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Volume #102 | Issue #14 | Feb. 5, 2018 | depauliaonline.com
TYGER WATCH Campbell disappoints by prolonging commitment announcement See back page
BISS AT DEPAUL Democratic candidate for governor holds town hall By Benjamin Conboy News Editor
Democratic candidate for governor Daniel Biss held a town hall-style event on Saturday, Feb. 3, where he discussed his positions on campaign finance reform, reproductive health and the niceties of negotiating a state budget. Biss seemed at home back in a classroom on the fourth floor of the Levan Center in front of a chalkboard, a place he had spent a great deal of time as a mathematics professor at the University of Chicago. “There’s chalk and a chalkboard,” he said. “So watch out.” The first question was about his position on marijuana. Biss, a vocal proponent of legalizing recreational marijuana, took a comic pause to retrieve a campaign sign that was propped up behind him that said “CannaBiss.” Biss cosponsored a bill in the Illinois General Assembly that would legalize recreational marijuana, but said that he would commute the sentences of those convicted of marijuana crimes. He addressed ways to curb Illinois’ declining population. “I will not build a wall,” he said. He said that the Illinois population crisis has punished higher education institutions in the state. “I tell people that Bruce Rauner has been a horrible governor for the state of Illinois, but one of the best governors the University of Wisconsin has ever had,” Biss said.
See BISS, page 6 PHOTO COURTESY OF SEAN RAJU
Mark Cuban invests $250,o00 for 25 percent of student’s app By Benjamin Conboy News Editor
When Nick Skrzyniarzc was fresh out of college, he said he was drowning in student debt. One day he thought to himself, “Something needs to change.” That little idea, he said, was what inspired the idea for the app he developed with his brother Dan Stelmach, called ChangEd. It takes debit purchases, rounds them up to the nearest dollar, deposits them in an FDIC insured account, and once the user’s wallet reaches $100, it automatically sends a payment toward their student loans. Currently, there is $1.3 trillion owed in student debt around the country, and ChangEd aims to help student tackle the seemingly-insurmountable debt with mere pennies. So far, they have already sent out more than $100,000 in student loan payments, and now they are looking to make that number much higher. “We all know college is an experience you’ll never forget,” Stelmach told the
group of investors. “And you won’t, especially if you have to pay for it 10 to 25 years after graduating. It’s going to delay any goals you have.” “We have a saying here at ChangEd,” Skyrzyniarzc said. “‘Mom isn’t going to write you a $10,000 check, but she will give you the spare change from her morning cup of coffee.’” Their small startup found its way onto ABC’s “Shark Tank,” where they had the opportunity to court high-profile investors. When they gave their pitch on “Shark Tank,” the investors were initially skeptical of their high valuation and their ability to create revenue. However, the brothers’ lively pitch piqued the attention of technology and sports investor Mark Cuban. “Student debt is really one of the biggest problems facing our country right now,” Cuban said on the show. “It takes away from the economy and it prevents people from moving up and getting a better job.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC
Brothers Dan Stelmach and Nick Skrzyniarzc pitched their idea for ChangEd to the sharks on an episode of “Shark Tank” that appeared on ABC on Sunday, Jan. 28.
Their pitch first enraptured investor Robert Herjavec. But he thought they had overinflated their valuation and offered them $250,000 – but for a 48 percent
stake in the company, much less than they had hoped. Cuban ended up being so impressed with the See CHANGED, page 8
2 | News. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018
First Look OW RN
ON A I
The DePaulia is the official student-run newspaper of DePaul University and may not necessarily reflect the views of college administrators, faculty or staff. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | Amber Colón eic@depauliaonline.com
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News. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018 | 3
South Side with you
DePaul students canvass for Englewood Photos and story by Jonathan Ballew
Last Saturday morning, Alex Boutros, along with a handful of DePaul students, hopped on the Red Line and traveled to the South Side to knock on doors. The students looked out of place with their clipboards and flyers — on more than one occasion they were told to be careful by concerned residents. But Boutros was on a mission to let residents know about the Englewood school closings. Boutros calls this work canvassing, and she believes that it is important to spread awareness about critical issues affecting communities in Chicago. Boutros works for State Rep. Sonya Harper of the 6th district and is also the co-president of Students Against Mass Incarceration, a DePaul organization that focuses on fixing what they say is a broken penal system. “Most people don’t want to knock on doors because they are afraid,” she said. “But once you start talking to people, you realize they are just regular people like you and me.” One of the students tagging along with Boutros was Nina Rodriguez, a foreign exchange student from France studying at DePaul. Rodriguez said that she was joining Boutros because she was hoping to learn more about the South Side of Chicago. “I live in a poor neighborhood back home in France,” she said. “From what I have heard about the South Side of Chicago, I am expecting to see a lot of food and pharmacy deserts. I’m expecting to do a lot of walking today.” Rodriguez was referencing the fact that many neighborhoods on the South Side have poor access to public transportation. This issue has been raised by several Chicago aldermen and state representatives. Recently, the city began plans to extend the Red Line further south to help address the disparity. The group was canvassing Fuller Park and most of the doors they knocked on did not answer. Many of the homes had cameras installed or bars over the door. “People are definitely scared of the violence in their own neighborhood,” said Boutros. People like Davonte Moore, who has lived in the South Side for his entire life. Moore is moving out of Chicago to escape the everyday violence. He said that he is tired of waiting for the city to help his community, so he wanted to make a change. “I’m leaving because of the violence,” he said. Moore said that there are better opportunities in Michigan for AfricanAmericans than there are in Chicago. He believes that political canvassing doesn’t make much of a difference. “It seems pointless to me,” he said. “Most of the politicians don’t really care.” This lackluster attitude has become commonplace for many residents in the South Side. But others, like longtime South Sider Herdia Sykes, have hope for
The canvassers would leave leaflets for those who didn’t answer their doors. the neighborhoods. Sykes said that seeing women out canvassing was encouraging. “You ladies are gonna show them something!” he said to Boutros and Rodriguez. “The ladies of the world are going to help the men straighten things out. We need help.” Sykes has lived in Chicago since 1952. During that time, he said that he has realized that racial differences have had a significant impact on his community. “We get wrapped up in black and white,” he said. “Ain’t no such thing, we’re people.” While Sykes was talking to the DePaul students, Rep. Harper showed up while doing some canvassing of her own. She said that she spends at least 50 hours a week personally knocking on doors and talking to residents. “We have a lot of work to do to increase voter turnout,” she said. Harper said that she represents a district that is a microcosm of what “everybody thinks of with old Chicago.” Harper said that there are the “haves and the have nots.” Harper was not afraid to take shots at Mayor Rahm Emanuel. She said that during the time Emanuel has been in office, he has ignored the south and west side of Chicago. “I can’t see a real plan to bring these communities up,” she said. “What I see is a plan to gentrify them and kick people out.” Harper did say that Emanuel isn’t to blame for African-Americans leaving Chicago in large numbers. She said that the exodus is systemic and goes back decades. “Half of my district has been neglected for the last 40 years,” she said. Harper said that she is tired of Emanuel wielding so much power. “I feel like we live in a kingdom,” she said. “Because it feels like the mayor just does whatever he wants.” Harper said that Emanuel wasn’t paying proper attention to low-income communities
Students went down to the South Side to encourage political participation.
Students went down to the South Side to encourage political participation. and that other areas of the city often got special priority. “He chooses to only invest in downtown or the South Loop,” she said. “When he wants to invest in a blighted community he does something like put a Whole Foods there.” Harper said that canvassing is the number one way to reach out to residents. She said that knocking on doors is the best way to learn about what issues are most important to her constituents. “You get to see, look, feel, breathe, the exact environment that they are living in,” she said. “That way I can take their concerns
seriously.” Harper said that she works with DePaul students often. She said that grassroots work and volunteering from students is influential to enacting meaningful change. At the end of the day, Boutros made sure to let all the participants know that their work was not finished. “There is a Tuesday public forum at CPS to hear from the community about the Englewood school closings,” she said to her group of tired student activists. “We will absolutely be there.”
4| News. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018
400 attend Amiwala fundraiser as board race heats up YAZMIN DOMINGUEZ | THE DEPAULIA
DePaul sophomore and candidate for the Cook County Board of Commissioners Bushra Amiwala raised $6,000 at a campaign fundraiser in Skokie, her would-be district.
By Yazmin Dominguez Online Editor
When DePaul sophomore Bushra Amiwala was a little girl, she never thought she would be hosting a fundraising dinner for her political campaign in her hometown of Skokie. Amiwala is the first Muslim woman and the youngest person to run for a seat on the Cook County Board. She first announced she was running commissioner for Cook County’s 13th District in March, 2017. She was alone in her bedroom when she published a Facebook post in which she first announced her campaign to the public. Then, she didn’t have a support base or any money to run against incumbent Larry Suffredin, who has held the position for the past 16 years. Eleven months later, Amiwala would be treating nearly 400 supporters in the ballroom of Skokie’s Holiday Inn Hotel to a Mediterranean dinner as she attempted to garner more support, pledges, and ultimately, more votes. “It was incredible. It was so exciting. Feb. 1 marks the eleventh month of me announcing my candidacy and campaigning, and seeing that within three weeks of planning an event I was able to get 400 people into a room,” Amiwala said. “These are the real members of the community. These are my constituents, like the people who I will be serving. They are showing up and they believe in me. I have their full support.” The theme of her fundraising night was “Women in Power.” Five women highly involved with local politics and grassroots organization spoke about their relationship with Amiwala. Each speaker expressed why they believed she should be elected to the Cook County Board, all while Amiwala walked around the ballroom introducing herself and shaking supporter’s hands. Speaker Kathleen Dillon expressed how she thought Amiwala would make up for the lack of diversity currently present in public office. “We need more progressive candidates in office, especially progressive women of color. We also need millennials, immigrants, Muslims and folks of a variety of religious affiliation, gender identity and other identities present in the United States to be in public office,” Dillon said. “If the diversity presented
in this nation was actually represented in our government that would be something else.” Associate professor Wendy Heltzer, who was Amiwala’s financial accounting professor during fall quarter, was one of the featured speakers of the night. “I wholeheartedly endorse and support Bushra for Cook County Commissioner. It was my honor to be her professor last quarter and it is my honor to be her friend and support her tonight.” Among those in the audience was Democratic candidate Aaron Goldstien, who is a running for attorney general of Illinois, Dilara Sayeed, Democratic candidate for state representative 5th District and Ugochukwu Okere, a Loyola senior who recently announced his run for 40th ward alderman last week. “I am here supporting Bushra because Bushra is a representation of exactly what it is that I am trying to do as well. She has set and paved the way for young people, millenials to run for office,” Okere said. “She is showing everyone that it is not as scary as it seems - that there is a reason to do it and there is a chance that you can win.” Okere announced his run for 40th ward alderman on Jan. 27 in Steingold’s of Chicago Deli in the Ravenswood neighnorhood. He is up against Alderman Patrick O’Connor who’s held the position for 35 years. Amiwala was a featured speaker at his announcement where she too expressed her support for his campaign. “If we can band together, organize and support each other strongly enough, we can prove to those people who are at the top, who are older than us that we do have power. It’s there it can be organized and we can be a stronger force than anybody could ever think is possible. It is important for me to stand with Bushra as she stood there for me at my announcement event.” In one night Amiwala was able to raise an estimated $6,000 from online ticket sales alone, not including checks and pledges which hadn’t been counted by Amiwala’s team by the time of publication. Her ultimate goal is to reach at least $10,000 to send a county wide piece of mail to 300,000 residents to ensure that each county resident would recognize her name before the primary elections. Not everybody is in support of Amiwala’s movement. A day after her fundraising
dinner she received news of a press release from an opposing candidate who accused her of not filing a critical fundraising form. The form required to be filed when candidates receive donations of at least $1,000. “That’s because nobody has ever given me a thousand dollars,” Amiwala said. “His accusation was, ‘There is no way she’s been able to raise this money from individual contributions.’” She publicly responded to the press release by uploading a photo of her crowd of 400 supporters to her Facebook page stating, ‘This is what grassroots campaigning looks like. This is what a community movement looks like. Our money is coming from individual contributions from people in the community because we have a promising message - and don’t need to drag the other candidates down, as a means to lift ourselves up.’
“I’m honored to receive this attack; that means I am the most threatening candidate in this race,” Amiwala said. This comes only five months after Amiwala denied a donation of $54,500 in corporate funding, simply because it did not come from the local people she was representing. To even her own surprise, Amiwala’s campaign is picking up speed. She hopes her campaign encourages other young women to run as well. “I started this campaign literally alone in my room and all I had was my D1 form, which is my statement of organization that you need to legally collect funds, and I had a Facebook page,” Amiwala said. “Now look where I am. I have this large following because good things happen to good people.”
YAZMIN DOMINGUEZ | THE DEPAULIA
Amiwala recounted her lessons learned from her campaign at the fundraising dinner.
News. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018 | 5
SAF-B explained: How is your money being spent? By Jonathan ballew Asst. News Editor
Over the last year, nine DePaul students decided where $564,818 of student activity fees would be distributed. The nine voting students, along with one voting DePaul staff member and three non-voting members, make up the Student Activity Fee Board (SAF-B). Every month the board is given a budget by the university taken from each student’s $27 activity fee. The board is then charged with hearing requests from any and all student organizations that need funding. SAF-B can sometimes feel like a shadow organization. Their deliberations are closed proceedings and the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) declined to provide the names of the board members, citing department policy. Peggy Burke and Ben Bui from Student Government Association (SGA) provided the names of the board members. Each month, the board votes on which student organizations get funding, and which do not. The hearings can be long and the deliberations can be arduous. DePaul has at least 320 active student organizations, according to OSI. Whether it is bringing in a guest speaker or traveling to a lacrosse tournament three states over, organizations aren’t cheap. Each month, organizations can request funding through a formal application process. The organization must provide pricing quotations and a total amount of requested funding. If the amount is under $1,000, it is considered a discretionary request and the organization only needs to submit a proposal and wait for a funding decision. However, if
VICTORIA WILLIAMSON | THE DEPAULIA
Though many students complain about the way funding is distrubuted, they all agree that the system is fair and equitable. the amount is over $1,000, the organization needs to submit a proposal and make a formal presentation at the monthly SAF-B hearing. Organizations are taken on a first come, first serve basis and a maximum of 20 organizations per month are able to receive non-discretionary funding. Ben Bui, chairman of the board and treasurer of SGA, said that the 20 spots almost always fill up and organizations are encouraged to apply as early as possible. The board is made up of 10 voting
members, 9 of them being students. There are seven campus groups that get a representative. In addition to the seven groups that get a representative, there are two voting members that are known as at large selections. For at large selections, OSI takes applications on a needed basis through OrgSync applications and follow-up interviews. Finally, there is one DePaul staff member that votes on the board. Currently, that member is Michelle Chong, business coordinator for OSI. Gracie Covarrubias is the vice president of SGA and a former member of SAF-B. She has been in the meetings and has had to make difficult decisions regarding student organization funding. “It’s an impossible task that we ask of SAF-B every single month,” she said. Ana Gleyzer, current board member, agreed with Covarrubias that the task asked of the board can be challenging. “Our board wants to fund everything, but that is often physically impossible,” she said. Covarrubias said that although some organizations may have gripes with SAF-B, the process itself is extremely fair. She said the board can’t play favorites and includes a wide variety of representatives in order to provide balance. “There has to be a rationale behind every decision,” she said. “It can’t just be because (the board) doesn’t want to fund something.” Even organizations that have been denied funding seem to agree with Covarrubias. John Minster is president of the DePaul College Republicans and he believes that his organization has been treated fairly by SAF-B in the past. “For the most part, we felt that the hearing process was comprehensive and fair,” he said. Minster did feel that his organization was unfairly discriminated against last September when they tried to get funding for controversial speaker Charles Murray. “We still don’t understand why they didn’t fund it,” he said. Minster believed that the board violated the “Guiding Principles for Free Speech and Expression” by not funding Murray due to political ideology. The board published a decision last September that said, “Ultimately, the Board decided that Charles Murray’s ideas and stance on race, class, and ‘intellectual stratification’ does not align with the Vincentian mission and values that DePaul
upholds as an educational institution.” The College Republicans were not always denied funding for controversial speakers. In April 2017, the organization was granted $10,000 for a speaker honorarium to host conservative speaker Gavin McInnes. Another issue that Covarrubias raised with SAF-B is its funding of club sports. Over the last year club sports has been granted 45.13 percent of all awarded funds, receiving $254,923. “Trying to fund both club sports and student organizaitons from the same pot is like trying to fund apples and oranges,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense.” Covarrubias said that the current system may not necessarily be the best system, and that everyone could benefit by taking a hard look at how the financial systems operate. “At most schools there is a clubs sports council and they have a separate club sports funding pool,” she said. Covarrubias stressed that she had no issues with the board members or their ability to conduct fair hearings. “I don’t think there is equity in the way money is distributed,” she said. “I think the process is fair, but there is more we can do to be serving club sports and student organizations.”
VICTORIA WILLIAMSON | THE DEPAULIA
6| News. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018 BISS continued from front page He pointed to the sharp decline in population during the budget crisis, where Illinois went two years and six days without an operating budget because of political gridlock in Springfield. Biss stressed that a functioning budget must be maintained at all times if the state wants to retain jobs and taxpayers. “(We need to) have a budget for the love of god,” Biss said. “Every year. Not just sometimes, not just when you’re in a good mood, but even when you’re in a bad mood.” Biss stressed his view that the political problems of the state did not begin with Rauner’s election, but have been simmering below the surface for decades because of a faulty corporate and personal tax system. Biss then got into a discussion about reforming campaign finance laws, something that has become a point of contention in this election. Incumbent governor Bruce Rauner is the billionaire former chairman of a venture capitalist firm and the Democratic frontrunner J.B. Pritzker is another billionaire who has written his campaign almost $50 million. “This race is a referendum on money in politics,” Biss said. He remembered sitting in his campaign office on a Friday afternoon early in the race when he first heard that Pritzker had written himself the first of an eventual seven $7 million checks. “Well, goodbye,” he said he thought at the time. He thought his campaign was over because he would never be able to match the funding of his wealthy opponent. He said he came in to the office after a depressing weekend on Monday and posted a picture to Facebook of a $25 check he wrote to his campaign and suddenly, small contributions started coming in from all around the state.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAWN RAJU
A classrom on the fourth floor of the Levan Center was packed with students and community members who came to hear Biss speak. Pritzker has most recently used those lofty checks to start running attack ads against Biss. But he’s not concerned – in fact, he’s glad. “I have been, this past week, the beneficiary of one of the greatest compliments in American politics – they’re running attack ads against me,” Biss said. He expressed his support for a campaign finance system like New York has implemented, where the state matches
political contributions made by regular citizens. He recognized that some people would have qualms about allowing the government to get involved in the financing of political campaigns, but offered an alternative way of thinking about it. “Taxpayers pay for voting machines,” he said. “We use state funds to mail absentee ballots to voters overseas. We pay for election judges to ensure that we have fair and free elections. Sandy Gartler, a long-time Lincoln Park resident, said she thinks Biss has the best shot of any of the Democratic candidates to unseat Rauner. “I would love to see Biss against Rauner,” Gartler said. “He’s a mathematician, he’s intelligent. I think he’s the only one who can beat (Rauner).” Sandy brought her sister Barbara, who lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Barbara said she wished they could have a governor like Biss in her state, where Republican Scott Walker is in the governor’s mansion. “I’m a flaming liberal,” Barbara said. “If I lived in Illinois, I would vote for (Biss). I’m really pulling for Illinois to do the right thing here.”
“I tell people that Bruce Rauner has been a horrible governor for Illinois, but he’s one of the best governors the University of Wisconsin ever had.”
Daniel Biss Democratic candidate for governor on the effect of declining population on Illinois’ colleges
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PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAWN RAJU
Biss covered a wide-ranging list of topics from reproductive health to higher education.
News. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018| 7
Political groups react toTrump’s first State of the Union By Benjamin Conboy News Editor
President Trump’s first State of the Union address was, like everything the president does, divisive. Democrats denounced his racially charged rhetoric in his immigration talking points, and Republicans applauded his unwavering adherence to the speech’s script – an unusual phenomenon for the notoriously wandering speaker. At DePaul, that same divisiveness manifested itself through the university’s political groups: the DePaul College Republicans (DCR) and the DePaul College Democrats (DCD). When speaking on his willingness to negotiate a bipartisan immigration deal, he said that it is his duty to defend Americans of “every color, background, religion, and creed.” “Because Americans are dreamers too,” the president said, referring to DACA recipients. Doug Klain, secretary of DCD, found this line to be “worrisome.” “(That line) shows the president’s penchant for racist dog-whistling,” Klain said. “The immediate reaction from the white supremacist sects of the Republican party were those of approval and vindication.” David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and prominent white supremacist Richard Spencer both praised the line on Twitter. Where Klain saw racist dog-whistling, John Minster, president of DCR, said that the “Americans are dreamers too line” was “perhaps the president’s strongest line of the
PHOTO COURTESY OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Trump stuck to his script and promoted his “America First” policies. night.” “It highlights what Democrats often forget,” Minster said. “That immigration is an issue where the most important concern must be determining how prospective immigrants will benefit the American populace. That does not mean discounting how the immigrant is affected, but the American government’s priorities must be to the American citizenry, not foreign nationals.” In a bombshell announcement, the president said he would be signing an executive order to keep the Guantanamo Bay detention center open (he signed the order
immediately after leaving the joint session). “President Trump, Gen. John Kelly, Gen. James Mattis and Gen. H.R. McMaster know a heck of a lot more about this than me or anyone else, and as long as their chief concern is national security, I’m confident in their decision on the issue,” Minster said. Guantanamo Bay has been under fire for at least the last decade, with critics arguing it is unconstitutional for people to be held there for years with no charges or trials. Opponents also say the harsh conditions at the detention facility create an easy propaganda tool for recruiting terrorists. “Some of the most effective propaganda
tools for recruiting and radicalizing people around the world to hurt Americans comes from places like Guantanamo,” Klain said. “When we violate human rights and international law, we cede the moral high ground and actively aid in the recruitment of radicals to terrorist groups like ISIS.” The Democrats fired off a rebuttal to the president’s State of the Union immediately after it aired. Rep. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts delivered the Democrats’ response – and his rhetoric has people speculating about a possible 2020 run for the young Kennedy. Klain said the Democratic field in 2020 is going to be full of strong contenders, but Kennedy made a strong case for himself. “Kennedy certainly gave proof that were he to be a candidate, he would clearly be a strong and dynamic one,” he said. “(There would be) an interesting layer of symbolism in imagining an election where the descendent of one of America’s most revered leaders would square off against one of its most reviled ones.” Minster, however, sees Kennedy as too untried to emerge as a significant challenge to the incumbent president. “If Democrats want to fasten their incendiary, faulty message of identity politics and a rigged economic system to an inexperienced Congressman from perhaps the most privileged family in the county, by all means go ahead,” Minster said.
CAMPUS CRIME REPORT: January 24- January 30, 2018 LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS
LOOP CAMPUS
University Hall 5
Corcoran Hall
5
3 3
DePaul Center
Student Center 3 8
1
8
6
9
7
Lewis Center
10 2
6 4
LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS JANUARY 24 1) A theft of bicycle
report was filed at the
Student Center.
JANUARY 25 2) Three separate armed robbery reports were filed on and off campus. A safety alert was distributed by campus safety.
3) A possession of cannabis report was filed in Cororan Hall. Chicago Police were called and issued a citation
Assault & Theft
Drug & Alcohol
Other
LOOP CAMPUS
JANUARY 26 JANUARY 24 4) An illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor 7) A theft report was filed for a wallet taken in
JANUARY 29 10) A theft report was filed against an individual
the Lewis Center.
whose iPhone was taken from the DePaul Center.
JANUARY 25 8) A criminal trespass warning report was filed
11) A battery report was filed regarding threats made to a student in University Center.
report was filed with public safety. Individuals were transported to Illinois Masonic by Chicago EMTs.
JANUARY 28 5) A suspicion of marijuana report was filed in University Hall. No drugs were found.
JANUARY 29 6) A criminal trespass warning report was filed
against an individual sleeping in Brownstone Cafe.
for a person sleeping in DePaul Center.
9)
A criminal trespass warning report was filed against an individual making explicit statements to people in the DePaul Center.
8| News. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018 CHANGED continued from front page brothers’ pitch that he offered them an investment of $250,000 for a 25 percent stake in their company – the closest offer to their valuation and a massive boost in funding from the $30,000 of savings that Nick threw into the company to get it rolling. Liam Belter, a public relations and advertising major at DePaul, first got connected with ChangEd after finding the internship on DePaul’s Handshake page. When he first applied, the app hadn’t even been launched on the app store. Belter said that working in the tech startup industry is wildly different from any job experiences he had before. “This is really my first run at doing the whole PR thing,” Belter said. “I had done paralegal work before, but this is so different. So, when they asked me to stay on, it was one of the most exciting things.” It is important for Belter to work somewhere that has solid ethical footing, The startup’s founders ended up asking Belter if he wanted to stay on as a part-time employee, where he runs the company’s social media accounts and handles media requests, which have skyrocketed following their Sunday night appearance on “Shark Tank.” But an unforeseen issue has arisen for Belter. The sprouting interest in their app is obviously good for business, but now major PR firms are reaching out to them trying to offer their services to the newly cash-infused startup. Belter, however, remains committed to doing whatever is best for the business. “Now I’m getting emails from people trying to do what I do (for ChangEd),” Belter said. “As a PR person, if I’m needed to, I will gladly step aside.” They are working on rolling out a number of new features, including one that would allow family and friends to contribute their spare change to the user’s account to help compound their own contributions. Another feature they are close to implementing is adding multipliers, so a user can multiply the amount of change they put into the app to contribute put more money in more
quickly. They are also looking at rolling out an Android version of the app. ChangEd is still a relatively fresh app to the market. They only launched a beta in January, 2017 and were surprised when the App Store featured it on its “New Apps We Love” list before it was a finished product. “We weren’t really caught off guard by it,” Stelmach said. “All these people (working at Apple) are a bunch of recent college graduates and have a lot of student loans themselves. We knew we hit a pinpoint that a lot of people were feeling.” ChangEd is still a pretty small outfit right now - but they are looking to change that with their new infusion of capital. They couldn’t give specific user numbers, per an agreement with Cuban, but they said in the few days since their appearance on “Shark Tank,” interest in their app has increased “exponentially.”
