Anything is possible
What makes humans strive for what is deemed impossible? Pages 14-15
DePaulia
The
Volume #99 | Issue #13 | Feb. 3, 2015 | depauliaonline.com
When winter weather hits, Basketball Operations Director saves the day By Matthew Paras Sports Editor
Bob Janis said. Staff worked from 5 a.m. Sunday morning until 9 p.m. Sunday night, and again from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. Monday morning on overtime. “While our crews have kept up with the snowfall and our campuses were in good shape Sunday afternoon, the side streets in the surrounding neighborhoods were still snow-packed with several cars stuck,” Janis said in a release Sunday evening. “The suburban areas, where many of our faculty
The only time Ivan Vujic wasn’t glued to his phone last week was when he was getting his average four hours of sleep. Vujic, DePaul’s director of basketball operations, was busy handling travel plans for the team’s rescheduled game against Providence. Originally planned for Tuesday, the Blue Demons learned Monday the game would be postponed because of a snowstorm on the East Coast. What followed was a series of projections, knowing the right people and constant communication before the game was rescheduled for Thursday afternoon. “I can’t count how many emails, phone calls, text messages, you name it,” Vujic said. “You are completely plugged in. You’re checking your email every few minutes. You need to make sure there are no new updates.” Vujic, a 6-foot-11 Croatian who played college basketball at Vincennes University and Valparaiso, lived up to a task as tall as he is. The 37-year-old director said he never dealt with having to reschedule a regular season game before. One of Vujic’s first tasks was to be in contact with the charter plane company DePaul flies. “You have to figure out the forecast,” Vujic said. “You’ve got to check the Providence airport. There was no clear answer. You have to estimate what time the storm was going to die down so we could land.” Vujic said Providence’s side of the job was much harder because they had to deal with rescheduling staff members at the arena, what was happening at the campus and making sure roads were clear. But that didn’t mean Vujic didn’t have his hands full. There was a lot of reshuffling for DePaul too, including
See SNOW, page 8
See VUJIC, page 27
GRANT MYATT | THE DEPAULIA
Kat Cirone, a DePaul feshman, enjoys the day off with a snowball fight in the Quad with some of her friends from University Hall.
WINTER BREAK
Unexpected blizzard, poor conditions close university Monday By Megan Deppen & Grant Myatt News Editor & Managing Editor
Students lobbing snowballs in the Quad weren’t complaining when DePaul University closed its campuses Monday while most other universities in the city remained open. Mounds of snow lined the mostlyplowed walkways on the Lincoln Park campus after Sunday’s blizzard set the record for Chicago’s fifth largest snowstorm. The National Weather Service recorded
19.3 inches of snow at O’Hare International Airport Monday morning. The university issued an alert at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday just as the Super Bowl began notifying students the university would be closed all day Monday. The only other Chicago-area university to close Monday was Northeastern Illinois University. A team of 30 of the university’s regular grounds staff and overnight custodians worked through the night to clear the snow, Vice President of Facility Operations
Sounds of the future By Kirsten Onsgard Arts & Life Editor
In about 18 weeks, more than 3,500 students will be awarded diplomas. For seniors, June 13 looms in the near future, marking either a transition into the job market or furthering an academic career. For most, this is a time filled with thoughts of jobs and internships, cover letters and resumes. But for those graduating from the School of Music, the stakes are higher. Whether entering into freelance work or applying for graduate school, the future means practicing, striving, shaking hands and creating opportunities for one’s self. And it can be scary.
Over the next few months, The DePaulia will follow three School of Music seniors as they prepare to transition into the next phase of their life. Told through their individual voices and the voices of those close to them, these profiles showcase the unique difficulties and triumphs of young performers as they push themselves from student to the stage.
For the first edition in The DePaulia’s series of profiles on School of Music seniors preparing for graduation, see pages 16-17
KIRSTEN ONSGARD | THE DEPAULIA
Katherine Baloff, center, rehearses with the DePaul Symphony Orchestora. Baloff, a senior violin performance major, is currently auditioning for graduate school.
2 | The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015
First Look INSIDE THIS ISSUE The DePaulia is the official student-run newspaper of DePaul University and may not necessarily reflect the views of college administrators, faculty or staff.
News
Opinions
Arts & Life
Sports
NEWS EDITORS | Brenden Moore, Megan Deppen news@depauliaonline.com
Provost search continues
Athletics vs. academics
“Rooted in Soil”
Stimage returns
NATION & WORLD EDITOR | Kevin Gross nation@depauliaonline.com
For more on the two candidates who came to campus last week, see page 4.
Do student atheletes sometimes lose the meaning of what it is to be a student? See pages 12.
A review of the new exhibition at the DePaul Art Museum, see page 18.
After a broken foot took Rashaun Stimage out of the beginning of the basketball season, he’s back and adding value to the team. See page 26.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | Courtney Jacquin eic@depauliaonline.com MANAGING EDITOR | Grant Myatt managing@depauliaonline.com ONLINE EDITOR | Summer Concepcion online@depauliaonline.com
OPINIONS EDITOR | Zoe Krey opinion@depauliaonline.com ARTS & LIFE EDITOR | Kirsten Onsgard artslife@depauliaonline.com FOCUS EDITOR | Erin Yarnall focus@depauliaonline.com SPORTS EDITOR | Matthew Paras sports@depauliaonline.com ASST. SPORTS EDITOR | Ben Gartland sports@depauliaonline.com PHOTO EDITOR | Maggie Gallagher photo@depauliaonline.com
THIS WEEK Monday- 2/2
Tuesday- 2/3
Wednesday- 2/4
Thursday- 2/5
Friday- 2/6
University closed
Men’s basketball vs. Seton Hall
Open session with Provost Candidate Nancy Brickhouse
Midday Meditation
Chamber Orchestra and Symphonic Choir concert
Allstate Arena
DePaul Center, 8005
Ray Meyer Fitness Center
Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave.
8 p.m.
3:30 - 5 p.m.
12 - 12:30 p.m.
8 p.m.
DESIGN EDITOR | Max Kleiner design@depauliaonline.com ASST. DESIGN EDITOR | Carolyn Duff design@depauliaonline.com MULTIMEDIA EDITORS | Kathryn Eardley, Mariah Woelful multimedia@depauliaonline.com COPY EDITORS | Parker Asmann, Danielle Harris, Rachel Hinton BUSINESS MANAGER | Michelle Krichevskaya business@depauliaonline.com ADVISER | Marla Krause mkrause1@depaul.edu
CONTACT US depauliaonline.com GENERAL PHONE (773) 325-2285
NEWS TIPS news@depauliaonline.com
ADVERTISING business@depauliaonline.com
FOLLOW US facebook.com/TheDePaulia
twitter.com/TheDePaulia
The weekly print edition may also be viewed online at:
issuu.com/depauliaonline
Snow showers
Partly cloudy
Snow showers
Cloudy
Partly cloudy
High: 21° Low: 9°
High: 37° Low: 21°
High: 28° Low: 9°
High: 18° Low: 7°
High: 23° Low: 23°
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
ROCK-THE-CLOCK IS BACK!
Radio DePaul’s 48-Hour Live Broadcast Marathon
Feb 27th - March 1st listen at radio.depaul.edu
News. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 3
News
BAND TOGETHER
GRANT MYATT | THE DEPAULIA
Sophomore Bianca Perry constructs a BBand in her bedroom workspace. Perry began her headband business in 2012 while she was in high school.
Making an impact one headband at a time By Danielle Church Staff Writer
A career-ending injury ended up being the start of something even better for DePaul sophomore Bianca Perry. After being recruited to play soccer at DePaul, she tore her ACL for the third time just two weeks into her freshman preseason. But the energetic midfielder propelled her energy from the soccer field into the business she started in high school. Inspired by a need for headbands that were both fashionable and functional, Perry started her own company, BBands, in 2012 while still in high school. The no-slip headbands come in a variety of vibrant colors and bold patterns. But instead of simply producing a fashionable product, they are “headbands designed to inspire.” Bringing her business from Lincoln, Nebraska to Chicago, Perry — now a marketing student — “headbands designed to inspire.” Bringing her business from Lincoln, Nebraska to Chicago, Perry — now a marketing student — found a way to connect BBands to DePaul. Perry gives a portion of the proceeds from each headband to the Sid Feldman Fund, a scholarship charity fund that partially funds high school students’ tuition at DePaul. The fund provides students a chance to learn valuable sales skills. DePaul students created the fund so that Chicago Public School students would be given the opportunity to receive a higher education at DePaul.
One student is awarded the Sid Feldman Fund in a scholarship every year, receiving $16,000 for four years. Students awarded the scholarship also are given a mentor to help them become accommodated to life at DePaul. Over the past five years, $400,000 has been raised, allowing six students to attend DePaul. Senior Juan Lopez, one of the recipients of the scholarship, said it has been life changing. “I always knew that I wanted to pursue a higher level of education,” Lopez said. “If it weren’t for the scholarship, I wouldn’t be here or be as accomplished, or even gotten the different experiences that I have without it.” Lopez was motivated to apply for the scholarship because of what he saw on a day-to-day basis in his Englewood neighborhood. He saw poverty and violence all the time and realized that wasn’t the lifestyle he wanted to live. As a result, Lopez has thrived in the renowned Honors Marketing Program and is expected to graduate in June. BBands is an online-run operation shipping the twotone fabric bands to customers all across the United States. Perry heads the operation out of her bedroom in her 1237 West apartment on Fullerton Avenue. Perry said the business is slowly growing and has additional sewers working for her to complete all the orders. Custom BBands can be ordered for teams, clubs or upcoming events online as well. The DePaul women’s softball team has already made a difference by ordering custom BBands.
Freshman Hannah Hosty is on the softball team and thinks purchasing the BBands was a good idea. “(Ordering BBands) is for a good cause and (they’re) pretty unique,” Hosty said. “It’s nice that all of us have the same (headband), but it’s also different than what other teams are wearing.” Hosty’s teammate, freshman Haydn Christensen, also believes her team made a good choice in supporting Perry and her headbands because they give back to students. “(The money) is coming to DePaul itself,” Christensen said. “The (Sid Feldman Fund recipient) will be coming here. So in a way when you order the headbands, you’re not already supporting this cause, but you’re also supporting the school.” Both Hosty and Christensen also said part of the reason they’re glad the softball team received BBands is because Perry is a former DePaul athlete. Regardless of Perry still being in a sport or not, Hosty and Christensen consider her part of their athletic family and believe supporting her will have a positive outcome. “I really consider our entire athletic community to be like a family,” Christensen said. “You want to support them and when you support them, you’re supporting yourself (too).” Perry became more motivated to fundraise after hearing how the Sid Feldman Fund has impacted the lives of its recipients. “I’ve talked to a lot of the recipients such as (Lopez) and hearing a lot of their stories, you can connect and just want to do
GRANT MYATT | THE DEPAULIA
Member of the DePaul softball team give back through supporting BBands, the headband company started by a DePaul sophomore that supports a scholarship for CPS students who attend DePaul. whatever you can to give back,” Perry said. “Professor Clancy uses Vincentian values to motivate (the class) to give back to the DePaul community and the surrounding area. If we harness the power of the student body, we can make a huge difference!” Lopez said it’s “absolutely amazing and a fantastic idea” that Perry is using her business to give back to students. He also gave her some advice in trying to reach her goals. “I told (Perry) the key idea to this is to really motivate yourself because when you start the class, you’re really motivated, you’re fired up and ready to go,” Lopez said. “As the weeks start dwindling down, that’s when you start losing motivation because you don’t know who to talk to and you don’t know who to sell to.” Between work and school,
Lopez doesn’t have time to fundraise for the Sid Feldman Fund, but he makes it a goal to talk to students such as Perry to help out. Lopez also wants to share his experiences in the future with students that were in the same situation as he was before coming to college. “Growing up, a lot of people really told me that I would never amount to anything and the way I looked at it was I don’t really want to be pissed off at the world,” Lopez said. “I wanted to use that as my motivation or the tip on my shoulders. The message that I really try to get across is that I’ve been through hell and back and somehow I’m still here standing. There’s really nothing that (students) can go through that can stop them from reaching their goals or that vision that (they) want to accomplish.”
4 | The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015
News. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 5
Three visits down, one to go in search for provost VCU’s Coleman emphasizes faculty, research, though stability is concern By Grant Myatt Mangaging Editor
The second provost finalist, James Coleman, visited campus Monday and Tuesday of last week highlighting the similarities of his current institution to DePaul and his upbringing as the son of a civil rights leader in his pitch for the position. Coleman, the current dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), familiarized himself with DePaul over a two-day visit, including numerous sessions with faculty, staff and students. Without any previous provost experience overseeing an entire university, Coleman was still able to point to similarities between VCU and DePaul as well as specific examples and accomplishments. “Seeing the commitment that DePaul has to Chicago is similar to the commitment VCU has to Richmond,” Coleman said. With an interest in DePaul’s mission, Coleman pointed to similarities DePaul and VCU’s student body including a high number of commuter students and more than one million hours of community service. However, there are major differences with funding given that VCU is a public school. In the open campus meeting, some faculty and staff raised questions with Coleman making the leap from a dean position to provost of the university. “I’m interested in leading an institution and I feel ready to do it now, and there’s this question of how long do I have to be at VCU before I’ve accomplished everything I set out to do?” Coleman said. With four provosts at DePaul over the past four years, stability is a major concern for many faculty and staff when bringing in an external provost — something that DePaul was not able to find in the last provost search with Donald Pope-Davis who left after six months. However, Coleman has jumped around from position to position, not spending more than five years at any one position or university, which raised some questions about his “complicated” career trajectory and commitment. He said in his discussion with DePaul President Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M. that he is committed to staying for the long haul. Before VCU, Coleman served as the
BRENDEN MOORE | THE DEPAULIA
Provost candidate James Coleman sits next to SGA President Matthew Von Nida during a meeting with student leaders. Vice Provost for Research at Rice University and the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Missouri. With some faculty asking about his views on research, he said there are opportunities to put more of an emphasis on research given DePaul’s urban infrastructure When Coleman asked questions at the end of the open campus session, he focused much of his time on learning about the morale at the university. The answers were negative to mixed, with many pointing to a lack of communication between faculty and administrators, salaries and lack of raises, as well as the high levels of contingent faculty as major issues. “You’ll have to come in and do crisis management and it won’t be easy,” one staff member said. Coleman pointed to his transparent leadership style and ability to come in and help change culture, while also admitting that he would “definitely have to learn a lot.” At the final open campus session, one staff member with the final words said, “We’re in a lull and need someone who’s ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work.” Brenden Moore contributed to this report.
NANCY BRICKHOUSE MEETING SCHEDULE Tuesday, February 3 8:30-10 a.m. 10-11 a.m. 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. 1:45-2:45 p.m. 3:30-5 p.m. 5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 4 8:30-9:30 a.m. 9:45-10:45 a.m. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. 12:15-1:45 p.m. 2-3 p.m. 3:30-5 p.m.
Lincoln Park Campus Fr. Holtschneider Lincoln Park Campus Tour Faculty Council Student Center, Room 316 (Open to Faculty Council only) Staff Arts & Letters Hall, Room 415 (Open to all staff) Open Campus Student Center, Room 120 Students Student Center, Room 380 Loop Campus Deans Joint Council Faculty Council 55 E. Jackson, Room 801 (Open to Faculty Council only) Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Leadership Open Campus DePaul Center, Room 8005
MEGAN DEPPEN | THE DEPAULIA
Alan Ray speaking to faculty and staff at one of the open sessions last week. Ray has been president of Elmhurst College since 2008.
