television takeover Late night’s new faces, “House of Cards” and “The Walking Dead” return Arts & Life, pages 16, 21 and 23
Let Me Google That For You
You can learn to do just about anything on the Internet See Focus, pages 14-15
Volume #98 | Issue #17 | March 3, 2014 | DePauliaonline.com
DROPPING THE BALL By David Webber Sports Editor
Following an article about the state of Blue Demon basketball published in the Feb. 17 issue of The DePaulia, two former employees of the athletic department came forward to voice displeasure over how they were treated during their time at DePaul. Andrew Chace, 23, and Samantha Peache, 25, both worked within the department between 2006 and 2012. Chace donned the hairy blue suit and became DIBS for two years, and Peache was a cheerleader, earning a captainship during her senior year. Both were disillusioned enough with their treatment by the athletic department to seek out the DePaulia and discuss their experiences. Chace, who now works for a financial services company in Boston and graduated from DePaul with a 3.45 GPA while double majoring in finance and marketing, was particularly perturbed by the bureaucratic
A former DIBS mascot and cheerleader discuss their experiences within the athletic department
nature of the department. “The department always had this stressful, pessimistic attitude,” Chace said. “The incompetence led to many people seeming upset, led to a poor work ethic, and it was cyclical. It always seemed like there were a lot of things behind the scenes that we didn’t know about.” Still, Chace said that being the mascot was unforgettable and very positive time in his life. “Being DIBS was the best experience I had at DePaul,” Chace said. “The university was very welcome to me being DIBS and I can honestly say they enjoyed my presence. It was working with the athletic department and working with (athletic director) Jean (LentiPonsetto)—that’s where my aggravations certainly arose multiple times.” Chace said that while the experience of being DIBS was memorable, the treatment he received and the disorganization of the department made his and everyone else’s performance
See ATHLETICS, page 27
DIBS, the Blue Demon mascot, at a men’s basketball game in 2012.
GRANT MYATT | THE DEPAULIA
VP of Student Affairs named Blue Demon week considered
Gene Zdziarski begins position July 1
success in its first year By Jasmine Armand
By Grant Myatt News Editor
Staff Writer
Gene Zdziarski will join DePaul as the new vice president of student affairs on July 1, Interim Provost Patricia O’Donoghue announced Friday, Feb. 28 in an email. Zdziarski comes from Roanoke College, a private liberal arts college with about 2,000 full-time students, wher he was the vice president for student affairs and dean of students. He has more than 25 years of experience in higher education and has previously worked at the University of Florida and Texas A&M. Zdziarski graduated from Oklahoma State University. He got his maste’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee and his Ph.D in educational administration from Texas A&M. “He is a nationally recognized expert on campus safety issues and has coauthored a book on crisis management,” O’Donoghue said in the email. He replaces Cindy Summers who held the interim position since June 2012 after Jim Doyle’s retirement. Previously, Summers served as the Associate Vice President for Student Advocacy and Community Relations at DePaul. “Due to her capable leadership, Student Affairs has not missed a beat in serving our students,” O’Donoghue said.
Blue Demon Week 2014 may be over but this new DePaul tradition is only beginning. DePaul’s first Blue Demon Week took place Feb. 16-22 with events ranging from a dodge ball game and trivia night to the newly renamed Blue Demon Bash culminating in the Blue Demon Dance. This year, Homecoming underwent a massive overhaul as it was renamed Blue Demon Week in order to create more campus affinity and transform Homecoming into a DePaul-centered week instead of just a DePaul Activities Board (DAB) centered event, according to DAB President Simone Caron-Vera. Blue Demon Week has been in the making for a while. Caron-Vera said that even before the official change, spearheaded by the Affinity Task Force, was made in 2013, 2011-2012 Homecoming Coordinator Brandon Davis was already working toward campus affinity while last year’s coordinator Lauren Eisentraut created more emphasis on the entire week not just the dance. With all the changes, Blue Demon Week’s coordinators considered its inaugural year a success. “I think Blue Demon Week did exactly what it was supposed to do, what we wanted it to do,” current Blue Demon
COURTESY OF DEPAUL
Gene Zdziarski, future vice president of student affairs. A search committee led by Rev. Edward Udovic interviewed several candidates for the position. “Gene received high marks in the interview process for his success in buildings relationships across the institutions he has served and for his emphasis on collaboration,” O’Donoghue said. Zdziarski fills one of the four current interim, high-level positions in DePaul’s administration. Summers served as the interim vice president for two years.
Week coordinator Emma Kolander said. “I think we did a really effective job at communicating the change to the student body, mainly through the visual means and involving a lot of different departments and organizations. We did really try to make as much of a university side effort as possible.” Blue Demon Week included the participation of 23 university offices. Faculty and staff were able to display their school pride by decorating their offices with blue and red balloons, streamers and a variety a posters about the week’s events. With Homecoming transitioning into Blue Demon Week for the first time, there were expectedly some issues. “Dance ticket sales were significantly lower than they had been in previous years,” Kolander said. “We didn’t sell out of our dance tickets. We were still selling them Friday at check in to get in.” According to numbers from CaronVera and DAB, an estimated 1,200 people attended last year’s Homecoming dance. Only around 600 attended the first Blue Demon Dance. Both leaders say a better job can be done of alerting students about the change, as many did not realize that Homecoming was now Blue Demon Week and that the dance was associated with it. Kolander also noted that students’ unfamiliarity with the Bridgeport Art Center might
See BLUE DEMON, page 6