2/9/15

Valentine’s Day From consumerism to Tinder, to food, drink and activity recomendations for couples and singles, see pages 14-17

DePaulia

The

Volume #99 | Issue #14 | Feb. 9, 2015 | depauliaonline.com

chugging along Commuter students face constant delays, rising costs and exhaustion

By Jessica Villagomez Contributing Writer

DePaul freshman Dennis Syvongsa wakes up at 7:30 a.m. to get to his 10:10 a.m. composition and rhetoric class. Syvongsa does not know what to expect from the weather, often layering on pairs of thick wool socks and fleece jackets to accommodate the ever-changing Chicago temperatures. He fills his backpack with all the materials he will need for his four back-to-back classes. He won’t be coming home until at least 7 p.m., so he must pack wisely, making sure not to forget his assignments or more importantly, his charger.

Syvongsa must be out the door by 8 a.m. if he has any chance of catching the 8:30 a.m. Metra train from Bartlett, a suburb about 35 miles west of

See COMMUTER, page 6 Grant myatt | THE DEPAULIA

Commuters board a Union Pacific North Line Metra train toward Kenosha at the Clybourn stop. 82 percent of DePaul students are commuters, with many coming from the suburbs.

Signal boost CTA plans to install 4G service on Red and Blue lines scale.

With new 4G antennas riders can stream video, text, call, upload, check Technological advancements in the e-mails and work throughout their past decade have brought the world into commute. Increased service allows a state of constant connectivity. Now, that citizens to stay connected in the age connection will go where no service has where communicating, and specifically gone before, underground. Last month communicating digitally, is the lifeblood of Chicago announced its plan to install 4G society. service on CTA blue and red line trains.

“I’m really happy about the 4G service.

In January, Chicago announced a Now I can check my email before class, go $32.5 million agreement by the Chicago on Instagram and text my friends,” first Infrastructure Trust, which provides ideas year DePaul student Caitlin O’Brien said. on how the city can take on extensive “Before it was frustrating trying to infrastructure projects plan the rest of my day by utilizing alternative with spotty service that funding. The Chicago Now I can check my wouldn’t come back Trust formed a deal until I was practically email before class, go on with T-Mobile, AT&T, back at campus. I’m Verizon and Sprint to Instagram and text my glad the city is making install 4G services on friends. i m p r o v e m e n t s ,” the red and blue line O’Brien said.

Caitlin O’Brien, CTA tracks.

New service DePaul student not only increases This monumental new plan will increase convenience, but it is revenue for the CTA also a groundbreaking while service providers are required to pay achievement unparalleled by other cities. a $500,000 annual fee that increases by 3 New York City has 4G service on subway percent every year as long as the contract is platforms, and Boston has it in one tunnel, in good standing. The CTA avoided using but neither compare to the 22 miles of their own money to maintain and replace coverage on red and blue lines, Chicago’s the current 2G antennas that date back to most heavily traveled, that will phase in 2005. station by station and be completed by Service providers will capitalize on 2015. increased data usage from riders and See 4G, page 6 ultimately increase revenue on a grand

By Natalie Taylor Contributing Writer

DEPAULIA FILE

A protest at Arts and Letters Hall May 2014 by Students for Justice in Paletine (SPJ).

Students wave the Palestinian flag in support of the DePaul Divest movement.

The future of Divest

By Brenden Moore News Editor

The Lincoln Park Student Center was the venue for a fundraiser last Tuesday on behalf of convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh, stirring controversy on campus amid recent developments regarding DePaul Divest.

The event, hosted by the Chicago chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), raised legal funds for Odeh, who was found guilty last November of concealing her arrest, conviction and imprisonment upon her immigration to the United States.

Odeh concealed that she was

convicted on terror charges in Israel for her involvement in a 1969 bombing that killed two Israeli teenagers. She was released in a prisoner exchange in 1979 and immigrated to the United States in 1995.

Despite her confession, SJP disputed the conviction claiming that it was forced after Odeh endured weeks of torture in an Israeli prison.

“Israel released Odeh, so it is absolutely ridiculous to call her a terrorist,” Hanna Alshaikh, spokesperson for SJP DePaul said. “Odeh signed a forced confession after enduring rape and torture in an Israeli interrogation center for 25 days.

See DIVEST, page 3

2 | The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 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

4G service on CTA

Rideshare revolution

Review: ‘Metamorphosis’

New role for Podkowa

NATION & WORLD EDITOR | Kevin Gross nation@depauliaonline.com

Riders can soon use mobile devices with ease on Blue and Red Line trains, see page 6.

Surge pricing is one of the major downsides of the popular rideshare app, Uber.

What can other comanies do to compete? See page 12.

The Theatre School’s unique production of ‘Metamorphosis’ delivers mesmerizing performances, see page 19.

Podkowa’s versatility as a basketball player proves to be a major asset for the women’s basketball team. See page 28.

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- 2/9

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Wednesday- 2/11

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Panel on US-Cuba Relations

Women’s Basketball v.

Seton Hall

John T. Richardson Library, 300

SAC, 254

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News. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 3

News

DePaul, just a part of the collection

McPier begins marketing arena for non-DePaul events, dubbing it the ‘McCormick Collection’

By Megan Deppen News Editor

McPier, the agency behind Chicago’s money-making convention center, McCormick Place, released its first marketing campaign for the McCormick Collection, a multimillion dollar expansion project that includes two ritzy hotels and an event center for concerts, conventions and DePaul basketball.

Last December, DePaul agreed to pay $82.5 of the $164 million that it’s going to take to build the event center — $12.5 million more than originally planned. But with that price DePaul will use the space for only 29 events out of the year.

The 29 events will be balanced between men and women’s basketball games, graduation and convocation ceremonies and possibly DePaul’s annual music festival, Fest.

According to a Chicago Tribune article, DePaul basketball will not start using the arena until the 2017-2018 season. DePaul athletics did not confirm the opening date.

The McCormick Place Event Center, known to Chicagoans as the DePaul arena until it is officially named, will be used the rest of the year by the city to host events, concerts and all-sized trade shows and conventions.

As a tenant of the event center, DePaul will pay $25,000 per men’s basketball game and $15,000 per women’s basketball game.

According to the DePaul Athletics website, naming

MAX KLEINER | THE DEPAULIA

The McCormick Collection, including the DePaul basketball arena, is due to open in 2017. rights, ticket sales and revenue from DePaul athletics and the Big East conference will be used to finance construction of the arena. Tuition will not be used or affected by the arena, DePaul Athletics said.

The event center is only one piece of the McCormick Collection. The four buildings

DIVEST continued from front page This is a common practice by Israel used against Palestinians. We must look at this situation critically and with empathy.”

According to Alshaikh, the night consisted of Odeh’s defense committee and legal team speaking about her case, a spoken word, comedy and dance performances. The organization also met their fundraising goal of $5,000.

While being hailed a freedom fighter by some, Odeh’s presence on campus was not warmly received by all. Organizations including Students Supporting Israel and DePaul Hillel hosted a vigil remembering the two victims of the 1969 bombing.

“We really wanted to do it to commemorate the victims of Rasmea Odeh’s crime in 1969, which resulted in the death of two boys and we really just wanted to honor their memory because of the circumstances on campus,” Cameron Erickson, president of Students Supporting Israel at DePaul, said.

Erickson disputed the claims made

by Odeh and her defenders, calling them “lies” and saying that there was no doubt

of McCormick Place, the Hyatt Conference Center and hotel, and the Marriott Marquis Chicago hotel make up the other three pieces. The event center and Marriott hotel are scheduled to open in 2017.

A press release from 2014 said the city’s payout for the event center would be met

that the confession was legitimate.

“For example, they say that it took her 25 days of torture and rape to get her to confess,” Erickson said. “But that’s just preposterous since she actually confessed in Arabic, a written confession, one day after she was arrested.”

“And also, there was a monitor from the International (Committee of the) Red Cross that was present at the trial,” he said. “And the International Red Cross is not the most pro-Israel organization, and they said that it was a fair trial.”

Alshaikh, however, points to a 99.7 percent conviction rate for Palestinians in Israeli military tribunals as evidence that Odeh was not given a fair trial.

“Considering the context of Rasmea Odeh’s case, one has a better understanding of why this is a human rights issue, a feminist issue and a Palestinian issue,” Alshaikh said. “To paint Odeh as a terrorist is to deny all context of Israeli occupation and is rooted in anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian bigotry.”

The stark differences of opinion regarding Odeh’s appearance on campus, and her role in the action that put her

by almost $400 million in private investment to build the Hyatt hotel, the Marriott hotel and other businesses in the entertainment district.

The McCormick Collection falls under Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Elevate Chicago initiative to revitalize the convention culture in Chicago,

in her current situation, underscore the differences between supporters of Israel and supporters of Palestine.

On Jan. 30, DePaul’s Fair Business Practices Committee dismissed DePaul Divest’s case to divest from corporations that do business with the Israeli government and military, who they argue are responsible for war crimes against Palestinians.

The issue came before the committee after a hotly-contested referendum was passed in support of divest in last May’s student government elections.

DePaul Divest rebooted last month as they prepared to take on the issue. They posted videos on social media and shared photos in support of divestment on their Facebook page and held a protest on the Lincoln Park campus last month. What is next for the initiative and its parent organization, SJP, is unclear. According to Alshaikh, the organization will issue a press release soon.

After the decision, SSI released a statement saying “we applaud the committee’s hard work and final decision on this pressing issue. We at SSI are committed to further strengthening ties

and for good reason.

According to a 2013 press release, hotels, entertainment and businesses at McCormick Place bring in about $108 million for the city annually.

A convention can bring anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 people to a city, DePaul business professor, Joel Whalen said.

Hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and even cabbies feel the impact of a large trade show or convention.

“I think that we Chicagoans should recognize the importance of conventions to Chicago in both economic impact and prestige in the international world of business,” Whalen said.

Other cities like Los Angeles and Orlando have been outperforming Chicago in hospitality and entertainment options, Whalen said.

Emanuel said in January 2014 that he planned to bring 55 million tourists to Chcago by 2020, compared to the 40 million visitors in 2011.

Labor Unions also turned off convention organizers, Whalen said. According to city officials, agreements with unions in 2011 have reduced the cost for convention exhibitors and made Chicago more competitive.

According to their website, McCormick Place has booked conventions and events up through January 2016.

It is unknown whether the 29 scheduled events at the arena are flexible to basketball tournaments throughout the year.

DePaul has yet not annouced its event schedule at the stadium.

between the United States and Israel as well as DePaul and Israeli academic intuitions.”

Erickson was equally glad that the committee threw out the case.

“I think they made the right call because it shows that they’re not even going to give these types of bigoted complaints pushed by SJP the type of legitimacy of even having their case heard,” Erickson said.

While the divestment is still the official policy of the DePaul SGA, it is not clear whether the body will take any further action on the issue.

“As representatives of DePaul students, SGA provides students with an outlet to voice their concerns,” said SGA President Matthew von Nida.

“We ensured the student group knew the process to file a case to the FBPC so their voices could be heard. SGA is always open to having conversations with student groups on campus.”

And despite the result of the election, several pro-Israel SGA senators attended the vigil, Erickson said.

4 | The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 2015

News. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 5

Final provost candidate visits university

By Grant Myatt Mangaging Editor

The final provost candidate, who has spent 27 years at the University of Delaware, visited campus last week highlighting her passion for academic quality and global programs.

Nancy Brickhouse, the deputy provost of academic affairs at the University of Delaware, met with students, staff and faculty over a two-day period to make her pitch for the provost position. Most notably, Brickhouse has shown her commitment with 27 years at the University of Delaware and said she would be committed to DePaul as well.

Brickhouse said that she’s very proud of her accomplishments at Delaware but that “it feels like a good time to move.”

She became an assistant professor of science education at Delaware in 1988 and moved up the ranks including various director positions, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, as well as the deputy and interim provost.

Given that DePaul has had four different provosts over the past four years, they are certainly looking for some stability and direction from the university administration.

Faculty continued to field

important questions on hotbutton issues at the university right now including adjunct faculty, faculty salaries and research among other issues.

Brickhouse explained her belief in the importance of general education, especially continuing to bring in global perspectives to curriculums and co-curricular activities. She explained that Delaware has a robust study abroad program that is a “well-oiled machine.” About 40 percent of their students study abroad before graduation, she said, and that is a valuable part of the student experience.

She also has extensive experience coordinating international partnerships and opportunities for the University of Delaware. According to her Curriculum vitae, she helped to field the most diverse class of first year students in Delaware’s history in the fall of 2013. She has also helped develop joint programs in China. She said that Chicago strikes her as a place with a “huge opportunity” for international growth and opportunities for students.

“I haven’t enjoyed anything more over the past few years than my global work,” Brickhouse said.

Based on feedback and questions from the various

sessions, she said that a major issue for the new provost would be to work with colleges and departments to address enrollment issues, which would in turn help make an impact on some budgets.

However, one concern is that the University of Delaware does not have a law school, and with declining graduate enrollment at DePaul across the board, Brickhouse admitted she would have some learning to do.

Brickhouse did recognize the importance of faculty research noting that it is “work that should be incentivized.” She said faculty salaries and raises are something in need of attention, but that she needed more information to make any recommendations.

Feedback from faculty, students and staff for the provost candidates closed last Friday, and the university now awaits an announcement from DePaul President Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M. and the board of trustees on their decision.

“The last four years we have been coasting,” one staff member said in the final open campus session last week. “We want someone who is ready to come in and put their foot on the gas pedal.”

