CTA
College Transit PAGE 14 Authority
February 27, 2012
Vol. # 96, Issue # 14
Affirmative Action to be revisited by Supreme Court
MEME’S THE WORD
By MICHAEL CORIO Nation and World Editor
Photos illustration compiled from DePaul Meme’s Facebok
Facebook craze plays on student life By DAVID WEBBER Contributing Writer A four-letter word became the newest online craze to sweep college campuses across the nation in recent weeks. The word is “meme” and chances are every DePaul student on Facebook has seen one today and will see some more tomorrow. But what exactly is a meme?
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a meme as “an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.” On the Internet, memes take the form of simple pictures that go viral. The picture could be of a particular person or an animal – it really doesn’t matter, so long as people can identify a certain cultural quality that the picture personifies. DePaul, too, has become
infected by the meme craze. A few weeks ago, a Facebook page entitled “DePaul Memes” gathered a following. Students began posting memes that relate to all the positives and negatives of being a student at DePaul. The page has a few thousand followers, as well as dozens and dozens of student-created memes. “Some of them are really funny, See MEME, page 6
The Supreme Court announced it will hear a case on affirmative action, potentially changing admission policies that for decades have largely been the norm for colleges and universities across the country. “Affirmative action is important to diversity education,” said Scott Tharp, associate director for the Office of Diversity Education. “It ensures that institutions have diverse communities, which has been shown to facilitate a measurable improvement in student learning and cultural engagement.” DePaul University states that it is an “equal opportunity and affirmative action employer,” as well as having a race-conscious admissions process, typical of the majority of U.S. college institutions. DePaul reports that minority students currently make up 35 percent of undergraduate and 25 percent of graduate enrollment. Nine percent of students choose not to report their race or ethnicity to the university. Controversy over affirmative action came to DePaul in 2006, when DePaul’s Conservative Alliance (DCA) affirmative action bake sale was prematurely shut down by the university. The organization was charging higher prices for Asian and Caucasian students while offering minority students baked goods at lower prices, a protest against affirmative action policies for college admissions practiced previously by other college institutions. A debate about affirmative action reportidely insued between passerbyers and DCA members before DePaul University shutdown the DCA’s booth. According to Suzanne Kilgannon, director of the Office of Student Involvement at DePaul, the bake sale “was shutdown because they had not completed appropriate paperwork properly.” The controversy that followed was misconstrued, Kilgannon said, although its aftermath had some positive effects on the See AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, page 10
By TRICIA CATHCART Arts and Life Editor In just three months, the NATO/G8 Summits will take place at Chicago’s McCormick Place. As the political leaders from around the world prepare to gather for the diplomatic summits to discuss critical world issues ranging from the global economy to pressing security challenges,
it’s important to note that this will be the first time ever that any American city other than Washington will be hosting the summits. It is also the first time in more than 30 years that any city has hosted both gatherings simultaneously. While city officials view the event as a once in a life time opportunity, many groups are planning protests, which leads to speculation about what this monumental event will
really mean for the city of Chicago and its residents. Police forces and activist groups alike are preparing for the diplomatic summits that will occur in Chicago May 19-21. The Occupy Wall Street movement— among other political activist groups—intends to hold peaceful demonstrations in protest of the gathering. “I guess it’s good they are making Chicago a center for
international affairs,” said DePaul freshman Shannon Shreibak. “But I can see where it can cause a lot of unrest—especially with the Occupy movement going on, everyone’s really sensitive to political issues at the moment.” The Chicago Police Department is preparing for the worst, it seems. Having spent nearly $3,000 on airtight facemasks, many people See G8/NATO, page 9
THA SCHROEDER | The DePaulia
Police, Loop campus prepare for G8/NATO summits