Marijuana Arrests
Saying goodbye to Walter White Focus page 14
Despite growwing acceptance, arrests at an all-time high Nation & World page 10
Volume #98 | Issue #3 | September 30, 2013 | DePauliaonline.com
Tuition, budget examined By NATHAN WEISMAN Asst. News Editor
During the course of two meetings hosted by the Student Government Association discussion was dominated by the decline in enrollment, financial aid, and keeping tuition costs affordable. The meetings which took place on September 19 and 26 created a forum for Administration officials to talk to students about the budget and tuition setting process. “Before the tuition pricing and strategic resource allocation committees even started meeting, I decided it was extremely important to have two SGA-sponsored sessions that focused on all of the aspects of the university’s budgeting process,” said SGA president Casey Clemons. “The rationale behind having these sessions was to make (it) transparent to students.”
See BUDGET, page 3
Decorate on a dime By AZIZA KHAMITOVA Contributing Writer
With classes at DePaul finally in full swing, students now see their free time dwindling. Getting out of one’s dorm room just to get some Student Center wings and pink lemonade becomes an unfathomable struggle and incredible time investment amidst homework, projects and extracurriculars.This means dorm decoration often gets left by the wayside. Fortunately, good dorm design can come from an evolution of ideas, and with a little planning, turn into something that would make any upscale Wicker Park loft owner red with envy. When choosing the duds for your domicile, keep things in check and your budget in balance with these helpful tips.
Budgeting
Budgeting is very important for college students. Sometimes it might be difficult to find quality furniture at an affordable price. Chicago,
See DECORATE, page 23
Photo courtesy of PELLI CLARKE PELLI ARCHITECTS
An overhead rendering of the winning design by the firm Pelli Clarke Pelli. The low, glass-walled structure will seat around 10,000 people.
New arena aims to score
Theatre School architects’ glass design chosen By MATT PARAS Asst. Sports Editor
Pelli Clark Pelli Architects, the architecture firm that designed DePaul’s theatre school, was selected Sept. 23 to construct DePaul’s new basketball arena. The firm was awarded a $7.2 million contract for its glasswalled design, the Chicago Tribune reported. Pelli Clark Pelli Architects (PCPA) were one of six firms in the running, and was chosen by the board of Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (McPier). “We liked their conceptual design best. In some ways, it’s as simple as that, “ DePaul president F.R. Dennis Holtschneider said. “Pelli Clarke Pelli immediately rose to fore when I looked at them individually, and I was pleased to know that was true for mostly everybody in the process. This was a pretty unanimous decision.” McPier’s voting board took into consideration the voices of a nine-member panel composted of three members from McPier, DePaul and the city. The nine-member committee was also advised by three veteran architects on what to look for.
Photo courtesy of PELLI CLARKE PELLI ARCHITECTS
A street view rendering of the proposed arena. The open, transparent structure tries to allay concerns of a closed, ‘black-box’ design. Holtschneider wasn’t a member of the nine-member panel, but was kept up in the process the entire time. Heading into the meetings, Holtschneider said that the design needed to serve the purpose of promoting a first-rate experience of DePaul basketball and uniquely say something about the city of Chicago. During the meeting, PCPA addressed key points crucial to the nine-member panel. DePaul athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto, who was one of three of the university’s representatives, mentioned the firm’s preparation and design made them the best available option. “For me, I really was impressed with the Pelli
presentation,” Ponsetto said. “They talked about fit. They talked about fit with all the potential users of the facility. They did a really good job of being very comprehensive of who all the end users were going to be, and being sensitive to the neighborhood. They very much wanted to have a building that was a compliment to the McCormick Place campus.” The university’s previous relationship with PCPA did not influence the panel in choosing the firm, both Ponsetto and Holtschneider said. For DePaul, working with PCPA was an added bonus, Holtschnedier said, but the college would have gone with a different firm if they had liked a better conceptual design. Pictures of the proposed design were released and the
10,000-seat building has a lowroof design with glass walls surrounding the building. The glass-walls address community concerns that the site would be a closed “black-box.” On the inside of the arena, the court is located below while the seats surround the floor in a bowl-like shape. This was designed for people to find their seats easier and have a better view of the action. “(The design) has a real classy, light presence that we thought was nicely in dialogue with the convention center, and worked well with the neighborhood to the north of it,” Holtschneider said. Said Ponsetto, “I thought the building had a really elegant and stately design. I really feel like if Chicago is going to be a future host site of the Olympics, I think this is exactly the type of building that would be attractive to any committee that would come here and evaluate the types of facilities that Chicago has available for the summer Olympics.” The conceptual design, however, isn’t exactly set in stone. Holtschneider said that adjustments for technical areas such as how to scale the locker rooms or setting up an area for the media could be tweaked, as the construction gets underway.
See ARENA, page 26