DePaulia
The
Volume #105 | Issue #5 | Oct. 5, 2020 | depauliaonline.com
Blue Demons fight for Black lives By Lawrence Kreymer Sports Editor
See BLUE DEMONS, page 27
It sucks you have to connect with such really hard topics, but it’s made people realize that as student-athletes, we are more than athletes. We are humans first and you have to stand up for what you believe in.
Rutendo Chimbaru
DePaul track & field athlete
Column By Kierstin Cole Contributing Writer
“It is what it is.” Those five words, in context, constitute what is arguably one of the most disgusting, inhumane statements of the Trump presidency thus far. Over 150,000 people had died. It is what it is. I heard that statement only a few hours before my Covid-19 test came back positive. I wasn’t in Chicago; I was in a little town about an hour and a half west of the city with my family — right in the middle of the region that’s facing new mitigation measures right now. I watched every single member of my family test positive. I know what it means to go through that. In writing this, I want to make three
GOLUSZKA | THE DEPAULIA
“
this was a true opportunity to use our platform for the better use of DePaul and the community outside of us,” Hastings said. “Being in athletics, we are not just about athletics, we are not just about academics, we are about being better as individuals and bettering ourselves in athletics, in school and beyond.” DePaul also has a representative in the Big East’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group, which aims to spread awareness about racism, social injustice and police brutality. Rutendo Chimbaru, another senior on DePaul’s track and field roster, is the Blue Demons’ representative and has been working with the conference all summer long. “I got the Big East position about a year ago, that’s when the Big East started the Diversity and Inclusion group,” Chimbaru said. “I’ve been working with them on
CIA A LI
This past summer saw America face two major challenges: the Covid-19 pandemic and the continuation of social injustice and police brutality. In May, a video emerged of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, pressing his knee into George Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 minutes, eventually killing Floyd. Then, in August, another video emerged from Kenosha, Wisconsin. where a police officer shot eight bullets into Jacob Blake’s back. Both videos and the already built up frustration from many people regarding police brutality in America drove masses out into the streets to protest these instances of brutality. As the discussion regarding social injustice and police brutality got bigger, more and more athletes became a part of the dialogue — including student-athletes. DePaul’s student-athletes took this opportunity over the summer to express their voices and try to help with the ongoing issue of Black men and women being killed by the police. Margaret Hastings, a senior on DePaul’s track and field team, had the idea to start a fundraiser for
Black Lives Matter Chicago. In an effort to help the organization, Hastings wanted to raise money that could help them continue to protest issues like systemic racism and police brutality. “When all the events started taking place in early June, end of May, everyone was really affected by it and impacted, and I wanted to do something that would have a positive impact on my community,” Hastings said in an interview with The DePaulia. “DePaul is made up of such a diverse community and I never want anyone to feel that they are not supported and their voice is not heard. I came with the idea to start a T-shirt initiative to raise money for Black Lives Matter Chicago and to have a community still feel connected and supported.” Hastings said that she was able to raise over $330 dollars in two weeks, through entirely studentled fundraising. There was no specific monetary goal that she had in mind when starting the fundraiser — instead, Hastings wanted to bring the DePaul athletics community together to use their platform to help other people. “Up until in June I never really capitalized on, [the fact that] I’m a captain on the [track and field team] and I support athletics, but
”
The pandemic is not over. I’m proof. things very clear. First, we did everything we were supposed to do. We wore masks, we socially distanced. When we got sick, we quarantined. We didn’t do anything that put us at higher risk to contract this virus. Second, this virus is not a binary thing. This isn’t a situation where you either have no symptoms or you die. There is so much gray area in between and that gray area carries risks of long-term symptoms, inflammation, and organ damage. Third, and most importantly for the people reading this, you can be young and healthy and get extremely ill. I am a healthy nineteen-year-old whose only chronic, relevant health condition is lactose intolerance. I spent two weeks in a fetal position at the height of it. I won’t list
off every symptom I experienced in order to preserve a shred of privacy on this matter and to protect my own dignity. I will not speak on my family’s experience, and I will not act like I speak for every single person who has had to go through this. I speak only for myself. It’s been almost nine weeks since I started having symptoms. I know that because this isn’t something that’s confined to a week or two weeks, this isn’t something where you’re sick and then you aren’t. The first three weeks were what I describe as the initial illness — it was the part where I couldn’t breathe, I had a fever, I couldn’t eat at all. The best way I could describe it is the worst flu imaginable, the worst case of strep throat imaginable, and
the worst stomach bug imaginable — all at the same time and all amplified by a hundred. Those first three weeks constitute the worst experience of my life so far. It was painful, terrifying, absolutely infuriating. Painful, because the symptoms are the worst thing I’ve experienced in my life. Terrifying, because when you’re in the middle of it, you don’t know how you’re going to get through it, how your loved ones are going to get through it. It is absolutely infuriating to watch people online, talking about how Covid-19 isn’t a big deal, saying that it’s overblown and we should all just get on with our lives. “I would only wish this on a denier, so maybe they would understand what this
See COVID, page 13
2 | News. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
First Look
Aug. 7, 2020 - Oct. 2, 2020
CAMPUS COVID-19 CASES
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 | Lacey Latch eic@depauliaonline.com PRINT MANAGING EDITOR | Ella Lee managing@depauliaonline.com ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR | Emma Oxnevad online@depauliaonline.com NEWS EDITOR | Cailey Gleeson news@depauliaonline.com ASST. NEWS EDITOR | Nadia Hernandez news@depauliaonline.com POLITICS EDITOR | Veronika Schoonover politics@depauliaonline.com NATION & WORLD EDITOR | Marcus Robertson nation@depauliaonline.com OPINIONS EDITOR | Rebecca Meluch opinion@depauliaonline.com FOCUS EDITOR | Chinyere Ibeh focus@depauliaonline.com ARTS & LIFE EDITOR | Nathan Burleyson artslife@depauliaonline.com
SOURCE: COVID-19 DASHBOARD | DEPAUL UNIVERSITY
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News. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020 | 3
‘Learn for life’ School of Continuing, Professional Studies names Tatum Thomas dean By Holly Jenvey
T
Faculty Council Reporter
atum Thomas became the dean of DePaul’s School of Continuing and Professional Education preceding an unorthodox school year. However, Thomas’ prior experience working with adult students and personal experience with non-traditional education has carried through into her new role. According to DePaul Newsline, Thomas has lived in New York City for most of her life. Her career in non-traditional education began when she herself was an adult student, obtaining a bachelor’s in psychology from Marymount Manhattan College, gaining a master’s from Baruch College and then obtaining certificates from Harvard Business School and the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. This led her to begin her career in helping adult students pursue their goals as a director of academic services at New York University and then senior associate dean at Columbia University. Now, she is continuing to help students in a non-traditional environment here at DePaul. Through strategies, connections, diversity and flexibility, Thomas hopes to help students become even more prepared to take on the workforce. “They’re a different person when they receive their degree,” Thomas said. Thomas said she enjoys seeing adult students thrive through the transformation process from when they first enter college to when they graduate. Now, she is doing this through DePaul’s mission, which drove her to come to Chicago. “What drove me to DePaul was the great sense of mission and purpose,” Thomas said, “and the calling to do.” Thomas explained that the altruistic message of DePaul provided what must be done for students, which is providing them a space for education and access. However, this can be daunting for adult students. With the cost of education and a conflict in schedule, students could be driven away. However, Thomas aims to combat those worries through course schedules that accommodate all students, provided in different modalities, as well as looking at how students can get an affordable education. “My direct involvement has ensured that students who might have not had a chance to pursue traditional education at an institution now have that opportunity,” Thomas said. Thomas said that adult students come from all walks of life. However, as higher education is changing, along with the nature of the Covid-19 pandemic, student needs are shifting as well. Thomas highlighted that the traditional pace of an education is not always desirable. Spending four to six years to obtain a degree is not suitable for everyone. Therefore, Thomas said that DePaul’s School of Professional and Continuing Education is providing the options for students to complete their degree through either an undergraduate degree, master’s degree, or certificate. Regardless of the amount of time they spend at DePaul, students are looking to maximize the benefits from their educa-
ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA
Dr. Tatum Thomas, DePaul’s newly appointed Dean of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. tion. Through flexible scheduling with a variety of opportunities of modes of learning, they can cater their education around their other priorities. “My experience has been to deliver education in formats and structures that have not necessarily been offered,” Thomas said. When Covid-19 struck, even though the lives of students have shifted, Thomas was already equipped to handle issuing online courses. “Early on, I was in the space of delivering online learning before we needed to,” Thomas said. However, as most classes will not be taking place on campus this quarter, Thomas is developing plans on how to engage with students, faculty and staff. Currently, she is in the process of planning an open house for students in the School of Continuing and Professional Education to engage with them and get to know each other and seeing what it’s like being agile in the age of Covid-19. “This will be a more intimate conversation,” Thomas said. Thomas and key staff members will discuss how to best engage with students. This will teach students how to change and behave with the circumstances as well as getting the chance to interact with each other. Thomas also explained that even though adult students don’t have the traditional college experience, some of them do yearn for it. Thomas said DePaul provides these opportunities for campus involvement, even though they take a different form. When she worked at Columbia University, they held an adult student leadership awards ceremony. She said that even though adult student leaders may contribute to the community in slightly different ways, they are still engaged.
“The way that student life expresses itself for adult students might just be a little bit more task-oriented on the surface. But if we drill down, it does give students the opportunity to engage with faculty, engage with each other, build a network, it builds community.”
Dr. Tatum Thomas
Dean, School of Contiinuing and Professional Studies Currently at DePaul, there are adult males of color initiative, whereas other adult students could be working guest speakers. The students in turn engage with each other, faculty and gain a network. “The way that student life expresses itself for adult students might just be a little bit more task-oriented on the surface,” Thomas said. “But if we drill down, it does give students the opportunity to engage with faculty, engage with each other, build a network, it builds community.” Aside from providing opportunities, Thomas is seeing how DePaul can build on its diversity and inclusion. She said that conversations will start with faculty. They launched a diversity and inclusion work group where they have dialogue with faculty and staff. “We’re developing an action plan on how we’re going to tackle diversity and inclusion,” Thomas said. She said that the group will start early in seeing how the curricula will have threads for inclusion, diversity and an-
ti-racism. Prior to working at DePaul, Thomas managed the HBCU program at Columbia University, which was a fellowship that helped seniors obtain their master’s degree through career opportunities and support services, said DePaul Newsline. Along with an inclusive atmosphere, Thomas enjoys encountering students with long histories at DePaul. She has met double and triple blue demons, students that have come back for their education. Thomas said one of her goals is to make DePaul feel like a home that they can always return to. “We’re going to be that place where our students are able to learn for life,” Thomas said. Thomas said that students are fortunate to be in the city of Chicago to study due to being immersed in their professions. However, what brought Thomas to Chicago was not the thrill of living in the Windy City, but DePaul’s mission and how its mission houses altruism and the desire to support others.
4 | News. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
Tracy Siska of Chicago Justice Project joins SGA event By Theodora Koulouvaris Staff Writer
DePaul’s Student Government Association (SGA) held the fourth session of its Civic Engagement and Social Action Series via Facebook Live Tuesday. SGA President Alyssa Isberto and PR Coordinator Arantxa Reyes interviewed Tracy Siska, the founder and Executive Director of the Chicago Justice Project (CJP). Siska explained CJP’s mission and how it works to open data from justice agencies. “We use advocacy, policy work, and mostly now litigation through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act to open data that the justice agencies create every day,” Siska said. “We are constantly in battle with one or more justice agencies at any one time. We view ourselves as providing … the fuel for justice and that we love the advocacy work that’s been going on and we want advocates being on the street and we want them pushing, but from our perspective we want the reforms that are being pushed to be evidence based.” Following the murder of George Floyd in May, Siska explained that the demand on justice issues have “exploded” and that the program is moving to expand its work nationally as the CJP’s work is mostly Chicago based. “We’ve expanded throughout the state of Illinois now going after the Illinois Department of Corrections to open them up and soon the Illinois State Police but now we’ve started and we will now by the beginning of next week be expanding to Washington, D.C. and then in weeks to follow, Dallas, Baltimore, and because of recent events in Louisville, Louisville, Ky. will be on that list shortly.” Throughout his career, Siska said he has faced obstacles, but that one should expect obstacles when completing advocacy and reform work. “You don’t get into this work without expecting obstacles,” Siska said. “The system is set up to perpetuate what it’s doing and any challenge to that brings you man
made obstacles, natural obstacles, system obstacles and you just have to find a way to overcome. Expecting no obstacles is just, its full hardy in my perspective. I would tell everyone to expect obstacles and be prepared to overcome them.” Prior to founding the CJP, Siska completed graduate school at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). When asked how being a student in Chicago, specifically a UIC student, made his experiences different from other universities elsewhere, Siska said the university’s diversity introduced him to “different perspectives” which helped prepare him for the work he does today. “It really prepared me for what I do and it exposed me to new points of experiences that being a white guy in the North Side of Chicago growing up right by O’Hare Airport [that] I knew about, I had read about but I had never experienced. That’s one great thing about UIC is just the diversity that you find there,” Siska said. When asked about the work he has done regarding advocating for the removal of police officers form Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Siska explained that this is “a very complicated issue” and that CJP’s main goal at the moment is to continue to push for obtaining data on this issue. “We’re in litigation right now with the Chicago Police Department [CPD] over violations of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and basically are role right now is
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF CHICAGO JUSTICE PRROJECT
to just keep advocating and keep litigating for the data,” Siska said. “There is data to validate what’s going on with those officers in the schools. The problem is CPS and the police department don’t want to release it.” When asked how he would define justice, Siska said that is “a tough question” citing issues with policing, crime and violence throughout Chicago. “Part of the problem with policing in Chicago especially [in] certain communities is there’s a dual problem,” Siska said. “There are two problems going on at the same time. They’re both overpoliced and under policed. That means there’s such a concentration on the drug war and shootings that they’re not actually preventing crime the way they should … So I think when you talk about what is justice it’s very complicated and I think [in] America, Illinois, Cook County, [and] Chicago we’re far too much about the punishment and not so much what is in the best long-term interest of everyone.” Siska added when starting to have conversations on these issues, the media needs to improve the way it covers these issues and his displeasure with the way Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded to the defunding the police movement. “We need a media that does their job better,” Siska said. “We have a hyper concentration on gun violence, street violence, drugs so that’s a huge issue. The other thing is I believe there was a massive massive,
massive, epic world renown mistake by [Mayor] Lori Lightfoot not embracing the defund the police movement and starting that discussion virtually now and postCOVID in-person and in communities around this city to find out what communities’ definition of justice is and starting that discussion about what we can do to realign how we police our city.” When asked how students can get involved in CJP, Siska said that the program launched an ambassador program which occurred Wednesday evening brining in volunteers to connect with prospective students and others. The program will include projects and activities that help promote CJP’s work. “We’re going to try to bring those people together to start an ambassador program where people can help us do crowd sourced research projects, help expanding our voice on social media, to helping with twitter storms and social media storms of public officials on public policy issues [and] on justice system issues,” Siska said. “We’re pushing an ordinance to realign how the city handles police civil misconduct cases and civil settlement.” When asked what advice he would give to college students interested in civic engagement, Siska stressed the importance of students making an effort to reach out to non-profit organizations to learn about ways they can get involved. “There’s a lot of non-profits doing a whole host of activities around crime, violence, justice issues, but any issue,” Siska said. “Get involved, make a call, send an email, see how you can help out … It’s about getting involved and stepping forward and sending that email and dedicating a few hours a week not huge amounts of time but a few hours a week to doing something.” SGA’s Civic Engagement and Social Action Series takes place Tuesday nights at 5:30 p.m. with a new panelist each week until the 2020 presidential election in November.