Photo courtesy of DEPAUL UNIVERSITY

Nancy Brickhouse, one of the four finalists for provost, visted campus last week where she met facutly, staff and students.

PREPARE FOR GMAT/LSAT If you’re applying to graduate, law or business school, you’ll be required to take a standardized graduate admissions exam. These exams are designed to identify potential success in a postgraduate degree program.

DePaul University offers two test prep courses—GMAT Prep and LSAT Prep—designed to help you prepare for your exam. And, coming this fall, DePaul will offer a GRE Prep Course.

In these courses, you will: • • • •

Take an assessment test to identify which skills you need to strengthen Learn time-saving strategies to help improve your score Hone your test-taking skills by preparing for various question types Increase your confidence for exam day

LSAT CLASSES BEGIN IN MARCH AND GMAT CLASSES BEGIN IN APRIL ON THE LOOP CAMPUS. To register, call (312) 362-5295 or visit cpe.depaul.edu/prepcourse.

6 | The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 2015

4G service coming to Blue Line, Red Line subways 4G continued from front page More service means more people on their phones, and given the current etiquette of people on the CTA that may not be a good thing.

“My only concern with the new 4G service is people will play music loudly, sometimes without headphones, and scream into their phones,” freshman Jenna Smith said.

“I didn’t mind not having service underground,” Smith said. My time on the L was peaceful and I used it to keep to myself, reflect and sometimes read. It was a nice and quiet time away from the constant hustle of the city.”

Increased phone usage will undoubtedly increase noise levels, so the CTA has created a plan for riders to learn new, proper etiquette on how to use phones on the train. This will also help to decrease phone theft, a valid concern with 666 phones stolen on the L in 2014.

An entrance to the Red Line at Monroe Street in the Loop. Those who use the Red Line and Blue Line subways will soon have the benefit of 4G coverage as part of a $32.5 million plan.

Photo courtesy of JDEERINGDAVIS | FLICKR

COMMUTER continued from front page of the Loop, to Chicago Union Station.

Though he shells out $117 on Metra train fares a month, it still comes as no surprise to him when the train arrives fifteen minutes late. Syvongsa must rethink his schedule. The train will take about an hour and 45 minutes now, so he won’t arrive to Union Station until 10:15 a.m. From there, he will have to sprint to DePaul’s Loop campus in an effort to get to class no more than a half hour late.

For Syvongsa, at least it isn’t snowing.

That adds another 15 minutes he can’t afford.

According to Commuter Student Coordinator Channon Campbell, more than 19,000 DePaul students commute, approximately 82 percent of the university’s student population. Campbell estimates that a majority of students live in the neighborhoods that surround DePaul, such as Lakeview or Lincoln Park. However, students who commute and students who live off-campus face a different set of problems daily.

For students like Syvongsa, getting to class is more than taking the CTA three stops or walking across the quad. The life of a commuter, a student living outside of the city of Chicago, can be a different kind of college experience filled with neverending days and increased Metra train fares, but it doesn’t have to be.

According to James Stewart, assistant director of Adult, Veteran and Commuter Student Affairs, over the last two years, DePaul’s Commuter Student Services has grown out of student initiative organizations, becoming an additional department within Adult, Student and Veteran Affairs. Though Commuter Student Affairs has been a part of the department for more than two years, there has recently been an effort to increase commuter student resources. Resources the office provides are programs like Soup in the Loop, DePaul Legal Services and assistance with housing and leasing issues.

“We also have our Adult Student Center which is located in the Loop

campus which is open Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and it is open to commuter students to stop in and relax and get a cup of coffee or tea,” Campbell said. Most programs and resources the office provides are for both adult and commuter students.

According to Stewart, two of the main needs the office is trying to help commuter students with is helping students find off-campus housing and developing community building activities and events.

“It’s like a hierarchy of needs,” Stewart said. “Helping students sort out transit or helping them sort out where they are going to live is fundamental. Then we can start talking about community building and things like that on top of it.”

Though Student Commuter Services attempts to cater to the needs of all commuter students, some students find that they lack a strong presence on campus and do not help all commuters.

For Syvongsa, he did not even realize all that the department had to offer.

“I know DePaul has a big commuter population, but they should really advertise what amenities’ they have for commuters more,” he said. “I just found out about locker rentals and the commuter lounge.”

Syvongsa also questioned the success community building programs would have for commuter students.

“I know if I’m tired after a long day of class I just want to go home,” he said.

“It just makes it hard for commuters to get involved sometimes if there’s a club meeting that doesn’t work with your schedule.”

Syvongas’ main concern as a commuter is what can be done about Metra fares and transportation rather than finding off-campus housing.

As the agency undertakes a modernization plan, Metra fares increased by as much as 20 percent in some zones starting on Feb. 1. For Syvongas, a oneway ticket from Bartlett to Union Station went up from $5.75 to $6.50. Though he is looking for off-campus housing for the following school year, Svongsa hopes DePaul can lessen his current commuter

burden.

“It would be nice if DePaul could do something about the Metra prices, or at least make it so that there’s a one way bus to take students to DePaul from Union Station,” he said Many suburban commuters face problems with the Metra train system.

According to Stewart, speaking to Metra about college fare discounts is a bigger issue to tackle, but one that should be brought to the forefront if it is affecting DePaul students.

“Metra works fundamentally different then the CTA. The U-Pass can work because there’s economies of scale, everybody is paying in. Metra, if you’re riding it you probably don’t have another option,” he sai., “Metra as an organization has less of a rationale to want to do a discount.”

For commuters at DePaul, there has been an increase in the number of resources for commuters, but it has not helped lessen the burden of commuting itself. However, many commuters may not realize that they possess the power for change to occur and for their issues and concerns to become part of the conversation. Student organizations like the DePaul Commuter Demons have aided in advocating on the behalf of commuter students.

“There’s a lot of power within the students to advocate change. If students are really finding that some resources are only available in the library or on campus, we as an office can say that, but there’s just as much power from a coalition of students,” Stewart said.

Student voice and input is necessary for Commuter Student Services to advance into an office that can help all kind of commuter students, whether it is looking for off-campus housing in Chicago or seeking help with transportation into the city.

“We can listen and we can have students tell us what our priorities should be,” Stewart said. “We are in a place with staff changes and transition where we can do that.”

Commuter Costs Many students rely on Metra, Chicago’s suburban train service, which recently increased its fares as part of a $2.4 million modernization plan.

The first of the fare increases as of Feb. 1, 2015 include: • Average 10.8% fare increase • $8 weekend passes, an increase of $1 • On-board ticket surcharge of $5, up from $3

Future increases over the next four years include: 2015 2016 2017

10.8% 5% 8.5%

2018

4%

Metra predicts renovations will extend for the next 10 years.

News. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 7

Rauner lays out controversial plan to turn state around

By Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. Bruce Rauner presented an ambitious first-year agenda Wednesday in a 12-page speech that proposed measures he said would help Illinois better compete with its neighbors and repair a multibillion-dollar budget hole.

Here’s a look at his plans at a glance:

Taxes

Rauner has proposed freezing property taxes for two years and expanding the sales tax base as part of a “taxpayer empowerment” plan.

Rauner suggests that real estate taxes not increase above 2015 levels except for new construction or property under other narrow restrictions. He wants to “modernize” the sales tax to include services such as haircuts or automotive repairs.

Schools

The Winnetka Republican wants to make the increases to school funding a top priority despite a general warning for weeks of painful budget cuts. He said Wednesday during his State

of the State address that Illinois must “avoid slipping further behind other states in the quality of our children’s education.”

But Rauner hasn’t said how he’d pay for the increase or how it might affect other areas of the budget.

The state faces a $5.7 billion budget gap next year after the expiration of Illinois’ temporary income tax increase.

Rauner also says he wants to lift the cap on the number of charter schools to offer more choices.

Prisons

Gov. Bruce Rauner wants to hire more prison guards, reform the parole system and invest in a state program that keeps nonviolent offenders out of prison.

He also said he wants to continue to invest in a program known as Adult Redeploy. It helps fund programs that divert nonviolent offenders to communitybased programs, rather than sending them to prison.

He hasn’t said how his administration would pay for the additional employees, or how much the new hires would add to the state payroll.

Government consolidation

Rauner says Illinois must consolidate or eliminate some of its more than 7,000 units of government, noting during Wednesday’s speech that Illinois has more government units than any other state. That includes school districts, townships and fire protection districts.

Rauner said “taxpayers can no longer afford all of them.”

Rauner pointed to steps taken

by DuPage County to consolidate its government agencies. DuPage County Chairman Dan Cronin’s office says those efforts helped save about $30 million per year and eliminate 50 fulltime positions. He said a task force led

by Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti will identify ways to consolidate government.

Right to work zones

Rauner is advocating for so-called “right to work zones” where local officials could decide whether union fees would be voluntary for local workers.”

Rauner says local communities “deserve this option so that they can compete with other states and other nations for new businesses and new investments.”

FRED ZWICKY | AP PHOTO

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner smiles as a crowd gives him a standing ovation as he speaks at a Peoria Chamber of Commerce event in Peoria, Illinois, Friday, Feb. 6.

CAMPUS CRIME REPORT : Jan. 28 - Feb. 3 LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS 1

8

LOOP CAMPUS

7

Sheffield Square

2 6

Corcoran Hall 10 5

DePaul Center

Belden-Racine Hall 4

Student Center

3

The Ray

LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS JAN. 28 1) A criminal trespass report was filed for a person asked

5) A possession of cannabis report was filed for a person

to leave the lobby of 1150 W. Fullerton Ave.

in Belden-Racine Hall. Offender was taken into custody

by Chicago Police.

JAN. 29 2) A smell of marijuana report was filed for a room in

FEB. 1 6) A smell of marijuana report was filed for a room in

Corcoran Hall. No drugs were found.

Corcoran Hall. No arrest was made.

JAN. 30 3) A theft report was filed for items taken from a patron

FEB. 2 7) A theft report was filed for an iPhone taken from a

of the Ray Meyer Fitness Center.

student.

4) A battery report was filed for an altercation in the

FEB. 3 8) A theft report was filed for a student was pickpocketed

Student Center.

at the Fullerton train platform.

LOOP CAMPUS FEB. 1 9) A threat by electronic means report was filed for

postings on Twitter. The postings were of a threatening nature.

FEB. 2 10) A criminal trespass report was filed for two patrons harassed by unknown males in the food court of the DePaul Center. Subjects were issued a criminal trespass to land warning.

8| The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 2015

Urban farming keeps growing despite cold

By Luisa Fuentes Contributing Writer

With their outdoor garden weather-proofed for the winter, DePaul’s urban farmers have moved four floors up, where students grow year-round crops and give the gift of greens to the community.

During the winter, operations for DePaul’s Urban Farming Organization (UFO) move from the outside garden on Belden Avenue and Bissel Street into the greenhouse at McGowan South, and with it the number of crops go as well. The organization has grown since 2011, and so has their ability to experiment with new and sustainable practices that can withstand the cold of winter.

“There’s only so much we can do in the greenhouse so we want to supplement that by starting to do cold frames,” Megan Hoff, the organization’s co-president and environmental studies student, said “Cold-frames are minigreenhouses, they’re insulated wood infrastructures with soil piled into them with a window on top, and you just put that in an open space. We had three cold-frames on top of McGowan South here and we grew lettuce all winter and we just harvested them, so you can grow throughout every season.”

With hopes of expanding the capabilities within

MEGAN DEPPEN | THE DEPAULIA

Megan Hoff and Eileen Evoy check the health of their winter crops in the greenhouse on the roof of McGowan South. In the winter, students develop side projects, such as a sustainable aquaponic system. the greenhouse, members and volunteers are able to incorporate their own outside projects into the organization and provide new learning tools for other members. Rosie Fitz, an environmental studies and studio art major, provides the organization with an aquaponics system she designed for her urban agriculture class.

“It’s a really sustainable way of growing food because it’s a closed system,” Fitz said.

“Instead of growing food in soil where you’re constantly watering it, the water is constantly filtered and circulated through with an aquaponics system.”

Students without prior knowledge or experience with farming or gardening are encouraged to come and experience it for themselves.

Members or volunteers have the freedom to participate as much as they want, and activities range from planting fragrant products

for the residence halls to creating their own soaps from what they’ve grown.

The organization not only provides DePaul students with the opportunity to experiment and expand their studies, but also provides local schools, such as Oscar Mayer Elementary and Lincoln Elementary, the opportunity to learn about urban agriculture.

“We had girl scouts from Lincoln Elementary School

come, they wanted to earn their gardening badge, so they came and planted things and came up here (McGowan South Greenhouse) and toured,” Hoff said.

At the outdoor garden, the organization works on more than 30 plots to grow crops for donations or for their very own farmers markets which operate out of the Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center.

“Over the summer we had a farmers market every Thursday at the Ray Meyer Fitness Center, which is really cool, we started to get regular customers,” Hoff said. “(The garden and greenhouse) kind of serves as a sanctuary and a social spot, safe space, as well as a learning space,” Kristen Holdsworth, UFO copresident and an environmental studies senior, said. “It’s really nice because you can experiment with things like planting and you can mess up and it’s OK because it’s not your own supplies.”

Apart from the once a week volunteer hours, the organization aims to have larger events every month, from collaborations with Ted X to movie nights with the Fair Trade Organization. As for their standing in both the school and local community, they don’t plan on slowing down.

“We’re hoping to get even more involved with the more established we get,” Hoff said.

News. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 9

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JOSH LEFF | THE DEPAULIA

From Left, Cory Dolins, Peter Ryckbosch, Joe Hanel, and David Molinari, the Bench Mob, watch as the Blue Demons took on Seton Hall last Tuesday. The Demons won 75-62.

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10 | The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 2015

Nation &World

White weather, red profits

By Kevin Gross Nation & World Editor

Ask any longtime Chicago resident the two things they most associate with Midwestern winters and they will likely respond with these words: “Snow and ice.”

A natural consequence of winter weather is that residents are more likely to hunker down in their homes rather than go out for entertainment. However, lost in the snowy sessions of Netflix and hot chocolate is the other side of the question: How do these winter consumer habits bode for businesses?

“January and February are always slower than any other months,” Kaylie Rettig, a bartender at Kincade’s Bar and Grill, said.

Dustin Cardinal, a shift bartender at Kelly’s Pub, agreed with this sentiment. “A lot of people who may make plans ahead of time and say, ‘we’re going to the bar’ end up just staying home after it snows.”

Commonly when discussing the “cost of snow,” people may only consider the literal cost of snow removal — the road salt, the plows and other such costs.

As it really is, however, the cost of snow goes far beyond such immediate factors.

“Weather can have a detrimental effect for many businesses, especially those that depend on walk-in pedestrian traffic,” Terri Lonier, the executive director for DePaul’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, said.

“In addition to (lost foot traffic), you have to account for other things,” Cardinal said.

“We’re a particular bar that has a parking lot, and when it snows most drivers don’t show. It’s still not completely plowed yet so it’s still tricky for potential customers to come in and out.”

This year’s winter could be comparable to some of the snowier winters of Chicago’s past.

Accuweather reported that as of Feb. 8, there have been 27.6 inches of total snowfall this winter. Last year’s winter — which was noted for multiple “polar vortexes” — boasted 44.6 inches of snow over the same period. Both figures are much higher than Chicago’s average snowfall of 19.9 inches over this period.

Particularly this year, however, the economic downturn from adverse weather was sharp for some businesses due to a large snowstorm that occurred during the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.

“I would say that only about 25 percent of the people we expected to show (for the Super Bowl) ended up showing that night. And that’s being generous,” Cardinal said. “Other industry people I know also said that it turned out being an all-around

KIICHIRO SATO | AP

An aerial view of Chicago taken on Feb. 3 after multiple snowfalls. bad night for Chicago bars.”

Although adverse seasonal effects may seem relatively short, these types of effects can impact a business in the long term.

“A lot of businesses, say certain restaurants and boutiques, may not have massive (profit) margins,” Dave Mitria, a manager at barbeque restaurant and bar Barn and Company, said. “So if you have one bad month and you’re down $10,000 to $15,000, you could be chasing that back for three to six months to recover financially. You have to be smart about your business. At the end of the day, you still have to pay taxes and bills and such, as those don’t stop just because there is unfortunate weather.”

The total economic impact of adverse weather can be larger in scale than just its effects on a few individual local businesses.

Bruce Watson of DailyFinance. com previously speculated that a snowstorm hitting the major cities of the Northeastern U.S. could possibly create up to $48.8 billion in lost productivity per day. It is important to note, however, that few studies tallying exact macroeconomic costs of blizzards exist.

Aggregate measures reflect the overall impact of the colder months. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that from 2012 to 2014, the first quarter of the year — January to March — always boasted the lowest figures of national consumer spending on goods and services.

These spending figures shrank even lower when excluding energy costs, one of the few commodities to boost in demand in the cold months, for obvious reasons.

In addition to gas and energy companies, delivery services emerge as one of the few benefactors of winter spending patterns. Data provided from

Grubhub to CNBC showed that during the recent blizzard in the Northeast, deliveries in New York City for items such as pizza, hot chocolate and bagels doubled, while tips spiked by an average of 8 percent higher than normal.

For most businesses, however, consumer demand drops due to seasonal factors, and they need to adjust their strategies accordingly. In this respect, some local business owners are able to insulate their business from seasonality better than others.

“We kind of layer ourselves with different services, so that in case there is a drastic storm we can ensure some type of business,” Mitria said. “I thought the weather might have affected the Super Bowl more, but people were ordering (catered) wings and ribs for their home parties. We had also sold out on restaurant space due to reservations people previously made. We had set this all in motion prior to that day, so that we didn’t have to rely on walk-in business.”

Other businesses rely on different strengths to get through difficult seasons.

“Our location next to the ‘L’ is a big strength,” Rettig said.

“People get off the train from work and, due to our prominent location, there is always some constant amount of pedestrian traffic compared to businesses in other locations.”

Different strategic aspects of the business plan have to account for seasonal changes in customers as well.

“If we were to do a large type of demolition or renovation of the store, you would have to try to do it in a time when you’re not busy, so that you wouldn’t interrupt business too much,” Mitria said.

“When we have these types of plans, we would do it right now in February, after the Super Bowl

KEVIN GROSS | THE DEPAULIA

Many parking lots, such as this lot at Kelly's Pub, remain poorly plowed. Industry insiders say factors like this can impact profits. and before St. Patrick’s Day and March Madness.”

“My advice to potential new business owners would be (to) understand your customer, understand when people are more likely to buy your merchandise,” Lonier said.

“Some types of businesses may be more vulnerable to such (seasonal) cycles, and it should be understood that seasonal businesses need to open in a time that boosts their early profit.”

Overall, the majority of businesses that are dependent on spontaneous pedestrian business — bars, restaurants and certain boutique stores — are well aware they will face certain unfavorable effects from weather-related consumer habits and prepare themselves for the colder months.

“I think that Chicago business owners understand that winter weather is something that needs to be built into their business model,” Lonier said.

Nation&Worldbriefs

Nation & World. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 11 Content written by the ASSOCIATED PRESS Compiled by KEVIN GROSS | The DePaulia

EVAN VUCCI | AP

President Barack Obama discusses the budget proposal with the Cabinet.

BRAD BARKET | AP

NBC News anchor Brian Williams faced scrutiny after being ousted for lying about his Iraq War experiences.

Raad Adayleh | AP

Jordanians paying tribute to Lt. Muath Al-Kaseasbeh, a Jordanian pilot who was captured and executed by the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL).

White House proposes initial budget for 2016

News anchor's integrity questioned over Iraq

WASHINGTON, DC

Promising to help America's middle class, President Barack Obama on Monday sent Congress a record $4 trillion budget that would hammer corporate profits overseas and raise taxes on the wealthy while boosting tax credits for families and the working poor.

Obama's budget also would steer hundreds of billions of dollars to the nation's crumbling infrastructure of roads and bridges, help provide two years of free community college and reverse the acrossthe-board, automatic budget cuts that have slammed the Pentagon and nearly every government department.

In the face of certain opposition from Republicans, an optimistic Obama hailed a "breakthrough year for America" of new jobs, lower unemployment and shrinking deficits after the great recession of 2008, and he called for moving past years of "mindless austerity." The blueprint for the 2016 budget year that begins Oct. 1 represents a 6.4 percent increase over estimated spending this year, projecting that the deficit will decline to $474 billion.

However, Obama's plan ignores the new balance of power in Washington, with Republicans running both the House and Senate. The GOP found plenty to criticize in his proposed tax hikes that would total about $1.5 trillion.

"Today President Obama laid out a plan for more taxes, more spending, and more of the Washington gridlock that has failed middle class families," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "This plan never balances — ever."

Republicans aren't offering specifics yet but will respond this spring with their own plan, a balanced-budget outline promising to get rid of "Obamacare," ease the burdens of the national debt on future generations, curb the explosive growth of expensive benefit programs and reform a loopholecluttered tax code in hopes of promoting economic growth.

While Obama's plan was rejected out of hand on budget day, proposals to ease automatic cuts and boost transportation funding are likely to return later in the year and require extensive negotiation.

NEW YORK CITY, NY

ISIS execution of Jordanian pilot sparks retaliation RAQQA, SYRIA

Islamic State group militants burned a captured Jordanian pilot to death in a cage, according to a purported video of the violence released Tuesday. The kingdom, which had vowed a swift and lethal response, executed two al-Qaida prisoners by hanging early Wednesday.

The pilot's gruesome death sparked outrage and anti-Islamic State group demonstrations in Jordan. The video emerged after a weeklong drama over a possible prisoner exchange for a female al-Qaida operative imprisoned in Jordan who was one of the two prisoners executed.

The Jordanian military confirmed the death of 26-year-old Lt. Muath AlKaseasbeh, who was captured by the extremists in December when his F-16 crashed while he was flying a mission as part of the U.S.-led air campaign against the Islamic State group.

He was the first airman participating in the U.S.-led bombing raids against militant positions in Syria and Iraq to be captured.

In a first response to the killing of the pilot, Jordan executed Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouly, two Iraqis linked to al-Qaida, government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said. Another official said they were executed by hanging.

Over the past week, Jordan had offered to trade al-Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber, for the pilot, but froze any swap after failing to receive any proof that the pilot was still alive. Jordanian TV said the

pilot was killed as long ago as Jan. 3.

Al-Rishawi had been sentenced to death after her 2005 role in a triple hotel bombing that killed 60 people in Amman orchestrated by al-Qaida in Iraq, the predecessor of the Islamic State group. AlKarbouly was sent to death row in 2008 for plotting terror attacks on Jordanians in Iraq.

Al-Kaseasbeh had fallen into the hands of the militants when his F-16 crashed near Raqqa, Syria, the de facto capital of the group's self-styled caliphate.

In the 20-minute video purportedly showing his killing, he displayed signs of having been beaten, including a black eye.

Toward the end of the clip, he is shown wearing an orange jumpsuit. He stands in an outdoor cage as a masked militant ignites a line of fuel leading to it.

The video, which threatened other purported Jordanian pilots by name, was released on militant websites and bore the logo of the extremist group's al-Furqan media service. The clip featured the slick production and graphics used in previous Islamic State videos. The video could not immediately be confirmed independently

by The Associated Press.

The killing of the 26-year-old airman appeared aimed at pressuring the government of Jordan — a close U.S. ally — to leave the coalition.

The latest video was released three days after another video showed the purported beheading of a Japanese journalist, Kenji Goto, who was captured by the Islamic State group in October.

NBC News anchor Brian Williams found himself the story Thursday, his credibility seriously threatened because he falsely claimed he had been in a helicopter hit by a grenade during the Iraq war.

NBC News officials would not say whether their top on-air personality would face disciplinary action. Williams, the "Nightly News" anchor for just over a decade, had become an online punching bag overnight.

Williams apologized Wednesday for telling the story a week earlier during a "Nightly News" tribute to a veteran he had befriended during a 2003 reporting trip to Iraq. Before expressing his regrets on the air, Williams did so online and in an interview with the newspaper Stars & Stripes.

He speculated online that constant viewing of video showing him inspecting the damaged helicopter "and the fog of memory over 12 years, made me conflate the two, and I apologize."

Shortly after the incident, Williams had described on NBC how he was traveling in a group of helicopters forced down in the Iraq desert. On the ground, he learned the Chinook in front of him "had almost been blown out of the sky"; he showed a photo of it with a gash from a rocket-propelled grenade.

The NBC crew and military officials accompanying them spent three days in the desert, kept aground by a sandstorm.

Then, in a 2013 appearance on David Letterman's "Late Show," Williams said that two of the four helicopters he was traveling with had been hit by ground fire "including the one I was in."

Williams' story was first questioned in posts to the "Nightly News" Facebook page.

It's a touchy topic: Members of the military who are wounded or who come under enemy fire consider themselves members of a special kind of brotherhood and don't like people who try to intrude, said retired U.S. Army Col. Pete Mansoor, a professor of military history at Ohio State University.

"It smacks of stolen valor," Mansoor said — an offense that Williams specifically denied in his online apology.

12 | The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 2015

Opinions FIGHTING FARE Taxis fall behind in “rideshare revolution”

By Danielle Harris Copy Editor

Popular ridesharing service Uber is no stranger to controversy. The company consistently makes headlines with critics slamming the business for countless reasons including outlandish statements by corporate executives, concerns regarding rider privacy and the always controversial surge pricing, which are merely some of the issues Uber faces.

Yet despite all the highly publicized controversies, riders continue using the app as a cheaper alternative to hailing a cab the old-fashioned way. This obvious preference towards using mobile apps to catch a ride signals that while the “rideshare revolution” has its undeniable flaws, it is here to stay. Traditional taxis face the choice of adapting to the times or disappearing entirely.

Accessibility plays a key role in drawing customers to ridesharing apps. Connor Iseberg, a DePaul sophomore, has been a regular user of Uber for a couple

MAX KLEINER | THE DEPAULIA

of years now.

“What I like most about Uber is the convenience,” Iseberg said.

“There are always cars around and the wait for a driver, no matter what time, is almost never longer than five to 10 minutes.”

The convenience of apps like Uber is not strictly for riders; drivers use ridesharing services as an easy way to make extra money.

Isaac Burrows, 48, is a DePaul graduate who works full time as a regulatory compliance consultant in Chicago. Three months ago, he became an Uber driver after hearing about the extra money

drivers could make working just a few nights a week. He said his earnings are “more than expected.” Burrows did not feel that ridesharing services such as Uber were solely responsible for taxi drivers’ decline in business.

“The taxi industry missed an opportunity to evolve their business around the demands of what people wanted. They needed to evolve their business model so they were more accessible to everybody and because they didn’t, shame on them,” Burrows said.

What many customers have an issue with is not the demise

of the cab industry, but Uber’s control over their wallets. The company’s infamous surge pricing has angered taxi drivers and Uber riders alike. According to Uber, surge pricing exists “to get more cars on the road and ensure reliability during the busiest times. When enough cars are on the road, prices go back down to normal levels.”