Ray touts mission, some concerned about lack of committment to research By Grant Myatt Mangaging Editor
The current president of Elmhurst College, located about 20 miles west of Chicago, visited DePaul Wednesday and Thursday last week as the third provost candidate to meet with faculty, staff and students. Alan Ray emphasized his Native American ancestry and his Vincentian education as key differentiators from the other candidates. Ray, who has served as the president of Elmhurst College since 2008, guided most of his answers to the mission of the university. He explained that in higher education there is a constant balance between the mission and economics. “You are fortunate here to have a very clear definition of your mission,” Ray said. “Part of the provost job is to be a head cheerleader for academic programs and the balancing of all programs guided by the strategic mission.” However, Ray’s resignation from Elmhurst College did raise questions in one open campus session. “My real passion is in building academic programs and providing faculty support,” Ray said. Additionally, a president position consists of lots of external work, and with young children Ray said his “commitment to DePaul would be long term” and that this position would not be a “stepping stone to something else.” One hot-button issue to many faculty right now is research. When asked about his views on the importance of research, he went back to DePaul’s mission indicating that DePaul is primarily a teaching institution. “I don’t see (research) as part of the mission, and so I would have some questions about that,” Ray said. However, some faculty are concerned with a lack of support from administration and the Board of Directors and want them
to better understand the importance of research and creativity for their teaching. Another university-wide issue brought up is the levels of contingent faculty at DePaul. Although Ray has no experience as a tenured faculty member, he cited his development and teaching of political science, law and his published articles as equivalent experience to tenure. Ray has an extensive liberal arts education ranging from his Vincentian undergraduate education at St. Thomas Seminary College, to degrees from Harvard in philosophy and religion to his Law degree at the University of California, Hastings College of Law. Prior to Elmhurst College, he served as the senior vice provost at the University of New Hampshire, Durham and an associate dean for academic affairs at the Harvard Law School. Along with his studies of Federal Indian Law, he said it is important to prepare for life in an interdisciplinary world and that he’s done so with his “composite of interests in a coherent manner.” With that, Ray said he believes a liberal arts curriculum is essential. Another important issue to many faculty are their salaries and the lack of raises over the past few years. Ray said that more market research would need to be done first and that raises should be given. “We need great buildings, but we need to compensate people,” Ray said. “There should be greater transparency around financial work.” Transparency continued to be a common word from faculty and staff in all of the open campus provost sessions, and Ray addressed those concerns at the end of the first open campus session. As the new provost, he said he would “provide leadership to the academic side of the house that helps re-inspire faculty, build morale and provide a vision of leadership.”
6 | The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015
Smith, challengers spar over $72,000 consulting fee By Megan Deppen News Editor
Ald. Michele Smith warded off criticism for her $72,000 side job at the hottest debate in the 43 ward election thus far. On top of her side job, what she calls “consulting,” for the Helen Coburn Meier & Tim Meier Charitable Foundation for the Arts, Smith collects $108,000-a year from the city. Since the start of the debates, public approval ratings for Smith have declined, and the tense atmosphere from the crowd led onlookers to believe that Smith is going to have a challenging four weeks until the election. After addressing Smith’s side job, the other candidates pledged to serve full-time and highlighted that Smith did not offer open ward nights for residents to speak with her. In her defense, Smith listed off her involvement with volunteer work and her dedication to the community. Candidates Jerry Quandt, Jen Kramer, and Smith’s leading opponent Caroline Vickrey, fueled the fire by tapping into the crowd’s angst over the Children’s Memorial development project. Candidate Jerry Quandt, who has taken a business approach to many of the issues, said the primary issue in Smith’s administration in regards to development has been the lack of leadership. “Across the ward there is not an overarching strategic platform for commercial or residential development. It’s an ad hoc process at best,” Quandt said. Caroline Vickrey said she did not support the current plan for Children’s
MEGAN DEPPEN | THE DEPAULIA
Ald. Michele Smith speaks during a debate held at DePaul Student Center Tuesday night. Memorial and was in favor of establishing a 43 ward zoning board that would partner neighborhood organizations with developers to make “smart development decisions.” “My opponents wanted [a building] way too big,” Smith said, “and the others wanted something so small that it couldn’t be developed.” Smith said candidate Vickrey’s supporters wanted to keep the Children’s Memorial development under 62 floors. The crowd booed in response and someone called out, “that’s not true.” Vickrey said as alderman she would establish a community development corporation, a non-profit organization designed to help low-income neighborhoods, in order to draw needed businesses to Lincoln Park.
Vickrey took the idea from a similar project in the Chicago neighborhood, Andersonville, but Smith said the IRS would forbid such a corporation in Lincoln Park because it wasn’t struggling financially. Vickrey also warned voters of the impending pension crisis. According to the Chicago Civic Federation report of 2012, the total unfunded liabilities for the 10 local pension funds in Chicago amounted to $37.3 billion. “We’re at a point where we can’t avoid these discussions any longer,” Vickrey said. “It’s really at a much more of a crisis level than average citizens understand.” Smith said unless she continued fighting a property tax increase, the audience would see their taxes go up 60
percent. “Anyone who sits up here and says they’re not going to increases property taxes is crazy,” candidate Jerry Quandt said. “[Smith has] had four years to do something about [the pension crisis],” Quandt said. “Yes, [Smith has] brought the budget down, but for the last 15 years, Chicago hasn’t kept to a balanced budget. We’ve had to borrow time and time again.” Candidate Jen Kramer also said she would not support a property tax increase. Kramer said she works closely with labor unions and that they were not included in discussions around the pensions. Kramer said Chicago was not seeing the revenue they were generating for the state, and the pension crisis could be solved with “a lot of creative budgeting.” The end of the debate held a flash round of questions committing candidates to a stance on a gambling casino in Chicago, an elected or appointed school board, and the contested red light camera program. While Vickrey and Quandt said they would consider the casino, Smith rejected the idea while Kramer supported it. Both Kramer and Smith vouched for an appointed Chicago Public Schools school board, while Vickrey and Quandt suggested a vague plan of a hybrid board of officials. The red light cameras that caused an uproar from Chicago residents over the past year were according to Smith, “helpful in improving safety in our ward.” Kramer also supported the cameras for the purpose of safety, while Quandt called the cameras a waste of taxpayer dollars. Vickery took a position in the middle and said the program needed reform.
Law school discusses broken criminal justice system By Luisa Fuentes Contributing Writer
As part of the university’s commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the College of Law hosted the first of a two-part conversation focusing on the structural failure of the criminal justice system in the U.S. in light of the fatal killings of young African-Americans across the country. The first part took place Jan. 28 at the Lewis Center, and focused on “the threat to justice in Ferguson.” Speakers included Mariame Kaba, executive director of Project NIA; David Whitt, organizer of Copwatch, a group formed after the events of Ferguson and Justin Hansford, an assistant professor at the St. Louis University School of Law. While the event is held every year, this year saw one of the biggest turnouts with more than 80 participants showing up. And according to the Diversity Committee’s Chair, Sumi Cho, they were able to bring some of the most interesting speakers. The program started by awarding its annual MLK Scholarships, naming Maliha Siddiqui the winner of the $1,500 scholarship, and declaring a tie for the runner-up place with Adenike Adubifa and Max Schon, who were awarded a $500 scholarship each. “We do this event to encourage students to think about how the writings of Dr. King relate to the theme we are offering each year,” Cho said. “This year another component of the
commemoration was that Law School did not hold any classes, and we had two wonderful service opportunities on the Holiday to honor MLK.” Wednesday’s event emphasized King’s saying, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to injustice everywhere,” by relating it to the recent non-indictments of police officers involved in the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York City. Those events have brought up different involvements for the three of the speakers in recent movements against criminal injustice. “Supposedly we live in a post-racial society, but the reality is that what people are blind to, is the bribing of mass incarceration system,” said panel speaker Justin Hansford. “For decades, the law turned a blind eye to this situations. And I joined the protest against them.” Hansford’s involvement started when seeing Michael Brown’s body on Facebook. He joined the protestors later looking for solutions. “Every day people are out there, organizing themselves, and just like most movements, it becomes unstoppable.” The biggest mistake that the system has had throughout the years, is that “they make it too hard to find people guilty for using too much force,” Hansford said. “The law that allows them using deadly force even with small things, that is a big deal, even though sometimes they do not use it, they are allowed to, they have the option to do it. We need to change that. They should not be allowed to, we need to change the policies.” In the case of Whitt, he was one of the
LUISA FUENTES | THE DEPAULIA
Members of the DePaul Community listen as speakers dicusss issues facing the criminal justice system in light of the controversial cases seen over the past year. witnesses of Michael Brown’s body on the ground after Brown was shot by a police officer on Aug. 9. “Nobody was charged with nothing, and even the whole ‘four hour thing,’ they were more than four hours. They just left him there so people could see it,” Whitt said. “I cannot even describe how it was, all I remember is that he (Brown) was on the ground, and it was like a war cry. A brother and I were standing next to each other and we both had that look that said, this has to stop.” Whitt and a group of friends got the media involved in order to help raise money to put the movement Copwatch
in action, which gave body cameras to the people in Ferguson and educating them about their rights. “In order for you to stand on your rights, you must first know your rights,” Whitt said. Kaba talked about the need to “immediately end police brutality,” and the challenge not only relying in the police “but in a larger state of the whole system.” The second part will hold a conversation with Chicago youth activists who are working to end police brutality against youth of color. It will take place Feb. 11. The event is open to those who RSVP to lawevents@depaul.edu
NewsBRIEFS
News. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 7
Phishing scams target students Students relax through meditation By Christian Ianello Staff Writer
Students are the recent targets of a nationwide boom in “phishing” scams that advertise work-from-home jobs and trick students into entering their financial information online. According to a recent FBI public service announcement, students receive the fake job offers on their university email accounts and enter their bank account information, which the scammers then use to transfer stolen funds through a direct deposit. Students can then be framed for the theft, prosecuted and forced to carry the incident on their record. Last Friday, DePaul Information Services sent its own email to students, faculty and staff regarding the phishing scams. University students, faculty and staff are increasingly the recipients of fake emails with links that direct them to a pop-up window claiming their computer has a virus. Jerry Li, an information service lab assistant at DePaul, explained that these pop-ups offer a free trial of a cleaning software. Other pop-ups require users to enter financial information to
buy the software. “Users in fact download a malware that slows down their computer and can then either steal personal information stored on a user’s computer or copy the information saved in the auto-password functions on an Internet browser,” Li said. “Very often students don’t realize they have a problem until their computer slows down or they notice unusual pop-up ads at the bottom of their browser screen.” “We normally deal with viruses as a result of users opening a link they shouldn’t have,” DePaul senior and Genius Squad employee Rebecca Gomez said. Stephanie Bong is a DePaul junior who has been phished twice so far. She was on a personal website when one click lead to another and her personal information was taken from her. “I was logging onto a site I thought I trusted,” Bong said. Bong said she wouldn’t make the same mistake again. “Be cautious when you are putting your personal info on a site and know its reliability,” Bong said.
By Mike Constantino Contributing Writer
A new class is being offered at DePaul that requires no books, no papers and no finals. Three departments at DePaul have joined forces to help combat student stress by offering a class all about relaxation called Midday Meditation. Every Thursday at noon, the Ray Meyer Fitness Center hosts a half hour of meditation training, with a different facilitator every week. Rev. Diane Dardon from the Office of Religious Diversity developed the program and said she wants to offer a new voice for the students coming in each week. “Everybody has their own style and experience,” Dardon said. “We want to offer newness and freshness for those recurring students and prevent complacency.” University Ministry and the Office of Health and Wellness have partnered with the ray to offer the free program to students.
“Because of our facilities, we do have a focus on physical wellness, but intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical wellness are all dimensions of ‘holistic wellness’ and are all interconnected,” Sarah Hardin, associate director of Wellness Services said. “It is important for us to find a space to let students, faculty, and staff free themselves and become one with their whole person,” Rev. Dardon said. Students have a lot to gain from practicing meditation, Hardin said. “It is interesting how the mind and body work together – any reduction in physical response to stress is going to positively impact a person’s ability to focus on studying for a paper, project or presentation development,” Hardin said. Hardin explained that some of the wellestablished benefits of regular meditation include lower stress, better health, resistance to illness, increased focus, better sleep, better emotional stability and positive thinking.
Megan Deppen contributed to this report.
CAMPUS CRIME REPORT : Jan. 21 - Jan. 27 10
LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS
9
Richardson Library
1
8
LOOP CAMPUS
7
Sheffield Square
12
5
SAC
McCabe Hall
Munroe Hall Belden-Racine Hall
13 14
15
16 17
Lewis Center
18 19 20 2
DePaul Center
6
Student Center
4
The Ray
LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS JAN. 21 1) A smell of marijuana report was filed for a room in Belden and Racine Hall. No drugs were found.
JAN. 22 2) An illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor report
was filed for a person in the Student Center. Offender was transported to Illinois Masonic by Chicago EMT.
3) A criminal trespass report was filed for a person at the St. Vincent soup kitchen.
4) A theft report was filed for a person whose items
were taken from the Ray Meyer Fitness Center women’s locker room.
5) An illegal consumption of alcohol report was filed in McCabe Hall.
6) A criminal damage to property report was filed for graffiti at the Student Center.
JAN. 23 7) A smell of marijuana report was filed for a room in Sheffield Square. No drugs were found.
LOOP CAMPUS JAN. 21 13) A theft report was filed for items taken from the
JAN. 24 8) A disturbance report was filed in Sanctuary Hall.
Dunkin Donuts at DePaul Center.
JAN. 25 9) A theft report was filed regarding unattended items
the Wish Center in DePaul Center. The person was asked to leave.
taken from a table in the Richardson Library.
JAN. 26 10) A retail theft report was filed for items found missing from the Barnes and Noble bookstore.
14) A criminal trespass report was filed for a person at
JAN. 23 15) A theft report was filed for a backpack left unattended in an office in the Lewis Center.
11) A harassment by electronic means report was filed
JAN. 26 16) A criminal trespass report was filed regarding a
12) A criminal trespass report was filed regarding a
JAN. 27 17) A criminal damage report was filed for graffiti at the
for a person receiving harassing messages on a social media site. person loitering at the Schmitt Academic Center.
person in the food court of the DePaul Center.
Dunkin Donuts in the DePaul Center.
18) A domestic disturbance report was filed for two people arguing in the DePaul Center.
19) A criminal trespass report was filed for a subject warned not to be in the DePaul Center.
20) A battery report was filed for a person who was
touched while eating lunch in the DePaul Center. Chicago Police took offender into custody.