43rd Ward Public Safety Forum tackles crime reduction By Jason Grapenthin Contributing Writer
Public safety in the city of Chicago has been a hotbed for conversation as civil unrest has gripped the city — and nation. Discussions regarding Covid-19, police reform and redistribution, methods of contacting law enforcement and the logistics of criminal sentencing are growing in importance. For concerned citizens, getting a chance to directly address some of the city’s top public safety officials is a critical opportunity. After all, understanding between the public and public safety is what leads to a safer and more prosperous community. Chicago 43rd Ward Alderman Michele Smith led a public safety forum via a Zoom webinar Wednesday night regarding issues facing the 18th and 19th police districts and the Gold Coast area. The mayoral public first safety deputy and projects manager, 18th district captain and sergeant, 19th district commander and captain, first state attorney’s deputy and chief information officer, and a 911 dispatcher were the night’s featured panelists. The meeting began with a special message from Mayor Lori Lightfoot who could not attend the forum due to a budget town hall meeting. “Yesterday we announced ‘Our City,
Our Safety’: Chicago’s first ever comprehensive violence reduction plan,” Mayor Lightfoot said. “I want you to know that I am personally engaged in this fight every day.” The five-step crime reduction plan was presented by speakers of the mayor’s office and highlighted an emphasis on improving and advancing policing within the city. Policing specifically within the 43rd Ward was the night’s main topic. Following the introduction were accounts of some specific analytical outliers of crime in 2020. Chicago’s 43rd Ward spans from the northside lakefront all the way west to North Clybourn Avenue and ends at West Diversey Parkway to the north and West Division Street to the south and includes DePaul University’s Lincoln Park campus. Smith spoke of a troubling rise in arson within the 43rd Ward, which reached eight cases this year. “We have a defendant charged with almost all of those arsons,” Smith said. The sole arsonist, who committed crimes mostly north of Fullerton Avenue, is said to be in custody. In the 18th police district sector included in the 43rd Ward, an area that runs from North Avenue to Fullerton and the lakefront to the river, crime was down 44 percent this year, according to 18th District
Captain Christopher Biefeldt. A man exposing himself in Old Town was reported by citizens and later arrested in this sector which led to a discussion about the importance of community involvement. “We count on our neighbors to go to court,” Smith said, adding that with the help of the community in court, the offender was handed “a very good sentence” as well as “treatment.” The 18th and 19th Districts in the 43rd Ward both presented that theft was their most prevalent crime, with bike theft being particularly troublesome for the 30th Sector of the 19th District. “If anyone is there who has a bike, please register it because bike thefts are off the hook,” warned 19th District Captain Paul Kane. The word of advice followed information that the 30 Sector continues to lead the city of Chicago in bike theft. After more statistics were presented, as well as some comments from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications camera manager and a 911 dispatcher, the panelists all switched to Zoom’s gallery view for the question and answer portion of the webinar. During this section of the webinar, retail theft was brought up, which prompted some comments about the allocation of
resources for specific crimes from the First State Attorney’s office amidst a year with lots of looting and unrest. “Chicago is not known as the retail theft capital of the world, we’re known as the murder capital of the world,” said First State Attorney Deputy Jennifer Coleman. Near the conclusion of the meeting, the police’s handling of Covid-19 within the force as well as its effects on the force in 2020 were brought to the attention of the panelists. “Our officers are required to wear masks, however, putting on a mask when we leave our vehicle is not ingrained in our training,” Biefeldt said, adding that in his team, “three members passed away due to Covid-related symptoms during 2020 thus far.” The three-hour webinar concluded by providing information about upcoming events to receive updates as well as ways to personally connect and show support with law enforcement such as ‘Coffee with a Cop’ events. The next events will both be held virtually via Zoom with the 18th District community conversation on Oct. 8 and the 10 Sector meeting on Nov. 12.
News. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020 | 5
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL UNIVERSITY
APIDA Center Coordinator Eva Long and former Assistant Director of Identity Conscious Support Programs Mark Anthony Florido at the Grace Lee Boggs Heritage Breakfast.
Eva Long recognized for social justice initiatives By Corey Schmidt Staff Writer
DePaul University honored Eva Long by awarding her the Outstanding New Staff Professional Award for her work with the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Cultural Center. The Outstanding New Staff Professional recognizes and celebrates a staff professional who has made a positive impact on the DePaul community and enhanced the student experience in a relatively short period of time. The staff member must have been employed by DePaul University for less than three years and demonstrate high performance standards while engaging with campus activities outside their specific duties and responsibilities. Long was the inaugural appointee of Coordinator of the APIDA Cultural Center in October 2018, which opened as a result of the Center for Identity, Inclusion and Social Change closure back in 2016. Originally, Rev. Holtschneider announced three centers including serving the Black, Latinx and LGBTQIA communities. According to Long, members of the APIDA community quickly demanded their space on campus resulting in Long being hired eight months later than the other three centers’ staff. DePaul’s history with the cultural centers has been in Long’s mind when looking at her role and mission at DePaul. “Knowing that history, one of the biggest things that I try to do is raise attention and awareness of APIDA students,” Long said. “Our issues, our experiences and how we deserve these spaces on campus.” Since Long was the first coordinator for the APIDA Center she was instrumental in the creation of the centers environment and purpose. Long said preserving DePaul’s history was one of her goals when developing the current APIDA center. “Because [the APIDA Cultural Center] came out of student activism, there was a very intentional and purposeful way that I wanted to center student voices in building what the center is about,” Long said. In an interview with Long, it was evident that creating a welcoming space for
PHOTO COURTESY OF EVA LONG
Eva Long (front) and students gathering in the APIDA Cultural Center. comfortable, meaningful conversation was something she was passionate about. Her passion is one of the main reasons why Christopher Love, scholarship coordinator at the Office of Multicultural Student Success, and Yessenia Meija, college transitions coordinator at the Office of Multicultural Student Success, nominated her for the award. “Eva makes sure to make space for dialogue around many topics which include anti-Blackness, transphobia, anti-immigrant sentiments, anti-Asian and homophobia,” Love and Meija wrote in her nomination. Alongside Long’s passion for meaningful conversations and social justice initiatives, her work at the APIDA Cultural Center played a role in her success. In her role, Long has lead APIDA Heritage month celebrations, facilitated weekly
Cha(i) Time a weekly informal gather at the APIDA Cultural Center and served as an advisor for APIDA Stisterhood Uprising a group designed as a dialogue space for APIDA identifying woman, trans and non-binary individuals. On top of that, “Eva’s job description did not include undocumented student support, yet she made sure to do her role and support undocumented students while supervising a graduate assistant,” wrote Love and Meija. “Through her intentional advocacy she brought to light many concerns of the undocumented community and pushed us to think through to better support our students.” Student affairs and higher education were not the path that Long saw herself taking — in fact, she did her undergraduate degree in political science. While higher education did not come into her career
scope unil her senior year, her original passion for education public policy has played a crucial role in her journey. “Politics and public administration through the lens of education was always something I wanted to do,” said Long. Long continued to discuss her experience working on pre-school public policy providing free education to those in poverty and advocacy for higher education grants during her college experience. Having this background helped Long discover her passion for multicultural education. “[Long’s] leadership has taught our office how to amplify the voices of the marginalized and how to advocate for those often forgotten about,” wrote Love and Meija, which seems to be the encapsulation of what Long’s career and mission are all about.
6| News. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
Running turns digital for annual fundraiser By Petya Georgieva Contributing Writer
The United Nations theme for 2020 is “Closing the Inequality Gap to Achieve Social Justice,” but is this really possible when the whole world faces the Covid-19 pandemic consequences? After many universities in the US adopted distance learning trying to maintain social distancing, the big question that remains is how students can have equal opportunities not only for social justice but also for the essential needs that ensure their survival and realization. This Fall depending only on digital tools in hand the DePaul Office of Advancement seeks to support students in need through a virtual running Initiative called All for DePaul Fun Run. For the last couple of months, the annual giving team, and alumni relations alongside the development and plan giving team have been working to find new and creative ways under the pandemic situation to keep the DePaul community involved in the annual giving program. And in October, one of their initiatives is focused to support the Students Emergency Assistance Fund (SEAF) through the All for DePaul Fun Run campaign. “This is the first time we’re doing a virtual run to raise funds so in some ways we were kind of curious to see how our community would respond,” said Sarah Myksin, the director of the annual giving program. The idea of “doing it in a new, different way is to make people feel that they are doing something important to support a great cause.” The annual giving team relies on people who will donate gifts to the institution besides all the major gifts and
donations that will go for scholarships or building’s renovations. For this year’s campaign, team members are responsible for a big fundraising initiative called Now We Must. The enterprise will support five main areas: scholarships, financial aid, technology access, career readiness, mental health and wellness, and the SEAF. The Dean of Students Office (DOS) had seen a significant increase in SEAF requests and awards during the 2019-20 year, where 627 students in total had received help. “During the spring term alone, the office saw 852 requests and disbursed over $570,000 to 595 individual students,” said Ellen Herion Fingado, DePaul dean of students. “The only way the University was able to meet the demand for SEAF, specifically in the spring 2020 term, was through generous donations from the community to this fund.” The All for DePaul Fun Run is an opportunity that can help the increasing need of emergency funding for students that struggle to meet their essential needs due to housing issues, job loss, eviction or even a natural disaster. That’s why with the collective effort of the DePaul community, the fun run directs all the raised funds to the SEAF which is one of the most recognizable and important opportunities available to serve DePaul student’s needs, according to the annual giving director “We know it is a hard time for students right now and that there are students who are trying to stay and finish degrees, that there are students who are working from home with tough Internet connections,”Myksin said. “We know how important experiential learning is specially, when going out on the job market and we want to ensure that those opportunities are still available because there are students
who are in crisis, and we’re looking to ensure that they can stay in their homes or that they can feed themselves next week.” The fun run registration fee is $6for current DePaul students and $10for 2020 DePaul graduates. The target is $20, 000 with over $6,000 already collected by those who had paid the fee to register. Every participant can choose how many miles to add to the collective mileage counter, and among the options are running, biking or walking. When registered, the runners can encourage their networks to support them and everyone can follow the progress that they are making once they link their personal fitness apps to the tracker or by manually entering their miles. “We just would really love to have people participate in coming together in doing something important for students in need,” says Caileen Crecco, assistant director of annual giving and the person behind the university’s crowdfunding page, Inspired DePaul. “It’s an easy way to donate because all you have to do is register and then we take care of it on the back.” There is also an option for purchasing Blue Demons fun run T-shirts, a product of the partnership between the office advancements and the DePaul athletic department. The idea is people who wear these shirts, no matter where they are, to help raise awareness about the fun run initiative. “It’s a way to help students in need, stay fit, stay active and kind of show your Blue Demon pride when you’re out,” Myksin said.
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF GINA RICARDS
SGA discusses new Title IX regulations with Kathryn Statz By Theodora Koulouvaris Staff Writer
DePaul’s Student Government Association (SGA) spoke with Title IX Coordinator and Director of Gender Equity Kathryn Statz during Thursday’s general body meeting regarding new regulations from the Department of Education that the Title IX Office must enforce. In August, the Department of Education released new guidelines that apply to “very specific types of cases,” according to Statz. One of the new guidelines affects cases of sexual misconduct that occur off campus. According to Statz, if, for example, a student reported that another DePaul student experienced sexual assault or harassment by another DePaul student after going “on spring break” that potentially violated DePaul’s current policies, the Title IX Office would “enforce its Student Code of Conduct, which includes policies preventing sexual misconduct [and] sexual harassment among students.” “In my hypothetical, that student says he or she wants to move forward with an investigation, the other party is also a DePaul student, so we would investigate that case and if the parties cooperated and the student who made the report wanted to continue with the investigation … that would end with the student conduct pro-
cess that many students go through for a variety of things, whether it’s an alcohol violation or any number of violations of the student code,” Statz said. Under the new guidelines, Statz said the Title IX office would not investigate this incident since it occurred off campus and “outside of DePaul’s programs and activities.” “[The Department of Education] would like us to stay out of the business of investigating that kind of conduct and leave that to law enforcement,” Statz said. “However, we still have our Student Code and if someone wanted to pursue that, we would still investigate that as a potential violation of DePaul policy regardless of … what the Department of Education says and they allow us to do that.” The other new regulation applies to students that experience a form of sexual misconduct that Statz referred to as “quid pro quo harassment.” An example of this is if a student reports that they were forced to engage in sexual behavior with a professor to earn a high grade in the class, according to Statz. “Right now, the way we would process something like that is we would investigate and then the Title IX coordinator … would render a decision based on the investigation,” Statz said. Statz said the Title IX office would not hold a hearing or require the student to participate in one in this situation, citing the “power disparity” between the profes-
sor and the student. Now, under the new regulations, a student would be required to take part in a hearing in this scenario for their protection, Statz said. Statz raised concerns about these new rules and how it could affect students’ willingness to report cases of misconduct. “My biggest concern about them is that it could have a chilling effect on students reporting misconduct because of fears about how it will play out,” Statz said. Besides SGA’s discussion with Statz, the organization addressed other items on its agenda. Towards the beginning of the meeting, new SGA Vice President Watfae Zayed delivered the vice president’s report discussing constitutional revisions and SGA’s GB retreat on Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The retreat will give members of SGA an opportunity to discuss ways to better serve the needs of DePaul students. In this week’s president’s report, SGA President Alyssa Isberto explained that SGA will “officially” move its website to a DeHUB managed site, which SGA discussed in last week’s general body meeting. On Oct. 7 at 6 p.m., SGA, along with DAB Social Change and Chicago Votes, will host an event called Listen Learn Change to discuss “the importance of speaking out and getting civically engaged.” Several SGA members will be panelists at the event. In addition, SGA will collaborate with the Office of Multicultural Student Success
(OMSS) to create and post videos on its social media platforms to show its support for undocumented students at DePaul for Day of Action to Support Undocumented Students on Oct. 13, which is “a day of action for immigrants.” “I think this is a really great opportunity to stand with our undocumented students here at DePaul,” Isberto said. Isberto and other SGA members attended a Joint Council meeting on Thursday. Members of the council asked about students’ experiences with remote learning this quarter and ways to improve for the winter. “One of the things that I brought up was that students are really overwhelmed with a lot of course [work] and homework right now,” Isberto said. Towards the end of the meeting, Wesley Janicki, SGA’s executive vice president of operations, introduced amendments to the Resolution Concerning Increased Representation on the Strategic Resource Allocation Committee (SRAC), which establishes the yearly capital and operating budget for the university. Janicki said there were “a few minor changes” to the resolution but that it mostly remained unchanged. After a discussion between SGA’s members, the resolution passed. SGA holds general body meetings Thursdays at 6 p.m. but will not have one this week due to midterms.
News. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020 | 7
New position prioritizes diversity, equity PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL D. LYONS PHOTOGRAPHY
Cynthia Pickett named new associate provost for diversity, equity and inclusion in the Office of Academic Affairs, joined DePaul on July 1.
By Nicole Shih Staff Writer
DePaul appointed Cynthia Pickett as its new associate provost for diversity, equity and inclusion in the Office of Academic Affairs. Pickett started her appointment on July 1. She spoke to DePaulia about her dedication to making DePaul a diverse and inclusive university and how she addresses equity in education fields for both faculty and students. While most of the scope of Pickett’s position focuses on faculty’s academic equity, Pickett said one of the ways to serve students regarding their academic equity and diversity is through modifying the faculty environment first. For example, Pickett encourages faculty to ask themselves whether the curricula and courses they’ve selected are conducive to increasing diversity or not. Pickett aims to diversify the faculty, improve the faculty capacity for students, and serve a diverse student population. “In terms of encouraging diversity, it has to be intentional and proactive,” Pickett said. “It has to be through effort and has to be through a lot of small decisions made again and again.” Pickett built her interest in social psychology and her scholarly work on self and identity and intergroup relations through her birth background in a biracial family. Her upbringing helped her get a sense of how people can have multiple identities and how those identities can really impact their thoughts and behaviors. Pickett said after she began her career in academic institutions, she realized inequity could really affect education fields. She found out how certain fields of study can be marginalized, in which faculty aren’t welcoming toward all students, and students don’t see themselves in faculty. To change it from within, Pickett said she has to be proactive in creating change and giving academic advice to faculty and staff. “I’m usually not the kind of person that sits on the sidelines, so I thought in this role as associate provost, if I take on more of an administrative leadership role, I can have an effect on how the institution operates that can have a positive effect on everyone in the institution,” Pickett said. “It
really came down to [me] wanting to create change and realizing that I have to be proactive, I have to be intentional.” It’s tough to make improvements in faculty diversity, especially during the pandemic and with the hiring freeze, Pickett said. But building the pipeline of new faculty and increasing retention of current faculty are things that she is doing now. “[To address the hiring freeze and faculty diversity,] one is better supporting the faculty of color that we do have already, so that they don’t leave, so that’s an issue of retention.” Pickett said. Specific actions to increase faculty diversity include improving mentoring for junior faculty so that they can navigate better their academia and giving faculty more opportunities for growth, leadership and promotion to attain better retention. “We want them to feel that they can grow within DePaul,” Pickett said. “[I want to] make the university more welcoming and I think everyone wants to feel valued and respected.” She is also currently building relationships with other institutions so that after the pandemic, DePaul can find people from the job market and hire graduates from doctoral programs. Shu-Chuan Chu, a Taiwanese professor in DePaul’s public relations and advertising program, applauded the academic equity and diversity at DePaul. She has been treated equally among other staff and the department has helped her grow a lot as a teacher and researcher, she said. As for the improvement regarding faculty diversity, Chu suggested that DePaul could create a community for connecting faculty with similar cultural backgrounds. Chu also mentioned some workshops which DePaul is planning to do, according to Pickett’s statement. “It would be helpful to provide regular workshops or training on diversity-related topics at all levels,” Chu said. “Diversity can be defined in many different ways (e.g., racial, sexual orientation, age groups, religious, disability). All groups should be recognized and supported.” The chart below shows that white faculty members represent 63% of all the faculty population. Other ethnicities like African American and Asian embody only 6.8% and 5.5% respectively.
