The DePaulia 9/13/2021

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Volume #106 | Issue #1 | Sept. 13, 2021 | depauliaonline.com

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AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

INSIDE

Local area restaurants bounce back amid return to campus Page 7

DePaul Jewish students reflect on religious accommodations Pages 12-13

Men’s and Women’s soccer season kicks off in full swing Page 27

News. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021 | 3

2 | News. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021

First Look

CAMPUS COVID-19 CASES

Sept. 4, 2021 - Sept. 17, 2021

The DePaulia is the official student-run newspaper of DePaul University and may not necessarily reflect the views of college administrators, faculty or staff. CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | Niika Schoonover managing@depauliaonline.com CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | Nate Burleyson online@depauliaonline.com NEWS EDITOR | Nadia Hernandez news@depauliaonline.com ASST. NEWS EDITOR | Josephine Stratman news@depauliaonline.com NATION & WORLD EDITOR | Sonal Soni nation@depauliaonline.com OPINIONS EDITOR | Erik Uebelacker opinion@depauliaonline.com FOCUS EDITOR | Kiersten Riedford focus@depauliaonline.com AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR | Chinyere Ibeh artslife@depauliaonline.com

Students from multiple DePaul religious organizations take a group photo with a cardboard cut out of Pope Francis and a Rosh Hashana sign at on Sept. 8.

ASST. ARTS & LIFE EDITOR | Riley Andrews artslife@depauliaonline.com SPORTS EDITOR | Darcy Waskiewicz sports@depauliaonline.com ASST. SPORTS EDITOR | Joshua Hicks sports@depauliaonline.com

WELCOME BACK, DEPAUL

SOURCE: COVID-19 DASHBOARD | DEPAUL UNIVERSITY

Visit the Covid-19 Dashboard for information on how to report positive cases on campus.

ART EDITOR | Alicia Goluszka art@depauliaonline.com PHOTO EDITOR | Audrey Champelli photo@depauliaonline.com COPY EDITORS | Luke Meyers & Corey Schmidt SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR | Lily Lowndes social@depauliaonline.com ADVISOR | Marla Krause mkrause1@depaul.edu

AUDREY CHAMPELLI| THE DEPAULIA

A DePaul student stops at one of the tables on Sept. 8.

In person involvement fair attracts prospective students

La DePaulia es el noticiero oficial estudiantil en español de la Universidad DePaul, enfocado en proveer una voz para la comunidad latinx. Nuestras opiniones no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones de la administración, facultad o personal de la universidad.

By Nadia Hernandez & Josephine Stratman News Editor and Asst. News Editor

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A student sets up the table for LGBTQIA+ student organization Spectrum at DePaul.

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On a sunny September afternoon, students strolled the quad, stopping to grab free T-shirts and spirit gear, snagging pieces of candy and gathered around tables to hear student leaders talk about their organizations — you’d almost think it was 2019. A closer look, however, reveals 2021 realities. In contrast to pre-pandemic times, tables were spread out to accommodate for social distancing, and many students wore masks (not a strict requirement for outdoor gatherings, per DePaul’s Covid-19 guidelines). This year the Involvement Fair

also retained a virtual element in addition to the in-person format. DePaul maintained both options in an attempt to create flexibility and engagement. The fair was held over three days in a Covid-conscious effort to keep volume low. Each day hosted different kinds of organizations, so students attended days based on what they were interested in. The in-person format helped new clubs connect with prospective students and answer questions more frequently and smoothly compared to virtually. “Some people do not know how to use DeHub, so the online fairs had a lot less traction,” said DePaul Fashion Magazine president Sarah Huth. “Everyone was also so

much more eager to come talk to us and listen to what our club was about. People also seem a lot more comfortable asking questions in person.” Clubs were in person from Wednesday to Friday, and the virtual fair was held on Saturday. Although numbers were not released at time of publication, a spokesperson from the DePaul Office of Student Involvement said that, typically, around 1,000 students attend the involvement fair, and 150 groups showcase their organization. Huth said that social media presence has helped her connect with students and prospective club members. “Online interactions are im-

portant because some people were [unable] to come to the fair, but through our social media, they can see some of the work that we do,” Huth said. “We have actually gained some of our members from them contacting us through social media.” However, in-person events may have their tradeoffs: there was an attempted robbery on Wednesday at the beginning of the fair. DePaul Public Safety disclosed that at approximately 1:40 p.m. the offender attempted to rob a backpack. The robbery was unsuccessful, according to a universitywide email from Public Safety.

4 | News. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021

News. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021 | 5

Putting the ‘profit’ in non-profit

Faculty pay freeze, DePaul decision making process, business-focused approach

for lower paid adjunct faculty and staff members — and have led some schmidt to question DePaul’s Vincentian misNation World, Focus & Copy Editors sion and priorities. DePaul’s mission statement claims DePaul placed a pay freeze on the university “compassionately faculty and staff wages, resulting in upholds the dignity of all members financial hardships for low-salary employees despite the already strain- of its diverse, multi-faith and incluing pandemic. Community members sive community” and “addresses the criticized the university for prioritiz- great questions of our day, promoting ing profits over compensating faculty peaceful, just and equitable solutions to social and environmental and staff. challenges.” Yet, DePaul community According to Tom Mondschemembers criticize the university for an, economics and business school minimizing expenses over providing Faculty Council representative, equitable solutions for their faculty, faculty and staff have not received a staff and student financial concerns. raise since January 2020. Since the “I think not giving faculty raises pay freeze was implemented, the ... for potentially three years in a row consumer price index has risen 5.4 is not very Vincentian,” School of percent. Music Faculty Council Representa“Adjusted for inflation, we’re tive Michael Lewanski said. “You’ve down about 10 percent from where got adjunct faculty that do not have we were in January of 2020,” Mondtenure and are very precariously schean said. “I think the key differemployed and really make much ence is that the inflation rate is over less money than tenured tenure line twice what it has been historically faculty do. Those people not getting over the last 20 years. It’s been about any sort of increase in their payment 2 percent per year for the last 20 years and right now it’s [5.4 percent]. ... might have a very substantial negaThat’s a big difference, so this, unfor- tive benefit on them.” “The general idea is that the lower tunately, was a terrible year to select your salary, the more hardship this for a pay freeze.” implies ... If you’re making $50,000 Faculty and staff wages have not or $40,000 a year, you got little kids, adjusted with the rate of inflation, and as a result, DePaul employees ex- your spouse is working and you’re perienced a 5 percent salary decrease. really trying to make ends meet, then the pay freeze really hurts,” MondOn top of that, faculty and staff lost schean added. another 5 percent of their salary to Lewanksi said he believes the the school’s 403b match, in which core of the issue lies in how DePaul a portion of their salary is allocated operates more like a business than a towards their pensions. The ongoing financial constraints nonprofit institution. “Keeping DePaul competitive ... may create burdens for members of the DePaul community — especially is the beginning of the conversation,” Lewanski said. “It’s not necessarily By sonal soni, kierstin riedford, corey

Presidential search will include student input By Nadia Hernandez & Josephine stratman

News Editor & Asst. News Editor

President A. Gabriel Esteban is stepping down in nine months, and the hunt is on to find his replacement. The university announced a presidential search team of faculty, trustees and students members via Newsline. The team will work to find and review applicants to take Esteban’s place when he steps down on June 30, 2022. DePaul trustee Judy Greffin will chair the committee. Notable members include Chair of the Board of Trustee Gerald Beeson, Faculty Council President Sonia Soltero and Student Government Association President Watfae Zayed. Soltero said in an email to The DePaulia that not much could be

discussed due to the confidentiality of the search. “Considering students make up a large majority of the DePaul community, it is super important to have student representation in the presidential search,” Zayed said in an email to The DePaulia. “Actually, students should be the most represented group in the search, even though that’s unfortunately not the case with this one. Without students, there’s no university and our input should be considered when making such a big decision.” The committee, in partnership with recruiting firm Isaacson Miller, will hold specific listening sessions for students, faculty and staff. The DePaulia will not be able to report on faculty sessions, only student sessions.

“To promote a listening session where faculty [and] staff can speak more freely, student media may only attend the student sessions,” said media spokesperson Kristin Mathews. Students can also complete an online survey to participate in the listening sessions if they can’t attend a live listening session. “Students should definitely go to these listening sessions,” Zayed said. “Since there isn’t much student representation on the search committee, this is our opportunity to show the university administration what concerns students have and what we’re looking for in the next president of the university. It’s super important that we’re there to give out input.” According to Greffin in a letter sent to the DePaul community, the listening sessions aim to gather input

from DePaul about the future of the university and ways to assess the success of the next president. The sessions will ask: “What are the key issues, challenges and opportunities facing the president?” and “What does the president need to know about DePaul University to be successful?” After the listening sessions, the recruiting firm will put together input from the listening sessions, information about the university and a summary of the job role and qualifications and send it off to potential new presidents. For the last step of the search, finalists will be reviewed by a separate vetting committee made up of Faculty Council, Staff Council and SGA.

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that, you know, is this providing the best education.” DePaul’s business-forward decision making process has been noticed by students — even those newest to campus. “I definitely think that DePaul fronts as a business-focused institution when it should be academic-focused and student-focused instead,” said freshman Ava Krastin. “I think that DePaul is very concerned about aesthetics and that shows.” Mondschean said that while some business practices are inherent in university operations, putting profits over other priority areas may not serve the best interests of the DePaul community. “There’s a lot of issues where there is going to be corporate influence, and that’s not a bad thing,’’ Mondschean said. “But the difference is a university is about increasing knowledge. Students come through here for a period of time and they come out with a better understanding of whatever field it is they want to pursue.” When institutions prioritize profits over who they hire to teach classes, students may not receive the same quality education as a result. “A model simply reducing costs because they’re trying to provide the lowest cost faculty in the classroom, hiring term and adjunct faculty instead of tenure track faculty, that’s one issue where we differ, perhaps, with the administration,” Mondschean added. Both Mondschean and Lewanski highlighted DePaul’s return to principal policy, whereby money that’s withdrawn from the endowment is returned to the endowment by the

end of the year, as a potential area to reallocate funds from to increase faculty and staff wages. “It’s a very unusual, I would almost say unique policy, and we would like it to stop,” Mondschean said. “… We’re not going to do a return to principal [this year], which is several million dollars of additional resources …” Mondshean added. “But the year after, we’ll have to start doing it again and we’re doing half of what is normal, and we argue that that was premature.” Mondschean also pointed to DePaul’s increasing need for revenue, which can be met by enrolling more students. “The problem right now is we don’t have enough revenue, and we’re not quite sure why that is the case,” Monschean said. ”That would be where I would look to try to find money that can be used to provide faculty and staff with raises.” Lewanski said the higher education industry is concerned about a potential enrollment drop once students born during The Great Recession are old enough to enroll in college, considering the low birth rates at the time. Many universities are conserving money to get through that period, while others are investing money to ensure they can attract the most students. “The thing we need to be doing is maximally supporting our students, staff and faculty with our financial resources so that the institution continues to improve,” Lewanski said. “And I think that’s the way we continue to attract really high-quality students.”

News. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021 | 7

6| News. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021

CAMPUS CRIME REPORT:

Sept. 1, 2021- Sept. 7, 2021

LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS

LOOP CAMPUS Seton Hall 1150 W. Fullerton

2

Ozanam Hall

Quad 1

10

3 9

DePaul Center

Munroe Hall

4

2

LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS

5

Assault & Theft

Drug & Alcohol

Other

SEPT. 01 1)A Bike Theft report was filed regarding a bike

LOOP CAMPUS SEPT. 06 4) A Graffiti report was filed for markings on the

taken from the Quad.

DePaul Center.

SEPT. 05 2) An Illegal Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor

SEPT. 07 5 A Criminal Trespass Warning was issued to an

report was filed for three people in Ozanam Hall. All were transported to Illinois Masonic by Chicago EMT.

individual in the DePaul Center Barnes and Noble bookstore..