“We have a saying here at ChangEd: ‘Mom isn’t going to write you a $10,000 check, but she will give you the spare change from her morning cup of coffee.’”
Nick Skyrzyniarcz Co-founder of ChangEd
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHANGED
ChangEd automatically makes a student loan payment when the user accrues $100 in change.
News. The DePaulia Feb. 5, 2018 | 9
Buried treasure: Library dusts off rare books By Jonathan Ballew Asst. News Editor
Some of the rarest books in the world were found on the third floor of the John T. Richardson Library in Lincoln Park. The discovery was made last November by the Special Collections and Archives department, in conjunction with the “Preserving the World’s Rarest Books” project. Since then, DePaul has garnered international attention for housing five books that have less than four copies known in existence. Nora Gabor is the rare books librarian at DePaul. She works in the Special Collections and Archives department and oversees the rare collection. “Not much is known about some of these books,” she said. “The record keeping hasn’t been the greatest.” Gabor said that one of her department’s biggest concerns, especially when it comes to old books, is preservation. “Some of these books have been partially restored or preserved,” she said. Gabor mentioned that even a restored binding can still be well over 100 years old. She said that her department is not trained in restoration and has a third party that handles the difficult restoration projects. When it comes to preservation, one of the biggest dangers facing rare books are pests, according to Gabor. “The worst pest we have to look out for are silverfish,” Gabor said. Silverfish, a type of insect, have a particular appetite for old books. If librarians
don’t pay close attention, they can destroy entire collections. “We hope this collection will showcase that we have rare books at DePaul too,” she said. Gabor said that these type of rare books can bring in researchers from around the country. But the students are the ones that she believes can benefit most from seeing books that are windows to the past. “It’s really important for students to see objects from the past and have a tactile experience,” she said. “Actually holding a book that is 500 plus years old is a totally different experience. The crown jewel of the collection, is a book titled “Oratoriae Partitiones,” originally printed in 1529 in Paris. It is the only known copy — Gabor said it is impossible to know if more exist outside of public institutions. Ed Young works for the Vincentian Studies Institute and spends much of his time in the Special Collections and Archives department cataloging old Vincentian texts. While the rare book collection isn’t his area of expertise, he was excited about the texts. “Those are incredible,” he said. “It’s great. Such great history.” Young went on to talk about how important historical texts are to understanding and learning about our past. He said that one of the best things scholars can do now is document those texts digitally so that they can be eternally preserved. Kyle Henke is one of the staff members that plays a hand in digitally preserving old texts. He is the digital archivist for the department. He said that the rare books can help bring notoriety to the university.
JONATHAN BALLEW | THE DEPAULIA
Rare books librarian Nora Gabor shows off the five rarest books in DePaul’s collection.
“They bring attention, along with intrigue and interest, especially from outside researchers,” Henke said. DePaul finds itself in prestigious company by being included in the project. Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, and Vassar College are among some of the universities that boast libraries with exceptionally rare collections. Henke said that not only can rare books bring attention to the university, they can also be instrumental when it comes to
educating students. “We can explain how (the books) are made, and their origins,” he said. “The students are seeing something very unique.” Henke said that is important to understand where we came from, and rare books like the collection in question can help play a small part in that process. “It’s always intriguing to know you are seeing something that very few other people have seen in the modern era.”
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10 | Nation & World. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018
Nation &World
People attend a vigil on Thursday, Jan. 25 in Benton, Ky. in honor of the victims of the Marshall County High School shooting.
RYAN HERMENS | THE PADUCAH SUN VIA AP
14 school shootings in 2018 Violence affects campuses across the nation By Carina Smith Nation and World Editor
The first month of 2018 is over, and there have already been over a dozen school shootings across the U.S., raising questions for many about what can be done to stop the violence on campuses. According to the non-profit organization Everytown for Gun Safety, there have been a total of 14 shootings on school campuses as of Feb. 1. Everytown classifies a school shooting as “any time a firearm discharges a live round inside a school building or on a school campus or grounds, as documented by the press and, when necessary, confirmed through further inquiries with law enforcement of school officials.” The latest school shooting came on Feb. 1 in Los Angeles, when police received a call around 9 a.m. reporting that a female student had opened fire in a classroom supposedly by accident, injuring two students, according to police spokesman Josh Rubenstein. One student was shot in the head, the other in the wrist. The Los Angeles shooting came just a little over a week after a student opened fire in his Benton, Kentucky high school killing two students and injuring nearly 20 more. The shooter was a 15-year-old male student, who was arrested and has been charged as an adult for the shootings. “As a parent, this is everyone’s worst-case nightmare – worstcase scenario and a nightmare
for all of us,” said Robert Arcos, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Operations-Central Bureau in a press interview. The high number of school shootings is nothing new. In 2017, there were 65 school shootings according to Everytown. Kids from kindergarten to college go through procedures to prepare for a school shooting or an intruder. Police officers talk to students and teachers run drills that include students hiding under desks and climbing out of windows. The idea that an active shooter can come on campus at any time has become a reality for many. Programs and organizations have started in an effort to lock down gun laws and teach young people about gun safety. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a nationwide nonpartisan grassroots organization that came from Everytown, started five years ago after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in an effort to help reduce the gun-related violence. Illinois has 22 groups across the state that are working to change gun laws and educate people about gun safety. “I have two children and I am not exaggerating when I say every single day I worry when they go to school, and I’m not alone,” local group manager for Moms Demand Action Caryn Fliegler said. Many say that there shouldn’t just be the push to keep students safe, but also prevent the shootings. Moms Demand Action
ALLY ZACEK | THE DEPAULIA
respects the 2nd Amendment, but wants gun safety to be taught to every gun owner and for “loopholes” in background checks to be taken out, according to Fliegler. Most states do not require background checks on people who are purchasing firearms at gun shows, allowing people who would otherwise not qualify to buy guns. However, the perpetrators of school shootings usually didn’t buy a gun at a store. Fliegler saids that parents who have guns in the house but don’t properly lock them up leave the risk of their children having easier access to guns. Moms Demand Action runs a program called “Be SMART,” which educates adults about how to keep their firearms safe and away from children. “The key headline is that
children should not have easy access to guns,” Fliegler said. “That’s unfortunately what happened in at least one of these school shootings. A lot of these shootings, it’s too late (to educate people) once it happens, and these are absolutely preventable things.” Another approach that many groups take is lobbying and trying to get gun laws changed on a local, state and national level. The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence (ICHV) tries to educate young people through a wide range of programs, but they are most well-known for their advocacy groups to get laws on the books that will eventually minimize gun violence. The group tries to attack gun violence from all sides in order to reduce its effects in Illinois.
“There is no one simple solution,” said Colleen Daley, the executive director for ICHV. “There is no one law or one policy or one program that can stop gun violence. It’s a really multifaceted approach.” The numbers show that school shootings are getting more prevalent in America. Whether a gun goes off accidentally, someone commits suicide on campus or someone purposefully brings a gun to a school in order to create panic, gun violence on school campuses has become an increasingly large concern for many people across the nation. “Children’s educational environments should not have to interact with gun violence, but it happens all too often,” Fliegler said. “Schools should be safe places for learning.”
Nation & World. Feb. 5, 2018. The DePaulia | 11
Nation&Worldbriefs
CLAUDE PARIS | AP Investigators work at the site of the crash, where two French military helicopters collided into each other on Friday, Feb 2. A spokeswoman for the French army said the helicopters, which were used for training, came from the army's light aviation school.
Content written by the ASSOCIATED PRESS Compiled by Carina Smith | THE DEPAULIA
MASSOUD HOSSAINI | AP SUSAN WALSH | AP Residents walk by the house where Islamic State The Russia-probe intelligence memo is photographed in insurgents had hidden in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, Washington after its Friday, Feb. 2 release in Washington D.C. following President Donald Trump declassifying the Feb. 2. Afghan authorities discovered an Islamic State hideout memo. The House Intelligence Committee released the filled with explosives in a poor western neighborhood. memo based on classified information.
Islamic State hideout found in Afghan capital displays security woes
Five killed after two French military helicopters crashed mid-air Var, France Two French military helicopters on a training flight crashed Friday in the woods of Provence from an apparent mid-air collision, killing the five people aboard, officials said. The crash occurred between the small towns of Cabasse and Carces in the picturesque southern French region of Var, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Saint-Tropez. A police official said the two aircraft collided. However, prosecutor Xavier Tarabeaux said cautiously that a collision was the working hypothesis "without yet being able to determine where this collision took place and the exact conditions that led to it." Police cordoned off roads around the crash site, and some three dozen police and military officials were dispatched to the scene, according to a local gendarme. The prefect of the Var region, JeanLuc Videlaine, said three experienced army flight officers and two trainees were killed. There were no survivors. Debris scattered across two large zones, but the area is uninhabited and no one on the ground was hurt, said the gendarme, who wasn't authorized to be publicly named. A spokeswoman for the French army said the helicopters came from the army's light aviation school based in nearby Le-Cannet-des-Maures. The school includes a special joint training program with German military pilots, and its pilots are sometimes used for firefighting operations in the area. French Defense Minister Florence Parly visited the school "to share the very charged emotions" and "bear witness to my sadness, pain and my solidarity." President Emmanuel Macron, in Senegal on Friday, conveyed his "deep respect" for those killed.
Kabul, Afghanistan
Highly anticipated Russia-probe memo released despite protests Washington d.c. House Republicans on Friday released a partisan and bitterly disputed memo that they say shows surveillance abuses in the early stages of the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia. The memo, prepared by Republicans on the House intelligence committee, says there was "a troubling breakdown of legal processes" in the Russia investigation. President Donald Trump, who advocated for the memo's release over the fierce objections of the Justice Department and the FBI, told reporters the document shows "a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves." "I think it's terrible," Trump said. "You want to know the truth. I think it's a disgrace. What's going on in this country, I think it's a disgrace." The memo, which the FBI has said is inaccurate and missing critical context, asserts that current and former FBI and Justice Department leaders signed off on a surveillance warrant to monitor communications of a former Trump campaign associate. The document also asserts that opposition research, conducted by a British spy and funded in part by the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign, formed a critical basis for the allegations contained in the warrant application.__ The release of the memo is likely to further divide Trump and his FBI and Justice Department leaders, and the president lashed out anew on Friday morning on Twitter. He has supported the memo release in apparent hopes that it could help undermine the probe being led by special counsel Robert Mueller, which he has called a "witch hunt." "The top Leadership and Investigators
of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans - something that would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people!" Trump tweeted. Democrats say the memo cherrypicks intelligence in an effort to smear law enforcement investigating whether Trump associates collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election. The document was written by GOP lawmakers as part of an effort to reveal what Republicans say are surveillance abuses by the FBI and the Justice Department early in Russia investigation, before special counsel Mueller was appointed to take it over. The House intelligence panel voted along party lines Monday to put the memo out, giving Trump five days to reject the release under committee rules. But Trump also had the power to declassify the document himself. Democrats on the intelligence panel made a last-ditch effort Wednesday evening to stop the release, saying the memo had been "secretly altered" by the Republicans who wrote it. In a letter to the House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, Schiff wrote that committee Democrats had discovered changes that were made after the vote Monday Trump has been telling confidants in recent days that he believed the GOP House members' document would validate his concerns that the FBI and Justice Department conspired against him. The president also has told allies that he believes the memo bolsters his claim that accusations of collusion between his campaign and Russian officials are false and part of a conspiracy to discredit his election.
The discovery of an Islamic State hideout filled with explosives and suicide vests in a poor Kabul neighborhood reflects the failure of Afghanistan's corruption-wracked government to protect the capital, analysts and residents said Friday. This week's revelation that militants were operating in Kabul's western Qalae-Wahid district follows a recent series of horrific attacks in the heavily guarded city that killed nearly 200 people and wounded hundreds more, including foreigners. Security forces were led to the safe house by an insurgent who was captured during an attack Monday by IS militants on a military academy in Kabul in which 11 soldiers died, according to an intelligence official. From behind the 10-foot green metal doors, the insurgents were plotting to use the explosives, weapons and suicide vests in three more large attacks in Kabul, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with his agency's rules and did not elaborate on the plans. Political analyst Haroon Mir blamed widespread corruption throughout the government and the security forces for their inability to prevent the recent deadly attacks in Kabul, which included a siege at a luxury hotel and a car bomb packed inside an ambulance. The streets that weave through Qalae-Wahid are rutted and ankle deep in mud. A wide open sewer runs the length of the lanes, clogged with garbage bags, mounds of trash and human waste. Afghan security forces, aided by the U.S.-led coalition, have been targeting suspected IS hideouts in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, where the militants are believed to have established their most extensive bases. The deteriorating security can also be blamed on the protracted feud between Ghani and powerful warlords, including Dostum, who currently is in Turkey and prevented by the government from returning to Afghanistan.
12 | Opinions. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018
Opinions
The transparency of Trump's lies The president's tendency to falsify statements speaks to his regard for the American people
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address, and Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan sit behind him.