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF DEPAUL UNIVERSITY
Full-time faculty climate (2019). Pickett said she enjoys DePaul’s book club “How to be an Antiracist,” where faculty and staff will be involved to talk about racism and antiracism. She thought instead of racism, the term should be more phrased as “racial inequality,” so a more important issue for faculty and staff to consider is how they adopt practices to reduce racial inequality. = There are a lot of options to be considered to meet racial equality. “If we’re having a meeting, is that meeting in a place that’s going to reduce racial inequality? Will students of color feel comfortable going to that place? Or if the university is hiring for a major rule, are they looking at racial inequality?” As a liaison between students and faculty, Pickett’s role serves as helping to foster conversation and come up with solutions. She recognized that racial inequality plagues students of color, so making faculty be responsive to these issues becomes more critical. Pickett frames questions regarding racial inequality for faculty to think about in their academia and teaching. “How can this faculty be responsive to [racial inequality] that happened here; how can they recognize in their own actions and teaching; how they might be able to work with students on addressing the issue.” How did Pickett respond to the high cost of attendance at DePaul? Speaking of “academic inequity,” a fair
amount of DePaul students think DePaul’s tuition is too high. Senior Xavier Ortega said that “academic equity” at a private institution seems like an oxymoron, though there are numerous resources that he can take advantage of. “DePaul is not cheap and you have to pay for the services that it provides for you,” Ortega said. “Right off the bat, DePaul is not inherently equitable for students, as the cost of attendance is so high, which is troubling considering the values DePaul attempts to push to its students.” Ortega said that diversity at DePaul also ties with the cost of attendance, as some students of color might not be able to pay the tuition and thus impede the improvement of diversity. “Because if tuition goes down, more and more lower income people (which happen to be more people of color) will be able to join DePaul’s community,” Ortega said. In response, Pickett thinks there are fundraising campaigns going on to make tuition more affordable while also meeting the financial obligation of the university. “[For] lower income students who perhaps [come] from first-generation families, I would really be thinking about a kind of a long-term solution like having a greater endowment so that it’s possible to reduce the amount of tuition that has to be put on the students each year,” Pickett said.
8 | Politics. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
Politics
Doctors say Trump’s blood oxygen level dropped suddenly By Jill Colvin, Steve Peoples & Jonathan Lemire Associated Press
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s blood oxygen level dropped suddenly on Saturday, but he “has continued to improve,” the White House physician said Sunday, adding a new layer of confusion to the president’s health status even as he sought to clarify contradictory statements from the day before. Trump’s medical team, speaking on the steps of the military hospital where he was being treated for a third consecutive day, suggested that he could be discharged from the hospital as early as Monday. Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley acknowledged he was trying to downplay the severity of the president’s condition the day before. “I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude of the team, that the president, that his course of illness has had. Didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction,” Conley said. And in doing so, came off like we’re trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true. The fact of the matter is that he’s doing really well. Conley said the president had a “high fever” and a blood oxygen level below 94% on Friday and again on Saturday. The level currently stands at 98%, Trump’s medical team said. The medical team still refused to disclose the timing of Trump’s dip in oxygen or whether lung scans showed any damage. Trump offered his own assessment of his status the night before in a video from his hospital suite, saying he was begin-
Biden was at home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Sunday with no plans for in-person campaigning or other public appearances. Having already tested negative, he is expected to release the results of a new coronavirus test later in the day, and the campaign has pledged to disclose those results and all other future test results for the 77-year-old candidate. On Saturday, chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters outside the hospital, “We’re still not on a clear path yet to a full recovery.” In an update Saturday night, Trump’s chief doctor expressed cautious optimism but added that the president was “not yet out of the woods.” Meanwhile, Trump’s handling of the pandemic and his own health faced new scrutiny. Trump’s medical care is far superior to the average American’s, with around-theclock attention and experimental treatments. In the hospital video, he defended his decision to continue campaigning and holding large events during a pandemic. JACQUELYN MARTIN | AP “I had no choice,” said Trump, who refused to abide by basic public health recDr. Sean Conley, physician to President Donald Trump, briefs reporters at Walter Reed ommendations, including mask-wearing. National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020. Trump was “I had to be out front. ... I can’t be locked admitted to the hospital after contracting the coronavirus. up in a room upstairs and totally safe. ... ning to feel better and hoped to “be back ernment but also to countries around the As a leader, you have to confront probsoon.” And he was back on social media world, friendly and otherwise. lems.” early Sunday morning, sharing a video of Trump’s Democratic challenger, Joe Trump is 74 years old and clinically flag-waving supporters, most not wearing Biden, pulled his attack ads off the air obese, putting him at higher risk of serimasks, gathered outside Walter Reed Na- during Trump’s hospitalization, and on ous complications from a virus that has tional Military Medical Center. Sunday, he dispatched senior aides to de- infected more than 7 million people naThe changing, and at times contradic- liver a largely friendly message. tionwide and killed more than 209,000 tory, accounts created a credibility crisis “We are sincerely hoping that the pres- people in the U.S. for the White House at a crucial moment, ident makes a very quick recovery, and we First lady Melania Trump remained at with the president’s health and the na- can see him back out on the campaign trail the White House to recover from her own tion’s leadership on the line. Moreover, the very soon,” Biden adviser Symone Sanders bout with the virus. president’s health represents a national said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” security issue of paramount importance She added: “This is a glaring reminder not only to the functions of the U.S. gov- that the virus is real.”
Students disappointed by first Presidential Debate By Damita Menezes Contributing Writer It was unlike any presidential debate before — filled with name calling and constant interruptions. “Will you shut up man? It’s hard to get any word with this clown,” said Joe Biden when President Donald Trump kept heckling the former vice president whenever it was his turn to express his views on a topic. On September 29, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden went headto-head with Trump during the first presidential debate. Both campaigns agreed to abide by the rule of having 2 uninterrupted minutes where each candidate could answer the question of the segment. DePaul’s Democratic Party held a watch party where students could stream the event together. “Everyone accurately pointed out that it is hard to get your point across when the person on the other side is heckling you and badgering you and just interrupting you all the time, and you just have to try and balance taking him on and what he is saying and also giving your message,” said Brandon Tejeras, president of the DePaul College Democrats. President Trump interrupted Biden and moderator Chris Wallace a total of 128 times. Because of the constant in-
“There was no structure at all. It was like shoving a fork in your eye for 90 minutes.” Emily Goldstein
DePaul University, graduate student terruptions, the debate was difficult for many DePaul students to watch. “There was no structure at all. It was like shoving a fork in your eye for 90 minutes,” said graduate student Emily Goldstein. “It was just 90 straight minutes of people talking over each other. There was not a single coherent answer to a single question and there was nothing I could take away from it. And I learned nothing from it at all.” For many, the debate failed to shed light on the issues facing the country. Oftentimes the debate became personal and both candidates were unsuccessful in proposing any policies that they would implement or change if they took office. “There were no real substantive policy measures,” said senior Anna Roth. “That’s what politicians are for. We vote
for politicians because they have policies to implement. Trump called Covid the China virus and then Biden responded saying you’ve done a bad job. That’s not a policy measure. That’s just two people fighting about each other and each other’s personalities which was disappointing.” The debate got so personal that Trump even called out Biden’s second son, Hunter Biden’s drug addiction and his leave from the military. “There were a lot of bad moments but the two worst were when Donald Trump was attacking Joe Biden’s son who had a past drug addiction,” said freshman Erin Henze. “That didn’t have any connection and was a total waste of time and just disrespectful. And, when Donald Trump didn’t denounce white supremacy. Those
were the two main things that I took from the debate which is not at all what you should take from a debate.” Yet with all that happened, this may have been the most controversial statement of all. Wallace asked Trump if he was willing to denounce white supremacists groups. Instead Trump started calling on “Antifa and the left” for violence and vigilantism. The president did eventually address the issue of white supremacy, but did not outright denounce it, in a message that has been widely criticized. “Proud Boys stand back and stand by,”Trump said. The Proud Boys - a neo-fascist right extremist group- later celebrated the president’s words online. “He basically told white supremacists to stand by and wait for his instructions. So that was very telling to see the POTUS saying something like that,” said sophomore Bridget Killian. The DePaul College Republicans did not respond for a comment. Despite the negative reviews on this debate, all the students said that they will be watching the rest of the debates, in hopes that rules and regulations will be established. The next debate will take place on Oct. 7 between Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence at 8 pm CST.
Politics. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020 | 9
A timeline of the development of Trump’s Covid-19 infection Saturday, Sept. 26 5:00p.m - Top government officials gathered
together in the White House Rose Garden for the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, following Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. Receptions were held indoors after the outdoor ceremony. Over 200 people were in attendance.
Tuesday, Sept. 29 - President Donald Trump flew to Cleveland aboard Air Force 1. Chris Wallace said on Fox News that the president and his family arrived late so they were not tested. The debate functioned on an “honor system” for testing, Wallace said.
Wednesday, Sept. 30 - Trump had a fundraiser in Shorewood, Minn. at 5:30 p.m. and a rally in Duluth, Minn. at 9 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 1 10:44 a.m. - Trump tweets his aide Hope Hicks
tested positive for the coronavirus. He says he and Melania are quarantining and awaiting their Covid test results.
Oct. 2, 1:11 a.m. - White House physician Sean Conley releases a
memo confirming the test result and announcing plans for the two to quarantine within the White House.
Oct. 2, 1:20 p.m. - Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany says she is not “going to get into an exact timeline” about when the White House learned of Hicks’ diagnosis.
Oct. 2, 4:11 p.m. - Conley releases another memo announcing
Trump received a dose of an antibody cocktail that is still in clinical trials as a precautionary measure. Trump is said to be experiencing fatigue but remains in high spirits.
Oct. 2, 11:47 p.m. - In Condley’s third memo he reports that
Trump has received Remdesivir, which had been authorised under an emergency use declaration by the Food and Drug Administration. No additional symptoms are mentioned.
Oct. 3, 12 p.m. - An administration official, later revealed to be Meadows, describes the president’s condition earlier in the week as “very concerning,” and that “the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care.”
Oct. 3, 9:08 p.m. - McEnany tweets another memo from Conley saying that Trump had made “substantial progress” and had taken a second dose of Remdesivir.
Sunday, Oct. 4 12 p.m. - Conley holds another briefing and re-
veals that Trump had a “high fever” on Friday and in two separate instances his oxygen levels dropped over the weekend. Conley also said the president had been given the steroid dexamethasone on Saturday, which has been both shown to be effective in severe cases of Covid-19 and potentially dangerous in mild or moderate cases of the disease. Conley also acknowledged the confusion over Trump’s condition and conflicting messages: “I didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction, and in doing so, you know, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true,” he said.
Thursday, Oct. 1 - Trump attended a roundtable event in Bedminster, New Jersey, where a buffet-style meal was served.
Friday, Oct. 2 12:45 a.m. - Trump announces on Twitter that both he and his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Oct. 2, 10:40 a.m. - White House chief of staff Mike Meadows briefs reporters on Trump’s condition and reveals they learned of Hick’s positive test as they were leaving on Marine One on Thursday, headed for a fundraiser in New Jersey. Oct. 2, afternoon - The Associated Press reports that Trump receives oxygen at the White House on Friday. No White House officials confirm or deny this.
Oct. 2, 6:16 p.m. - Trump takes a helicopter ride to Walter Reed Medical Center.
Saturday Oct. 3, 11 a.m. - Conley holds a briefing at the Walter
Reed Medical Center stating that Trump’s symptoms are “now resolving and improving.” For the first time on the record, he discloses that Trump has had a fever, but says he has been fever-free for 24 hours. Conley says no oxygen was administered to the president during his stay at Walter Reed but would not rule out whether he received oxygen before flying there, as initial reports stated.
Oct. 3, 1:50 p.m. - Conley walks back his previous comments about Trump being “72 hours into the diagnosis” by around noon on Saturday which directly contradicted the timeline released by the White House. Conley clarifies he meant to say “day three.”
Oct. 3, around 9:30 p.m. - In a televised interview on Fox, Mead-
ows discloses for the first time that Trump’s blood oxygen level “dropped rapidly.” He further said that he and doctors were “very concerned earlier” and that the president is “not out of the woods.”
Oct. 4, 12:30 p.m. - A federal official reports to the press that the
White House is not seeking help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for contact tracing for the Rose Garden celebration for Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Sept. 16. The CDC reportedly has a team of experts on standby.
Aggregated from reporting from USA TODAY and the New York Times
How to watch the VP debate
ALEX BRANDON | AP . EDITED BY ELLA LEE
President Trump announces Supreme Court nomination at the Rose Garden on Sept. 26. Attendees in red have tested positive: Senator Thom Tillis, Senator Mike Lee, President Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, First Lady Melania Trump, John Jenkins, and Chris Christie. Attendees in blue tested negative: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Attorney General Bill Barr, Amy Coney Barrett, Senator Ben Sasse, Second Lady Karen Pence, Vice President Mike Pence, and Senator Kelly Loeffler
When: Wednesday, Oct. 7 Where: University of Utah, Kingsbury Hall What time: 8-9:30 p.m Central Moderator : Susan Page, Washington bureau chief, USA Today Details: This will be the only debate between Vice President Mike Pence and his challenger, Kamala Harris. There will be nine 10-minute segments. The candidates will have two minutes to respond to questions in each segment. Where to Watch: Every major network and news channel will be live-streaming the debate. News organizations including the Washington Post and the New York Times will also be live-streaming the debate.
10 | Nation & World. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
Nation &World
‘Time is ticking’ SAM MCNEIL| AP
In this Nov. 28, 2019 file photo, smoke and steam rise from a coal processing plant in Hejin in central China’s Shanxi Province. Chinese President Xi Jinping says his country will aim to stop pumping additional carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas, into the atmosphere by 2060. Xi’s announcement during a speech Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020, to the U.N. General Assembly is a significant step for the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and was immediately cheered by climate campaigners.
New York’s Climate Week 2020 stresses urgency of climate crisis By Holly Jenvey Staff Writer
Last week, Climate Week 2020 kicked off in New York City and didn’t begin just with a series of conferences on climate change, but also with the implementation of the clock in the middle of the city to remind the world that time is ticking. Climate Week 2020, which partnered with the United Nations, was the year’s biggest climate summit despite taking place online. From Sept. 21 to Sept. 30, hundreds of conferences took place around the world with ten major topics including “Youth, Public Mobilization and Justice,” “U.S and International Policy,” “Nature and Science,” amongst others. Now, due to Covid-19, the summit has also designed conferences to explain how to rebuild the economy as well as sustainability. Though, as the pandemic and climate change are ravaging the world, solutions can take a long time. “You have to start doing a bunch of things at once,” said Mark Potosnak, an associate professor and department chair of DePaul’s Environmental Science and Studies program. This year has shattered climate change records. The Western region of the United States has experienced the most severe wildfires seen in 18 years. According to the BBC, smoke from these fires has traveled from the U.S and has reached parts of Northern Europe. Because of the severity of the wildfires, tens of thousands had to be evacuated from their homes, and warm weather caused additional fires. This year has also seen a historic number of hurricanes. According to One Zero, Hurricane Wilfred was the latest storm in the Atlantic, surpassing the 21 name limit given by the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. In
DAVID GOLDMAN | AP
In this Saturday, July 22, 2017, file photo, a polar bear stands on the ice in the Franklin Strait in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Some world leaders at September 2020’s annual United Nations meeting are taking the long view, warning: If COVID-19 doesn’t kill us, climate change will.
addition, Portugal faced sub-tropical storm Alpha and a “medicane,” or Medditeranean hurricane, approached the Greek islands. Though scientists like Potosnak have said that severe weather is typically correlated with climate change, you can’t predict what could happen next year. “Next year, we could have a very low year,” Potosnak said, or it could be “twice as bad.” However, climate change is not only revolving around these disasters. The conferences at the summit highlighted how it’s affecting daily life now and how it will continue to do so in the future. The Climate Group’s goal is to prevent the earth’s temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees celsius each year. Climate change has both natural and manmade causes. According to NASA, prior to the
Industrial Revolution, the earth’s climate was increasing due to variations of the orbit of the sun. However, volcanic particles would reflect the sunlight and cool the earth down, though they simultaneously contributed to the buildup of greenhouse gases. Now, as human causes continue to increase from the release of fossil fuels. Potosnak said that 80 percent of energy is emitted from fossil fuels. According to NASA, the fuels release 26 billion tonnes of CO2 annually whereas volcanoes emit between 130 and 230 million tonnes. However, as climate change impacts the entire world, Terry Ristos, vice president of Protravel International, argues that all countries should unite as a means to combat it. “Put together a task force of the top climatologists and scientists in the whole world, not
just a country, to figure out a plan because this is a worldwide problem,” Ristos said. As well as “U.S and International Policy,” two major topics in this year’s summit were “Sustainable Travel and Tourism” and “Transport and Infrastructure.” Since the pandemic started, travel has been significantly reduced in large part to due to international travel restrictions. According to CNBC, 217 countries implemented such restrictions. In addition, airlines have seen a sharp dip in travel compared to last year. According to Stastista, as of Sept. 21, 2020, the number of scheduled flights was down 48 percent compared to this time last year. However, as of 2017, transport releases 1.9 billion tonnes of CO2 annually. This is why retired Retail Sales Executive Mark Kramarz said that green powered vehicles would be a better mode of transportation to consider in preventing further emissions of fossil fuels. “Make more electric cars,” Kramarz said, “That’s a key start.” Potosnak said that the younger generation has a significant role in changing climate change. “They have a lot of power,” Potosnak said. He said that changes in their careers and lifestyles should include low amounts of carbon usage. This includes not only climate disasters, but food waste and more. According to the site Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, $162 billion worth of food gets wasted every year meanwhile, there are currently over 49 million who people are food insecure. Climate week 2020 highlighted these issues and more. Through its Facebook live stream, participants from around the world can further understand the premises behind these issues and how they could be solved.