3) Illegal Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor was reported in Munroe Hall.

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geico.com/alum/duaa | 1-800-368-2734 | Local Office Some discounts, coverages, payment plans, and features are not available in all states, in all GEICO companies, or in all situations. GEICO contracts with various membership entities and other organizations, but these entities do not underwrite the offered insurance products. Discount amount varies in some states. One group discount applicable per policy. Coverage is individual. In New York a premium reduction may be available. GEICO may not be involved in a formal relationship with each organization; however, you still may qualify for a special discount based on your membership, employment or affiliation with those organizations. GEICO is a registered service mark of Government Employees Insurance Company, Washington, DC 20076; a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary. GEICO Gecko® image © 1999–2021. © 2021 GEICO 21_ 729866103

PHOTO BY JOSEPHONE STRATMAN

Pita Pit, located at 2404 N. Lincoln Ave. in Lincoln Park. Pita Pit lost close to 50 percent of its business during the pandemic.

Businesses bounce back after students return By josephine stratman Asst. News Editor

In the past week, DePaul’s campus has come back to life: For the first time in nearly two years, students crowd sidewalks between classes, groups of freshmen aimlessly roam Fullerton Avenue looking for parties and students return to their favorite spots to grab a bite. No one is more excited for the revival of student life than local restaurants. A year of virtual learning and social distancing took a toll on restaurants near DePaul. Now, locals are seeing students’ return to campus as a sign of the return of a pre-pandemic local economy. Dog Haus, a fast food joint in Lincoln Park, said they’ve already seen business improve as students return. Roberto Armando, owner of Dog Haus’ Lincoln Park location, said his franchise is, well, out of the dog house. “It’s only been two weeks, and I can’t begin to tell you how positively impactful it’s been,” Armando said. “As far as our sales [and]crowds, for the first time, we’ve had students, Labor Day weekend. It’s like the perfect storm of amazing for us.” Armando said sales were okay before students came; now they’re better than ever in the location’s three and a half year history. “It’s just like, wow,” he said. “I could not imagine it.” Many of DePaul’s 20,000 students never stepped foot on campus during the 20202021 school year, with classes held almost entirely online all three quarters and a greatly reduced occupancy in on-campus housing. Zeyad Sbeih, owner of Pita Pit on Lincoln Avenue, said the decreased student presence in Lincoln Park resulted in a loss of around 50 percent of his business. “We’re right by campus, and then a lot of students live this way,” he said, gesturing to the area west of Halsted. The lost foot traffic from students in the area forced him to cut costs. “I cut my hours and cut staff,” he said. Sbeih fired seven people — a lot for a small business. He also saw a drastic decrease in catered events. “[We lost] most of our catering,” he said. “We did two or three events every day. Then it fell to two or three a month.” “Last fall, it was, like, dead in here,’’ said

Lilly Burmett, a shift lead at The Bagelers Coffeehouse. A year later, business is very much alive. “Now we’re having to increase our restocks,” Burmett said. “Since this time last year, we’ve had a 35 percent increase in gross revenue.” Burmett says she sees the most difference in business during traditional “off ” hours, in between the morning and lunch rushes. “Especially around 10 a.m., a lot more people will come in,” she said. “It’s a younger crowd.” It wasn’t easy to get to this point: For local restaurants, the past year and a half has been marked by pivots, changed plans and new concepts for these restaurants. Both Pita Pit and The Bagelers saw more online sales through delivery apps like Grubhub and UberEats than in-person sales for a while. “We’ve always been reliant on deliveries,” Sbeih said. For The Bagelers, success would mean straying away from the delivery apps they leaned on to get through the pandemic. “We did all the delivery apps for a while,” Burnett said. “Now we’re back to just UberEats and our own delivery service.” Armando attributes his Dog Haus location’s survival through the pandemic to delivery orders, too. “The majority of our business is through delivery,” he said. “I’d say about 70, 75 percent are pickup and delivery.” With Covid-19, Dog Haus changed their business model. “Even before Covid, things were not very bright under this roof,” Armando said. “I expanded our hours, and the programs I put into place because of Covid have generated business.” These programs include what he called “virtual kitchens” — additional, mini-restaurants under the same Dog Haus roof. In their Lincoln Park location, Dog Haus hosts Bad-Ass Breakfast Burritos. Dog Haus also runs regular student deals in the hopes of drawing in even more DePaul students. These deals helped them survive through the pandemic, Armando said, and even thrive as they drew in business with deals like half-off food after 6 p.m. on Mondays. He hopes to continue student deals for those 21 and older as he looks to expand a bar at the restaurant.

PHOTO BY JOSEPHONE STRATMAN

Dog Haus offers student promotions that include several discounts. “We’re so close to the students,” he said. “We’re hoping to get even better with our bar business.” Sbeih said he’s seeing business crawl back to the pre-pandemic normal. “Now we’re back to four or five [catered events] a week,” he said. Through the pandemic, many Chicago restaurants closed, including the beloved late-night grub spot Devil Dawgs, who told Fox-32 in December that they lost their lease, in part due to Covid. “We don’t want to leave,” Dena Bachenheimer, managing director at Devil Dawgs said. Also shuttered during the pandemic were Royal Indian Grill, Rickshaw Republic,

Le Pain Quotidien and Centre Street Kitchen, among others, as The DePaulia reported last year. By the end of 2020, 415 Chicago restaurants had closed due to the pandemic, according to CHD Expert, a global data-tracking service for the food-service industry. Even with a solid return for these restaurants with the return of students, Covid-19 and its variants may present more challenges in the future. Sbeih remains cautious: “It’s only been two days, so it’s hard to tell so far … It’s coming back, but it’s not the same. [The Delta variant] is what everybody’s worried about.”

8| News. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021

News. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021 | 9

JOSEPHINE STRATMAN| THE DEPAULIA

Attendees jump double dutch rope, one of the many activities offered at Sunday on State.

SUNDAYS ON STATE

JOSEPHINE STRATMAN| THE DEPAULIA

JOSEPHINE STRATMAN| THE DEPAULIA

DePaul mascot, DIBS, poses with attendees.

Nicole Pittman, a local vendor, sells handmade jewelry and accessories.

Last summer celebration on Sunday By josephine stratman Asst. News Editor

Chicagoans from all over the city gathered for the last Sunday on State, an free open streets event stretching from Madison to Lake Street that has been held on eight Sundays throughout the summer. The event brought patrons and vendors from all over Chicago to experience live performances, culture, music, dance, games, food trucks and pop-up retail shops. “We’re thrilled to be bringing this joyful event series to the Loop’s most iconic street — State Street,” said Chicago Loop Alliance President and CEO Michael Edwards. “After the year we’ve had, we want to offer an opportunity to come together, participate and heal with one another.” Sundays on State provided an opportunity for local vendors to showcase their work to people from all over Chicago. “I manage 12 vendors,” said Sylvia Moore, who sells jewelry at her pop-up, Sylvia’s Back Room. “A lot of them are mature adults, so this is a great opportunity for them.”

The vendors she manages go to Sundays on State on a rotating basis. “They all really want to be here,” she said. DePaul University was present at the event, with an extensive setup with an Admissions booth and complete with music, inflatables, free tote bags and pins, cornhole and photo ops with mascot Dibs. Sabrina Wilson, a senior international studies major at DePaul, worked the event for the university. She said she hadn’t actually heard of the event until the day of, but was very happy to be there. “It’s been so nice, especially after the Covid year,” she said. Wilson and Zoe Parris, a DePaul sophomore and a journalism major, were handing out free bags and interacting with the lively attendees. “It’s like a huge block party ... This was a game we were running, and now the kids are just playing,” Wilson said, pointing at a group of kids playing soccer. “We’ve been seeing people vibing all day ... There was a guy dancing here for three hours.” “It’s the first time I’ve seen people out and about like this,” she said. “It’s a good way to start the school year, and a great

thing for small businesses.” Woodlawn resident Nicold Pittman runs a homemade jewelry and accessories pop-up shop called Twenty Thou, in honor of the number of pieces she hopes to one day sell. “I’m here to share my creations with downtown Chicago,” Pittman said. “I’ve been making jewelry for around 15 years.” Sunday on State has given her an opportunity to share her work with a broad range of people, gaining much-needed business after a slower year thanks to the pandemic. “I’m out almost every weekend, until the pandemic,” she said. “Then, I mostly sold online.” Pittman sold her jewelry at three Sundays on State. “[Business] has been really good,” she said. “It was a really great idea.” Danny Sullivan is an actor hired to MC and announce for the event’s main stage. He said he’s loved working the eight Sundays of the event and has been able to meet performers he’s long been a fan of, like Lil’ Ed, a blues guitarist. “Every week, it’s grown in attendance

and energy,” Sullivan said. “It’s like Chicago’s block club.” He said the crowd gives him energy, in turn: “I love my family and friends, but I miss being in a crowd of strangers,” he said. Sharlene Cook, from Oak Lawn, attended Sundays on State with The Acting Workshop Chicago, an Englewood-based nonprofit that provides programming and events for Chicagoans of all ages. At Sundays on State, the organization hosted a game called “Name that Flick,” where audience members guess movie titles based on one-liners from the film. “The audience loves it,” Cook said. “I play someone in the audience.” Cook was enthusiastic about the event. “Look at the different areas, kids, people. We’re in the dregs of summer … Coming through the pandemic, this is like, ‘Yes!” she said. Cook hopes Sundays on State becomes an annual tradition. “It would be Chicago blasphemy if I said it was better than Taste [of Chicago],” she said. “But…”

10 | Nation & World. The DePaulia. Sept 13, 2021

Nation & World

RICHARD DREW | AP

Smoke rises from the burning twin towers of the World Trade Center after hijacked planes crashed into the towers on September 11, 2001 in New York City.

What schools teach about 9/11 and the war on terror By Jeremy stoddard AP News

(THE CONVERSATION) The phrase “Never Forget” is often associated with the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But what does this phrase mean for U.S. students who are too young to remember? What are they being asked to never forget? As education researchers in curriculum and instruction, we have studied since 2002 how the events of 9/11 and the global war on terror are integrated into secondary level U.S. classrooms and curricula. What we have found is a relatively consistent narrative that focuses on 9/11 as an unprecedented and shocking attack, the heroism of the firefighters and other first responders and a global community that stood behind the U.S. in its pursuit of terrorists. This narrative is in official curricula, such as textbooks and state standards, as well as in many of the most popular materials teachers report using, such as documentary films. While honoring the victims and helping a new generation understand the significance of these events are important, we believe there are inherent risks in teaching a simple nationalistic narrative of heroism and evil. Annual commemoration In our survey of 1,047 U.S. secondary teachers conducted in late 2018, we found that the majority of the history teachers tend to teach about 9/11 primarily on the date of the anniversary each year. Based on the topics being taught, teaching materials and their descriptions of lessons, the instruction emphasizes commemoration of the attacks and victims. Teachers also attempt to help

students who were not alive on 9/11 to understand the experience of those who witnessed the events on TV that day. They report sharing their own recollections, showing news or documentary footage of the attacks, and focusing on the details of the day and events that followed. The surveyed teachers view 9/11 as significant – and believe that teaching it honors the goal to never forget. However, they described the challenge of making time for discussing these events when the standards for their class do not necessarily include them, or include 9/11-related topics only at the end of the school year. As a result, the lessons are often limited to one class session on or near the anniversary. It is also taught out of historical context given that the anniversary arrives at the beginning of the school year and most U.S. history courses start in either the 1400s or the post-U.S. Civil War era. Risks of a simple narrative Teaching 9/11 as a memorializing event on the anniversary also generally avoids deeper inquiry into the historic U.S. role in the Middle East and Afghanistan. This includes, for example, arming mujahedeen fighters against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s and aiding Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran also in the ‘80s. A more in-depth approach, on the other hand, could explore how U.S. actions contributed to the formation of al-Qaida, which bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 and later carried out attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa as well as on the USS Cole, a Navy ship fueling in Yemen, in the years leading up to 9/11. Simplistic narratives do not help students reflect on the many controversial decisions made by the U.S. and their al-

lies after 9/11, such as using embellished evidence to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003. And they potentially reinforce political rhetoric that paints Muslims as potential terrorists and ignore the xenophobic attacks against Muslim Americans after the 9/11 attacks. Generational differences among teachers Many teachers, however, do engage students in the complexities of these events. Middle school teachers report including 9/11 as part of their discussion of Islam in a world religions unit; world history teachers describe placing it in the context of the modern Middle East. For U.S. history courses organized chronologically and using widely available textbooks, the move to standardized curricula and testing in many U.S. states can make it difficult to incorporate current events in meaningful ways. Teachers tell us they feel there is no room or time to deviate. Many end their course in the 1980s or rush through final decades superficially. Some get creative and tie 9/11 to other terror attacks like the 1886 bombing of a labor protest in Haymarket Square in Chicago. Younger teachers in particular reported different goals for their students that go beyond commemoration or a focus on the shocking nature of the events of the day. They want young people to recognize how the events and policies that followed 9/11 impacted daily life in ways they might not realize. This reflects their own experience, which was less a vivid memory of the day of the attacks but perhaps constant reminders of the color-coded terrorism threat levels issued by the Department of Homeland Security from 2002 to 2011.