Surge pricing’s effectiveness in motivating drivers to get on the road remains somewhat unclear. Still, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick continues to support the temporary price raises. “You want supply to always be full, and you

use price to basically either bring more supply on or get more supply off, or get demand in the system or get some demand out,” Kalanick said in a Vanity Fair profile. “It’s classic Econ 101.”

Traditional taxi drivers and companies need to capitalize on the one thing Uber users can’t stand if they want their business to survive: surge pricing.

By creating their own apps that call a cab to a user’s front door and ensuring a consistent fare rate regardless of the demand for rides, taxis just may have a fighting chance in this battle for business.

The future of print, e-readers still cloudy

By Rachel Dick Contributing Writer

When it comes to modern versus oldfashioned, no matter the medium, the debate tends to follow similar tangents. The ones who see merit in the old ways believe newer changes will bring about detrimental effects to the general population, while the progressive side pushes for exploration into the unknown. In the case of e-readers and traditional books, the debate is no different.

“When it comes to cost, e-readers are probably the more practical option,” DePaul senior Jonathan Kriston said. “You can carry a lot of books around in one tablet.”

E-readers like the Kindle certainly have functionality on their side, but does that supposed practicality come at a cost? The University of Stavanger in Norway, cited in The New Yorker, indicated that we are more likely to “read more quickly (and less deeply) than when we move sequentially from page to page.”

In other words, traditional books are better when we want to retain what we have read. In addition, some modern readers even prefer the look and feel of a classic

CATHY STANLEY-ERICKSON | CREATIVE COMMONS

With the popularity of e-readers, the future of print is unknown. paper tome, such as DePaul senior Caitlin Raleigh.

“I’m a printed book girl. I love everything about them … reading them also makes for a more interactive experience,” Raleigh said. “Flipping backwards and forwards to find exact passages, refreshing your memory — these are things that don’t work well on an e-reader.”

But what is the future of literary media?

Are printed books being shoved out of the mainstream, or are e-readers merely a supplement to the world of literature?

“It’s true that e-readers have brought huge changes,” Raleigh said. “Some are great. People can pack all the books they want to read into one convenient device.

Still, it seems to me that lots of writers want to be published the ‘old-fashioned’ way.”

Certainly the popularity of e-readers

is stagnating. In a recent article published by the New Republic, 65 percent of 6-to 17-year-old children said they would always want to read books in print. What makes this figure particularly amazing is that this percentage is up from two years ago, when it seemed e-readers might take over.

“For pleasure reading, I would definitely prefer an actual book,” DePaul senior Hearn Derek said.

Derek is not alone in his sentiment.

In a survey of more than 300 college students from the U.S., Japan, Germany and Slovakia, 92 percent reported that in terms of sheer memory retention, they would choose a hard printed book every time. This is not to say that e-readers will ever fade out completely, however. They do have very practical uses and can be a useful tool.

“No matter what humanity has created, we’ve always wanted to have books around, books of every kind,” Raleigh said.

Print is a medium whose relevancy has not expired, but is simply going through a disruptive transition. The timelessness of print has the ability to outweigh the functionality of e-readers. Books will continue to line shelves, now and in the future.

Opinions. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 13

THE OFF-LIMITS TOPIC: WESTERN MEDIA BIAS

By Sam Schwindt Staff Writer

By now you have more than likely heard of the Charlie Hebdo attack, but have you heard about the Baga and Doron Baga massacres in Nigeria? Nearly 2,000 individuals are feared dead at the hands of Boko Haram, a terrorist Islamist movement based in Nigeria. This is a prime example of Western media bias. If the United States or one of its important allies is not directly affected, the event does not warrant media coverage in the Western press.

Americans tend to have a small view of the world, perhaps limited by borders, our own value system and beliefs and, quite frankly, sometimes by our inability to locate other parts of the world on a map.

The United States is arguably the most powerful country in the world. So why bother learning about issues, events and tragedies that occur elsewhere in the world that do not matter to the United States?

In her 2008 TED Talk titled “The News about the News,” Alisa Miller revealed a startling fact to viewers: the U.S. accounted for 79 percent of total news coverage in February of 2007. That leaves only 21 percent of news coverage for the rest of the world. Years later, this fact seems to remain true.

When questioned about the possibility of bias in the news, freshman DePaul University student Jennifer Lawhead said, “The media likes to sensationalize issues, and then completely ignore a whole other set of issues.” She is right, of course.

When asked if she knew about the Baga and Doron Baga massacres, she answered simply, “no.”

Lawhead knows the media is biased, but simply knowing does not make her

SUNDAY ALAMBA | AP

A Nigerian soldier stands guard during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Maiduguri, Nigeria.

BOKO HARAM | AP

Boko Haram fighters have shot or burned to death about 90 civilians and wounded 500 in ongoing fighting in a Cameroonian border town near Nigeria. immune to the effects of this bias. We are all victims. How are we supposed to know about the 2,000 feared dead in northern Nigeria if the media giants do not think it is worthy of reporting on as extensively as the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack?

CNN reported that starting Jan. 3

“Boko Haram militants opened fired on northern Nigerian villages, leaving bodies scattered everywhere and as many as 2,000 people feared dead.” Amnesty International said in a statement that, “The attack on Baga and surrounding towns looks as if it could be Boko Haram’s deadliest act.”

That was earlier this month. According to BBC, on Jan. 25, Boko Haram attacked the “strategically important” city of Maiduguri, where dozens of people have been killed.

However, if you looked at the home page for The New York Times last week after the Boko Haram attack occured, the main story was the snowstorm heading into New York City. On CNN, there were articles with headlines such as “The Miss Universe winner is…,” “Asteroid flying close; best viewing is tonight,” and “Lance: I’d probably dope again.” In the scheme of things, does a massive snowstorm, Miss Universe and an asteroid trump the loss of so many Nigerian lives?

Western media bias sends the message that our American and Western lives count — we are important. On the other hand, the loss of Nigerian lives is expected. It has been deemed a violent part of the world, and because of that designation, it tends to matter less. There was no mention of the attack on Jan. 25, or of the 2,000 feared dead, simply because it does not directly affect the American people, which means no one would read those stories.

We are ignorant because of the media’s bias — so much so that sometimes we are even ignorant of the fact that we are biased.

The media is full of stories that generate buzz, but stories that impact people outside our “American” mindset are often absent. They are adjudged less newsworthy because they affect people deemed less worthy of our attention.

We have allowed ourselves to become inoculated to bad things happening in certain parts of the world, such as Nigeria, but not to popular tourist destinations, such as Paris. When something happens in the Western world, it is a tragedy. But when it occurs in the non-Western world, it is simply a fact of life.

National signing day

Do high school athletes deserve national coverage for signing?

By Jenna Duddleston Contributing Writer

As I sit in my little cubicle at my internship on Wednesday, Feb. 4, the TV behind me features ESPNU and today’s topic of conversation: National signing day.

ESPNU has a rundown of the top recruits in the nation, listed 1 to 300. The analysts discussed the top recruiting classes, which included the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Florida State Seminoles, the USC Trojans, the Clemson Tigers and the Tennessee Volunteers.

Showing highlight footage of these future collegiate studentathletes and discussing what we can “expect” from them come football season, they speculated whether or not we would see them in the lineup right away or if they will sit out a year to learn and understand the system.

Bouncing back and forth between the analysts and different students’ announcements at their respective high schools, ESPNU’s all-day coverage of National signing

day gave us the rundown on where these top football recruits will be committing.

The number one defensive tackle DT and number two overall player in the ESPN top 300 was Terry Beckner Jr., a 6-foot-4, 298-pound player from East St. Louis, Illinois. Deciding between Auburn, Florida State, Ohio State and Missouri, Beckner decided to stay close to home and ultimately chose Missouri.

Before he made his announcement live on ESPNU, Beckner got emotional, thanking God for his opportunity. With tears in his eyes and surrounded by his family and friends, Beckner said he would be going to Missouri. The gym where Beckner made his announcement exploded in cheers from his school, friends and family.

While this is a huge accomplishment for young athletes like Beckner who have worked endless hours, sacrificed a lot and through all their blood sweat and tears are being noticed, it is questionable as to whether or not these young athletes have earned a spotlight on

CHRIS LEE | AP

East St. Louis High School defensive lineman Terry Beckner Jr., second from left, announces his intentions to attend Missouri during national signing day, Feb. 4, 2015.

ESPNU. Their spotlight is only due to their projections and expectations of how they will compete the next four years of their lives.

Does this warrant all the hype and attention?

Yes, these athletes are the best on a high school sporting level, but that does not mean that they will continue to succeed in college. It’s a completely different game that they are about to enter. Longer hours, more sacrifice and having to remember that you’re still a student who needs to complete study hours, go to classes and maintain a high enough GPA where you are eligible to play are key components of the new environment of a stu-

dent athlete.

From a business aspect, after the National Championship in January and until spring football, there is an absence of college football coverage. This gives media outlets like ESPN, online web shows and talk radio something different to discuss.

National signing day is giving these young athletes a skewed view of what is to come in college athletics. It’s not glamorous — ­ it’s hard work. If athletes don’t perform well, they must figure out how to improve. If and when they can’t fix their game, that’s when the cameras and the spotlight disappear.

National signing day is when

a lot of promises are made, but come football season a majority are broken.

For some people who are die-hard college football fans, National signing day is like draft day in the NFL. It’s a chance to see the potential of your future team.

Could this recruiting class be the class that leads you to a national championship? Could you be looking at the next Tom Brady? The next Marshawn Lynch? The next J.J. Watt?

The spotlight might be too much, too soon for these young athletes. If they want to keep the spotlight around, it’s all about what they do next.

The opinions in this section do not necessarily reflect those of The DePaulia staff.

14 | The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 2015

Focus

Can't Buy Me Love Rather than a day to celebrate love, thanks to Hallmark Valentine’s Day is a day that celebrates consumerism

By Zoe Krey Opinions Editor

People all over the world will go through similar routines on Feb. 13.

Greeting card and drug stores will be packed as people frantically flock to the card aisle to search for words they can’t seem to muster up themselves. As they search for something not too cheesy, but not too bland, they’ll have to make a pit stop in the quintessential Valentine’s Day aisle. This aisle has all the items that represent the commercial value of love.

From oversized teddy bears and chocolate roses, to heart shaped pillows, balloons and mints, it might just be smart to buy it all.

Maybe a cheap bottle of champagne should be added to the cart as well. And just for the heck of it, the fresh roses at the checkout. And don’t forget to stop at the jewelers to pick up a necklace. And maybe you should upgrade your Valentine’s Day card. Rather than a boring 2-D heartshaped cardstock, you can buy a card that sings “My Girl” by the Temptations, or you can buy a card that pops up when you open it. The 3-D is so impressive, it could

poke an eye out. With all those purchases, your partner is sure to know just how much you love them.

Valentine’s Day has been deemed a Hallmark holiday. This term refers to holidays that are believed to exist solely for their commercial value, and not for their relation to a historical or traditional event. While Valentine’s Day has certainly evolved over time — its origins have been questionably linked to fertility festivals during the Roman Empire — some people are staunch supporters of this holiday’s non-commercial value. Greeting card empire Hallmark Cards is no stranger to defending Valentine’s Day as a holiday that is worth more than people give it credit for. Donald J. Hall, Jr., Hallmark Cards chief executive since 2002, doesn’t believe in the concept of the Hallmark holiday.

“We haven’t created a single occasion.

I wish we could. We understand what people are saying to each other, what they are feeling and want to share,” Hall said to the Guardian.

Hallmark’s website boasts of holiday cards pertaining to Sweetest Day, Grandparents Day and National Boss

Day, and even promotes “Anytime” cards, making any day of the year a reason to celebrate.

“I want to believe that I would boycott traditions created by big businesses to increase sales,” DePaul sophomore Taylor Gillen said. “However, they have taken such a tenacious hold on our culture that I take part in them anyway.”

It seems that society has become so accustomed to celebrating holidays that it is almost frowned upon when people don’t participate. This year, “total spending for Valentine’s Day is expected to reach $18.9 billion,” Michael Shay, National Retail Federation president and chief executive officer said.

“It’s encouraging to see consumers show interest in spending money on gifts and Valentine’s Day related merchandise.

It’s a good sign for consumer sentiment as we head into 2015,” Shay said. Consumers are clearly still placing value on holidays such as Valentine’s Day. And possibly for a good reason.

With Hallmark’s new “Put your Heart to Paper Valentine” campaign that features a same-sex couple, can Hallmark holidays such as Valentine’s Day be used

to make a statement? The advertising campaign features several real-life couples that show them discussing the positives of their relationships. This isn’t the first time Hallmark has supported the LGBTQ community. Hallmark made a statement in 2008 and “garnered praise from the LGBTQ community after it first introduced a line of same-sex wedding cards,” according to the Huffington Post.

The National Retail Federation’s Valentine’s Day consumer spending survey revealed that “an average celebrant will spend $142.31 on candy, flowers and such, up from $139.91 a year ago. More than half of those surveyed will purchase candy with flower power the secondmost popular option, and about one-third will pay for a special night out including dinner and a movie.” Men have also been known to spend nearly twice as much for Valentine’s Day as women, spending an average of $190.53 compared to women at $96.58.

Bling, flowers, the box office, gourmet dinners and candy can all add up to make Valentine’s Day an evening to remember.