8| The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015 SNOW continued from front page and staff live, have similar conditions.” Crews will continue working Tuesday to remove snow buildup on campus and prepare for future snowfall by removing excess snow, Janis said. Gene Zdziarski, Vice President of Student Affairs, stopped by the Quad Monday afternoon to see what students were up to and said safety was a concern for people traveling to campus using streets other than the main roadways. “The main streets are in good shape,” Zdziarski said, “(but) many of the side streets in neighborhoods throughout the city are really socked in.” “If we had not closed the students would have encountered classes half empty and classes canceled,” Janis said. “We had a number of professors call in through (Sunday) afternoon to Public Safety asking them to post notices on classroom doors about their classes being canceled.” Loyola University Chicago issued warnings for delayed oncampus transportation Sunday. However, they did not cancel Monday classes, and services were running in time for classes Monday morning. Emily Van, a Loyola senior, said students were annoyed they were only told via Facebook and Twitter the university would remain open, but that the decision to stay open wasn’t a bad one. Van said she had no problems
getting to campus besides a minor bus delay. Similar to DePaul, Loyola has a high number of commuter students, and Van said that about half of the students from one of her classes were not in class. “From what I’ve heard, people didn’t have issues if they lived on campus getting to class,” Van said. Columbia College was also open Monday but utilized a delayed start by canceling all classes starting before 10 a.m. Drew Lodarek, a junior at Columbia, said there was only one student was absent from his class today. “I live a few blocks from school, so the commute wasn’t bad. But the sheer amount of snow on the sidewalks did make it more difficult,” Lodarek said. Lodarek said most college students would like to have the day off, but they would have to make up the work regardless. “We have an obligation to go to school anyway so we would either be behind or have to make up extra work if it was canceled,” Lodarek said. “People seemed to have taken a pretty mature approach to the situation.” At DePaul, it goes without saying that most students were excited to have the day off. Ranna Patel, a senior at DePaul who was home in Naperville for the weekend, said with the conditions her commute would have been difficult. “I was surprised because DePaul never cancels classes,” Patel said. The university last closed
Jan. 6, 2014, the first day of Winter Quarter last year, due to dangerous temperatures. DePaul freshman acting majors Kiah Stern and Delaney Feener spent some of their afternoon in the Quad building a snowman. Neither Stern, a California native, nor Feener from Portland, Wash. had ever had a snow day. After watching Netflix in the morning, Stern said she “figured I should do something snowy.” “It’s like a make-up day,” Feener said. “We have another day to study or we have another day to give ourselves a break. It’s a day to do the things you never have time for.”
GRANT MYATT | THE DEPAULIA
ABOVE: Kevin Rodriguez, a senior computer science major, throws a snowball during a snowball fight in the Quad Monday afternoon. BELOW: Freshman Chris Evans (center) builds a snowman with his friends in the Quad. Around 2 p.m. there were more than 45 students playing in the snow in the Quad on the Lincoln Park campus.
News. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 9
FEATURED PHOTO
BRENDEN MOORE | THE DEPAULIA
Ernie Banks’ statue and makeshift memorial standing in Daley Plaza last week. The statue was in Michigan undergoing restoration work until Mayor Rahm Emanuel had it brought back to be on display. Banks, belovedly known as “Mr. Cub,” died late last month after suffering a heart attack.
ADVERTISE WITH
depauliaonline.com
The DePaulia is one of the best ways to reach out to your business’s target market The DePaulia is an entirely student-run weekly newspaper distributed on Mondays during the academic year. Our paper is available to more than 25,000 students, 1,800 faculty, and 1,000 staff at DePaul University and printed weekly with 4,000 copies distributed free in the Lincoln Park and downtown Chicago campuses during the academic year.
Contact The DePaulia today and reserve your space business@depauliaonline.com
10 | The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015
Nation &World
A report card for City Colleges Chicago’s Star Scholarship
KEVIN GROSS | THE DEPAULIA
City Colleges of Chicago, including Malcolm X. College, have received praise for their innovative tuition funding plans as well as their practical, job-centric programs.
By Brendan Pedersen Contributing Writer
In his Jan. 20 State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama announced a number of initiatives and goals his administration would pursue in the upcoming year. One that produced a good amount of buzz in the weeks that followed was his call for free community colleges across the nation. In particular, Obama pointed to the governments of Chicago and Tennessee for their upcoming free community college models. However, Chicago’s program is not universal, and, as with most things in this life, not exactly free. Did it deserve its State of the Union shout out? Announced in October 2014 by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) Chancellor Cheryl Hyman, the Chicago Star Scholarship is designed to fill the gap for students who don’t get full tuition for community college from existing state and federal loans. The “star” portion of its name is there for a reason: students must have an average GPA of 3.0, be “college ready” in math and English (translating to a 21+ score on the ACT), and enroll in one of the several “pathway programs” offered by the City
Colleges. In some ways, the scholarship resembles merit aid more than financial aid. Additionally, the CCC are only allocating $2 million dollars for the program, compared to the $60 billion over ten years proposed by the president. Rasmus Lynnerup, Vice Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, said in a Chicago Tribune article that the cost was based on an estimate from Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that roughly 500 to 1,000 students with at least a 3.0 GPA do not attend any kind of college after graduation. He also noted that 85 percent of CPS graduates are eligible for getting all their tuition covered through existing federal and state grants, meaning the Chicago Star Scholarship only applies to a comparatively small portion of the population. Is the importance of the program being overblown, then? Not by a long shot, William Godwin, former Associate Vice Chancellor of the CCC, said. “$2 million dollars doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is a tremendous amount of dollars,” Because most students won’t need the Chicago Star Scholarship, the $2 million is really more of an “extra boost” that will push more students for whom “finances are a distraction” to try community college,
according to Godwin. Godwin predicted that Chicago will see an effect similar to what has been seen in Tennessee with its “Tennessee Promise” program where, upon hearing the word “free,” more students than ever actually seek out financial advising. “Many students don’t know what they don’t know,” Godwin said. A lot of kids say to themselves, “I don’t have any money, (therefore) school is not an option.” By seeking that help, kids will find “enrollment counselors and financial aid advisors to show them options that don’t require taking out loans.” The impact of free community college on the economy would also be positive, according to Godwin. Using the example of a student attending a two-year institution before heading to a four-year for a bachelor’s degree, he said that free community college frees up thousands of dollars that would have been spent on the first two years at a state university, and allows students to pursue their interests and obtain jobs with “real economic value” without being “strapped with student debt.” Thanks largely to initiatives set up by Mayor Emanuel's office in his first term, the City Colleges of Chicago have seen a fairly dramatic uptick in performance,
albeit from a fairly low starting place. The graduation rate has almost doubled in the past four years, rising from seven to 13 percent — compared to the national average of 22 percent graduating in three years and 28 percent graduating in four, according to the Community College Research Center at Teachers College at Columbia University. Godwin said that Emanuel was “at the head of the shift (by) really responding to Obama’s initiative mandate to all community colleges to really be in conversation with local companies and businesses (and finding out) what it is that businesses need but don’t have” in Chicago. It’s for that reason that he orchestrated the “Guided Pathways to Success” program, which, according to DNAInfo Chicago, has 115 local businesses involved in designing the curriculum at the city’s colleges. When asked what the CCC can still improve on, Godwin said that increasing awareness about job opportunities for students and career service opportunities would attract more employers to look to the city colleges for workers. He noted, however, that they were on the way. “It takes time,” he said. “It doesn’t happen overnight.”
Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney not to run in 2016 By Steve Peoples Associated Press
After a three-week flirtation with a new campaign for the White House, Mitt Romney announced Friday, Jan. 30 that he will not seek the presidency in 2016. "After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I've decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee," Romney told supporters on a conference call. The exit of Romney, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, comes after several of his former major donors and a veteran staffer in the early voting state of Iowa defected to support former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie would have served as Romney's most likely rivals for the support of the Republican Party's
establishment-minded voters. In his call with supporters, Romney appeared to take a swipe at Bush, saying it was time for fresh leadership within the GOP. "I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as wellknown as I am today, one who has not yet taken their message across the country, one who is just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee," Romney said. "In fact, I expect and hope that to be the case." The former governor of Massachusetts, who is 67, had jumped back into the presidential discussion on Jan. 10, when he surprised a small group of former donors at a meeting in New York by telling them he was eyeing a third run for the White House. The exit of Romney from the campaign most immediately helps those viewed as part of the party's
ROGELIO V. SOLIS | AP
Mitt Romney discussing a possible presidential run on Jan. 28. establishment wing, including Bush, Christie, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. The more conservative side of the field is largely unchanged, with a group of candidates that will likely include Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson
and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. In the three weeks since the meeting in New York, which caught several in attendance offguard, Romney made calls to former fundraisers, staff members and supporters, and gave three public speeches in which he outlined his potential vision for
another campaign. But as Romney sounded out his former team about putting together a new national campaign, he discovered that several former fundraisers had already made plans for 2016 and were now committed to Bush. Aides who gathered in Boston last week offered Romney a blunt assessment of his chances, suggesting there was a path to victory but highlighting signs of eroding support in early states such as New Hampshire. Romney's decision against running clearly pained him, and he took no questions from supporters on Friday's call. "You can't imagine how hard it is for Ann and me to step aside, especially knowing of your support and the support of so many people across the country," Romney said. "But we believe it is for the best of the party and the nation."
Nation & World. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 11
This week in history Jan. 30 to Feb. 5 By Jackson Danbeck Contributing Writer
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” George Santayana once said. Never before is this saying so true, as events of the present often hark back to those of the past. This awareness can help us understand how present-day things came to be, and how patterns of the past may recur in the future. But the quick-witted will insist that these events could have hardly developed in a single day. This is an important point, for dates reveal a particular instance of a larger historical process, akin to reading a single page of a broader book. With this in mind, let us open ourselves to the past and see what occurred on this week in history. If one thinks of non-violent demonstration, two figures come to mind: Martin Luther King Jr. and his predecessor and inspiration, Mahatma Gandhi. Although remembered as the leader of the Indian independence movement, on Jan. 30, 1948, Gandhi was shot during a prayer session with his family and followers. The killer was Nathuram Godse, an Indian from New Delhi who, dissatisfied with Gandhi’s favorable demeanor toward Indian Muslims, assassinated Gandhi with three shots to the chest. But let us not remember Gandhi’s death, but his tireless effort to bring independence to his people by the use of non-violence. Over 5,000 kilometers to the east and 20 years later, violence ensued as the Vietcong, a North Vietnamese military and political organization, began its attack on the U.S. Embassy in Saigon on Jan. 31, 1968. During the early morning of that day, 19 Vietcong sappers captured the Embassy and held it for six hours until they were routed by U.S. paratrooper reinforcements. The attack was a part of a larger North Vietnamese campaign known as the “Tet Offensive,” whose objective was to raise a South Vietnamese uprising and turn American public opinion against U.S. involvement in the war. By September 1968 the U.S. and South Vietnamese had held and retaken most of the lost ground, but the Tet Offensive successfully inflicted heavy American casualties that led to massive protests back in the U.S. As with foreign policy, the American public has notoriously been divided on domestic social issues as well. Perhaps most famously was the issue of African American enslavement. On Feb. 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment, officially abolishing slavery. Two years earlier in 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation declared slaves free, but the decision was unconstitutional. By the beginning of 1865 the Confederacy was clearly losing the Civil War, and many northern politicians desired a constitutional amendment that would abolish slavery in all states. Importantly enough however,
JAN 30, 1948
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Mahatma Gandhi assassinated shortly after Indian independence.
FEB. 1, 1865
THOMAS HICKS | WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Abraham Lincoln signs the 13th Amendment.
FEB. 3, 1971
JIM WELLS | AP
New York City police officer Frank Serpico (right) is shot in a scandal that led to a sweeping police corruption investigation. African-American inequality continued in America, especially during the “separate but equal” policies of the Jim Crow Era. The issue of racial inequality continues today as the continuing Ferguson and police violence protests demonstrated. About 20 years before the American Civil War, the United States and the Republic of Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo on Feb. 2, 1848, marking the end of the Mexican-American War following the U.S. capture of Mexico City. Its terms declared that the Rio Grande would be the boundary of Texas, for Mexico to cede California and a territory containing present-day New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and parts of Wyoming and Colorado to the U.S., all for the payment of $15 million by the U.S. to Mexico, among other details of the treaty. For Mexicans who suddenly found themselves within a foreign country, over 90 percent decided to stay and gain U.S. citizenship rather than moving within the new boundaries of Mexico. The Mexican-American War is often stated as a product of manifest destiny, which was a belief that Americans were destined to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. Some believe that this tradition of American expansionism has continued to this day. In New York City on Feb. 3, 1971, NYPD Officer Frank Serpico
and three other officers planned to stalk and then bust a local heroin dealer. Serpico walked into the apartment building with his pistol drawn, expecting the other officers to follow in support. By the time he reached the suspect’s door, Serpico looked back but found that the other officers had remained outside. Serpico was then shot by an unknown assailant, and when his comrades failed to call in his injury or support, an elderly neighbor called an ambulance and Serpico survived. This incident unleashed a controversial debate on police corruption. The argument was that Serpico’s fellow officers had connections with the drug dealers and perhaps while profiting from a cut, decided to remain outside the apartment so that Serpico and their dubious connection would not be revealed. No evidence was found to convict the other three officers. Regardless of their intentions, it again remains that issues of police corruption and violence have not disappeared. Issues of politics and violence haven’t disappeared either. Nearing the end of World War II, the leaders of the Allied alliance — President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and General Secretary Joseph Stalin of the USSR — met near Yalta, Crimea Feb. 4, 1945, in order to discuss the postwar reestablishment of nations and their borders following
JAN. 31, 1968
BRYAN GRIGSBY | WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
U.S. soldiers wounded during the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive.
FEB. 2, 1848
KBALLEN | WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Mexico cedes territory at the end of the Mexican-American War.
FEB 4, 1945
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The three main Allied Leaders meet at the Yalta Conference to discuss the post-WWII world.
FEB. 5, 1958
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Gamel Abdel Nasser elected president of the United Arab Republic. the expected collapse of Nazi Germany. After seven days of compromising, the leaders decided on the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany (no guarantees promised for the defeated party); the division of Germany into U.S., U.K., USSR and French spheres of influence; the demilitarization and “denazification” of Germany; the payment of reparations (to cover the cost of damage) by Germany; the creation of a democratic Polish state; the capture and trial of Nazi war criminals; and the inclusion of the U.S., UK, USSR (and later France and China) in the newly created United Nations Permanent Security Council. All of these developments (except in Poland, where mock democracy reigned) went through and helped create the Europe that we know today. But not all state boundary changes in the 20th century have occurred in Europe. Fourteen years after the Yalta conference and across the Mediterranean Sea, Egyptian President Gamel
Abdel Nasser became President of the newly formed United Arab Republic (UAR) on Feb. 5, 1958. This was a political union between Egypt and Syria from 1958 through 1961. In 1958, as Syrian Communists threatened to take control of Syria, the ruling Ba’ath leaders decided the only option to preserve their power was to form a political union with Egypt. Nasser agreed with the union, as he had been trying to bring his Pan-Arab nationalist dream to reality. But the union did not go as planned, as there were discrepancies on how to rule two countries with one political system, and in 1961 Syrian military officers staged a coup in Syria and broke off the union with Egypt. While Pan-Arabism did not necessarily die out with the UAR, it was Nasser’s last successful attempt at bringing his dream to reality. At present Pan-Arabism seems even further from feasible reality, as the continuing regional conflict unfortunately shows.
12 | The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015
Opinions SPORTS vs. SCHOOL Student-athletes must balance academics with athletics.