They want students to understand the recent evacuation of U.S. personnel from Afghanistan in relation to both 9/11 and the U.S. role in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Or to examine provisions of the USA Patriot Act of 2001, which allowed greater surveillance of U.S. citizens. Learning from 9/11 If the goal of teaching history is to develop citizens who use knowledge of the past to understand the present and inform future decisions, educators need to help students learn from 9/11 and the war on terror, and not just about them. This means going beyond the facts of the day and the collective memory aspects to also engage in inquiry into why they happened and how the U.S. and other nations reacted. Teachers can use news footage from that day to commemorate and as a starting point for student inquiry. Students could question why Osama bin Laden’s image was presented within an hour and a half of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center, and how U.S. experts knew he was hiding in Afghanistan. They can explore the President’s Daily Brief from Aug. 6, 2001, which highlighted the threat of bin Laden planning an attack on the U.S., or the CIA memo from the late 1980s that outlined the dangers of abandoning the mujahedeen. Many updated resources are available for teachers to draw from for lessons on 9/11. These resources include the perspectives of veterans, Afghan and Iraqi interpreters and refugees, Muslim and Sikh Americans and others not often included. To “Never Forget” for students today may start with teaching them about aspects of 9/11 that seem to have been overlooked, erased or forgotten.

Nation & World. The DePaulia. Sept 13, 2021 | 11

Justice Department sues Texas over state’s new abortion law By michael balsamo and paul weber AP News

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department has sued Texas over a new state law that bans most abortions, arguing that it was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution.” The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Texas, asks a federal judge to declare that the law is invalid, “to enjoin its enforcement, and to protect the rights that Texas has violated.” “The act is clearly unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference announcing the suit. The Justice Department argues the law unlawfully infringes on the constitutional rights of women and violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which says federal law supersedes state law. Federal officials are also concerned other states could enact similar laws that would “deprive their citizens of their constitutional rights,” he said. “It is settled constitutional law that ‘a State may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability,’” the lawsuit reads. “But Texas has done just that.” The Texas law, known as SB8, prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity — usually around six weeks, before some women know they’re pregnant. Courts have blocked other states from imposing similar restrictions, but Texas’ law differs significantly because it leaves enforcement to private citizens through civil lawsuits instead of criminal prosecutors. Pressure had been mounting on the Justice Department not only from the White House – President Joe Biden has said the law is “almost un-American” – but also from Democrats in Congress, who wanted Garland to take action. Earlier this week, Garland vowed the Justice Department would step in to enforce a federal law known as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. That law, commonly known as the FACE Act, normally prohibits physical-

ly obstructing access to abortion clinics by blocking entrances or threatening to use force to intimidate or interfere with someone. It also prohibits damaging property at abortion clinics and other reproductive health centers. The lawsuit filed on Thursday seeks an immediate injunction to prohibit enforcing the law in Texas. Under the statute, someone could bring a lawsuit — even if they have no connection to the woman getting an abortion — and could be entitled to at least $10,000 in damages if they prevail in court. “The statute deputizes all private citizens, without any showing of personal connection or injury, to serve as bounty hunters authorized to recover at least $10,000 per claim from individuals who facilitate a woman’s exercise of her constitutional rights,” Garland said. “The obvious and expressly acknowledged intention of this statutory scheme is to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights by thwarting judicial review.” The attorney general also argued the Texas law could expose some federal employees at different agencies across the government to civil liability for doing their jobs. The Texas law is the nation’s biggest curb to abortion since the Supreme Court affirmed in the landmark 1973 decision Roe v. Wade that women have a constitutional right to an abortion. Abortion providers have said they will comply, but already some of Texas’ roughly two dozen abortion clinics have temporarily stopped offering abortion services altogether. Clinics in neighboring states, meanwhile, have seen a surge in patients from Texas. Texas Right to Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group and a driver of the new law, said Thursday in anticipation of the lawsuit that it was already working with other states to pass similar measures. “The Biden administration’s ploy represents a desperate attempt to stop the life-saving law by any means necessary,” the group said in a statement. Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, said his office was confident the courts would uphold the

JIM SALTER | AP

About 200 abortion rights demonstrators gathered outside the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, for a rally on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. law. “The most precious freedom is life itself. Texas passed a law that ensures that the life of every child with a heartbeat will be spared from the ravages of abortion,” Eze said. The law provides no exceptions in cases of rape or incest, which Abbott on Tuesday defended by falsely asserting that women still have “at least six weeks” to get an abortion. A woman who has regular periods and is carefully tracking her cycle could know of a positive result no earlier than about four weeks into a pregnancy. Abbott also said Texas would strive to “eliminate all rapists from the streets.” Recent surveys by the U.S. Department of Justice found that most rapes go unreported to police, including a 2019 survey that found that only about 1 in 3 victims reported they were raped or sexually assaulted. The Center for Reproductive Rights,

which is representing Texas abortion clinics suing over the law, welcomed the Biden administration stepping in. “It’s a gamechanger that the Department of Justice has joined the legal battle to restore constitutionally protected abortion access in Texas and disarm vigilantes looking to collect their bounties,” said Nancy Northup, the group’s president. Brigitte Amiri, deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement that the lawsuit is a critical first step “to righting this injustice for the people of Texas, and to prevent this catastrophe from playing out in other states that have pledged to follow Texas’ lead.” Amiri said in an interview that she expected the lawsuit to move quickly, possibly reaching the Supreme Court within weeks.

Biden seeking additional funds for Ida relief and Afghans By Josh Boack AP News

The White House is asking Congress to approve an additional $24 billion in spending to handle the costs of Hurricane Ida and other natural disasters, as well as $6.4 billion for the resettlement of evacuees from Afghanistan to help with transportation, government processing and public health screenings. Shalanda Young, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, in a blog post Tuesday proposed the spending be part of a stopgap spending bill, saying “it’s clear” that Congress will need more time to pass a full 2022 budget. Continuing resolutions typically are approved by Congress to keep the government operating when the annual appropri-

ations/spending bills have not been approved before the fiscal year ends at the end of September. “The purpose of this guidance is to advise lawmakers on how to avoid severe disruptions to public services that could inadvertently arise from extending the previous year’s appropriations legislation without modifications,” Young wrote. Congress is weighing plans that could increase federal spending by $3.5 trillion over 10 years, some of which would be offset by tax increases on the wealthy and corporations. But the annual appropriations bills are separate, and provide the funding needed to keep the government running past Sept. 30 and avert a federal shutdown. Congress faces a few short weeks as it races to address both issues.

President Joe Biden will need to keep Democratic lawmakers united to get that $3.5 trillion social, climate change and environment measure passed, as Republicans have vowed to block it. There is, separately, $550 billion in new infrastructure spending that the Senate approved on a bipartisan basis. The OMB is also recommending additional money for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and renewing authorities for the Bureau of Reclamation so that it can respond to droughts. Young’s blog post notes that more than $14 billion was needed to address natural disasters before Ida ravaged Louisiana, Mississippi and communities along the eastern seaboard as it traveled north. She estimates that another $10 billion

will be needed to specifically address Ida, including funds for community development block grants, emergency highway relief and Small Business Administration disaster loans, among other programs. The sum for Ida-related expenses is rough as much of the damage is still being assessed. The federal government is on track to have spent $6.8 trillion during fiscal 2021, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Much of that spending reflects the relief such as direct payments and expanded jobless aid that were provided in response to the coronavirus pandemic that put the yearly budget deficit at $3 trillion. Biden initially proposed a $6 trillion budget for 2022 as COVID-19 aid waned with a deficit of $1.8 trillion.

12 | Opinions. The DePaulia. Sept. 13 2021

Opinions

The iconic Taliban flag is painted on a wall outside the American embassy compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.

BERNAT ARMANGUE | AP PHOTO

Dear cable news, exiting Afghanistan was the right choice By Erik Uebelacker Opinions Editor

With Afghanistan now under Taliban control, Americans are left wondering how we spent the past two decades and over $2.3 trillion to reach this seemingly inevitable outcome. The United States military officially departed Afghanistan on Aug. 30, ending a 20-year occupation of the region and the longest war in American history. Now, many in the media are blaming President Joe Biden for his decision to withdraw from the country in lieu of the Taliban’s strength. But these critics should take a step back and consider what more the U.S. could possibly accomplish by remaining in the region any longer. The original aims of the 2001 Afghanistan invasion seem to be completely lost after years of moving the goalposts to cater to American exceptionalism and the military-industrial complex. “Honestly, we achieved our initial objectives within six months of the 9/11 attacks,” says retired U.S. Army Col. Arnold V. Strong. Strong was deployed to Afghanistan three times during his service, and saw the overall aims of the American occupation morph throughout this time. “The goal was to make it such that Afghanistan was no longer a place that would provide safe harbor for al-Qaeda, as Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, to have a safe place to plan, train and logistically enable themselves to do another 9/11-style attack,” Strong told The DePaulia. “I think those objectives were met years ago.” Despite ostensibly meeting these goals so long ago, the United States remained in the region to install a self-sufficient,

Western democratic government against the Taliban. Fellow Afghanistan veteran Sgt. Tim Navarro believes that this may have been unachievable in hindsight. “Our original goal was completely winnable,” Navarro said. “But creating a long-term, stable government that could thrive against the Taliban without our help never seemed possible ... Trying to force a Western-style of government on a group of people that didn’t ask for it to begin with never seemed like it was [achievable] in the long run.” Navarro’s account of the Afghanistan war speaks to American exceptionalism and our national hubris. The governing style that works here and in nations like ours doesn’t necessarily work in every

self-serving and had not engaged with the people of Afghanistan,” Akhtarkhavari wrote in an email to The DePaulia. Akhtarkhavari believes that the United States’ lack of understanding of Afghan culture and history ultimately doomed our attempts to install a longterm government there. “I believe that the U.S. could have stopped the war if it focused on better understanding the Afghani culture and worked with tribal leaders and various stakeholders on building true coalition, promoting local NGOs, working with youth, improving the county’s infrastructure, education, and community building efforts, and supporting an honest coalition government,” Akhtarkhavari wrote.

