Love 2Chainz? Find out how to see him and bbno$ at Fest on page 4.
Need something to look forward to? Read about today’s good news on page 18.
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Volume #106 | Issue #24 | May 9, 2022 | depauliaonline.com
‘IT HASN’T SUNK IN YET’ KIERSTEN RIEDFORD | THE DEPAULIA
DePaul President A. Gabriel Esteban gives final interview to The DePaulia, one month before he officially steps down as university president.
DePaul president prepares to leave, reflects on last 5 years By Lawrence Kreymer, Nika Schoonover & Nadia hernandez Editor-in-Chief, Print Managing Editor & News Editor
DePaul President A. Gabriel Esteban hasn’t looked for an apartment since 2007. That’s when he became provost of Seton Hall University, a Catholic institution in New Jersey, and later the president for six years. But the time has come for Esteban and his wife, Josephine, to search for a new apartment as Esteban’s time as DePaul’s president is coming to an end. At the end of June, Esteban will officially step down from his role after spending five years at the university. His replacement remains unknown. While DePaul continues to search for Esteban’s successor, he and his wife are
trying to lock down an apartment in Columbus, where they plan to move for the next year so they can be closer to their daughter. “The agony of being on a waitlist,” Esteban said, reminiscing on the last time he looked for an apartment. “Will we be able to move there? And we had backups, backups. We’re thinking, do we need to go back to Columbus?” Well, the current lease documents have already been signed, Esteban said. But before he and his wife make the move, Esteban still has several things he has to do before handing over the reins to a new leader — including holding his last board meeting and conducting the first in-per-
son graduation ceremony in three years. “It hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m stepping away, going on sabbatical, but I know it will be there before I know it,” he said. Esteban sat down with The DePaulia for an in-person interview in his office last week to recap his five years at DePaul. In the interview, we went over several topics, including his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, enrollment issues and the return to an in-person campus environment last fall. As DePaul’s president, Esteban has endured a turbulent five years, shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests and the Jan. 6 insurrection, all of which have impacted the climate and duty of DePaul’s administrative staff. “No one teaches you how to deal with a pandemic,” Esteban said. “So this was a unique occurrence of our time.”
The pandemic brought on several challenges and key decisions for Esteban and his administration, including holding mostly virtual classes for the 2020-21 academic year and requiring students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated and then boosted. Early on, though, Esteban had his worries on how the pandemic would impact the landscape of the university moving forward. “We were worried because we knew it would impact enrollment, retention, graduation, persistence, all those things,” he said. “We were worried about its impact on fundraising.” Throughout the interview, Esteban pointed to the record freshman classes that DePaul has been able to obtain in
See ESTEBAN, page 9
Rise Up 4 Abortion holds walkout at DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus By Lilly Keller Assistant Arts & Life Editor
National organization Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights held a walkout at DePaul University’s Quad on Thursday in the wake of the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that opted to overturn Roe v. Wade. At noon, students abandoned their daily schedules to protest the recent infringements on individuals’ rights and access to an abortion. At the forefront of the assembly stood DePaul freshman Laura Stream, who was inspired to start the walkout as a way of initiating and creating change alongside the student body. “I have been working with Rise 4 Abortion for a while now and am here
today and I want to encourage everyone to do what I feel is what we should do as individuals who attend a private Catholic university and who have a lot of privilege,” Stream said. Currently, one in four women receives an abortion in their life, according to the New York Times. The average patient who seeks an abortion is described as low income, already a mother and is in her first six weeks of pregnancy, according to a study connected by the Guttmacher Institute. “No matter how small, it is through movements like these that change is made,” Stream said. DePaul freshman Gylani Oliver took center stage as she urged the crowd to understand that restrictions on abortion will
KIERSTEN RIEDFORD | THE DEPAULIA
Demonstrators lie on the ground of DePaul’s Student Center in protest of the leaked Supreme Court opinion on overturning Roe v. Wade.
See PROTEST, page 6
H
2 | News. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
First Look
CAMPUS COVID-19 CASES March 25, 2022 - May 13, 2022
The DePaulia is the official student-run newspaper of DePaul University and may not necessarily reflect the views of college administrators, faculty or staff. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | Lawrence Kreymer eic@depauliaonline.com PRINT MANAGING | Nika Schoonover managing@depauliaonline.com ONLINE MANAGING | Nate Burleyson online@depauliaonline.com NEWS EDITOR | Nadia Hernandez news@depauliaonline.com ASST. NEWS EDITOR | Kiersten Riedford news@depauliaonline.com NATION & WORLD EDITOR | Jackson Healy nation@depauliaonline.com OPINIONS EDITOR | Erik Uebelacker opinion@depauliaonline.com FOCUS EDITOR | Josephine Stratman focus@depauliaonline.com ARTS & LIFE EDITOR | Amber Stoutenborough artslife@depauliaonline.com ASST. ARTS & LIFE EDITOR | Lilly Keller artslife@depauliaonline.com
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News. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 3
LESLIE WILLIAMSON | THE DEPAULIA
DePaul students shovel dirt into a wheel barrow during Vincentian Service Day at Gingko Organic Gardens, a volunteer-run garden in Buena Park.
Vincentian Service Day returns to the outdoors By Leslie Williamson Asst. Arts & Life Editor
On Saturday, students, faculty and alumni were finally able to spend DePaul’s Vincentian Service Day out in the Chicago community. First launched 1999, the university-wide event encourages students to give back to their community and spend time serving others. Students gathered in the bleachers of the Sullivan Athletic Center bright and early Saturday morning to kick off the event. “While service happens year-round, I think it is a time for us to come together and to culminate what DePaul is all about,” DePaul Provost Salma Ghanem said about the service day, meeting up to join a volunteer group herself. This was the first in-person service day in two years after restrictions from the Covid-19 pandemic forced the event online in 2020. Along with some virtual volunteer opportunities that were offered, most of the service work took place on-site at different community organizations. However, on Friday, the Chicago Department of Public Health moved the city and Cook County from a “low” to a “medium” Covid-19 transmission risk level. CDPH officials are “strongly recommending” wearing a mask indoors, but there is currently no official mandate to do so. “We are following the guidelines by the CDC and the city of Chicago, and as a result of that, it was possible to have [the event] in person,” Ghanem said. The rest of the event’s kickoff featused a few students speaking on the importance of service, including remarks from two dressed as St. Vincent DePaul and St. Louise de Marillac. The Division of Mission and Ministry staff also led a short reflection and prayer, with speakers from multiple faiths. President A. Gabriel Esteban made
an appearance at the kickoff to celebrate DePaul’s tradition of service. “You are Vincentians in action,” he said. “And you’re doing the exact thing that St. Vincent and St. Louise were doing more than 400 years ago today.” He thanked the division of mission and ministry for helping to organize the event, and thanked students for their patience in participating online for the past two years, including more than 200 alumni who were participating alongside current students and faculty. “Just because you’ve graduated doesn’t mean you can’t participate in Vincentian Service Day,” he said. The students then departed to one of the more than 26 service sites located across the whole city, including a soup kitchen, a program sending books to prisoners, a senior services center, and almost a dozen community gardens. One group of students attended the Ginkgo Organic Gardens in Buena Park. The totally volunteer-run garden donates its organic produce to Vital Bridges, a food pantry in Edgewater that serves people with AIDS and HIV. Johanna Leuks has been volunteering with Ginkgo Organic Gardens since 2008 and led the DePaul group on Saturday. “We love our partnership with DePaul,” Leuks said. “Everybody’s excited to be here and you just pound out so much work.” Although the garden is a relatively small space, it grows 600 to 800 pounds of produce for Vital Bridges each year. The space has open volunteer hours where anyone can stop by to help, so it relies considerably on group work for bigger tasks and to help them keep up with the garden. “On a normal volunteer day, we have two to four community volunteers come in,” Leuks said. “It’s a lot of work especially when summer starts.” The DePaul volunteers’ jobThe DePaul volunteers’ job was to transform
LESLIE WILLIAMSON | THE DEPAULIA
Volunteers begin plotting plants at a local urban garden in Chicago. the space, which was which was still a bit lackluster from winter, to be ready for the start of summer planting. The students worked together to weed the garden beds and shovel dirt into wheelbarrows, then rakedraked fresh soil across the top. One volunteer at the garden, DePaul junior Lily Merryman, participated in the online service day in 2021. After writing letters to essential workers with her swim team, she wanted to participate again this year and signed up individually. “It’s much better being out in person,” Merryman said. “I enjoyed writing the letters and I know that the people appreciated them, but it’s not the same as being able to do stuff with your hands.” After preparing the soil, Merryman and a few other students helped plant carrot seeds in the empty plots. One of the garden’s main volunteers had grown the carrots herself at home and carefully prepared the new seeds to bring to Ginkgo. “Today is amazing, I’ve met so many
kind people,” said Cassidy Cabrera, another junior volunteering. Cabrera participated through the DePaul Community Service Association. She normally volunteers weekly mentoring refugee children, but today she picked the garden site to try something different. “I am a very service-based individual,” Cabrera said. “A lot of people are struggling out there and it’s really important to be that person to aid them and make sure that they’re noticed and they’re helped, they’re wanted and listened to.” After about three hours of service, students reconvened in the quad to celebrate their hard work with a barbecue and games. “I just think everyone, at least one year while they’re at DePaul, should do service day,” Merryman added. “It’s [a] good experience.”
4 | News. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
2 Chainz and bbno$ to play at Fest By Kiersten Riedford Asst. News Editor
Gasps, screams and cheers from elated students echoed through the open doors of the Lincoln Park Student Center Room 120AB when this year’s Fest entertainers were announced. On Friday, May 27, DePaul students are invited to see bbno$ open for 2 Chainz. Junior Jule Cuasay, even before the announcement, was waving the LED baton that was handed to all students, jumping around and yelling in excitement. Cuasay said he’s excited for Fest this year because he has not been to many concerts, and even when he was able to go to Fest in the past, it was canceled. “I was supposed to go to it freshman year, but then the pandemic hit so we never got to go to it,” Cuasay said. “So this is my first year, and you know what, two years left and I’m hoping to experience it. I’ve seen stories of it, and I can’t wait to experience it.” The last Fest concert to occur was in the spring of 2019, with the last two years being canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Judging from the noise in the room, Cuasay is not the only one who is eager to attend Fest. Freshman Leslie Coreas said she will also be attending because of the artists. “I’m very excited,” Coreas said. “It was really unexpected. I didn’t think it was going to be [2 Chainz and bbno$].” Coreas said she likes 2 Chainz and used
to listen to him, but she hasn’t listened to his music in a while. Senior Ankit Pal, president of DePaul Activities Board (DAB), and senior Brianna Catalinotto, vice president of marketing for DAB, said the artists were chosen based on their mix of new and nostalgic music. “Every year we try to meet the most needs of the students,” Pal said. “We’re never going to hit 100 percent, but we’re gonna get as close to the majority as possible. So we always look at what’s nostalgic, what’s new, and we try to have a good mix. I think we achieved that really well this year with a really new artist and one nostalgic artist.” Catalinotto said the best part about having 2 Chainz as the headliner is that he is well-known; even people who don’t go out of their way to listen to 2 Chainz will recognize him from features and hit songs from the early 2010s. “The headliner that we have selected, they are really good,” Catalinotto said. “Honestly, I had to look back at some of the music I listened to and be like, ‘Oh wow, they’re in this song.’ So everyone knows who this person is and they are familiar with the opener too.” Other activities will be available at Fest apart from the performances. Catalinotto said there are going to be new activities and forms of entertainment from the past so even the students who have attended Fest before will find something new.
KIERSTEN RIEDFORD | THE DEPAULIA
Several students’ jaws dropped when the announcement of the Fest artists was revealed. “The bubble guy is coming back,” Catalinotto said. “People in the past are fans of him. He just makes big bubbles.” Pal said there are also going to be freshly made donuts at the event. He said DAB is aiming to recreate a summer music festival experience at this year’s Fest. “Not every student can afford to go to Lollapalooza, or Summer Smasher or Pitchfork,” Pal said. “So we really try to create the most festival-like experience we can. So apart from the headliner and the opener, we’re holding student artists, we’re adding DJs, we’re adding other activities and foods that really build that experience out so that students can have that experience even if they can’t necessarily achieve it at Lollapa-
KIERSTEN RIEDFORD | THE DEPAULIA
Brianna Catalinotto, vice president of marketing for DAB, revealed the fest artist.
looza or somewhere else.” Students who are interested in Fest can buy tickets for $10 on DeHUB.
CAMPUS CRIME REPORT: April 27, 2022 - May 3, 2022
LOOP CAMPUS
LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS
5
Sheffield Parking Garage 1
7
Lewis Center 6
4
DePaul Center 2, 3 &5
LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS April 28 1) A Battery report was filed regarding an incident that occurred near the Sheffield Garage. A Safety Alert was issued regarding the incident.
Assault & Theft
6
Drug & Alcohol
Other
LOOP CAMPUS April 27 2) A Disorderly Conduct report was filed in the DePaul Center. April 28 3) A Criminal Trespass Warning was issued to a person swearing at students in the DePaul Center. April 30 4) A Graffiti report was filed for markings found on multiple Loop Campus buildings. May 3 5) A Credit Card Fraud report was filed for fraudulent credit card use to pay tuition.
News. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 5
Faculty Council rephrases language to support senior professional lecturers By Patrick Sloan-Turner Faculty Council Beat Reporter
PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER | THE DEPAULIA
Faculty council member Andrea Kayne speaks to the board during the meeting.
DePaul Faculty Council voted on four changes to the Faculty Handbook on Wednesday. All four revisions were passed by the Faculty Council and relate to definitions and policies regarding term and adjunct faculty. Three of the changes to the handbook regard better defining formal reviews for term faculty and the use of functional titles for both term and adjunct faculty members. Most notably, the council motioned to rephrase language to support longterm contracts for term faculty members serving as senior professional lecturers. The handbook recognizes a senior professional lecturer as “term faculty who have served at the rank of Professional Lecturer and have demonstrated superior performance as a teacher.” Wednesday’s motion cited a lack of retention incentive for term faculty members upon promotion to senior professional lecturer other than the title change. With the change, faculty who fall under these circumstances will now ob-
tain added job security, as the new language states, “Term faculty members at the rank of Senior Professional Lecturer shall be offered long-term contracts ranging from three to five years, and shall be notified by the local academic officer of their eligibility for a long-term contract as stated in faculty handbook policy.” Concern was raised amongst some council members in attendance regarding the possibility of this change preventing select professional lecturers from attaining promotion if a unit wanted to avoid offering a long-term contract. Erin MacKenna, adjunct professor and member of Faculty Council’s Committee on Contingent Faculty, was quick to mention the term faculty members she spoke with said the opportunity for longer contracts was worth the risk. “We have seven term faculty members on our committee,” MacKenna said. “They don’t get anything [with promotion] except for the title and term faculty say this is a trade they’re willing to make.”
