MARGARITA MAYHEM
It’s Cinco De Mayo. Have a drink. Arts & Life, pg.18
Volume #98 | Issue #23 | May 5, 2014 | depauliaonline.com
Making a difference: Vincentian Service Day By Megan Deppen Staff Writer
The lobby was quiet compared to the activity room, where gleeful calls of “bingo” had mingled with a mixtape of ‘40s jazz balads. Now, clumped together beneath the stained glass windows, the 12 volunteers one by one shared the heartwarming details of the afternoon spent at St. Paul’s House Lutheran Life Community. “All we did was play bingo,” DePaul sophomore Jessica Ramser said. “It was so easy. But for the seniors, it was so powerful.” Ramser was one of 1,200 DePaul students, faculty and staff who together volunteered with 70 organizations last Saturday for DePaul’s 14th Annual Vincentian Service Day. “It means a lot to these people
for us to visit. Even if it’s for a short time, they still appreciate it,” Ramser said. Hours earlier, Ramser had said relating to the seniors would be a challenge. Though she had encountered poverty and injustice across the country on service immersion trips, she said serving at the elderly home would push her out of her comfort zone. “Vincentian Service Day is just one day of service that brings people from the entire spectrum of the student body together,” Ramser said. “It can inspire you to take [service] a step further, maybe [volunteer] weekly.” So far this year, students have put in more than 500,000 hours of service, DePaul President Fr. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M. said in the crowded Sullivan Athletic Center that morning.
“I am so proud of you I can’t stand it,” Holtschneider said. “Thank you for being DePaul.” Vincentian Service Day is put on by University Ministry, and sophomore Christina Teach, head site coordinator for the event, said she has been planning since December. “Service is so essential,” Teach said. “Doing something with the community is so much greater than yourself.” Sophomore Anne Baldwin said she volunteers often at community gardens and food pantries, but Vincentian Service Day is different. “The values (of Vincentian Service Day) are powerful,” Baldwin said. “They make service holistic, and I admire them. I try
See SERVICE, page 6
MEGAN DEPPEN | THE DEPAULIA
Volunteers sit by service group in the Sullivan Athletic Center last Saturday morning at DePaul’s 14th Annual Vincentian Service Day.
Graduation speakers announced By Courtney Jacquin Managing Editor
GREG ROTHSTEIN | THE DEPAULIA
Bill, The Pony performs at DAB’s Battle of the Bands Thursday May 1. As the winners, the band will perform at FEST Friday May 23.
Student bands battle for spot in FEST By Kirsten Onsgard Contributing Writer
An event with an ominous title like Battle evokes images of gladiatorial face-offs, grand coliseums, and chiseled warriors— certainly not cutesy love songs or wobbling beats. But DePaul Activities Board placed musical contenders head-to-head in the arena at Lincoln Hall last weekend to vie for a spot at opening this year’s FEST and After Hours. Battle featured short performances by three DePaul DJs and four bands. In addition to a slot at FEST, winners also received four hours of rehearsal time at Music Garage Chicago.
DAB Music Coordinator Haley Benson said she and her team received a number of applicants to compete in Battle, which were narrowed down based upon genre and musical expertise. The contenders faced the difficult challenge of convincing a wandering and unfamiliar audience of their merit. Winners of both the DJ and band competition were determined by audience vote. The irony of pitting art against art was not lost on everyone. “This is our first ‘battle of the bands’ because normally we are very peaceful,” David Curtin of the experimental band Lamp said before driving into their first synth-infused jam.
Abe Vucekovich, Curtin’s bandmate, said that their approach to the competition and dealing with the limited set time was to stick with some of their more accessible tracks. Lamp is currently signed to local micro-label Aerial Ballet records and are in the midst of working on a follow up to a selftitled EP they released last year. Benson said she and DAB’s music committee sought out a variety of groups to perform. The band competition opened with Rafiki, a playful hip-hop trio who strutted across the stage while rambling rhymes about burritos and queso. They were followed by Pharaon, a mild and palatable
See BATTLE, page 20
DePaul released the names of its graduation speakers Friday with actor Jon Favreau leading the pack as the College of Communication and College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM) speaker. Favreau, who got his start in acting in Chicago’s improv scene, went on to act in and direct films such as “Elf,” “Iron Man” and many more. César Pelli of the Pelli Clark Pelli architecture firm, designers of the new theatre school building and the upcoming DePaul Arena, will be speaking at the School of Music and The Theatre School’s ceremony. Other speakers include Robert Mariano, CEO of Roundy’s Inc. for the Dreihaus College of Business, Rev. Larry Snyder of Catholic Charities USA for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and the College of Science and Health, civil rights activist Robert P. Moses for the College of Education and novelist Sandra Cisneros for the School of New Learning. Judge Thomas M. Durkin, a district judge for Illinois’ Northern District will be the speaker for the College of Law’s ceremony May 18 at the Rosemont Theater. The College of Education, School of Music and The Theatre School and School for New Learning ceremonies take place June 14 at the Rosemont Theatre. LA&SS and College of Science and Health, College of Communication and CDM, and Dreihaus College of Business ceremonies will take place June 15 at Allstate Arena.