“Honestly, we achieved our initial objectives within six months of the 9/11 attacks,” Col. Arnold V. Strong

Retired U.S. Army Veteran

other nation — particularly when the nation in question is being forced into this government and lacks the popular headship required to lead it. This is precisely why the United States-backed Afghan government collapsed so quickly, explained Nesreen Akhtarkhavari, director of Arabic studies at DePaul University “The Afghan government collapsed because the leaders were corrupt,

Perhaps even more damning than the U.S. government’s misunderstanding of Afghan culture were the financial gains of the occupation. It’s no secret that the Afghanistan war has been massively profitable for powerful American defense contractors and their shareholders. In fact, defense stocks outperformed the overall stock market by 58 percent over the course of the war. This alone should raise questions as

to why we were involved in the region for so long, especially considering that the boards of directors for the top five U.S. defense contractors (Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics) all include retired high-level military officials. While the war may have failed to deliver Afghanistan a stable, democratic government, it was certainly a success for the shareholders of these defense contractors, as well as the politicians and lobbyists that received their funding. So is Biden to blame for the Taliban’s brisk takeover of Afghanistan? It seems trivial to assume so, considering this history of corruption that motivated our occupation long before his presidency. There is legitimate criticism for the circumstances surrounding the exit, however. “We should have gotten everyone out before removing our military,” Navarro said, in reference to the Afghan allies that are now struggling to flee the country following the Taliban takeover. But for the cable news talking heads that continue to make the case for a seemingly indefinite Afghanistan occupation, what more could you possibly be hoping to gain? Considering the glaring conflicts of interest between mainstream news and these same defense agencies, we should take what we hear on CNN and Fox with a grain of salt. It’s frankly infuriating that many of these networks choose to blame Joe Biden for his decision to exit the region after they profited from 20 years of combat, over $2 trillion of taxpayer investment, and the thousands of veterans whose lives were lost or forever changed by the war in Afghanistan.

13 | Opinions. The DePaulia. Sept 13, 2021

An old dilemma in the New Year for Jewish students By Barbara Schiffer Contributing Writer

Jewish tradition holds that on Rosh Hashanah our destiny for the coming year is written. For many Jewish DePaul students, who make up 4 percent of undergraduates, it has already been chosen for them – we are being written out of the community. This year, the first day of classes for DePaul students landed on this deeply important day. Somewhat ironically, Rosh Hashanahh is also the day of the Involvement Fair that centers around religious and cultural groups. The result is that many Jewish students who are interested in being involved Jewishly on campus, cannot attend the fair because they are observing the Jewish New Year. Though this scheduling error was presumably a mistake, it did not go unnoticed by the community as something that could have been done differently. “Well for me, I had a music school audition on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and started school on the second,” Hillel Student President Priya Fink told The DePaulia. “So it just makes it a little tricky to maintain the focus of my non-Jewish colleagues when I know there’s something really important happening at the same time. As for the Involvement Fair, it’s sort of disappointing considering there were 5 other days they could’ve had religious orgs but they chose to have it on Rosh Hashanah.” By starting school on such an important day, DePaul has put Jewish students in an awkward situation that could have been easily avoided. For many, this is a reminder of the annual struggle Jewish students face across the country and have dealt with for their entire academic careers. In July, DePaul’s administration put out a long-awaited and much appreciated statement publicly committing to stand against antisemitism. It made clear that the administration stands with the Jewish students and the Jewish community as a whole by stating, “Let us stand together against antisemitism and against all forms of discrimination, prejudice, hostility

By Priya Fink

Contributing Writer

AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA DePaul students stop at the table for the DePaul Center for Jewish Life at the Involvement Fair Sept. 8.

or violence against any members of our community.” However, as crucial as a statement is, it’s the actions behind it that matter the most. This week is the two-day Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and one of the most important holidays of the Jewish calendar during which Jews spend time with family and friends, and often attend hours-long synagogue services. More observant Jews do not use electronics and observe various other laws and traditions. Hillel, the Jewish student organization, offered everything from holiday meals and shofar blowing (a ram’s horn that is blown in synagogues on Rosh Hashanah throughout the preceding month and at the end of Yom Kippur), to opportunities to learn together for students to celebrate the holidays together. While DePaul has published their support of Jewish students, and students of all religions, decisions like this put that claim into question. In his July 18 email, President Esteban

quoted DePaul’s mission statement and said, “According to our mission statement, as a community, ‘we recognize the intrinsic ethical connection between dignity and diversity as a natural and necessary context for human flourishing, and thus we strive to be a welcoming and inclusive educational community that cultivates these important values among ALL persons at DePaul.’ Let us stand together against antisemitism and against all forms of discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against any members of our community.” What I want to know is how does imposing an ethical burden on Jewish students evoke the ideals of welcoming and inclusion and reject the very discrimination that President Estaban stands against? What does this decision forecast for the first year students as they embark on their journeys at DePaul? And maybe most critically, are Jews welcome or merely tolerated at DePaul?

gles. For example, I don’t face the same struggles as a Mexican American as someone who is Colombian American. That is just within the Latino umbrella, but can be seen in other communities as well. While it may be convenient to refer to a general group, some advocate for being more specific. “I just think the best solution is to refer to people with specificity because whenever you generalize, you’re [making] claims about experiences that don’t actually exist or you might be erasing experiences that do exist by collapsing them all into this one structure of being,” Sachin Dubey, a Lake County community organizer, said. By addressing specific communities, we are able to hone in the unique issues they face. The struggle I still see in this is being able to catch those nuances, for example, we can talk specifically about Latinos, but there are South American Latinos compared to Indigneous Latinos and so forth. It’s important to also note that society has changed language to create better terms from in the past. Looking at similar terms, many of them are incredibly problematic. “If you look at the predecessor of terms that encompass basically everyone in the United States who’s not white, those were infinitely worse,” said professional lecturer Jesse Mumm. “Minority” or “non-white” are listed as alternatives. According to Aceves, “non-white” implies several white su-

premacist ideals. “It makes white the norm, makes white the non-racialized group as white as if race wasn’t itself a construct made by white people,” they said. While there is the effort to create or change our language to support our identities, both Dubey and Mumm said they believe that a single term can not accomplish everything. “But the problem with any term is that it’s going to become loaded with connotations and signifiers,” Mumm said. “No matter what any particular group wants it to be that will ultimately feel restrictive, feel like a straitjacket, or feel applied to one group wanting another group.” Dubey said he believes that labels are too reductive and could never acknowledge every single nuance in every instance. Although this evaluation and reflection leaves us with more questions about how we continue, we must start to become more conscious and concise with how we speak about racial and ethnic communities. There is not a single solution or term that could be perfect 100 percent of the time. Language and society changes too often and too fast for one term to be the best. We need to constantly reflect and change in order to properly identify our communities and those we support. In the effort to be both socially and culturally conscious, we need to be looking for more and better ways to identify ourselves.

The phrase ‘people of color’ is outdated By Nadia Hernandez News Editor

What does it mean to be a person of color? The term is meant to distinguish us from white people, but also unifies the shared experiences and struggles from white supremacy. However, I’ve tried to reflect on what the term “person of color” means to me, our society and how it reinforces racist ideas. From racist implications to favoring white supremacy, we need to search for a better term to identify racial and ethnic terms. The term “people of color” combines all racial and ethnic groups into one big lump rather than showing important distinctions between specific histories and communities. Although it is mainly used to distinguish from white people, it causes harm by assuming these groups share the same experiences. “POC as a term could be really harmful in the sense that a lot of people have been erasing Black and Indigenous voices, and because of the fact that there are people of color who are also incredibly anti-Black,” Carolina Aceves, SGA senator for intercultural awareness, said. The term BIPOC accomplishes distinguishing Black and Indigenous struggles from other groups; however, it also implies all other racial and ethnic groups’ experiences are homogenous. In reality, all specific communities face distinct strug-

Give DePaul time off for High Holidays As a Jewish student at DePaul, every year I start fall quarter knowing that I will have to miss class for the Jewish High Holidays. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the most important days in the Jewish year and they typically fall within the first few weeks of school. Thus, Jewish students that choose to miss class are faced with balancing the demands of starting the school year with make-up work and coordinating with teachers and might fall behind as a result. It’s challenging to fully embrace the meaning of the two most important days in the Jewish tradition with the extra pressure of school on these holidays. I am a senior, and I won’t have to balance celebrating the high holidays with missing class at DePaul after this year. However, as the president of DePaul’s Hillel and as a student who has experienced how discouraging this situation can be, I urge DePaul to give the university two days off — one for Rosh Hashanah and one for Yom Kippur, starting next year. The first few weeks of class are a critical time when students are still grounding themselves in the topic and flow of a course. This year, the first day of school fell on Rosh Hashanah. Additionally, many Jews fast on Yom Kippur, which can make it difficult to match the focus of our non-Jewish peers for those of us who choose to attend classes on this holiday. During this crucial time in the school year, it can feel as though we are challenged to fit our religion into our school schedules. Furthermore, there are six days of DePaul’s involvement fair, each featuring different categories of organizations. Out of all six days, the school scheduled the religious organizations on Rosh Hashanah. For four years, I have had to choose between observing the most important holidays in my religion or attending class at the beginning of the term. For a university that prides itself on caring so much about diversity, I wouldn’t think this is a decision they would force any of their students to make. While I may not be the most religious Jew, the holidays are more than just prayers and practices for me and other Jews of varying observance levels. Rather, these holidays are a time for reflection, intention setting and on Yom Kippur specifically, grieving. These practices are important for not just Jews, but all people — no matter what their religion or beliefs may be. DePaul’s updated mission statement claims that the University, “compassionately upholds the dignity of all members of its diverse, multi-faith, and inclusive community” and “strives to create an accepting and nurturing environment in which people of every faith are supported and nurtured.” DePaul also released a statement asking professors to be accommodating and flexible with students during the holidays. However, students do not need flexibility; instead, if DePaul truly wanted to be as inclusive and nurturing as they say, they would give the days off for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Vincentian values emphasize the acceptance of all. I would hope that as a Vincentian school, the Jewish holidays would be respected as much as others.

14 | Focus. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021

Focus

AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

Badar and Hajar Al Lawati help their daughter MIla walk across the playground on Sept. 1.

Parental guidance

Student parents find resources lacking By Kiersten Riedford

P

Focus Editor

arenting two children under the age of 5 is difficult enough, but parenting them while pursuing a doctorate and working is a lot to handle. Challenging is how Badar Lawati, DePaul graduate student and adjunct professor, described it. “It wasn’t an easy thing,” he said. “I have two daughters. My elder daughter is about 4 and a half years old and the younger one just turned 2. It was definitely a big change in addition to it being a big challenge because I started [DePaul’s] program single and then I got married a year after I started my Ph.D. and then almost two years later I have a kid. But, luckily I have an advisor who is also a parent himself, so he understands the challenges and he adjusted well to me not being available 24/7, not being able to accomplish as much as I would want in a typical week — especially the first few weeks with sleepless nights.” Lawati is not alone; he is one of many students who live the student parent lifestyle. According to a 2018 study by the Association of American Colleges and Universities

by the numbers $17,112 average per year in unmet need for independent students with dependents

30 percent

of independent students with dependents are involved in 4-year institutions SOURCE | PELL INSTITUTE

(AAC&U), 26 percent of college students are parents. Since this study, a more recent study was performed in August by EducationData. org. The study shows an approximate increase in the percentage of parenting collegiate students by 2 percent. The statistic claims “51 percent of independent students are parents.” Independent students — defined as being at least 24 years old, married, a graduate or professional student, a veteran, a member of the armed forces, an orphan, a ward of the court, someone with legal dependents other than a spouse, an emancipated minor, or a person who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless — make up 55 percent of the collegiate student population, as reported by the AAC&U in 2018. All in all, approximately 28 percent of college students as of August are parents. Like Lawati, graduate student Arianna Jamerson is another working student parent. She said the experience of parenting a child while being a student is humbling and welcoming. “As a parent, my child has a schedule and I have committed to sticking to that and shifting my own personal to-dos around to make sure his needs are met,” Jamerson said. “My needs didn’t have a real ‘deadline’ in terms

Focus. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021| 15

ALICIA GOLUSZKA | THE DEPAULIA

AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

Badar and Hajar Al Lawati sit with their daughters Leah and Mila on a park bench on Sept. 1. Badar said he tries to spend Saturdays with his family and avoids doing work. He said the key to being a parent and a student is to make time for family.

of date and time. It has been humbling recreating a schedule that works for my son to thrive, and for me to do the same, while my husband works from home in the pandemic. All of it is a whole new way of life.” During the past year, Jamerson said her professors encouraged her to have a normal life at home amidst virtual classes. She said, “I have been able to have my son in the Zoom classes and he can wave, say hi, make noise, laugh and play in the background. I have had every professor in the counseling program say that they welcome it, and even speak to him when my audio is on.” Though professors like Jamerson’s are willing to let student parents bring their children to class virtually, DePaul’s Title IX Coordinator Kathryn Statz said this may be unlikely in an in-person environment. “[Bringing a child to class] would be a big ask for a professor,” Statz said. “But we don’t have a policy for professors [to say yes or no].” But, if a professor tells a student no, the university does not provide a free alternative option for childcare. Instead, there is a paid option for students to send their children. Marillac St. Vincent Family Services is a public center for childcare in Lincoln Park where students pay a fee based on the family’s income. Though this is an option, many students like Lawati are still unsettled because they have to pay for childcare when alternate schools like University of Illinois, Illinois State University and Northern Illinois University, amongst others, provide childcare for student parents.

