Haunted Houses
Halloween Costumes
Exploring the spookiest haunts in the city Arts & Life, page 18
Finding the perfect getup Focus, page 14
Volume #98 | Issue #6 | October 21, 2013 | DePauliaonline.com
Poll ranks women, Hrynko No. 1 in Big East By David Webber Sports Editor
It’s a new era in the Big East and the DePaul women’s basketball team is starting at the top. The Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll was unveiled Oct. 16 as part of the conference’s media week in New York. DePaul placed first with 79 points, including eight of 10 first-place votes. In addition, Blue Demons junior guard Brittany Hrynko was tabbed as the Big East Preseason Player of the Year. The rankings are compiled
Student hospitalized after attack
Bruno’s contract extended through 2019, see page 28 each year in a vote by the Big East coaches and this year’s poll had something of a twist to it. Gone are perennial powers like Connecticut, Notre Dame, and Louisville. Taking their places are Butler, Creighton, and Xavier. The coaches believe that DePaul is the best of the bunch, but the poll didn’t represent a landslide. Creighton came in a close second with 67 points and the Bluejays are coming off of a 25-8 season and a trip to the NCAA tournament. “There’s no question that
we’ve set out to win the conference championship, but nine other teams are out to win it too,” Blue Demons head coach Doug Bruno said. “We were picked No. 1 but we weren’t picked No. 1 by a lot.” Bruno coached the team to a 21-12 record in the 20122013 season, including a 9-7 mark in the Big East and an 11th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. Entering his 28th season at the helm of the squad, he doesn’t take much stock in the poll. “Our team is about achievement, not celebrity. The
GRANT MYATT | THE DEPAULIA
See BASKETBALL, page 27 Brittany Hrynko was the Demons’ second-leading scorer in 2012-13.
all aboard: South Red Line reopens
By Grant Myatt News Editor
A 21-year-old DePaul student was struck on the head at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, near the intersection of Sheffield and Altgeld just north of campus. The female student was approached from behind and struck with a “blunt metal object” in the 900 block of West Altgeld Street, according to Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Daniel O’Brien. The student was taken to Illinois Masonic where she was treated for a laceration to her head. She was not knocked unconscious but required “a few stitches” and was later released from the hospital, DePaul Public Safety Director Bob Wachowski said. The offender fled east on Altgeld and was described as a black male in his 20s standing about 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-11, wearing a baseball hat and gray hooded sweatshirt, O’Brien said. Even after four students were robbed near the Lincoln Park campus quad the morning of Sept. 30, Wachowski said the time of this incident was uncommon. “We have not had a lot of crimes like this happen during the busy times,” Wachowski said. “We do live in the city and we need to be aware of our surroundings at all times.” Police said no one was in custody and the case was still under investigation.
GRANT MYATT | THE DEPAULIA
The Red Line’s 95th/Dan Ryan branch reopened Sunday after undergoing more than 5 months of major track reconstruction and renovations.
By Jasmine Armand Contributing Writer
Improved Red Line South Now Open for Faster Commute While some students can roll out of bed and walk to class, DePaul junior Lucia Botello has to travel from East Chicago, Ind. via multiple buses and trains. With the Red Line south branch shutdown for the past five months, Botello’s commute was complicated even further. With the Red Line reopened, Botello can breathe easy as her commute goes back to normal. The Red Line South branch, which has been closed since May
19, re-opened Sunday after five months of essential, yet overdue, reconstruction. On a good day with no delays, Botello’s commute to Lincoln Park took more than an hour and 45 minutes during the construction. Before the construction her commute took an hour and a half on average and now that time should be reduced with the track improvements. Several rail and track components had either reached or exceeded their useful life and needed to be updated and replaced, according to the CTA. The modifications promised a commute that is up to 20
minutes faster between the 95th/ Dan Ryan and Roosevelt stops. However, Botello said she is skeptical that her commute will be cut down significantly. “South Side riders now have a brand-new railroad, rebuilt from the ground up, that will provide a much more pleasant, comfortable and reliable ride. It will provide a much quicker commute for the 80,000 riders who use the Red Line South on an average weekday,” CTA President Claypool said. The Red Line south branch stretches from CermakChinatown to the end of the line at 95th/Dan Ryan and left most
the Dan Ryan branch’s 80,000 riders having to find alternative transportation routes. “You do what you can,” Botello said about the commute and loss of the south branch. “[Taking the bus creates] an inconsistent time span. The best part about the train is that there’s no traffic.” Botello, an elementary education major, normally takes two buses just to get to the Red Line, which she rides until Fullerton. With the closure, her commute increased to three buses and the Red Line.
See REDLINE, page 6