Whether you attach commercial value to the holiday or believe that it has a

Focus. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 15

All photos: ERIN YARNALL | THE DEPAULIA

Stores throughout Chicago have Valentine’s Day displays to promote their Valentine’s Day products, prompting Chicagoans to spend their money on items such as candy, cards and stuffed animals.

deeper significance, Valentine’s Day will most likely be a successful day for businesses around Chicago. Restaurants, flower shops and bakeries are sure to be preparing for the big holiday.

If you have a significant other this holiday, there are tons of things to do around the city that won’t break the bank, and can provide you with a somewhat unconventional Valentine’s Day experience. From the Chicago Auto Show at McCormick Place to a Mardi Gras celebration at the Chicago Cultural Center, there are ways to avoid getting sucked into the Hallmark holiday aspect of Valentine’s Day, while still being able to do something with your loved one.

“I can say that I won’t be falling prey to the gimmicks for consumers, but I will still spend Valentine’s Day with my significant other,” Gillen said. “I think there can be something positive from participating in something like a Hallmark holiday as long as you bend the rules to make it something your own.”

Or, if you prefer to go the traditional route this Valentine’s Day, take Hall’s advice: “It’s about finding the right card for the right person at the right moment.”

Hallmark holidays throughout the year National Doctors Day March 30

Sweetest Day Oct. 17

Secretary’s Day April 22

Throughout numerous countries, National Doctors Day is celebrated to acknowledge the work physicians do. In 1990, Pres.

George H.W. Bush, the Senate and the House of Representatives signed a law designating March 30 as the day to celebrate this holiday.

In the United States, the holiday is typically celebrated in doctors offices where the staff holds a celebration for the physicians.

This holiday is specifically celebrated in the United States and has been rumored to have been created by candy companies in order to sell more products. The first Sweetest Day took place in Cleveland, Ohio in 1921 and was planned by 12 candy confectioners. The holiday is celebrated by buying loved ones candy, flowers and cards.

Secretary’s Day is celebrated as a part of Administrative Professional’s Week in North America. The holiday began with Mary Barrett of the National Secretaries Association, and the first National Secretaries Week was held June 1-7, 1952. The holiday is now celebrated worldwide by giving one’s assistant gifts such as flowers, candy and days off.

Arts & Life

16 | The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 2015

FLOWCHART OF L VE Choose your own Valentine’s Day adventure

ARE YOU: DATING SINGLE ARE YOU: BORED HUNGRY THIRSTY DO YOU WANT YOUR DATE TO BE: CASUAL ROMANTIC FUN Atlas Brewing Company and Seven-Ten Lounge present:

DYNO-MITE BOWLING

2747 N. LINCOLN AVE. For $35, couples can reserve a lane for bowling, eat heart-shaped pizza and sip on specialty drinks, including Atlas Brewing Company’s Sour Hibiscus Ale.

Lyric Opera’s

“TANNHAUSER”

20 N. UPPER WACKER DR. Show your significant other how cultured you are with a trip to the Lyric. “Tannhauser” is the story of being lured into the realm of Venus, the goddess of love. Tickets range from $20-$299.

“RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN” at the Goodman Theatre

170 N. DEARBORN ST. Enjoy a night at one of Chicago’s best regional theaters with the production of “Rapture, Blister, Burn” that received rave reviews in its Chicago debut. This funny production is perfect addition to a night out.

Student ticket prices are available.

ARE YOU CRAVING: SUSHI PIZZA MEAT NORI

954 W. DIVERSEY AVE., with locations in Rogers Park and Wicker Park as well While the true appeal of Nori is its half-price maki menu from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. every day, it makes a perfect date spot in the evening as well. The low-lit spot has great traditional rolls and crazy ones such as the Strawberry Sundae that includes tempura shrimp, cream cheese, avocado, spicy mayo and strawberry sauce.

STELLA BARRA

1954 N. HALSTED STREET Connected to the slightly more upscale Summer House, this pizzeria is perfect for a more casual date night. Split a pizza, like the smoked bacon and goat cheese pie, and an appetizer like the fresh burrata or crispy Brussles sprouts and pair with a glass of wine or a draft beer for a low-key Valentine’s Day that’s still a little special.

ARE YOU: THIRSTY HUNGRY BORED

DO YOU PREFER: WHITE WINE RED WINE SEMI-SWEET FRUITY FRUITY SEMI-SWEET DRY SWEET THE 2013 DECORDI SANGUE DI GUIDA ABOUT $10 The 2013 Decordi Sangue di Guida is a red semi sweet, mildly-fizzy dessert wine coming from northern Italy. This wine gives aromas of black cherry and plums and can be enjoyed on its own.

2012 CONCHO Y TORO GRAN RESERVA CABERNET SAUVIGNON

ABOUT $15 For something a little less off the beaten path, try the 2012 Concho y Toro Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon for about $15. This Chilean wine is another juicy, fruity wine that gives off aromas of red fruits and dried meats. On the palate, you will pick up some pepper, licorice and black olives. It’s best to enjoy this wine with a hearty meal.

2013 VINTNER’S RESERVE ABOUT $11

2012 GRAND RESERVES

ABOUT $16 When looking for a good California Chardonnay, try Kendall Jackson. The 2013 Vintner’s Reserve sells for about $11 and the 2012 Grand Reserves goes for about $16. Expect a lot more oak and buttery, creamy notes in the Grand Reserve. The Vintner’s Reserve will be fruity with accents of tropical fruits, vanilla and honey.

2013 QUADY ELECTRA WHITE

ABOUT $11 This wine from California, which sells for about $11, is the 2013 Quady Electra White. It is a semi-sweet wine that will bring back memories of delicious peach cobbler or apple tarts with some dried oranges on the finish.

RIESLINGS FROM THE PACIFIC RIM WINERY

ARE YOU CRAVING: THAI PIZZA MEXICAN PHO’S THAI CUISINE

3332 N. LINCOLN AVE. With four stars on GrubHub and no minimum delivery, that Pad See-ew pairs perfectly with your Netflix queue.

Rave reviews from The DePaulia’s design editor, “I mean... it’s Thai food?”

BLAZE PIZZA

953 W. BELMONT AVE. Who needs a boyfriend or girlfriend when you could literally put every single topping on an individual pizza for $8? No one, that’s who. Seven kinds of cheeses and meats? Yep. A bunch of veggies? Sure why not! Live your dreams.

Blaze also serves wine, beer and s’mores whoopie pies, so really, what more do you need?

TACO BELL

1111 W. ADDISON ST. A date might judge you for ordering five crunchwrap supremes. You don’t need them, you’re strong and independent. Nothing quite says “I might die alone” like eating dog foodgrade ground beef, so live it up. Treat yourself to that steak taco if you’re feeling really fancy.

TANGO SUR

2013 YARDEN MOUNT HERMON RED

3763 N. SOUTHPORT AVE. This Argentine steak house is a quaint BYOB spot in the Southport corridor. A perfect date spot for meat lovers with room to save on the bill by bringing a bottle of wine. It’s impossible to go wrong with the el filet, which is paired with unique spinach mashed potatoes. Although, keep in mind Tango Sur is a hot-spot that can get busy, so be sure to call ahead and put in a reservation.

Wine recommendations by DePaul instructor Michael Lynch Other recommendations written by Courtney Jacquin, Kirsten Onsgard and Grant Myatt

(Argentine)

ABOUT $12 This wine from Israel is an interesting wine priced at only about $12 — which is definitely a find. Rated No. 35 on Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Buys of 2014, this wine gives off bright cherries on the nose, along with some floral notes. On the palate this juicy wine displays more cherries and a variety of spices and flowers.

ABOUT $9 Rieslings from Washington’s Pacific Rim winery all sell for about $9 and range in sweetness from off dry to dessert sweet. This wine is created to go with Asian food.

Choose a sweeter wine for the spicier food. Also, this wine comes in lovely bottles that are sure to charm your Valentine’s Day date.

DO YOU WANT TO: MEET SOMEONE DRINK DANCE VALENTINDER PARTY HEADQUARTERS

213 W. INSTITUTE Show your Tinder profile for a free drink at the door with buy-one-get-one shots if you meet your Tinder match at the beercade. It’s not clear if you can get multiple BOGO shots for multiple Tinder matches, but don’t let that stop you.

SCREW CUPID PUB CRAWL

LINCOLN PARK Head to some of Lincoln Park’s finest bars with a group of friends and drink your problems away on Valentine’s Days.

The $25 ticket includes a food buffet, domestic drafts, cupid punch and transportation between all four bars.

ANTI-VALENTINE’S DAY PARTY AT THALIA HALL feat. Windy City Soul Club

1807 S. ALLPORT ST. Forget a fancy dinner on Valentine’s Day and head to Thalia Hall from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. for a night of dancing with music from Windy City Soul Club.

Love at first (right) swipe

By Courtney Jacquin Editor-in-Chief

When thinking about Tinder, relationships aren’t necessarily the first thing to come to mind. Definitely not serious relationships.

But senior Emily Franks, a public relations and advertising and Spanish double major and Jose Pauletto, a junior international student from Brazil studying information systems, defied the odds. The two met on Tinder in August and have been “officially dating” since November. The DePaulia sat down with Franks and Pauletto to learn more about their story.

The DePaulia: Tell me how you two met.

Emily Franks: We had been talking on Tinder here and there for a while in August, and we had tried to meet up a couple times but it didn’t work out. Finally, in the end of September … we decided to go to Annette’s. We met up after my Spanish class and before his night class, so we only had an hour and a half. It was super casual. We met at the (Msgr. John Egan) statue after class and I was like, ‘oh OK, he’s way cuter than I thought, and he’s really nice.’

DP: How long had you been using Tinder?

EF: I got Tinder right in the

beginning of August, so I had been using it for a month-and-ahalf, two months before we met.

DP: Why did you get Tinder?

EF: I had actually had Tinder last year, last summer, my roommate and I both got it …but we had never really met up with people because it wasn’t as popular and as common to meet up. But there was no point, we were both going abroad in the fall. … I remember we were moving out of our apartment (in August), … we were bored and we were like, ‘let’s just download Tinder again,’ so I guess that’s why, just to try it again and see if it was different Jose Pauletto: It was to practice English and meet new people.

EF: His use of Tinder is very different from the actual use of Tinder for most people.

DP: So you’ve been dating since September?

EF: Yeah, once we started seeing each other at the end of September I deleted the app.

I was like, ‘I don’t need this anymore.’ And then we just kept hanging out consistently and then we started officially dating, to put a label on it, right before Thanksgiving, so still pretty new.

DP: Had you come across other people from DePaul before on Tinder?

EF: Oh definitely. I’ve come

Arts & Life. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 17

GRANT MYATT | THE DEPAULIA

DePaul students Emily Franks and Jose Pauletto first met in person last September after meeting on Tinder. Pauletto, originally from Brazil, began using the app to practice his English. across people from school. If I know them I would match on purpose and (laugh), or, my phone is filled with so many screenshots of people that I send to my roommate being like, ‘oh my god, look who I just found on Tinder.’ It kind of became a joke.

DP: For a long time online dating has been taboo, do you think Tinder is changing that EF: I don’t know, I feel like it’s very polarized. People are either all for it or they hate it. … It’s

hard to say because some people say, ‘oh I’m just doing this as a joke, it’s just for fun,’ but I feel like deep down, they think they can find someone from it. Based off my experience, OK, (Jose’s) not a typical person you’d find on Tinder. American guys are not using Tinder the way he is. I think it’s great I found him on Tinder, but I don’t think everyone else is going to find success.

DP: Any thing else?

EF: I feel like people are

very judgmental about it. I feel like everyone finds someone a different way … I mean, what are the chances I would’ve ever met up with him? What’s different from meeting someone on Tinder from meeting someone in a bar? I’ve met a ton of guys at bars and they’re just as scummy as ones you can meet on Tinder. I just feel there’s a big stigma about it, but it’s becoming so ubiquitous that maybe the stigma will go away.

Tinder isn’t just for dating — it’s also a game

By Murray Campbell Contributing Writer

By this point, most millennials know about Tinder. Its popularity has now permeated our culture, updating online dating for our generation in a neat little package, complete with slick animations, tons of buttons to press and a myriad of pictures to swipe left and right. At its heart, Tinder is a game with many of the qualities of other popular mobile games such as Flappy Bird and Candy Crush.

“I definitely felt myself improving in my ‘game’ over time,” Megan Pietz, an education and English major at DePaul, said. “I could have an efficient conversation to get a phone number that would lead to a date.”

Still, there’s an issue with justifying the act of looking at events with real-world consequences — like Tinder — through the lens of video games.

“Games can provide a provocative metaphor to shed light onto life experiences,” Brian Schrank, a computer game development professor, said. Film and art also provide similar insight into the real world.

“I think looking at activities and events through the lens of games is beneficial because it strips them down to the mechanics of how people behave and interact with each other,” Zac Gross, a game development major, said. “We can easily make specific comparisons to how activities work in parallel circumstances.

Elections are easy to study if you reframe

MAX KLEINER | THE DEPAULIA

Swiping left and right could match you with your true love, but it’s also a fun gaming experience. But unlike Flappy Bird, playing Tinder can have real-life consequences. them as games where people have goals and make rational choices.”

Looking at Tinder through this perspective, it’s easy to see just how close it is to a typical videogame. In Tinder, there is a certain progression to one’s abilities, as Pietz said.

In another spectrum, Tinder has rules, which are both explicit in the constraints of the app itself and implicit in the unspoken guidelines upheld by those participating.

For example, typically in a male-female match, the male is usually expected to be

the first to make contact with the female.