“A lot of my friends who did their Ph.D.s at other universities had that advantage,” Lawati said. “Having that daycare at school can, especially if it’s even subsidized because daycares are so expensive in Chicago.” Lawati said daycares can sometimes cost $1,000 per month. “I had a friend who lived downtown, he spent about 60 percent of his income on daycare,” Lawati said. “[He said] it was $600 a week. So having that school daycare, or that school-subsidized daycare, would definitely be a huge plus for me.” Due to this lack of a necessary resource to student parents, students like Jamerson and Lawati said they would prefer to receive more financial aid if they are not provided with services like childcare. According to a study by the Pell Institute this year, independent students take on nearly double the student debt of dependent students. “My only observation is that there is not as much aid in the pandemic for grad students in terms of grants,” Jamerson said. “I fully support undergraduate students getting the most forgiveness; I couldn’t imagine my freshman through junior year on Zoom in only my dorm room. But I do wish there were programs to support grad students financially with grants at DePaul. In terms of parents, some of us may still choose to send our children to safe, tuition-based educational programs in the pandemic. I wish there could be need-based aid that keeps that in mind. A lot of us may still have undergraduate debt we’re hoping to eliminate while furthering our ed-

by the numbers 72 percent of student parents have financial need after financial aid, grants, and family contributions

43 percent of independent students with children live at or below the federal poverty line

$3,800

the amount in debt single mothers are compared to female students with no children SOURCE | EDUCATIONDATA.ORG

16 | La DePaulia. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021

La DePaulia

Bidi Bidi Bom Bom

Nuevo cómic de TidalWave honra la vida de Selena Quintanilla By Linette Sánchez Staff Writer

TidalWave Productions lanza un libro de cómic de la reina de la música tejana Selena Quintanilla titulado “Female Force: Selena EN ESPAÑOL” que narra la vida de la cantante y su camino al éxito. Este libro de cómic es parte de la serie de Tidal Wave Comics “Female Force” que cuenta las historias de mujeres que han dejado un gran impacto en el mundo. Selena Quintanilla era una cantante mexicana-americana quien tuvo éxito en la década de los años noventa y falleció en el año 1995. Sin embargo, su impacto sigue prosperando a través de películas, productos de maquillaje, series de televisión y libros. Su historia ha sido contada a diferentes audiencias con la película Selena en el año 1997 y recientemente con el estreno de la serie de Netflix Selena: The Series en diciembre de 2020. Selena ha vendido más de 65 millones de álbumes y es considerada la artista femenina con los discos más vendidos de la historia de la música latina. Winter Johnson Pinzón, una estudiante de la Universidad DePaul describe el impacto que ella cree que Selena ha tenido. “En todas las fiestas que yo asisto siempre escucho una canción de Selena. He escuchado su música en bodas, quinceañeras, y hasta en funerales”, dijo Pinzón. “Esto nos muestra el legado e impacto que Selena ha tenido en nuestras vidas y en el mundo”. Pinzón cree que el libro de cómic relata la historia de Selena y captura su personalidad de una manera efectiva. “Creo que el libro cómic hace un buen trabajo en ilustrar un resumen de la vida de Selena y enfatiza cómo los padres de Selena la criaron para que fuera una persona buena y generosa”, dijo Pinzón. “El libro también nos muestra cómo Selena era una persona dedicada a la música y sobrepasó muchos obstáculos para tener éxito en un género de música que era dominado por los hombres”. Ramón Salas, el ilustrador del libro de cómic “Female Force: Selena EN ESPAÑOL” en una entrevista con WGN describió el desafío que fue ser ilustrador de este libro de cómic. “El libro es más que una biografía. Es como un tributo o homenaje”, dijo Salas a WGN. “Yo no sabía mucho de ella y cuando empecé a investigar me di cuenta de que estaba tratando de representar a una persona con un extraordinario talento y de inicio no pensé que pudiera hacerlo. Se que hice lo mejor posible y espero que les guste mucho”, dijo Salas. Vanesa León, una estudiante de la Universidad DePaul, explica cómo el libro de cómic cuenta cómo Selena era bicultural dado a ser hija de padres mexicanos y vivir en los Estados Unidos. “Creo que las personas que leen este libro de cómic pueden aprender de cómo venir de dos mundos [como Selena] puede ser una ventaja porque Selena tuvo mucho éxito como una cantante mexicanaamericana en los Estados Unidos”, dijo

FOTO CORTESÍA DE TIDALWAVEPROD | INSTAGRAM

El cómic basado en la vida de la cantante mexicana Selena Quintanilla será publicado el 11 de agosto por TidalWave Comics. León. Arline Vargas, una estudiante de la Universidad Benedictine, explica el significado que este libro cómic tiene para ella como latina en los Estados Unidos. “Como alguien que le encanta leer libros de cómic y como latina es importante para mí que existan libros de cómic que muestren a figuras de miembros de comunidades minoritarias y que estos libros les den el respeto que merecen”, dijo Vargas. “Estoy muy orgullosa de que Selena es una de estas figuras”. El cómic consiste de veintidós páginas con varias ilustraciones brillantes y ya está disponible. Así como las ilustraciones del cómic, el legado de Selena Quintanilla brillará para siempre.

FOTO CORTESÍA DE TIDALWAVEPROD | INSTAGRAM

TidalWave Productions lanza “Female Force: Selena EN ESPAÑOL”.

La DePaulia. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021 | 17

¿Qué esperar de las organizaciones latinas este año? Organizaciones latinas de la Universidad DePaul se preparan para eventos en persona

FOTO CORTESÍA DE @DEPAULTEPEYAC | INSTAGRAM

El Centro Cultural Latinx celebra el Día de los Muertos en el 2018 en persona con pan, frutas, fotos, velas y calaveras.

By Erika Pérez Gerente Editorial, La DePaulia

Después de un año y medio de reunirse virtualmente, las organizaciones latinas de la Universidad DePaul están emocionadas de volver en persona. Organizaciones y departamentos estudiantiles como Tepeyac, Centro Cultural Latinx, Estudios Latinoamericanos y el Centro de Investigación Latino tienen un año lleno de eventos por línea y en persona. Laura Aranda, coordinadora del Centro Cultural Latinx, dijo que está agradecida de estar de vuelta en el campus de DePaul. El Centro Cultural Latinx está planeando un evento para la semana del día de los pueblos indígenas. “Esperamos organizar programas valiosos, atractivos y de celebración de muchas maneras (en línea y en persona) para nuestros estudiantes este año”, dijo Aranda. DePaul permite a las organizaciones tener eventos en persona siempre que sigan las guías del Covid-19 para asegurarse de que todos estén seguros. “Estoy extremadamente emocionada de estar de regreso en persona después de un largo tiempo de estar [en línea]”, dijo Elizabeth Amaya, presidenta de Tepeyac. El año pasado para celebrar el Día de los Muertos, Tepeyac lo hizo virtualmente enviando paquetes a los estudiantes con dulces, una camiseta y un kit de pintura de calaveras. Este año, Tepeyac tendrá eventos en honor a la tradición del Día de los Muertos en persona del 21 de octubre al 2 de noviembre. “Estaremos pintando calaveras de cerámica, haciendo caléndulas con papel de seda, disfrutando de una noche de película de Coco y creando una ofrenda de la que todos están invitados a ser parte”, dijo Amaya.

FOTO CORTESÍA DE ELIZABETH AMAYA |

Miembros de Tepeyac presentan en la feria de participación.

Los estudiantes podrán ver la ofrenda anual hecha por la junta ejecutiva de Tepeyac que colocan fuera de las capillas en los campus de Lincoln Park y Loop. “Invitamos a todos a que pasen por aquí para conocer el significado de una ofrenda, así como a dejar el nombre o la foto de un ser querido fallecido”, dijo Amaya. Como junta ejecutiva, Amaya menciona que están entusiasmados por organizar eventos como el día

de apreciación para estudiantes de transferencia/viajeros, un retiro latinx y el festival anual de arte SOMOS latinx. Dra. Delia Consentino, presidenta interina de Estudios Latinoamericanos, dijo que el departamento traerá de regreso la Celebración de las Américas, que incluye escritores, poetas y otros artistas de la comunidad latinas. “El objetivo universal es seguir explorando de una forma u otra las amplias dinámicas que dan forma a las

experiencias latinoamericanas”, dijo Consentino. Consentino habló sobre la colaboración con la profesora Ester Trujillo, quien estará invitando a Elisabet Velázquez, autora de When We Make It que cuenta la historia de una joven puertorriqueña. “Extraño estar en eventos en persona y estar en un espacio donde las conversaciones se tienen de forma natural”, dijo Consentino. El Centro de Investigación Latino está planeando un festival de cine que se centrará sobre el cine indígena dirigido por la profesora Christine Janney. Dr. Bill Johnson González, director del Centro de Investigación Latino, dijo que esto dará luz a la comunidad indígena. “Queremos resaltar aspectos de las experiencias latinas y latinoamericanas que han sido marginados y no reciben la misma atención que otras comunidades”, dijo Johnson González. El Centro de Investigación Latino patrocinará un evento junto con el programa de estudios de Paz, Justicia y Conflicto invitando a Luis Rodríguez, un escritor chicano de Chicago quién a hablar con los estudiantes. Una ventaja de reunirse virtualmente fue cómo los estudiantes todavía estaban motivados para sintonizar a los eventos virtuales. “De alguna manera, mudarse a Zoom hizo accesible a las personas conectarse y ver un evento o escuchar a un orador”, dijo Johnson González. Con un nuevo año escolar vienen nuevas metas y el sentido de comunidad se siente más cercano. “Queremos crear ese sentido de comunidad porque desde que estamos en Zoom uno puede sentirse desconectado”, dijo González.

Arts & Life

18 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021

RILEY ANDREWS | THE DEPAULIA

Crowds gather at the booths selling books at the Printers Row Lit Fest on September 11. The event saw people come from all over the literary community to shop books.