Summer classes for Ukrainian students remain in question By Patrick Sloan-Turner Faculty Council Beat Reporter
DePaul enrolled 100 Ukrainian college students in online courses at no charge to support their continuing education amid the war with Russia in April. The project registered students from Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv and six other schools in Ukraine into 43 classes at DePaul. The students involved can attend online lectures through Zoom or take asynchronous courses. GianMario Besana, associate provost for global engagement and online learning, presented an update on DePaul’s Ukrainian student support project to the DePaul Faculty Council on Wednesday, May 4.Besana informed the Faculty Council that this number has dropped to 90 students. This is primarily due to circumstances surrounding the war like displacement and individual mental health issues. Still, Besana celebrated DePaul’s effort to support these students in crisis. “It was a really complex puzzle to put together quickly, and the faculty have been really amazing,” Besana said. “[The registration] team was supersonic, and the registrar’s office manually enrolled students in these classes.” The enrollment of these Ukrainian students in DePaul’s spring quarter provided substantial support during a time of uncertainty. But with the quarter ending in a month and no sign of conflict ending in Ukraine, the question now
becomes how much longer will DePaul offer help? On Wednesday, Faculty Council members asked Besana if there was any plan to keep these students enrolled in classes through DePaul’s summer sessions. “[Administration] is in talks to prolong [the students’ admission] within the summer,” Besana said. “This becomes more complicated into the fall.” For Ukrainian students currently experiencing the turmoil of a full-fledged war taking place at their doorstep, having the option to continue their education with DePaul’s help could be beneficial this summer. “I’m 100 percent sure that it would be a really good idea to propose [continuing the program],” said Marta Haiduchok, a student studying history at UCU. Haiduchok is currently taking two online classes at DePaul through the support project. “Even despite the war, it’s good for students to have opportunities to have international communication,” Haiduchok said. Haiduchok lives in Lviv, which is beginning to experience Russian attacks despite being in the most western part of Ukraine. “On Tuesday, we had lots of air attacks here, and many rockets hit my city,” she said. “But me and my family are doing fine.” Haiduchok is taking an online lecture and an asynchronous course at DePaul
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTA HAIDUCHOK
Marta Haiduchok participates in a meeting on campus at Ukrainian Catholic University. while also continuing her studies at UCU. Paul on April 7, Provost Salma Ghanem “It’s sometimes hard to deal with time cited DePaul’s Vincentian mission as the differences in the case of deadlines,” she reason for lending a hand to Ukrainian said. “I always have a tab open in my students in crises. The mission asks the browser displaying Chicago time.” question, “What must be done?” At this point, it’s unclear if the 90 Haiduchok plans on spending time Ukrainian students currently enrolled this summer applying to master’s proin DePaul classes will be able to take on- grams and is unsure if she’ll try to take line courses in either of DePaul’s summer any summer classes herself. Still, she sessions, which begin June 14. It’s also thinks continuing the program could unclear what factors will influence the benefit fellow Ukrainian students whose administration’s decision on the matter. lives and education have been disrupted “While DePaul continues to explore by the war. ways to support Ukrainian Catholic Uni“It absolutely [would benefit] versity, no final decision or plan has been Ukrainian students,” Haiduchok said. made about extending the program,” “It’s great to have other options [in this] said DePaul spokesperson Kristin Claes situation.” Mathews in an email to The DePaulia. In a Newsline article published by De-
6 | News. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 PROTEST, continued from front page not affect all individuals equally. “Roe v. Wade will affect more than just women, it will affect people with uterus, those who do not have health insurance, those who cannot afford the procedure,” Oliver said. “We have to understand that not everybody is able to go to the nearest clinic and get the help that they need.” If access to abortion is restricted, women of color will be disproportionately affected, according to USA Today. Options such as leaving the state for the procedure are not readily available for lower-income individuals, who are disproportionately people of color. “We cannot just have white people speak on this issue that doesn’t have equal repercussions for all individuals,” Oliver said. DePaul sophomore Allison Freeman expressed the importance of showing up and challenging the court’s unofficial ruling. “I decided to walk out because I feel that the situation in America is extremely unjust at this current moment,” Freeman said. “The country is regressing, and I truly believe it is the result of radical conservatism that has made itself more apparent than ever and brought us to this point. “If walking out of school can combat this hatred and ignorance, then I will be there.” While the Supreme Court’s draft opinion does not equate to its eventual, official ruling on Roe v. Wade, it represents the final stages of a legal proceedings journey through the court, according to NPR. DePaul sophomore Jocelyn Beuther explained how the walkout created a space to discuss the consequences that banning abortions would have on reproductive rights and other fundamental necessities. “This is bigger than just abortion or women’s rights,” Beuther said. “The 14th Amendment, the basis for Roe v. Wade, is what allows for interracial and LGBTQ+ marriage. If they take away our right to abortion and bodies, they’re not going to stop there.” As a growing crowd amassed around the center of the quad, many individuals adorned the color green, a symbol attributed to the Green Wave movement, which began in Latin America.
KIERSTEN RIEDFORD | THE DEPAULIA
A student spoke about her experience with sexual assault in the church. She said Roe v. Wade being overturned will prevent people who become pregnant from sexual assault and rape from being able to have access to abortion. Initially, the donning of green highlighted the #NiUnaMenos (Not One Women Less) demonstration in Argentina in 2015, which urged an end to the extremely high rate of murdered women, according to the New York Times. In 2018, the color became immortalized as an emblem of women’s rights when millions took to the streets in green bandanas after Argentina legalized abortion. The walkout, which transitioned into a march, made its way through the Schmitt Academic Center, before coming to a halt inside the student center. DePaul junior Amira Allondra used the protest to express her anger toward the leaked draft. KIERSTEN RIEDFORD | THE DEPAULIA “This is about Christian politics, of A student spoke about their experience being a trans person and the many ways saying the possibility of a life is more imthere will be threats to trans people if Roe v. Wode is overturned. portant than the women already existing,” Demonstrations are set to continue Allondra said. “If it was about children, ing a die-in, where individuals lay on the ground simulating death as a means of in the wake of the momentous leak, with why do we not have free health care? This forcing compliance with demands. Rise Up 4 Abortion Chicago holding an is not about the possibility of a life, but While the future of abortion remains upcoming rally on May 14 at 1:00p.m. in about controlling women and their bodclouded, it is evident that these fears are Millenium Park. ies.” not a mere overreaction or exaggeration. The protest ended its assertion by stag-
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News. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 7
Say goodbye to DePaul’s local Whole Foods SOFIA LEAL | THE DEPAULIA
A student reads the store closing sign at the Whole Foods in Lincoln Park. Students said they will now have to travel farther for healthy groceries.
Lincoln Park location among six nation-wide closures
By Nadia Hernandez & Kiersten Riedford News Editor & Asst. News Editor
Whole Foods closed its location on DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus last week after being open for seven 7 years. The market announced closures of two Chicago locations on May 2, with the location in the Englewood neighborhood also on the cutlist. The DePaul location had been open since February of 2015. The market, which sits underneath Centennial Hall, served students and faculty for years. The sudden announcement came as a surprise to customers and employees alike. One employee, who will remain anonymous, expressed to the DePaulia their surprise and disappointment about the closure. “I was, like, initially just, like, kind of floored,” the employee said. “Yeah, like [I was] not expecting it. And then it was just rage, and also sadness because our store is super unique. We all are very close, which is not the norm for like most bigger stores because it’s such a small store.” The closures in Chicago were not the only ones nationwide. Out of the 530 Whole Foods locations in the U.S., 6 are closing, including ones in Montgomery, AL, Mobile, Tarzana, CA, and Brookline MA along with the two Chicago locations. There is another Whole Foods location 1.2 miles away from DePaul on 1550 N Kingsbury St, as well as another in Lake View at 3201 N Ashland Ave. These other city locations will see a new influx of employees coming from the closing stores shuttered businesses. All employees were given the chance
Out of the 530 Whole Foods locations in the U.S., 6 are closing including ones in Montgomery, Ala. and Brookline, Mass. to move to another store for two months and then find a position or take severance pay, according to the employee. “Hearing that all of us either are going to be laid off, leaving the company willingly or moving to another store was super upsetting,” they said. “All of us have pretty much bounced between just anger and being sad that the store is closing.” Yet issues arise for the employees, as new locations can add extra time to transit as well as complicate schedules. Employees who do not accept other positions at a Whole Foods will be offered severance, according to aA Whole Foods Market spokesperson confirmed to the
DePaulia. “A lot of people quit and just never came back after they got the phone call,” the employee said. “The severance pay isn’t great unless you’ve been there for like 10 plus years, honestly.” This isn’t the first time that the DePaul Whole Foods has closed. In May of 2020, the location went to online-only orders/pickup shopping. Later in the summer the location went dark, not opening back up until students were back on campus in the Fall. “There was also a really big part of me that, like, kind of saw it coming because when the pandemic hit and we decided to go dark, I knew that there was
SOFIA LEAL | THE DEPAULIA
speculation of the store just fully closing.” As for what could come to the location next, it’s all up in the air. According to the employee, Whole Foods still has a lease. “Nobody’s told us anything. We’ve all had our own speculations about it. A lot of people think it’s going to be one of the Amazon Fresh stores because they carry a larger range of products that college students would probably be more inclined to buy because they don’t sell just like Whole Foods brand stuff.” Nate Burleyson contributed to this report.
8 | News. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
News. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 9
KIERSTEN RIEDFORD | THE DEPAULIA
Esteban talks with DePaulia reporters Lawrence Kreymer, Nadia Hernandez and Nika Schoonover about the university’s pandemic response, enrollment and administration diversity.
ESTEBAN, continued from front page the last few years. Overall undergraduate enrollment had been declining every year under Esteban, but the university recorded a 1.1 percent increase this past year. “So, this is the first time in about a decade that the number of undergraduates this year is more than the previous year,” Esteban said. “But it took three record freshman classes to grow it.” In the process of answering other questions, however, especially about a lack of a counseling services office and the beginning of the pandemic, Esteban continued to reference the large freshman classes as one of his biggest accomplishments at DePaul. Originally the university had planned to return to in-person classes in fall 2020, but had to abandon those plans due to the persistence of the pandemic. “And so there’s this big uncertainty about the future and then we had to pivot again,” Esteban said. DePaul remained remote through 2020 and did not return fully in person until the following academic year in fall 2021. Esteban commended DePaul’s task forces that were created to help respond to the pandemic. On March 10, 2020, DePaul announced the formation of its Covid-19 Planning and Response Task Force, which was created to “lead information gathering and dissemination, communication and recommendations related to Covid-19,” according to Newsline. The university also relied on guidance from the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Chicago Regional Medical Officer at AMITA Health Medical Group, which provides on-campus health services in Lincoln Park to DePaul students. After the conclusion of the fall quarter, DePaul announced that the first two weeks of winter quarter would be held remotely due to the rise of Omicron cases. As the winter quarter commenced, the university community was concerned about the lack of guidance regarding a potential booster requirement and whether or not the university
would continue to be remote after the two-week timeline ended. Faculty Council, Staff Council and the Student Government Association all voted on a motion to require a booster for DePaul and, shortly after, the university administration announced that students, faculty and staff would be required to submit evidence of their booster shot by March 1 — which was well after the peak of the Omicron surge. “And we were looking at what was happening trend-wise in terms of cases and what we might expect to happen moving forward,” Esteban said. “And again, you make decisions based on uncertainty, but that’s a fact of life. We always make decisions with a certain amount of uncertainty.” On top of the pandemic, other major events served as inflection points for Esteban’s time as DePaul’s president. “So then the Black Lives Matter movement, the murder of George Floyd, all that had a significant impact on a lot of things we did as well,” Esteban said. “So you had a number of things. racial unrest all the things that happened. And you had the insurrection last year, none of those were easy things and [were] totally unexpected.” On top of the racial unrest that was happening on a national scale, DePaul saw a series of racial discrimination lawsuits filed in a three-year span. In addition to a nationwide petition signed by 85 communication scholars condemning systemic racism at DePaul last year. “First of all, it saddens me that we have a number of faculty staff and students who feel that they’re being discriminated upon,” Esteban said. “I have zero tolerance for that. And that’s why we have hotlines to file complaints whether it be human resources, or Student [Division] of Student Affairs.” Esteban pointed to his cabinet and senior leadership as an example of DePaul increasing diversity in his administration, but that does not necessarily translate to diversity in faculty. The student body for the 2021-22 academic year is 48.5 percent white. While DePaul has a diverse student population, 65 percent of the faculty is white. Esteban and his administration also struggled to meet the needs of students
KIERSTEN RIEDFORD | THE DEPAULIA
Esteban will be on sabbatical for the next year, after which he will return as a professor. when it came to filling its counseling services office before the start of this academic year. Instead, DePaul outsourced most of its counseling services to a third-party app — My SSP — which has failed to meet students’ needs. “We had 10 open counseling positions,” Esteban said. “Those were all advertised early on. It’s very challenging. We have now filled eight of the 10 and we hope to fill two other ones. If I talk to my colleagues, it’s hard to find counselors.” Esteban referenced the burnout rate for counselors as one reason why DePaul struggled to fill the positions before the academic year. “So the counseling services, it was not by design — we just couldn’t find anyone,” he said. DePaul has had other issues with planning within the last year, including failing to hold an in-person graduation ceremony for the class of 2021. Other nearby universities were able to pivot to in-person setting in the spring of 2021,
while also inviting back the 2020 graduates. DePaul did neither. “The provost did surveys, they looked at who might come back, who might not, we actually put a hold on Wintrust [Arena] for this June for a couple of days,” Esteban said. “And it was recommended to me that there wasn’t sufficient interest in proceeding.” As DePaul enters the final month of its academic year and Esteban starts to wrap up his tenure, he will be able to hold his final graduation ceremony in person. The future of the university remains up in the air. But Esteban and his wife already have their plan set forth for the next 12 months — which includes living in Columbus. Afterwards, however, Esteban plans to return to DePaul. “I don’t have an administrator appointment after my sabbatical,” he said. “So, right now, the plan is to teach.”
10 | Nation & World. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
Nation & World
SUPREME COURT SET TO OVERTURN ROE V. WADE Over half of U.S. women at risk of losing abortion access
JACQUELYN MARTIN | ASSOCIATED PRESS
Katie McDevitt of Washington nurses her 6-week-old baby Declan as they join demonstrators protesting outside of the U.S. Supreme Court, Tuesday, May 3, 2022.