Adhering to these rules will hopefully bring about achieving Tinder’s primary goal and acquiring its extrinsic reward: a relationship, a hookup or perhaps a friendship.

Tinder is an addictive experience, just like Flappy Bird and Candy Crush.

“I think the most relevant comparison is that they can be broken up into those short ‘turns,’” Gross said. “In Tinder that would be one more swipe. In Flappy Bird or Candy Crush, that would be one more

play-through. In Tinder, the next match and a romantic future could be behind one more swipe. In Flappy Bird, a new high score could lie behind one more game. And it's so easy to do just one more.”

However, there is a problem when we try to compare it to these games.

“For me these two sets of experiences may ostensibly seem similar but remain far more different in their motivations and expectations in play,” Schrank said. “Tinder extends the promise of extrinsic value in casual sex (for example), for the time users invest into its system. Games, such as Flappy Bird or Candy Crush, mostly offer intrinsic value in which the reward of time put into their systems is in the experience itself.”

Tinder is a projection of images. It is dating and relationships stripped down into their base forms. Similarly, many video games seek to portray real life experiences by abstracting them within the constraints of the mechanics, story and art.

Changing this image is relatively easy, either by curation of the pictures in a profile or by wording in a 400-character bio, Tinder has potential for role-play. This can be seen at its extreme in the fake Tinder accounts dedicated to fantastical characters and pop culture icons.

For Pietz, this potential wasn’t taken to such a high degree, but it was still there.

“When I made my profile, I used images that I felt best represented me and thought that people could interpret to see the best me,” she said. “Tinder gave me control.”

18 | The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 2015

Breaking the silence Protest songs sound loudly in every era

By Emily Brandenstein

Gambrell said. “I don’t feel like the lyrics were at all empowering for young, poor black girls, which is who I’m thinking about all the time.”

When there is a social issue, like feminism, and artists like Gambrell discussing it in their music, what other mechanisms drive home the message to elaborate on the social conversation?

Sean Croegaert-Key, who manages the merchandise for Chicago artists like Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, Donnie Trumpet and Gypsy, said social media “has a great power to make change because it can reach so many people. I’m not going to say that 5,000 retweets is going to save someone’s life, but I will say that today, all the mediums that we have are huge in bringing change.”

Another artist trying to reach the masses in an effort to respond to the recent killings of young black men is J. Cole.

His song “Be Free” addresses the murder of Michael Brown and the grand jury’s decision to not indict Darren Wilson. In the hook of “Be Free” J. Cole sings:

Contributing Writer

Imagine there’s no heaven, It’s easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people, Living for today…

John Lennon’s tender anthem “Imagine” is a protest song that everyone recognizes instantly when its slow piano notes lure in the listener. It was also nearly the only one of his songs that was played incessantly when Lennon was murdered Dec. 8, 1980. The melody that frames the lyrics is soft and ethereal; meanwhile, Lennon spells out his version of utopia.

What many people miss from the lyrics of the song is that Lennon is advocating socialism, atheism, lawlessness, nonconsumerism and many other radically left ideologies. Spelled out on the page, the words resonate. Sung softly by Lennon over a melody, the message is obscured.

Deena Weinstein, who has a doctorate in sociology from Purdue University and teaches at DePaul, has intently studied and researched the impact and purpose of famous protest songs. Her article, entitled “Rock Protest Songs: So Many and So Few,” describes why there are so many protest songs, and if these songs actually expose and change societal injustices. Weinstein strives to source through what the artist puts into protest songs like “Imagine” and what the listeners get out of it.

Weinstein said plenty of musicians have made great protest songs, “but if nobody is involved with that protest, then they don’t hear it as a protest song or get others to hear it as a protest song — so it doesn’t exist,” she said.

Similarly, “Imagine” was originally released in 1971, but was not as popular until nine years later when Lennon was killed. After his death, the song became relevant again and it rose to No. 1 on the charts where it remained for three consecutive weeks.

At their core, protest songs employ lyrics to address social issues in pursuit of justice and elevated awareness. But according to Weinstein, protest songs are only impactful when they are released in precise moments in time when people are collectively and actively fighting against a social injustice.

“For Bob Dylan to write protest songs in the early 1960s — it was like shooting fish in a barrel,” Weinstein said,

CREATIVE COMMONS

TOP: Folk singers Joan Baez and Bob Dylan during the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. ABOVE: John Lennon and Yoko Ono during the first day of their Bed-In for Peace in Amsterdam, 1969. referring to the 1960s protests against racial discrimination of black citizens and against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. “Protest songs need to be recognized and lyrics are the last thing that people pay attention to. But when they are into making those social changes, they will hear those songs,” she said. In other words, protest songs are tied to the timing of what is happening in society at the time of release.

Aside from the sociological perspective, what is the artistic input that goes into writing these justice ballads?

Ambrell Gambrell, who raps under the name Bella Bahhs, grew up in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side and understands the artist perspective behind the protest songs.

“Poetry was my first love,” Gambrell said. When she started school at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, she began writing songs to prove that she could when someone told her she didn’t have what it took. “(My boyfriend) told me that I could write poems all day but I could never finish a song ‘cause I didn’t have the patience to sit down and write to a beat,” Gambrell said of collaborator, Phil, another Chicago musician. “After he told me that, he went

out of town for the weekend and I used that weekend to get into the studio and write a song.”

That first song, and consequently her first step into Chicago’s rap scene, is called “Youthful,” which she posted on her SoundCloud page. On Jan. 10, 2015, Gambrell put out a remix of pop star Beyonce’s song “Flawless,” in which she responds to Beyonce’s approach to feminism. She raps over the song’s beat:

What makes you a feminist and not misogynistic?

I’m a social activist, young abolitionist, black feminist.

Compared to the original lyrics that Beyonce raps, Gambrell’s words elevate young black girls who don’t live the glamorous, wealthy life that Beyonce, worth nearly $600 million, lives.

Gambrell wants her audience to act on the self-love and self-pride that she encourages in “Goddess.” She said that many people think that the original “Flawless” song is a feminist anthem, but she questions its authenticity.

“Although the ‘Flawless’ song was presented like that, I don’t feel like that’s what you really get from the song,”

All we want to do is break the chains off, All we want to do is be free.

“Be Free” came out during the beginning of Michael Brown’s case in the summer of 2014, and around that time hip-hop artist Lauryn Hill released “Black Rage.” Hill dedicated the song to the protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and in it processes what black rage feels like and what has caused it. Over the melody from the song “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music,” Hill sings:

Black Rage is founded on twothirds a person, Rapings and beatings and suffering that worsens, Black human packages tied up in strings, Black Rage can come from all of these things.

Hill’s strong message is particularly potent in the realm of protest songs because it processes the feelings generated by injustices committed against black citizens. It is not a plea for change or justice, it speaks to the hurt, the anger and the pain that these injustices inflict.

ODD COUPLES Who should perform together at the 2016 Grammy Awards?

Arts & Life. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 19

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The Grammy’s are famous for pairing unlikely musicians together for a performance, and Sunday’s awards were no exception. Kanye West and Rihanna tapped Paul McCartney for Photos courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS the stripped-back “Four Five Seconds,” Hozier Kanye West, Jack White, Ringo Starr Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Beyonce paired with Annie Lennox, and Lady Gaga and Freddie Mercury, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus Nothing and everything Let’s face it: Kanye and The Grammy’s are a time makes sense about this. The Jack White are two of the Tony Bennett resurected their 2014 duets. to diversify your musical most arrogant and headstrong megaband would perform This certainly isn’t the first time for such odd popular musicians. Likewise, Elton John’s “Funeral for a tastes through strange medleys, and remembering Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” performance couples. Remember Kendrick this pairing has the potential those who have since died. with Fleetwood Mac as to go horribly wrong: Can Lamar and Imagine Dragons, or the horn line of you imagine White and Yeezy the band and Beyoncé as So here’s what you do: create Chicago backing Robin Thicke in 2014? On screen, attempting to rant about the a Freddie Mercury hologram, Beyoncé. There would be pair it with Dolly Parton and a lot of flowy black clothes it appears like a sweet moment of musical music industry at the same throw in a little Miley. and Stevie Nicks and Bey time? comraderie, a time for artists to set aside any Why? Why not? The teens would be the best of friends, If by some miracle, these want to see Hannah Montana trading off vocals with John differences and create odd mashups of the year’s two shook hands, it would on the epic opening to John’s gone wild, and grandma goes be explosive to say the hits together.

“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” nuts for Miley’s godmother, least. They would need to While it might be hard to top Kanye, Rihanna be partnered with someone Dolly. Plus, we haven’t had a I’m crying just thinking about hologram at the Grammys, it. This feels like a real thing and McCartney, we’re hoping the Grammys content to flash peace signs that could actually happen, so and it’s about time. It’s a win from behind a drumset. continue this tradition. Here’s who we would like Thanks for bringing the love, please Grammys 2016, make for everyone, but mostly for advertisers. this happen.

Ringo. to see on stage together in 2016.

— Kirsten Onsgard

— Courtney Jacquin

— DePaulia Editors

Mesmerizing performances in Theatre School’s ‘Metamorphosis’

By Emily Brandenstein Contributing Writer

Originally a novella by Franz Kafka, “Metamorphosis” was adapted to a stage production by London Theatre Group founder Steven Berkoff. The show’s director, Kelvin Wong, comes from The Theater School’s class of 2015, leading a cast who put on a mesmerizing performance.

This is the story of Gregor Samsa, an overworked traveling salesman single-handedly supporting his aging parents and young sister. Their financial dependence on Gregor is suffocating as they constantly ask him about his sales and income. One morning, he awakes from a turbulent, dreamfilled slumber to find that he has metamorphosed into an insect.

His family soon ostracizes him as they struggle to deal with his contorted presence in their household.

Gregor, played by Trevor Bates, gives a dedicated performance, juggling the roles of both insect and man. It is a very physical performance as Gregor scampers up and down a massive metal structure built into the set. It is an abrasive version of a climbing wall found on a playground and is used extensively by Gregor and the other actors. The wall adds to the sterile atmosphere of the minimal set, and it later becomes apparent how necessary this visual aspect is in creating

the theme of oppression in the performance.

As Gregor progresses deeper into his transformation, two more performers (Erinn Fredin and Sam Krey) come onstage to represent, quite literally, parts of Gregor’s insect body. The duo, clad in white clothing and painted faces, scuttle, squirm and screech as one unit. Throughout the show, the pair physically attaches themselves to Gregor as he falls deeper into his metamorphosis.

While Gregor’s humanness falls victim to the creature taking over him, his sister Greta (Kayla Holder) is the only one brave enough to enter Gregor’s room.

Holder gives an impressive performance as the one family member with enough courage to go into the insect’s cage and feed her brother, who can no longer enjoy the human food he once consumed. Her empathy steadily feels real and solid — an important part of the audience’s own internal battle with our tolerance of Gregor.

Holder is a sort of rock for the audience, as she is the youthful, positive light that gives us hope that there might be an eventual acceptance of Gregor when the odds seem slim. Mr. and Mrs. Samsa are much less optimistic. Mr. Samsa (Hugh Smith) rejects Gregor as his son, quickly declaring, “He is not our son anymore. Our son left us.”

Mrs. Samsa (Regan Deal) shows greater patience for the bug, repeatedly asserting that

Photo courtesy of MICHAEL BROSILOW

Trevor Bates scampers about as Gregor Samsa, a salesman who wakes one morning to find he has turned into an insect. “Metamorphosis” runs through Feb. 15 at The Theatre School’s Fullerton Stage.

Gregor is “still my son no matter what,” yet she is too afraid to go into her son’s room to clean and feed him. As the show moves on, Gregor’s family begins to abandon the idea that he might go back to his human state, which buries him further into his

insect body.

“Metamorphosis” shows us the universal human struggle of acceptance of those unlike us.

Receiving those outside of our community or clan is one task, but tolerating a transformation in one of our own kin is entirely

another. “Metamorphosis” asks the burning question: Could we learn to love, to accept, to tolerate our own brother if he turned into something we saw as repulsive?

“Metamorphosis” runs from Feb. 6 to Feb. 15.

20 | The DePaulia Feb. 9, 2015

Review: About Face’s ‘A Kid Like Jake’

By Emma Rubenstein Senior Writer

The current discussion surrounding gender identification is a necessary one and this winter, About Face Theatre is bringing it to the forefront in its newest production, “A Kid Like Jake,” written by Daniel Pearle and directed by Keira Fromm.

The play chronicles the life of a family living in Manhattan.

They are in the midst of applying to private schools for their son, Jake. When Jake begins to express an interest in activities and things typically associated with females, Alex and Greg utilize their son’s differences as a way to distinguish him from other applicants.

“That event sort of launches the play and begins this process for these two parents of grappling with what having a child who exhibits nonconforming gender behavior might entail. It affects each parent to differing degrees,” Fromm said.

The narrative “A Kid Like Jake” shares with its audiences surpasses the realm of entertainment. Today, gender roles and identification are garnering more and more discussion; About Face’s newest production is a part of that drive.

“It’s been a really exciting process. I think everyone we have

Photo courtesy of MICHAEL BROSILOW

Katherine Keberlein and Michael Aaron Lindner in About Face Theatre’s Chicago premiere of “A Kid Like Jake” written by Daniel Pearle and directed by Keira Fromm. involved in this production really latched onto this play because I think this is a conversation that has been happening right now in society,” Fromm said. “I think that everybody was really excited about sort of starting this dialogue in a way that increases the momentum and brings some conversation and some visibility to a really important subject matter. Everybody is really excited and anxious and ready, willing, and able to jump in and

explore the play in that way, through that lens.”