Nation & World. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020 | 11
Harvey Weinstein charged with more rapes in California By Andrew Dalton Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harvey Weinstein was charged Friday with the rape of two more women, Los Angeles County prosecutors said. Weinstein was charged with three counts of rape and three counts of forcible oral copulation involving the two women, the district attorney’s office said. A criminal complaint alleges Weinstein raped a woman at a hotel in Beverly Hills between September 2004 and September 2005, and raped another woman twice between November 2009 and November 2010 at a Beverly Hills hotel. Weinstein spokesman Juda Engelmayer said, “Harvey Weinstein has always maintained that every one of his physical encounters throughout his entire life have been consensual. That hasn’t changed. At this moment we cannot comment on the additional charges until we learn more about them.” The new charges mean Weinstein is now charged with 11 felony counts in Los Angeles County, involving five women. The 68-year-old former movie mogul is serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York on convictions for rape and sexual assault against two women. Prosecutors in Los Angeles have begun the process of extraditing him, but agreed last month to delay attempts to bring him to California because of the coronavirus pandemic. Weinstein was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this year while serving time in a maximum-security prison near Buffalo, New York. Another extradition hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11.
DARRON CUMMINGS | AP Taylor’s name has been a rallying cry for activists hoping it would raise awareness of crimes against Black women.
ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA
Breonna Taylor grand jury proceedings released By Dylan Lovan Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police who shot Breonna Taylor announced themselves as law enforcement before entering her apartment, according to grand jury testimony that was among hours of audio recordings released Friday. “We knocked on the door, said police, waited I don’t know 10 or 15 seconds. Knocked again, said police, waited even longer,” Louisville police Lt. Shawn Hoover said in an interview recorded March 13, the same date Taylor was shot, and later played for the grand jury. “So it was the third time that we were approaching, it had been like 45 seconds if not a minute,” Hoover said. “And then I said, `Let’s go, let’s breach it.’” Grand juries typically meet in secret, and releasing testimony and other evidence from their proceedings is rare. A court ruled that the content of the proceedings, typically kept secret, should be made public. The grand jury in Taylor’s case brought no criminal charges against the officers for her killing, angering many in Louisville and around the country and setting off renewed protests. Officers had a “no-knock” warrant to
search Taylor’s apartment for drugs. But Attorney General later said officers announced themselves. It’s a key issue because the officers said they opened fire after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a gunshot at them. Walker said he didn’t know the men who burst into the home were police. One law enforcement officer testified that police ultimately never executed the warrant to search Taylor’s apartment. “Were drugs money or paraphernalia recovered from apartment 4? ... The answer to that is no,” the officer said on the recording. “They didn’t go forward with executing the initial search warrant that they had for Breonna Taylor’s apartment.” Cameron, whose office led the investigation into police actions in the Taylor shooting, did not object to the file’s release. But on Wednesday, his office asked for a week’s extension to edit out personal information from the material. The judge gave him two days. Cameron, a Republican and the state’s first African American attorney general, has acknowledged that he did not recommend homicide charges for the officers involved. Police used a narcotics warrant to enter Taylor’s Louisville apartment on March 13. The 26-year-old emergency medical worker, was shot five times.
Cameron said two officers who fired their guns, hitting Taylor, were justified because Taylor’s boyfriend had shot at them first. The boyfriend has said he thought someone was breaking in. The grand jury did charge fired Officer Brett Hankison with three counts of wanton endangerment for shooting into a neighboring apartment. No one was hit. He has pleaded not guilty. Cameron said there was no conclusive evidence that any of Hankison’s shots hit Taylor. The audio recording of the jury proceedings were being added to Hankison’s public court file. Protesters have taken to the streets to demand more accountability in the case. Activists, Taylor’s family and one of the jurors called for the grand jury file to be released. The release comes a day after the first woman to lead the Louisiana Metro Police Department, Yvette Gentry, was sworn in as the department’s interim chief. “I know I’m interim,” Gentry said at a small ceremony streamed on the department’s Facebook page. “But I represent something different to a lot of people being the first woman to take this title, so I’m not going to shortchange that.”
National Guard taps units for rapid response to civil unrest By Lolita C. Baldor Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Guard has designated military police units in two states to serve as rapid reaction forces so they can respond quickly to any potential civil unrest around the country, following violent protests that rocked the nation’s capital and several states this summer. Military leaders don’t explicitly tie the changes to concerns about possible election-related violence, but the nation is bracing for unrest surrounding the tumultuous presidential campaign, particularly if voting results are not known for days or weeks because of the increase in mail-in ballots. According to the Guard, about 600 troops — 300 in both Alabama and Arizona — will be ready to deploy within 24 hours if request-
ed by a governor in another state. The moves come as Defense Department and National Guard leaders work to address shortfalls that were identified in the military response to the June protests triggered by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Military reviews of the response to the protests found problems with coordination between various state and federal government and law enforcement agencies — which at times slowed down troop movements. Governors can use National Guard troops for a variety of things, ranging from natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires, to assisting with border security and civil unrest. If a governor needs additional help, they can request troops from other state governors through a compact agreement system that details how the forces will be used and what they can and cannot do. Lt. Gen. Mark Sasseville, vice chief of the
National Guard Bureau, said the Guard employs a graduated approach, with states using their own troops first, and then, if more help is needed, they request forces from other states within their region. If more support is needed, then governors reach out to states further away. “That makes sense because typically the states have good relations with the neighboring states,” said Sasseville in an interview with The Associated Press. “Speed becomes an element of this discussion.” The problem, however, is that some states couldn’t free up troops to send to others because they also were dealing with protests or other emergencies. Military police from the Arizona National Guard were mobilized at least twice this year in support of law enforcement, including to Wisconsin and in response to protests in Phoenix in the wake of Floyd’s death.
During the June protests, governors used their own Guard troops and, in some cases sought and received forces from other states. At the peak, in early June, there were more than 43,000 Guard forces deployed across 34 states and the District of Colombia to help with civil unrest. That number has now plunged to about 3,200 across 10 states. In extreme cases, the president can invoke the Insurrection Act and use active duty troops on domestic soil to quell riots or assist law enforcement. President Donald Trump pushed for that to happen, but senior defense and military leaders opposed it. During the June protests, Defense Secretary Mark Esper drew the ire of the president when he told reporters that the Insurrection Act should be invoked in the United States “only in the most urgent and dire of situations.” He added, “We are not in one of those situations now.”
12 | Opinions. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
Opinions
Failing the freshmen
GRAPHIC BY GINA RICARDS
Universities are approaching ‘the Red Zone’ wrong By Rebecca Meluch Opinions Editor
Social media, campus clubs, current events and the internet have taught me more about sexual assault prevention than my actual university has. Last week, I stumbled upon an infographic shared by a mutual friend from John Carroll University’s Student Violence Prevention Advocates (SVPA) group. It was titled “What to know about: The Red Zone.” The Red Zone is the time period from the beginning of the fall semester [or quarter] until Thanksgiving, when more than 50 percent of on-campus sexual assault incidents at colleges take place. First-year students are most likely to be assaulted during the Red Zone. During this period, freshmen are vulnerable since they are unfamiliar with the campus, especially in regards to where and to whom they should report a sexual assault incident. The Red Zone persists on campuses because universities are riddled with harmful ideas of rape culture centered around victim blaming, gearing their courses toward the “personal responsibility” of students and failing to address toxic masculinity. It also exists because of the way that society sexualizes the bodies of women, transgender people and people that are non-binary. A poll conducted by the Washington Post from 2015 showed that 20 percent of undergraduate women had experienced sexual assault within the last four years. A 2012 report Forge-Forward shows that 50 percent of transgender people have experienced sexual violence. One of the biggest problems in regards to The Red Zone is the lack of education and awareness around it, especially at an institutional level. In order to combat The Red Zone, universities must take necessary steps to recognize it
while still implementing long-term sexual assault prevention education. The Red Zone is briefly covered in college sexual assault prevention courses, and while there are many resources online about it, there isn’t enough acknowledgement overall on the issue on college campuses, especially at DePaul. Before incoming students start classes at DePaul, they are required to take educational programs on sexual assault prevention during their Explore or Discover classes and orientation. In these courses, students are educated on sexual violence, relationship violence, stalking, bystander intervention and consent. But once these courses are finished, taking sexual assault prevention courses isn’t mandatory at DePaul and many other universities, and is instead up to the students and campus organizations to take that education into their own hands –– and that’s dangerous. “Universities have access to this information that students might not even know how to find,” said DePaul junior Megan Avery. “It’s their responsibility to be the educators.” Avery is a former student employee at DePaul’s Health Promotion and Wellness office. Four years is a long time to remember a brief course taken once as a freshman. Some students believe this onetime course is mainly in place to restore universities’ reputations and meet a requirement, rather than to actually prevent and protect the students on campus. “[DePaul’s sexual assault prevention education] definitely not adequate,” said Aviv Goldman, a DePaul junior and member of Advocates for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP) on campus. “I think there’s a lot of organizations on campus that are working to prevent sexual assault, but I don’t think DePaul itself, other than those videos, really does anything to ensure that’s something people are thinking about all of the time.” Over time, universities have
adapted their sexual assault prevention education, but most programs lack longterm impact and commitment. “I certainly think there’s not enough education or effort put into preventing sexual assaults, and we can see that through the endless amounts of cases,” said Ciara White, a freshman at College of Lake County, Illinois. “I think it’s important for colleges to continuously and vigorously dedicate the time to speak with their students, educate them, and be a safe place. It’s a never-ending effort, not simply one lesson about it in the beginning of the year. I think it needs to go past stating facts.” Making students aware of the Red Zone and actively working to combat it shifts some of the responsibility of sexual assault prevention away from students and towards the universities as institutions. “If we know about the Red Zone, it doesn’t mean that the responsibility is on us now to take extra precautions,” Goldman said. “I also think it would be great if DePaul didn’t put all of the work on students themselves.” The elements that encompass the Red Zone prove that there are institutional and societal issues on college campuses that can lead to sexual assault rather than the idea that students are the ones personally responsible for incidents that take place. “[The freshman courses on sexual assault prevention] definitely didn’t address the institutional and societal things, which I think is really important so that students don’t blame themselves for these things that happen,” Goldman said. “And also recognize that because DePaul is an institution, it takes part in a lot of replicating a lot of the harm that leads to sexual assault.” While being transparent about the Red Zone and all of the institutional and societal elements that factor into it, universities can help do away with the un-
derlying rape culture that exists on college campuses that is blaming survivors and trivilizing sexual assault. “Talking and leading about rape culture — especially with men — can help diminish it,” Avery said. “There is a lot of false information that people believe because of rape culture.” When more students are aware of the Red Zone, they will be more knowledgeable on where to report incidents and demand more transparency and accessibility to Title IX departments. At DePaul, many students have come to realize that the Title IX department isn’t entirely accessible and reliable. “Title IX isn’t perfect,” Goldman said. “I think that DePaul could do a better job of working with Title IX and making the forms you have to fill out when you’re reporting and stuff — like those are really inaccessible, those are small things that they can do where making the forms more like less complicated and less confusing and easier to process.” Students are calling for more university wide and institutional awareness of the Red Zone. Colleges need to center sexual assault prevention education around it that’s more long-term and actually gets students to commit in order to adequately prevent sexual assault incidents and diminish the existence of rape culture. “I would like to see more public mention of the Red Zone, especially during the first quarter of the school year,” Avery said. “It would also help survivors know they are not to blame.” Although most universities are currently operating remotely or online right now, that does not mean that sexual assault ceases to exist within college communities — it can happen both on campus and off campus. During this time, universities should reevaluate their sexual assault prevention education.
13| Opinions. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
Counting down a crisis
Climate change is alarming, but we shouldn’t shoot the messenger By Danielle Ross Contributing Writer
After the unveiling of the “Climate Clock” exhibit in New York City on Sept. 19, some took to social media to share claims of its mis-blaming of everyday people and alarmist nature. This claim perpetuates dismissive attitudes towards climate change and is mis-blaming in and of itself. Climate activists should not be shot down for their honest and urgent warnings for our future. Instead, we need to work together to take productive steps towards addressing the severity of climate change. In giant red numbers, the “Climate Clock” counts down the years, days, hours, minutes and seconds until Earth reaches its doomsday. Simply looking at a countdown shown in giant red numbers is nerve-inducing, but to then realize these numbers are counting down until the point of no return is frightening. However, this is our reality, no matter how it makes us feel. “We are confronting a tragically nonlinear future,” said DePaul professor Liam Heneghan. “Without a radical rethinking of our economic relationship with the non-human world, ‘smashing capitalism,’ many people, firstly poorer and less privileged people, face a grim and deadly future. This is not a time for comforting thinking.” While the implications of climate change aren’t comforting to think about, the scientists, activists and scholars who want to spread awareness of this dire emergency should not be the ones taking criticism. The people in charge
COVID continued from front feels like.” That isn’t a sentiment I’ve willingly expressed, but it’s one I understand completely. I don’t get to just get on with my life. I don’t get to act like Covid-19 is the new normal, because it destroyed my normal. I’m not telling you this to scare you, even though the experience itself is absolutely terrifying. I’m telling you this because when I was sick, there was no Covid-19 support group I could call up and ask if what I was feeling was normal or not. And trust me, going down the rabbit hole of internet Covid-19 symptom articles will make you wish you had locked your phone in a safe before the fever brain kicked into high gear. Instead of having the support I needed more than anything at the time, I realized a few things about what people think of Covid-19. First of all, there are two responses when people find out you have it. The first is from anti-maskers and those that deny the severity of the pandemic. These people want you to prove their belief that it can’t be that bad. The second you contradict that view, they write off your experience completely. The second response is from those that listen to the science. They care about how bad this is, but they tend to not know how to respond when they hear what’s going on. Second, when you’ve had it, you become very sensitive to all of the Facebook comments and talk about how it can’t be as bad as people say it is. If you haven’t had it and been symptomatic, you have absolutely no right to tell me that it couldn’t have been that bad.
GRAPHIC BY GINA RICARDS
who are not willing to take action are the ones we need to be directing our alarmed energy towards. No matter how seriously scientists express their evidence and knowledge of climate change, some people are still not willing to change their behavior, including leaders of our own country. The United States is no longer part of the Paris Climate Accord, our president has rolled back countless environmental protection policies, and the country continues to use fossil fuels as a main source of energy. We are in a climate emergency, yet many people, most importantly people in power, are not treating it as such and are more than willing to exploit our natural resources. People in power don’t want or feel the need to change. “When there is this asymmetry in costs and benefits, our behaviors don’t change,” said. Paul J. Ferraro, a professor There seems to be a narrative circulating from some professors that the pandemic isn’t new anymore so there’s no need to ease up on the pressure. I’m angry that I even need to explain this, but it doesn’t matter that the pandemic isn’t new. We are walking into what is likely going to be the most destructive episode of the pandemic. Students are going to get sick; they’re going to have friends and family who get sick. They might lose family members, loved ones, friends to this. Saying that the pandemic isn’t shocking enough anymore to warrant concessions, discounts all the pain that so many people are experiencing right now and it is downright offensive to anyone who has actually had to suffer through this. We are seven months into this and we shouldn’t act like this is a new normal. Normalizing this will almost certainly make the inevitable worse, there is no evidence that herd immunity can be established for this, there is no evidence that this is going to end before next summer at the very earliest. Acting like we need to treat the pandemic as normal discounts the tragedy of it, the pain associated with it. The trauma of Covid-19 doesn’t end with the initial illness. After those first three weeks, I had to reckon with the lingering symptoms of Covid-19. I spent weeks with extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle aches, and brain fog. It felt like I wasn’t me. I still can’t do everything I’d like to. Physically, I’m still too weak to run, to work out, to walk as much as I used to. I’m rebuilding my life, physically. After weeks of brain fog, I’m finally able to see how bad it really was. I’m trying to rebuild my mind, trying to figure out how
at Johns Hopkins University. “A lack of knowledge is not typically the problem. The problem is a lack of incentives.” The small number of powerful people, which includes President Trump, benefiting from the denial of climate change will be the last to make an effort to right the wrongs of global warming. When people aren’t affected, they are less willing to change. Claiming that climate activism is misdirected is not productive. It’s now widely acknowledged that big businesses who contribute to most of the world’s pollution are to blame, but we will not get anywhere if we tear down activists who are trying to spread awareness. While fighting for climate change can be daunting, there are ways to overcome. When Alex Garner, an environmental studies and political science student at Marquette University, feels overwhelmed, she “[tries] to assure
[herself] that there are other people fighting for the same cause.” Garner also has suggestions on being an advocate for climate change. “Educate yourself on the issues, stay up to date with environmental news, and talk to others. Try to make changes in your own life, get involved in some way with environmental organizations, and vote,” she said. “In American culture, the environment and natural resources are largely seen as economic commodities, rather than elements of sustaining life and holding intrinsic value. We need to change the way we view and interact with the environment, and I think that can come from education, conversations, and engagement with others,” she added. The problem is not that exhibits like the “Climate Clock” are alarmist or misdirected — it’s that some are so quick to shoot the messenger and not address the real problem. Let’s not blame global warming on concerned activists who want to see their children grow old enough to graduate from high school. It, in fact, should be alarming that the world is on fire and we have a little over seven years to fix the mess. To do so, we need to start taking productive and, most importantly, unified steps. By redirecting our fear, anger, and sadness towards voting for people who believe in science, re-evaluating how we view our environment, educating ourselves and having conversations with others, we can all become climate change activists. It’s no small feat, but it’s our only hope.