By Mackenzie Murtaugh Opinions Editor
On Jan. 30, President Trump delivered his first State of the Union address. Trump tackled taxation, unemployment, immigration,foreign policy and other topics in the 90-minute speech. News outlets were quick to release fact checks of the information stated by Trump, with the New York Times citing 15 different falsifications or misleading/out-of-context claims. On Thursday morning, Trump tweeted some more questionable statistics when he reported that his speech was the most watched State of the Union of all time with 45.6 million TV viewers tuning in. He blatantly lied, as George Bush’s 2003 address had the most TV viewers with 62 million, according to Nielsen. Though these numbers only reflect TV views and not online streams, the facts show the president spreading the fake news he is infamous for calling out. In a realistic world, the president’s outright lies would create serious public discourse on his authority as bearer of this news. But this is America, and Trump’s lies come with the citizenship. Trump gets to tell the narrative he prefers, no matter the circumstance. “Trump screws up words in his speech all the time, but for Trump, it’s not a mistake,” Trevor Noah said on The Daily Show the night of the speech. “For him, it’s just an opportunity to redefine reality.” A major theme of his speech was, unsurprisingly, to make America a great country for all Americans. To do this, Trump vowed to repeal the visa lottery that “randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit or the safety of American people." This is a falsification in its entirety, as applicants to the visa program undergo many proceedings just to be considered for the lottery. Applicants must meet education and work requirement in order to apply for the program and then to be chosen for the visa, according to Politifact. As well, they are required to receive an extensive background check by the government including checks of their criminal records and mental health status. "It's not significant," says Sheridan Stones, 21-yearold Trump supporter. "No offense, but it's more of a misinterpretation. He isn't lying when he says dangerous people get let into this country because of the visa lottery." Immigrants don't benefit from Trump's or his
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Trump claps along with the crowd at his speech on Jan. 30.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
President Trump at the State of the Union address on Jan. 30. supporters’ condemning the speech. Those who enter the country with a visa are extensively tested for their potential in the U.S., yet the president consistently downplays their efforts. Americans- no matter the country they are originally born in- have the ability to create greatness if their commander in chief gives them with the recognition they deserve. “Americans love their country,” Trump said. “And they deserve a government that shows them the same love and loyalty in return.” If Trump really believed this, he wouldn't ridicule immigrants for their politicized inaccessibility to the American dream he touts so proudly for white Americans. The address played off American's basest emotions
towards immigrants by introducing Evelyn Rodriguez, Freddy Cuevas, Elizabeth Alvarado and Robert Mickens, two sets of parents whose teenage daughters were killed by a gang-related incident. The people who killed them entered the country via a loophole that allowed them to enter both the U.S. and the victims’ high school. This strategic presentation of the "bad side" of immigration perpetuates the Trumpian bigotry many of his supporters choose to ignore. Even his mention of the AfricanAmerican unemployment rate being the lowest to date but after the camera cuts to a shot of African-American soldiers looking stone-cold and displeased, this effort proved baseless. While his statements about America’s greatness seemed superfluous, for the most part they were a softening reminder that Americans do good all the time. This is an easy concept to let slip away given, for lack of a better phrase, the tragic meme-worthiness of his campaign slogan Make America Great Again. “Americans fill the world with art and music,” Trump said. “They push the bounds of science and discovery, and they forever remind us of what we should never ever forget: The people dreamed this country. The people built this country. And it's the people who are making America great again.” These closing sentiments were powerful, but they leave a sour taste in the viewer’s mouth given some of Trump’s other comments. Earlier, Trump made a statement regarding American-born undocumented immigrants brought to the country by their parents, who he referred to as Dreamers. Trump said “all Americans are Dreamers”, white-washing and invalidating their struggle as Americans. Is this a new "All Lives Matter" moment, as Trevor Noah put it? Americans dream, but calling them Dreamers in this context belittles the trials of an undocumented immigrant, something a naturalborn American cannot understand. Trump's lies call attention to his laissez-faire attitude towards how the American people view their leader. Instead of improving his approval rating, currently at 40.2 percent as of Feb. 2 according to the aggravated poll from FiveThirtyEight, Trump can't be concerned if his lies affect his authority. His concern is keeping immigrants out, no matter the cost.
Opinions. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018 | 13
Jerusalem: the capital for the Jewish people By Michael Adato Contributing Writer
In a time of high tensions in the Middle East, it is of the utmost importance that the actuality on the ground is recognized by both sides. The United States has historically seen bipartisan support for Israel, and the President’s decision to recognize Jerusalem the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, 2017 is many years, and many administrations, of foreign policy in the making. The United States continues to show a strong commitment to peace and prosperity for both Israelis and Palestinians. In 2016, the United States gave $417 million to the Palestinian Authority, according to the United States Agency for International Development. Last week, about 20 students from the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organization held a demonstration protesting the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the United States. Their use of provocative rhetoric serves to further divide this campus and fails to recognize the long-standing bipartisan support for this decision. Jerusalem is the city in which the Israeli Supreme Court has presided since 1992. Notably, this is one of the only truly free democratic government institutions in the entire Middle East,
according to the non-governmental organization Freedom House. To deny the political importance of Jerusalem to Israel and the Jewish people is to deny the reality that has existed throughout history. The decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel reflects many years of American foreign policy decisions. Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump all agree; recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is the right thing to do. In 2008, Barack Obama made a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee stating that “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.” Admittedly, his decision does become foggy because he, along with former President George W. Bush, declined to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem despite the fact that the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 called for the embassy, which still stands in Tel Aviv, to be moved to Jerusalem by 1998. Both presidents signed waivers to keep the embassy in Tel Aviv for six months for national security reasons. Trump’s comment reflects years of U.S. support for Israelis. Every sovereign state has the right to designate its own capital, and Israel is no different. Furthermore, some comments by these activists that appeared in the DePaulia misrepresented the situation. In a story that ran on Jan. 22, “Students for
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, 2017 with Vice President Mike Pence standing behind him. Justice in Palestine protest US policies, false narratives serves only to exacerbate Israeli detentions,” one of the activists the conflict. stated that “Israelis close off Christian America has always supported and Muslim holy sites.” This claim is a a peaceful and prosperous region. falsification in its entirety. Muslims and Palestinians block the religious freedom Christians have full access to all religious for Jews in Jerusalem without regard sites. In fact, it is actually Jews who the attempt at bipartisanship. Working are barred from visiting many Muslim together, we can make this age-old dream religious sites. The current agreement on a reality. The American recognition of the Temple Mount gives Jordan control Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is a step of the Dome of the Rock; Israel does in this direction. not have any direct control of the site. Dividing Israelis and Palestinians with
Twitter’s problem with bots reflects a generation GRAPHICS BY VICTORIA WILLIAMSON | THE DEPAULIA
By Mackenzie Murtaugh Opinions Editor
On Jan. 27, the New York Times broke a story entitled “The Follower Factory” that exposed the American company Devumi for selling and distributing fake Twitter followers to users. Some of their customers include public figures like the football commentator Ray Lewis, actor John Leguizamo and the Chicago SunTimes film critic Richard Roeper, who was suspended amid the controversy. Social media bots have been a concealed and lucrative business for years. We’ve known they exist, but we’ve been confused about the legality of them. Twitter’s stance on their mass amount of bots is complex because bots are complexities in nature. Proving who or what company bought the bot and programmed it to follow a certain account is difficult without either party coming forward and admitting it, and Twitter’s policy does not require accounts to represent a real person like other social media sites such as Facebook do. The problem with the fake bots is the ethics surrounding them. Many of them, as NYT points out, are almost exact copies of real people’s accounts. This is technically identity theft because of how authentic some of the accounts look.
These accounts have the potential to be defaming if their tweets contain explicit or controversial content. A research team from The Atlantic at Oxford University found that the 2016 presidential election was influenced by bots like these that were programmed to resemble and tweet like Trump or Clinton supporters. Tweets spewing conspiracy theories about the candidates circulate the website, influencing the public’s perceptions though many of the theories had no credibility. It’s usually easy to tell when you’re interacting with a bot, as there are a few signs. The article splits them into three categories: a “scheduled bot” that tweets things at a certain time, a “watcher bot” that monitors other accounts and tweets out changes and an “amplification bot” that follows, tweets and favorites like a real account. Behind this account is far from a real person. Devumi sells amplification bots because public figures like Roeper profit off their follower count. “The more people influencers reach, the more money they make,” says the article as the bottom line. Paying a small amount, literally a penny per follower, to profit later in your career seems like a worthwhile payoff. “I guess with some people it’s worth it,
but it is so frivolous,” said Maverick Cole, a 21-year-old marketing major. “Trying so hard just to look more professional even though people can tell your followers are fake. Some people, there’s just no way they have that many followers, given their like to follower ratio. It’s creepy and just sad to think that all those followers are just fake people pretending like real people.” In reality, a fake bot, consisting of no pictures or information about real people, are harmless if their function is to increase a person’s follower count. It isn’t ethical by any means, but does it hurt anyone? The careers of public figures who buy them, maybe. In Roeper’s case, his film column will continue as long as he does not write any general interest news stories and that he makes a new Twitter account. In the age of social media, these bots represent the deeper psychological need for online validation that translates into personal validation. Social status can be increased on the same beat as follower count. Seeing a high follower count instantly increases someone’s credibility, no matter their field. This can be very intimidating, especially if the person is a young adult with no professional credit. With new and overbearing way to get social status through social media sites, seeing others success that consists
of just posting online becomes confusing. One person can gain 20,000 followers for taking aesthetically pleasing and professional model-equse photos, while another doing that same thing can be stuck in a three-month lull of 200 followers. The difference is that one has bought their following, and one has not. Social status now equates to the online following someone has. Those normal people who buy their followers, not public figures looking for a higher payout, look for the confidence they might have lost in real life online. Their ego shines brighter the more followers they have. Social media influencers are notorious for this: many of them when reviewing food expect the bill to be paid for by the restaurant in exchange for a shout out, claiming their influence should cover the bill. It’s easy to believe the influence of someone who has thousands of followers, but the NYT exposé adds a layer to the conversation. Like paying for an expensive suit to enhance a business person’s brand, buying more followers provide influencers with a better image. After the story broke though, influencers might begin to deeply reflect on their personal growth and not their follower growth.
The opinions in this section do not necessarily reflect those of The DePaulia staff.
14 | Focus. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018
Focus By Ross Greer Contributing Writer
Crack open
What books should the DePaul ith Spring still a few weeks away there is some W time to kill before re-emerging from winter hibernation. What better way to pass the time and avoid the
cold than by revisiting a favorite book, cracking open the novel you’ve been meaning to read since 2012, or finally reading something you’ve pretended to have read since high school. Don’t have a date for Valentine’s Day? Books make Most people read Catcher in the Rye in high school, which is probably the only time anyone could relate to a whining privileged teen who is wandering New York City “Home Alone 2” style. The only reason to reread this book is to realize that it’s actually bad. A Farewell to Arms- Ernest Hemmingway For Whom the Bell Tolls- Ernest Hemmingway Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger
If you haven’t read any of these you can always download the EBook and no one will be the wiser. The Iliad- Homer The Odyssey- Homer The Sound and the Fury- William Faulkner
With subjects ranging from Russian aristocracy to tennis academies, stream of conscious narratives, and hundreds of footnotes there is something in one of these books for everyone. Ulysses- James Joyce Finnegan’s Wake- James Joyce Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy Infinite Jest- David Foster Wallace The Brothers Karamazov- Fyodor Dostoevsky Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand
No one is ever too old for a Dr. Seuss picture book or Shel Silverstien poetry. While it may not be the hardest read, coming back to “Oh the Places You’ll Go” always elicits a smile and a little confidence boost. Oh, the Places You’ll Go- Dr. Seuss The Missing Piece Meets the Big O- Shel Silverstein The Lord of the Rings- J. R. R. Tolkien
Focus. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018 | 15
an old book
l community read... or not read. great company; you don't have to buy them gifts and they can’t leave you! Need an escape from the absurd reality that is our government? Books are like movies but in your head! Can’t decide what to read? Don’t worry, with the help of DePaul’s fine librarians and literature professors, we have put together a list of books for you to read, re-read, or remind yourself to never read again.
In East of Eden, Steinbeck intertwines the stories of two families through biblical allusion while capturing the nature of California’s farmland beautifully. With every reread different sections and details stand out making second and third reads that much more satisfying. East of Eden- John Steinbeck Moby Dick- Herman Melville The Invisible Man- Ralph Ellison
Reading these books is an exercise in self-loathing. If you happen to have any copies laying around, they make great kindling for the fireplace. Fountainhead- Ayn Rand The Art of the Deal- Donald Trump Portnoy’s Complaint- Phillip Roth Twilight- Stephenie Meyer Infinite Jest- David Foster Wallce Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot- Bill O’Reilly
Gabriel García Márquez regales readers with the ongoing tribulations of the Buendía family while creating a world of subtle fantasy through magical realism. East of Eden- John Steinbeck The Stranger- Albert Camus 100 Years of Solitude- Gabriel García Márquez
Though it can be grueling on the first read through, once you let Heart of Darkness stew for a while it’s hard to put down. The brutal depiction of the Belgian Congo by Joseph Conrad was even the inspiration for the famous film Apocalypse Now. Heart of Darkness- Joseph Conrad Great Expectations- Charles Dickens Oliver Twist- Charles Dickens As I Lay Dying- William Faulkner
16 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018
Arts & Life
COURTESY OF IMDB
Michael Shannon in "Take Shelter," the film that was screened at the beginning of the event on Monday. The film premiered in 2011 to critical and audience acclaim.