Printers Row Lit Fest unites literary community By Riley Andrews Asst. Arts & Life Editor

A community of booksellers, writers and readers gathered over the weekend to enjoy the annual Printers Row Lit Fest downtown. The festival highlighted local and national independent bookstores and authors to produce an event centered around appreciating literature. This event is essential to the Chicago literary community. The event featured plenty of authors and speakers that focused on a variety of topics and genres. Printers Row Lit Fest’s Director of Programming Fest Javier Ramirez stated that while there is no overall theme for the festival, there is one section dedicated to more central and modern issues. “Every year there’s [an] … area where every event deals with political issues [and] social issues,” Ramirez said. “It’s all over the map, really.” The Printers Row Lit Fest is tailored to discovery. Ramirez spoke of his main motivations behind the festival. “It’s to get readers out to discover things that they have not yet discovered … and to make sure the authors have a good time … they discover new readers,” Ramirez said. “We pull from all over the country … we contact every possible author that’s got a book coming out. We try to have that book come out that year, but with COVID we included some folks that had books come out last year.” While Printers Row Print Festival reaches authors and stores from all over the country, it values the locals as well. A few local bookstores were present at the festival. These bookstores set up booths at different sections of the

People listen to live readings at the Printers Row Lit Fest on September 11. festival to highlight certain genres and authors that are relevant to the topic in their areas. Regardless, they reached new customers and connected to the city around them. Suzy Takacs, the owner of the Book Cellar, opened her store in 2004 and began participating in the festival a few years later. “I think Printers Row [Lit Fest] tries to encompass all things that are literary in Chicago, so they want to include the independent bookstores, the authors … I think the goal is to represent all literary things that are a part of Chicago,” said Takacs. “It’s important to me to be a part of our neighborhood community as well as the literary community.” Roscoe Books was another local

bookstore present at the Printers Row Lit Fest. While the store has been open for seven years, this was the store’s first year at the festival. Roscoe Books focused on selling nonfiction books at the festival, but owner Erika Van Dam hoped that readers would discover all sorts of new literary genres. Van Dam is grateful for the support that her store has received in the past, and is excited to be a part of the festival. “I am hoping that people come out and enjoy access [to] both a great slate of authors and booksellers that they may not have visited,” said Van Dam. The festival looked different this year than it did before the pandemic. Normally the festival was held in the

RILEY ANDREWS | THE DEPAULIA

Harold Washington Library. This year it was mostly outdoors and in the streets. Any event that was held indoors required proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test result. Masks were required indoors as well. “[We are] trying to follow those mandates out in the open air… it’s going to be difficult to do but we are going to do our best to make sure that everyone is masked up,” said Ramirez. “These are things you are going to have to expect when you come to Printers Row [Lit Fest] … we are going to do our part to make sure that everyone is safe.” The Printers Row Lit Fest is an annual event. For more information on the festival, visit their website at print-

Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021 | 19

Fans dish on Kanye’s Donda listening event By Chinyere Ibeh Arts & Life Editor

It’s a Chicago night in the last week of August and a body on fire makes its entrance to Soldier Field. The house in the middle of the field appears to have flames projected onto it as well. This fiery display was the beginning of Kanye West’s listening event for his latest album, “Donda.” The house in the middle of Soldier Field is a replica of West’s childhood home here in Chicago. The entire event was a wild yet intriguing journey, right from the start. “That was pretty wild,” said Stafford Hipp, a fan in attendance. “My friend and I thought that they were gonna burn the whole house down. And then once they started, like, projection mapping fire, we were like, ‘Oh, this is crazy.’ But, I guess there’s no real fire.” West hosted two previous listening events for the album at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Between all three events, there were various changes made to the album. In the first two events, Jay-Z was featured in one of the songs. During the listening event at Soldier Field, West played the same song but with a verse from DaBaby. “I was not a fan of the version of ‘Jail’ he played, replacing Jay-Z and putting DaBaby on instead,” said Mike Miesuk, another fan who attended the listening event at Soldier Field. Hipp agrees with the sentiment, explaining that he preferred Jay-Z’s version to the version with DaBaby that West eventually settled on Similarly, neither of them was thrilled by the fact that Marilyn Manson and DaBaby were surprise special guests at the event — just one of the many intriguing and head-turning moments of the night.

STAFFORD HIPP

The set of Kanye West’s “Donda” listening event, which features a replica of the artist’s childhood home and people in all-black. Miesuk said he didn’t understand their music. “So, that’s another thing I didn’t fulWith their masters, artists can lily comprehend until later,” Hipp said. “I what made Kanye invite the duo out. He did not know that was DaBaby at first. also found it strange that West brought cense and give permission to third parAnd then my friend and I were like, ‘Oh, out two men who have assaulted women ties to use their music. In most cases, in the past while doing a listening party the labels tend to own the masters of that’s Marilyn Manson. That’s weird.’” for an album honoring his late mother. their artists’ music and they have the In February of this year, actress legal right to profit off of those original Evan Rachel Wood officially alleged recordings. that Marilyn Manson abused her. Miesuk also said it was odd that the Wood’s allegation was the latest of album was released without West’s perManson’s long history of alleged and mission, given that he owns his own laconfirmed acts of abuse. As for DaBa- bel. by, a video of him slapping a female fan “I have a really hard time believing in a club circulated on social media last that Kanye didn’t give approval, because year. does that mean that the album was Another interesting part of the event leaked?” Hipp said. “The whole updatwould be its ending: Kim Kardashian ed album was leaked. That doesn’t really walking in a wedding dress. Anoth- make sense. So, he’s probably just trying Hand Tossed Store Hours er point of intrigue and some possible to build up media hype.” Ultimately, the most important Pizza Mon - Fri 10 am – 5:30 pm head scratches, as the couple filed for divorce earlier this year. thing of the night was whether or not From scratch Breakfast returning soon “I was able to see down in the cor- people actively enjoyed the music. ner, and she was coming out of the corHipp says the appeal of the album ner, and I just shouted the word ‘bride,’” was the experience and the energy withMiesuk said. “And everybody in our in the stadium. Homemade Pizza, Slices & Whole, section looked over at [her]. And I was Miesuke enjoyed the Sunday serStromboli Rolls, Hearty Pastas, Salads, Soup, kind of like, ‘ah, yeah, that is probably vice choir that was added to some of exactly how I expected this to end.’” the songs. Despite enjoying the album Combos w/side & drink, Desserts & more. People in Hipp’s section didn’t be- overall, he did admit that some of the lieve it was Kim Kardashian. . Hipp songs felt unfinished. didn’t find out that it was Kardashian “Donda” has 23 songs on Billboard’s until later in the night when he saw me- Top 100 chart with two of them landing dia coverage of her appearance. in the Top 10. The album launched at The album was officially released on number 1 with 309,000 units sold, surthe morning of Sunday, Aug. 29. Soon passing Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour.” after the album’s highly anticipated re312-663-1070 lease, West took to his Instagram to allege that his label, Universal Music Group, had released it without his approval. Dine in - Carry out Miesuk is conflicted when it comes Delivering with Door Dash and Grub Hub to believing the allegations, while Hipp doesn’t really believe them. Miesuke Student Discount for in store Purchase w/ Valid ID said that West has talked about artists owning their masters and having control over their music. According to Amuse, owning one’s masters means that artists have ownership over the original recordings of

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20 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021

Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021 | 21

An awkward start for the Class of 2024 By Amber Stoutenborough Staff Writer

September brings the start of the quarter at DePaul and a new start for the class of 2025 who are now able to have a close to normal college experience. For the class of 2024, sophomore year begins after a less than notable freshmen year filled with last-minute closing of dorms and hours of virtual classes. For many sophomores, this will be their first time on campus. While DePaul presented an idea for a special welcome week for sophomores, many sophomores remained uneasy about attending or didn’t even hear about it at all. Sydney Poss, a sophmore political science major, received the email about Welcome Week opportunities for sophomores, but felt it wouldn’t be worth it to go because she was afraid that the sophomore attendance would be minimal. “I don’t know how to feel about the events. This year’s sophomores are coming from very different places, some have been living in Chicago on/around campus since last fall while some have been taking classes from home this entire time,” Poss said. “Due to this, I feel that attendance will definitely not be as high as a normal welcome week, and personally I do not feel the excitement that I would have felt if I got to do this during my first year.” Chauncey Cody, a sophomore psychology major, didn’t receive an email and is distraught in fear of another year with DePaul not effectively communicating with their students. “The last I heard about sophomore Welcome Week was at the end of last year,” Cody said. “I wish I knew more about it because I would love to go. I feel like I haven’t heard of any event going on, especially for sophomores unfortunately and it makes me sad and angry that we’re missing a welcome week component.” Cody lived in the dorms last year and felt secluded from her environment with the dorm restrictions and mostly virtual experience. “Community is really important to me with college and I feel extremely detached,” Cody said. “I am so jealous of seeing many other colleges have a full welcome week for

AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

A DePaul student walks through the quad during the Involvement Fair on September 8, the first day of autumn quarter. their sophomores that seem so fun.” Cody is one of the many sophomores who felt excluded during DePaul’s little attempts to connect the class of ‘24. Alexis Visor, a sophomore liberal arts major, lived at home last year and did not feel prepared for her first year of in-person classes after a year online. “I would have loved to just kind of get some idea of the atmosphere I was walking into before I got here because, when I moved in, I felt very behind,” Visor said. Visor struggled making friends last year because of being home and away from other classmates. “I definitely struggled to make friends last year, I don’t think I made any new friends,” Visor said. “I felt uncomfortable reaching out to somebody online because you don’t real-

ly get a sense of who they are as a person as much.” For both Cody and Poss, the fear of missing out has been a very common experience among the class of ‘24 and has created a barrier in trying to replace it now with the idea of leaving campus again still being a possibility. “Before I decide to join a club, I’m going to see how long we’re even going to be going to school in person before I get invested in something,” Cody said. “I definitely feel that not having a typical freshman year has negatively impacted my college experience thus far,” Poss said. “Seeing the freshmen move into the dorms, I see the joy in their faces, I see them walk to the train with their new friends from the dorms and it’s sad I will never experience that.” Not being able to create these connec-

Students’ guide to free events in the city By Amber Stoutenborough Staff Writer

DePaul students are flooding the city after returning to campus for the first time in 18 months. The university is certainly keeping students busy with welcome week events, but what else is there to discover off campus? Here are a couple of fun, college budget-friendly events to check out while exploring different neighborhoods in Chicago. Cubs fans may be a bit concerned at some of the ticket prices and game time commitments. However, there are other events happening around Wrigley Field that are worth attending as well. Gallagher Way offers a variety of free events, including movie nights, yoga and a French market. These events are open and welcoming to everyone. Gallagher Way has events scheduled through early October, but has not released their schedule for after the Cubs season. However, more events are likely to come. According to their website, the French market features a variety of different booths and businesses. The market will be held Thursdays from 4 p.m to 8 p.m., which may be good timing for after your classes and a fun way to start the

long weekend. The yoga class will be on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. Movie nights are a bit more irregular, but will take place on certain Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The next available movie night to check out is on Sept. 15 and will feature “Dumb and Dumber,” followed by “Hocus Pocus” on Sept 29. Bring your chairs or blankets and enjoy the outdoor theater experience! Another free event worth checking out is the free admission days at various museums around the city. Multiple popular museums are offering days of free entry, although each museum has a different schedule. The Museum of Science and Industry is among the museums offering free admission. Julie Parente, the museum’s director of public relations, says the museum offers many opportunities and exhibits to students who wish to explore. “Museums in Chicago are committed to being resources and destinations for people who live in Chicago and the state of Illinois,” Parente said. “We are part of this community, we are here for the people who live in Chicago and Illinois and we just want to make sure that we are giving people as many opportunities as possible to come and visit the great museums in this city.”

The free museum days are officially only available to Illinois residents. According to Parente, the website will ask for a zip code when booking a ticket on the free museum days to confirm residency. Out-of-state students should not worry, though, as they are able to present their school ID at the door and will be allowed through the doors for free, provided they use an Illinois zip code on the website. Those attending the museum for free will have access to a majority of the exhibits at no charge, although some of the specialty exhibits will be available at an extra cost. Students looking to explore the Museum of Science and Industry’s Marvel experience or their theater will have to pay extra, but there is still plenty to explore without spending a cent. Other museums that are offering free museum days include the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum, although they will offer a different schedule. Visit their websites for more information. These are just a couple of events available for students to check out in their first month back to school. Take advantage of your U-Pass and visit the different destinations that Chicago has to offer before colder weather sets in.

tions with other classmates and having a full academic year online takes an affect on your personal and mental health. Visor and many other students needed a break or questioned the idea of dropping out. “There also comes a point where if it’s harming your mental health, then you have to take a step back,” Visor said. “Last year I took the spring quarter off for mental health reasons. I don’t know if I would quit college but I definitely questioned the purpose that college served for me.” “I didn’t need DePaul to fix the pandemic,” Poss said. “I didn’t need DePaul to fix the once-in-a-lifetime experience. I needed them to acknowledge it and give me something better than this.”