DePaul sophomore R.J. Curington is a student-athlete and supports his team at Allstate Arena against Marquette.
depaulia file
Donna McWilliam | Ap
Gerry Broome | AP
received grades that did not add up to the amount of work put in. McCants and Ramsay are putting the blame on the university when they could have taken the initiative themselves to ensure they were receiving a proper education. R.J. Curington, a DePaul men’s basketball player, disagreed with McCants and Ramsay’s decision to sue their alma mater and the NCAA. “They should have kept their priorities in order,” Curington said. “At a high echelon school like UNC that goes to the NCAA tournament practically every year, basketball can be the prime objective for athletes and they can be so consumed with basketball and forget that they have an exam or just ignore it and blame it on athletic priorities.” Placing the blame solely on the hours spent practicing is an injustice to nonathletes. In fact, athletes have access to many resources that the average student does not. For example, new and transfer student-athletes at DePaul are required to attend weekly meetings with an advisor to review homework, classes and discuss future career possibilities. These new students must also spend a minimum of four hours participating in supervised study time every week. All DePaul athletes have free, unlimited access to one-on-one tutors.
Even non-athlete students have clubs, organizations and jobs to balance with their schoolwork along with fewer resources available to them to get one-on-one help than student-athletes. Franco Joyce, a DePaul sophomore, works to support himself on top of being a full-time student. “Working during school is not easy,” Joyce said. “It’s tiring, grueling and annoying. But it is a good experience. I’ve learned to not procrastinate on my schoolwork and to recognize that despite having a commitment to work, school is my most important job at this stage in my life.” Athletes should be expected to manage their schoolwork just like any other student. Still, to ensure that academics aren’t ignored, universities such as UNC need to instill stricter regulations on athlete academics. More required tutoring hours, limitations on the amount of classes student-athletes can miss for their sport and the NCAA paying closer attention to athletes’ class schedules would be a step towards a balance of responsibility between universities, the student-athletes and the NCAA. “Athletes at top schools expect others to take care of it when they should be emailing their professors and asking for assistance like other students,” Curington said. “Hence the term ‘student-athlete.’ ”
Two former University of North Carolina athletes, Rashanda McCants and Devon Ramsay, have filed a lawsuit against the school and the NCAA regarding their college education.
By Danielle Harris Copy Editor
Two former University of North Carolina student-athletes have filed a lawsuit against the Chapel Hill institution, as well as the NCAA, claiming academic fraud. Rashanda McCants, who played for the women’s basketball team, and Devon Ramsay, a former football player, argued that the university and the NCAA have failed their student-athletes by not providing a proper education and knowingly allowed academics to take a backseat to athletics. These two instances are not the only occurrences of academic fraud at UNC. Kenneth Wainstein, formerly of the U.S. Justice Department, found in his study of the university from 1993 to 2011 that more than 3,100 students enrolled in “paper classes” within UNC’s African and Afro-American Studies department where attendance was not required, low-quality papers received suspiciously high grades and more than half of students were athletes. Paper classes are an unfair way to make the grade and the students enrolled in them knew this. These athletes were entirely aware of the type of class they were participating in and knowingly
The great American political campaign By Sara Stach Contributing Writer
American politics are unique, and it comes as no surprise that the driving force behind them is money. Media exposure of potential candidates signifies that the money grabbing for the 2016 presidential campaign has unofficially begun. It’s safe to say that most could do without the candidates’ political propaganda littering the daily news for a few more months. But in these unofficial days, the candidates must win the hearts of financial donors, those who will decide their fate. According to professor of marketing Bruce Newman, any candidate wishing to represent their party must attract the most cash. To do that they need to get their face in the press as soon, and as much, as possible. Before widespread use of the Internet, potential candidates would start their unofficial campaign two years before the polls opened. In the beginning, each campaign is a start-up organization, resembling more or less Apple Inc.’s first days, which were out of a garage. It requires quite a bit of time and persistence for a relatively unknown politician to generate enough funds to be recognized and sponsored. Other regions such as Latin America and Europe do not permit their candidates to run such long campaigns, perhaps, because their political system isn’t as tainted by the mighty dollar. In Latin America campaigns run for about 6 weeks and in Europe for only a few months. In fact, The Telegraph recently reported that the main British parties have started their “long” unofficial campaign four months before voting. Although cash runs campaigns, it doesn’t necessarily win elections. The Washington Post reported that in 2012, President Barack Obama’s campaign cost $404 million, whereas Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s cost $492 million. Obama’s campaign spent 85 percent of that on negative ads, while Romney’s spent 91 percent on negative ads. Interestingly enough, Newman stated that the earlier a candidate begins his campaign the more time they have to define themselves, as opposed to their opponent doing the defining. Perhaps Obama’s campaign began sooner, or perhaps Romney just had fewer positives on which to base his campaign. With today’s technology, nearly everything done or said is recorded and put online. Voters currently have unlimited access to almost every aspect of a politician’s life. Although this could be negative, politicians could use it to their advantage. Utilizing Instagram, Twitter and Facebook correctly could potentially sway the swing votes or prompt citizens who don’t exercise their right to get to the polls. However, these platforms could also negatively impact their campaigns if misconstrued or distasteful quotes reach the undecided public, especially millennials. Only time will tell. Since 2016 is fast approaching, American campaigns are sure to be bigger than ever before. With new technology and wider press coverage, these campaigns are hard to miss. The money grabbing game has begun, and it’s stronger than ever. If you have already begun looking for a candidate whose values match your own, you may be better served to look at who is funding their campaign.
Opinions. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 13
“American Sniper” was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Actor Bradley Cooper played Chris Kyle, the deadliest sniper in American military history.
Warner Bros. Pictures | AP
Shoot first, ask questions later By Steven Long Contributing Writer
In his New York Times review, critic A.O. Scott concluded “American Sniper” is ultimately, “just a movie.” This seems to have been forgotten in the media clamor following its release. Unfavorable excerpts from the memoir of the real-life American sniper, Chris Kyle, casted doubt over his character, portrayed diligently by a hulking Bradley Cooper, while allegations of increased anti-Muslim threats have consistently pointed to “American Sniper,” citing its negative portrayal of the people of Iraq. Last weekend, the number and strength of anti-Muslim messages connected with the film forced the AmericanArab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) to call on director Clint Eastwood as well as producer and actor Bradley Cooper to publicly speak out against the hate, according to the BBC. At this point, the movie has ascended past the realm
of film criticism, no longer a film but a cultural phenomenon, and that it has achieved this status is the real issue. Those who are quick to defend the politics and ethics of “American Sniper” are giving these elements more due consideration than the filmmakers bothered to. Ultimately, it is “American Sniper’s” own failure to contribute anything definitive to the discussion it provokes that renders it well-intentioned but sloppy and, ultimately, irresponsible. One of the earliest scenes in the film lays out the contentious principle that defines the film’s sense of morality and Kyle’s personal philosophy as a soldier. Over breakfast, Kyle’s father firmly tells his young sons that in the world of good people — which he refers to as sheep — and evil people — wolves — it is a rare person who is a “sheepdog”— that is, the defender of the weak, innocent sheep against the big, bad wolves. It is not the worst analogy for a father to use to teach his boys a rudimentary
The decline of a clothing empire By Heather Slawny Staff Writer
It feels like just yesterday we were groping through dark clothing stores with thumping music, squinting our eyes through a fog of perfume for an overpriced T-shirt with the store’s logo printed across the chest. These are fond memories to us now, little quirks of our adolescence like AIM and rhinestone-embellished flip phones. But as unused toys have gathered dust in closets, clothing store powerhouses from our teen years have been similarly on the decline. Abercrombie & Fitch will likely be the first chain of these stores to disappear completely. According to Bloomberg Business, “sales at established stores” have dropped significantly. In 2013, the company closed “at least 220 mall stores.” Entering December 2014 profits “were expected to be about $106 million, less than half of what they had been in 2012.” Sales have been dropping for years and they don’t seem to be
going up anytime soon. Still, it has certainly been trying its hardest. Earlier this year, the company made a bold move to shrink their logos to practically nothing — largely in an attempt to revamp its image after former CEO Mike Jeffries suggested the company’s clothing was exclusively for “cool” and “attractive” teenagers and not for “fat” people. After this controversy, the company “expanded its merchandise to include larger sizes for women,” according to the Chicago Tribune. It also tried to cut its prices to compete with more popular stores like Forever 21 and H&M, stores whose rapidly changing merchandise at cheap prices are more attractive to consumers. The chain also turned the lights up in its stores, turned the music down and it now sprays less perfume onto merchandise — it’s about time. Still, Abercrombie & Fitch has extremely high and almost unreasonable expectations for its stores. The employees, for example, are monitored from
moral precept, but the film truly takes it to heart, and the result is a vastly oversimplified depiction of the war on terror. Unless the face in Kyle’s scope belongs to a woman or child, our narrative completely fails to question the morality of its own violence, which is an unforgivable oversight with a topic as divisive as the conflict in the Middle East. As Dennis Jett, an American diplomat and academic, posited in a crucial New Republic article, the film avoids questioning in any significant way the morality of the actions of men like Kyle simply “because many Americans are unable to accept that nothing was won in Iraq, and that the sacrifices Kyle and others made were not worth it.” The film boldly assumes that what was enough to drive Kyle to enlist should be enough for the audience to unconditionally support him by giving him the benefit of the doubt at every kill. In the case of many Americans, however, this tactic backfires, simply recalling the worst parts
of a war that they rejected when it was a reality — why should they accept it now? In pre-production meetings with Eastwood and Cooper, Kyle’s real-life father reportedly threatened to “unleash hell” if his son’s legacy was disrespected, and the controversy surrounding the movie seems to ultimately stem from weaknesses this agreement cultivated. The decision to characterize Kyle as the quintessential soldier stripped him of the traits that defined him in the first place. His memoirs revealed a self-confidence and bravado absent in the film. The complete justification of his character shows the filmmakers passing up a truly nuanced ethical conflict, one that would be artistically challenging, that of the fiercely loyal soldier and questionable mission. The result is “American Sniper,” a film too shortsighted to make a statement and too clueless to understand why that is a problem.
Rick Su | Creative commons
American retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has adopted a new strategy for reinvention after a significant decrease in sales. their shoes to the length of their fingernails, and it seems like they’re chosen under less-thanfair pretenses. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, an employee said she believed she was only hired for her looks. “If you're young, if you look like you have a good style and if you're attractive — I think that's really a mark of Abercrombie & Fitch, whether or not we agree with it,” she said. The store has held “cool” to the highest standard possible for too long, and now they’re paying for it. Even among today’s fast-
changing styles, Abercrombie & Fitch has maintained its same “preppy, all-American” style for too long, while the rest of society has moved on. Despite its more recent attempts at switching to a more relaxed style — what today’s young consumer is looking for — we’ll never be able to shake high school and all its bold labels from our minds. Four years ago it was “cool” to cover yourself in as many labels as possible to show off the money you spent on your outfit. Today, “cool” is thrift shopping and knowing no one could ever guess where your outfit came from.
“Cool” is buying an entire outfit for $20 or less. Abercrombie & Fitch will never accomplish that. So unfortunately, Abercrombie & Fitch is lukewarm — too new to be old school, too old to be hot. They spent over a century chasing “cool,” and held it in their palms for about half a decade. Now, “cool” is worlds away from them, and they’re moving too slowly to catch up. Within a few years, Abercrombie & Fitch will either make a comeback or be gone forever. In the meantime, we’ll take our business elsewhere.
The opinions in this section do not necessarily reflect those of The DePaulia staff.
14 | The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015
Focus STEVE DANIELS | CREATIVE COMMONS
1913
1903 The Wright brothers were the first to achieve controllable, powered, sustained and (somewhat) safe flight in a heavier-than-air craft. Before they did, many were skeptical of their work. The idea of powered and controllable flight was one that seemed too unrealistic at the time, too impossible. Once proof of their accomplishment spread, the brothers were celebrated as heroes.
1947
When people first began experimenting with enginepowered carriages, the idea was quickly abandoned. It was a pointless attempt as it was too expensive, too dangerous and not effective enough. When the technology improved, it was still too expensive, and travel by car was thought to be a luxury reserved for only the wealthy. The average person would never own a car. Soon enough, Henry Ford’s assembly line would be churning out Model T’s and put owning a car within the reach of the working class.
Less than half a century after the Wright Brothers launched the first flight, Chuck Yeager became the first man to break the sound barrier in an airplane. After numerous disastrous crashes, some fatal for the pilots, the dream of supersonic flight began to fade into impossibility. Yeager’s successful flight would open up many doors for the advancement of aircraft.
missions
1954 After multiple attempts, an Englishman named Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds at Iffley Road Track, now Roger Bannister track, in Oxford, England. Before that, the sub-four minute mile was a dream. Since that day the record for fastest mile time has been broken nearly 20 times, shaving more than 15 seconds off Bannister’s time. The modern feat to break would be the sub-two hour marathon. With the current record standing at 2 hours, 2 minutes, and 57 seconds, it would seem that it is only a matter of time until someone breaks that milestone.
IMPOSSIBLE Throughout history, people have been making the ‘impossible’ possible By Ryan Marcotte Contributing Writer
Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley was once home to countless degenerate, homeless, good-for-nothing bums, who happened to be some of the best athletes in history. The campgrounds are known as the birthplace of modern rock climbing. Rock climbing legends like Royal Robbins and Warren Harding lived in Camp 4 for years. While living in the valley, they were able to put up route on walls bigger than anyone ever dreamed was possible, while at the same time, eating cat food and drinking enough to kill mere mortals. Robbins and Harding’s story ended at the Dawn Wall, which is the tallest and blankest wall on the famous formation of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Robbins, known for his climbing philosophy, marked the wall as off limits. It was too blank. Too many bolts would
have to be drilled into the wall. That didn’t stop Harding, who in 1970, after spending 27 nights on the wall, reached the top. Harding was met by reporters after the final push and was asked by one, “Why on God’s green earth do you guys climb mountains?” Harding’s response, “Because we’re insane. Can’t be any other reason.” Harding had done the impossible. Robbins made a bitter second ascent, and neither would climb a big wall again. “We are most psychologically fulfilled if we set challenges for ourselves that are equivalent, or just barely beyond, our skill levels,” DePaul psychology professor Christine Reyna said. Reyna added that naturally, humans are curious and have a desire to explore the unknown. Along with this drive, humans have a need to set challenging goals. “This allows us to set goals that enable personal growth without such goals being unattainable and completely
demoralizing,” Reyna said. Reyna said that human fulfillment requires challenges, and that the difficulty of the challenges needed is entirely personal. Robbins and Harding’s time was in the age of aid climbing; using fixed ropes, drilling pitons and pulling on gear to haul yourself up the wall. Last week, two men carrying on the legacy of Camp 4, attempted to climb the Dawn Wall once more, but with one big difference. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson recently spent more than two weeks on the wall free climbing. Free climbing relies on the climber instead of the gear. Free climbers are secured to the wall by ropes to protect them from a deadly fall, however, they receive no assistance in climbing. The climber’s muscles power all of the upward mobility. They did this on arguably the most difficult big wall on the planet. The holds on the wall are razor thin and slightly too far apart. Some of the pitches have
difficulty ratings that highly skilled professional climbers even admit are beyond them. Impossibility is common in climbing. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summited the impossible Mt. Everest and the Eiger North Face was first climbed by three men in 1838. The Nose, another prominent feature on El Capitan, was free climbed for the first time by the famous Lynn Hill. Climbing is a sport that seems to thrive on impossibility. It is not just a sport of physical strength, endurance and balance. Living on the side of a wall for 19 days poses its own challenges. Simple things can become immense problems. Neither Caldwell nor Jorgenson was able to walk for over two weeks. The giant rock wall they scaled was inescapable, always there to remind them how small they were. When not climbing, the two were confined in their tents suspended on an uncaring wall that reaches 3,000 feet in the air (taller than the world’s tallest building). The closest
Focus. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 15
PHOTO BY CERN
1969 In 1969, humans walked on the moon. At the beginning of the decade President Kennedy promised the country that an American would walk on the moon within 10 years. It was a promise that many scoffed at. Right now, the International Space Station is orbiting the Earth moving at a speed of nearly five miles per second, and there are people living inside of it. Had someone predicted any of these events a mere century ago, they might have seen the inside of a padded cell.