ERIC HENRY | THE DEPAULIA New signage of pandemic protocols are seen throughout DePaul’s campus life.
to think differently. Because it still feels like I’m not completely myself. Covid-19 doesn’t end with that initial illness. It completely upended my life. I was happy when DePaul announced that almost everything was going to be online this year. I knew what it meant to go through Covid-19 and I knew that opening up would end with hundreds, if not thousands, of students in the same position I was in. I’ve watched the college in my hometown open up and subsequently go online for the majority of September. Opening universities again was arguably the worst decision that could’ve been made this fall, and we’re
already seeing the consequences of it. I’m not writing to garner sympathy, I’m not writing because I think I speak for everyone who has gone through this. I’m writing this because we can do better. I’m writing this as someone who has had to suffer through this, who is still trying to figure out how bad the long term effects are going to be. This isn’t over and this isn’t normal. Acting like it’s over and this is just our new normal is dangerous and it’s infuriating to the people who’ve gone through it.
14 | Focus. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
Focus
Why freshman party By Jenicel Carmona Contributing Writer
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, schedules dominated by Zoom classes, and drastically reduced occupancy in DePaul’s dormitories, the social lives of many students have been totally transformed. First-year students at DePaul, like the classes of students their senior, were eager to have a traditional college experience and to make new friends along the way. The first three weeks of fall quarter have exhibited how some have gone about salvaging a “normal” freshman year. After DePaul announced their plan to reduce occupancy of on-campus housing, some students, like freshman Zoe Parris, have opted to rent apartments in neighborhoods near the university’s Lincoln Park campus despite the lack of in-person classes. “It was really stressful because I signed my lease the same day that email about housing was sent out,” Parris said. If dorms on campus were going to be closed and the majority of classes were going to be online, some students envisioned living near DePaul and with other students as the next best thing for developing their social lives in a college setting. The alternative, which involved staying at home, seemed confining and less than ideal. Avery Allen, another student renting housing, said “ I definitely think it’s much more difficult for the people who had to stay home this term to make friends. Those of us who are near campus often see other students in our apartment buildings, at food places, or in and around the campus quad.” Not being able to meet other freshmen in person combined with online courses added another obstacle for students unable to be near DePaul. “The students who are at home only have student interaction through Zoom calls, and sometimes not even that if they have a fully asynchronous course,” Allen said. Her roommate, Anna Littrell, agreed that, unfortunately, socializing is currently much harder for freshmen. “It’s part of the college experience — that you get that chance to meet new people and it’s super hard because everything is on Zoom,” Littrell said. The difficulty of making friends remotely and the convenience of living near other students has driven some to organize parties and get-togethers over the past several weeks. Parris, who has taken note of the parties near her residency, said that “there are parties going on pretty much every night.” “At one point there were like 30-40 people at a party when the apartment could, comfortably, fit 20,” she said. “But since then, I think it has started to dwindle down.” Parris acknowledged that the students she encountered continued to follow the day-to-day precautions. “I’ve noticed that people normally wear masks around,” she said. The case is reportedly different for the ongoing parties. According to Littrell, these parties do not seem to be publicized on social media. “I don’t really see people posting about parties, you just hear about them by word of mouth.” “Some of my friends went to a party,” Littrell mentioned, “and they were the only people wearing masks and trying to be safe-ish.” Despite the close-quarters contact and deviations from social distancing guidelines, she added, “I don’t know anyone who has gotten Covid. But not many people get tested even though it’s super easy.”
Focus. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020| 15
y during a pandemic Why are some freshmen willing to risk contracting or spreading the virus just to socialize with other students? The answer could lie in being a part of the group believed to be in the least danger from the coronavirus, the experience of social pressures, and the limited engagement with alternative ways to connect with other students. “A big reason there have been so many parties is that students our age often think the virus isn’t that much of a threat to them, especially if they’re somewhat healthy,” Allen said. Similarly, Parris said that “they probably don’t think they’ll die from [the virus].” The concern about making new friends and avoiding the regret of passing up an opportunity to do so is apparently enough motivation to attend a risky gathering. “I definitely think some of it is FOMO,” Littrell said. Still, some freshmen would agree that parties and hang-outs are the easiest way to make new friends despite the dangers involved. “Having a party or attending one is most likely the easiest, and one of the only ways for DePaul students to make friends right now,” Allen said. “The lack of connection between the students is for sure a huge factor behind everyone continuing to go out.” Her frustrations include the limitations on socializing with people in class. “I’ve been able to meet people through my classes over Zoom because we’re often but in breakout sessions and we’ll add each other on social media afterward. However, I haven’t really been able to make any close friends other than my roommates because there are such limited opportunities to actually meet people.” Events organized remotely through university groups and departments do not seem to act as popular alternatives for making genuine connections either. Parris’ attempts to socialize through them have not been successful. “Even the school Zoom stuff, like, they’re trying, but no one is on there,” she said. “I’ve been on a couple of calls and there really isn’t another way to find new friends or interact.” While she hopes for better ways of creating genuine friendships and connecting with other students, Littrell believes that, in the name of safety and precaution, “I don’t think that DePaul should fully open for the winter quarter.” Limited in-person meetings, however, have the potential to be another, less risky option for students looking to socialize. “If it were just classes that returned, then maybe people would be more careful about avoiding a spread,” Parris said. “But who knows. I think it would be beneficial if clubs and organizations weren’t all virtual and small classes weren’t online.” Until DePaul is able to fully reopen without the danger of spreading the coronavirus, the safety of others and a spritely social life might be prioritized differently and in a mutually exclusive manner by some students. From the freshmen living near campus to those who are still at home, making friends and rescuing the remnants of a normal freshman year continues to be a unique challenge.
Arts & Life
16 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
Yung Gravy keeps rolling with ‘Gasanova’
COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP
Yung Gravy released his second studio album, and is working on videos, tv shows and other ideas to keep his career going strong.
By John Cotter Staff Writer
Being a rapper in 2020 should come with some caveats, with each successive chart-topping rapper taking inspiration from each other and creating a lineage of familiar, sometimes recyclable sounds. One of the hotspots when it comes to fresh hip-hop sounds right now is Atlanta, which is home to Young Thug, Future, Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti and dozens of others. When Lil Yachty began his reign shouting “Minnesota” on his debut album that shook the Soundcloud scene, a Minnesota-born rapper took inspiration from the Atlanta rapper and went even further. That rapper is Yung Gravy. He went to school at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, got a degree, started rapping, and now has multiple RIAA Gold and Platinum-certified hits, collaborations with the likes of Chief Keef and Lil Baby, and is ready to drop his second solo album, “Gasanova.” At the time, he just went by Matthew Hauri and occasionally a couple of other surnames when he would freestyle with friends while working at a summer camp. A typical, unsuspecting event that planted the seeds of his eventual rap career. “I worked at a summer camp, and when the kids would go to bed we would go smoke a blunt and freestyle some random shit,” Yung Gravy explained as he sat in his mom’s basement. “I had a few names: Mr. Butter, Lil’ Steamer, Jimmy Continental. But one time, I said a line with ‘wavy’ and ‘gravy’ and it stuck.” Typically, stating that this virtual interview took place partly at Gravy’s mom’s house would seem deliberately humiliating. But, given the line “nothin’ like a good ole’ party at my mama’s house” from the track “Party at my Mama’s House,” this feels more fitting than anything. The best part is that Yung Gravy embraces this and other atypical attributes for mainstream
“I feel like the producers I met this way,
like Englewood and Jason Rich, totally shaped my sound because they were the best at this sample-banger style. When I got in their Soundcloud DM’s, they helped me pop off.”
rappers, like his apparent obsession with MILFs, meme references and soul samples that have the kind of ingenuity to garner the term “meme rapping” for him and others that have followed. When reflecting on this new category of hip-hop, Gravy explained how he even received some backlash because of how rapidly other artists have replicated his sound. “I notice a lot of meme rappers using a lot of the same stuff I would use,” Gravy said. “I would just say ignorant things, but people would copy me a lot at this point. MILF references, soul samples that I’d already used. I’d noticed the term ‘meme rapper’ coming up a lot more.” A satirical approach to rapping is nothing new, from the slight satire of Eminem’s older work to the entirety of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s career. There is just something about Gravy’s pin-point accurate references to internet memes like 2012’s “Chuck Testa” meme, used on his song “Whip a Tesla.” It can be hard for the listener to know if this is just a very obscure allusion or one that is crafted to fit this carefree narrative that Yung Gravy so effortlessly conveys. “A lot of my lyrics are just what comes to mind,” Gravy said. “For example, the Chuck Testa one. The line seemed so dope and I put out the video with Chuck Testa in it. The people under 21 have
Yung Gravy Rapper
no idea who Chuck Testa is, but when I think about it I would rather rap about Chuck Testa and relate to people who get that than try and pull out some current stuff. 70% of people get it, and the ones who get it will really get it. I want to stick to the 2014 era.” Adding to his consistent relatability is his very typical college student path, where he switched majors, had jobs and managed to hide his rap persona from most of his college circle until Yung Gravy became too big to ignore. “I was going to University of Wisconsin and had a job working for a startup accelerator, which is like a record label for start-ups,” Gravy explained. “I was working for a company like that and had a job set for after graduation. It was six months to a year where I didn’t show my face. Eventually, I decided to do a music video for ‘Mr. Clean.’ We were thinking about doing a video where I don’t show my face, but that’s too extra. My friends didn’t even know I was making music. When I started popping off I had two semesters left and it was two to three months where I’d get recognized in the street every other day.” If YouTube was a push for Gravy’s image, then Soundcloud acted as an aggressive catalyst for his music, where the muddy bass and piercing hi-hats felt
right at home with the silly soul and oldies samples. But it wasn’t just an algorithmic advantage, as Gravy spent a lot of time promoting and working with other artists and creators. He even met one of his most essential musical collaborators through promotional and business relationships, one whose biggest song has been streamed over 650 million times on Spotify. “I met bbno$ by promoting each other,” Gravy said. “I feel like the producers I met this way, like Englewood and Jason Rich, totally shaped my sound because they were the best at this sample-banger style. When I got into their Soundcloud DM’s, they helped me pop off. But I also feel like there is a Soundcloud sound with shorter songs and distorted 808s that I still stay true to. I’ll have a song that’s a minute and forty seconds.” Musical collaboration is only the beginning, as the rapper is hands-on with the whole artistic process, but not in a pretentious manner. He even learned Photoshop to make some of his first album covers and has tried as hard to get samples cleared as he does to get some desirable names on his projects. When talking about his favorite song on ‘Gasanova’ titled ‘Always Saucy’ the artist reminisces on getting the television intro theme song cleared as well as the fellow rappers that he shared the track’s wavelengths with. “The song samples ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’” Gravy explained. “I love that concept to begin with and I never thought we would get it cleared but we did. Trippy is a day-one Soundcloud friend of mine. Ski and I also talked about doing the song, but we had to do it remotely because of corona, but we talked a lot about it. I’m the only feature that Ski Mask has had in a while, I guess.” The music video for ‘Mr. Clean’ currently has 53 million views, and I even remember it coming across my YouTube feed when it dropped three years ago. The visuals made a picture-perfect match with the music, which helps make any piece of media attractive. His music videos have shot up in production value and star power since, with TV shows even being thrown into the mix because, well, why not? “I don’t want to ruin any surprises, but Thundercat and I have talked about putting a video together with me, him and Zack Fox,” Gravy said cautiously. “Thundercat shot me a DM and told me he was obsessed with my music. I’ve even had two shows pitched. The guys who put together Jersey Shore have a Bachelor Show where it’s me with MILFs. There were multiple concepts going around and Howie Mandell was into it. Another idea was when Trevor Wallace and I were gonna do an Eric Andre type show, a skit show, and that was pretty close to being fully confirmed and put together on Adult Swim, but then, coronavirus.” The attention to detail dedicated towards the album’s tracklist, cover art, feature list, production and more are just part of Yung Gravy’s well-earned ride to success. A ride gleaming with blunts, Versace robes, and the kind of vibes that will make you want to roll the windows down and take the long route home. ‘Gasanova’ is on all streaming platforms now.
Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020 | 17
Mt. Joy guitarist Matt Quinn talks social change By Joanna Talabani Contributing Writer
While many of your favorite bands may be laying low during the pandemic, Mt. Joy is letting the creative juices flow. The band toured with the Lumineers, released an album, rocked via live streams and somehow still found time to stand for social justice. Frontman Matt Quinn spoke with The DePaulia en route to Chicago, where they played a series of socially distanced drive-in concerts at the Lake Shore Drive-In. “We were at a different place in our lives,” Quinn said about recording their sophomore album, “Rearrange Us.” “I don’t know if it was necessarily intentional that we were going to do something different.” When Mt. Joy released their self-titled debut album, the band had not even so much as played a show together. “So, after touring together for three years… it kind of brings you to a different place, flying together. I think the changes were more probably attached to that than anything else,” Quinn said. The band unanimously agreed to not postpone the album and release it during the chaotic time of quarantine, citing the fans as the reason. “They’re the only people that we’d be holding it back from,” Quinn said. “Certainly, it would be nice to release it when you can tour it, and all the things that come with a non-Covid music industry. But we felt like we owed it to those people.” That sense of responsibility carries into their social activism and using social media platforms to raise over $30,000 for Campaign Zero, a nonprofit dedicated to ending police violence. In Philadelphia, where the band hails from, they partnered with Philabundance, an organization centered on hunger relief. “Whenever you can make music and feel like there’s a purpose behind it and that you’re doing something that’s making the world a better place in this wake,” Quinn says. It’s a no-brainer to do so. Those same sentiments carry into how vocal the band’s been about the need for a new president. “It would be a privilege for a band like us to not be political,” Quinn said about his anti-Trump statements. “But… we do have a platform and [Trump is] hurting people and really threatening people’s rights. And I think at a certain point it’s not political.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MURIEL MARGARET
Mt. Joy member Jackie Miclau on the keys at the Lakeshore Drive-In.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MURIEL MARGARET
Matt Quinn originally founded Mt. Joy in 2016 with fellow guitarist Sam Cooper. It just becomes a necessary part of… making the world a better place.” Where many might be scared of the backlash of making such comments, Quinn considers their band fortunate to
be “signed to an independent label [that is] politically and ideologically aligned with us on all of these things.” One can’t help but garner a sense of empathy from Quinn, who was a college
law student before dropping out to pursue his music dreams. “I’m sure it’s a difficult time to be in college,” Quinn said. “And I’m just hopeful that for everyone who is, that you guys get the most normal college experience possible.” He understands these are weird times to be in, stating, “I feel bad for anyone that’s in that situation that feels like they’re getting that experience robbed from them a little bit.” The band’s own tour with the Lumineers was cut short due to Covid. “It was a real bummer, but we were pretty fortunate in the grand scheme of things,” Quinn said. Having never played in basketball-sized arenas before, Quinn says the experience is surreal. “It’s a different type of show, to learn how to perform in front of that many people and it’s a great opportunity. The guys in the Lumineers, and girl, were all really amazing and I learned a lot from them.” Ever looking at the glass half-full, Quinn hopes that things will get more normal. In the meantime, Mt. Joy has no plans to halt anytime soon. “We’re working on music we’re really excited about,” Quinn said. The band also plan to continue their live stream shows, having raised over $30,000 for the nonprofits they’re partnered with so far. “We just figured out that they’re a good way to bring people together, and there’s lots of people in need right now,” Quinn said. What the world does need is more socially conscious acts who feel it is their duty to speak up. Mt. Joy exemplifies this, and according to Quinn, “I think that’s sort of the reason we’re here in a way.”
