community,” Scott said. As she’s gotten older, she’s found her passion with education, specifically incorporating arts into the curriculum. “People say we need to fix our educational system, but I say our educational system needs to be redefined,” Scott said. Her passion led Scott into the pageant, as urged by Miss Black Illinois 2013 Cortnee R. Smith. “There is something in you and I see it,” Scott recalled Smith telling her. Scott put much time and energy into the competition, specifically with her performance of a spoken word piece about gun violence. Told in the form of a letter from a young girl to her father, the poem asked why the young girl was alive while someone her age was dead, and evoked strong emotions from the crowd during the pageant. “Yes, anyone can win, but I want to be remembered,” Scott said, thinking the same thing as she performed her poem. The Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization
grant myatt | the depaulia