In conversation with a great mind Humanities Center hosts Michael Shannon
By Christian Ianiello Contributing Writer
Actor Michael Shannon took the stage at the Student Center on last Monday to an audience of nearly 400 people filled the auditorium to watch a screening of his film “Take Shelter” and listen to lead actor Michael Shannon have a conversation with DePaul Humanities Center director H. Peter Steeves. This event was a part of the center’s series “In Conversation with Great Minds” that asks questions about what role art plays in discovering the truth, the deceptive nature of art and where truth and lies are all that there is. Shannon’s prowess as an artist on screen and stage made him an optimal guest for this series. As Michael Shannon entered the room, Steeves entered the stage to welcome the crowd, taking a moment to introduce Shannon. Steeves stressed how Western culture sees reason and emotion at odds with one another, yet emotions and rationality are co-constituents; portraying one without the other lacks authenticity. “It’s not just that Michael Shannon understands, but that his measured performances are both cerebral and emotive, intellectual and moving, alive in such a deep way that they don’t ever amount to a pretending to be alive,” Steeves said. Going through various movies and characters from Shannon’s career, he described one of the ways in which they argue truths with emotional complexity in a way that communicates a sense of both tragedy and comedy. Steeves called this thrill a product of “categoriality.” “It takes a nuanced actor to understand that comedy and tragedy are not opposites, but then it takes someone who is truly exceptional at the craft to allow that
categoriality take over the flesh, to live it in it authentically,” Steeves said. “These complicated moments of being human are infleshed, that we carry our consciousness in our extended bodies, is something that Michael just exhumes. The discussion began with how “Take Shelter” spoke to Shannon’s experience the most out of any movie he has made and how he has never felt such synchronicity with another artist as he did with the director Jeff Nichols. The conversation moved toward politics and an environmental crisis. Shannon shared how, as a teenager, he would go door-to-door canvassing for an environmental group in Illinois and was astonished by how uninterested people were. He says he still worried about energy consumption,the waste movie sets produce and how the problem needs more than economic support to be solved. Shannon shared that during a screening for the 2013 movie “The Great Gatsby” in New York, he unknowingly shook conservative billionaire Charles Koch’s hand.. Steeves brought the conversation back to Shannon’s masterful character complexities, and specifically his performance in “The Iceman.” Shannon was immediately fascinated with his character who was based on the real-life mob hitman, Richard Kuklinski. “The notion that somebody can want to have love in their family and all these things and also be capable of this destruction, that was one of the things that drew me to it,” Shannon said. Shannon is currently directing a play, “Traitor,” that is playing at Chicago’s A Red Orchid Theater until March 4. He shared his struggles with directing in an endearing yet sarcastic tone. “It’s interesting how many times you
can say what you think is the same thing in a number of different ways and yet another human being still has no idea what you’re talking about. That’s one of the joys of directing,” he said. He joked how it wasn’t a reflection of the actors, but rather of his own mind. Besides directing, Shannon also spoke of his appreciation for the “renewing aspect” of plays. “There’s some plays that are not very age specific; I kind of want to do them once every ten years just to see how I’ve changed or how I can reinterpret or reimagine it or how the world’s changed in relation to it,” Shannon said. When asked how he prepares for a role, he described how it’s much more layered than reading lines. “You have this whole matrix of things in your mind, in your heart, in your soul and all the experiences you’ve ever had in your life, and all the things you’ve ever seen, and it’s like some switchboard that can’t be explained. It’s beyond thought. It’s just an experience,” Shannon said. Shannon also shared some art that inspires him, such as the music in the 1988 documentary “Straight No Chaser” about the jazz musician Thelonious Monk, the writing of the recently deceased author Denis Johnson and “typical white boy shit” like the works of J.D. Salinger. As the Q&A began, a theater student asked a question about using acting as a tool to get at complex emotional truths. When Shannon mentioned that he was at The Theatre School earlier in the day, the whole front left side of the audience, that was comprised almost entirely of theater students, cheered. “When you whittle all these things away you’re like, oh, I think what people really want is they just want to watch people
being alive and doing things. They don’t need me to do anything other than that. It’s cruelly, deceptively simple,” Shannon said. A film student asked Shannon if he would do a voiceover cameo for his short film and another student how to use film and art to create change within people. “The thing about art is it’s not a dictatorship. You can’t control other people’s behavior. You can’t control what other people think or do or feel. But you can throw your pebble in the pond and hope that someone else stares at it and it makes them think while they’re watching it,” Shannon explained. Steeves ended the discussion and people crowded the stage, hoping to talk to Shannon. He shook hands, smiled and even went in a hallway with the film student to make the cameo. The student was thrilled but not surprised Shannon had agreed to help, based on his friendly reputation. The rest of the crowd seemed similarly pleased with the evening’s event. “I was definitely hoping to get something from him, some reassurance, to see his philosophy on acting and how it stacks up against the kind of things we’re learning in this school, and he really said some stuff that resonated with me personally,” said theater student Joey Walsh. His friend Jazzy Rush, another actor, agreed. “Our acting teacher speaks so highly of him, and we all know who he is anyway, so as acting students it was something that was necessary. There was a lot to gain,” Rush said. To watch a video recap of the event, and watch past events, visit The DePaul Humanities Center YouTube channel. For a list of upcoming events head to The DePaul Humanities Center website.
Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018| 17
PHOTO COURTESY OF JESÚS MONTERO
Shannon discusses his work as part of the converstion at the event. One of his most recent works, "The Shape of Water" was nominated for 13 Academy Awards this year.
Michael Shannon's notable works: "Nocturnal Animals" "The Shape of Water" "Man of Steel" "12 Strong" "The Iceman" "Midnight Special" "Revolutionary Road" "Loving" Shannon takes a selfie with a student after the event.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JESÚS MONTERO
PHOTO COURTESY OF JESÚS MONTERO
Michael Shannon joined the DePaul community at the Student Center on Monday Jan. 29 as part of the Humanities Center series highlighting creative minds.
18 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018
"The Shape of Water " rebels against Oscars tradition By Garret Neal Staff Writer
Sometimes, while diving through the sea of drawn-out dramas and complicated character studies that generally make up the Oscar nominations, you find a pearl that shines brighter than the rest. Particularly for someone who is not a fan of those genres, Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” is that pearl. Del Toro crafts the story of a mute janitorial worker named Eliza, played by Sally Hawkins, who begins to fall in love with an amphibious creature (Doug Jones) being housed in the government facility she works in. Unfortunately for her, head of security Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon) plans to kill the asset to prevent it from falling into Soviet hands; while never explicitly stated, context clues suggest that the film takes place in the late 1950s. The plot seems intriguing at first glance. However, towards the final act of the film, it quickly devolves into a series of romance clichés. This can be severely off-putting for someone who is not a fan of the genre, especially when contrasted with the earlier minutes that more closely follow the guidelines of a darker monster film. Fortunately, del Toro devotes himself to ensuring it is the best-told cliché romance of the year, crafting a beautiful setting, fleshing out his characters and adding another Oscar worthy score from Alexandre Desplat. As the opening credits role, we are toured around a room submerged in green-tinted seawater, with rays of light supposedly streaming through the surface, giving us glimpses of what lies beneath an alarm clock that floats just inches off the nightstand it had been sitting on moments before. The camera slowly pans left, and we see a person suspended above their bed. As the credits end, these items slowly fall back into their original positions as water
gradually escapes the scene. Before we know it, it is as if it were never there and the movie begins. On a technical level doing something like this must have been a unique challenge, and it makes for spectacular viewing. Del Toro brings this same level of beauty to all the underwater shots in the film and those outside of it as well, doing a great job of contrasting light and dark colors. In one scene, we see the dust and decaying rats underneath Eliza’s apartment floor before being shown the gummy grandeur of the nearly empty movie theater below her. Strickland travels from his gray government office to his classic '50s home filled with bright yellows and oranges. Within these crafted scenes we get to view characters that could have easily been romance character tropes, but in this film they go beyond that. Hawkins doesn’t just play a woman who is emotionally incomplete but is literally incomplete in the sense that she can’t talk. This could’ve resulted in a performance of overacting Oscar bait, but Hawkins brings so much sincerity to the role that it moves beyond that. She communicates so much without needing to speak, and even when using sign language one can almost hear how she should would have spoken them. Richard Jenkins is great as Giles, Eliza’s friendly neighbor. He stands out because we are shown his motivations for acting the way he does. These scenes could be seen as detached from the main plot of the film, but they add so much depth to his character and is it far more effective than just telling the audience through a long monologue. Similarly, Shannon has his depth explored in scenes with his family, in a car dealership and at the military facility interacting with the general who heads the operation. We get to understand his motivations so that, while he may never
COURTESY IMDB
Doug Jones and Sally Hawkins in the Oscar nominated film "The Shape of Water." be sympathetic, he becomes more than just some evil guy. And Shannon brings just as much sincerity to this role as he did to General Zod in 2013’s “Man of Steel,” only this time the movie fits around the characters much better. Octavia Spencer’s Zelda, while funny, is probably the most two-dimensional of the group. She mostly serves as Eliza’s friend at work who spouts endlessly about how lazy her husband is. Spencer does well with what she is given, but certainly has the least screen time to gain depth. The creature itself is also performed beautifully, with Doug Jones bringing along his experience with other nonhuman roles like Abe Sapien in both “Hellboy”films, also directed by del Toro. The aquatic being
was made primarily from makeup and prosthetics giving its actions a sincerity that would likely be absent if the character was entirely CGI. The music ties everything together, standing out specifically in the more romantic moments, using an accordion to draw romantic images of a summer's day in the French countryside. It lends a purity that brings a little something extra to the scenes. The clichés of “The Shape of Water” won’t be for everyone, but for those looking for a break from the traditional Oscar films, this could be a breath of fresh air. Even for those predisposed against romance, this one is still worth at least one watch if only for the aesthetics alone.
Summer Session I 2018 PPS 352 Issues in Urban Education Policy
Dr. William Sampson
Online
Summer Session II 2018 PPS 200 Introduction to Public Policy
Jumana Khalifeh
Online
Autumn Quarter 2018 PPS 200 Introduction to Public Policy
Dr. Hugh Bartling
MW 9:40§11:10
PPS 205 Research Methods
Dr. Kelly Tzmouis
MW 1:00§2:30
PPS 301 Public Policy & the Political Process
Dr. William Sampson
TTH 11:20§12:50
PPS 352 Issues in Urban Education Policy
Dr. William Sampson
Online
PPS 359 Special Topics: Neoliberalism, Mass Media & Public Policy
Jumana Khalifeh
TTH 9:40§11:20
Chair, Dr. William Sampson 773-325-7335 PPSdept@depaul.edu
Where to stream Oscar nominees
Arts & Life. Feb. 5, 2018. The DePaulia. | 19
The Academy Awards are coming up soon which means there’s only so much time to catch up on the nominated movies. If you, like me, haven’t been able to make it to the movies a lot recently or perhaps more likely, like me, you don’t really see the appeal of spending $15 on a movie ticket, your time has come. A handful of the year’s greatest films have hit streaming services, giving you the perfect excuse to stay in bed all day and watch the best that this year had to offer. Below is a list of some of the movies available to stream and where you can find them.