Fromm described how this play, though it deals with large and important themes, is at its heart a story of a family making its way through the world while trying to keep their son’s best interest at heart. Though its message is universal, the story itself is intimate.

“We try so hard to have our kids succeed in the world,” Fromm said. “It throws a huge

obstacle in the air when your kid is struggling. It immediately tags back to your own sense of success or failure as a human being.”

Fromm earned her MFA in directing at the DePaul Theatre School. “(My experience at DePaul) allowed me to flex the muscles that I hadn’t flexed in a long time,” she said. Since earning her degree, she has worked successfully in the world of theater. She immerses herself

in each production from start to finish and said that even though some directors will refrain from attending previews and performances of their shows, she loves to see how the work comes alive in front of an audience.

“Theater is such a hunch,” she said. “There is nothing like that kind of kinetic energy that begins to spark when you have those hunches validated by putting a group of strangers in the room and they get to react off of the things that we have found and the chemistry that we’ve already brought to a boil. It’s all a hunch until the audience comes in the room, so that part of it is very exciting for me.”

Something beautiful is born when art can transcend its place on stage and serve a greater purpose in society. About Face Theatre’s newest production has lessons to teach, a story to tell and its necessary message of acceptance rings clear.

“As an artist, it’s always been really important for me to bring stories and characters who have less visibility in society to the stage,” Fromm said. “I think that this story is an important one. I feel that it’s a topic that doesn’t get enough dialogue and conversation around.”

“A Kid Like Jake” will be at The Greenhouse Theater Center through March 15.

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Arts & Life. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 23

what’sFRESH in FILM

LIVE Feb. 9 Moritat, Chandeliers, Gel Set Empty Bottle 1035 N. Western Ave., Free

Feb. 14 Cherub Concord Music Hall 2047 N. Milwaukee Ave., $20.50

Feb. 13 Yawn Subterranean 2011 W. North Ave., Free

Feb. 14 You Blew It! Beat Kitchen 2100 W. Belmont Ave., $12

Free Admission to the Field Museum in February

“Jupiter Ascending” Out now Directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski, “Jupiter Ascending” is an ambitious, albeit dull, sci-fi. The film follows Jupiter (Mila Kunis), a woman who finds out she is the reincarnation of an old alien queen. The dead queen’s children (Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth and Tuppence Middleton) are at war with each other over who is in control of Earth, and need Jupiter’s signature to claim that control.

Jupiter’s protector is the mog (half man, half dog), Caine Wise (Channing Tatum), who speed skates to the rescue and catches Jupiter from falling more times than necessary. It’s an overly-complex and repetitive plot, carried out by one-dimentional characters. Its only redeeming factor is the universe the Wachowskis build, which, though borrowed from iconic sci-fi stories, is still unique. The Wachowskis have big ideas but sometimes lose focus on what makes a narrative compelling, like characters and what drives conflict. Though the universe is exciting, unfortunately uninteresting characters cause “Jupiter Ascending” to fall flat.

MIKE CONSTANTINO | THE DEPAULIA

in MUSIC “I Love You, Honeybear” Father John Misty Feb.10

Photo courtesy of THE FIELD MUSEUM

The Field Museum is giving Illinois residents free basic admission during the month of February. This includes most permanent exhibits, including mummies and SUE the T. rex. Students can upgrade to an all-access pass for $15, which grants admission to “Vodou: Sacred Powers of Haiti,” “Underground Adventures” and a 3-D movie.

The museum’s newest exhibit, “City Windows: The Chicago/Beijing Panoramic Paper Cuts of Professor Qiao Xiaoguang,” opens Feb. 19, and includes 15 panels depicting scenes from Beijing and Chicago.

The Field Museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Explore your world with Peace Corps

peacecorps.gov/openings Apply today.

1.855.855.1961 | chicago@peacecorps.gov

Josh Tillman knows it’s hard to leave an old identity behind. While his discography runs deep, since beginning his solo project, he’s been pegged mostly as the old drummer of indie folk band Fleet Foxes — and his breakout, “Fear Fun,” didn’t do much to differentiate him from his roots. This time, he’s ditched whatever mandolin riffs, four-part harmonies and extended metaphors were left on his palate for a deeply forthright storytelling of love and aging. The title track opens the album in the midst of a relationship’s honeymoon phase, only to decend through moments of instability, deliberating mortality and wondering if there’s any meaning to life after all. Throughout it all, Tillman builds a character of himself — he’s deemed the record a concept album — and lays down a matter-of-fact narrative that occasionally teeters between uncomfortable, sarcastic and sweet. We hear of his jealousy when men hit on his girlfriend, as well as his uncertainty about marriage and kids. While his stylistic change might dissuade Fleet Foxes fans, it’s Father John Misty’s best work yet.

KIRSTEN ONSGARD | THE DEPAULIA

Death Grips “The Powers That B”

The Districts “A Flourish and a Spoil”

Feb. 10

Feb. 10

The elusive, supposedly brokenup hip-hop group is expected to drop the second half of their double LP on Feb. 10.

The youthful rockers evoke the 1990s and early 2000s with their energetic outbursts of fast-paced and punkish rock.

24 | The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 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 & Emily Brandenstein Arts & Life Editor & Contributing Writer

Any artist could write a protest song. It takes a special artist, one who is viewed as an agent of change and hope in a time of dissent, to write an anthem that moves those who condemn such marginalization.

And sometimes, the true meaning of a protest song is not realized until it is embraced again years later.

In the ’60s, these songs spoke to the civil rights movement in a changing era, and spoke out against war. Today, though new

artists have taken the place of Lennon and Dylan, their goal is the same: to create solidarity, empower, enlighten and uplift.

Here are some of the best protest songs of the past and today. Read more about these tracks and other protest songs on page 18.

1. John Lennon — “Imagine” “Imagine” was released in 1971, the song did not take off until after Lennon’s death in 1980. By then, its meaning had been skewed. To listeners, it was a song merely about peace which caught on after a musician’s death. At the time of its release, “Imagine” advocated for leftist

Crossword

ideals. It speaks to how timing effects a protest song’s reception.

2. Bob Dylan — “The Times They Are A-Changin’” Influenced by Scottish and Irish ballads, Dylan’s famous song demonstrated his consciousness of how a call to action works.

Dylan wanted to make a big song, and “The Times They Are A-Changin’” speaks to racism and the civil rights movement.

3. Lauryn Hill — “Black Rage” Hill toys with the playful melody of “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music” to create a disturbing picture of racism. “Black Rage” tells a story of marginalization throughout

Across 1. Pub order 6. Certain relative 11. Conditional word 14. Severe 15. Country bordering Tibet 16. Ending for “mod” or “nod” 17. Roughouse 19. Auction offering 20. Late comic Williams 21. Mocha resident 23. “What, me worry?” magazine 26. Kind of gas (Abbr.)

27. Celebratory events 28. Chipped away at 30. Tattoo place 31. Jeans fabric 32. “Rawhide” role for Clint 33. “This tape will selfdestruct ...” org.

36. Marker fillers 37. Items in a rack 38. “____ the

the years.

4. J. Cole — “Be Free” J. Cole directly addressed the killing of Michael Brown with “Be Free,” a track released in the summer of 2014.

5. D’Angelo — “The Charade” After a 14-year hiatus, D’Angelo returned to release a masterful album with messages that could not be more relevant today. While originally set to be released in 2015, after the death of Eric Garner and the events in Ferguson, he dropped the album early and it aptly addressed the time.

Rainbow” 39. Consumed 40. Shocked?

41. Summary of beliefs 42. Emitted long, loud cries 44. Mother-of-pearl sources 45. Word before “lies the rub” 47. Costa del ____ 48. Calendar abbr.

49. Reduce the strength of 50. Blast from the past 52. Anvil’s site 53. Jumping arachnid 58. Adam’s mate 59. Blue book filler 60. Sister of Urania 61. Beatty of “Deliverance” 62. Rods’ partners 63. Back-to-health program

6. Beyonce ­— “Flawless” Often praised for its feminist messages, Beyonce’s “Flawless” praises female ambition and success. The song features a sample of a TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in which the author says that girls are raised to compete with one another, not for success, but for the attraction of men. It then simply defines feminism as the equality of the sexes.

However, local artist Bella Bahhs critcized “Flawless” for not empowering young girls who might not be able to live Beyonce’s wealthy lifestyle.

Down 1. “Stop talking!”

2. Confucian “way” 3. “Bobby Hockey” 4. “Back in the ____” 5. Formula to be proven 6. Strip of gear, as a ship 7. Gas light 8. “Brain” of a PC 9. Nautical ropes 10. Advanced in years 11. Some workers over rough terrain 12. “Home ___” (movie) 13. Bigfoot relatives 18. Under the covers 22. Chairman with a “Red Book” 23. TV, radio, magazines, etc.

24. “___ you ashamed of yourself?”

25. With a certain equine feature 27. Handled roughtly

29. Prefix with “approve” 30. Used the elbow, in a way 32. Above the horizon 34. Euripides tragedy 35. Winter coating 37. Certain Indonesians 38. Certain whale 40. Buy-one-get-onefree item?

41. Brake part 43. Noah’s craft 44. Agrees quietly 45. 11-year-old, in adspeak 46. “Ho!” preceder 47. Kills, as a dragon 50. Type of hygiene 51. Dublin’s isle 54. Mad cow disease, for short 55. “Zip-A-DeeDoo-____” 56. Airport stat.

57. Knock off, as a bank

Sports. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 25

Sports Beasts in the east:

The Big East conference has returned to form since the 2013 split

By Matthew Paras

CONFERENCE LEADERS

Sports Editor

As he prepared his team for Tuesday’s 75-62 win over Seton Hall, DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell showed a graphic that highlighted just how crazy this season has been in the Big East. Arrows and circles flowed throughout the chart, highlighting how each team garnered wins against each other.

“Every team in the league has to be thinking the same thing,” Purnell said. “Every team has beaten every team if you look at the degrees of separation. We’ve just got to prepare for the next game and the next war.”

And for coaches in the Big East, this season truly has been a battle.

Just two years after the Big East rebooted and separated from the football-oriented schools, the conference has taken a large step in becoming a college basketball powerhouse once again. The Big East is second in RPI, a metric used to determine the conference’s quality based on teams’ wins and losses as well as strength of schedule. By comparison, the conference finished fourth last year.

More importantly, the games have been exciting and are full of unexpected surprises.

“I think we’re picking up in terms of reputation where the old league left off,” Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman said. “Last year was a year of transition as we had to build a new infrastructure.”

Ackerman, who was hired as the Big East commissioner in June 2013, said the biggest change this year was the strength in the non-conference schedules for men’s basketball. There are seven Big East teams that rank in the top 50 RPI, and a large part of that is because of non-conference opponents.

Non-conference games have seen matchups include Villanova taking on schools with historic basketball programs like Syracuse and Michigan, and Georgetown taking on Kansas and Wisconsin.

Based on strength of schedule, five Big East teams are in the top 30 for strength of schedule.

The non-conference schedules also helped produce an increase in quality once conference play started, Ackerman said.

“The outcomes of pretty much every game have been unpredictable, which has been great for the league,” Ackerman said. “We came into the conference season as a result of intentional scheduling by our schools, playing more

DAVID KOHL | AP

Providence’s LaDonte Henton

Points per game LaDonte Henton, Providence (20.2) Rebounds per game Kameron Woods, Butler (9.5) Assists per game Kris Dunn, Providence (7.5) CAROLYN DUFF | THE DEPAULIA

Each line represents a win for the school of that color. (Through Feb. 6) competitive non-conference opponents.”

Part of what’s made the Big East so fun to watch this season are the unexpected storylines.

There’s Butler, whose head coach took an indefinite leave of absence because of health reasons and is now No.22 in the nation under first-year head coach Chris Holtmann. And of course, there’s DePaul — the usual bottom-feeders who have crawled their way back into the middle of the conference with quality wins over Seton Hall and Xavier.

There’s plenty of parity in the Big East this year with even the lesser teams, Marquette and Creighton, still being a threat.

Creighton has a tremendous home-court advantage and Marquette recently upset Providence, who is second in the conference.

The Big East has three teams ranked in the top 25 and seven of the ten teams are projected to gain entry into the NCAA tournament. It’s the start of a new beginning for a conference that was annually regarded the best in the nation.

“I, for one, think the sky is the limit as we establish our identity and turn the page into a new era,” Ackerman said.

Big East Quick Facts Second RPI in the nation Three teams ranked nationally (Butler, Georgetown and Villanova) Seven teams with an RPI in the top 50 Seven tournament teams projected (ESPN) ALEX BRANDON | AP

JOSH LEFF | THE DEPAULIA

Georgetown head coach John Thompson III

DePaul guard Billy Garrett Jr.

BY THE NUMBERS 21

3

21 games this season in the Big East have been decided by five points or less. By comparison, only 11 games at this point last season had that mark.

Only three games have been a blowout of 20 points or more this year.

Interestingly enough, one of those involved first-place No. 7 Villanova, losing 78-58 to Georgetown Jan. 19.

.5778 The Big East’s average strength of schedule ranks at second in the nation with opposing teams having a 57.7 win percentage. They trail the Big Ten, who faces opposing teams with a 58 win percentage.

26 | The DePaulia. Feb. 9, 2015.

HINKLE, continued from back page long-time coach and athletic director Paul “Tony” Hinkle, has been huge in terms of building the reputation that Indiana now has in terms of basketball excellence.