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Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021 | 23

Van Gogh’s life work as immersive experience

AMBER STOUTENBOROUGH | THE DEPAULIA

Two examples of rooms in the exhibit at the Lighthouse Artspace at Germania Club. There are three seperate rooms that show off an interpretation of Van Gogh’s work.

By Amber Stoutenborough Staff Writer

As a tribute to a beloved artist, and one of the most popular exhibits today, Chicago opened its doors to the Immersive Van Gogh experience back in February 2021. Despite the pandemic and its restrictions, the exhibit is booming with activity and established new dates staying until the end of November. Tickets starting at a hefty price of $40, for a 40 minute show, creates an opportunity for a romantic date night with a birds eye view from the Juliet balcony that is available for the show. Including a wine bar and gift shop, there is also an opportunity to do yoga at select times while the psychedelic light show is projected on the surrounding walls. Housed in the reconstructed Lighthouse Artspace at Germania Club, this exhibit spreads across three rooms with 35-foot tall walls giving a variation to each of the same exquisite paintings with an excitingly new look in each corner. With curated music from Edith Piaf and Luca Longobardi, this exhibit takes guests into a multimedia fantasy with 500,000 cubic feet of projections and more than 60,000 frames of video. At the start of the art show, the guests are immediately surrounded by Van Gogh’s paintings on the once blank walls. Displayed are many of this famous artist’s iconic pieces such as “The Starry Night,” “Sunflowers” and “Cafe Terrace at Night,”. While the less than subtle backdrop is matched with the musics’ piercing volume, this exhibit creates a comparison to a carnival fun house and should be cautioned for people that are sound and light sensitive. The relaxed mandates for Covid-19 have impacted Chicago’s summer in

ways everyone has feared, from the start of the city opening up in June, to in the middle of August, the city again enforced mask mandates and began to enforce capacity limits for businesses such as bars and restaurants. Going to an art exhibit which has had more than 2 million guests during a pandemic can cause lots of concern, but The Van Gogh experience attempts to create a safe environment for art lovers and curious Chicagoans alike through safety protocols of hand sanitizer stations, mandatory masks and limited capacity. The exhibit also uses projectors to place circles on the floor acting as an arranged seating area for guests to maintain a social distance. The future of art is transforming into a new age of recreation, and incorporating technology for a better experience. The creation of interactive ‘Pop-up’ museums gives a younger generation an interest in works of classical art. Other examples of this in Chicago are the WNDR museum and Womanish exhibit. This can help people that would otherwise not be interested in art, or going to an art museum, discover pieces of art that they would never have heard of before. This likely will not be the last time that Chicago will see a new take on a celebrated artist’s work and put a new spin on these classics. After hundreds of years we still try to reimagine the beauty that Van Gogh’s art holds on the world.

AMBER STOUTENBOROUGH | THE DEPAULIA

A woman browses through the DePaul Art Museum last September, art museums across the city are opneing while the DAM stays closed.

24 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021

Netflix’s “Clickbait” shows danger in boredom By Chinyere Ibeh Arts and Life Editor

“Clickbait,” released on Aug 25 on Netflix, is a thrilling “Whodunnit?” series within a digitalized context. The rollercoaster ride of the short series ends in a way that viewers wouldn’t expect. The series starts off with a nice family dinner that includes Nick Brewer, his sister Pia and wife Sophie, along with Nick and Pia’s mother. The dinner was pretty tense as Pia didn’t really care for Sophia as she felt she was too uptight. Nick ended up getting extremely angry and kicked Pia out of the house for the night. Pia proceeds to go out clubbing while getting astronomically drunk. It came to a point where she dropped her phone in the toilet when she was using the bathroom. This is an important fact as it later turns out that she missed a phone call and voicemail from her brother. Fast forward to the next morning, when Pia arrives at her job at the hospital, where she stumbles upon a video. She’s shown a video by one of her patients, where her brother is severely bruised and holding a sign. The sign essentially says that Nick will be killed once the video hits five million views. The video eventually reaches five million views and Nick’s body is found in a river a few days later. Upon that moment, the series shifts into this frantic search for the truth. The cinematography matched the grittiness of the subject matter. The series had its fair use of dark colors to convey the gritty nature of the subject matter. Most of the series used eerie music to help the audience understand the sadness and anxiety involved with the abduction and murder of a beloved family member. There were moments that were bright and used softer imagery. These moments were to show the tenderness of family. One moment was when Sophie and Nick had their anniversary party. There were moments of love and compassion between the two, but that

Adrian Grenier as Nick Brewer in Netflix’s “Clickbaitr.” was short lived. The series kept coming back to that moment, but the tone would change. “Clickbait” was great at calling back to previous moments and giving a fresh perspective. Even though that specific moment was visited many times throughout the show, it was something different each time. Throughout the series, we find out crucial information that may pin the murder on various different people. The series does an amazing job of shifting the blame from one person to the other. The viewers are guessing about who had anything to do with Nick’s death based on what the show presents. The thing is, the show tends to add

on and change what it’s presenting. Just how they bring back memories several times with different perspectives, they do the same with adding new information. Another aspect of the show that was interesting was the use of social media and smartphones. Whenever people were texting one another, you would see that conversation pop up separately. Rather than see it on the phone itself, it would pop up like a hologram. A consistent theme would be the digitalization of the “WhoDunnIt?” trope. Throughout the show, we see Pia going hard to find out about her brother’s murder. There were points where Pia was doing more than the police de-

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partment. She used one of her patients from her hospital to her disposal as he was the awkward tech wizard. Using his talents and her relentlessness, Pia was able to uncover the digital trail of the events leading up Nick’s death. Ultimately, the show does exceptionally well with the classic “Whodunnit?” theme. The fast pace would sometimes slow down, but it had the viewers on the edge of their seats from beginning to end.

Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Sept. 13, 2021 | 25

St.Vincent’s

D e JAMZ “Spinning fresh beats since 1581”

By Chinyere ibeh Arts & Life Editor

We have spent the last year and a half consumed by the effects of the Covid-19. Even though many aspects of life had to be put on pause, the world of music continued on its own path. Throughout the pandemic, viral songs churned out at what seemed to be a faster pace. Here are the ones that make rotations in my personal playlist. INDUSTRY BABY — Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow Lil Nas X has faced controversy after controversy, from his “Satan” shoes promoting his other hit “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” to more recently his prosthetic baby bump. This song, particularly its corresponding music video, set Twitter ablaze yet again. The music video features the rapper dancing around a jail. At one point, Lil Nas X was dancing around in a shower with fellow inmates. The song itself begins with the rapper humbly bragging about the awards he has won in his career. This song seems to be a middle finger to the haters as he describes how he started versus how he’s blown up. Mob Life — Miss Lafamilia This British emcee came through with this tough drill song. Miss Lafamilia goes in about her life, especially the rough life she experienced throughout her childhood. The corresponding music video shows visuals of her hometown of Birmingham, England. I stumbled upon this song while I was scrolling through Instagram and a page specific to female rappers posted it earlier this summer. I have been

hooked on Miss Lafamilia ever since then. Need to Know — Doja Cat Doja Cat came through yet again with another banger. The visuals for this song are immaculate, which was expected as Doja Cat is a creative mastermind. Just like the many viral hit songs that Doja Cat has released throughout the pandemic, “Need to Know” is a catchy tune that has taken over social media. The song comes from her third studio album, “Planet Her.” The song has been nominated for Song of the Summer at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. How You Like That — BLACKPINK The K-pop group released this song during the early parts of the pandemic and it became the sound behind a popular TikTok trend. K-pop has grown massively in popularity throughout the pandemic, thanks to groups like BTS and BLACKPINK. The song was last year’s winner of the Song of the Summer award from MTV’s Video Music Awards. WAP — Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion This hypersexual hit was the sound behind a popular TikTok dance craze. It had its fair share of controversy due to its strong nature, sparking debate about its content throughout social media. Despite its controversies, it’s won a handful of awards, including the BET Awards for Best Collaboration and Best Video. WTF — KenTheMan Another song that I discovered by scrolling through Instagram, “WTF” has KenTheMan rapping about her dealing with men in her life. She brags about getting what she wants and not needing to pay her

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own bills. The independent rapper has yet to sign with a major label as she aims to keep ownership of her music. The catchy song is the latest from the onslaught of female rappers in the last couple of years. The only way is up for this female emcee. Muwop — Latto featuring Gucci Mane This song came during the early times of the pandemic in 2020. Latto’s previous hit, “B*tch from Da Souf ” and its remix, put her on the map and this collaboration with Gucci Mane helped. Latto first appeared on a reality TV show in 2016 called “The Rap Game,” a rap competition show. She won the show’s first season and now, five years later, she’s performing at festivals like Rolling Loud and Made for America. “Muwop” officially sees Latto grown up into her own personal sound, evolving from her early days on “The Rap Game.”

IMAGES FROM WIKI

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DOWN 1. Go on and on 2. Fertility clinic stock 3. Fix, in a way 4. Dutch exports 5. Trickle out 6. Start and end of the Three Musketeers’ motto 7. Barney, to Fred 8. Contemptuous look 9. Course listing 10. Surrounded by 11. Christmastime 16. Movie shots 20. Twinings product 21. Second baseman 22. Bill Clinton’s birthplace 23. Surefooted goat 24. 86 is a high one 25. Obligation 28. Teen spots? 30. Wrapped (up) 31. Awestruck 32. Slow 35. Golf ’s ___ Cup 38. Attempt 42. Ruhr Valley city 44. March marchers 45. Duffer’s obstacle 46. Commuter line 47. Not straight 48. Left at sea 51. Ram’s mate 52. Without precedent

Sports

Sports. Sept. 13, 2021 The DePaulia | 26

Men’s basketball is ready to win now By Ryan Taylor Contributing Writer

If there’s one commonality the 2021-22 DePaul men’s basketball team has in mind going into their first full season since the beginning of Covid-19, it’s winning. After checking in following the end of their summer training camp, no one player had their own individual goals, outside of doing their part to help the team win. From the words of players and Coach Stubblefield, winning is what’s most important to them right now. “We’ve been instilled with losing,” junior center Nick Ongenda said. “My goals are to get our team to win. I’m tired of this losing stuff. Obviously, I’m trying to do the best I can and throw my body out there and get this win for all of us.” “We need to win, we want to win,” sophomore transfer Jalen Terry said. “That’s all we talk about is winning. Everybody knows what to expect, so we’re in it together.” The Blue Demons haven’t had a winning season since the 2018-19 season, when Max Strus, Paul Reed and Eli Cain led the team to a 19-17 record. On a similar note, the team hasn’t had a winning record in the Big East conference since the 2006-07 season, back when Wilson Chandler was leading the Blue Demons. However, this year’s team is unlike past seasons the Blue Demons have encountered. The university’s head coach, assistant coaches, director of player development, strength and conditioning coach and half of the players are all going into their first season with the program. DePaul lost 11 players from last year’s roster. While it took some time to mesh this summer, the team is finally starting to

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gel together. “It was different at first,” Terry said. “Everyone had their differences at first, but now everybody likes each other. Everybody is getting used to everybody.” “We have a lot of new guys,” Ongenda said. “Pretty much everyone is new, especially the coaches, who play a huge role in development. I feel like the culture is much more serious. Everyone’s down to work.” While the team is new to each other, there are some ties from the past. One stems directly from Terry himself since he