By Jackson Healy Nation & World Editor
The Supreme Court intends to overturn the United States’ federal protections of abortion rights, paving the way for over half of U.S. states to either heavily limit or outright ban the practice, according to a bombshell leaked draft majority opinion released by Politico on May 2. While not currently binding — justices can and occasionally do change their votes prior to an official decision being made — if the decision does hold, it would signify a stark renunciation of both Roe v. Wade and a subsequent 1992 decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, that upheld most of Roe. A final decision is expected by the end of the Court’s term in June. According to an anonymous source who spoke with Politico, four of the five Republican-appointed justices — Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — voted alongside Samuel Alito following oral arguments in December and remained steadfast in their decision as of the time of the leak’s release. “I wasn’t surprised,” said DePaul freshman Emma Bretzlaff. “After the death of [Ruth Bader Ginsburg], I could see this coming. It’s terrible, but isn’t shocking given the political climate today.” Currently, 18 states have either “zombie laws,” “trigger laws” or both that would all but certainly ban abortion within the
state’s borders if Alito’s decision holds. Zombie laws refer to abortion bans enacted before 1973’s Roe decision that could be reinforced if Roe is struck down, and trigger laws are laws passed after 1973 that would outlaw abortion within 30 days if the Supreme Court struck down Roe. “I was thinking about moving to Nashville after I graduate, but I don’t think I will anymore because of the possibility [of Roe being overturned] being up in the air,” said Cassie Limberakis, a freshman at DePaul who spoke at an abortion rights sit-in on DePaul’s campus Thursday. Additionally, a number of states have implemented bans on abortion prior to fetal viability — typically about 24 weeks of pregnancy — that would take effect if Roe were overturned. In total, over half of women and girls of reproductive age live in states likely to seek either heavy restrictions or outright bans on abortions, according to the New York Times. Predominately located in the U.S. South and Midwest, many states hoping to impose these laws are located next to one another, which would force residents seeking abortions to cross several state borders in order to receive care. “A whole swath of the Midwest is going to live in an abortion desert,” President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois Jennifer Welch told DePaul student journalists. “Patients are going to be forced to choose between traveling thousands of miles for the care that they need,
or pursuing illegal alternatives, or keeping an unplanned pregnancy. These are devastating decisions for patients to have to make.” However, Illinois stands out as an exception in the Midwest — in 2019, the Illinois Reproductive Health Act passed, codifying the fundamental right to abortion into state law. “We are the haven in the Midwest,” Welch said. “We could see between 20,000 and 30,000 additional patients each year for abortion care in the state of Illinois.” Anticipating that the Supreme Court could overturn Roe, Planned Parenthood of Illinois has expanded significantly in preparation for the expected influx of patients. “In the last five years, Planned Parenthood of Illinois has built two new health centers — one in Flossmoor on the Indiana border, and one in Waukegan on the Wisconsin border,” Welch said. “We’ve doubled the size of two health centers, including the one here in the Chicago Loop. We’re looking at more buildings, and we’ve launched telehealth care. We’ve been preparing for this for so long, because we know that patients aren’t going to have anywhere else to get the care that they need, and we want to be here no matter what.” Alito’s reasoning for overturning Roe v. Wade revolves largely around the concept of a right to privacy. The 1973 Supreme Court decision determined that
the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause implicitly guarantees this right, despite the Constitution never explicitly using that phrase. “This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment’s reservations of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy,” the 1973 decision reads. Alito, however, described the decision as “egregiously wrong from the start,” arguing that because the decision was “remarkably loose in its treatment of the constitutional text,” the decision should be overturned. By weakening the right to privacy on a federal level, legal experts and activists have expressed some concern that such rationale could be used in the future to overturn a long list of other rights not explicitly listed in the Constitution — such as the right to contraceptives, non-heterosexual sex, same-sex marriage and even interracial marriage. “This is a war on individual rights,” Welch said. “This is a war on privacy. And once they achieve their goal of making abortion illegal, what are they coming for next? Birth control? Marriage equality? This is absolutely a war here in the United States.”
Nation &World briefs
J.D. Vance wins Ohio GOP Senate primary election
AARON DOSTER | ASSOCIATED PRESS Republican Senate candidate JD Vance speaks to his supporters during an election night watch party, Tuesday, May 3, 2022, in Cincinnati.
Venture capitalist, author and rightwing populist J.D. Vance won the Ohio GOP’s U.S. Senate nomination this Tuesday following a late campaign endorsement by former President Donald Trump. Josh Mandel, former state treasurer and 2012 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, led the primary race until late January, when businessman Mike Gibbons took the lead in several polls following a multi-million dollar investment in television ads. However, Gibbons’ ratings plummeted following an April 9 statement that middle class Americans don’t pay enough in income taxes. Vance, who rose to national prominence following the release of bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, electrified his campaign with less than one month remaining in the race by capitalizing on both Gibbons’ downfall and the April 15 endorsement by Trump. Between March and April, Vance’s support nearly doubled, according to two Fox polls. In the end, Vance prevailed with 32 percent of the vote — eight points higher than runner-up Mandel. The primary was the most expensive in Ohio’s history, with candidates spending a combined $66 million throughout the campaign. Even before Trump publicized his endorsement of Vance, Ohio’s Republican candidates fought with one another to present themselves as most similar to Trump. Jane Timken, former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, claimed she was “the real Trump conservative,” one Mandel advertisement proclaimed the candidate as “pro-Trump” and Gibbons compared his business background to that of Trump. Vance, had criticized Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign, writing that “Trump’s actual policy proposals, such as they are, range from immoral to absurd” and calling Trump “reprehensible.” Because of this, Trump’s endorsement came to many as a surprise. However, in July 2021, Vance apologized for his criticism of Trump, saying that he thought Trump was “the greatest president in [his] lifetime” and later meeting him at Mar-a-Lago. “Like some others, J.D. Vance may have said some not so great things about me in the past, but he gets it now, and I have seen that in spades,” Trump stated in his endorsement statement. Interestingly, Trump’s endorsement of Vance also appeared to benefit one of the only candidates critical of the former president. Matt Dolan, a state senator whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians Major League Baseball
team, was the only candidate in the GOP primary who openly criticized Trump’s conduct in the 2020 presidential election, asserting that Trump should stop “pushing lies about the outcome” of the election and referring to the Jan. 6 insurrection as an “attack on democracy.” As every other candidate saw their ratings shrink during the last month of the race, Dolan’s numbers saw an increase. Dolan ultimately came in third place with 23 percent of the vote, less than half a percentage point behind Mandel. Vance opposes abortion, even if conception comes from instances of rape or incest. When asked about the subject, Vance replied, “Two wrong [sic] don’t make a right. It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are inconvenient or a problem to the society.” While abortion is currently legal in Ohio, the state is among those likely to ban the practice if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Vance has found himself in multiple controversies over the past year. In September 2021, he suggested that the right should “seize the institutions of the left, and turn them against the left.” He added that if Trump regained the presidency in 2024, he should “fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people. And when the courts stop you, stand before the country and say —” quoting Andrew Jackson “— the chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.” In February 2022, during a podcasted conversation with media executive and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, Vance stated, “I’ve got to be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other,” and “spare me the performative affection for the Ukraine.” He later released a statement calling the Russian invasion “unquestionably a tragedy” while repeating his disdain for perceived “performative affection” from “our idiot leaders.” Vance has also claimed that the Biden administration was intentionally flooding the U.S. with fentanyl in order to attack Trump supporters. “If you wanted to kill a bunch of MAGA voters in the middle of the heartland, how better to target them and their kids with this fentanyl,” he said. “It’s like Biden wants to punish people who didn’t vote for him.” Vance will face U.S. Representative and 2020 presidential candidate Tim Ryan in the general election Nov. 8.
Nation & World. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 11 Content written by Jackson Healy & Nate Burleyson | THE DEPAULIA
Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein wins Northern Ireland vote Sinn Fein, the largest nationalist political party in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, declared a “new era” Saturday for Northern Ireland after claiming the largest number of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time in the nation’s 101-year history. Sinn Fein captured 27 of the Assembly’s 90 seats in the local U.K. election Thursday. The Democratic Unionist Party, the longstanding leading party of the country’s legislature, captured 24 seats. The centrist Alliance Party, which holds neither a nationalist nor unionist identity, also found success in the election, claiming 17 seats. As Sinn Fein captured more seats than any other individual party, they are allowed to nominate the First Minister in Belfast — Northern Ireland’s co-head of government — a title never before held by an Irish nationalist party. “Today ushers in a new era which I believe presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine relationships in this society on the basis of fairness, on the basis of equality and on the basis of social justice,” said Michelle O’Neill, vice president of Sinn Fein, who is set to become the country’s next First Minister. “Irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work.” O’Neill stressed the importance of unity within the divided politics of Northern Ireland in order to form an Executive, the devolved government of Northern Ireland. If all attempts to form an Executive fail within six months, the administration will collapse and a new series of elections will be called. “There is an urgency to restore an Executive and start putting money back in people’s pockets, to start to fix the health service,” O’Neill said. “The people can’t wait.” Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that ended the decades-long violent conflict
PETER MORRISON | ASSOCIATED PRESS Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill speaks after topping the poll at the Medow Bank electionday, May, 7, 2022, in Magherafelt , Northern Ireland.
between Irish nationalists and unionists known as The Troubles, the positions of First Minister and Deputy First Minister are divvied up between the largest unionist and nationalist parties, respectively. However, the Democratic Unionist Party has suggested it may refuse to serve under a Sinn Fein first minister. Sinn Fein — a party historically tied to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), a paramilitary group prominent throughout The Troubles — largely distanced itself from both its history and spoke minimally about its long-held fight for Irish unity, focusing more on issues surrounding the cost of living and healthcare. Much of Sinn Fein’s success in the recent election has been attributed to the fragmentation of the unionist voting bloc following Brexit, and primarily, its impact on trade between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Over 60 Ukrainians feared dead following school bombing
ALEXEI ALEXANDROV | ASSOCIATED PRESS RPG shells lie in the hall of a destroyed school in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People’s Republic, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022.
Dozens of Ukrainians are feared dead Saturday after a bomb dropped by Russian forces leveled a Luhansk school where around 90 people were sheltering, according to Ukrainian officials. Serhiy Hayday, head of Luhansk regional military administration, announced that the building was destroyed, and that the explosion occurred in the building. 27 people were confirmed to have survived the attack, according to the military official.
The air strike landed around 4:37 p.m. local Ukraine time. Of the 90 people sheltered in the school, 60 are likely dead. Crews are working on dismantling the debris. It took nearly four hours to extinguish the fire. The school is located in the village of Bilohorivka, about 10 miles away from the front lines of the battles in Eastern Ukraine.
12 | Opinions. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
Opinions
I joined
Truth Social so you don’t have to By Erik Uebelacker Opinions Editor
I had forgotten about former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social. Poised to be a “free speech” alternative to Twitter, the app had an unceremonious launch in February. But in the past few weeks, Truth has exploded in popularity. It reached the top of the App Store rankings, aided in large part by Elon Musk’s bidding war for Twitter and Trump making his first posts to Truth since its release. I was intrigued. I wanted to know why people were flocking to Truth in an already saturated social media market. I wanted to know what it was like on a “non-woke” platform. Is it really any different from Twitter, Facebook and the like? So, I dusted off my iPhone 6S (Truth still doesn’t have a desktop or Android app), downloaded a picture of G-Eazy to use as my profile picture and downloaded Truth Social. The profile-creating experience is hardly unique from similar platforms. You’re prompted to input a host of personal information, including your full name, phone number and email address. Pick a handle and display name, upload a profile and cover photo and you’re ready to grift. Upon creating an account, you’re required to follow at least two “suggested profiles” before you can start posting. My top five were Donald Trump, Truth Social’s official account, Newsmax, Donald Trump Jr. and One America News Network. Naturally, I followed all five. When I got onto the app, it didn’t
ERIK UEBELACKER | THE DEPAULIA
take long for me to realize how unfinished it felt. Your feed only includes posts from accounts you follow. When you’re a brand-new account, this makes it hard to find other profiles. I gained 20 followers within two minutes of my account being created. Despite CEO Devin Nunes stating otherwise, it seems like bots are still overrunning the platform. The search function doesn’t really work either. I wanted to see what users had to say about Elon Musk buying Twitter, but you’re only allowed to search posts from accounts you follow. Additionally, there’s no direct messaging feature. This was going to make it infinitely harder to talk to users about why they joined Truth. Or so I thought. People are generous on this app. Within minutes of posting my first “Truth,” a low-res photo of the American flag with the caption “FREEDOM,” I had 10 likes and a few “ReTruths.” I started following as many random accounts as I could, and posting questions under popular posts to try to spark conversation. I tried to fit in by overusing emojis and making my photos intentionally grainy. The grift was on. I even made a few graphics, overlaying “Why did you join Truth Social” over stock images of a cross in a field, watermarks and all. I sized down the resolution to match the old-people-onFacebook vibe and started posting. I received dozens of replies in no time. “The same reason I joined Twitter: I wanted to read what [Donald Trump] had to say without filters or selective interpretation. I prefer to read and form
my own opinions than to be led by others,” wrote @tomoliver. User @NuttyRageUS echoed a similar sentiment. “Joined in the hope that I could have a voice, to have a forum that provides fair exchange of ideas coupled with a level playing field to discuss opposing views,” they wrote. Ultimately, this is where Truth Social falls short. For @tomoliver, reading and forming your own opinions on a platform dominated by identical rhetoric is a dubious notion. In @NuttyRageUS’s case, Truth doesn’t really feature the “opposing views” they reference. Outside of a few liberal accounts that were there to troll, I didn’t come across a single profile that offered serious political rebuttals to Trumpism. There are plenty of conservatives on Twitter. There are only conservatives on Truth. Ironically, these responses made it clear that many users joined Truth to enter an echo chamber, unchallenged and unbothered by contesting viewpoints that exist on platforms with a wider audience. But that’s not the only reason people join Truth. Some do it because it’s the only platform they have left. That was the case for @MeinFuhrer (yes, that’s really their username), who joined after being fed up with Twitter’s content policy. “Half the sh*t I say on there is shadow banned. I’ve had 3 accounts banned for life. It’s ridiculous,” they wrote. Given their handle, I wasn’t surprised. I asked @MeinFuhrer about the obvious controversial undertones of
their username. “It literally translates to ‘my leader’ or ‘teacher.’ Seems fitting given the work we’re all doing,” they wrote. “I also don’t pander to people with small minds that immediately get offended by words.” Seeing themself as a teacher of sorts, having a platform is important. “As a conservative that gives a sh*t, I want to reach as many people as possible,” they wrote. “There are a lot of conservatives here on Truth that started out as liberal. It just takes the right message at the right time to get through.” It’s hard to get banned on Twitter. It’s harder to get banned three times. Truth serves as a haven for those whose rhetoric has been deemed too offensive for other platforms. But we need to ask ourselves if somebody who wants to be called Mein Fuhrer is deserving of a platform in the first place. Essentially, the app is nothing more than a far-right Facebook group; it functions as a safe space for conservatives. They can be offensive without repercussions. They can be stupid without rebuttal. There are some accounts dedicated to posting science videos, sports highlights and more. But they’re few and far between. Unless you’re only interested in reactionary political discourse, Truth is going to be a very limited and underwhelming experience for you. Even at that, it’s stale. How are you going to “own the libs,” when there are no libs on the platform to own? It will never replace Twitter, and I’m not sure that was ever the goal.
The opinions in this section do not necessarially reflect those of The DePaulia staff.
Opinions. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 13
s r e p a p s w e n r o g f n i e s r m i o t d s ’ n e It p o to st
ART BY TYLER OCAMPO
By Samantha Moilanen Staff Writer
Newspapers have been making political endorsements for over a century, and have arguably influenced the outcomes of numerous presidential elections. Media endorsements are supposed to help readers choose the best candidate. But in this polarizing time, they may further increase the public’s growing distrust in the media. Since the Chicago Sun-Times recently merged with WBEZ, claiming non-profit status, the publication will no longer be endorsing political candidates. This change was made because the Internal Revenue Code (IRS) prohibits non-profit organizations from participating in political campaigns. Although they will no longer be making endorsements, the Sun-Times Editorial Board said they are still committed to finding ways to help their readers make an informed decision while voting in the next election. Other large publications like The Wall Street Journal, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dayton Daily News and Milwaukee Journal Sentineldo not endorse political candidates. One issue with endorsements is that many readers aren’t always aware there is a distinct difference between the editorial board of a newspaper and the news division. “I think we as journalists have failed to consistently educate the public about the difference between news and opinion,” said Carol Marin, the director of DePaul University’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence. If newspapers make endorsements, they should be informing the public of this distinction. Although endorsements are based on the investigative work of reporters, they are not representative of the entire staff ’s beliefs, but only that of a select few editorial board members. Because society has become politically polarized in recent years, the public has increasingly become more distrusting of the media. This is primarily because people’s trust in the media is dependent on the kind of media they consume. “In a world where Twitter opinions, Facebook opinions, and cable stations like Fox and MSNBC aren’t really doing news, but they’re doing all opinion and commentary, I think we confuse the public about what a news person is,” Marin said.