thing the pair had to a toilet were small, disposable plastic sanitary bags. Fights are often known to break out between climbing partners when it comes to siegelike projects such as this one. “There is something deeply spiritual in a certain striving after excellence and the communities of the faithful who commit to certain sporting cultures,” professor of communication Bruce Evensen said, “It can be a team that draws such devotion. It can be enthusiasm directed toward an athletic hero. Or it can transcend appreciation for what others are doing in their approach to excellence and actually lead individuals to attempt excellence themselves.” So why do so many people rebel when society says, “that’s impossible?” “Think about what an accomplishment like this does to your evaluations of everything else in your life. Suddenly every other daily obstacle appears insignificant. You might be more likely to judge yourself a very capable
1998 CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile long particle accelerator, was a remarkable achievement by humanity. Before the primary experiment, many feared the particle collider would open a black hole that would consume the planet. That did not happen, and the LHC helped make groundbreaking discoveries in the world of physics, proving the existence of the Higgs boson particle. It is the classic tale of scientific discovery and society combating progress.
person,” DePaul psychology professor Jessica Choplin said. While there may be many motivators like money, fame, adrenalinew and expanding one’s dating prospects, Choplin theorized that doing the impossible might just be a means of getting past everyday obstacles. When Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson stood on top of El Capitan after free climbing the Dawn Wall, they joined a special class of humans that has beaten the impossible. Climbing such a massive and dumbfounding wall may seem like a waste of time and energy. It has no benefit to anyone. No discoveries were made. No secrets were revealed. Nothing really changed. Though that may seem the case, bragging rights may not be the sole motivator. Caldwell and Jorgeson continued a time-honored tradition of humanity, proving everyone wrong.
JOI ITO | CREATIVE COMMONS
2010 In 1930, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest building on the planet. In less than a century, engineers have built a building almost triple its height with more contenders for the record on the way. The current tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa, a skyscraper in Dubai, which stands at 2,722 ft. tall. The building was completed in 2010.
On Jan. 15, after 19 days of free climbing up the 3,000 ft. Dawn Wall on El Capitan, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed what has been thought of as the world’s most difficult rock climb.
CAROLYN DUFF | THE DEPAULIA
Arts & Life
16 | The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015
Composing the
Future
CAROLYN DUFF | THE DEPAULIA
Documenting the journeys of three musicians as they prepare for graduation Christine Roberts - Vocal performance
“I think I want it more than I want to breathe.” By Kirsten Onsgard Arts & Life Editor
Christine Roberts needs to breathe. Her vocal instructor, Jane Bunnell, tells her to take four deep breaths before singing her next passage, and she complies, sucking in air before her pianist sets down a chord. Together, they pick apart German, Italian and English diction, rifling over the proper tongue placement. Roberts squeezes her cheeks steady, allowing her jaw to drop as her vibrato tone soars in an arpeggio. But more than technique, the vocal performance major must draw from her ambition to make it in the competitive world of opera. “When I decided that this was what I wanted to do, my first voice teacher said, ‘You have to want it more than you want to breathe in order to make it,’” she said. “And I
said, I think I do - I think I want it more than I want to breathe.” With a laugh, she admitted first noticing opera after seeing the 2004 film adaptation of “The Phantom of the Opera,” in which the main character is also named Christine. Inspired, she began voice lessons, but wasn’t convinced of her talent until gathering up courage and performing for others. “I used to be really shy,” she said. I didn’t sing for anyone until I was 14, because I thought I was bad. When I was a freshman I got the lead in ‘Oklahoma,’ and I was like, ‘oh, I guess I can sing.’” Roberts said she is someone who is intimidated by free time, and likewise, her time at her Witchita, Kansas high school was a whirlwind of AP classes and extracurriculars, everything from madrigals to mock trial to 20-some
KIRSTEN ONSGARD | THE DEPAULIA
Chrstine Roberts rehearses pieces in Italian and German as her instructor, Jane Bunnell, critiques her technique. Roberts will one day attend graduate school to pursue a future in opera. shows. There was musical theatre — though she admits to never quite mastering dance — and thoughts of eventually attending medical school. “I feel like I would regret more going to medical school and not trying this, than trying it, and then deciding I wanted to do medicine,” she said. “I have one shot — you’ve got to do it.” Studying vocal performance isn’t easy, and nor is confessing her dreams to others. She admits people occasionally flash skeptical looks when she tells them her major. Truthfully, she said, fewer people have the money to spend an evening at the opera. But while it might be slightly declining, it’s also changing, with companies developing fresh approaches to seemingly antiquated staples like “Don Giovanni.” Today, she owns the tradition. Lessons and practice, she said,
are no longer an obligation, but a privilege, one that comes with difficult requirements like developing skills in foreign diction. “I guess there’s this misperception that it’s easy, but it’s so hard,” Roberts said. “I came into college and I didn’t know languages, so there was trying to (learn languages) and knowing that when you sing a song, you need to know each individual word.” After a summer abroad in Italy, a year of French and courses in German diction, she swaps between Italian and German pieces in the midst of her lesson without a second thought. As another student left the small studio to make way for Roberts’ lesson, she bid her farewell in German. Beyond diction, there’s acting lessons, spanning show tunes to opera. The pedagogy her opera instructor preaches is that singing
and acting are one in the same. Both require breath, proper pitch and engaging an audience. In the next few months, Roberts must decide whether to jump into graduate school at DePaul or take time off and weigh the potential merits of other institutions. She said she might need time to feel out programs, and most importantly, understand if the potential vocal instructor would be a good fit. She said Bunnell is almost like a motherly figure. Still, the statistics are jarring. Upon first meeting one of her instructors, he said those who pursue opera are more likely to be attacked by a shark than to make it big right away. Every year the Metropolitan Opera House takes three young artists. “Everyone that you see on stage you know they got there somehow,” Roberts said. “Because they worked hard.”
Arts & Life. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 17
Katherine Baloff - Violin performance
KIRSTEN ONSGARD | THE DEPAULIA
“My outlook is just to do the best I can for myself.” Calling Katherine Baloff busy is an understatement. Hearing her describe her schedule — three jobs, orchestra, chamber ensemble, practicing, private lessons and liberal studies courses — is almost exhausting in itself. “I pretty much leave my house at nine in the morning and don’t get home until after midnight most nights,” the violin performance major said. Her mother was a professional violinist and music therapist before she passed away, and both of her parents collected violins in their travels. Soon, after playing piano and tennis as a young child, Baloff and her brother picked up the violin.
But she’s less of a hobbiest, and more of a passionist. While a good student, she said even from a young age she never considered a nine-to-five, or a traditional academic career. “When I played tennis, I wanted to be a tennis player, and then my dad took us out of tennis because he didn’t want to risk injury when we started to get serious about it,” she said. “So I was like, ‘oh, I’ll just do violin.’” Around age 10, it began: the lessons, practicing and rehearsal. And while busy might not be apt to describe her, motivated might be. In the sixth grade she decided to audition for her first regional orchestra in Philadelphia, near her hometown.
Zach Yanez - Jazz percussion
“We’re all trying to make it, trying to get better, trying to be the best that we can be.” Beneath high ceilings in a basement studio space in the School of Music, the room is abuzz — quite literally. Ten minutes before Jazz Ensemble rehearsal, horn players quacked through their mouthpieces, music stands clanked and a few members cracked jokes. Drummer Zach Yanez bustled around, rearranging furniture
and settling behind his kit. He appeared a little hyped, like someone in his own element, sapping energy from a familiar environment. Walking down Lincoln Avenue the day before, he said he sometimes wished he could just play the drum set for someone the first time they met. Playing together is communicative,
Katherine Baloff (right) performs with the DePaul Symphony Orchestra. The group rehearses three days a week for two hours, though only counts for one credit hour per quarter. “I would get up every morning before school and practice,” she said. “I think that was the most driven I had ever been.” And yes, she made it. She chose DePaul to study with Ilya Kaler, the first violinist to win gold medals at the top three competitions in the world. Today, her days are packed. Orchestra, only one credit hour, rehearses three days a week, for two hours. There’s also DePaul’s liberal studies requirements to fulfill and private lessons to attend. She works at a local sandwich shop, and organizes sheet music and files parts in the Music School’s library. Two students — a five year old and 30-something-year-old — learn from her once a week. Michael Lewanski, director of the DePaul Symphony
Orchestra, has worked with Baloff throughout her undergraduate career. He described her as “nearly an ideal student,” and a postive and hardworking musician. Later this month, it will all come to a head: In hopes of pursuing a master’s degree in violin performance, Baloff is applying to graduate programs at seven schools across the country, including DePaul. Lewanski said this is a common decision, with an estimated 70 to 80 percent of his students pursue a master’s degree. For two weeks, Baloff will hop from city to city, one audition and performance after another. And the entire repertoire of audition music — totalling over an hour — has to be memorized. “It’ll be a lot, mentally,” she
said of her upcoming schedule. A few work and academic obligations will be put on hold. “Recharging with one day in between and traveling — it’s going to be a lot of traveling.” The goal is a full scholarship, a hefty task in the competitive world of violin. While she said the cutthroat atmosphere is not as present at DePaul, beginning at age 10 is considered a late start, compared to the children who begin with the famed Suzuki method. Still, she said it’s not about beating others, but striving for a personal best. “My outlook is just (to do) the best I can for myself,” she said. “It’s nice to get a good chair in orchestra, but that’s not really what I’m after.”
though many musicians may not think of it that way. “A lot of musicians think of music as a language,” he said. “You communicate with each other constantly. If I play my drums, it’s just like me speaking to you.” An Austin, Texas native, Yanez is the son of a professional drummer who was raised among his father’s musician friends as they gigged and performed at theaters. “I would hang out at the theater he worked at and a lot of those people he worked with, the musicians he worked with, and the singers, they all became an extended family,” he said. His father initially pushed him into piano lessons until taking up drums around age 10. But as he grew and improved, the competitive nature of classical percussion proved stressful. His palms would sweat at auditions for regional and all-state orchestras, and he saddled himself with pressure. It wasn’t the supportive, passionate community he initially sought. So he switched to the drum set, just like his father, and found his passion. “That was probably the biggest influence on me to play drum set, seeing how my dad made it work and wanting to do that,” he said. “If he can play music all of the time, and teach music all the time, and be fine and make a living, I
can too.” Chicago’s reputation as a rich music city weighed heavily on his decision to study at DePaul. In Austin, the scene is different, with fewer jazz performers. Here, the caliber is higher: dozens of clubs bustle with musicians who treat jazz as a craft each night. “I don’t want to be pretty good in a pretty good market. I want to be really good in Chicago,” he said. “To do that, you have to develop your sound here, and ask the players around you to push you and make you a better musician.” During rehearsal break, he and the ensemble’s bassist spoke like strategizing teammates, discussing passages and reassuring one another. Music is very personal and opens you up to vulnerabilities, he said. And screwing up hurts. “We’re all trying to make it, trying to get better, trying to be the best that we can be,” he said. “In order to do that you have to have a lot of support. A lot of that support comes from your social group and the musicians you work with.” For Yanez, drawing from this sense of community and building his network is vital, both to his musicianship and his career. After graduation, he will likely be balancing freelance gigs and teaching private lessons, and finding these opportunities is
largely based on word-of-mouth. “The people who are better at networking see more gigs than the person who sits at home,” he said. It’s more about shaking hands than who’s willing to sign off on a letter of recommendation: one performance leads to a connection, a satisfied student could spread the word. It’s also about being a social and kind person who’s fun to hang out with, as well as an exceptional musician. For now, that means playing everything from bars to pep band, in addition to four DePaul ensembles and six other bands. The hope, he said, is that the transition from student to professional is seamless: without class work, it opens up time for more gigs and teaching. Sure, it’s risky. But for him, it’s better than pushing papers. “Sitting down at a desk all day would drive me nuts,” he said. “So I wanted to do the furthest thing possible: play drums and make a bunch of noise.” “When I play drum set, that’s the most fun thing I could possibly do at any part of any day,” he said. “That’s just who I am now. That’s the most fun thing I can think about doing, playing drum set with people I love. That’s what it is: the fun and the excitement and the personal connection.”
18 | The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015
Review: ‘Rooted in Soil’ at DePaul Art Museum By Courtney Jacquin Editor-in-Chief
With snow packed on the ground right now, soil is hard to come by, but the DePaul Art Museum has plenty to go around. “Rooted in Soil,” which opened Jan. 29 at the museum, explores the reciprocal relationship between humans and soil through a variety of mediums. Upon entering the museum, the viewer is immediate invited to be a part of the exhibit with Vaughn Bell’s “Metropolis.” The hanging terrarium allows museum-goers to put their heads in one of the four mini ecosystems. The exhibition, curated by the museum’s Interim Director Laura Fatemi and her daughter Farrah Fatemi, an environmental scientist and DePaul graduate, spans the entirety of the first and second levels. The work of many of the artists highlights the importance of soil and how it’s a part of everything in our world. This idea is mirrored by the range of mediums presented in the exhibition — from photography to sculpture, soundscapes to video and more, “Rooted in Soil” takes traditional forms and infuses them with ecological twists. Jenny Kendler’s “New Ways to See” series does a fantastic job of combining traditional sculpture with environmental issues. She
Photo courtesy of CLAIRE PENTECOST
Chicago-based artist Claire Pentecost’s installation “Our Bodies, Our Soils,” will be on display as part of the “Rooted in Soil” exhibition at the DePaul Art Museum through April 26. uses vintage marble busts with various strains of lichen, a fungus derived from algae, emerging from the eyes. Kendler’s works strive to bring together nature and culture, two fields that were traditionally separated. It’s
subtle and almost a little creepy, but it’s a great introduction to environmentally-charged work. In the back gallery of the first floor, Claire Pentecost’s “Our Bodies, Our Soils” is the most overtly scientific work.
Pentecost, a Chicago-based artist and professor at the School of the Art Institute, collected soil from around Chicago and placed them in bell jars. The viewer can lift the bell jar to smell it, understanding the subtleties
between the different samples. It’s like an environmental science lab activity, but a lot more fun, and certainly more aesthetically pleasing. On the second floor, the Chicago Wildsounds soundscape really highlights the interdisciplinary work of the exhibition and the collaboration of the DePaul Art Museum with the rest of the university. Department chair Liam Heneghan and a select group of students collected sound recordings from the lakefront for more than a year. The soundscape is nestled in a hallway-like room with projections of images on the wall. When the viewer walks through, the projection is obscured and the viewer in a way becomes a part of it. Recording on the lakefront in Chicago provides such a unique mix of city sounds, such as car horns, and nature, such as birds, bugs and thunderstorms. A visit to “Rooted in Soil” is a must for anyone. The interactive nature of much of the work makes a tougher subject matter more accessible — a subject matter we all must understand more. At the very least, give it a visit to remember what dirt looks like, not when it’s buried under a foot of snow. “Rooted in Soil” runs through April 26 at the DePaul Art Museum.