By Lacey Latch Arts & Life Editor
“Last Man in Aleppo” This documentary follows volunteers after joining “The White Helmets” as they try to save lives in the besieged city of Aleppo in war-torn Syria. Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature “The Boss Baby” An infant businessman teams up with a seven year old to stop an evil CEO from taking an unfair proportion of the world’s love. Nominated for: Best Animated Feature “Icarus” A documentary digging into the world of sports doping that takes a dramatic turn when documentarian Bryan Fogel happens to meet a Russian scientist. Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature “Strong Island” The filmmaker examines his brother's death and the corruption in the judicial system that allowed his killer to go free. Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature “Mudbound” Following World War II, two men return to work on a farm in rural Mississippi as they try deal with racism and the reality of life after war. Nominated for: Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Big Sick” A Pakistani comedian and a white grad student fall in love but when she falls ill, he is forced to meet her parents as well as his family’s expectations as their cultures clash. Nominated for: Best Original Screenplay “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail” A documentary about a small, family-run financial institution called Abacus that is the only company criminally indicted following the 2008 financial crisis. Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature “Dunkirk” Allied soldiers find themselves surrounded by the German Army and are evacuated during an intense battle in World War II. Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Music Score, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing
“Get Out” A young African American man meets his white girlfriend's family for the first time. He quickly realizes that things are not as pleasant as they seem. Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay “Logan” Logan, hiding from the world and taking care of an ailing Professor X, is disturbed by the arrival of a young mutant and the dark forces pursuing her. Nominated for: Best Adapted Screenplay
GRAPHICS BY ALLY ZACEK
"Call Me By Your Name" and LGBTQ+ representation By Isabella Brock Contributing Writer
“Call Me By Your Name” was released earlier this January after months of anticipation from audiences. The film is based on the acclaimed 2007 novel of the same name by André Aciman, about a 17-year-old boy living in Italy who falls in love with an older male graduate student who has come to stay with his family. The film was directed by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and is stars Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer. Rich with culture and sensuality, the beautiful Italian landscapes and whirlwind romance has captured the hearts of audiences worldwide. Since its limited release beginning in November, the film has gathered mass attention for its overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. A frontrunner for this awards season, the film has already laid a legacy as a beloved and important film for the LGBT community. Chalamet plays Elio Pearlman, a quiet and emotional young man spending his summer in Italy with his family. Hammer plays Oliver, an outgoing graduate student who is the subject of Elio’s desire and represents much of what Elio aspires to be. As the summer progresses, Elio finds himself increasingly drawn to Oliver, who seems to be nonchalant about their relationship. After a confession by Elio, the two begin an affair that is kept secret from Elio’s family and friends. The summer won't last a lifetime, and the two are faced with separating after experiencing a love that has deeply changed the both of them. Written by filmmaker James Ivory, the film is filled with beautiful dialogue that echoes the sense of longing Elio feels for Oliver from the first shots. It is reminiscent of Ivory’s earlier romantic classics such as “A
COURTESY IMDB
Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet in the romantic drama "Call Me By Your Name" directed by Luca Guadagnino. Room With A View” or “Maurice.” It is a quiet kind of love, pulled off by the talented acting by Chalamet and Hammer. Chalamet had little film acting experience before this film and no lead acting experience at all, yet his performance perfectly conveys the overlying emotion of the film. Chalamet portrays an innocence that brings the audience to remember their own first love. His mannerisms are childlike and portray complete inexperience, making him all the more charming. Hammer pulls off Oliver’s easy-going nature completely, and you fall in love with his character immediately. The two performances complement each other perfectly; where Chalamet plays emotion quietly, Hammer screams his from the mountaintops. Supporting performances by Esther Garrel, Amira Casar and Michael Stuhlbarg pull the film together as a complete world. Stuhlbarg’s heart-wrenching speech to Elio at the end of the film is perhaps one of the most memorable monologues
in contemporary film history. Each supporting role furthers the relationship between Elio and Oliver, showing their own faults or virtues through interactions with others. The film’s use of the beautiful Italian landscape and its focus on the art and literature of the country makes the production feel like something out of a dream. Guadagnino directs the romance as reflective of the beautiful world around it. Filmed primarily in a 17th century mansion, the production seems completely timeless. The soundtrack, filled with a mix of piano ballads and '80s pop hits, perfectly balances the timelessness of the film with its modern influences. Piano classics including Maurice Ravel’s "Une Barque Sur L'océan" accompany the ageless Italian landscapes, while contemporary hits like “Love My Way” by the Psychedelic Furs illustrate scenes of '80s teenage life. While Elio and Oliver’s relationship is faced with problems of ostracization from their own generation, Guadagnino focuses on the
universally understood issues of unrequited or forbidden love. Guadagnino strived to make a film that reflected love in a way which is absolutely timeless and inclusive to all people, regardless of sexuality. The film paints Elio and Oliver’s love in a way that has been praised by members of the LGBT community, foregoing problems of sexuality for the problems any loving relationship would have. Elio and Oliver’s romance is an important leap for Hollywood away from the typical narrative of a LGBT film. Its messages and beauty transcend bounds of a same sex relationship, encouraging a wider acceptance of love of all kinds. The film’s cultural significance and expertly crafted production has already secured it a spot with the greats. It currently sits at number 176 in a list of the best 250 films on IMDb. With four pending Oscar nominations, “Call Me By Your Name” has the potential to cause some serious change on how LGBT stories are portrayed in Hollywood.
20| Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018
"2 Dope Queens"
Comedians take their hit podcast to HBO
Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson have been a powerhouse comedy duo for almost three years and have quicly risen to the top of the comedy world.
By Lacey Latch Arts & Life Editor
Whether you know them from their appearances on "The Daily Show" and "Broad City," or their wildly popular podcast "2 Dope Queens" on WNYC, you know that Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson are hilarious. Their four-part HBO comedy special “2 Dope Queens,” that premiered on Friday Feb. 2, is just as funny as their other projects thus far. The chemistry Williams and Robinson have on their podcast is palpable, and it translates well to a live television audience. The women have an innate ability to make their audience feel at ease, and watching them riff off of one another feels like you’re watching a hilarious conversation between two best friends. Each of the four one-hour episodes is brilliantly wirtten, from the pre-taped introduction to the very end. Composed in a variety-show format, the hosts introduce three different stand-up comics per episode and have high profile celebrity guests like Jon Stewart and Sarah Jessica Parker.
"'2 Dope Queens' is a refreshing take on the tried and true hourlong comedy special. The show switches up enough to keep you interested and to keep everything fresh."
They use their special as a way to showcase comics that may otherwise be underrepresented or unnoticed, giving them a platform to shine. In the first two installments six comedians are featured, and all provide commentary on the world today,focusing on aspects of life both ordinary and bizarre. A few of the comics, including Michelle Buteau, Baron Vaughn, and Rhea Butcher, have also been featured as fan favorites on the “2 Dope Queens” podcast, which will be a welcome surprise for their fans. The first two episodes were filmed at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, NY and many of the comedians are based in New York City. This results in a plethora of urban-centered jokes that poke fun at the many aspects of life in a major city. The comics fearlessly and casually tackle topics like race, body image, sex and the black experience in America. In the second episode, entitled “Black Hair,” and Parker is even invited on stage to ask the hosts questions about black women’s hair. “2 Dope Queens” is a refreshing take on the tried and true hour-long comedy special. The show switches up enough to keep you interested and to keep everything fresh. Often, comedy specials can seem too drawn out when they focus on a single stand-up act the entire time, but this show keeps it fast-paced by featuring multiple different stand-up sets per episode. While Williams and Robinson may not be physically on screen at all times, their comedic energy is always present. At its core, “2 Dope Queens” is a much deserved platform for two successful, confident, well-spoken and most importantly hilarious black women to be themselves and showcase their talents. Simply put, it truly is just about two dope queens.
COURTESY OF HBO
Arts & Life. Feb. 5, 2018. The DePaulia. | 21
"Darkest Hour" showcases Oldman's talent
COURTESY OF IMDB
Gary Oldman underwent a dramatic transformation to take on the role of Winston Churchill, often spending multiple hours getting makeup and prothetics applied.
By Garret Neal Staff Writer
“Darkest Hour” shares similarities with 2013 Best Picture nominee, “Lincoln;” in that it takes a well-known historical figure, in this case Winston Churchill, and gives a focused look at what the film sees as the most momentous few days of the figures life. In “Lincoln” it was Honest Abe’s fight to ratify the thirteenth amendment, for Churchill we see him take up the mantle of Prime Minister and be immediately challenged with the imminent death of the English army. If you watched “Dunkirk” this year and wanted a peek into the political discourse that lead to those events, “Darkest Hour” gives its take on that. While watching this film, it almost felt like someone thought, “Let’s get Gary Oldman an Oscar,” grabbed Oldman and threw him into the center of a historical drama. This obviously doesn’t give enough credit to the work that went into making the movie, but everything outside of Oldman’s turn as Churchill seemed fairly average. In the wake of Churchill, the remaining characters have little time to gain their own development. The audience gets just enough information on each person for their role in the plot to make sense, but it is hard to get truly invested in them unless you bring in your own historical knowledge. The actors portray these characters faithfully, so their lack of depth is never distracting, but it could have been stronger. The only standout side characters where King George, who we begin to understand why he feels the ways he does about Churchill, and Clemmie, Churchill’s secretary, who like the king, has an attitude change towards Churchill. The plot never gains the momentum it could because we already know the end and the challenges (or challenge, really) faced in getting to that end are not endowed with enough weight to feel truly impactful. The conflict of the film is just different forms of “Churchill is too aggressive, we need to make a peace agreement,” with Churchill
responding, “We can’t because, you know, Hitler.” Even this lone conflict doesn’t quite take off, though the future of all the United Kingdom is at stake, because we keep hearing about Churchill being too aggressive, but we don’t see it. In fact, we don’t see any flaws in Churchill and it’s hard to see why, particularly in a true story, anyone would oppose him if everything he does is working. This causes much of the tension to fall by the wayside and even the ending to fall a bit flat, but this Oldman guy prevents it from becoming a faceplant. When going to see this film, your really just coming for an incredible performance from Oldman. It pulls out all the Oscar bait-y stops (makeup, famous historical figure, speech changes), but, while this may never be his most remembered role, it was certainly one of his more challenging. Oldman is able to convey a range of emotions through a mask, several layers thick, of makeup and prosthetics. He gets Churchill’s speech pattern down exceptionally well. On each scene he is in, which is almost all of them, he steals the attention of the audience and brings the emotions of the scene, whether tension, remorse or happiness, to higher levels. Obviously, the highest points are when he breathes meaning into the already strong Churchill speeches. The film is almost entirely talking and almost entirely just Churchill talking, which certainly won’t be for everyone. Many parts of this film, the side characters, plot and some dialogue seem average (though certainly not bad) for a historical piece and it's hard to see this film gaining much of an attraction with out Gary Oldman in it. But that’s like saying “Star Wars” wouldn’t be cool if it didn’t take place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. For WWII buffs, this will probably be interesting just to get a glimpse of the political intrigue. Plus, some of the flaws of the film are lessened if coming in with knowledge on the subject. For anyone interested, you might as well be coming to see “Gary Oldman: Oscar Movie.”
COURTESY OF IMDB
Oldman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in this film
22 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018
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Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018 | 23
what’s FRESH on FOX
9-1-1
The Mick
This show premiered on FOX a few weeks ago and in that short timed has gained a decent following. This drama follows the high-pressure lives of Los Angeles First Responders including police, firefighters, paramedics, and dispatchers as they deal with stress at work and at home.
A fresh twist on the family sitcom, “The Mick” follows Mickey, an irresponsible woman as she takes over guardianship of her niece and nephews after their parents are arrested for fraud and tax evasion.
While this premise is by no means new, the all-star cast that play the main characters is where the appeal of the show is formed. Legendary actress Angela Bassett plays Athena Grant, a patrol sergeant at the LAPD. Awardwinning actor Peter Krause, best known for his work on “Six Feet Under” and “Parenthood,” plays LAFD captain Bobby Nash. Connie Britton is a 911 dispatcher and the narrator of the show. With these three at the helm, the show is almost guaranteed to reel in viewers from sheer star power alone.
The class divide between Mickey and the spoiled kids serves as a hilarious undertone throughout every episode. Mickey is played brilliantly by Kaitlin Olson, best known for her 12 years of hilarity on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Working alongside her are three of the greatest young actors on television right now, each of whom are entirely capable of holding their own on primetime TV.
After less than two weeks on air FOX renewed the drama for a second season, so I think it’s safe to say this show is worth watching. If you start watching now and you’re hooked, you’re guaranteed at least one more full season with these characters.
Olson’s performance has been praised and critics have taken note of the show’s dark humor, a genre rarely coupled with a family sitcom. But that is exactly what makes this show feel fresh in such a crowded field. By having an ensemble made up of characters that are all slightly unlikable, “The Mick” brings the anti-hero aesthetic that has become popular in recent years in drama to a comedic setting for the first time.
LACEY LATCH | THE DEPAULIA
LACEY LATCH | THE DEPAULIA
In theaters and upcoming film releases Jan. 26 “Maze Runner: The Death Cure” Thomas embarks on a mission to find a cure for a deadly disease known as the "Flare". Star: Dylan O'Brien
Feb. 9 “Fifty Shades Freed” The third installment of the "Fifty Shades" franchise, following the couple after their marriage. Stars: Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson
Feb. 2 “Winchester” The most haunted house in the world, built by Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester fortune. Inspired by true events. Stars: Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke
Feb. 9 "Peter Rabbit" Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor compete for the affectiosn of a woman next door. Stars: Domnhall Gleeson, James Corden, Rose Byrne
Feb. 9 "The 15:17 to Paris" Three men thwart an ISIS attack on a train heading to Paris. The men involved in the real-life event play themselves in the film.
Feb. 16 “Black Panther” Black Panther springs into action when the fate of his nation is threatened by an old enemy.
24 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Feb. 5, 2018
St.Vincent’s
D e JAMZ “Spinning fresh beats since 1581”
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Find this and all our DeJamz playlists on depauliaonline.com and on our spotify account By Racehel Fernandez Managing Editor
Midertms at DePaul seem to last an eternity and leaves everyone feeling discombobulated. You know that feeling of when you’ve been looking at a computer screen for seven hours straight and then you have to suddenly face reality and natural light again? Well, the musical equivalent of that feeling is when songs are in different time signatures. Most of the popular music we hear is in 4/4, but it’s fun to jam to something in 2/4 or 6/8 every once in a while.
1. "Hammer" - Tune Yards Tune-Yards has a successful history of having some of the strangest time signatures in their catchy songs, and their new album, “I can feel you creep into my private life,” doesn’t disappoint. The rhythm in "Hammer" has satisfying builds and resolutions, the rise and fall of the melody is extremely gratifying and lyrics like “I am not the woman that you think I am/ I swallow up a mountain and I’m quiet as a clam,” make this song a powerful tune to bop to as you’re finishing up midterms.
Crossword
2. "Hey Ya!" - Outkast “Hey Ya!” is undoubtedly the most important song with 2/4 breaks. The periodic change in the rhythm keeps listeners just on their toes enough to make the song the catchy and recognizable banger that has held its own since 2003. When you’re walking out of JTR in a haze from typing a million papers and breezing through discussion board posts, nothing is more satisfying than joining in on that iconic *clap clap clap*.