18 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
Back to school fashion turns to Zoom looks By Ava O’Malley Contributing Writer
Back before the coronavirus hit, a great deal of DePaul students stepped out in unique, expertly curated outfits. Walking from the Fullerton stop to the Quad on a busy Wednesday morning was a colorful catwalk of self-made fashionistas. Every subculture of fashion — skater, preppy, bohemian, goth — could be picked out of the swaths of students who gathered outside Arts & Letters. Now, with most classes online, DePaul’s most fashion-conscious students are adapting the ways that they shop, dress and show off their fits. “I’ve been shopping online every single day,” Belle Ross, a 20-year-old PR and Advertising student says with a laugh. Online shopping revenue has increased by $107 billion since March 2020, according to Digital Commerce 360. Ross, who works as the marketing coordinator for ReadyPretty, a small Chicago-based fashion marketing agency, describes her fashion as ever-changing, but largely dependent on neutral colors and multi-purpose basics. Ross, who became interested in fashion during her high school years, owes most of her fashion inspiration to social media apps like TikTok and Instagram. When classes were in person, Ross found herself getting dressed up if there were other fashionable students in class. “I do miss getting dressed up for class.” Ross said. “I think I just miss getting dressed up in general.” In sharp contrast to Ross’ wardrobe of earthy, neutral tones and basic pieces, DePaul junior Esther Ajayi always gravitates towards neon colors and bold pieces. Ayaji, who studies animation, misses the days in which she would be late for class for the sake of a good outfit. “I pull a lot of my fashion inspiration from kawaii fashion, streetwear, and Y2K.” Ayaji said. “When classes were on campus, you could probably see me from a mile away.” They said, laughing. “I was always wearing something really bright—like my bright pink sweater from Forever21.” The nationwide call to stay indoors has most Americans regressing to outfits of pajamas, t-shirts and sweatpants. For Ayaji, a simple walk outside is still an opportunity for a new, colorful fit. “My style hasn’t changed much since quarantine started. I’m not going out much, but if I do go out, it’s still bright colors,” Ayaji said. Getting dressed up for class was a large motivator and source of joy for many students in the pre-covid era.
“Getting dressed up for class was something I looked forward to every day,” Says Jacquie Michaels, a 20-year-old English major at DePaul. “It was one of my everyday joys.” Michaels describes her fashion as eclectic, a little dark and sometimes gothic. “I would describe my fashion as a cool grandma with colorful hair and too many layers of clothing,” Michaels said. For all three students, getting dressed up to attend class was mainly about being seen. “I miss getting dressed up for school terribly,” Michaels said. “I loved walking around and having everyone see the outfit from head to toe.” With online shopping on the rise, Ayaji and Ross have been especially wary of fast-fashion. In recent months, several fast-fashion empires such as SheInside, Boohoo and Zara have come under fire for exploiting their laborers. The apparel lines took advantage of the pandemic and people staying indoors by putting on “lock-down” sales in order to generate more revenue. According to freelance fashion writer Frankie Leach, sweatshops in the United Kingdom have been working their laborers to deadly extents in order to provide their customers with pandemic-era deals on in-demand loungewear. Ayaji is aware of the enticing, yet dangerous, prices that fast-fashion retailers offer. To combat this, she often shops at thrift stores to supply her fashion tastes. Additionally, she finds ways to keep old garments in-style. Some of her favorite pieces, although from fast-fashion stores, have been with her since high school. Ross, who browses online fashion sites daily, notes that it is important to invest in high-quality items that have longer life spans than garments from fast-fashion sites. So, do these students have any outfits saved up for “when it’s all over?” Ross is a bit wary of the idea of holding out hope for one special outfit. “I feel like that might make me sad,” Ross admits. “Just because I don’t really know when I would get to wear it.” Ayaji certainly does. “I recently wore this outfit that I can’t wait to wear out,” Ayaji said. “It was a black jean jacket that I painted myself, a blue angel-print mesh top over a white bra, blue jeans, and black heeled boots.” Although Michaels doesn’t have one outfit in mind, she still finds time to dress up for her Zoom classes. “Because you can only see me from the shoulders up, I’ll wear a hat or some cool earrings,” Michaels said. “Just so people know that I still look good.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ESTHER AYAJI
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JACQUIE MICHAELS
AVA O’MALLEY | THE DEPAULIA
Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020 | 19
‘Nectar’ review: Joji furthers his unique voice By Cole Bursch
right from the first track of the 18-song album “Ew.” “Ew” sets the atmospheric tone of the album with a sullen piano-driven verse breaking into a chorus of heavy with strings enmeshed in percussion. Joji’s high falsetto strikes through the lo-fi beats with the lyrics, “Ooh, teach me to love just to let me go, I can’t believe that I’m not enough.” The song fittingly ends with an instrumental duet between the piano and the string section and is as utterly morose as the lyrics. The rest of the album is also embedded with somber reflections of lost love and miscommunications, however, despite the similar subject matter, some of the songs feature new styles of production for Joji. The song “Tick Tock” is a rumination on miscommunication with a partner that is a full-circle moment for Joji as a songwriter because it features chopped-up “aw” samples in its production that remind the listener of vocals from Joji’s days as Pink Guy. The song’s trap beats, voice distortion and sampling never feel out of place in the scheme of the album, but the free-flowing recitation in the verses of “Tick Tock” is a fresh avenue of delivery for Joji. In the opposite style, the song “Run” also finds Joji exploring unfamiliar sonic territory. “Run” is a brooding guitar and bass-focused ballad that topically reflects on realizing a relationship has changed, “I know you’re not in love like you used to be. Guess I’m not the one, like you used to think.” By using multiple tones of his voice, Joji effortlessly traverses the track vocally, and then “Run” ends with a sprawling guitar solo. For an artist known for proudly using GarageBand beats, “Run” showcases that Joji is not afraid to pursue unknown production styles in search of a more emo-
Contributing Writer
Far removed from comedic internet fame, Joji expands the avenues of his lo-fi and R&B sound on his second album “Nectar,” further illustrating the unique voice he brings to the mainstream. George Miller, Pink Guy, Filthy Frank or Joji — whatever you want to call the artist currently known to most as Joji, he has been sparking waves and developing a devoted following since his days making comedic youtube videos. Building off the clever production that gave him millions of views on youtube as Filthy Frank, Joji’s first full-length record, “Ballads 1,” presented brief escapes into lovestruck anguish and hazy R&B. Joji’s latest effort, “Nectar,” similarly reflects on lovelorn anguish, despair and infatuation, but features bolstered production. Joji was born in Osaka, Japan, and graduated from the New York Institute of Technology in 2014. The Japanese singer is signed to the NYC-based 88rising, an Asian-American mass-media company and record label founded by Sean Miyashiro and Jaeson Ma. The label aims to bring a unique crossover of Asian influence to rap and R&B with artists like Rich Brian, Higher Brothers and Joji. So while maintaining his own identity as an artist at 88rising, Joji straddles the mainstream hip-hop and R&B industries. Whether it is freestyling about the Flintstones with producer Kenny Beats or releasing elegantly styled music videos, Joji has a foot in the door of multiple genres and audiences. “Nectar” unfolds into a sprawling canyon of reminiscence in which Joji contrasts tales of abounding love with haunting despair. There is reflective wisdom in Joji’s lyrics and production that is present
PHOTO FROM WIKIPEDIA
“Nectar” is Joji’s second album. It features Diplo, Omar Apollo, Lil Yachthy and more. tionally fitting arrangement. One of my favorite tracks on “Nectar” is “Upgrade” because it embodies the chaos and calms of the current moment in time. The production of the song is hectic and scattered, starting with bright piano chords and then bending into a tropical 808 beat accompanied by guitar plucking. Lyrically, the song saunters through a single self-deprecating verse, “Won’t you upgrade? I know it hurts. You deserve it, I know your worth. If you think you can’t make it happen, we’ll keep it optional.” Then the track randomly devolves into an outro of vocal harmonies that are simultaneously comforting and disconcerting. One part of “Nectar” that disappoints
is its tendency to veer away from a cohesive story. Although all the tracks sonically feel like part of the same sullen adventure, there are sometimes repetitive themes lyrically. Without any progression out of Joji’s despair to make the listener feel at ease, “Nectar” can become a heavy-hearted listen. Interestingly though, on “Nectar,” Joji uses the dives in and out of hopeful and dreary moods of production to allude to the partial bliss found within the madness. On “Nectar,” Joji makes the listener expect the unexpected all while staying true to his out-of-this-world production style. In the process, Joji has designed a unique addition to a catalog of music that is reaching audiences of every kind.
Horror movies to watch for non-horror fans By Lauren Coates
Staff Writer
October is *finally* here, which means that in addition to cooler weather, midterms, and voting registration, it’s officially horror movie season. On the whole, horror tends to be a very polarizing genre — it has its diehard fans, yes, but it also has just as many detractors who write the entire genre off as repetitive, predictable, jump-scared ladden torture porn. There certainly are some horror films that fit that bill, but despite having a few stinkers (and let’s be honest, what genre doesn’t?) on the whole, horror is a sprawling, fascinating genre that’s far too frequently written off because of a few bad eggs. “But Lauren!” You cry. “How am I supposed to know which are the good eggs and which are the bad eggs? I hear you reader, and I feel your pain. You’ve been burned before by terrible D-list horror movies, and you don’t want to give the genre another shot. So, I’ve done the heavy lifting for you — I’ve compiled a gaggle of horror films for the horror-weary viewer. Armed with movies that counter every complaint you may have about the horror genre, you can head into this Halloween season with a new appreciation for horror, and perhaps even a willingness to give some less prestigious (but no less fun) horror flicks a try. So, without further ado: the horror skeptic’s guide to getting into horror films.
PHOTO FROM IMDB
Rosemary’s Baby starring Mia Farrow is a good example of a great horror film. “Horror movies are all just cheap jumpscares” It’s a criticism I hear frequently, but that’s because it’s (unfortunately) often true. Horror films, especially ones made in the last mid to late 2000s and 2010s, tend to use jumpscares as a crutch to set the audience on edge, and the sheer frequency of their use in modern horror has driven many a moviegoer away from the franchise. So, if you’re trying to get into horror but wary of films chock-full of jumpscares, what do you watch? My recommendation? Try a film like “Rosemary’s Baby” or “The Shining” on for size. Both are terrifying, iconic, and critically acclaimed films that will chill you to your core, without relying on jumpscare fake-outs every ten minutes to bring the thrills. “The characters in horror movies are all so dumb” Another criticism based in truth.
One of the most famous tropes of the horror genre (parodied beyond belief in films like “Scary Movie” and “Cabin in the Woods”) is how stupid the main characters are — they split up constantly, they go into dark, dingy houses alone, and they never double-tap the killer. In part, that’s due to the fact that you have to have some characters who aren’t all that smart — slashers can’t rack up body counts if every main character is smart enough to outwit your killer. Still, sitting through movie after movie where the final girl makes dumb decisions can be grating, so why not take a look at a film where the protagonists are quick-witted and smart for a change? Films like “You’re Next” and “Scream” feature protagonists who are incredibly intelligent and don’t rely on pure stupidity to propel the plot forward. You won’t find yourself yelling at the screen while watching these flicks.
“Horror movies are so shallow — it’s all just senseless killing” We’ve come to our last critique — and yeah, sometimes this is true. Not every horror movie is telling an Oscar-worthy story, nor are they trying to. There are franchises like “Leprechaun” and “Nightmare on Elm Street” that delight in being campy, trashy, D-movie flicks that serve up creative kills and not much else — but maybe that’s not your speed. There are certainly meaty horror films out there full of depth, emotional nuance, and layered storytelling — not just Freddy Krueger turning girls into cockroaches. Filmmakers like Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers, and Ari Aster have revitalized the genre in terms of bringing prestige back to horror, so if you’re looking for films that will give you something to think about as well as something to scream at you’ve certainly got quite a bit to choose from. “Get Out” and “Hereditary” are some famous examples you may have already seen, but films like “The Babadook” and “The Platform” (originally “El Hoyo”) are lesser-knows flicks that will give you just as much to think about. So, when Halloween rolls around this year, don’t be the person in your friend group whining about how you don’t want to watch a scary movie. Instead, sit back, relax, and try out any of the films I’ve mentioned. I promise that at least one of them will help change your opinion on the genre for good.
20 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Oct. 5 2020
Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020 | 21
By Quinn White Social Media Editor
Timothy asked, “How do you feel about remote learning?”
Ashley asked, “Are you excited to graduate?” Hi Ashley! It’s very bittersweet to be honest with you. I’ve had such a great, enriching college experience at DePaul that it is sad to think I’ll be leaving in less than a year. However, the pandemic conditions are making that transition out a tad easier for me to digest — I’m over remote learning. I am excited to dive headfirst into my dream career, but at the same time, I have nerves about being an official adult in the real world as well. Thankfully, I feel that my leadership positions at DePaul have helped me prepare for the real, professional world. Enjoy every moment you have at DePaul! It goes by fast.
Rebecca asked, “What’s your best and worst subject?”
Hey Rebecca! Well, as a journalism major, my best subject has always been English. Any class that required essay writing has always
been my favorite and best subject. My worst subject has been and always will be math. I can’t deal with math — it deeply stresses me out haha. Thanks for the question!
Hey Timothy! Remote learning is tolerable but not made for me by any means. I’m a very extroverted person that loves meeting new people and really developing relationships with my professors. Remote learning makes both of those things very hard and sadly, I have a harder time remaining motivated when learning remote because of that. But, life is all about how we adapt to the conditions we are handed. This is a great learning and growing experience, so I’ve learned to think of remote learning as a hurdle I have to overcome and that’s exactly what I plan to do.
Sofia Coppola continues her legacy of quality with ‘On the Rocks’ By Michael Brzezinski Chief Film Critic
The name Sofia Coppola is always associated with the cool and fun energy of the early 2000s indie film scene. With her early works like “The Virgin Suicides,” “Lost in Translation” and “Marie Antionette,” being some of the most influential and culturally significant works of their time. Her films usually have bright colors, hip modern soundtracks, beautiful people and dazzling locations. It is so ingrained in her brand that it does make one think what it would be like if the “cool” wasn’t there anymore. It turns out that no one really thinks about this notion more than Coppola herself and it’s the primary focus of her latest films, “On The Rocks.” The film stars Rashida Jones as Laura, a struggling author and dedicated mother of two. Most of her days are spent carrying her kids to their many events around New York or spending hours in front of her computer preparing to write but never actually writing. Her world gets taken off course when she begins to suspect her workaholic husband (a profoundly miscast Marlon Wayans) of having an affair. Laura then enlists the help of her eccentric playboy father, Felix (played by Bill Murray with all his trademark qualities dialed up to 10), to assist her in following her husband around and getting to the bottom of his actions. It’s a fantastic set-up for an odd
PHOTO FROM IMDB
Rashida Jones and Bill Murray star as a daughter and father stalking Jones’ husband who they suspect of having an affair. couple comedy, and Jones and Murray are more than up for the challenge here. Their chemistry is magnetic and subtly quite endearing — this movie comes alive when it focuses on their history and connection. It doesn’t take long to realize that this movie at its core isn’t really about the mystery of the affair; it’s about a woman who has realized she isn’t the cool and exciting woman she thought she was anymore, and a father who has realized the only way his daughter will spend time with him is if her life is falling apart. It gives the whole movie an incredibly bittersweet air that pairs nice-
ly with Philippe Le Sourd’s soft candid cinematography and Phoenix’s wonderful lo-fi synth score. All these qualities paired with the great setup for the film carry it flawlessly until it seems to completely crumble under the weight of it and lose sight. I obviously do not want to spoil where this film goes in its third act because it is genuinely surprising, but it seems to really undercut much of what the entire first two-thirds wanted you to get out of this, and leads to a frustrating, rushed and frankly kind of confusing conclusion. It’s clear that there is so much
personal connection in this film for Coppola — who herself is a mother to two children and daughter to an eccentric larger-than-life individual — but her narrative becomes burden by its own mysteries and abandon’s genuine poignancy and catharsis in place of surprises and happy endings. There’s a reckoning with Coppola’s own “coolness” as she settles into this more sophisticated and subdued world her characters are in. And happily for her, as it turns out Coppola doesn’t need that “coolness” to make a good movie, she just needs a script that feels like it has its mind, and heart, made up.
22 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020
Chicago fall film festivals find ways to safely continue on By Michael Brzezinski Chief Film Critic
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many events that we know and love to be cancelled this year. Music festivals, conventions and even our graduation ceremonies all got put on hold for the time being. However, the fall film festivals refuse to back down. After Cannes, SXSW, and Tribeca got cancelled in the first half of the year due to the growing pandemic, fall fests knew they had to make a change if they wanted to stay on the calendar this year. So in the spirit of surviving in the culture, they made those changes. Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival shifted to a mix of virtual screenings, socially distanced theatrical screenings and drive-in presentations. Luckily for us Chicagoans, we don’t have to suffer through this tumultuous fall season without our celebrated cinematic fixes, courtesy of the Music Box Theatre and the Chicago International Film Festival. “We had months of planning in place,” said CIFF Senior Programmer Anthony Kaufman. “Luckily we had a lot of time to make the pivot.” The Chicago International Film Festival launches Oct. 14 and goes until Oct. 25with a mixture of select drive-in presentations and a plethora of virtual screenings you can stream right in the comfort of your own home. These virtual screenings will offer a very unique experience. According to Kaufman, unlike a lot of other festivals, CIFF is working on making their virtual screenings a more live experience with genuine live stream Q&A’s the audience can participate in with the filmmakers. “We really want to maintain that communal sense of the festivals,” Kaufman said.