COREY SEEMAN | CREATIVE COMMONS
National newspapers react to Barack Obama getting re-elected president in 2012 (front pages from November 7, 2012.) When national, respected news stations choose to participate in political commentary instead of actual reporting, it naturally causes people to lose trust in the media. With endorsements, it is imperative you are clearly enforcing the separation of news and opinion so readers aren’t under the impression that what is covered is being influenced by the editorial board. “If you’re going to [make endorsements], you’ve got to really make an effort to explain that the news side of the organization is not being influenced by the editorial board in terms of coverage,” Marin said. Scott Hibbard, the chair of DePaul’s political science department, believes partisanship in the media is becoming increasingly problematic. “I don’t see editorial boards endorsing candidates as a bad thing, I think that’s actually a public service,” Hibbard said. “What I’m more concerned about is the way in which partisanship has crept in and is actually now affecting the reporting.” I’ve been wrestling with the question of whether newspapers should be moving
away from making political endorsements for the last week, but I have determined there isn’t a right answer. As a reporter, it is our job to inform, investigate and report the facts to the public, free of personal bias or opinion. But if partisanship in the media is only serving to increase the public’s distrust in the news, then political endorsements may only be serving as catalysts for more distrust. Previously, political endorsements were viewed as a public service and extremely useful for smaller legislative elections that are equally as important as presidential ones. Now, there is the possibility they serve to alienate half a publication’s readers by endorsing a candidate and therefore, a specific political party. People are less likely to use a recommendation from a newspaper when choosing a candidate than in the past because of the accessibility of the internet and people’s tendency to favor one candidate over another solely based on the political party they’re affiliated with, according to Wayne Steger, a political science professor at DePaul.
“The biggest constraint on the media’s influence is simply people’s predisposition,” Steger said. Despite these concerns, it is imperative we, as reporters, address the rising distrust in the media due to the spread of misinformation and misinterpretation of political commentary versus actual news. After speaking to multiple experts on this issue, I realized more people have a negative perception of the media, and hold an increasingly popular belief that real news is shrouded by personal opinions. “We live in a very fragmented media environment these days,” Hibbard said. “It’s problematic for a functioning democracy. Part of the discourse in American society is undermined by the fact that people buy into different empirical realities and embrace different sets of facts as true.” Whether political endorsements serve to help or harm newspaper’s reputations, readership, or income, if more publications choose to eliminate endorsements, it might aid in restoring the public’s confidence in the media once again.
Focus 14 | Focus. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
THIS IS YOUR SIGN to stop buying fast fashion
By Leslie Williamson Contributing Writer
Even though the harmful ecological and social impacts of fast fashion are well documented, when endless trend cycles and overconsumption are so normalized, it can be difficult to get off this high-speed train to nowhere. But DePaul students are finding ways to work against fast fashion by practicing second-hand shopping and finding their own sustainable style. The fashion industry accounts for around 10 percent of global carbon emissions and uses more energy than the aviation and shipping industries combined, as reported by the BBC. Starting with raw materials, growing the cotton needed to make one pair of jeans requires more than 2,500 gallons of water, the same BBC article reported. Then there’s emissions from transporting products from overseas factories to stores or home addresses. Even while they’re being used, washing clothes made with polyester releases microplastic into our water. And when we’re done wearing them, items are likely to head to a landfill. The BBC reported in another article that almost 60 percent of young people feel highly worried about climate change. But even with these values, the social aspect of fashion combined with tight budgets makes college students very susceptible to fast fashion. Fast fashion specifically is an industry where clothing is made in cheap, trendy styles meant for consumers to cycle through quickly, discard and then come back for more. Marked by overconsumption, the cycle is only getting faster. “There used to be only four seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall,” said Emily Trujillo, who had been the president of the DePaul Fair Trade Committee before graduating last quarter. “Now there’s 52 weeks of fashion. Companies are trying to get as much out of their workers as possible.” Fast fashion has not only an environmental impact, but a human impact. Part of Fair Trade’s mission is to counteract the poor working conditions and underpaid labor that is all too common in manufacturing clothes for large fashion brands. Fair Trade promotes more
ethical alternatives, where products have to pass rigorous social and environmenta l standards to be certified as Fair Trade. DePaul’s Fair Trade chapter held their “Fashion Revolution” event last month featuring an ethical clothing fashion show, clothing swap and guest speaker. The annual event is in remembrance of the Rama Plaza factory tragedy, when a garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed. Over 1,000 people were killed making clothes for fast fashion brands, including Primark, which has a three-story store just blocks from DePaul’s Loop campus. “I think us as consumers have this concept of out of sight out of mind,” Trujillo said. “We only check the label to see the name [of the] brand, not to check where it was made.” Barbara Willard is an associate professor at DePaul who specializes in environmenta l communication and works in promoting pro-environ mental behavior among consumers. “The tricky thing is that there’s something called the attitude behavior gap,” Willard said, where people’s actions don’t match up to their reported values. “So it’s a challenge to try and really get people to change their behavior.” But trying to shop sustainably isn’t always easy: most Fair Trade and sustainable brands are priced out of the college student budget, and few are size-inclusive. And to young people’s credit, fast fashion has been largely all Gen Z has ever known, with the production model beginning in the ‘90s and exploding in the years tive.” since then, as one Vox article explained. not like you can just tell people [the Online negative impacts of fast fashion] and they’ll s e c ond-hand stop behaving in that way,” Willard said. shopping has “They have to have a convenient alternaadded convenience to thrifting with apps like DePop and ThreadUp. But often, searching for an item second-hand just isn’t as simple as buying clothes in department stores or with Amazon Prime. “Our culture needs to have a serious, critical look at our desire for convenience and what it costs us socially and environmenta lly,” Willard said. Willard noted that social norms have a big impact on people’s shopping habits as well. Working to stigmatize fast fashion shopping while promoting activities like thrifting and upcycling as trendy, as many thrifters have done through social media, can help the shift to slower fashion
appear easi-
er and more appealing. But also taking over the trends are “hauls” on TikTok from brands like SHEIN, where buying dozens of cheap pieces online is both normalized and glamourized. Hannah Lau, president of the DePaul Fashion Society, described how social media has exacerbated how normalized overconsumption is when it comes to clothes. “I think the issue is also people photographing what they wear, so they’re really afraid to outfit-repeat,” she said. And when influencers market things they wear or a certain item goes viral, often with a posted Amazon link, it promotes buying items too specific to find at a thrift
Focus. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 15
LESLIE WILLIAMSON | THE DEPAULIA
store. Shoppers have to buy new if they want to get the exact item or style that’s trending at a given moment. “I think it’s difficult because marketing for certain products has been really good,” Lau said. “Something’s gonna hit your brain and create that dopamine.” But as someone passionate about fashion, Lau finds ways to balance her love for clothes with a goal of mindful consumption. She suggested trying out a capsule wardrobe, where a person limits themself to repeatedly wearing a few versatile items. She also tried out a “no-buy” for three months, restricting any new clothing purchases entirely. But if those methods are too harsh, Lau suggested shopping with a friend to keep each other accountable and simply being more mindful about what to buy. “My dad has instilled this in me that whenever you buy something, always
think of 3-721,” Lau said. “If you look at an item and it’s a plain white shirt and it fits you really well, you’re gonna wear that 21 times. But let’s say it’s neon: how many times am I gonna wear that? It could be seven, it could be three. But it’s really internalizing what you have and how you’re gonna wear it.” Lau adds that microtrends are much different and more harmful than regular trends, making niche styles shortlived to the excess. But she also thinks that there’s not much need to follow trends in the first place. “Then you just look like the rest of the other people I see on Instagram, and it gets kind of boring,” she said. Trujillo likes to find styles sustainably by doing clothing swaps with her friends and family. Overall, she agrees that slowing down fashion doesn’t have to take a major lifestyle change. Even if you still shop from fast fashion brands, just shopping purposefully and wearing items for longer will be a step in the right direction. “I’m not saying never buy fast fashion,” Trujillo said. “That’s okay, we’re not all perfect…We just ask that you subconsciously think and care about, ‘where did my thing actually come from?” and how you’re gonna wear it.” Lau adds that microtrends are much different and more harmful than regular trends, making niche styles short-lived to the excess. But she also thinks that there’s not much need to follow trends in the first place. “Then you just look like the rest of the other people I see on Instagram, and it gets kind of boring,” she said.
“Whenever you buy something, always think of 3-7-21. If you look at an item and it’s a plain white shirt and it fits you really well, you’re gonna wear that 21 times. But let’s say it’s neon: how many times am I gonna wear that? ... It’s really [about] internalizing what you have and how you’re gonna wear it.” Hannah Lau, President of the DePaul Fashion Society
LESLIE WILLIAMSON | THE DEPAULIA
For trendier pieces, try Buffalo Exchange in Andersonville. While the prices are a bit steep for second-hand, the store sifts through clothes people bring in to sell and only chooses the best styles, doing the hard work of thrifting for you.
Thrift stores near campus
16 | La DePaulia. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
La DePaulia
‘¿Y nosotros? ¿Dónde quedamos?’
Migrantes de Chicago siguen luchando por los derechos laborales By Stephania Rodriguez Escritora, La DePaulia
‘¿Y nosotros? ¿Dónde quedamos?’: Migrantes de Chicago siguen luchando por la reforma migratoria y los derechos laborales En 2006, Elvira Arellano buscó refugio en una iglesia de Chicago para evitar ser deportada y separada de su hijo Saúl, nacido en EE. UU. Su historia llegó a los titulares nacionales e incluso la convirtió en la Persona del Año de 2006 de la revista Time. Arellano fue deportada en 2007 pero regresó a EE. UU después de solicitar asilo en 2014. En 2017, un tribunal de inmigración de EE. UU. le concedió una suspensión de la deportación. Hoy continúa su trabajo en defensa de los derechos humanos como fundadora de La Familia Latina Unida, una organización de defensa de la inmigración ilegal con sede en Chicago. Se paró ante cientos de personas y organizaciones en apoyo de los derechos de los inmigrantes en la marcha del Primero de Mayo de 2022. “El Primero de Mayo es un día para conmemorar a los mártires de Chicago y todos aquellos que han luchado antes de nosotros’’, dijo Arellano. “Hoy estamos aquí para reedificar nuestra lucha no solamente para mejorar nuestros salarios y beneficios laborales, sino también para seguir luchando y lograr salir de las sombras.” Entre la inflación y el COVID-19, los estadounidenses se han enfrentado a una lucha cada vez mayor para poder ganarse la vida y tener acceso al cuidado de los niños. Estas dificultades económicas se intensifican para un segmento de la fuerza laboral que a menudo se pasa por alto: los inmigrantes indocumentados. Según la organización FWD.us los trabajadores indocumentados, representan aproximadamente el cuatro por ciento de la fuerza laboral esencial de EE. UU. y el 17 por ciento de la fuerza laboral general del país, ocupan una variedad de trabajos de bajo salario y alto riesgo. Tras el inicio de la pandemia, millones se volvieron susceptibles al desempleo y a la infección por COVID-19. “Nuestras familias inmigrantes fueron los trabajadores de primera línea que mantuvieron esta economía en marcha,” dijo Saúl Arellano. “Muchos de ellos perdieron la vida. Hicieron todo por este país. Hoy es la razón por la que estamos junto a ellos y estamos listos para luchar por sus derechos.” En septiembre pasado, los trabajadores de la fábrica El Milagro iniciaron su manifestación por condiciones de trabajo más seguras, mejores salarios y horarios, y descanso los domingos. Se unieron con la organización pro-inmigrante y laboral Arise Chicago para ayudar a defender y lograr sus deseos. Antes de ser apoyados por Arise Chicago, los empleados de la fábrica supuestamente enfrentaron amenazas a su estatus migratorio por participar en la manifestación. “En términos generales, sin importar en qué tipo de trabajo se encuentre, los trabajadores tienen derecho a organizarse y/o sindicalizarse independientemente del estado de su documentación”, dijo Jessica CookQurayshi, directora del Centro de Educación Laboral de la Universidad DePaul. En Abril de este año, los trabajadores de
FOTO CORTESÍA DE STEPHANIA RODRIGUEZ | LA DEPAULIA
La organización Arise Chicago marchó en la manifestación del Primero de Mayo en apoyo de los derechos de los inmigrantes. El Milagro y Arise Chicago anunciaron varias victorias, pero dicen que todavía están presionando por más cambios, incluido tener los domingos libres. Los trabajadores ya no están obligados a trabajar siete días seguidos y han visto mejoras en el lugar de trabajo, como capacitación contra el acoso sexual para gerentes y aire acondicionado en los comedores. También han visto aumentos salariales por un total de más de $1 millón. La DePaulia le preguntó a Jorge Mujica, un organizador de Arise Chicago, ¿por qué es importante para los trabajadores de El Milagro tener los domingos libres? “La familia,” dijo Mujica. “Es tradicional en las familias católicas ir juntos a misa y luego salir a comer. Entonces significa mucho. Si no estas con tus hijos los domingos, cuando estas con tus hijos?” Mujica continuó, “El Milagro esta usando una excusa realmente estúpida. Dicen que todos tienen que trabajar los domingos porque el público quiere tortillas frescas. Eso es una ridiculez. ¿Cuándo vas al supermercado y revisas la fecha de tus tortillas? Compras seis paquetes y congelas dos, usas el resto y te duran tres, cuatro, cinco días. No tiene sentido.” Los logros de los trabajadores de El Milagro han inspirado a otros trabajadores en la ciudad a contactar y ser apoyados por Arise Chicago. “Todos somos trabajadores esenciales y por lo tanto debemos luchar para ser incluidos,” dijo Arellano. “Vamos a una huelga laboral por la reforma migratoria. No sabemos si nos vamos, no sabemos si nos quedamos, pero por ahora estamos luchando. Los migrantes no somos criminales, somos trabajadores internacionales.”
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Un cliente compra una caja de tortillas de El Milagro en La Villita.
