The DePaulia 10/25/21

Page 1

DePaulia

The

Volume #106 | Issue #7 | Oct. 25, 2021 | depauliaonline.com

Dorm elevator out for week, limiting disabled students’ movement By Nadia Hernandez & Josie Stratman News & Asst. News Editors

The elevator in a “fully accessible” dorm on campus was out of service for a full week, leaving disabled students “trapped” in their dorms with limited access. The elevator in Centennial Hall was reportedly out of service from Oct. 7 to Oct. 14, making it difficult for students to

attend classes, grab meals or socialize. The high rise elevator takes students from the third floor lobby of the building in Centennial up to the living areas on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors, and the repairs took about a week to complete. Centennial Hall is equipped with

a single elevator, and is one of several disability-friendly residential halls on campus. DePaul housing describes the dorm as, “wheelchair accessible.” “They had concentrated students who needed elevator access and then trapped them,” said Gwenyth True, president of Accessible Futures at DePaul. When the elevator malfunctioned two weeks ago, Housing and Facility Operations quickly began to assess and address repairs,

Rise in crime

according to Rick Moreci, director of housing, dining and student centers. The repairs were more complicated and took longer than expected, Moreci said, and residents were notified of the service outage over email and public postings on the floors. “In my over two decades of working in housing at DePaul, I almost never see any

See DORM, page 5

Environmental activist facing jail time for criminal contempt By Erik Uebelacker Opinions Editor

NATE BURLEYSON | THE DEPAULIA Alderman Michelle Smith and 18th District Commander Jon Hein standing inront of the crowd in Old Town on Friday night. Smith and Hein lead residents through a few streets in the 43rd Ward to talk about recent crime events and neighborhood crime prevention.

‘Walk and Talk’ addresses safety concerns By Nadia Hernandez & Josie Stratman News & Asst. News Editors

Last Friday, community members gathered to walk with area police commanders and Alderman Michele Smith (43rd Ward). The ‘Walk and Talk’ came after several high-profile shootings and crimes in the 43rd Ward, which includes much of Lincoln Park and Old Town: Last week, a cop was shot through the at North and Sheffield, and last month, a DePaul student was stabbed in the butt outside of McGee’s and a student robbed at knifepoint on campus during the involvement fair. Alderman Smith, hosted the event with new 18th district Commander Jon Hein to address concerns amid rising crime in the area. The 18th district covers the Near North area of Chicago, which stretches from the Chicago River to the south to Fullerton Ave. at the north. The anti-crime walk intended to engage community members and discuss “how to keep this precious jewel safe,” according to

State Senator Sara Feigenholtz, 6th District. Neighbors took a walking tour of their community, pointing out areas they were worried about. “The city is experiencing something the city has never experienced before,” Feigenholtz said. Jeffery Peters, a resident of Old Town, showed the group his back gate, which he said was broken down by robbers. The perpetrators broke into his house, poured tequila on his dog’s eyes, and stole and destroyed his belongings — including the wedding ring of his recently deceased mother. “It just makes me feel violated,” Peters said. Despite on-offs like the case Peters’, thefts are actually down this year, according to CPD data. Violent crimes are on the rise this year, with murders in Area 3 up 90 percent this year compared to 2019, and motor vehicle theft up 38 percent since

2019. Alderman Smith hosted another “Walk and Talk” in Oz Park in June, after a young boy was fatally shot on the 2000 block of N. Burling St, near Lincoln Park High School. To address rising crime numbers, Hein said the 18th district community needs to support police by staying in contact with each other. To put a stop to the crime, the alderman is spearheading a private camera initiative. Last week, the alderman sent out an email announcing an “OEMC Camera Program.” Smith is introducing a program to fundraise and install more of the $25,000 cameras. “Several residents have approached our office to ask whether the city will accept donations to help buy additional police cameras,” she wrote in the email. Recent crime in the area has put DePaul students, many new to campus, on edge. DePaul public safety officers are present on campus, along with the ubiquitous

See CRIME, page 7

Despite already serving over 800 days of house arrest, former human rights lawyer Steven Donziger may still be sent to prison as early as this week. Donziger was sentenced to six months in federal prison for the misdemeanor charge of criminal contempt of court on Oct. 1 by New York Federal Judge Loretta Preska. His legal team filed an appeal for the conviction, but in spite of this, Preska ordered that Donziger report directly to prison. In response, his legal team filed an expedited appeal over Preska’s order. If this fails, Donziger will have to report to prison immediately while an appellate court reviews his conviction. “If I have to serve my sentence immediately, that would be an even more terrible injustice than what’s already happened in that I will have served my entire sentence before the appellate court can rule,” Donziger told The DePaulia. Donziger famously won a landmark environmental case in 2011 against the Chevron oil corporation for their role in poisoning an area of Ecuadorian indigenous land the size of Rhode Island. Chevron was ordered by an Ecuadorian court to pay $9.5 billion in damages to the area’s inhabitants. Instead, the corporation pulled its assets from Ecuador and has spent the last decade attacking Donziger in court. Chevron was aided by two New York Federal Judges (Preska and Lewis Kaplan) with financial ties to the company, and have already drained Donziger’s bank account to cover their attorney fees, placed a lien on his Manhattan apartment and held him under unprecedented home confinement for over two years. Now, Donziger is on the verge of being incarcerated while never being afforded a jury, and while his conviction is still under review. Donziger explained these extraordinary circumstances surrounding his possible sentence, should he be ordered to report to prison in the coming days. “If the appellate court exonerates me as we hope and expect, I will have [already] served my sentence for a crime I did not commit,” Donziger said of being

See DONZIGER, page 11


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.