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“We need to win, we want to win.” Jalen Terry

Men’s basketball guard and Stubblefield were both at Oregon last year before coming to DePaul. “[Stubblefield is] a great coach,” Terry said. “He pushed me, at Oregon, as an assistant. He pushed me to do better and I need that. He knows what I’m capable of and he wants to push me to do that.” With a fresh roster going into its first year of playing together, the team reiterated the fact that their unselfish style of basketball is vital to the success they have this season. The team is adapting to a faster pace of play, including a full-court offense, with more inclusion and emphasis on taking smart shots, according to Ongenda. This will be imperative to DePaul’s success, considering the team ranked 10th in the conference in points per game with 65.4 points and 11th in offensive rating with a rating of 91.9 last season. Even though the team is coming off of last year’s losing record – 2-13 conference, 5-14 overall – and the program being overhauled with new coaches and players, there’s still plenty of optimism surrounding the diversity of the team and the different experiences each of them has had. “From a competitive standpoint, the guys have been challenged and have played against high-level competition,” Stubblefield said. “You have a very historic program like Kansas, where Tyon (GrantFoster) comes from. He’s seen success at a very high level playing under Bill Self, a hall of fame coach. Yor (Anei) coming from Oklahoma State with that great tradition. Brandon (Johnson) has been in the Big-10. I think all of those things play a big factor.” With all eyes on the team and an overflow of optimism about the start of a rebuilding program, the Blue Demons announced the first twelve games of their first season with fans since pre-Covid. The first nine games all take place at home, Wintrust Arena. The Blue Demons’ nine-game home stretch to begin the season is highlighted by matchups with Central Michigan,

Rutgers and crosstown rival Loyola, who upset Illinois in the second round of the NCAA tournament last season. “I think it’s a very challenging nonconference schedule that we’re playing,” Stubblefield said. “Obviously, we’re fortunate and I’m excited that we’re playing the majority of those games at home. If you look at it, Loyola at home is a very challenging game, Rutgers at home. Both of those teams went to the NCAA tournament last season and had a lot of success in their leagues. It’ll give us a chance to be at home and see what we’re made of.” The schedule only gets more exciting on the road after their nine-game stint at Wintrust. Louisville, University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern represent the following games on the road after the home stretch. The regular season presents interesting challenges for the team to find out who they are. However, that is not the main focus of the season. What do the Blue Demons have their eye on this season? “UConn,” Ongenda said.“They came to the Big East and really killed it. I really want revenge on them.” Last season, after advancing past the first round in the Big East tournament by beating Providence, the Blue Demons fell to UConn at Madison Square Garden by a score of 94-60. The Blue Demons are planning to ‘dream big,’ as athletic director DeWayne Peevy would say, this season and turn around the stigma of having a losing basketball team. If there’s one contingency on the team’s success, Ongenda defined it perfectly. “As long as our fans pull up, that would be great,” Ongenda said. “Fan support can really switch the mindset and can turn a ten-point game into a five-point game.” Mark your calendars because the Blue Demons’ first game is less than two months away versus Montevallo on Nov. 4.

Sports. Sept. 13, 2021 The DePaulia | 27

AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

Morgan Turner scored two goals in their 3-1 win over UIC on Aug. 29.

AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

Marek Gonda netted two goals in the Blue Demons’ 3-1 win over St. Thomas on Sept. 2.

Soccer kicks off seasons with fans again By Darcy Waskiewicz Sports Editor

The DePaul women’s and men’s soccer seasons are in full swing. Following a shortened season in the spring of 2021, the women’s soccer team began this season under the new lead of head coach Michele O’Brien. She took over when former head coach Erin Chastain went to coach at University of Minnesota after 14 years with DePaul. The Blue Demons started the regular season with a 2-1 loss to Iowa on Aug. 19. The lone Blue Demon goal came from senior defenseman Sydney Parker. However, DePaul bounced back a week later with a 1-0 win against Oakland on Aug. 26; the first win for O’Brien in her new role. Forward Morgan Turner, who returned this season as a graduate student, scored the only goal of the game two minutes into the second half. DePaul came out flying in their 3-0 win over University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) on Aug. 29 for their first victory at home. Turner scored the first goal nine minutes into the game off an assist from Beth Smyth. Smyth went on to score her own goal ten minutes later off an assist from Parker to give the Blue Demons a 2-0 lead. Turner capped off DePaul’s strong first period a few minutes later with her second of the game off another assist from Smyth. Following their win at home over UIC, the Blue Demons dropped their next three games. The team lost 1-0 to UW-Milwaukee on Sept. 2 before falling to Michigan University 1-0 on Sept. 5. DePaul lost 1-0 again when the team faced Red Line rival Loyola Chicago on Sept. 9. Despite having a strong start, the Ramblers came out flying in the second half and were able to score the only goal of the game in the second half. “I think we all need to get on the same page and build more through the

“We’re playing for the fans, we’re playing for Wish Field and DePaul.” Marek Gonda

DePaul men’s soccer forward midfield and generate a more dynamic attack,” O’Brien said. “I don’t think we’re dangerous enough right now, I don’t think we’re creating enough dangerous chances where we’re getting numbers in the box and building as a team.” “Unfortunately, the last three games haven’t gone our way, but I think we showed a lot of grit,” goalkeeper Mollie Eriksson said. “I think we are improving in the areas that we need to; we just need to find a way to string it all together and hopefully get a result.” After playing Northwestern University on Sept. 12, the Blue Demons come back home to take on Eastern Illinois for Alumni Day on Sept. 18. Meanwhile, the men’s soccer team kicked off their season with a matchup against rival Loyola Chicago but fell to the Ramblers 2-1. Despite a goal from forward Jack Richards that tied up the game in the first half, the Blue Demons were unable to keep Loyola from taking the lead in the second half. DePaul bounced back a week later with a 3-1 win over St. Thomas on Sept. 2 at Wish Field in front of their fans. Forward Marek Gonda had a strong performance with two goals and an assist, while Santiago Rodriguez scored the other goal for the Blue Demons. It was also the first time that sophomores Gonda and Rodriguez had played at Wish Field in front of so many fans following a shortened 2021 season that was played in the spring. “After Covid year last year, we had our family only come to a couple games,” Gonda said, “So seeing fans out here

cheering us on is awesome and we’re playing for the fans, we’re playing for Wish Field and DePaul, so it’s good.” DePaul carried that win on the road, where they battled Wisconsin and came out victorious in a 1-0 win on Sept. 5. Richards scored the lone goal for the Blue Demons off a free kick halfway through the second half. Goalkeeper Gandhi Cruz had six saves to help keep the Badgers off the scoreboard. Cruz took over when the former goalkeeper, Drew Nuelle, graduated. Since the beginning of the season, the sophomore has started in all three games. Following his performance in the win over Wisconsin, Cruz was named to the Big East honor roll on Sept. 6. “I think that it’s a really good recognition and award to have,” Cruz said. “But I think that there’s more to come for this season and can’t wait to see what those are.” DePaul extended that winning streak as the team traveled to Bradley, where the Blue Demons won 2-1. Richards put DePaul on the board first with a goal off a corner kick 11 minutes in. Gonda extended the Blue Demons’ lead early in the second half off an assist from Jake Fuderer. The men’s team returns home with a record of 3-1 on the season to battle UIC on Sept. 15 before taking on Oakland at home on Sept. 18 for Alumni Day.

Key Events Men’s soccer -Sept. 15 vs. UIC, 1p.m. (home) -Sept. 18 vs. Oakland, 12p.m. (home, Alumni Day)

Women’s soccer -Sept. 18 vs. Eastern Illinois, 3:30p.m. (home, Alumni Day)

Volleyball -Sept. 17 vs. Loyola Chicago, 4p.m. (Chicago Cup) -Sept. 18 vs. Northwestern, 12p.m. (Chicago Cup) -Sept. 18 vs. UIC, 5:30p.m. (Chicago Cup)

Cross Country -Sept. 17 and 18 at Redbird Invite (all day)

Women’s Tennis -Sept. 17 and 18 at Redbird Invite (all day)

Sports

Sports. Sept. 13, 2021. The DePaulia | 28

In for the kill

AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

DePaul sophomore outside hitter Jill Pressly had a career-high 24 kills in the Blue Demons’ win over Penn on Sept. 11. Pressly has 131 total kills and 113 digs on the season.

Fans welcome volleyball home at DePaul Invitational By Darcy Waskiewicz Sports Editor

The stands were full, the crowd was loud and the anticipation was high as DePaul volleyball played at home for the first time this season at the DePaul Invitational last weekend. The Blue Demons played in empty arenas with no fans and played the first six games of the season on the road last spring. The DePaul Invitational, which took place on Sept. 10 and 11 at McGrath-Phillips Arena, was the team’s first time playing in front of fans since 2019. DePaul took on the University of Akron in their first match of the weekend but lost 3-2 in a tight match that needed all five sets for a winner to be decided. The next morning, the team had a rough start, and a combination of offensive and defensive errors allowed the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to win the first set of the match 25-18. However, the Blue Demons responded with vigor in the second and third sets. Penn started strong both times, but DePaul bounced back due to hard work all around, led by outside hitter Jill Pressly and libero Rachel Krasowski. The teams were evenly matched in the fourth set until the Blue Demons went on an eight-point scoring streak that helped them win the match 3-1 for the team’s first win at home. Pressly had 24 kills in the entire match, while outside hitter Hanna Karl had 13 kills and 12 digs alongside Krasowski with 18 digs. “We have had a couple of really tough matches where we’ve battled but we haven’t had the result that we have wanted, and we’ve been very close,” head

AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

Rachel Krasowski had 44 digs at the DePaul Invitational. She has 194 digs this season. coach Marie Zidek said. “So, to be able to battle and then to actually add the win to that battle feels really good.” “After last night, we needed to show the fans that we’re here, we’re here to win,” Pressly said. “And just having our first home win, it was great for me. I have never experienced that before with fans, so I’m really happy for the team and how each of us played.” The Blue Demons lost to Oakland University in the final match of the DePaul Invitation. Despite winning the first set, DePaul fell to Oakland in the following three, resulting in a 3-1 loss.

The team began the regular season on Aug. 27 at the CEFCU Invitational. There, the team fell 3-1 to Southeast Missouri State, despite 18 kills and 20 digs from Pressly and 28 digs from Krasowski. The next morning, the Blue Demons were victorious over Central Michigan University. Pressly had 12 kills and 12 digs, while Krasowski had a match-high 24 digs. In their victory against Bradley University, Pressly tallied 13 kills and 20 digs, while middle hitter Donna Brown had 10 kills. In the back row, Krasowski had 11 digs to help keep Bradley from victory.

Due to their performances at the CEFCU Invitational, Krasowski earned the title of Big East Defensive Player of the Week and Pressly was named to the weekly honor roll on Aug. 30. The team carried their win streak into the Tru By Hilton Dayton Invitational on Sept. 3, where the team defeated Marshall 3-2. Pressly had 19 kills, while right-side hitter Emma Price had 12 and Brown had 10. In the back, Krasowski led the team with a match-high 27 digs. DePaul’s winning streak ended the next day, however, when the Blue Demons fell 3-0 to Ball State on Sept. 4. The team went on to lose to Wright State 3-1 later that night, although Krasowski had 24 digs. Following her performance at the tournament, Krasowski was named to the weekly honor roll on Sept. 6; her second straight week being honored by the Big East. “It felt really good [to earn the honors], honestly,” Krasowski said. “I’ve been working hard, my teammates have been pushing me inside and outside of the gym, and I couldn’t really do it without them. Just their support in general and them having my back as well.” Following the DePaul Invitational last weekend, the Blue Demons go back on the road with a record of 4-5 on the season. The team travels to Northwestern University next weekend for the Chicago Cup, where they will play local rivals Northwestern, Loyola Chicago and University of Illinois Chicago on Sept. 17 and 18.