La DePaulia. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 17
Erika L. Sánchez educa a través del amor a la poesía
By Nadia Hernandez
Editora de Noticias, The DePaulia
Durante su infancia, la autora y poeta Erika L. Sánchez no tenía un librero en su casa. Sus padres no podían leerle al estar demasiado agotados después de trabajar largas horas en trabajos de fábrica. Por lo que en su hogar no se fomentaba la lectura o la escritura. Sin embargo, la pasión de Sánchez por la escritura floreció cuando comenzó a escribir poesía a los 12 años. “Era buena con las palabras”, dijo Sánchez. “Pude expresarme y simplemente me aferré a eso”. Esto le ayudo a convertirse en la primera escritora de su familia. Sánchez es una graduada universitaria de primera generación. Sus padres emigraron a Cicero, Illinois, en 1978 desde México. Les preocupaba cómo se ganaría la vida escribiendo y creían que no era una carrera segura ni prometedora. “Siempre enfatizo que la poesía a menudo no se respeta en nuestra cultura, no se considera importante”, dijo. “La poesía es algo que encapsula tanto; es esta forma de arte que, de alguna manera, no tiene límites, no hay reglas verdaderas, puedes hacer lo que sea”. Tras dos décadas, Sánchez ahora es escritora residente del Programa de Estudios Latinoamericanos y Latinos de DePaul. Sus enseñanzas se centran en talleres de poesía y escritura Latinx, y en conectarse con los estudiantes. “Estamos hablando de literatura, no es como la ciencia, esto es sobre cosas del corazón, lo que significa estar vivo”, dijo Sánchez sobre su filosofía de enseñanza. “Desde mi experiencia, a los profesores realmente no les importa lo que piensas y cómo te sientes. Me niego a ser así”. En 2019, Sánchez publicó su primera novela para adultos jóvenes, “No Soy Tu Hija Mexicana Perfecta”, una historia de misterio y madurez sobre Julia, una joven mexicoamericana de primera generación que quiere ir a la universidad en Nueva York. Sánchez apeló a sus experiencias al crecer
FOTO CORTESÍA DE NADIA HERNANDEZ | THE DEPAULIA
Autora de DePaul Erika L. Sánchez desafía el estigmwa que rodea la salud mental en su nuevo libro. en culturas duales, lo que a menudo la hizo habría ayudado con mis propias luchas para sentir indigna. encontrar la identidad”, dijo Ruiz. “Muchos de nosotros tenemos esta expeCindy Rocha, estudiante de tercer año riencia de pertenecer a una familia en la que de DePaul se sintió inmediatamente atraída realmente no encajamos, y no sabemos cómo por el libro al ver la portada, que presenta al ser nosotros mismos en este entorno y senti- personaje principal de espaldas a los lectores mos que tenemos que irnos para crecer”, dijo cuando lo leyó por primera vez cuando era Sánchez. estudiante de tercer año en la escuela secundCale Ruiz, estudiante de la Escuela del aria. Instituto de Arte de Chicago, leyó reciente“El título en sí con la portada se sintió mente la novela de Sánchez en una clase de como un llamado a los estándares que son literatura Latinx. Se sentía relacionado con el exigidos a las hijas particularmente mayores estrés del personaje principal de estar a la al- en un hogar latino”, dijo Rocha. “Lo compré y tura de las expectativas de su familia mientras lo leí en unos tres días”. quería convertirse en ella misma. A Rocha le encantó el mensaje del libro “Este libro describe con precisión la in- sobre la salud mental, el trauma intergeneramensa presión sobre las personas latinas de cional y la inmigración. primera generación para mantener las tradiSánchez también será coproductora de la ciones y la cultura de su familia, mientras película de Netflix “No soy tu hija mexicana navegan simultáneamente por la sociedad perfecta”, que será dirigida por América Ferestadounidense”, dijo Ruiz. rera con guión de Linda Yvette Chávez. Las historias de la mayoría de edad latinx “[Esto] tiene el potencial de llevar esta escritas por personas latinas son fundamen- importante historia a una audiencia más amtales para representar con precisión estas ex- plia, así como representar aún más a las perperiencias únicas. sonas latinas en la industria cinematográfica “Siendo latinx yo misma, la exposición y los medios”, dijo Ruiz. a libros como ‘No Soy Tu Hija Mexicana El segundo libro de Sánchez, “Llorando Perfecta’ como un adulto joven sin duda me en el baño”, es un libro de memorias y se pub-
licará a principios de julio. Aunque no es una secuela de su primer libro, continuará con muchos de los temas base, incluida la salud mental entre las latinas. “Llorando en el baño” se centra principalmente en el tiempo que Sánchez estuvo en España como becaria Fulbright. Era la primera vez que estaba sola sin las expectativas de su familia. Pudo involucrarse con la poesía a un nivel que no podía en casa. “Florecí”, dijo. “Yo estaba como, ‘Oh, hombre, esta es una vida que puedo tener’. Simplemente tuve que, como, reinventarme allí “. Pero cuando regresó, la recesión de 2008 le dificultó encontrar trabajo. Sánchez despreciaba la vida empresarial y se sentía impotente. “Estaría escribiendo todo el tiempo de lo contrario”, dijo. “Era como todo lo que quería hacer, y no sabía cómo hacer que sucediera. Así que fue realmente frustrante”. Fue difícil someterse al proceso de escritura de sus memorias. Sánchez afrontaba los momentos de mayor depresión, como cuando solía llorar a solas en el baño. Pero al escribir sobre ello, pudo liberarse de dichos pensamientos. “También sentí que fue catártico”, dijo. “Estaba extrayendo algo de mi alma”. A diferencia de su primera novela, sus memorias contarán sus experiencias personales con la salud mental. Ella será vulnerable y honesta sobre este tema tabú en la cultura latinx, dijo. “Pero creo que es importante ser tan honesto y vulnerable porque la gente se conecta con eso”, dijo Sánchez. “Si hubiera tenido algo como esto, hubiera cambiado mi vida de alguna forma. Quiero hacer que alguien se sienta así”. “Crecí sintiendo que no importaba”, dijo Sánchez. “¿Cuándo vi a alguien como yo haciendo algo interesante? Las mujeres de mi familia no lo tuvieron fácil”. Por otro lado, Sánchez está empezando lentamente a leerle a su hija de 18 meses. “Ha sido muy divertido leer con ella y llevarla al Instituto de Arte”, dijo. “Estoy haciendo cosas muy diferentes ahora con mi hija”.
La industria cannábica tiene más que ofrecer para las mujeres By Jocelyn Diaz Escritora, La DePaulia
Illinois Women in Cannabis (IWC) es una organización sin fines de lucro que brinda oportunidades educativas y de trabajo en red dentro de la industria del cannabis. En 2020, el alumno de DePaul, Amor Montes de Oca, se unió a IWC como director ejecutivo, con el objetivo de proporcionar una comunidad para las personas interesadas en la industria del cannabis. Antes de su cargo en IWC, Montes de Oca se desempeñó como directora de iniciativas estratégicas en 2112, un espacio de trabajo creativo que ofrece acceso comunitario y educativo a múltiples negocios. “El negocio del cannabis estaba a la vanguardia”, dijo Montes de Oca. “Empezamos a tener nuevas empresas [negocios] que necesitaban incubación para lanzar marcas de CBD”. A través de estas conexiones entrantes, Montes de Oca comenzó su viaje hacia la comunidad cannábica. El interés de Montes de Oca la llevó a investigar qué oportunidades existen para las personas interesadas en la industria del cannabis. “Vi una gran oportunidad para promover los cambios dentro del sistema legal que llevaron a nuevas oportunidades de negocios profesionales”. Dijo Montes de Oca. Con la creciente participación de IWC, la comunidad se mantuvo al frente de la misión de la organización sin fines de lucro. Montes de Oca expresa cómo
una comunidad es la esencia de IWC y qué la hace tan única. “La comunidad es el recurso”, dijo Montes de Oca. “Es nuestra salsa secreta”. Brindar colaboración con múltiples eventos de redes parece atraer a las personas para que se conviertan en miembros y, por lo tanto, hagan crecer a IWC. La creciente participación dentro de la organización comenzó a mostrar cuán diversa es realmente la comunidad del cannabis. “Somos afortunados de tener una comunidad de espectro completo”, dijo Montes de Oca. “Desde estudiantes que comienzan a explorar oportunidades dentro de la industria hasta hasta empresas de gestión de servicios y todo lo demás”. Si bien IWC se creó pensando en las mujeres, Montes de Oca destaca que cualquier persona interesada o curiosa sobre la industria puede participar. “Somos inclusivos; damos la bienvenida a todos los que apoyan nuestra misión de facilitar oportunidades para las mujeres”. La inclusión y diversidad dentro de la comunidad cannábica resalta que no existe un consumidor típico de cannabis. “Somos coloridos, somos únicos, tenemos diversos orígenes y experiencias, y eso es lo que hace que nuestra comunidad sea tan enriquecedora”. Si bien Montes de Oca tiene una profesión que no juzga a los consumidores de cannabis, ciertas ocupaciones podrían considerar o excluir indirectamente
a quienes consumen cannabis con fines médicos o recreativos. “Creo que eventualmente y naturalmente llegaremos a un momento en el que las políticas deberán revisarse y actualizarse”. Montes de Oca insta a las empresas a revisar sus políticas para asegurarse de que no discriminen involuntariamente a los posibles solicitantes. “Creo que es un llamado a todos los empleadores a repensar y reconsiderar sus políticas de empleo, para asegurarse de que no estamos perpetuando el estereotipo”, dijo Montes de Oca. “Para asegurarnos de que realmente brindamos igualdad de oportunidades y no discriminamos indirectamente”. Cuando se le preguntó sobre el futuro del cannabis, Montes de Oca expresó esperanza. “¡El futuro del cannabis no podría ser más emocionante!” Dijo Montes de Oca. “Es una industria de rápido crecimiento”. IWC aboga por que las mujeres se involucren más en la comunidad del cannabis y se conviertan en propietarias de negocios que tocan plantas. “Hay tanto que aún está por venir”. Dijo Montes de Oca. Cuando se le preguntó qué le gustaría que la gente supiera sobre el cannabis, Montes de Oca instó a que el conocimiento es fundamental. “Acérquese con la mente abierta y trate de compartimentar lo que puede o puede saber ahora”, dijo Montes de Oca. “No es lo que la propaganda ha pintado para ser”. Montes de Oca insta a la gente
FOTO CORTESÍA DE JOCELYN DIAZ | LA DEPAULIA
Directora ejecutiva de Illinois Women in Cannabis Jocelyn Amor Montes de Oca en las officinas 2112. a informarse sobre el cannabis y su profesionalismo dentro de la industria. “La narrativa está cambiando y muchos defensores están reescribiendo la narrativa en la industria”. Dijo Montes de Oca. “Deja de lado los estereotipos; no es lo que piensas. Es mucho más complejo, más rico y más profesional de lo que piensas”.
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THE DEPAULIA
Good News!
Happy days!
The sun came out today! AMBER STOUTENBOROUGH | THE DEPAULIA
Can we have some f@#&ing good news? By Amber Stoutenborough & Lilly K eller Arts & Life Editor & Asst. Arts & Life Editor
This week has sucked; with the possible Roe V. Wade overturning, Russia bombing Ukraine and Covid’s Death toll hitting one million, life has been so stressful it’s been difficult trying to stay connected with the news when all we hear is more and more terrible things happening around us. As the Arts & Life editors, we are supposed to bring entertaining and fun news each week to uplift and bring in readers for The DePaulia. While there are always new movies to go see, music to listen to and art to appreciate, the life section of Arts & Life has felt almost neglected due to all the recent sad news. Going into the journalism business, I am not naive about the long road ahead of writing constantly about bleak news. But while I am still The DePaulia’s Arts & Life Editor for the next couple of weeks, I wanted to take the time to find good news happening around us to remember why I wanted to be a journalist in the first place.
Good thing #1: Sunny days ahead
So far, May has looked just as bleak as April did this year. With unnatural cold temperatures for spring, Chicago has not been providing the encouragement needed to break out of seasonal depression — until next week. Say goodbye to the rainy and gray 40s temperature, starting Monday May 9, it’ll be 65 and above for the rest of the week. Best part of unnatural cold weather is how excited we get once it hits above 50 degrees. Like everyone, I try to think positively about the fact DePaul’s term doesn’t end until mid-June, and the warm weather to close out the year is one reason to stay pos-
itive as we near the end of this academic year.
Good thing #2: Tulips and cherry blossoms in bloom
The positive part of all the rain in Chicago is how well it’s treating our greenery. Considered a harbinger of spring, tulips of all shades can be seen dotting gardens and sidewalks, brightening students’ walks to and from class. The once miserable commute to and from can now be slightly better, adding a little pep in your step with these colorful additions on your path. Alongside these perennials, the cherry blossoms are officially in bloom and can be enjoyed in Jackson Park. These natural wonders are sometimes all we need to realize that no matter how gloomy the week may be, there are natural bright spots everywhere.
Good thing #3: Climate denialism lost a big platform
Climate Change arguments have been getting worse and worse this year, with scientists chaining themselves in protest, it’s been difficult trying to find a positive outlook. In wake of the climate crisis, Twitter announced that they are working to challenge the debate head-on by banning ads relating to misinformation and denial of environmental destruction. As of now, misleading information relating to climate change cannot be promoted or legitimized. While this may seem small, it proves that steps are slowly being taken towards ending the fight against misinformation. Even something as simple as Twitter fixing misinformation can help toward the
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bigger picture of a more sustainable future.
Good thing #4: Sweet introduction to new bakeries
While the recent closure of Dinkel’s Bakery on Clark St. has been a bittersweet moment, the increase of new bakeries popping up in Chicago has helped fill this sugar-rimmed hole. Chicago Sugar Daddy patisserie, located at 3243 N Broadway is just one of the newest additions to the list and my personal favorite with its Ube Cookies. Along with Good Ambler and Sugar Goat Bakery both located in the West Loop, it’s hard not to find your new favorite place to pick up pastries while you enjoy the newly warm weather.
Good thing #5: Bright future for post-grad life
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While everyone around us is graduating right now, DePaul still has a couple weeks left before we wrap up. The positive part of this includes a warm enough season for graduation time. While leaving uni-life can be scary, positive news for job hunting helps soothe that worry. This graduation period, it is predicted that companies will be hiring 26.6 percent more college graduates from the class of 2022 than previously employed from the class of 2021, according to Fortune. We hope that this allows for current seniors who have not found luck in the job market to breathe a sigh of relief, for not all hope is lost! The finish line is so close till we can enjoy post grad life which is a personal exciting news to look forward to.
Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 19
May the Fourth be with you By Lilly K eller Asst. Arts & Life Editor
Despite nearly five decades passing since George Lucas' "A New Hope" premiered in theaters in 1977, the “Star Wars” franchise has never been stronger. As May the fourth arrives, the unofficial holiday strives to celebrating the eccentric universe of “Star Wars,” allowing fans to reminisce on what pulled them into the franchise to begin with. Housing over 11 films, seven television shows and 381 books, the universe of “Star Wars” continues to expand with each passing year. Surprisingly, “Star Wars” was not always destined for fame. Initially crafted from the concept of a space opera, Lucas nearly missed his chance at immortalization due to his convoluted early drafts of "A New Hope" and outrageous expenses.Yet, the stars aligned for Lucas, with "A New Hope," despite its $11 million budget grossing more than $775 million worldwide and racking up 11 Academy Award nominations.Nevertheless, the question still stands, how did “Star Wars,” a series based on laser swords, mystical religion and an orphaned farm boy, maintain its prevalence? DePaul sophomore Bella Kovar believes the franchise's unique plotlines and memorable characters allow the film series to connect
MAYA OCLASSEN | THE DEPAULIA
to a vast range of individuals. "It really is like nothing you've ever seen before,” Kovar said. “The originality behind the entire thing really contributes to how successful it is, I think. Talking robots (or droids), made-up planets, all different kinds of spaceships, princesses and creatures never before seen ... all in one series." Amid Hollywood's current obsession with expanding universes and interrelated plotlines, “Star Wars” holds credit for paving the way for this form of storytelling. Perhaps one of the franchises most defining aspects is the unique order in which Lucas created the film. The series initiated with “Episode IV,” a deliberate design choice by Lucas to allow the franchise to expand on the future and past. "I think another thing that makes Star Wars so special is that it is tailored to so many audiences,” Kovar said. “Children, for example, can view it, but it's also some sci-fi fun for adults. The humor included is painfully stupid that it makes you laugh." DePaul screenwriting and cinema production associate professor Brad Riddell explained how the film series' plot structure secured a seemingly endless audience. "It's a classic tale of good versus evil and of freedom prevailing over oppression — which I find particularly appealing now,” Riddell said. “Every iteration of the franchise is also
an underdog story. Our heroes are always outnumbered, outgunned, and they must triumph through sacrifice and ingenuity." Lucas's inspiration for his riveting tale of triumphs and tragedy can be traced to "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell, which analyzes humanity from a mythological and representative lens. Through Campbell's sensational plot structure of the hero's journey, Lucas enriched his character archetypes while crafting qualities audiences can relate to. Yet, in an era of the continuous franchise, from "Harry Potter" to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Riddell explained why "Star Wars" has maintained its popularity among new generations. "It's not so much that these later franchises copied ‘Star Wars’; it's that ‘Star Wars’ made clear that working from and developing deep mythology is appealing to an audience — as it has been across cultures across the world as far back as we can look,” Riddell said. "All of these characters and the adventures they undertake are absolutely mythological in structure." While Marvel’s franchises may have a higher grossing of $25 billion than "Star Wars" $10 billion, it is essential to acknowledge that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has 28 total movies while "Star Wars" has 11. Although it may seem like the films can
be overshadowed in the wake of the rapidly expanding entertainment industry, "Star Wars" boasts something few current franchises can — nostalgia. Riddell, who was 7 years old when "A New Hope" came out, expressed how the films and characters have stuck with him over the years. "I love the dirty, old, broken-down universe it portrays, the characters it chooses and the themes it explores," Riddell said. "Princess Leia became a role model for me, and was ahead of her time, especially in science fiction, where roles for women were small and problematic, if they existed at all." Individuals such as DePaul freshman Parveen Mundi explained why the franchise is so easy to enjoy. "Everyone has their own vision of what the future will be like, and people are able to find pieces of their imaginations in the films, whether that is the space travel or lightsabers or something else," Mundi said. While unofficial "Star Wars" day may only come once a year, it is evident that the franchise and fanbase continue to prosper five decades later. As older generations continue to pass down the magic of “Star Wars,” it is no surprise that the movies have and will continue to stand the test of time.
