BACON ROSES: VALENTINE’S DAY NEW BOUQUET
Vol. # 96, Issue # 12
February 13, 2012
ARTS & LIFE, PAGE 16
Catholics vs. Contraceptives
New mandate doesn’t change much for DePaul
COMMENTARY
Religious freedoms separate from federal policy
By RIMA THOMPSON Contributing Writer RACHEL METEA Editor-in-chief The Catholic Church is scrutinizing the Obama administration’s new mandate requiring religiousbased institutions to provide contraception for their employees, despite a new compromise announced Friday. The Obama administration’s mandate ignited a religious debate, with many Catholic institutions crying out that the new mandate was a breach of their religious freedom. With the mandate’s new changes, religious organizations will not have to pay for or directly provide contraceptive services, President Obama announced Friday. Along with several other Catholic universities, DePaul University, which is the nation’s largest Catholic university, already offers contraceptives in both its fully insured HMO plan and its self-insured PPO plan. “The heart of it is pretty simple,” DePaul University President Father Dennis Holtschneider said in an email to The DePaulia. “DePaul fully supports the bishops’ stance, but has offered [contraceptive]
By DYLAN MCHUGH Contributing Writer
LAURA COLLINS | The DePaulia
benefits ever since both Illinois and the Federal government required us to do so several years ago.” Catholic and other religious-based institutions across Illinois have historically been able to avoid a state mandate requirement to include contraception in employees’ health benefits. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement late Friday expressing their opposition to the new compromise. The Bishops oppose the new mandate saying that the rule forces private health plans to cover sterilization and contraception at “the stroke of a bureaucrat’s pen”. The Bishops argue that mandated preventative services
should not include birth control principle remains,” Obama and contraceptives because said in his announcement. pregnancy is not a disease. “But, if a women’s place of The mandate would have work is a charity or a hospital forced religiously affiliated that has a religious objection to institutions—such as DePaul provide contraceptive services University—to provide access as part of their health plan, to birth control for women the insurance company, not the employees unless they can hospital, not the charity, will be show reason for qualifying required to reach out and offer for the exemption, they must the woman contraceptive care comply with the new law by free of charge, without co-pays August 2013. Doctors who do and without hassles.” not agree with contraceptives Twelve years ago, the U.S. will not be forced to prescribe Equal Employment Opportunity birth control. Both the new and Commission (EEOC) ruled that old mandates exclude churches the exclusion of contraceptives and only include religiously from health insurance coverage affiliated institutions. is discrimination under Title “Under the rule, women VII of the Civil Rights Act will still have access to free of 1964. Several years later, preventive care that includes DePaul University added birth contraceptives … no matter where they work, so that core See CONTRACEPTIVES, page 9
After the Obama administration announced a mandate that would require all employers, even religiously affiliated ones, to offer birth control for its employees under their health care plans, Catholic leaders and Republicans alike lashed out at the regulation. In a prepared statement, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops President Timothy Nolan said, “This shouldn’t happen in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the Bill of Rights.” Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich said the mandate was part of Obama’s “war against religion” in a Florida town hall meeting, and Gingrich’s rival Mitt Romney also condemned the regulation. While birth control is undeniably against the tenets of the Catholic Church, does the church’s right to religious freedom outweigh the government’s right to protect and provide for its citizens? In a column for The Huffington Post, See BIRTH CONTROL, page 12
FEST 2012 rescheduled around G8/NATO summits By ELIZABETH SCHUETZ Managing Editor DePaul students typically recognize the Friday before Memorial Day weekend as the big day for the long awaited FEST. However, as Chicago plans to host the G8 and NATO summits that same week, DePaul Activities Board (DAB) has instead rescheduled the event for June 1. Considering the expected heightened security risks and increased amount of visitors throughout the city as it will welcome over 2,000 international dignitaries, FEST coordinator, Liz Palomo
worked closely with Student Centers and the Division of Student Affairs to secure an alternate date. “Based on our knowledge of the impact the G8/NATO will have on the city, we moved the date of FEST as a safety and logistic precaution,” said DAB’s faculty advisor, Tanya Vandermoon. “Trying to plan a concert without a date can be a little scary, but I knew we would find the right day and it will all come together,” Palomo said about the process of working to find a date and plan FEST. Now that the online FEST 2012 artist survey has ended, the committee will work with the results and
artists availability to finalize performances said Ariane Ackerberg, a DAB volunteer. The survey broke down the artist selection by genre, including Hip Hop and Rock/ Alternative. Some artist options were Lupe Fiasco, Snoop Dog, and Damian Marley, as well as, Cage the Elephant and Janelle Monae. “I think this will be a good thing just because we won’t have to worry about the safety issues and moving it back will make it more of a celebration for the end of the school year,” said senior Finance student, Matt Hernandez. “Moving it to June will hopefully make for better weather too.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF BECKY HOLLOMAN
In this DePaulia file photo, David 1 of Chromeo sings at the FEST 2011. This year, the DePaul Activities Board rescheduled the year-end concert due to the heightened security and large volume of vistitors in the city for the G8/NATO summits happening in May.