Contestants, poets celebrate language at Lucky Guess Spelling Bee By Erin Yarnall Focus Editor
Onomatopoeia is the formation of a word from a sound associated for what it is named; for example, cuckoo and sizzle. Onomatopoeia is also the word that won Chicagoan Evan Loritsch the glory of being crowned the winner of the first ever Lucky Guess Spelling Bee on Jan. 29. The spelling bee was held at Young Chicago Authors in Noble Square and consisted of 25 contestants competing in three rounds of spelling showdowns. In between rounds of the spelling bee, live poetry was read by six entertaining poets. One of the poets, Anthony Sanders, hosted and put together the event, while using the event as a kick off for a poetry tour he and three of the other poets are doing to promote their book of poetry, “Luck.” “I’m really excited, and really nervous,” Sanders said before the spelling bee began. He has spent months putting together this event, and began planning it while working on a Norwegian Epic cruise ship. “This whole idea has been storming in my brain for a long time,” Sanders said in a Skype interview from Jamaica. “I was
going to do one (spelling bee) at my apartment, but it never panned out. I don’t think my energy was in it. While I’m out here (on the cruise ship) the only way I can stay focused is if I put my energy into a project.” The spelling bee had three judges who listed off words from a list Sanders put together. Some words were easier (negligence), and some words were trickier. One contestant drove from Omaha, Nebraska to attend the spelling bee, and six others drove from Scattergood Friends School, a boarding school near West Branch, Iowa. Bug Shapiro, 16, organized the group from Scattergood Friends School, which consisted of six students and one academic dean, who was one of the judges of the spelling bee. “I wanted to come because I am super into spelling bees,” Shapiro said. “I am super into the idea of this — anything DIY that’s not oppressive.” “I came just for fun,” Scattergood Friends student Cecilie McKenzie, 15, said. McKenzie participated in spelling bees when she was in elementary school with an interesting twist. “I went to a hispanic elementary school in Kansas,”
ERIN YARNALL | THE DEPAULIA
Contestants from across the Midwest tested their spelling skills in the first-ever Lucky Guess Spelling Bee on Jan. 29. The event kicked-off a poetry tour for the book, “Luck.” McKenzie said, “so all the words were in Spanish.” The first round ended with ten people eliminated, but instead of returning to their seats in defeat, contestants were applauded when they misspelled words, because as Sanders pointed out later in the evening, it takes a lot of bravery to stand in front of a large crowd and spell words. The audience was filled with laughter and applause during the three rounds of the spelling bee. Mostly due to humorous comments from judge, Robbie Q. Telfer, who when asked the meaning of the word ‘Zephyr,’ responded “it’s a Red Hot Chili Peppers song.” In between rounds, the room was filled with a respectful silence
for each poet. After the first round, Danny Radovanovic and Andy Holsteen both read two poems from ‘Luck.’ Seven people made it to the final round of the spelling bee, but in the end, only two competed to win the first place prize of $100, a trophy and a copy of “Luck.” In “the best twist ever,” according to some members of the crowd, the final two competitors were boyfriend and girlfriend, Evan Loritsch and Clare Teeling. “You know how in ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ he gets all the questions right because of his life experiences?” Teeling said in regards to how far she got in the spelling bee. “That’s what it was like for me with these words.” “It was a lot of fun,” Loritsch
said. “I was expecting a more exhausting experience.” The laid-back and silly nature of the spelling bee is what Sanders hopes will keep it going in years to come. “I’m determining how often, but you can bet we’ll do it again,” Sanders said. “The poetry was obviously a fun part of it, but I never would have guessed that the spelling would provide so much joy and laughter.” The night finished positively with Emanuel Vinson and Robbie Q. Telfer performing poetry. “My most prominent emotion right now is gratefulness,” Sanders said. “I was reminded at how supportive people can be of an idea so seemingly silly.”
Arts & Life. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 19
DIVING INTO THE STREAM With Netflix, Hulu and the introduction of Sling TV, more young people cut cable By Andrew Nunez Contributing Writer
In retrospect, satellite and cable TV were inconvenient sources of media, forcing viewers to revolve around television schedules to catch their favorite shows. Now, with access to popular streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go and many more, watching specific programs is no longer an ordeal. Not only did streaming services make it incredibly easy for users to find what they’re searching for — some of them, such as Netflix, are completely free of advertisements. A new service, called Sling TV. attempted to modernize live TV. Started by Dish Network, a company which has lately been struggling, its aim is making live TV more accessible with the ability to access a plethora of channels across several devices with an interface reminiscent of other streaming services. While streaming services often got the latest episodes of shows much later than cable and satellite networks did, this benefit didn’t seem to have the impact that it used to. The current generation lives in a world of convenience, and with more and more adopting the ease of streaming services, having to make time to watch a show right when it airs is no longer ideal. Live television was also a considerable perk of cable and satellite services, however, they weren’t the necessity that they used to be. News coverage and sporting events are now almost always covered and posted online, often in an even more timely fashion than televised news. Joey Ziemniak, a sophomore
at DePaul, cut cable a long time ago and uses Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO Go in his apartment. “I subscribe to so many because they each offer different options, and a lot of them have original programming,” Ziemniak said. “For example, I can only watch “House of Cards” on Netflix and nowhere else.” Roger Lynch, CEO of Sling TV, has agreed with the notion that today’s youth doesn’t prefer paid TV. The design of the application was made to allow users to sign up without any major commitments. “We designed a service based on how millennials consume content without contracts,” Lynch said in a CNET interview. The service included channels such as ESPN, CNN, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and many others. Users can purchase even more channels through $5 add-on packages as well. The success or failure of Sling TV is vital towards the future of live TV. If the service succeeds, it proves that live TV is still relevant and that all it needed was a modern and flexible interface. However, if it fails, it proves that the current generation simply isn’t interested in live TV, despite the application’s similarity to other streaming services. Timothy Stenovec, a tech reporter for The Huffington Post, said that Sling TV is a wakeup call to networks. “An increasing number of people, especially young people, are choosing to get their entertainment through a handful of streaming options rather than paying lots of money for channels they don’t watch,” Stenovec said. Aside from faster internet
making streaming possible, there are other factors that contribute to its popularity. “Simplicity and offering programming people want to watch have made them popular,” Stenovec said. “Netflix is the gold standard here — the company has invested billions of dollars to license and create programming that will keep people subscribing each month.” When considering the future, Stenovec speculated there will be services similar to Sling TV with smaller packages of channels that can be cheaply streamed online. “I think that we’ll continue to see networks offer their programming in streaming only packages,” he said. Last year, AT&T offered a package that included broadband, HBO and a year of Amazon Prime. Stenovec sees more of these bundles happening in the future, and speculated that HBO may offer a discount on HBO if purchased with a broadband connection. Stenovec doesn’t see any services overtaking another. He compared these different services to channels, considering how each has its own exclusive programming not found anywhere else. “People will subscribe to Netflix because they want to watch ‘Orange is the New Black’ and ‘Breaking Bad,’ and they’ll subscribe to Hulu to catch up on recent TV shows,” Stenovec said. Paul Booth, assistant professor of media and cinema studies at DePaul, said that Sling TV is a good experiment to see how people approach television. “I think the big question is whether its audience uses it. I also
COMPARE STREAMING SERVICES Netflix
$7.99 per month Pros: A strong catalogue and an acclaimed lineup of exclusives, like “Orange is the New Black,” and “House of Cards.” Cons: Mostly older TV seasons.
Hulu
$7.99 per month Pros: Stream current seasons of primetime shows like “The Daily Show” and “Parks and Recreation.” Cons: Limited back catalogue.
Amazon Prime
$99 per year Pros: The streaming service comes with Prime and Amazon is now producing its own award-winning television programs. Cons: Much less content than Netflix.
Sling TV
$20 per month Pros: Only service that allows viewers to watch live TV from multiple cable networks. Cons: Currently, the networks available are limited.
Comcast
$49.99 per month Pros: 140 stations, and easy to bundle with internet packages. Cons: Packages become expensive quickly and prices might increase after new customer promotions end.
RCN
$64.99 per month Pros: With 269 stations, it has the most live TV available. Cons: RCN is not available everywhere in Chicago, and it is the most expensive option.
think that we should be cautious to think that any one technology is going to change everything. I hope Sling TV catches on, not because I think it’s so great, but because I hope it’s the beginning of major changes to the cable monopoly.” While Booth is for streaming services, he believed their downside was that consumers are often “at the mercy” of the corporation, in terms of what
shows the service chooses to include. While cable and satellite TV seem to need many renovations in order to stay relevant, live TV is here to stay. “Live TV isn’t going anywhere,” Stenovec said. “But I do think we’ll have more ways to watch it. Sling TV is only the beginning.”
Biopics win big during awards season By Alondra Valle Contributing Writer
Award season is in full swing, and the movies getting the most recognition are part of a genre that rarely breaks records at the box office. Biopics, or biographical movies, have recently been premiering weekly, which is something most moviegoers aren’t used to. The top grossing movies consist of superheroes or are part of an action-packed series, but with “American Sniper” and “Selma” toping the charts some wonder if this may cause a shift in the type of movies Hollywood makes. Albert Regalado, a sophomore film major at DePaul University, doesn’t think this will happen. “Hollywood is just making the real world more exciting,” Regalado said. According to Regalado, Hollywood uses facts as a framework for biopics but still includes fictional aspects that make the movie more dynamic and exciting, which makes them similar to what audiences already see in theaters. Jacki Colombari, a freshman film student at DePaul, believes that the release
of numerous biopics has to do feature trials, tribulations with timing. and triumphs. Audiences “A lot of the biopics have a pretty good idea are coming out right what to expect in now because it's terms of narrative Oscar season and d e v e l o p m e n t ,” the studios want he said. “Thus, these films to stick there's a certain in the minds of security in the academy voters,” genre.” she said. But for Ryan If biopics aren’t Croft, a freshman any different than film major at the action movies that DePaul, the interest are already expected in in the genre is deeper theaters and aren’t made than that. for the entertainment “I think that Photo courtesy of FOCUS FEATURES of the general audiences in public, but Biopics like “The Theory of Everything” use general have instead for award facts as a framework, but still dramaticize. always been winning, then interested in the what makes this genre something audiences idea of ‘this actually happened,’” he said. “It's want to watch? why we get a bunch of films … where the According to Dan Pal, a film instructor tagline says ‘based on a true story’, because at DePaul University, the interest in the people buy into a concept more if it actually genre has a lot to do with the construction happened.” of the film itself. Still, though biopics are currently “(Biopics are) generally linear and popular, audiences shouldn’t expect them to
surpass the mass popularity of superhero or action movies. “‘American Sniper’ targets more of an adult crowd, whereas superhero movies are generally for kids, preteens, teenagers and even adults,” Regalado said. “(Biopics,) at least right now, can’t move up to that standard because superhero movies do so well with every age group.” Pal said audiences wouldn’t see a change in priorities unless studios decide to focus less on making a profit. “Superhero/action movies still made up the majority of the top 10 highest grossing films of 2014,” he said. “Biopics are much lower on the list. Hollywood will have to see this reversed before they re-focus to real life stories.” Regardless of this, Colombari said there’s more to a movie than just box office results. “While superhero and action movies are widely popular upon release, they become dated very quickly, which is why there are so many remakes, as opposed to biopics and historical films, which better stand the test of time, due to their subject matter and the time commitment put into them.”
20 | The DePaulia Feb. 3, 2015
‘Rapture, Blister, Burn’ brings feminism to life By Emma Rubenstein Staff Writer
This winter’s “Rapture, Blister, Burn,” written by Gina Gionfriddo, and directed by Kimberly Senior, has taken the Goodman’s Albert by storm. It was touching, sidesplittingly funny and provided an honest, powerful examination of feminism that is both a rarity and necessity to find on stage. The production chronicles the life of a feminist author named Catherine (Jennifer Coombs) who moves back home after her mother, Alice (Mary Ann Thebus) suffers a heart attack. Catherine is immediately reunited with her old grad school companions Gwen (Karen Janes Woditsch) and Don Harper (Mark L. Montgomery), with whom she shares a convoluted and painful past. Soon, Catherine begins to teach a class on feminism in her living room. The students, unbeknownst to Catherine at first, include the Harpers’ babysitter, Avery (Cassidy Slaughter-Mason) and Gwen. When Catherine’s mother begins to join in on their weekly sessions, a unique and tri-generational account of feminism unfolds. As the historical, cultural and social lessons unfurl themselves, each character is forced to confront where they have been, where they will go and, above all, what it is they want in life. The small and tight-knit cast operates on an intuitive level. It is clear that they inhabit not only the characters that they portray, but the world that they live in, too. Coombs brings a down-to-earth honesty to the perpetually conflicted Catherine, while Slaughter-Mason crackles to life. Her biting one-liners elicit enormous laughter. Senior is renowned for her directorial work and is also an adjunct professor at DePaul. This season, she has invoked
Photo courtesy of GOODMAN THEATRE
Mary Ann Thebus, Karen Janes Woditsch, Cassidy Slaughter-Mason and Jennifer Coombs in Gina Gionfriddo’s “Rapture, Blister, Burn,” directed by Kimberly Senior. a truly spectacular world in “Rapture, Blister, Burn.” Her inimitable work causes it to come alive with a distinct and incredible pop of energy. “It’s a fantastic play,” Senior said. “Gina Gionfriddo, the playwright, has crafted this hilariously frantic, yet deeply passionate and moving story that really asks the question about whether or not women can have it all.” Senior described how closely the work mirrors her own life. She explained that, typically, she has shied away from taking on projects that she connects with
on this level but has now embraced it. It is clear that her familiar perspective has offered a true gift to the show; it is deeply empathetic, intimate and honest. “There is the responsibility and accountability of putting that out there and knowing that all of these women are going to hear their story, a story, a new point of view, old points of view, all intersecting on stage,” she said. “They are part of a rich continuum and history of women who have been asking questions and digging deeper and pursuing a greater truth. It is so moving to me that I have
anything to do with that.” “Rapture, Blister, Burn” represents a marvelous culmination of knowledge, history and story. Through Catherine’s weekly lessons, the audience receives factual information pertaining to the feminist movement and through the moving narrative that Gionfriddo has crafted they also receive a poignant, hilarious, and thought-provoking account of four women’s lives. It is a large task to bring an enormous concept like feminism to life on stage, but Senior does it masterfully. “Ultimately you can’t direct feminism,” she said. “You can’t act feminism. So what I have been trying to do is to get at the human story that is underneath and how are these theories affecting the actions and behaviors of the people in the play as it’s happening to them. So that is sort of what the work has been about, how to activate those ideas.” Senior said she would tell audiences one thing before they saw the show. “The theater is the place where we go to see people say the things that we can’t say in real life and behave in a way that we can’t behave in real life, and how exciting it is to get to do that,” she said. “(You get to) really lean into the experience of being in a theater.” The Goodman’s newest production is a powerful and important treat; it is driven by female artistry and narratives that remain with their audiences long after they have left the theater. “Rapture Blister Burn” has an uncanny ability to simultaneously ground its audience in real issues and transport them to another world entirely. It is full of talent, refreshingly candid, and possesses a beautiful heart; it is sure to make its way into your own. “Rapture, Blister, Burn” runs at The Goodman Theatre though Feb. 22.