While the virtual shift has given CIFF a great opportunity to “take the brand nationally” as Kaufman said, this actually makes way for more competition for all of these festivals that take place at around the same time, because now these festivals stream nationally. CIFF’s industry days, which host roundtable discussions, seminars and masterclasses with some of Hollywood’s top talents, will also be more widely accessible. According to Kaufman, the “Zoombased masterclasses have allowed for bigger talent to be able to make an appearance.” This year they’re hosting the likes of “Skyfall” screenwriter John Logan, “Da 5 Bloods” composer Terence Blanchard and “Moonlight” producer Dede Gardner. The drive-in presentations from CIFF come courtesy of ChiTown Movies, located in a lot next to ChiTown Futbol in Pilsen. There they will host some of the festival’s most high profile films such as Spike Lee’s live recording of David Byrne’s “American Utopia” and Chloe Zaho’s Golden Lion-winning Oscar front-runner “Nomadland.” Tickets are on sale for the general public, and you’d better hurry up, because Kaufman warns “These drive-in[s] will sell out.” Another major collaborator with ChiTown movies is the Music Box Theatre. Over the summer, the two collaborated for nostalgic double features and special Chicago premieres of films like documentary hits “Boys State” and “You Cannot Kill David Arquette” and for Kris Rey’s Chicago production “I Used To Go Here.” This fall, however, the Music Box has something very special in store. Every year they host a special 24-hour marathon of horror films dubbed “The Music Box of Horrors.”
NATE BURLEYSON | THE DEPAULIA
This year, the Chicago International Film Festival won’t come back to AMC River East “When your whole event centers around 750 people in one enclosed space for 24 hours, you have to realize you just can’t do that in a pandemic,” said Music Box programmer Ryan Oestreich. After Oestreich saw how the films over the summer performed and maintained “a real movie-going experience,” he realized they could do something special for the Music Box of Horrors this year. Something dubbed “31 Nights of Drive-In Terror.” “We’re gonna be giving people that movie-going experience every night of the month so you can celebrate Halloween at the movies any night you’re free,” Oestreich said. “We’re really gonna deck the [drive-in] out like a horror funhouse and have fun things every night like horror trivia and prize giveaways.” That’s right, the Music Box Theaters and ChiTown Movies are going to play a
wide range of horror movies every single night of the month of October. From renowned classics like “Re-Animator” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (paired in a double feature with its Indian ripoff “Makahaal”) to cult hits like Bong Joon-Ho’s “The Host” and Karyn Kusama’s “Jennifer’s Body.” The fest will even present brand new future horror classics like Brandon Cronenberg’s Sundance hit “Possessor” and Bryan Bertino’s “The Dark and the Wicked” (a special collaborative presentation with CIFF After Dark). “For me, it’s just making sure every piece of my brain is going in to make this drive-in experience work,” Oestreich said. “People are gonna be really blown away by what you can get out of this drive-in experience.”
‘Possessor’ combines a great concept with a wonderful cast By Michael Brzezinski Chief Film Critic
Do you ever feel like your job is a literal parasite in your life? Like it is slowly draining the light from your eyes and distorting the way you look at the things around you, alienating you from your loved ones and leaving you a shallow husk of yourself to the point where you don’t even recognize the face in your mirror? Well then, boy do I have the movie for you. Brandon Cronenberg understands this plight so much that he made a whole movie about it in the fleshy neon-drenched cyberpunk horror film “Possessor.” In it we follow Tasya Vos, a corporate assassin who inhabits the bodies of unsuspecting civilians to execute high profile big wigs. Tasya is great at her job but it comes at the cost of her relationship to her estranged husband and son as she begins to not feel at home in her own body. The plot thickens when she’s assigned to inhabit the body of Colin Tate, the soon-to-be son-in-law to a CEO of a major data mining company that Tasya’s company wants to take power of. Tasya’s approach with Colin as her surrogate is different and more difficult this time. What ensues is a hypnotic and twisty
PHOTO FROM IMDB
Jennifer Jason Leigh and Andrea Riseborough star in the horror film ‘Possessor.’ struggle for autonomy of Collin’s body versus Tasya’s control of him to commit heinous violence. If you think this plot sounds audacious, you’d be right. Cronenberg crafts some of deliriously wonderful and experimental visuals, which thankfully do the heavy lifting for a less-than stellar minimalist script. Subtlety isn’t a strong suit with this one, it’s big and it’s bright
and it’s loud as can be. Much like his father — renowned genre filmmaker David Cronenberg — Brandon also makes provocative and eye-popping usage of graphic violence and sexuality to a stomach-churning and disorienting effect. On top of this, Cronenberg recruited some of Hollywood’s most underappreciated talent for this film. Andrea
Risenborough brings a subtle complexity to the emotional distance and struggle of Tasya so much that even though what she’s doing is wrong, we can’t help but hurt for her in a sense. The real star of this show is Christopher Abbott as Colin. He’s been on the top of my actors to watch list since his masterful performance is Josh Mond’s “James White.” Here, he pulls off a real tight-rope walk of a performance trying to be two characters inside the same body as once in conflict with one another, and not once does he falter. There’s also plenty of scene-stealing appearances from great character actors such as Sean Bean, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tuppence Middleton. This film made major waves at Sundance and it doesn’t take long to understand why when you watch it. In an era where the culture seems to be obsessed with techno horror in the same vein as “Black Mirror” that give great concepts but have trouble taking them to that extra transcendent level of shock and experiment, it’s really special to see someone like Cronenberg who pushes it there and then some and makes for a genuinely unshakeable purley cinematic experience. It’s a great way to jump into the Halloween season.
Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Oct. 5, 2020 | 23
St.Vincent’s
D e JAMZ “Spinning fresh beats since 1581” By Emma Oxnevad Online Managing Editor
Lately I’ve had the feeling that the world is on the brink of destruction. Can’t imagine why. The world may very well be crumbling around us, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy the simple pleasures of life: like our weekly DeJamz! Here are some of my recent favorites for ushering in the end of the world.
Midnight Sky- Miley Cyrus
I am very indifferent towards Miley Cyrus; it seems as though she’s been riding the publicity wave of being a risque former child star for the better part of a decade. However, this is one of the few original songs by her that deserves to be on the radio. This song is a great form of escapism, reminding one of a simpler time when relationship drama was the biggest problem plaguing one’s life. It’s catchy, has great personality and sharp lyrics, — all the makings of a perfect pop song.
Mariners Apartment Complex- turing haunting lyrics, increasingly chaotic instrumentation and a primal scream, this Lana Del Rey What is a slightly melancholy DeJamz without Lana Del Rey? While she remains ever-confusing and problematic, you can’t argue that the lady can tell a story with her lyrics. Off her 2019 album “Norman F***ing Rockwell,” this song rejects her previous image as a sad girl who needs to be saved from herself and positions her as a steady guide to those who need her. The lyrics, atmosphere and instrumentation set a clear scene and make for an emotional listen each time.
ers
I Know the End- Phoebe Bridg-
I’ve been mildly obsessed with this song since August, and I’m not sure what that tells you about me. The best track off of Bridgers’ 2020 LP “Punisher,” this song is an exercise of grief for the world. Fea-
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song encapsulates the feelings of turmoil and desire for catharsis that is indicative of the current cultural moment.
First Day of My Life- Bright Eyes
I will first apologize to anyone who knew me in high school, for I played this song to death. This song often makes me cry, but in a way that almost feels comforting; it’s nice to know that a song you’re so familiar with can still strike such an emotional chord. Featuring Conor Oberst’s signature warbly vocals and an intimate atmosphere, this song often feels like home. Including this means I’m probably going to be emo-adjacent forever, but I am who I am.
Life During Talking Heads
Wartime-
The
If the apocalypse does happen, I want
PHOTOS FROM WIKI
this song to play while I make a mad dash through Target to hoard supplies. Featuring all the trappings of a great Talking Heads song — funky bass line, David Byrne’s yelping vocals and an overall slick vibe — this song is one that really never gets old. If you’re not in the mood to ponder the end of days, it’s also a great song to work out to; versatility is key.
ACROSS
DOWN
1. In thing 4. Cherry leftover 8. Dances to jazz 12. White alternative 13. Surfing need 14. Cinema sign 15. So far 16. Served perfectly? 17. Claim innocence 18. First name in rock 20. Salon job 21. Engine attachment 23. Pull strings? 25. Pays to play 27. Down, so to speak 28. Cause of some aches 31. Surround-sound device 33. Middle of the road? 35. Capsule 36. Big rig feature 38. Unbending 39. Rose petal oil 41. Form of pachisi 42. Face-to-face exams 45. Three-toed animal 47. Become dull 48. Brouhaha 49. In vitro fertilization (abbr.) 52. Proctor’s call 53. In addition 54. Not even a little 55. Dispatch, as a dragon 56. Bit of fowl language 57. Golfer Brewer
1. Children in a school? 2. Sailor’s assent 3. Couldn’t stand 4. Kind of team 5. Fiesta fare 6. Olympic activities 7. Club ___ 8. Make shadowy 9. Yoked pair 10. Spare parts? 11. Eye problem 19. Impolite look 20. Less civil 21. Diary fastener 22. Suspicious of 24. Aries, for one 26. Religious factions 28. Estimating, ___ out 29. Installed, as carpet 30. Annul 32. Meal source 34. East Timor’s capital 37. Campaign part 39. Hangout for tomcats 40. Add to the pot 42. Makes a pick 43. Hand support 44. Michigan college or its town 46. Drama class item 48. Drain, in a way 50. Word used in directions 51. Fishing gizmo
24 | La DePaulia. The DePaulia. 5 de octubre de 2020
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Arte hacia el activismo INSTAGRAM| @PAPELITOSLINDOS
La misión de Papelitos Lindos es “representar la cultura a través de la papelería, un papelito a la vez.”
Una empresaria utiliza su pasión para traer mejor representación latina By Erika Perez Reportera
Lo que una vez comenzó como un hobby de papelería para una empresaria, luego se convirtió en un negocio representando a la cultura latina. Sandra García, creadora y propietaria de Papelitos Lindos, estableció su negocio de papelería en Chicago en el 2017 después que perdió su trabajo. Una ex profesora de español, García volvió hacia su hobby de arte en busca de respuestas y un ingreso. “Nunca fui realmente esa persona para hacer tarjetas”, explicó García. “Pero comencé a enamorarme del proceso y quería convertir mi pasatiempo en una carrera”. García vio la falta de la cultura latina en la artesanía de cartas cuando le hizo ‘save the date’ recordatorios de fecha a su hermano para su boda. “A través de esa experiencia me di cuenta de que había una falta de representación de la cultura latina en los pasillos estacionarios de las tiendas”, ella dijo. García luego se dio cuenta que ella podría comenzar un negocio de tarjetas con un enfoque en la cultura latina para traer representación latina en la papelería. Uno de los primeros lugares en los que mostró sus cartas de papelería fue en una exposición de fotos de su amiga. Ella dijo que involucrarse o tener amistades que también están haciendo arte la ha inspirado a seguir creando. “Si no hubiera mostrado mis
INSTAGRAM| @PAPELITOSLINDOS
El diseño de Mujeres Revolucionarias, creado por Papelitos Lindos “fue creado para honrar a las mujeres de color que han allanado el camino para el éxito, la valentía y la resistencia”. cartas en las exposiciones, no sé si tendría Papelitos Lindos”, dijo García. García dijo que ser propietaria de una empresa es difícil, pero que está muy agradecida de ver su negocio crecer y del aprendizaje que ha tenido. Ella dijo que se siente afortunada de poder usar su servicio de arte para brindarle a la gente más representación. “Me identifico como chicana, pero no
solo creo tarjetas mexicanas, comencé a crecer en diferentes comunidades y diferentes culturas”, contó. El objetivo de García es poder crear algo más que lo que representa su cultura, sino también otras culturas. García colabora con otros artistas y miembros de la comunidad de otras culturas latinas para crear talleres donde enseña cómo hacer y hablar de la historia detrás de sus crea-
ciones culturales. Para García uno de los mayores obstáculos como mujer de negocios en general ha sido el sentirse segura de las decisiones que ella toma para su negocio. Ella dijo que tuvo que personalmente trabajar en construir esa relación con ella misma para poderse sentir empoderada. “No puedo creer en algo si no creo en mí misma’’, destacó Garcia. García dice que aprecia mucho los comentarios de sus clientes y le encanta crear arte que la gente ama, decorando con mensajes edificantes e imágenes lindas. Para los latinos que sueñan con abrir su propio negocio, Garcia dice que primero tienen que tener una relación fuerte con ser capaz de entenderse a sí mismo. “Es un proceso largo, pesado y abrumador, no sucederá en un año, es importante tener paciencia’’, añadió García. “Tener amigos que sean dueños de un negocio es tan esencial para ser dueño de un negocio porque necesita personas que puedan comprender sus luchas. Tus amigos te escucharán, pero no entenderán por lo que estás pasando’’. Para Garcia, el hecho de haber creado Papelitos Lindos significa mucho y ella dijo que cada día está trabajando para alcanzar más de sus metas con su negocio de papelería– creando cartas con unas de sus frases favoritas como, “Poderosa y Chingona”. “Estar en un mercado en el que mucha gente no está haciendo esto y verlo crecer desde abajo hasta donde está, ha sido lo mejor que he hecho en mi vida,” dijo.
La DePaulia. The DePaulia. 5 de octubre de 2020 | 25
Familias immigrantes temen la posible eliminación del TPS By Erika Perez Reportera
El 9no circuito de apelaciones en Pasadena, California decidió que el presidente Donald Trump podría eliminar el Temporary Protected Status (TPS por sus siglas en inglés)—poniendo en peligro el estatus de individuos de Sudán, Nicaragua, Haití, y El Salvador que habitan en los EE.UU. John Antia, abogado de inmigración, dice que la decisión de eliminar el TPS es complicada porque involucra la postura política y legal. “Por el lado de la política, la administración de Trump ha usado el tema de inmigración como una herramienta para orden y ley si no para un vínculo de sitio en su base”, dice Antia. Antia menciona que legalmente el TPS es una protección temporal y por ley, muchos salvadoreños han seguido las medidas de registración haciendo su vida en los EE. UU por casi veinte años. “No hay nada temporal en eso, en cambio tiene que haber una manera de alcanzar la residencia’’, dijo Antia. Aunque Trump haya dado el paso de reabrir el caso de TPS, eso no hace que la terminación esté a su favor de ponerle fin porque debe de ver una criteria evaluada por la corte que considera a las personas bajo el TPS y especialmente si tienen hijos ciudadanos. “No más porque Trump piense que pueda eliminar TPS, no significa que sea así...a menos que tenga un criterio que establezca las condiciones de los países, el juez judicial no terminará el TPS únicamente por opinión”, dice Antia. Mientras las noticias aguardan la terminación de TPS, las organizaciones enfocadas en TPS están en movimiento de acción para luchar por las familias de TPS y demandar que no se separen. Yanira Arias, Gerente de Campaña Nacional de Alianza Américas y protegida por
DAMIAN DOVARGANES | AP
Mateo Barrera, 4, originario de El Salvador, con sus familiares quien benefician del Estatus de Protección Temporal apoyaron a una conferencia de prensa en Los Ángeles. TPS de El Salvador, dice que Alianza Améri- de TPS de El Salvador y miembro de Nation- la organización National TPS Alliance, dice cas ha estado trabajando con su campaña de al TPS Alliance, menciona que él tuvo miedo que ellos están haciendo un tour de autobús TPS para organizar diferentes eventos comu- de lo que pasaría con su estatus en los EE. UU. llamado ‘La Libertad’ para demandar la pronitarios en torno a sus cuatro pilares para que pero que gracias a National TPS Alliance él se tección de TPS. puedan comprender los diferentes impactos involucró para educar a otros que puedan vo“Es nuestro trabajo enviar el mensaje que tiene TPS en las familias. tar. correcto y hacer saber a todos que estamos “Es importante educar sobre TPS porque “Hemos estado aquí durante dos décadas exigiendo residencia por ahora porque las está en el boleto electoral, la organización es y es injusto tomar una decisión que afecte a familias de TPS se lo han ganado... tenemos un paso para generar un cambio, pero votar nuestras familias y nos deporte... queremos que mostrar el poder en nuestra voz”, dice también es una voz para proteger a TPS’’, dice que los que pueden votar para salir y prevenir Zacatares. Arias. separaciones familiares”, dijo Martínez. Otros como William Martinez, portador Stephanie A. Zacatares, organizadora para
‘Exigimos que nuestro voto sea contado’: La supresión de los votantes latinx By Nadia Hernandez Escritora Contribuyente
La elección presidencial 2020 se está aproximando, con el primer debate presidencial que se llevará a cabo el 29 de septiembre en Ohio. Pero, en estas elecciones los latinos han enfrentado varios problemas: la falta de un moderador latino en los debates presidenciales y hasta la falta de un representante político que verdaderamente se preocupe por las necesidades de la comunidad, reporta NBC. “Las comunidades latinx tienden a enfrentar problemas particularmente difíciles: La elaboración de perfiles raciales por las fuerzas del orden público, la gentrificación y la asequibilidad de la vivienda, los lugares de trabajo inseguros, las escuelas públicas segregadas, [y] las redadas de inmigración”, según Voto Latino. Al juntarse todos estos problemas contra la comunidad, Christina Rivers, profesora de ciencias políticas, dice que mantiene a la comunidad marginada. “Las comunidades, en cierto nivel, están marginadas porque están desalentadas. Así que la supresión de los votantes es una manera de marginar a los grupos de personas y su poder político”, dijo Rivers. Esta represión que menciona Rivers se ha visto a través de varias tácticas como las barreras idiomáticas. En los ‘60s, las personas necesitaban tener una prueba de alfabetización en inglés para poder votar. “Ejemplos de supresión de votantes que ya no existen, son cosas como cláusulas de abuelo y pruebas de alfabetización y pruebas de interpretación, y en su mayoría impuestos electorales”, dijo Rivers. “Todas estas fueron tácticas
TORI SMOLEN | LA DEPAULIA
muy efectivas para prevenir principalmente a los votantes negros, pero también algunas de estas tácticas se aplicaron a personas de ascendencia mexicana en el suroeste”. Para poder combatir estas tácticas, Joe Tafoya, profesor de ciencias políticas en la comunidad latina, dice que la comunidad necesita obtener recursos. Los recursos están en edad, ingresos, y educación y así, podrán ejercer su poder de votación. “Sabemos por los datos de ciencias sociales que los latinos carecen de ese tipo de recursos, cierto, carecen de los ingresos, les gusta la educación y también como la edad, son desproporcionadamente más bajos que el promedio”, dijo Tafoya.