“When you come to a place like Hinkle, you have to enjoy the environment,” DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell said. “I understand what this building means to college athletics and athletics in general. It’s always an exciting time.”

While the fieldhouse is known for its quality hoops on both a collegiate and high school level, they’ve been involved in much more over the years.

The mecca of Indiana basketball has welcomed six different presidents, world renowned shows such as the Billy Graham Crusade and the Sonja Henie Ice Show, countless U.S. Olympic trial games, plus the 1987 Pan American games — which yielded the biggest crowd to ever watch a volleyball match with a sold out crowd of 15,000 spectators on hand.

In addition to the great sporting, political and social events, Hinkle was even used as barracks for the United States Air Force during the World War II. Oh, and not to mention that

the sports classic “Hoosiers” starring Gene Hackman was filmed there.

Yeah, that happened too.

This place is not just unique because of its history both in and outside of sports. Its appeal rests in how its adapted with time.

Tom Michaels, a long-time college public address announcer from Dayton, Ohio, who was making his first trip to Hinkle on Saturday, said it best.

“After all the talk I’ve heard of this place, it’s almost risen above my expectations,” Michaels said as he directed his eyes towards the 87-year-old wooden ceiling in.

“Tough to beat expectations when you’re one of the meccas of college sports, isn’t it?”

The arena has certainly maintained its mystique over the years in large part to a quality basketball program.

That combination coupled with a dedicated team of stadium personnel and workers who keep Hinkle relevant year after year.

Butler joined the Big East in the fall of 2013, opening the door to more resources in terms of school and its funding.

The very next year, Hinkle underwent a $36 million renovation project that replaced the historic second level bleachers with roughly 2,000 seat back chairs. The renovation decreased the total capacity from about

14,500 to 9,100. As a result, there simply is not a bad seat in the house.

In addition to the seating overhaul, new offices, locker rooms and media areas were all updated with state of the art technology and comfort. The eight, 80-inch flat screens mounted on the walls where press conferences are held certainly spoils coaches, players and media members alike.

The update has only helped the program and in turn, helped the Big East.

Butler’s addition to the conference has been a positive, having been to the Sweet Sixteen in four of the six tournament appearances under former head coach Brad Stevens.

A quality team is a mere bonus when considering Hinkle’s appeal.

The high ceilings, the dim, almost hazy lighting and large glass windows that circle most of the roof are certainly architectural feats. The vibes in the place are something that every sport needs to experience.

Every team in the Big East is aware of the significance of the building they’re playing in when they visit Butler. If they don’t, they will quickly learn.

Hinkle Fieldhouse has stood the test of time, and with the Bulldogs playing like one of the nation’s best teams, the mecca of Indiana hoops may soon become

BUTLER, continued from back page field goals this afternoon, so we knew this was going to be a tough game. Our guys responded well when it mattered.”

The Blue Demons are third in the Big East in 3-point field goal percentage.

While six Blue Demons did hit threes, together the team was just 9-for-23 from beyond the arc.

DePaul wouldn’t see any scorer reach double digits in the first half, and Rashaun Stimmage led the scoring charge with six points. Collectively, the team shot just 37 percent from the field in the first half.

The second half yielded a bit of drama as DePaul’s energy was clearly at a different level. This translated to much better control of the offense, as well as a renewed effort on the defensive end.

“We were patient, and that resulted in getting the shots that we were supposed to get,” said Purnell on his team’s second half performance.

The Demons shot 54 percent from the field in the second half, compared to just 45 percent for the opposing Bulldogs.

A 16-5 run cut the deficit to as close as five points in the second half.

Butler junior Roosevelt Jones ended the Bulldogs drought with some aggressive play both inside and outside the painted area. This would create shots for both him and his teammates, while providing the crowd with plenty of fuel to disperse throughout the arena.

“The coaches were able to see some things out there and set up some plays for me,” Jones said “I just did my best to lead the team and provide some impact any way I can.”

The junior shooting guard would finish the game with 20 points on 7-for11 shooting. His strong frame and thicker type build for a shooting guard really caused issues for DePaul’s more traditional-sized backcourt.

Forrest Robinson sparked the Blue Demons during the 16-5 run, making his

DARRON CUMMINGS | AP

The windows and high cellings add to the asthetics of Hinkle Fieldhouse. the focus of Big East basketball.

A native of Indiana, Butler junior Kellen Dunham touched on what calling Hinkle Fieldhouse home meant to him.

“I mean, this is the cathedral,”

he said with a smile.

“It’s every kid from Indiana’s dream to play here, and I’m just fortunate enough to do it on a regular basis. The place is just unbelievable.”

ROAD TO A FREE SOCIETY

ARI on TOUR—February 2015

IRV INE • CHI C AG O • NE W YO RK • S A N FR A N CI S CO

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• Your hard-earned money is being unjustly taken • You’re being lied to by the American government • You have the power to STOP IT! You won’t want to miss the next talk in the ARI on Tour series, “Fifty Years Later: The Impossible Math of Medicare,” with Rituparna Basu. Five decades after passage, Medicare’s unfunded liabilities top $100 trillion. Basu will ask the hard questions and lay out a plan to solve one of today’s biggest problems.

DARRON CUMMINGS | AP

Billy Garrett goes up for the contested shot in an 83-73 loss to Butler Saturday. first three shots, two of which were threepoint field goals. He would finish with nine points.

Jamee Crockett continued his consistent offensive play to lead all DePaul scorers with 14 points. Junior Myke Henry added 12 points, respectively.

DePaul will next play at 8 p.m.

Wednesday at St. John’s.

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Sports. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 27

BLUE DEMON RUNDOWN WOMEN’S HOOPS

Photo courtesy of DEPAUL ATHLETICS

Junior Kyle Johnon earned Big East Player of the Week last week.

MEN’S TENNIS Junior Kyle Johnson was named Big East Player of the Week as the Blue Demons’ raced out to a 5-0 start last weekend.

The award is Johnson’s first in his career.

Johnson went 4-0 in singles play to improve to 5-0 on the year to earn the award. He also paired with fellow junior Sten Leusink to go 2-0 in doubles on the weekend. The duo, ranked no. 56 in

the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, moved to 3-1 on the season.

Johnson, however, dropped his first match of the year when he lost to Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz Friday in a 6-2, 7-6 (2) match. As a whole, the Blue Demons lost to No. 53 Tulane in their first loss of the year. They followed that up with a loss to Georgia State the following day.

The losses dropped the Blue Demons to 5-2 on the year.

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.

Women’s basketball improved to 19-6 overall and 11-2 in the Big East with two wins over Butler and Xavier on the road.

DePaul went to Indianapolis Friday morning to play the Bulldogs in a 10:30 a.m. showdown. The game was a dominant performance from the Blue Demons as they earned an 83-65 win over the Bulldogs.

Coming into the game, Butler was third in the conference with an 8-3 conference record, but it was a wide win for the Blue Demons.

Sophomore guard Brooke Schulte came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 18 points, a career high. Redshirt junior guard Chanise Jenkins also put in 17 points and sophomore Jessica January had 15. The Blue Demons won their fifth straight game with the victory and finished the season sweep of Butler.

On Sunday, DePaul traveled to Xavier and finished the season sweep of the Musketeers to win their sixth straight game, this time 87-63. The Blue Demons remained tied for second in the Big East, one game behind Seton Hall. DePaul will host the conference leading Pirates Friday at 7 p.m. In the first meeting, Seton Hall handed the Blue Demons their worst loss of the season, 107-87.

Earlier in the week, DePaul senior guard Brittany Hyrnko was named one of 16 midseason candidates for the Dawn Stanley award, awarded to the nation’s best player. Hrynko is averaging 19.2 points and JOSH LEFF | THE DEPAULIA 5.2 assists in 24 games this season, second in each category in the Big East.

DePaul sophomore Jessica January shoots Friday Jan. 30 against Georgetown.

Sports. Feb. 9, 2015. The DePaulia | 28

Sports

Podkowa fitting into new role Butler

By Ashley Holden Contributing Writer

With a flick of her right wrist, eyes focused on the basket and feet well behind the three-point line, DePaul’s Megan Podkowa let go of the ball in the first half of Sunday’s game against Villanova.

The ball gracefully slid into the net as Podkowa watched behind the arc confidently.

These three-point shots are what the junior has been known for during her past two seasons at DePaul. However, with the graduation of Jasmine Penny, Podkowa’s role on the team has expanded. The former guard has frequently been found in the middle of the key as a center and, despite injuries, Podkowa has found new ways to be successful on the court.

When asked how he thought Podkowa was taking to the new role of center, DePaul women’s basketball head coach, Doug Bruno insisted that his player hadn’t shifted positions, but rather instead she was a true allaround player.

“Megan has been a player since she has been a freshman in high school, Bruno said Megan’s strengths are her ability to play every position.”

The one word that Bruno used repeatedly to describe Podkowa was “versatile” and when watching the team’s new go-to post-player, it’s easy to see.

Podkowa is able to distribute the ball and post-up from the inside while also being able to back out and shoot a reliable threepoint shot. This versatility creates what Bruno termed a “match-up nightmare.”

Bruno began working with Podkowa even before Penny had graduated and continues to have her work on all the different

aspects of her game, including practicing her back-to-the basket shots while still continuing work on her signature three-point shot.

Podkowa is now starting to see how she can use her depth to help her team.

“Now that the post has to come out and guard me, the guards have more space in the middle to drive because they don’t have a 6-foot-5 center in there,” Podkowa said. “I think it has helped our team a lot and I think it has definitely been useful for me.”

Despite her versatility, Podkowa, like all athletes, does face challenges as the team’s post player. At 6-foot-2, Podkowa must fight to find ways to score inside against the true centers in the conference who usually stand around two inches taller than her. This is one aspect that she will have to work on if she wants her team to be successful come March.

Podkowa and the Blue Demons have been fighting to fill Penny’s shoes. However, the injury that has been a major factor this season is the one suffered to senior Megan Rogowski, one of the team’s leading scorers, who tore her ACL. In addition to that, it is not just Rogowski who has been plagued with injury. Earlier in the season, Podkowa endured numerous injuries, including a broken nose and a concussion.

Despite this, the junior only missed one and a half games and continued to contribute to the Blue Demons’ 19-6 record overall.

Bruno insists that Podkowa’s ability to persevere comes from her inner will to compete.

“This is what Megan (and) competitive people do,” Bruno said. “They want to play, they want to be on the floor.”

bullies DePaul

By Colin Sallee Staff Writer

GRANT MYATT | THE DEPAULIA

DePaul forward Megan Podkowa drives to the basket on Nov. 6 against Robert Morris University.

This competitive nature was fostered in Podkowa’s youth during pick-up games with her siblings. Podkowa developed her basketball game and fight playing against two older brothers and two older sisters. “(My siblings) would always kind of pick on me and push me around. So I think that’s what forced me to always fight even harder,” Podkowa said.

The Blue Demons will continue to look to Podkowa for her competitive drive and versatility as they try to improve upon their 11-2 conference record in the last seven games of the regular season. DePaul basketball fans can see Podkowa and the women’s team in their next home game Feb. 13 at McGrath-Phillips Arena against Seton Hall.

INDIANAPOLIS — An aggressive and proven No. 22 Butler team would made their presence felt early Saturday afternoon as they defeated DePaul men’s basketball, 83-73.

The 9,100 spectators at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse were greeted by a Bulldog team that hovered around 70 percent shooting for much of the first half.

That spectacular percentage led to 40 first-half points. Kellen Dunham was a handful for the Blue Demons (12-13, 6-6 Big East) as he was 5-7 with three of those shots dropping from beyond the arc in the first half.

DePaul trailed 40-23 at the half, and the Blue Demons couldn’t use a second half rally to stop Butler (18-6, 8-3).

“We watched too much film on (Dunham) to give him that many open shots,” DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell said. “He can fill it up. I was thrilled that we were down just 13 points at the half when you consider our turnovers and the scoring runs that they strung together.”

Dunham led all scorers with 24 points on 6-for-12 shooting.

“DePaul ranks among one of the top scoring teams in the conference, and it’s not a surprise as to why that is,” Butler head coach Chris Holtmann said. “They shoot the three pretty well. They had six guys make three point

See BUTLER, page 26

Examining the catherdal of basketball: Hinkle Fieldhouse

By Colin Sallee Staff Writer

In basketball, you cannot always rely on your team’s energy to get through a grueling 40-minute contest. When you play in a conference like the Big East, one that’s rich in athletic history and mystique, you’re fortunate enough to compete in some of the more storied basketball arenas in the country.

Hinkle Fieldhouse, home of the Butler Bulldogs basketball teams, is arguably one of the most well known sports venues in the country.

Indiana, which is known as one of the more traditional powers in the country as far as basketball is concerned, has built much of that legend through Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The cathedral-like arena was constructed in 1928, and was the largest arena in the country at the time — holding almost 15,000 fans at one time.

The first sporting event was held on March 7, 1928 with a 21-13 Butler victory over Notre Dame. The two teams even needed an overtime period to settle the inaugural contest.

The university had a deal with IHSAA (Indiana High school Athletic Association), which gave young, local players and their families a chance to experience basketball on a large stage. This deal would be in place until 1971 and was instrumental in building Hinkle’s legend.

Over time, Hinkle Fieldhouse, which became the arena’s name in 1966 to honor

See HINKLE, page 26

COLIN SALLEE | THE DEPAULIA

Hinkle Fieldhouse, home of the Butler Bulldogs, opened in 1928. DePaul men’s basketball traveled there Saturday to face the Bulldogs.

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