Wordle spin-offs step up to the plate By Lawrence K reymer Editor in Chief
The hype surrounding Wordle —-- an internet word game that came out in late 2021 —-- has subsided in the last few months. When Wordle first burst onto the scene, people could not stop talking about the new daily game that had people trying to guess a five-letter word in six attempts. Green, yellow and black boxes floodedfiltered throughout Twitter on a daily basis as people postedwere posting their daily scores in a way to keep up. But fewer and fewer of those Twitter posts now come across my timeline, which is not surprising considering that most new games reach a very high peak in popularity quickly and then steadily decline in relevance. Even though Wordle has had a similar trajectory, different versions of the game have popped up in recent months to keep the tradition of the game going. It’s like when a famous athlete or politician, who was very popular in their time, has kids who try to follow in their footsteps -—- but end up falling short because they can’t replicate their charisma and personality. That’s the case with some of the new knockoff versions of Wordle. They aren’t as popular and relevant as the original, but are- dare I say -- still fun to play if you are into guessing games. Only recently have I noticed and
branched out into various Wordle spinoffsIt’s only been recently since I have seen and started to play the different versions of Wordle, but they have grabbed my attention in the last few weeks. Now, I’m a sports nerd who will pretty much watch any game and try to learn every player’s name in those matches. Poeltl was the first knockoff version of Wordle that I found and started to play on a daily basis. This is an NBA nameword game that provides a new basketball player you have to guess every day. But there are some differenc-
AMBER STOUTENBOROUGH | THE DEPAULIA
es to the original Wordle, including you now get eight guesses and there is a silhouette you can click on to get a hint of who the player is that day. The beauty of the game is that it does not always provide a player that is well known or is considered a star —, instead, you get more obscure players who are more likely to be bench warmers than real contributors. And that is what makes the game fun. Since you can click on the silhouette to see how the player looks, it is actually pretty easy to get the guess correct if it’s a popular player
that day. Poeltl is not the only sports version of Wordle, we also have Who Are Ya —-- which is a soccer guessing game and is even harder because the player of the day can be from five different leaguesyou now have to figure out who the player of the day is based on five different leagues. Also, the name — -- Who Are Ya —-- is simply majestic. It’s based on a popular soccer chant that gets sung around stadiums all across Europe. And now it’s the name of a fun guessing game. Who Are Ya has the same basic principles as Poeltl with a silhouette of the player provided, eight attempts available to get the guess correct, but now the player can be from Europe's five biggest leagues. There are other sports versions that cover different leagues —-- including one for the NFL and MLB —-- but those aren’t as easy or as fun given that there are more obscure players in each league. Now, if you aren’t a sports fan and are looking for other ways to play word guessing games, there are versions of Wordle forare math, geographyical and music versions of Wordle. At the end of day, there is a game to fulfill everyone’s tastes buds. For me, however, I will wait until midnight to get the refreshes on Wordle, Who Are Ya and Poeltl.
20 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
Revitalizing drill culture
'Kold x Windy' looks at a staple of Chicago's Southside through a Black female perspective By Tiffany Harrell Contributing Writer
WE TV & AllBlk’s Kold X Windy Scripted Drama Series highlights Chicago’s Drill Culture Chicago's South Side story has been told in many ways, from Black wall street to gang violence, but never through the drill culture lens. Chicago's disenfranchised Black communities gave birth to drill music, influencing a global interest. Drill is portentous hip hop with lyrics named after a slang term for attacks between gangs. Drill beats are syncopated hi-hat patterns mirroring the rapid fire of a machine gun, making its male-dominated genre controversial and accusing artists of encouraging violence among its youthful audience. WE tv, AllBlk with Co-creators Kenny Young, Phil James and Vernon "Xtreme" Brown are visually reopening the window to Chicago's drill culture through the Black female artist perspective with their new eight one-hour episodes scripted drama series, "Kold x Windy." The logline: "Kold x Windy" follows rising hip hop and drill star Malika (Kold), desperate to create a better life for her and her son in Chicago's south side. Her trusted confidant and group member Renee (Windy), is a rapper with a strong dedication to the city streets. “Kold x Windy” is a Chicago story told by Chicagoans. Kenny Young of Chalice Entertainment realized after working on a documentary entitled "They Don't Give A Damn," shedding light on the tearing down of Chicago's housing projects and the displacement of Blacks within those communities told a hidden story. That the interviews foreshadowed the consensus of the inner-city youth who felt a lot of the crime and murders on Chicago's Southside stemmed from the drill music. "I
have never heard that before, and it intrigued me. I started to research, and I felt there was a story there, and I wanted that story told from the kids in the drill culture," said Young. Kold x Windy is not just another project for this Southsider, he's emotionally invested in the struggles and increased crime happening in our city streets. For the Chalice Entertainment company, this is a passion project for them. “Kold x Windy” is about the influence Drill music has on the streets of Chicago, as well as the controversial theme throughout social media. "Our goal is to pull back the curtains and give viewers a first-hand look at these strong female characters, humanizing them as we paint a vivid picture of the personal relationships, real-life challenges, and ongoing cycles that can be challenging to overcome." Added Brett Dismuke, general manager of AllBlk & WE tv. “The show is about trying to make it from one place to another, getting to your destination and getting to your dreams. It's a dream-catching story," said Vick Lee, a staff writer. With her trials and tribulations as a writer in Chicago with dreams of making it, this storyline drew her immediately. "These two Black women from Chicago from the southside. I can relate to that because I'm a Black woman from the southside trying to make it. It's not just a story; it's realistic." Lee said. As Malika's career ignites, her lifelong hustle, credit card fraud catches up with her, and rival drill artists see her as a threat. Faced with increasing pressure to make music, a checkered past, new love, and her troubled son, Malika finds herself at a crossroads and must decide which path to choose. However, best friend Renee, who, like Malika, chose the hustle of credit card fraud, believes maintaining an allegiance to the streets is
what's most important to help their reputation in the hip hop and drill game. Renee does not support Malika's strong desire to change her image and will stop at nothing to prevent it. Will Malika be able to break free of her life of street crime to achieve her music dreams and save her family? When taking a deeper dive into the characters Malika and Renee, you will find they are on two different spectrums. Even though they have grown up together and are very close, Malika wants to change, and Renee doesn't, bringing us to the show's overall theme is you must change to grow. "It's sort of a character study of what happens when you attempt to change your life in a positive direction and what happens when you choose not to change." Added Young. Malika and Renee will become the new spokespersons for this thinking process. These well-rounded characters will bring forth an emotional connection to you through your television screen. “Kold x Windy” is where Empire meets Power, filled with action and a heavy musical theme meant to entertain, inspire and educate. "The music is huge and will set this show apart from the others," comments Lee. Due to a production decision, “Kold x Windy,” although filmed in Atlanta, rest assured that the essence of Chicago is still there. "Many of the people, many of the actors, and the people involved in the creative aspect are from Chicago, and we are bringing that element." Add Young. Screen Magazine reports that “Kold x Windy” will mark the return of WE tv into the scripted space after several years. Kold x Windy is set to debut this Fall on WE tv and its sister platform AllBlk. “Kold x Windy” is co-created by Kenny
PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF WE TV
Co-Creator Kenny Young, Chalice Entertainment “it’s a wrap!” on the set.
Young, Phil James, and Vernon “Xtreme” Brown of Chalice Entertainment. Lauren Gellert, EVP of production & development, David Stefanou, SVP of production and development and Nikki Love, SVP of production and development for AllBlk serve as Executive Producers for WE tv. “We make our lives by the choices we make.” ~ Kold x Windy
$20 STUDENT RUSH TICKETS BASED ON AVAILABILITY
1016 N. DEARBORN
Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 21
Bleach is back ADDY BERGE | THE DEPAULIA
Vocalist and guitar player Jackson Stevens preforms at Subterranean on March 6. Since the bands founding, they have gained popularity on social media.
Young alternative rock artists, 'Bleach' return to the stage By Emily Robinson Contributing Writer
The aftermath of the pandemic shown through songwriting: Young alternative rock artists, “Bleach” return to the stage The pandemic created a creative bubble for artists to seclude into, whether they necessarily wanted to or not. Artists on the verge of young adulthood, transitioning from high school to reality, were at an especially vulnerable time for growth that was realized in their music. Bleach, a three-piece alternative rock band from St. Louis, reflected on their personal growth and rise as musicians through that period of isolation. Bleach is composed of Lance Johnson (vocals), Jackson Stevens (guitar/vocals) and Kaleb Mylenbusch (drums). Johnson and Stevens were childhood friends, and were paired with Mylenbusch later on at a music summer camp when the boys were all around 14. In speaking to them about if they could imagine being where they are now, looking back at their initial group, Johnson confidently answered, “I mean, we definitely did. Pretty early on, being in the band, we were trying to make it.” The effect the pandemic had on the music industry was particularly rough, halting all live shows, which served as many artists main source of income. This rift caused many artists to try to transition to online-based entertainment with the goal of gaining new audience members, and maintaining those that they had before in their engagements and support. However, like many, Bleach used this time to hone their creative skills in songwriting and performing as well, which is reflected in the way their music style has matured and live show performances. Mylenbusch provided some insight as to what that looked like, investing in a practice space for the group to allow themselves to focus creatively along with the progress they saw as a result; “We focused a lot on writing and
bought a practice space in the city and built a studio to prepare for when Covid was over,” he said. “It paid off; our music right now sounds completely different to when we first started off.” For such a young group, all around 20, the pandemic took up a sizable chunk of their transitional teen years, as it did for the rest of us in college currently. However, they pivoted to fully devote their energy to their music full time and decided to opt out of pursuing higher education. Balancing an artistic career and pursuing college responsibilities isn't impossible with drive, but still can be very challenging, according to Johnson; “I think it’s possible, I think it’s how hard you want to work, that’s a lot of it,” he said. “It’s also how much you believe in yourself.” Social media helped Bleach establish their fanbase — the group has 72k followers on TikTok, around 10k followers on Instagram and 30,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Bleach started posting videos on TikTok of their performances after the pandemic in May of 2020 that consistently gained tens of thousands of views. “We’re quite a different band from when all that happened, you know what I mean?” Johnson said, reflecting on the band’s growth since their early attention on TikTok. “We started when we were really young, the gap from when we started, to when the pandemic hit, to this interview, that's a big amount of time for us. Honestly, we were just messing around in our basement as kids trying to get a few more streams on our songs, and it just so happened that everyone was using that app at the same time.” Their first EP, Think Too Much, was released in 2018, and doesn’t take as many risks as the aptly-titled Growing Pains, their most recent EP released in 2021. They include more vocal harmonies, variation in vocal texture, play around with more production elements and have
ADDY BERGE | THE DEPAULIA
Jackson Stevens (left), Lance Johnson (middle) and Kaleb Mylenbusch (right) together.
more intense and raw vocals on some tracks. All of their newer songs are more complex, with more variation in the structure of each song, more variations in instrumental highlights, and are overall angrier, the extra production elements add just that little extra depth and maturity to the songs. Through the progression of the bands ups and downs, the guys growth as musicians and band mates shows. In asking them to reflect on what advice they would give to their younger selves, they bluntly talked about trust, transparency, and ego. Johnson chimed in with“Don’t be a dick,” with Mylenbusch following up with “Be open to your bandmates about everything, because you’re married to
them.” Stevens commented; “don’t overthink it, but also, be cautious, you know what I mean? Think about the impact you can make. There’s always that kind of power dynamic with the stage and everything, don’t be blind, there’s kids out there that care about you or view you in a certain stature.” Bleach is in the process of writing and recording new music in what is somewhat post pandemic life for musicians, and have planned some shows around the east coast for the first time. You can keep up with them through their Instagram, Spotify, and Facebook.
22 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
What’s Fresh
'Moon Knight' leaves many questions unanswered
PHOTO BY IMDB
By Siona Chibber Staff Writer Marvel’s latest project, “Moon Knight,” wrapped up their debut in a six-episode series on May 4. This show was directed by Mohamed Diab, a novice movie director with few credentials behind him. The titular antihero, Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac), has been introduced to the screen for the first time in this television series and speculation of whether he will return or not in future Marvel productions remains up in the air. Many fans and film buffs had opposing views on this new series as it sparked controversy across multiple movies. Was this a hit or a miss? A big issue with “Moon Knight” is its problem with pacing. This series got off to a great start in the first two episodes with a captivating introduction of the main characters Marc Spector and Stephen Grant. Once the writers began revealing more ideas such as a backstory, history, and an attempt at character growth, things began to falter. Since this is only a six-episode miniseries, the creators had to fit in a bunch of ideas in a short span in order to give this story a beginning, middle and end. These concepts were coming in from every angle and weren’t examined thoroughly, instead, they were jumbled up and delivered rapidly. The plot never seemed to stay in one general direction; it was all over the place and changed frequently throughout the episodes. This in turn, resulted in a jumble of tone shifts which leaves the audience confused and overwhelmed. One way this was exhibited was through the depiction of Isaac’s character shift everytime he blacked out. This would happen multiple times when he fought villains, completely overlooking the action-packed fight scenes one would expect in a superhero movie. The last-minute introduction of a third persona, Jake Lockley left me with more questions than I started with. In the finale, Marc and Stephen are able to balance their scales and make it out of Egyptian heaven and hell. Knowing that there is a third character within the other two, shouldn’t he have played a part in the scales and their heart? The audience begins by looking through the perspective of Stephen Grant, who is also played by Isaac. Immediately, the viewers are pushed into this man’s point of view with barely any initial information on who he is and where he came from. We find that he is somehow connected to Marc, but the truth behind this is only revealed in
the penultimate episode. This meant that in the four episodes that were released at the time, fans were left clueless about this key plot point and its significance. The history of the Egyptian Gods was overwhelming as well. It was packed in a couple of episodes and fed to the audience quickly. I was left in the dark trying to figure out who each god was and what their purpose was to the show and the main characters. Khonshu, Ahmed — these names did not resonate with me for the majority of the production as I struggled to truly connect with these characters. With the amount of superhero movies out these days, it's understandable that coming up with new protagonists, plotlines and origin stories is difficult. Just about every idea has been tired out at this point. This begs the question as to why Marvel went ahead with this project anyway. It was a bold move that resulted in a feeble production. Originality is a concept Marvel doesn’t seem to grasp. Moon Knight represents an intense resemblance to Batman; he wears a cape, creeps in the shadows and fights for vengeance. Does this sound familiar? What was surprising was how brutal and violent this series became in the later episodes. Previous shows such as “Iron Fist” and “Inhumans” had similar dark tones and yet, they didn’t do so well amongst audiences, according to Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. So following this formula for a new project in 2022 is mind-boggling. This makes me think Marvel is walking on eggshells regarding future involvement of this hero in MCU movies. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has viewers from a variety of age ranges. This means that children are also absorbing this content. Considering this fact, why would they make another vicious show when younger people are watching? This leads me to wonder what the future of the MCU will look like. Right now, many of the films are PG-13 — with these new shows, will the rating get stronger? If so, this would change the game entirely and limit the amount of fans who would watch it. This is not a smart move on their part. And if Marvel has no plans to involve Moon Knight in future projects, this takes me back to the same question: why make this project in the first place? The acting was a major factor in keeping viewers engaged. While Isaac portrayed two characters together in one scene beautifully, the same cannot be said for other cast members. Ethan Hawke did a phenomenal job portraying the antagonist Arthur Harrow as well. The issue lies in the side char-
A scene from Moon Night based on the Marvel Comic featuring actor Oscar Isaac.