An American at Oxford Off to the pubs
By Charli Rose Contributing Writer
I made a conscious and steady effort to go into this year with no preconceived notions about Oxford. This was usually done in the form of refusing to search any images on Google of the cobblestone streets and old libraries. I did expect a few things, however. I expected there to be academia, robes worn to dinners and masters that sit at high table during hall. I expected to hear a lot of Harry Potter references and see a lot of rowing teams. I did not, however, anticipate the madness that is called “Entz,” short for “Entertainments.” Which is a party that occurs four times during term and is attended by tutors and students alike. It is heavily themed and unlike most themed parties in America, people actually get into it. And when I write “people,” I mean boys, and when I write boys, I mean the boys take the Brazilian theme rather literally and all wear bikinis. Thank God, though. Somebody had to do it and it
wasn’t going to be me. If I could not predict the Entz, I was ready for the pubs. You can be sure that they are as authentic as you are imagining. In no particular order, the ones I have come to know are: The Lamb and Flag, The Bear, Turf Tavern and The White Rabbit. To the outsider, they may all seem the same with their modest signs and stone walls. However, you could not make a bigger mistake in that assumption as they all have something stimulating to offer. The White Rabbit is often crowded and fairly small on the inside, but if you are wise enough to follow the signs to the garden you will find a few chairs around folding tables pushed up next to a heat lamp on a bed of fake grass. It is there where your conversations will discover their potential and thrive. The Lamb and Flag and The Bear are different in stature, but both contain a fireplace, which is all I require on a winter’s night. And you won’t really know the Turf Tavern if you enter into the low-ceiling door and decide to leave after finding the bar packed. In this pub, you have to go all the
way back and discover the corners that are unoccupied, discover the place where Bill Clinton sat when he was a student and sit there yourself; do as he did. Lastly, there is The Eagle and Child. I grew up hearing about it. A picture of the famous pub sat in my home for years. I knew before I came here that it was where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien met to chat about their stories. They named their group ‘The Inklings’ and discussed and discovered some of my favorite characters. I knew they called it “The Bird and the Baby” and that this real-life fantasyland existed somewhere, if only I could get to it. These pubs have become little homes to me and while the history of The Eagle and Child may be the first thing that you hear upon an initial visit, it is not the tourist appeal that connects me to it. It is because it is ‘our pub’ now. And that’s the only way I can describe it. It was where we went, where we go. It was the first pub I ran to during my first week in Oxford. It was where I sat and realized, “Yes, I have finally arrived.” It was where I took my
CHARLI ROSE | THE DEPAULIA
The rafter in The Eagle and Child, a pub once frequented by C.S. Lewis. mentor from DePaul when she made a trip back to her homeland of England and drove hours to see me. It was where I said goodbye to some of my friends and it is where I will take my mother and father someday. I hope I do the intellectuals of Oxford past proud. I hope that their ghost forms attend my conversations in pubs, listen in on my queries and confusions about life. I hope they forgive us for our insanity, are happy with our choices and take part in our adventures. I hope they still find us authentic and inspiring even CHARLI ROSE | THE DEPAULIA as we end up at the local food truck after a busy night of laugher Turf Tavern, a historic pub on and “putting up in old pubs.” We Oxford’s Holywell Street, dates are really not that different from back to the 13th Century. them, after all.
There's always more to the story.
Get your news how you see fit at
depauliaonline.com Visit the depauliaonline.com: a fully responsive news platform offering the best coverage of DePaul, Chicago and beyond. Log on for up-to-date reporting, exclusive content, multimedia storytelling and much more.
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
Arts & Life. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 23
what’sFRESH LIVE Feb. 3 Periphery House of Blues 329 N. Dearborn St., $18
Feb. 6 Aesop Rock Metro 3730 N. Clark St., $20
Feb. 5 Heavenly Beat Schubas 3159 N. Southport Ave., $8
Feb. 7 Billy Idol Riviera Theatre 4750 N. Broadway St., $50
in MUSIC “Reflection” Fifth Harmony Sometimes not winning first place isn’t so bad after all. Girl group Fifth Harmony first got recognition after placing third on “X Factor” almost three years ago. Since then, the group has signed a major label deal, toured with megastar acts such as Demi Lovato and Cher Lloyd and have finally dropped their debut album “Reflection.” With all of the tracks sounding capable of dominating the Top 40 airwaves, “Reflection” could almost be representative of every chart-topping pop record made in the last seven years. It’s no surprise that the majority album would fit perfectly on radio, as it features production from Dr. Luke and Cirkut who are also responsible for Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” and Kesha’s “Die Young.” Aside from the recycled beats, the group manages to provide impressive vocals on standout tracks like “Sledgehammer.” Lack of innovation and originality ultimately makes for a dull listen, which lets “Reflection” to get lost in the shuffle of similar-sounding pop albums. KEVIN QUIN | THE DEPAULIA
“Man It Feels Like Space Again” Pond
Mount Eerie “Sauna”
Murder By Death “Big Dark Love”
Feb. 3
Feb. 3
Formerly of The Microphones, Phil Elverum’s solo effort under Mount Eerie blends folk, pop and black metal into wide, memorable soundscapes.
The rock and alt-country band embark upon another concept album, this time tackling love through various lenses, angles and narratives.
It’s hard to describe Pond without mentioning their roots. The group shares three members with fellow Perth, Australia psych rockers Tame Impala, and while Pond predates them by a few years, they have had a rough time shaking their “little brother” identity. While “Man It Feels Like Space Again” — in all of its jammy, spacedout psychedelia — is a good album, it’s not much more than that. The fact that it is difficult to find better terms than “psychedelic” to describe them speaks for itself. It begins with a warped introduction, which slips into one of the better tracks off of the album, “Waiting Around for Grace.” Halfway through, “Sitting Up On Our Crane” sounds like Pond’s attempt at a ballad, but where Tame Impala succeeded with “It Feels Like We Only Go Backwards,” Pond’s attempt is too long, too bland and lacking in vocal prowess. Maybe Kevin Parker isn’t a magic bullet, but his absense is certainly missed. KIRSTEN ONSGARD | THE DEPAULIA
New Politics play Polarpalooza New Politics and Vinyl Theatre perform Thursday, Feb. 12 at Lincoln Hall for DePaul Activities Board’s annual winter concert. The show is free, and open to DePaul students only. Students can pick up one ticket during the distribution times below by presenting their student ID. Tickets will be distributed each day until they run out.
Lincoln Park Student Center:
DePaul Center 11th Floor
Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 11 a.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 11 a.m.
STAY TUNED FOR FASHION Check out DePaul Street Style, this Wednesday, Feb. 4 at depauliaonline.com.
24 | The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015
St.Vincent’s
D e JAMZ
1
2
3
4
5
6
“Spinning fresh beats since 1581”
Graphic by MAX KLEINER | THE DEPAULIA
Find this and all our DeJamz playlists on depauliaonline.com and on our spotify account By Kirsten Onsgard Arts & Life Editor
Ah, the Grammys. It’s the night when everything I know and love about music - creativity, wonder, passion - gets rolled into one big night of selfcongratulation, mediocrity and greed. It’s a trainwreck and I plan to watch every second of it. Granted, sometimes isolating myself in my NPR and Pitchfork sphere gets me a little too warm and fuzzy about the music industry, and I need reality checks like the Grammys. They’re a good reminder that the majority of the world thinks that “Fancy” is a philosophic
manifesto and that bands like Paramore are still making music straight out of 2005. All things considered, this year’s nominees aren’t horrific, just bad. Here’s who I’ll be rooting for next Sunday. 1. Record of the Year: Taylor Swift — “Shake it Off ” Let’s face it, Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” either ripped off Tom Petty or he actually has never heard “I Won’t Back Down,” which is pretty concerning in itself. Meghan Trainor and Iggy are both just bad, and I shouldn’t have to defend myself. T-Swift is pretty adorable, and actually has a shot at winning here. Sorry Sia.
2. Album of the Year: Beck — “Morning Phase” So I love Beyonce, but holy cow, how crazy would it be if Beck won a major award? The next day, Rolling Stone will hail the return of rock n’ roll in a think piece which would land right next to a piece about Fall Out Boy or Five Seconds of Summer. Teens would get #WhosBeck trending on Twitter. Wow. 3. Song of the Year: Sia — “Chandelier” Song of the Year is essentially a rehash of Record of the Year with a little Hozier sprinkled in, so let’s split the difference here and hope Sia gets her shot this
time. 4. Best New Artist: Haim Anyone who has been even slightly exposed to pop culture within the last two years know of Haim. Heck, the Haim sisters are besties with Taylor Swift. They’re not new in the least bit. But Bastille almost makes me want to puke as much as Imagine Dragons, and I’ve already established why Sam Smith and Iggy shouldn’t win anything. I think Brandy Clark is a pop country singer, so Haim it is. 5. Best Rock Song: Jack White — “Lazaretto” I’m astounded that Paramore
and Fueled by Ramen still exist, but the years have not aged the band or label well. I’m pulling for White because, while “Lazaretto” is a pretty good album, I really just want him to go on a five minute rant about the music industry. Let’s face it: Jack White is like the Kanye of alternative rock. 6. Best Alternative Music Album: Arcade Fire — “Reflektor” How many people can accept an award on stage at once? If Arcade Fire wins, we’ll find out.
Crossword Across 1. Foreshadow 5. Yoga class need 8. Tried to get home, maybe 12. Prayer’s end 13. “___ we there yet?” 14. Broad 15. Like some gas 17. Soon, to a bard 18. Exasperatingly 20. “The Catcher in the ___” 21. Stockings 22. Balm ingredient 25. Match part 26. Typist’s ailment 29. Fortification 33. Blast maker 34. Cabernet, e.g. 35. Gym set 36. Con 38. Bullfight cheer 40. Fainting remedy 46. Sculls
47. Lip blister 48. Depressed 49. Unified 50. Cousin of a bassoon 51. Ireland’s ___ Fein 52. Silent assent 53. New Jersey hoopsters Down 1. Indonesian island 2. Black cat, maybe 3. Falling upon ___ ears 4. Withstands 5. One of the Osmonds 6. Zone 7. Cut first molars 8. Tchaikovsky ballet roles 9. Intimate apparel 10. Matinee hero 11. Declare untrue 16. Cook in oil 19. Tiny amount 22. Play part 23. Chaney of horror films 24. Evading arrest
25. Pitcher Fernandez 27. Soak (up) 28. ___ and outs 30. Kind of hygiene 31. Dictionary 32. Betrayal of country 37. Football Hall-ofFamer Merlin 38. Gaped at 39. Hallucinogen 40. Wails 41. French Sudan, today 42. Faux pas 43. Earring site 44. Gait between walk and canter 45. Views
Sports. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 25
Sports
No win vs. Nova By Matthew Paras Sports Editor
GRANT MYATT | THE DEPAULIA
Oliver Purnell is 53-88 in his fifth year at DePaul and 447-369 all time in his 27th year as a head coach.
Eyes shift to Purnell By Matthew Paras Sports Editor
DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell has been around the game long enough to where he describes every individual season as a marathon. It’s grueling and can feature its twist of unexpected turns. The latest leg of the race came off a recent three-game road trip, which concluded Thursday when Providence guard Kris Dunn dominated the Blue Demons in an 83-72 win. The third game of the trip, Purnell said, is always the toughest, and the Blue Demons folded. But at the same time, it’s clear by now that this is a team that has endured so far. Much has already been made about the team’s 6-1 start, six-game losing streak and the resurgence in the Big East. For the first time in years, the Blue Demons are no longer considered pushovers. As the season plunges on and the Blue Demons sink below .500 for the first time since December, eyes fall back on Purnell and if his 27 years of coaching experience will be able to rally them once again. “Most situations I’ve seen, in terms of road trips or snowstorms,” Purnell said. “I always try to give our guys perspective. It’s not the end of the world what happened at Xavier as long as we learn from it. But now we’ve got to move on.” Purnell attributed his team’s success to having a better roster, but the style of basketball that the Blue Demons have used to win games suits the group well. On offense, the Blue Demons have played their best basketball inside-out with a player either driving to the basket or the ball being passed inside. The Blue Demons are sixth in field goal percentage in the Big East, but it’s led to success and better chemistry on offense. “Offensively we want to share the ball and take better shots,” Purnell said. “It’s something we’ve emphasized and we are taking better shots now … We’re leading the Big East in 3-point shooting and I think that’s the reason why. We’re taking better
The Purnell Turnaround What year did Oliver Purnell start having success at his previous spots?
Radford
Year 3: 22-7 (1990-91)
Old Dominion
Year 2: 21-8 (1992-93)
Dayton
Year 3: 21-12 (1997-98)
Clemson
Year 3: 19-15 (2005-06)
3-point shots.” It’s on defense, however, that the Blue Demons have started to let up. DePaul has displayed strong defense in stretches, but Purnell has yet to get a consistent 40 minutes from his group. Lately, the problem for the Blue Demons has been stopping their opponent’s best opposing player — letting Xavier’s Matt Stainbrook score 17 points or Providence’s Kris Dunn going off for a triple double. “We’ve got to stay focused for the whole 40,” guard Aaron Simpson said. “We can’t lose track of our assignments that we have from the scouting reports. We have to be ready to play every night.” Forward Forrest Robinson echoed similar sentiments. Robinson, a senior, was on the team last year and has noticed the difference in this season. “The overall mood is we know what to do,” Robinson said. “We’re just more on the same page. It’s not necessarily talking about the coaches, but as a unit, us on the team, we’re on the same page together. We love each other and go to war with each other.” Part of being on the same page is for the
coaching staff to adjust to players’ talents and Purnell has done that. He said he’s altered his schemes from his original vision in the summer, abandoning his signature press-and-run tempo for a more balanced offense and defense. “We found that in between tempo that allows us to play good defense, and at the same time, control the ball better offensively,” Purnell said. “Things change throughout the course of a season and things you discover about your group. I think we’ve almost found that sweet spot.” That being said, Purnell isn’t satisfied yet. “Obviously, I look at this season as this season,” Purnell said. “What we wanted to do coming into this season was to compete in the non-conference and win some games early. We didn’t anticipate nor want that rough patch, but those things happen. We said we wanted to compete in the Big East right away. We want to get better each week and win the Big East tournament. “All of those things, we’ve talked about are still right there in front of us,” Purnell said.