Él añadió que los latinos no siempre se les pide que voten en comparación a otras comunidades. “Así que menos de la mitad del tiempo que nos preguntan, nos piden que votemos. Y eso es un gran problema. Y es específicamente para latinos”, dijo Tafoya. “Porque ellos lo saben, vemos que el reclutamiento, cierto, que se le pide que vote, es lo que permite a los latinos superar esas desventajas de recursos, cierto. Les permite superar problemas con los ingresos, con la educación con la edad, y les permite superar cuestiones y motivaciones para votar”. Para Rivers, esta desventaja de recursos también afecta la velocidad del registro de votantes latinos.
“Como he estado haciendo mi investigación es que registrarse para votar ha sido una de las grandes cosas que han estado impidiendo que tantas personas voten. Está consiguiendo ese primer paso”, dijo Rivers. “Lo que se complica son los requisitos en términos de cómo determinar la aprobación de su ID”. El primer paso es muy crucial porque le permite a una persona tener la accesibilidad a votar, dice Rivers. Tafoya añadió que está de acuerdo y menciona que para los jóvenes, registrarse a votar es crucial para que su voz sea escuchada. “[Los jóvenes] quieren, lo que desean no va a ser representado, si los latinos mayores, están votando por ellos. Y sabemos, por ejemplo, que los latinos mayores que votan tienden a ser más conservadores”, dijo Tafoya. “Tienden a ser de diferentes orígenes nacionales. Así que, por ejemplo, ya sabes, tus conservadores cubanoamericanos votan mucho. No van a ser representativos de otros jóvenes latinos que provienen de otros orígenes como los mexicano-americanos”. Para seguir animando el voto latino, algunas plataformas como Voto Latino han expresado mensajes de los cambios que se pueden hacer al salir y votar. “Por eso es tan importante hacer el esfuerzo de salir y votar. Debido a que votar sólo se hará más difícil si no nos presentamos a las urnas, exigimos que nuestro voto sea contado y mantengan a nuestros legisladores responsables,” expresa Voto Latino. “La única manera de luchar contra aquellos que quieren suprimir su voto es haciendo lo único que no quieren que usted haga: VOTA”. Para más información sobre cómo registrarse y votar por correo visite: Chicagoelections.gov.
Sports
Sports. Oct. 5, 2020 The DePaulia | 26
Black Fires find unique way to honor Chadwick Boseman By Ernesto Hernandez Asst. Sports Editor
The sudden passing of Chadwick Boseman stunned Hollywood and the world at large. The subsequent outpouring of condolences showed that his influence transcended far beyond the big screen. His portrayal of famous Black figures inspired countless people throughout the world. His influence reached Chicago where a Chicago Fire supporters group known as “Black Fires” are honoring the late actor in their own way. Through their Twitter page, Black Fires announced that they were going to be producing and selling scarves to honor the memory of Boseman. Jake Payne, the group’s co-founder, was the person behind the idea as well as the one involved in the design process. “The idea came from a lot of places,” Payne said. “We started Black Fires with a lot of drive and inspiration from ‘Black Panther.’ We wanted to do something to give back, and since scarves are so prevalent in soccer, we thought we might as well make one of them.” Scarves are prevalent in soccer and supporters’ groups in general. When Black Fires hosted a Black History Month event back in February with former and current Chicago Fire and Red Stars players, they released a new version of their scarves for the occasion. “The scarves we had that day were the second edition of the ones we came out with the season before,” co-founder Phillip Bridges said. The concept behind Black Fires was to have a supporters’ group that builds and promotes Black culture and is representative of the Black supporter as a whole. In a way, the movie “Black Panther” and Boseman’s portrayal of T’Challah, was the push they needed to turn their idea into something tangible. “Me and my co-founder were toying around with the idea of a Black supporters’ group for like a few months or a year,” Payne said. “But when that movie came out, the pride it gave us, we immediately put our work in another gear. All our early pictures of us together at Fire games, we’re doing the Wakanda salute. We will do sometimes, that stuff never leaves you.” The design for the scarf is keeping in line with the “Black Panther” influence. Payne received permission from the creator of the font for the movie to use it in the design of their scarves. Dealing with Disney and copyright is always tricky but this time around, it was a rather straightforward process. “The process was extremely, actually extremely uninteresting,” Payne said. “It was like 2 a.m. and I had the idea moving around in my head. I found out Fabian Korn made it and it was through a separate company I could get a license. I sent them an email asking what we needed to do to be able to use it for a fundraiser and they got back to me almost instantly saying how to do it and to send a picture when it’s done.” While it is a “soccer scarf ” in honor of Boseman, it goes beyond just a tribute. In a way, it touches upon the struggle and issues still facing the Black community at large. “A couple of weeks before they
PHOTO COURTESY FLIKER
Chadwick Boseman speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con International, for “Black Panther”, at the San Diego Convention
“All our early pictures of us together at [Chicago] Fire games, we’re doing the Wakanda salute. We still do sometimes, that stuff never leaves you.” Jake Payne
Co-founder of Black Fires
released it, Jake showed me and another friend to get our opinions on it and I immediately thought it was such a beautiful touching tribute,” co-founder of The Plastics Supporters’ Group, Meredith Miklasz said. “I told Jake that it was more than just a tribute for Chadwick Boseman. I told him it’s the perfect moment, the perfect time. It’s in the middle of a movement and also in the middle of us having a discussion about racism in soccer.” The reaction from social media has been overwhelmingly positive with replies from fans across the league interested in purchasing a scarf as soon as they become available. Payne said that they want the entire process to be done
with care and with the attention that something that is important to them needs. Once the scarves are ready, they will be available for $25 with 80% of the proceeds going to charities focusing on cancer prevention and research. They were initially working out which charities to partner up with but they have since narrowed down their decisions. “We’re hoping [for] Blue Hat Foundation and the Ora Lee Cancer Research Foundation right now,” Payne said. “By hoping, we want to do outreach to them to form a relationship instead of just dropping money into their account.” Both of these foundations are run
by Black women. Candace Henley is the founder and CEO of the Blue Hat Foundation and Dr. Hadiyah Nicole Green founded the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation in honor of her aunt, Ora Lee Smith. The Blue Hat Foundation focuses on colorectal cancer whereas the mission of the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation is to provide cancer care that is accessible, affordable and effective. It’s another example of Black Fires putting their words into action which is serving an inspiration to others as well. “It’s a personal inspiration to me and it’s made me want to be more active and talk the talk as much as I walk the walk,” Miklasz said. “I really want to see that extend to other supporters and other supporters’ groups in the Fire community and have us really follow their example and also do better for them as well.” When it comes to the actual manufacturing of the scarves, the group partnered with DieHard Scarves. As far as when they will be available, Payne said that they are done with the design but are working on resizing. If everything goes smoothly, then the scarves will be available by the start of November.
Sports. Oct. 5, 2020 The DePaulia | 27 BLUE DEMONS, continued from front page -athletes and raise awareness about certain DEI issues.” One of the initiatives and topics that the Big East and DePaul have been pushing forward is voting, and registering to vote. DePaul has been putting out messages all over social media on how to register to vote, and the power of voting. The Big East is also the first conference to approve men’s and women’s basketball teams wearing Black Lives Matter patches on their jerseys this upcoming season. Chimbaru is unable to vote in American elections because she is an international student from Harare, Zimbabwe, but that is not stopping her from having important and difficult conversations with people that can vote about why it’s important to participate in elections. “It’s been important to have these tough conversations with people, even though I may not be a citizen, I’m still Black in America and that’s a whole different experience compared to where I’m from,” Chimbru said. “It’s been pretty great to have conversations with people, to connect with people from different backgrounds. It sucks you have to connect with such really hard topics, but it’s made people realize that as student-athletes, we are more than athletes. We are humans first and you have to stand up for what you believe in.” Even though Chimbru is not originally from America, she is still a Black person in the country, which entails a different experience than what white people go through on a daily basis. Although Chimbru has not had any negative interactions with the police, she says there is a certain way she has to act and behave in order to stay safe. “Even though I’m Black, it’s been a learning experience about African-Americans in the U.S.,” Chimbru said. “I can not say I’ve had a lot of bad experiences, so I can’t speak on that specifically. But you become mindful of how you are presenting yourself. I remember walking down the street and seeing a police car flashing, and my first instinct being to make sure that I’m behaving in a certain way. You become mindful of those little things
POSTSEASON, continued from back page falling in the wild card series, the sensations following the elimination were completely different. The White Sox went into the postseason with some concerns as the team stumbled into the postseason culminating in losing two of three to the Cubs. Questions about their starting pitchers not named Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel rose as well as how their offense would perform without Eloy Jimenez. The Sox put some of those fears to rest against the Oakland Athletics after winning the first game thanks in large part to a dominant pitching performance by ace Lucas Giolito. But it was all for nothing as they went on to lose two straight, with the final game that the Sox will look back on as a missed opportunity. “They left 22 runners on base in the last two games,” said Sean Anderson, producer at 670 The Score. “There was some weird lineup and bullpen choices and some bad luck, like Garrett Chrochet’s injury in game 3, but at the end of the day, you can’t win if you don’t score and the Sox had three golden opportunities to do so.” In game 3, manager Rick Renteria took a calculated risk when he pulled his starter after only two outs in the first inning. The plan was to go with Crochet for a few innings and then mix and match the rest of the game. His injury threw their plans for a loop. “The deficiencies that hurt them the most this series was pitching and their lack of a designated hitter in games 2 and 3,” Anderson said. “They acquired Edwin Encarnacion to provide power to a DH position that only
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS
DePaul junior midfielder Patrick Watkins dribbles the ball past a UIC defender during the 2019 season. in the back of your head. That’s definitely a different experience from what I have experienced back in Zimbabwe.” One of the different experiences that a Black person has to go through compared to a white person is the idea that there are two different justice systems in America, especially when dealing with cases of police brutality. In the case of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove in March, Kentucky’s grand jury only charged one officer with first-degree wanton endangerment. slugged .365 kast season, and in game 2, in both at-bats, he struggled mightily.” The lack of a third starter and a productive DH cost the Sox even in a shortened, three-game series. Plenty of questions were also raised towards Renteria and his handling of his pitchers in the final game. But it is more likely than not that he will be back next season. “I don’t know if he is the right man for the job, but it will be his job in 2021 and I think rightfully so,” Anderson said. “Fans calling for his firing are overreacting. This team won 35 games and held the top spot in the AL late in the season. Yes, the last week of White Sox baseball was frustrating, but there was a lot more good than bad from Rick Renteria.” Ask the Cubs and the White Sox about their postseason runs, both will say that it ended prematurely and they expected to get farther. The difference is that the analysis following the elimination were polar opposites. The Sox are expected to get back to the playoffs come next season. Adding a DH, right fielder and another starter are only going to improve an already young and talented team. In some ways, they are set to be a juggernaut for years to come. Over on the North Side, however, the talk has been about the end of an era and the disappointment that the Cubs core have underperformed. The Cubs will have their work come out for them in 2021, more so than the White Sox. The hope now is that it does not take another 12 years for both sides of town to enjoy postseason baseball.
“It’s a mix of emotions, anger was definitely a part of that, disappointment,” said Patrick Watkins, a junior midfielder on the men’s soccer team. “Just felt tired because it’s been going on, the same song. It’s been going on for a long time. Going into it, I was thinking this should be happening, and in the back of my mind I was thinking this will be overturned. I definitely spoke to a lot of friends back at home, we shared the same feelings. Now is not the time to get down, we can mourn a little bit, but ultimately we have a goal in mind and we should still reach it.” For Watkins, Chimbru and Hastings, they
want to keep using their platform at DePaul to continue speaking out against systemic racism and police brutality. Even though Watkins is disappointed with the decision in Taylor’s case, he doesn’t want that to put an end to the larger goal: equality for everyone. “We just have to continue plugging away at it, and to not give up,” Watkins said. “That’s what they want — they want our voices to be quiet, but we can’t. We have to be louder.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF AP
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Yu Darvish waits on the mound after being removed during the seventh inning of Game 2 against the Miami Marlins on Friday.
Sports. Oct. 5, 2020 The DePaulia | 28
Sports Postseason blues
PHOTO COURTESY OF AP
Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo heads back to the dugout after being called out on strikes during the first inning of Game 2 against the Miami Marlins on Friday.
Cubs and Sox disappoint in early playoff exit By Ernesto Hernandez Asst. Sports Editor
The Cubs and White Sox both made the postseason for the first time since 2008. Naturally, it got people excited and dreaming of a possible all Chicago World Series. However, as it turned out, it was nothing more than a dream. Just like in 2008, both teams crashed out of the postseason with the White Sox once again accounting for the only Chicago win. But it’s the manner in which they lost that speaks on the direction that both teams are headed. The Cubs were facing a lot of questions about their offense heading into the postseason despite breaking out in their final series of the season against the White Sox. Considering how their games against the Miami Marlins went, those concerns were warranted. “Every facet of this team had its ups and downs throughout the year, but over the last good while, the offense has been dreadful,” said Corey Freedman, cohost of the Cubs Related Podcast. “The offense struggled mightily. We know the group has the potential to be better, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the offense go missing with this group.” The Cubs managed only one run in their two-game sweep at the hands of the Marlins. That run came via a solo
PHOTO COURTESY OF AP
Chicago White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez leaves Game 3 on Thursday with an injury. The Sox lost the wild-card series 2-1 against the Oakland Athletics. home run by Ian Happ. Following the 2-0 loss to the Marlins, Cubs’ manager David Ross told reporters that it was “uncharacteristic of who they are” when referring to the offense. But the numbers suggest it was in line with recent history.
According t0 Evan Boyd, researcher at Stats Perform, the Cubs have scored 10 runs in their last eight postseason games. It is the fewest runs scored by a National League team in an eight-game postseason since the Brooklyn Dodgers scored 10 runs in an eight-game span
from 1920-41. The continued struggles of Javier Báez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo persisted. Drilling down even further, according to 670 The Score’s Matt Spiegel, since the 2016 postseason, the trio have gone 19-for-41 (.194 batting average) with 51 strikeouts and six walks. Rizzo has a team-option for next season and Bryant and Báez are set to become free agents in 2022. This may have been the last hurrah for a lot of them. It’s been four years with three in the postseason, where the core have been given a chance to show they can turn things around. They’ve failed to do so, which means changes might be on the horizon. Rizzo told reporters, “you’ve got guys in the clubhouse you’ll never be teammates again.” Looking forward, the uncertainty continues to grow. The future of Cubs president Theo Epstein has also come into question. Epstein has one year left but according to NBC Sports Chicago’s David Kaplan, he and owner Tom Ricketts are set to meet to discuss longterm plans. Part of those plans could see Epstein stepping aside with general manager Jed Hoyer taking over. Over on the South Side, despite also
See POSTSEASON, page 27