acters. I lost interest while watching Marc’s mother, played by Fernanda Andrade, take the lead in episode five. It was embarrassing and hard to watch. It took me out of the scene entirely and I lost complete engagement with the storyline. What made it worse was that these side characters weren’t given enough screen time to delve into their back stories and give them more depth. I struggled to connect with any of them. Some would argue that there was great representation in “Moon Knight,” which a focus on Egyptian culture displayed throughout the show and in the credits. Isaac portrayed a person suffering from multiple personality disorder. His character was also that of a Jewish background. Was the display of these characteristics on screen enough to argue that Marvel outdid themselves in terms of diversity and inclusivity? Simply showing these issues or backgrounds isn’t enough to fulfill this
slot. It is crucial to share true information which is research based in order to make a difference. There are some in the Jewish community who argue that the representation was bad. TikToker Danielle Silverstone says that Spector being Jewish added nothing to the plot. His identity wasn’t explored enough in the series. “Jewishness was not central to his character and the scene would’ve played out the same with or without this factor, which is the problem,” Silverstone said in her post. In episode five, Mark throws his kippah on the ground in frustration. In the Jewish community, it is said that if a kippah is thrown on the ground one must kiss it after picking it up. His character did not do this. As a result, this did not bode well amongst Jewish fans. All in all, Isaac and Hawke were amazing performers, but they weren’t enough to save this shoddy Marvel production full of underdeveloped story lines and uninspiring characters.
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Western 'Unforgiven' holds up well
Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 23
Always 'Do the Right Thing'
PHOTO FROM IMDB
PHOTO FROM IMDB
Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood star side by side in the 1992 western Unforgiven.'
By Jacob Costello Staff Writer
For the month of May, Music Box theater at 3733 North Southport is screening a series of unconventional Westerns in a partnership with the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts. The movies being shown are far from the romanticized depictions of the west in films such as “Once Upon a Time in the West” and “True Grit,” but Music Box has instead opted to show Westerns that challenge every trope of gunslinging cowboys riding off into the sunset. These screenings are free for DePaul students and happen on Sundays and Tuesdays this month. “Hell on the Homestead,” a series of revisionist Westerns which aim to depict the cruel American frontier and the people who made livings there, kicked off last night with a showing of 1992’s Best Picture winner “Unforgiven '' on a beautiful 35mm print. “Unforgiven” follows William Munny, a retired gunslinger living on an isolated farm with his children. Munny, played by the film’s director Clint Eastwood, is a man trying to put his violent past behind him and raise his family. After two thugs cut up a prostitute, her friends and coworkers place a $1,000 bounty on the men’s heads. A brash young man who calls himself “The Schofield Kid,” played by Jaimz Woolvett, comes to Munny’s farm to ask for his help collecting the bounty. Munny is apprehensive but agrees and brings his old partner and deadeye marksman Ned Logan, played by Morgan Freeman, along to assist him and the Kid in bringing the men in. Munny and his companions quickly come into conflict with the sheriff of the prostitute’s town Little Bill Daggett, played by the amazing Gene Hackman. Little Bill fears that the killers and gunslingers attracted to his town by the prostitutes’ bounty will disrupt his iron grip on the community. Munny finds himself falling back to his savage ways in the men’s attempt to collect the bounty. Despite his efforts to settle down and raise a family, he is still the brutal cold-blooded cowboy he has always been. “Unforgiven” is a true revisionist Western. Starting in the late 1960s to early 1970s filmmakers began to make darker Westerns that deconstructed the mythos of the American west and heroic cowboys. These movies depicted the west as harsh and unforgiving, and showed the men who made their living here to be no different. The days of John Wayne and the man in the white hat were over, replaced by morally ambiguous anti-heroes who killed indiscriminately. One of the most creative ways “Unforgiven” dismantles the Western is the character of W.W. Beauchamp, played by Saul Rubinek, a biographer who is enthralled with the gunslingers. He starts the movie out by following a man named English Bob, played by Richard Harris, a bounty hunter who fills Beauchamp’s head with exaggerated tales of
his heroism and life on the frontier. Upon encountering Little Bill, Beauchamp’s idealized thoughts of the west are shattered when the sheriff brutally beats English Bob and reveals the man is a fraud and a liar. Little Bill proceeds to tell Beauchamp how men like Bob are nothing but killers making up these grand stories to make them seem far more moral than they are. Little Bill telling Beauchamp about the truth of the west is a perfect parallel to Eastwood’s movie showing the audience that the myth we have bought into for decades is nothing more than a facade to glorify killers and cowards. “Unforgiven” is one of the best deconstructions of a genre I have ever seen. “Unforgiven” is graced by show-stopping performances from Eastwood and Hackman. Eastwood’s Munny is a broken down shadow of his former self who has trouble getting on his horse and can’t shoot a bottle no more than 20 feet away. As the movie progresses, we see Munny grow back into his old ways and become the force of death and destruction that brought him so much infamy. This is a perfect role for 1990s Clint Eastwood. He rose to fame off the grim murderous characters he portrayed in westerns of the 60s and 70s, but by the 90s had left that life behind him. Eastwood’s quiet and restrained deliveries expertly capture a man who has tried his hardest to better himself. Gene Hackman’s Little Bill has been one of my favorite Western villains since my dad showed me this movie when I was 14. Little Bill is calculating, cruel, and despises the mythological cowboys. He rules the town of Big Whiskey with a tyrannical streak, with guns being prohibited for all except him and his deputies. In the first scene of the movie he is established as a hateable man who is unwilling to pursue the justice of the old west. Hackman plays this measured man with expert skill and serves as a very worthy foe to Eastwood’s Munny. “Unforgiven” is not just amazing acting and wonderful writing, the movie has gorgeous cinematography and a beautiful score. Despite the movie being a deconstruction of the genre, this movie still has the striking visuals audiences have come to expect from Westerns. This stunning movie was made even more nice to look at by the 35mm print the Music Box opted to show. “Unforgiven” is an amazing movie. From technical aspects, camera work, score, lighting, to the acting, to the incredible story that functions as a breakdown of the genre itself, this is a movie that everyone should watch, even those who claim to dislike Westerns. I count myself very lucky I had the opportunity to rewatch this classic in theater and I know I am looking forward to the rest of the “Hell on the Homestead” series. I am giving “Unforgiven” five out of five stars.
Radio Raheem holds up his Love and Hate rings in a scene from 'Do The Right Thing.'
By Jacob Costello Staff Writer
“Do the Right Thing” is a classic for a reason. A raw, unflinching look at hate and bigotry in 1980s Brooklyn, Spike Lee’s third movie is painfully relevant 33 years later. “Do the Right Thing” is a hilarious movie, even with the rough subject matter. The humor and beautiful cinematography make this a movie a lot easier to rewatch and experience the heartbreaking social commentary on racism in America. “Do the Right Thing” follows an ensemble of residents of a close-knit Brooklyn community going about their business on a sweltering summer day. Mookie, played by the writer and director Spike Lee, is a delivery man for a pizzeria owned and operated by Sal, an Italian-American father played by Danny Aiello. Sal’s sons help their father run the restaurant, Vito, played by Richard Edson is a friend to members of the community, unlike his brother Pino, played by John Turturro, who is an angry man whose racist comments and beliefs create further division in the neighborhood. After Mookie’s friend Buggin’ Out, played by a young and fresh faced Giancarlo Esposito, gets into an argument with Sal about there being no Black people displayed on the pizzeria’s wall of fame, the racial tensions rise with the temperature of the scorching summer day. The hate and heat come to a boiling point leaving the characters, and the audience watching, in shock and horror. One of my favorite parts of “Do the Right Thing” is the stellar ensemble cast. Mookie makes deliveries and interacts with the many eccentric residents of the neighborhood. From Mister Senor Love Daddy, the radio DJ played by Sammuel L. Jackson, to Radio Raheem, the stoic man always equipped with his boombox blasing Public Enemy played by Bill Nunn, to the local drunk with a heart of gold known as Da Mayor, played by Ossie Davis, Mookie’s interactions with the members of his community make the movie feel alive and the characters feel real. The setting, a Black Brooklyn neighborhood, feels just as much a character as the actors we watch. Some characters have only a few minutes of screentime, but their performances, dialogue and life they bring make them all unique and distinct. While the ensemble as a collective is a powerhouse of acting talent, the main actor does not nearly have the same prowess of his supporting cast. Lee is a wildly talented director and
writer, but his acting ability leaves much to be desired. His flat delivery is an aspect of Mookie’s character, but I really got the impression Lee was acting. This is not always a bad thing, but when the supporting cast all have performances that feel effortless and real, Lee’s portrayal of Mookie is not nearly on the same level as his co stars. “Do the Right Thing” is a gorgeous movie. The purposefully oversaturated colors give the movie the look of a cartoon brought to life, which is expertly juxtaposed by the subject matter. I already found this to be a visually stunning movie when I saw it on Blu-ray for my first watch. For the rewatch that I am basing this review on I had the pleasure of seeing this movie on an original 35mm film print at the Gene Siskel Center which is in the heart of downtown, right across the street from the Chicago Theater. The colors of this movie looked even better when I saw this at the Siskel Center, and the grain of the film added to the overall experience. “Do the Right Thing” uses the camera to help build on the tensions of the movie with unnatural angles and tight closeup shots. The camerawork is still stunning 30 years later. My favorite scene in this movie is when Buggin’ Out’s new Jordans accidentally get scuffed by a white guy. Buggin’ Out proceeds to verbally assault the man with great comedic effect, alongside his friends joining in from the sidelines to stir the pot more. Something as mundane as sneakers getting scuffed is made enthralling and wildly entertaining by the performances and tight script. The movie is chock full of moments like this which add to the humanity of the story. “Do the Right Thing” is a great movie because of the open-ended nature of the title and what each character thinks is the right thing. It is a movie that does not have clear answers, much like the real world we all live in. This one hot day in Brooklyn is a microcosm of America and the world as a whole, and it is both sad and incredible that this movie is still relevant 33 years after the original release. This is a movie that will remain culturally important as long as hate and bigotry are a part of our culture. I am giving “Do the Right Thing” five out of five stars.
24 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
St.Vincent’s
D e JAMZ
“Spinning fresh beats since 1581” By Amber Stoutenborough Arts & Life Editor
While many people have fond childhood memories of Studio Ghibli movies, I didn’t see my first until the summer of 2021 with my roommate. It became our pandemic pleasure, trying to watch every Studio Ghibli film we could find — even the extremely depressing ones like Grave of the Fireflies. One of the most acclaimed animation studios in the world, created by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata in 1985, is also known for its beautiful soundtracks. While there were so many to choose from, here are some of my favorite songs from Studio Ghibli movies. The Flower Garden by Joe Hisaish’ ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ was my first Studio Ghibli movie I watched and one of my favorites. This scene, in particular, when this song plays is when Howl (Takuya Kimura) shows Sophie (Emily Mortimer) his flower garden and cabin where he grew up. There were too many good songs from this film, but
this scene and this song “The Flower Garden” takes the cake. With its unforgettable orchestral theme and strong string section, this song is one of the most popular of Joe Hisaishi’s extensive list of songs. One Summer Day by Joe Hisaishi Studio Ghibli’s most famous movie, “Spirited Away,” also won an Academy award for Best Animated Feature Film. This is also one of the most popular songs of Studio Ghibli movies. Joe Hisaishi, Japanese composer and musical director, is known for over 100 film scores. He wrote the music for Spirited Away and as you can tell, I am quite the fan of his work with three of his songs used in the playlist. As an orchestra nerd myself, hearing a song like “One Summer Day” just fills me with joy. First Impression by Shigeru Nagata Everyone hates “Ocean Waves” and for good reason, from its seemingly queer-bating story arc with two of the main characters to romanticizing agression in the key relationships, this film as a whole was completely
Crossword Start to Finish by Alejandro Arakelian
disorienteted and in a word: bad. But we aren’t talking about the film. The music, like in most Ghibli movies, stands against the mess and almost saves it from its failed ending. I can’t get enough of this song. The jazz style piano intro gives it a fun almost teasing sound throughout the song. I can’t tell you a single other song for this movie that I’d include in this list but this one is top tier. Spiller - instrumental version by Ce’cile Corbel I want to be clear that I am not a hater of ‘The Secret Life of Arrietty’. I just didn’t like it compared to the others. But this song is a masterpiece. I love the folk style with this song and, honestly, like it better as an instrumental than with the words. The high energy of this song relates to the movie which is action-filled of Arrietty trying to save her home. A Town with an Ocean View by Joe Hisaishi “Kiki’s Delivery Service” might be my absolute favorite product of Studio Ghibli’s. I don’t know if it’s the fact I also have a black cat
ACROSS 1 Yucatán native 5 "Ctrl" singer 8 Knocked out of the park 12 Scent 13 Laughs from Santa 14 Give up 15 Jump into the deep end 18 "The Lion King" antagonists 19 Animal that sleeps holding hands 20 Large wardrobe 24 Col. Sanders's chain 27 One of five 28 Acknowledge applause 31 Become extremely happy with one's existence 34 Boyfriend 35 Early email provider 36 Insects in a colony 37 Lost one's v-card 40 What must come to an end 46 ___ Munich (German football club) 47 Eternal 48 Obvious 49 Kind of scheme 50 ___-ified 51 Leak slowly
PHOTOS COURTESY OF WIKI
or the act of Kiki finding herself through her depression, but Kiki will always have a special place for me. This song in particular is absolutely beautiful and reminds me of summertime with its bright and spirited orchestral sound. As this is the first song on the album, it's a great introduction to the movie giving way to its summer in Europe vibe.
DOWN 1 Insect with fuzzy antennae 2 "An apple ___..." 3 Oxen neckwear 4 Chicago's United Center, for one 5 Librarian's admonition 6 Actress Kravitz 7 Nile viper 8 Sharp 9 Penny 10 Verge 11 One in the headlights? 16 Ankle bones 17 Actress Sophia 21 Explosive unit 22 Waiting to talk 23 Go into hiding 24 Russian spy org. 25 Charge 26 L operator 28 Trash collector 29 Many a time 30 Jazz guitarist Montgomery 32 Affectionate greeters 33 Meztizos 38 ___ cloud: solar system region beyond Pluto 39 Breakfast chain that's open late 40 Bjork's "Venus as ___" 41 Magma on the surface 42 Soapmaking solutions 43 Number of innings 44 Long look 45 Short cut
Sports
Sports. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 25
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS
DePaul track and field junior Tori Carroll races past teammate Jetta Mays and an Illinois State opponent. Carroll placed second in the 100m race at the Clark Wood Open.