For the first half, DePaul men’s basketball competed with one of the best teams in the nation — up 37-31 against No. 7 Villanova as they headed into the locker room. It was the second half, however, that plagued the Blue Demons again. Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono scored all 18 of his points after halftime and DePaul shot just 30 percent in the second half as the Blue Demons fell 68-55 Saturday at Allstate Arena. The loss was DePaul’s third in a row and the Blue Demons (11-12, 5-5 Big East) are now sixth in the conference. “We tried to throw the first punch in the second half because coach told us that it depended on the first four minutes,” DePaul forward Rashaun Stimage said. “We just didn’t get the job done. We needed more energy. We need to run our stuff and execute. We just need to score the ball. That’s all it came down to — execution.” Villanova (18-2, 6-2) cracked down on defense to prevent DePaul from getting easy opportunities. They hammered the boards, out-rebounding the Blue Demons 35-18, which limited DePaul’s ability to get out and run the break. More than anything, the Wildcats swarmed DePaul guard Billy Garrett Jr. After scoring 10 points in the first half, the Wildcats trapped Garrett in the corners to limit his chances to drive to the basket. Garrett finished with 14 points and eight assists, but also four turnovers. “We didn’t do a good job in the first half of getting everybody to ‘load’ to him,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. “You just can’t let (Garrett) see open space because he’s too good. In the first half, we were trying to (trap him), but he was making his moves quicker than us. In the second half, I thought we were just quicker at loading to him.” DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell said that his team didn’t have the same drive that they did in the first half. The Blue Demons’ offense stopped flowing and they committed sloppy turnovers in the half court, similar to how they lost the lead in a Jan. 24 loss against Xavier. DePaul committed eight turnovers, four in each half. “Arcidiacono was really good in the second half,” Purnell said. “I thought we did a great job on him in the first half, but he really keyed their offensive resurgence. And then, you can’t give them two or three opportunities. It’s not like we fell off the table guarding the ball. But when you give them two or three opportunities at the basket, they sometimes finished it off with a three, it really hurt you. That’s a big swing.” “I told our guys that this is the best league in the country and you’ve got to go the full 40 minutes defensively,” Purnell said. “Twenty won’t get it done with anybody.” DePaul returns Tuesday at 8 p.m. against Seton Hall.
26 | The DePaulia. Feb. 3, 2015.
Stimage’s return gives surge in rim protection By Ben Gartland Asst. Sports Editor
Rashaun Stimage made his DePaul debut Jan. 7 after missing the non-conference season with a broken foot. He played five minutes and picked up a foul in the Blue Demons win over Creighton, their third conference win in a row. Since then, Stimage emerged as a bench option, making an impact in the paint as he gives the Blue Demons a legitimate rim protector. “Probably the biggest thing I bring is versatility, being able to guard any position,” Stimage said. “It makes us able to be more flexible playing defense as a team.” And there was no one more excited for Stimage’s return than his head coach. When Stimage was nearing his return, Oliver Purnell eagerly crossed his fingers and smiled when he let the media know Stimage returned to practice. “He gives us a physical presence,” Purnell said. “He’s someone who can score inside and can help us defend a post player.” The 6-foot-8 junior transfer from Daytona State College has become more of an impact on the court and has factored into some of their wins. In DePaul’s 64-60 win at Seton Hall, Stimage played 21 minutes and had ten points with seven rebounds off the bench. “Playing at a crucial time gave me energy,” Stimage said. “I wanted to play and I wanted to win so just pushing through being tired and it worked out in our favor.” Stimage jumped into the conference season straight from junior college, which has taken an adjustment period. “It was definitely tough, the players are stronger and faster,” he said. “But I think I adjust well by just staying in the gym extra and doing extra things.” The addition of Stimage made positive impacts on the forwards.
He gives them a new piece in the lineup rotation and allows some of the other forwards to stretch the floor more. “It’s huge for us, there are not many guys that can rebound and can block shots like Rashaun,” senior forward Forrest Robinson said. “We know that if someone gets beat off the dribble in a game, nine times out of ten it’s going off the glass and he’s going to go get it.” “The opposing team has to respect him,” sophomore center Tommy Hamilton IV said. “They can’t double up me because he can finish on the weak side so it keeps the defense more honest.” Depending on who is on the floor with Stimage, the Blue Demons can strategically adjust how their forwards play and whether they want to go more defensive or offensive. “With Tommy, I give him more room because they have to worry about me on the outside coming across the board, he can have more paint touches,” Stimage said. “It’s great playing next to him, playing around an athletic big that can finish around the rim,” Hamilton said. “That he can help rebound helps take away some of the pressure from the other bigs.” In the seven games that Stimage has played this season, DePaul has gone 3-4 in the Big East with wins over Seton Hall, St. John’s and Creighton on their resume. Stimage has averaged 4.6 points and 2.3 rebounds since his debut game against the Bluejays and also averages one block per game. With Robinson and Stimage on the floor, having Stimage inside allows Robinson to expand outside of the paint. “I give him more versatility,” Stimage said. “He gets to play out JULIO CORTEZ | AP on the perimeter more because I can be the inside post instead of Junior forward Rashaun Stimage displays an impressive vertical in protecting the rim against Seton Hall him.” in a 64-60 win Jan. 22. Stimage missed the first 15 games this season with a broken right foot.
HRYNKO, continued from back page “So don’t start belaying your behind the back fun to simple passes,” Bruno said. “Thank you.” Bruno, though, did say later that he’s noticed Hrynko’s transformation into a much better basketball player. He points to last season’s game at Seton Hall that marked the sign that Hrynko was starting to “get it.” Hrynko not only scored 16 points and had four assists in a 75-68 Blue Demons win, it was the start of a streak that resulted in winning the last 13 of their 14 regular season games. The Blue Demons rode that momentum into the Big East tournament where they emerged as champions and eventually fought their way into the Sweet Sixteen. “She’s just become a real good solid basketball player, and it’s exciting to watch,” Bruno said. “It’s really fun to watch her mature. Since last year’s Seton Hall game, she’s just been getting better and better. It’s exciting to be a part of.” Hrynko herself acknowledges that Seton Hall was a turning point for her. Not
JOSH LEFF | THE DEPAULIA
DePaul guard Brittany Hrynko is averaging 5.4 assists per game this season. only did she improve on the court, but she’s learned the nuisances of college basketball. That goes to competing in practice, going at
game speed in drills rather than at an eased pace. It’s a pace and way of playing that
January has closely observed. She’s studied Hrynko and starting point guard Chanise Jenkins to learn their habits. “They’re always really consistent players,” January said. “Being a sophomore, it’s really good to look up to two guards, who when they’re not scoring, they’re assisting. I’m just really honored to play with them.” While January is honored to play alongside Hrynko, it doesn’t stop Hrynko from being appreciative of her teammates. Each time Hrynko has won a Big East Player of the Week award this season, she’s put in the time and effort to make cupcakes as a thank you. Hrynko said the biggest takeaway from her college career is just knowing that she’s been able to play college basketball for four years. After having played in so many college games, she said she still gets butterflies in her stomach. “Coach Bruno just always talks about waking up everyday with a smile on your face knowing you get to play basketball,” Hrynko said. “It’s about working hard every day on and off the court.” With the way she’s been playing this season, Hrynko’s going to have to make a lot of cupcakes.
Sports. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 27
VUJIC, continued from back page
JOSH LEFF | THE DEPAULIA
DePaul’s Director of Basketball Operations Ivan Vujic has had two stints with DePaul, from 2006 to 2008 and was rehired in 2013. Vujic is responsible for coordinating all the team’s travel plans including scheduling the flights and hotel.
game was rescheduled, and the Blue Demons faded in the second half against Villanova. Yet at the time, the Blue Demons didn’t know exactly when they were flying the fact that they stayed on campus for an out, even if they had a general idea on extra two days. when the game would be. In fact, Vujic The delay caused Vujic to coordinate didn’t confirm that DePaul was cleared to meal times and practice hours all fly out for Thursday’s game until 8 a.m. on while being in flux with when DePaulWednesday for a 2:30 p.m. takeoff. Providence was supposed to happen. There was so much waiting in limbo, “It’s not stressful, it’s what we do,” but Vujic said the most important thing Vujic said. “I don’t mind it at all. Is it easy? was having the right people to contact. As It’s not easy, but I don’t’ mind it. I’m tuned the saying goes, Vujic “knows a guy.” In in.” this case, there were many. Considering it was an away game, “You need to call professional Vujic said that Providence also spent much people that are accessible 24/7,” Vujic more money because they had to pay to said. “You have to reach people like the make their parking lots and sidewalks hotel or charter. People in the Big East were cleared. Vujic didn’t disclose the cost are also really helpful. They’re really was on DePaul’s end for the postponed accommodating to the traveling school.” game. Having the ability to adapt is Vujic’s work behind the scenes meant something Vujic said he’s learned through players got time to focus on the task of years of micromanaging. He said he’s preparing for Providence longer, while often had to change the itinerary on road also getting more rest. trips to accommodate the coaching staff “It’s an advantage for us because we or the players. get an extra day to practice, an extra day It’s part of his role as Director of for scouting,” guard Aaron Simpson said Basketball Operations, a job he’s held on Tuesday, the day twice at DePaul. Vujic the Blue Demons were served under former supposed to be playing It’s not stressful. It’s what head coach Jerry the Friars. Wainwright from we do. I don’t mind it at “The extra day was 2006 to 2008 and then all. Is it easy? It’s not easy, good,” forward Forrest returned to DePaul in Robinson said. “We’re but I don’t mind it. I’m 2013 after serving as just ready to get going tuned in. an assistant coach at on the road and get the Northwestern for five win.” Ivan Vujic years. Head coach Oliver Director of Basketball Operations Even with the Purnell added on hectic week aside, Tuesday that the extra Vujic said he’s happy to be back. time also had a downside. “I love Chicago and there’s a big “It’s half on one end and a dozen on Croatian community,” Vujic said. “I the other,” Purnell said. “If we play the knew Mrs. (DePaul athletic director) game on Thursday, which it looks like Jean (Lenti-Ponsetto) and everybody. I we’re going to do weather permitting, felt like it was my home. I was grateful then it squeezes you to the next game on coach (Oliver Purnell) gave me another Saturday against Villanova. But you can’t opportunity. control that.” “And so here I am, taking care of Purnell turned out to be right as DePaul business,” he said. “I’m really fortunate.” ended up losing to Providence after the
Women’s tennis serves back early struggles By Ben Gartland Asst. Sports Editor
When DePaul women’s tennis finished 22-4 and as Big East champions last season, this wasn’t the start the No. 46 ranked team was expecting. Certainly, the Blue Demons never expected an 0-2 start in the first weekend of the season Jan. 24 and Jan. 25 in Nashville, Tennessee. “It was a very tough weekend, morally and physically,” senior Patricia Fargas said. “We said at the beginning of the year we at least wanted to beat Texas and losing 4-3 was really rough.” The No. 46 Blue Demons started off the year with a chance to knock off a ranked team in No. 22 Texas, but they were not able to rally after going down 3-1 and falling 4-3 to the Longhorns. Then they faced off against No. 50 Harvard and fell 4-3 to them as well. While the Blue Demons did bounce back with a three-win weekend over Toledo, Cleveland State and Case Western this past weekend, the performances from the team’s first two matches went against expectations.
“I expect us to win the Big East, to be in the top 40 in the country and to keep getting better,” head coach Mark Ardizzone said. Ardizzone also said that the players set their own goals for the season. “I’m a senior this year so I have pretty high expectations and there are a few things I know we can accomplish,” Fargas said. “We have a really solid team so I want things to flow well and to win the Big East and make NCAAs.” The players also set personal expectations, including reigning Big East player of the year, Fargas. “I think the pressure is something I put on myself, I don’t need others to do it,” she said. ”Because it is my last season here and I want to end it on a strong note, clearly that’s already huge pressure I’m putting on myself.” Ardizzone was not happy with the loss, especially because of the Blue Demons’ uncharacterisitc mark of letting a close game slip away. In 2014, DePaul went 3-0 when matches were decided by one game. “It was disappointing, we had our chances to win but as a coach, I always feel like when
you didn’t have a chance to win, that’s not a good thing,” he said. “Both matches we had a chance to win and what I think was great was getting to play such close matches.” The Blue Demons now sit at 3-2, but Ardizzone said DePaul is trying to get past the level they have been at for the last couple of years. “The expectations are higher for us. We’re not satisfied with being a top 50 team anymore,” he said. “They have to work now and understand that we have a lot of good things but we have to work for all of them.” Fargas and fellow captain Rebecca Mitrea lead the Blue Demons. They returned junior Ana Vladutu, who became the first DePaul women’s tennis player to participate in the NCAA singles tournament. They also have a new number one singles player in freshman Patricia Lancranjan. She came into the season ranked No. 93 in the ITA singles rankings and, although she lost both of her matches in the opening weekend, Ardizzone looks for her to continue to improve throughout the year.
Photo courtsey of DEPAUL ATHLETICS
Senior Patricia Fargas and the Blue Demons went 0-2 in their opening weekend Jan. 24-25 with losses to Texas and Harvard. “At every school the number one is great and she’s run into a bunch of them already,” he said. “She’s learning that you can’t let up, you have to play.” The Blue Demons close a
four-match road swing on Feb. 7 against Indiana before their home season opener the next day against San Jose State.
Sports
Sports. Feb. 3, 2015. The DePaulia | 28
Nope. Villanova DePaul
68 55
See page 25
JOSH LEFF | THE DEPAULIA
JOSH LEFF | THE DEPAULIA
DePaul senior Brittany Hrynko looks for her teammates Friday, Jan. 23 versus Creighton. Hrynko is averaging a career-high 19.9 points per game this season.
Hardly Hrynko: the senior’s rise to dominance By Matthew Paras Sports Editor
On a down night in between games, DePaul guard Brittany Hrynko relaxed with her teammates. As they celebrated sophomore Jessica January’s birthday, Hrynko took the night in. She ate dinner prepared by her teammate ShaKeya Graves. She and her teammates watched TV and then spent the night dancing. “I think it’s important for us to not always be thinking basketball,” Hrynko said. “There are times when you can want to get away from basketball. It’s the days that we have off. Just having those days to ourselves is important so we’re not always thinking about basketball. Those moments
we have off the court are what brings us together on the court.” Hrynko is fond of the moments that bring her and her teammates together. It goes beyond celebrating a teammates birthday or having team dinners. Even when asked about her individual game, the soft-spoken senior always makes it a point to bring up those around her. Because as Hrynko is in the course of her best season, Hrynko recognizes the support system she’s had at DePaul in helping her become of the nation’s best players. “Coach (Doug) Bruno always talks about being a facilitator,” Hrynko said. “Before it was just me scoring, throwing up a shot I couldn’t make. Now if my
teammate is open, throw them the ball. Or if I’m open, score it.” Hrynko is averaging a career-high 19.9 points per game and 5.4 assists per game, good enough to be second in the Big East in points and tied for first in assists. Throughout this season, she’s gone toeto-toe with some of the best guards in the nation in Texas A&M’s Courtney Williams and Notre Dame’s Jewell Lloyd. Hrynko’s also set a single game career-high in points with 38 this year. The game looks so natural to Hrynko now, who is always finding ways to reward her teammates on the court. On Friday, Hrynko smiled after being asked about a no-look behind the back pass she gave to January on a fast break during a 93-51
whitewash of Georgetown. “That is more easy than making the simple passes that coach always talks about,” Hrynko said. Bruno, however, couldn’t help but interject. “If you want to give me a jab about making simple passes, I want you to make simple passes. What type of coach doesn’t want their players to make simple passes?” Bruno asked as Hrynko laughed. “I want them to throw behind the back passes, but at the same time, that’s got no relationship to the simple passes that you did, could and should continue to make that will make you a better player.
depauliaonline.com | @depauliasports
See HRYNKO, page 26