Across 1. For students of both sexes 5. Metrical foot (Var.) 11. Famous couples’ transport 14. Respiratory sound 15. Peanut butter choice 16. “What’d I tell ya?” 17. Experimental show site 19. “___ got an idea” 20. Mythical breastplate 21. Chair, as a committee 23. Chowhound 26. Dance maneuvers 27. Recruit through deception 28. More or less 31. Belittle 32. Frolic and gambol 33. Say the Lord’s prayer 36. Follow or tail 37. Links hit 40. Valuable rock 41. Old Testament
3. "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders Part I" -Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens’ “Illinois” is the ultimate album for hipsters living in Chicago. Stevens also has a great track record of pulling off wild beats under melodies by strange instruments. This sevenminute song is complex in so many ways; it’s truly an event to listen to and keep up with, andI mean that in the most positive way. It’s fun and catchy and busy which makes it an audible representation of the business of midterms.
twin 43. Fodder fora mudder 44. Development developments 46. Gold quantities 48. Part of USMC 49. Complex unit 51. Former Spanish coins 52. Left on the store shelf 54. Imitates a boxer 55. On, as a lamp 56. Hook-and-ladder site 61. Hawaiian dish 62. Exceedingly 63. Almond shade 64. Red army member 65. More adroit 66. Stone paving block Down 1. ___-Magnon 2. Awkward, stupid person 3. Polar helper
4. "Strawberry Fields Forever" - The Beatles The incredibly broad range of The Beatles’ discography makes it hard to pick just one song with an interesting time signature. Diverging from the catchy and upbeat style of “Illinois,” the funky time signatures in “Strawberry Fields Forever” are hypnotic and slow. Managing to squeeze in 4/4, 2/4 and 6/8 within seconds, this song is discreetly complex and is a great jam to calm you down after submitting something to the dropbox a minute before it’s due.
4. Pre-election events 5. Geometric figure with equal angles 6. At full speed, nautically 7. Young ‘60s Brits 8. Fiddle stick 9. Bonneville Salt Flats state 10. Most withdrawn 11. Not including something 12. Gun an engine 13. “The gift that ___ on giving” 18. Fixes a shoelace 22. Straddling 23. Transcript item 24. Timber wolves 25. In a difficult situation 28. Match game? 29. Thousand ___, Calif. 30. “The Catcher in the ___” 32. “Fall” attachment 34. Sports venue 35. Affirmatives 38. “Not ___ shabby!”
39. Cascades high spot 42. Annul 45. Electra’s coconspirator 47. Played 18 holes 48. Guide 49. Mea ___ 50. Type of dip or bagel 51. Hardly current 53. Deliberate loss, to a pug 54. Chipper 57. Call, as a game 58. Road hazard 59. Crumb 60. Cashew, e.g.
Sports. Feb. 5, 2018. The DePaulia | 25
Sports
An Eagles win is a win for the common person By Lacey Latch Arts & Life Editor
COMMENTARY There’s something inherently appealing about an underdog. David and Goliath is an almost universal tale, the story of a young boy that beat a nine-foot warrior. It’s not hard for anyone to cheer for the people that are already being counted out. If they lose, it’s less traumatic, but if they win, it’s a true spectacle to watch. It becomes a bit more nuanced when the reigning champion is one of the most universally hated teams in the NFL with an equally hated head coach and quarterback. On the other hand, the underdog who would usually be so easy to root for is infamous for their entirely unpleasant fans and poor sportsmanship in the stands. They are called the Broad Street Bullies, after all. I’m here to make the case for those terrible fans, Philly, and more importantly, the Patriots’ loss that the nation needs. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Eagles fandom. I grew up a short 20-minute drive from Center City, Philadelphia and was surrounded by the fan culture at Flyers, Phillies and Sixers games my whole life. It’s one of my favorite things about being home. As notoriously bad as Philly fans are, they are also known for being unrelentingly passionate. Earlier in the season, the Eagles were the team to beat. They were still an underdog, but they were a worthy opponent with Carson Wentz at the helm. After he tore his ACL before the postseason, the team was counted out almost immediately. Now they really were the underdogs in everyone’s eyes - except their fans’. Then, veteran quarterback Nick Foles took over. A bit about Foles: he’s no Wentz, that’s obvious. The fans unofficially changed the state name to “Wentzylvania” after all. With that said, Foles is still one of the greatest QB’s in the game right now when it comes to skill, and the fans know it. In fact, his best stats surpass Wentz’s. The thing that makes the Foles-led Eagles an underdog besides their opponent is his unpredictability. He plays at a caliber
MARK HUMPHREY| AP
Tom Brady is looking for his sixth Super Bowl, and second against the Philadelphia Eagles. on par with elites Brady and Aaron Rodgers but has also played on par with some of the worst QB’s in the league. The sheer fact that no one knows which Foles is coming to Minnesota is where most of the doubt comes regarding the Eagles’ chance at winning. However rowdy and rude the fans may be, all of the actions are fueled by passion. True unflinching love and faith in a team that is often counted out. There’s something to be said for that. Now let’s talk about those dreaded Patriots and their leader Tom Brady. No one is discounting Brady’s talent as an athlete. Everyone on this earth is wellaware that he is practically a perfect human specimen. But that doesn't mean we all want to watch him win again. Brady is just as hated as he is loved. Perhaps it’s the fact that he seems to have stopped aging in 1998, or maybe it’s that he’s probably the healthiest person on the planet. Maybe you hate him for more superficial reasons like his chin dimple or his supermodel wife. Whatever the reason, I’m sure it’s valid. Lifelong Eagles fan Madison Cydis explains that she believes Brady deserves the flack due to the way he is treated on the field.
MATT ROURKE| AP
Nick Foles replaced Carson Wentz after he suffered a torn ACL and LCL in week 14. “I hate him because he’s a crybaby and always gets calls that go his way,” she said. “You can’t lay a finger on him without getting a flag. I think the referees and Roger Goodell are too afraid of him to make any calls against him.” It’s no secret that the Patriots are a good team. They have been for a very long time, but the Eagles have a real chance at winning this game. In a time of such divisiveness throughout our great nation, it is clear that nothing brings people together faster or stronger than mutual hatred. At this
point it’s pretty safe to say that Brady and his Patriots are the most universally hated entity in the football world. If the Eagles pull out a win, it may just save this country. Everyone that doesn’t live in the Northeast will rejoice as the terrible football tyranny finally ends. If I’ve learned anything from history class, it’s that everyone’s reign eventually comes to an end. It’s almost poetic that their potential overthrowers come from the city that our nation was founded on back when we were overthrowing another monarchy. #GoBirds
BLUE DEMON RUNDOWN TRACK & FIELD
TENNIS
SOFTBALL
It was yet another record-breaking meet for the DePaul track and field squad. One of the standout performances came from Brian Mada, who set the school record with a 7.54 meter jump to take home the victory in the long jump. Mada also finished fourth in the triple jump with a jump of 15.54 meters. Junior Alexia Brooks continued her fast start to the indoor season by once again breaking her own record with a time of 8.44, finishing third overall in the event. Both seniors Elizabeth Endy and Sebastian Feyersinger lowered their times, with Feyersinger achieving an indoor personal best in the 400-meter dash, finishing seventh overall. Endy, on the other hand, finished ninth in the 800-meter, dropping her time over a second from the Notre Dame Invitational. The Blue Demons are back in action Friday, Feb. 9 at the Hoosier Hills meet in Bloomington, Indiana, their third of four straight meets in the state. .
DePaul men’s tennis got back to their winning ways with a 4-1 win over Monmouth Friday afternoon at New Shrewsbury Racket Club. The Blue Demons opened with two doubles victories, and consecutive singles matches to clinch the decision when Tripp Tuff topped Sergio Martinez 6-4, 6-1. The victory helped improve its dual-match season record to 6-2. After a nearly two-week break, the DePaul women’s team returned to action, but dropped a 6-1 decision to Utah at the Baseline Tennis Center. Sophomore Aspasia Avgeri secured the point for DePaul after a 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Utes’ Jena Chang. Short-handed team had to forfeit one singles match and one doubles match. The loss dropped the Blue Demons to 2-1 in the spring season. The women's team rallied for a 4-3 victory over Marshall Sunday afternoon after going 3-1 during singles play.
Fresh off being tabbed as second in the Big East preseason coaches poll, the DePaul softball team will kick off their season at the Total Control Sports Invitational in Rosemont, Ill. The Blue Demons will open with games against IUPUI and Wright State on Friday, before squaring off against Eastern Kentucky and Wright State again on Saturday. DePaul will close out the weekend with a game against Northern Colorado on Sunday. Coach Eugene Lenti’s squad will look to improve on a 29-23 record season that ended with two losses in the Lexington Regional to Marshall. The Blue Demons advanced to the NCAA tournament after winning the Big East tournament championship for the third time with a win over St Johns. The Blue Demons will be replacing four key pieces including, All-Big East first team selections Nicole Pihl and Michael Fitzgerald, as well as Big East tournament Most Outstanding Player Dylan Christensen.
26 | Sports. Feb. 5, 2018. The DePaulia
Winter Wonderland
Can't get to Korea? There's plenty to do here weeks, he hopes students will be interested in seeing a game now that they are closer Asst. Sports Editor to campus. “Our season typically ends around late With the Super Bowl in the rearview February, ” Cassata said. “With us playing mirror, sports fans will quickly turn so close to campus now over at Johnny’s their attention to the Winter Olympics IceHouse West, hopefully if the U.S wins’ beginning Thursday with figure skating people will want to come catch a game.” and the Opening Ceremony on Friday in Cassata said while there are no set plans, Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium. the team will likely watch the U.S, Canada New stars will be discovered just as Katie and championship games together, paying Ledecky, Simone Manuel and Simone Biles were during the Summer Olympics in particular attention to the younger players in the game. The NHL prohibits players 2016. DePaul Snow Club President Anna from participating. “It will be interesting because (...) we’re Wisniewski will have a special rooting not going to know who all the players are interest this year because her former high and obviously it is not going to be the school classmate at Wauconda High School best possible talent playing,” Cassata said. and fellow Illinois native Kevin Bickner “It will be interesting to see the younger will represent Team USA as part of the Ski guys take the spotlight in the way they did Jumping team. Wisniewski can remember before. When the U.S. beat the USSR in the days back in high school when they were friends and plans to reach out to him the Miracle on Ice, those guys weren’t pros either, so it will be interesting to see how this week. “Super excited to cheer him on, going to the different nations’ talent stacks up.” One of the other sports sure to grab send him a message later this week and say everyone’s attention is curling, one of good luck,” Wisniewski said. “We went to multiple sports that will be broadcast high school together, we were in the same throughout the games. grade and everything, I remember hanging All five members of the women's curling out in gym class with him so I’m super team will be making their Olympic debuts, proud.” while Tyler George and Matt Hamilton will Wisniewski also noted that it is meaningful to have someone representing make their debuts for the mens side. Chicago Curling Club secretary Kevin Illinois on a global scale. “It’s really exciting for Illinois because Behrens said his organization’s website we aren’t really known for our skiers,” usually receives a noticeable boost during Wisniewski said. “When you think of the games, with fans becoming interested skiers in the United States you think of the in the sport. “Every four years we see an enormous Rocky Mountains and Utah and Colorado, spike in interest,” Behrens said. “You can so to have someone from Illinois and see that just by hits on our website go locally from the Midwest compete globally, up ten-fold and we always increase the it resonates with you.” The Snow Club is in the midst of amount of beginner classes that we do and restructuring the club with the goal of things of that nature.” Behrens attributes some of this to securing more consistent year-to-year the frequency with which curling is members. They plan to build off this broadcasted, and says the team aspect momentum by of the sport is one securing tables of the reasons he at the Ray Meyer believes people are Fitness Center and always so interested. getting the word out “During the in other ways. Olympics it is one of “I know a lot of the few events, like people at this school this year in Korea, it are interested in is going to span the snowboarding or entire Olympics,” skiing that don’t Behrens said. “It is know our club a team sport, it’s on, exists,” Wisniewski there’s three games said. “We hope that a day, it seems like everyone that has a every time you turn passion for skiing or on the TV you’re snowboarding that liable to run into it. are watching the PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL CLUB HOCKEY I think that’s a lot Olympics gets a little DePaul club hockey president John of it, it’s ubiquitous more excited about Cassata says he is excited to see new nowadays. ” their own passions stars emerge on the US Hockey team. Chicago Curling and will kind of start Club plans to take advantage of this looking for us.” by starting a “Learn2Curl” intro class Although both campuses are stationed beginning Feb. 17 and 18. They will also inside the city Wisniewski says the club host an Olympic Open House on Feb. doesn’t have much trouble finding places to go, and takes a trip to Colorado or Utah 17, giving residents the chance to watch curling in a group setting. every December. As one of only three locations in Illinois “It’s actually not that hard,” Wisniewski to play curling, Behrens said the club is said. “There are quite a few resorts that are always one of the most popular spots for a half-hour, 45 minutes north of here right people to join, especially for those who live across the Wisconsin border.” in the city. Another club on campus readying The Winter Olympics wraps up with the themselves for the Olympics is the club Closing Ceremony Feb. 25, just in time for hockey team. President John Cassata says fans to turn their focus to March Madness given the timing of the games and the fact that the team’s season finishes in a couple of and constructing the perfect bracket.
By Andrew Hattersley
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA WISNIIEWSKI
DePaul Snow Club cheers on hometown skiers looking for boost from games.