Heading into Big East tournament, DePaul runner and jumper shines By Zach Elliott Contributing Writer
Ultimately, no matter how eloquent or vocal, an athlete is at their best when they compete at a high level every day, every practice — or every event, in the case of junior DePaul track and field sprinter and jumper Tori Carroll. “She always competes at a high level,” DePaul assistant track and field coach Stephanie Williams said. “She’s what we consider a gamer. So regardless of what’s going on at the meet, she is going to step up and rise to the occasion and perform. Every time.” Hailing from Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Carroll came to DePaul in 2019 after a high school career that included runner-up finishes in the long jump at the Michigan 2018 and 2019 Indoor State Championships. Her evolution as a sprinter and long jumper only accelerated after joining the Blue Demons in the fall of 2019. “I started track when I was seven but didn’t really start, well, trying, until high school,” Carroll said. “I did the 100, 200, and long jump. I hated the 200, but the other two were good. Track was fun, but I didn’t start really getting good at track until I got here.” As with many things in the last few years, the beginning of Carroll’s career was put in flux due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on collegiate athletics. Despite that misfortune, Carroll has consistently put up high or first place finishes across her time at DePaul, highlighted by shattering the DePaul women’s record in the long jump last month. “So last year, we dealt with adversity
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS
Track and field junior Tori Carroll jumps in the air during a long jump event. She placed fourth in long jump at the Clark Wood Open on April 29-30 with a distance of 6.01m. to the point that we didn’t even run the 4x100 [relay] until conference,” Williams said. “We ended up almost winning, and Tori was our anchor. We got second, and almost broke the school record. That’s really the experience with Tori, just understanding she’s reliable and she’s that competitor every time.” In a season highlighted by Carroll’s personal achievements — including a recent third place finish and personal best and near school record 11.61 in
the 100 meter dash at the Clark Wood Invitational last weekend — Carroll’s competitiveness, drive to win and personality are not lost on her teammates either. “Tori, she’s a character,” senior long jumper and sprinter Esther Aldana said. “Very goofy, so she brings that fun side to the team but when it’s time to compete, it’s time to compete. She gets very locked in and serious — she’s never satisfied, always locked in and determined.”
While being such a successful athlete and letting her character shine through, Carroll also does her best to lead during competition in her own way. “It’s not really a vocal type [of ] leadership,” Carroll said. “I just like to, you know, encourage that camaraderie and hard work. I do consider myself a leader, it’s just not really a vocal thing to me.” Whether it is spoken or not, Carroll’s exemplary leadership and excellence within her event groups is invaluable for her teammates. “I think seeing her driving her passion for the sport and then her wanting her teammates to do just as well — and have that same passion and drive — she just kind of brings it out of you,” Aldana said. A paramount part of coaching, beyond strategy and preparation, is recognizing who stands out as leaders on your team — something Carroll has managed, too, with her intensity standing out to her coaches every time she steps on the track. As the Blue Demons head into the closing stretch of their season with the Big East Championships approaching on May 13th, the team has high aspirations. Through her example and brilliance in each of her events, Carroll can be an integral part to bringing home trophies during the Big East Championship this upcoming weekend. As a true “gamer,” Carroll will go out and do what she does best — compete. “I just have to jump far and run fast,” Carroll said. “I don’t really put any marks on it, because that’s when it gets weird in my mind. So I’m just going to go out there, and we’ll see what happens.”
26 | Sports. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022
Softball finishes regular season in dramatic fashion By Darcy Waskiewicz Sports Editor
In the final series of the regular season, the DePaul softball team defeated Providence 2-1 in the series that was secured with a 10th inning win in game three. With this victory, the Blue Demons finish the regular season with an overall record of 28-22 and a record of 16-8 in conference play. The Blue Demons took game one of the series in a 5-1 win over the Friars on Friday. Graduate student Sarah Lehman was the pitcher for the Blue Demons and pitched all seven innings, striking out six batters and only letting up two hits. Providence got on the board first with a bases-loaded walk, but that was the only run they scored before the Blue Demons shut them down and had their own offensive burst. Freshman designated player Baylee Cosgrove kicked off the hitting with a single in the second inning. She followed that up with a single in the fourth inning before freshman third baseman Carly Alvers singled and scored two more runs. “If you get the opportunity to get at bats, to play defense, all we’re asking you to do is continue to play the way that you play and just have fun with it,” head coach Tracie Adix-Zins said about the freshmen after their game on April 27. “I’ve been really proud of how they’ve been playing lately.” Junior right fielder Tori Meyer capped off the game with a double to right field to secure the victory in game one. Game two took place right after game one in a double header on Friday, and this time, it was Providence who took the win as the Blue Demons fell 8-4. With the loss, the Blue Demons secured the No. 4 seed for the Big East championship this week. It was DePaul who landed on the board first in game two, but the Friars responded with three runs of their own. The Blue Demons had back-to-back home runs from sophomore center fielder Nicole Sullivan and Cosgrove in the fifth inning to tie the game, but Providence countered with back-toback home runs of their own. After that, the offense was all Providence with three straight singles to run away with the game and win by a four-run lead.
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The team cheers as Anna Wohlers reaches home plate. Wohlers hit the game-winning home run against Providence on Sunday. Everything came down to a seriesdeciding game three on Sunday that required ten innings before the Blue Demons were victorious 5-4. Lehman was on the mound again and stayed in for all ten innings while striking out seven batters. “[Lehman] threw a great game and has really been a rock for us this whole year,” Meyer said. “Every time she steps in the circle, you can tell she is going to strike you out.” The scoring opened with a single by graduate student outfielder Kate Polucha that brought home graduate student second baseman Skylor Hilger. Meyer followed with a triple to give the Blue Demons an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Friars countered with a two-run home run in the second inning and then another two-run home run in the fourth to take the lead. However, Meyer had a double to center field to score freshman catcher Anna Wohlers to tie the game again.
After that, the innings flew by as both teams went scoreless until the tenth inning rolled around. In the tenth, it was Wohlers who was the hero for the Blue Demons with a single home run to right field. Providence did not go down without a fight in the bottom of the inning. They had players on first and second base when a hit soared into outfield. However, DePaul was able to get the runner out at third base to secure the win. “We came into this weekend with no pressure at all because we already got our seed in the tournament,” Meyer said. “Providence was a good team
to play because their pitching helped prepare our hitters going into the Big East Tournament.” With the regular season complete, the Blue Demons will turn their attention to the Big East championship in Rosemont, Illinois, next Thursday. DePaul is set to face No. 1 seed UConn in the first round on Thursday. “I think we are prepared and are playing our best softball right now,” Lehman said. “We can compete with these teams and need to go into the week confident.”
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Sarah Lehman winds up to pitch. She struckout 15 Providence batters in the series.
Sports. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 27 MEN’S TENNIS, continued from back page Conference’s Player of the Year for the second straight season. While Tonejc was grateful for the award, the selection was not his highlight of the season. “The award is a lot less valuable than what we did as a team,” Tonejc said. “At the end of the day, it is just another trophy. The bigger thing we did was winning a championship because we did that as a team. When you meet again in 10 years, we can say no else did this because it is a team sport.” The Band of Brothers have created a legacy that is now cemented within DePaul’s program. The chemistry translated to their success on the court. Winning back-to-back conference championships and securing NCAA tournament bids in consecutive seasons has set the standard for where the program should be at moving forward. “For next year, the younger guys need to keep improving and making DePaul a top 40 program every year,” Tonejc said. As one of the young players on the team, Jakic heard the message loud and clear. Some of the lessons he learned were to strive for improvement, be open in welcoming the future teammates and never leave a teammate behind.
He will use these lessons, other important knowledge and guidance he gained from the veteran leaders of the team along with his experience to prepare himself for carrying on the legacy of this squad. “I want to take more of a leadership role next year and set the goal of doing a three-peat for the program,” Jakic said. “I think that would be a real goal and get ranked along the way. I think that will be great.” Brothers has been the head coach for the team for 15 years. Entering his 16th season next year, he wants to strive for more, and he echoes Tonejc and Jakic’s sentiments, believing that this team has the potential to maintain the standard and fulfill the goals at hand. “We’ve been a top 45 program before and the women’s team has been within the top 30, so it is possible,” Brothers said. “We have to get better. With our schedule and conference, it is different from the SEC and ACC. There is a lot that goes into it, from recruiting to scheduling and training and development, but it is possible. My goal is to get us as good as we can, get in the rankings and not have to rely on winning the conference to make the NCAA tournament.” PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS
Freshman Marino Jakic stares down a Kentucky opponent at the NCAA Tournament.
TRACK AND FIELD, continued from back page and start looking at individuals,” Dopek said. “And decide who might be the best leg on a curve, who might be the best to come out of blocks and then even above and beyond that, who works well together like height-wise, speed-wise, acceleration-wise and then we tinker. We tinker a lot to try to figure out what works best.” Before she was an assistant coach, Williams was a student-athlete at DePaul and set school records for sprint and relay races. She knows first-hand that there is nothing more important to a relay team than chemistry. “You can have the fastest legs in the world, the fastest four people, but it means nothing if you can’t get the stick around the track,” Williams said. “The ability to communicate with each other is huge. We’re going to practice the marks and make sure that everyone is taking off when they need to, getting the stick around really well, but if there’s no chemistry, that’s when you’ll see we have to move some people around.” When the team clicks, the speed and connections flow easier and help build the essence of teamwork in relay races and everything else can fall into place to find success. “A lot of times with track, it is such an individual sport,” Marshall said. “And a lot of us come from playing team sports where all of us are on the field at once, so even though we might be all at the track together, a lot of the time we’re just running our racing by ourselves, so [that] kind of brings back the whole team feeling.” The Blue Demons’ relay teams have a history of success at the Big East championship. Last season, DePaul’s men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams placed second at the Big East championship, while the men’s 4x400m team placed first. “Looking at this year, we have hope that with this young men’s 4x100, and potentially even the 4x400, that we could go to this conference meeting and they could run fast enough to advance to the first round of Nationals,” Dopek said. “So we’re just putting in the work now.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS
Michael Stanley holds onto the baton during a relay race. He was on the 4x100m relay team that placed first at the Clark Wood Open. The Big East championship is rapidly approaching on May 13-14 in Storrs, Connecticut, with the NCAA West Preliminaries following the next weekend in Arkansas if DePaul qualifies. The Blue Demons are going to need every little piece of cohesion and team unity to spark them to the title, and the recent success of the relay teams can do just that. “There’s really no other feeling than running with your teammates and running with your friends,” Stanley said. “I’ve always ran better on a relay than I have individually, especially in like a 4x100, things along those lines, because you’re not just running for yourself at that point, you’re running for your friends and running for your teammates.” PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS
DePaul track and field sophomore Myles Marshall makes a turn around the track.
Sports
Sports. The DePaulia. May 9, 2022 | 28
End of an era
Men’s tennis falls in first round of NCAA Tournament, has high expectations for new future By Joshua M. Hicks Asst. Sports Editor
The men’s tennis team struggled to get over the hump in their NCAA tournament match against No. 8 Kentucky. Their 4-0 loss brought their season to an end, completing their 2022 campaign at an even 13-13 record, an undefeated conference record and a conference championship to match it. In doubles play, Kentucky was dominant, and DePaul could not keep up. Freshman Jona Gitschel/junior Leon Huck lost their doubles match 6-1 and graduates Tripp Tuff/Luuk Wassenaar lost 6-0, giving Kentuky the edge. Senior Vito Tonejc and freshman Marino Jakic did not finish their match, leaving their score 4-3. DePaul’s struggles continued in singles play. Jakic lost his set 6-4 and 6-1, while Huck lost 6-3 and 6-3. Freshman Matteo Iaquinto lost both of his sets 6-2, and the rest of the team had three unfinished sets. Tonejc’s unfinished set equated to 6-4 and 4-3 and Tuff ’s match was 6-3 and 3-2. Wassenaar was the lone DePaul player that won a set. After losing the first set 6-2, he started slow but came back to win the second set 3-6 before the next
match was called. “I was proud of them,” head coach Matt Brothers said after the match. “They were the reason why we were in the postseason and playing in the NCAA. They had higher hopes, but the disappointment of the results will eventually go away. They have a lot to be proud of.” As one of the seniors whose college career has officially ended, Tonejc took a little time to reflect on the season. He was proud of the team and the young guys for competing. The fact that he has played his final collegiate match has not hit home for him yet, but he was positive at the end. “I’m going to miss the team trips,” Tonejc said. “You can play tennis everywhere but you cannot play on the team in this format, traveling and competing with these guys. Having random dinners together, memories of flights arriving at 3 a.m. and fighting for the next day, The experiences and places we’ve visited and how we battled next to each other — I think that is what I’ll miss.” Although Tonejc’s collegiate career ended in a loss, he still went out with a bang after being selected as the Big East
See MEN’S TENNIS, page 27
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRAVIS BELL
Graduate student Tripp Tuff follows through a swing at the Big East championship.
Passing the baton: Relay teams find success at right time By Darcy Waskiewicz Sports Editor
Staring down a single lane on a track with only the goal of reaching the finish line in mind can feel isolating. But, when running towards a waiting teammate as the cool metal of a baton is pressed into a hand, there is an extra sense of motivation and solidarity that is unique to relay races. Track and field consists largely of individual sports, but the relay races provide a sense of teamwork that is not often found in the individual events. The relay teams can provide that spark of teamwork to the team as a whole, and the relay teams have been doing just that for DePaul with their recent success. The Blue Demons’ outdoor season started a bit slow, with weather having a large impact on some of their earlier meets in April. However, the team was able to move on from that and find success in later invitationals — especially the men’s and women’s relay teams. At the Clark Wood Invitational on April 30, the men’s 4x100-meter relay team placed first, while the men’s 4x400-meter team placed third and the women’s 4x400-meter team placed fifth. The 4x100 team -- which was made up of sophomore Cameron Attucks, freshman Dominic Cole, sophomore Myles Marshall and graduate student Michael Stanley -- worked together to
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Jarel Terry grabs onto the baton during the men’s 4x400m relay race at the Big East Indoor Track and Field championship on Feb. 26. The team placed second in the event. win the event with a time of 40.50. “I think a lot of our hard work in practices is paying off as a result of us kind of having a late start to the season,” Marshall said. “We’ve kind of been rushed through a lot of meets, so now things are starting to work out, every-
thing is falling into place.” While the main focus of a relay race is passing the baton to the next team member, a good race requires far more than just that. Relays are about speed, precision and the chemistry between the team
members to make sure that each athlete is on the same page and pace. If something goes wrong, then it can lead to the downfall of the entire team in a few seconds. To make sure that they are prepared down to the second in races, the Blue Demons work on perfecting different parts of the relay races during practice, from handoffs to timing and consistency. “In relay, it’s a lot more intense,” Stanley said. “We’re going to be much faster — even if we’re trying to go full speed in practice, we’re going to go faster in a meet simply because of the environment that we’re in, so getting it as solid as we can in practice as many times as we can… that’s our goal.” Stanley was also a part of the 4x400 team that placed third at the Clark Wood Invitational with a time of 3:21.85, along with freshman Joshua Edmonds, graduate student Grant Fuller and junior Jarel Terry. Because some athletes are members of different relay teams, it is up to Dopek and assistant coach Stephanie Williams to find the right combinations for each team. Each member brings a different and unique element to the relay team, so it is critical for the coaches to find a combination that clicks. “[Williams] and I will get together
See TRACK AND FIELD, page 27