Celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Chicago-style, page 16
Vol. # 96, Issue # 21
April 30, 2012
Student debt, a harsh reality
Romney and Obama work for solution to student debt By LYNSEY HART Senior Writer
President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney are both working to gain the support of young voters. Both are against increasing the interest rates of student loans, as previous legislation expires this summer. But Republicans and Democrats continue to disagree on how to pay for the extension. Unless Congress intervenes, rates of federally subsidized loans are scheduled to double from 3.5 percent to 6.8 percent July 1, when 2007 legislation cutting rates in half is set to expire. Even though both agree that these interest rates should not double, they still may. Because it is an election year, both parties want to take credit for averting the increase in efforts to court younger voters. If both parties cannot come to a compromise in two months, Americans with student loans would face a drastic increase in interest payments before they head to the polls this November. According to the university, DePaul’s undergraduate and graduate students took out $265,959,000 worth of federal loans in the 2011 fiscal year See STUDENT LOANS, page 10
Students take Springfield for legislation reform
By JENN SCHANZ Opinions Editor SPRINGFIELD—The Monetary Award Program (MAP), a $5,000 higher education grant designed to help students in financial need attend college who otherwise would not have the means, is once again on the chopping block for Illinois legislators. Prompted by recent cuts to the MAP grant, 12 DePaul students, including Student Government Association (SGA) president Anthony Alfano, Senator for Community and Government Relations Abin Kuriakose, Treasurer Caroline Winsett and EVP for Public Affairs Casey Clemmons travelled to Springfield Wednesday, April 25 for Student Lobby Day, where they addressed lawmakers and aimed to promote continued funding for the grant that 4,600 DePaul students receive annually. Winsett, who is running for 2012-2013 SGA President alongside running mate Casey Clemmons, believes MAP funding is engrained in DePaul’s institutional mission. “DePaul’s Vincentian tradition lends itself to be more accommodating for those who can’t afford the sticker price of college tuition,” she said. DePaul’s student representatives lobbied with students from other private universities in Illinois by going door to door to try and speak with both House and Senate members, often times simply leaving cards expressing their concern for the MAP grant’s future, which this year ran out March 19, the earliest date ever.
LAURA COLLINS | The DePaulia
“The fact that students came down to Springfield themselves says a lot. Legislators seeing that students care should make a difference,” Clemmons said. While he and Winsett felt their effort was well received and effective, other students in attendance were less optimistic. Freshman and MAP recipient Letitia McAllister felt the lack of actual face-time with lawmakers made her lobbying efforts more of a formality than anything else. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to any of my representatives, and they knew it was MAP Student Lobby day. I was more ambitious than they were. Taking the time to talk would have meant a lot.” While lawmakers in Illinois are almost unanimously in support of continuing MAP funding, with Gov. Quinn proposing a $436 million increase for next year, the issue in Springfield remains where funds
will be reallocated to support the grant. As a proactive response plan to any future MAP cuts, Kuriakose drafted a 10-directive plan called “Protect DePaul,” which aims to prepare SGA and the university to maintain support of students in financial need if MAP was ever cut. “In the past we’ve been more reactive, and ‘Protect DePaul’ really aims to pivot SGA to be more proactive, and mobilize the university to respond in the event that MAP funding was taken away,” he said. Kuriakose, who is a first-generation college student, also expressed the grant’s connection to DePaul’s mission. “It’s part of our identity to give access to higher education to those who normally wouldn’t have access to it.” “Illinois college enrollment has increased 200 percent over the past 40 See MAP, page 9
Chalk the block hits the streets
By PAUL TADALAN Contributing Writer
“Meet at 8 p.m. at El Norte restaurant in Edgewater,” the tweet said. Its sender was Spencer Hall, under Twitter alias @ChalktheBlockCH, the group responsible for the inspirational chalk messages appearing along the Red Line such as “Live Boldly” and “Today may be the day you’ve been waiting for.” A month ago the group decided to put a #chalktheblock hash tag on the pieces, and now pictures taken by Chicagoans have been appearing all over Instagram and Twitter. Waiting at the designated rendezvous point with four shopping bags of colored chalk, Hall is met by Josh Hurley and Michelle Cannariato. All three are in their early to mid-twenties and are members of the Community Christian Church in Edgewater, which is engaged in various community activities such as tutoring,
PAUL TADALAN | The DePaulia
The Chalk the Block movement is responsible for the inspirational messages found on sidewalks throughout the city. gardening projects and volunteering at the All American Nursing Home. But every other Tuesday night, they
chalk. “It feels good to know that we’re encouraging others,” Hall said. “When you
put others before yourself, you see that life is better that way.” There are usually six or seven members from both inside and outside of the church that participate – sometimes up to 12 – but on this cold Tuesday evening, it was just the three of them. Once the night’s plans are finalized, they immediately split up to different corners of the cross-street, drop their bags of chalk and pull a printout of at least 50 predetermined messages they have chosen as a group. After selecting a message, they get down and start drawing. “Today may be the day you’ve been waiting for,” Hall’s message read, and just as he’s finishing, two Edgewater residents – Roger VanHoughon and Chris Benbenek – approach Hall and give thanks for the impact the messages have had on the community. “It shows that someone is speaking for you,” VanHoughon said. “You could have a bad day, but the messages help keep you See BLOCK, page 9