Sports. Feb. 5, 2018. The DePaulia | 27
Bonds deserves a place in the hall By Shane Rene Sports Editor
COMMENTARY The Baseball Writers Association of America committed crimes against history and crimes against baseball on Jan. 24 when they failed, for the sixth straight year, to induct Barry Bonds into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. That’s right — the home run king is still barred from Cooperstown, leaving some to wonder: What must be done to earn a spot in professional baseball’s hall of heroes? If there is one statistic that should cast away any and all doubts surrounding Bonds’ place in baseball history, it’s his intentional walks (IBB) record. There exists no better figure for measuring how feared a hitter was than the number of times he was intentionally put on first base and Bonds laps the field with 688 career IBBs. That’s more than five elite seasons worth of free base hits just because he wasn’t worth trying to beat. The next four on the career IBB list are Albert Pujols with just 307, Hank Aaron with 293, Willie McCovey with 260, and Vladimir Guerrero with 250. Bonds was twice as feared as the next most dangerous hitters in the game, yet he stands as one of only three players in the top 10 without a place in the Hall of Fame. The other two players, Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera, are still active and thus ineligible for election. But that’s just the tip of Bonds’ iceberg of excellence. In 2001, Bonds became the only player in history to hit 500 home runs and steal 500 bases in a career — a solo mark he holds to this day. He’s also a member of the 40-40 club, one of an elite few to steal 40 bases and hit 40 home runs in a season and he and his father — Bay Arena legend Bobby Bonds — are the only father-son duo to both earn a spot in the 30-30 club for the same statistical categories. But most famously, on Aug. 7, 2007 he was crowned the all-time home run king, topping the great Hank Aaron with another San Francisco moonshot into the right-center bleachers of AT&T Park for his 756th career home run. Yes, I know he probably had some
KEVORK DJANSEZIAN | AP
Barry Bonds place in the Hall of Fame is long overdue and he only has a few years left before he gets left out for good. anabolic help on the way to his marquee career accomplishment. It dosn’t take an IQ of nine to notice his physique shift from long-distance runner to WWE fighter overnight or see that he had more pop at 43 years old than he did at 28. “There are things I don’t understand right now,” Bonds said in a press conference during the 2001 season in which he hit a record shattering 73 dingers. “The balls I used to line off the walls are lining out (of the park). I can’t tell you why.” Everybody, including Bonds, knows exactly why, but do you really care that much? Does PED use really eclipse a lifetime of some of a generation’s most spectacular baseball? Do you really think that Bonds stained an otherwise clean era of baseball? You’ve been fooled. “If they wanted to prove a point (about cheating with steroids), don’t put him in on the first ballot, second ballot, whatever,” Sports Writing and WRD professor (and long-time Giants fan) Justin C. Staley said. “But at this point it’s not even a question of who did steroids, it’s kind of a question of who didn’t do steroids.”
Players from around the league during the doping era have said the number of players using steroids goes far beyond the conventional wisdom of most fans. David Wells, a 20-year journeyman pitcher, once told Sports Illustrated that “25 to 40 percent of Major Leaguers are juiced.” The infamous Oakland Athletic outfielder Jose Canseco once claimed that 80 percent of big leaguers used steroids when he was playing — and steroid use is probably one of the only things Canseco is qualified to comment on. But boy did all that juice make for some fun baseball. “We all loved watching the games,” Staley said, “and we were excited for the games while this was going on and (Bud) Selig turned a blind eye to it — I think we’d all be hypocrites then say ‘woah, woah, hold on, steroids are a part of this.’” Selig is in the Hall and he’s the one that allowed the PED culture to flourish in Major League baseball. If anyone ruined baseball it was him, not the guys chasing their dream of becoming one of the greats. We can debate whether or not
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, continued from back page “Coach Bruno and his staff give us schemes, but it’s our job to execute them and I feel like my teammates helped me execute them,” Grays said. “Just finding me in the post or finding me on the open shot, I give all the credit to my teammates because they helped me with this excellent game I had.” Another key factor to the Blue Demons’ win was Lauren Prochaska’s all-around play. Prochaska, a 5-foot-8-inch senior guard, tied her career-high with 12 points to go with seven assists and three rebounds. “Every game I play it’s one less game that I have left in my career,” Prochaska said. “(I’m) just leaving it all out on the floor and really working on being more aggressive on the offensive end.” Kelly Campbell, the team’s leading rebounder with 10.3 rebounds per game, grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds and also had six assists. Junior guard Tanita Allen had a good game too, scoring 11 points and pulling down four rebounds. “I love the fact that we have multiple people that can score,” head coach Dough
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS
Kelly Campbell continued her presence on the boards with 15 rebounds Friday night. Bruno said. When the beginning of the fourth quarter rolled around, the Blue Demons held a commanding 61-46 lead. The Blue Jays opened the quarter on a 9-2 run to trim the lead to 63-55 with 6:50 left to
play. At that point, Bruno had seen enough and called for a timeout to get his team refocused. “We really work here at playing possession-by-possession basketball, and we try not to play to the score,” Bruno said.
character should play a role in Hall of Fame voting, but you can’t deny that, historically speaking, some of the most detestable people in history of sports were inducted with open arms. Ty Cobb was inducted with a 98 percent vote in his first year of eligibility, and would sharpen his spikes for when he slid into the legs of shortstops and second basemen for decades. Not to mention all the Hall of Fame members that threatened not to take the field with Jackie Robinson. In a column written by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Scott Ostlers wrote in a column after the Jan. 24 vote, “I did not have a vote, but if I did I would have checked ‘yes’ by the question, ‘Do you think Barry Bonds is a jerk?’ Then I would have written his name (and others) on my ballot. Then, weeping, I would have scurried off to therapy.” And that’s how it should be. If you’re a member of the American Baseball Writers Association, swallow your moral righteousness and vote for what happened on the field. The Hall of Fame is incomplete without Barry Bonds. Fortunately for Bruno, the Blue Demons finished the rest of the fourth quarter with poise making three straight layups and with 1:35 left in the quarter, Grays scored a 3-point field goal from the right wing to give the Blue Demons a 75-67 lead. While a win is a win, the Blue Demons are nonetheless looking to improve and build a more consistent team identity. “We still just have a lot of work to do as to how people find their own within what you’re doing. I really believe that offenses don’t score baskets, players score baskets inside of offenses,” Bruno said. “There’s no such thing as a good offense or a bad offense, there’s only a well executed offense, and players have to find their own niche within whatever offense you’re running.” By doing so, Bruno believes that could result in more team progression as the regular season winds down. “We’re random, and random is okay, but as you get toward the tournament time you gotta find a little bit more continuity to the niche,” Bruno said. The Blue Demons closed out their homestand Sunday against Providence heading back on the road for contests against Butler and Xavier this week.
Sports Butler bashes DePaul 80-57
Sports. Feb. 5, 2018. The DePaulia | 28
Tyger watch By Paul Steeno Staff Writer
MICHAEL CONORY | AP
Maric had 15 points Saturday, his highest total since Jan. 12 against Providence. must have had a conservative definition of a fast break) By Paul Steeno and 27 points off of a season-high tying 23 Blue Demon Staff Writer turnovers. DePaul had runs of their own, particularly out of Basketball is often a game of runs, and when a game timeouts, but were never a serious threat in this game concludes it’s usually easy to point to one particular run after the 20-1 run. The Blue Demons are now 0-9 this that allowed one team to prevail over the other. season when trailing at halftime. In an 80-57 victory by the Butler Bulldogs (17-7; 7-4 Maric led the way for the Blue Demons in the scoring Big East) over the DePaul Blue Demons (9-13; 2-8 Big department, pouring in 15 points on 6-for-10 from the East) at Hinkle Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon, it was a field. It was his highest scoring game since Jan. 12 against 20-1 whipping in the middle of the first half that allowed Providence. The Bulldogs shut down Max Strus, who the Bulldogs to quickly go from down six to up 13 in finished with the second lowest scoring total of his season just over seven minutes of game time. The Blue Demons (seven points), on 1-for-8 from the field. DePaul’s other coughed the ball up six times in the first nine minutes of three starters, Eli Cain, Brandon Cyrus and Tre’Darius the game, and finished the half with nine turnovers. McCallum, combined for 19 points on 6-for-21 (29 Speaking of running, the Bulldogs turned defense percent) from the field. into offense all afternoon, using turnovers and long Freshman point guard Justin Roberts finished the misses as run out opportunities and finished the first half game with six points and four assists, but also turned the with 15 points off of turnovers. ball over five times. Early in the second half, he passed out On one play in the second half, Butler star Kamar of a double team on the right wing to McCallum, cutting Baldwin corralled a defensive rebound under the basket, along the baseline on the weak side for an impressive took one long dribble to breeze past Blue Demon center assist. Roberts played 19 minutes, which was his highest Marin Maric, and started a 4-2 fast break on the other total since the Xavier game on Dec. 30. end that led to a Paul Jorgensen 3-point field goal. The Blue Demons return to action on Wednesday Getting beat in transition was the story of the game, as Feb. 7 for an 8 p.m. bout against the Creighton Blue Jays the Bulldogs finished with 12 fast break points (the scorer at Wintrust Arena.
Grays’ big night lifts DePaul to win By Evan Sully Staff Writer
Coming off an important win against Marquette, DePaul (17-6, 9-2 Big East) continued their hot streak Friday night in a decisive 77-67 home victory over Creighton (13-9, 7-5 Big East) to keep them on top in conference play. Despite only making 25 percent of their 3-point attempts, the Blue Demons shot 48.4 percent from the field, grabbed 39 total rebounds while dishing out 20 total assists. The Blue Demons also proved to be stout on defense holding the Blue Jays to 29 points in the first half on 40.7 percent shooting from the field. Their top two scorers, Audrey Faber and Jaylyn Agnew, combined for just five points. Redshirt junior Mart’e Grays, a 6-foot-2-inch forward who leads the team in scoring this season with an average of 14.9 points per game, was a scoring machine. Grays scored
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS
Mart’e Grays dropped a career high 25 points Friday night. nine points in the first quarter and third quarter by nailing a 3-pointer opened the game with aggressive from the left wing just 30 seconds in. play that included three driving This resulted in Grays tying a careerlayups and a 3-pointer from the top high with 25 points off of 10 made field goals. of the arc. While Grays’ proved to be dialed “It was me just trying to find the openings in our offense,” Grays said. in throughout the game, she credits In the second quarter she scored her success not only to execution but the first six points giving her 15 points also to help from her teammates. heading into intermission. Likewise, See WOMEN’S BB, page 27 Grays provided early offense in the
There was supposed to be a resolution on Thursday to the mystery of where four-star point guard Tyger Campbell would attend college. But Thursday came and went and UCLA, Purdue, Maryland and DePaul, the four schools deemed finalists to land Campbell's services, must anxiously wait a while longer for the 18-year-old to make his decision. For DePaul fans, they only have sore fingers to show for all the vigilant Twitter refreshing they did on Thursday causing some fans to begin losing hope. "I have no faith that he's going to commit anymore," DePaul Blue Demon fan Joe Breslin said. "He knows all we have to offer and he's obviously not sold. It's demoralizing because he was supposed to be a big piece in changing the culture." Despite the pessimism,"Crystal Ball" projections on 247Sports.com give the Blue Demons a 75 percent chance of landing Campbell who is rated as the 13th-best point guard and the 72nd-best player in the country in the class of 2018. 24/7Sports.com's Evan Daniels reported on Friday that UCLA and DePaul are the favorites to win the Campbell sweepstakes. He took his official visit to DePaul on Nov. 10, but was spotted at Wintrust Arena throughout the season. Blue Demon head coach Dave Leitao and his staff have also made trips to visit Campbell this winter. DePaul has significant connections to the 6-foot point guard from La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind. Five former La Lumiere graduates, Marin Maric, Brandon Cyrus, Pantelis Xidias, Jalen Coleman-Lands and James Anderson, are currently on DePaul's roster. Blue Demon freshmen Jaylen Butz and Justin Roberts played with Campbell on the Spiece Indy Heat in AAU ball. Blue Demon assistant coach Shane Heirman was the head coach at La Lumiere for the first two seasons of Campbell's career and the two have a strong connection. The Blue Demons signed Heirman onto the coaching staff on May 2 and a week later Campbell, who reclassified to the class of 2018, committed to the Blue Demons. However, in early September, Campbell reopened his recruitment. "First off, I'd like to thank DePaul University and the city of Chicago for their show of love and belief in me," Campbell wrote on Twitter after he made the decision. "After great consideration and with the full support of my family, I have decided to open my college recruitment effective September 1st. I am thankful for all the coaches, colleges, friends and family that have stood by me during this journey. I am ready to embark fully into this process and make a well informed decision on where I will attend college." If Campbell signs with the Blue Demons, he'd become a part of a logjam at the point guard position. Devin Gage could get a medical redshirt season after injuring himself for the season on Dec. 6 against Central Connecticut, meaning he could have sophomore status next season and, at worst, junior status if the NCAA doesn't grant him that medical redshirt. Roberts will be a sophomore next season, and international arrival Flynn Cameron, who came to DePaul in early January, could be destined for a redshirt season as well with only eight games plus the Big East Tournament remaining this season. At least this season, Leitao has also deferred to upperclassmen over freshmen when making choices on how to allocate playing time. In contrast, UCLA has junior point guard Aaron Holiday and five shooting guards on its roster, four of which have played less than three minutes per game this season. If Campbell is worried about which team gives him a better shot to make the NBA, UCLA has a significant advantage over DePaul in that department. Two DePaul alumni are currently in the NBA compared to 15 UCLA Bruins. But with local pressure urging Campbell to recommit to DePaul, his decision isn't going to be an easy one; whenever he decides to make it.