To ring in the holiday season, the annual tree lighting took place on the Quad. See our coverage in Arts & Life, page 16.
50 years after 1969, we look at what’s changed and how that year impacts our world today. See Focus, pages 14-15.
DePaulia
The Talent carries Blue Demons to strong start
Volume #104 | Issue #9 | Nov. 18, 2019 | depauliaonline.com
Low bar Law school lags with bar passage, rankings as Dean faces review
By Lawrence Kreymer Sports Editor
For the last 14 years the DePaul, men’s basketball hasn’t had much to cheer about. Until last year the program hadn’t had a winning record since the 200607 season. The program has been starving for something positive to go their way that they can use to build momentum, and they finally got that on Nov. 11 when they went to Iowa and dominated the Hawkeyes en route to a 93-78 victory. For the first time in years, there is a real buzz surrounding DePaul because of their impressive win over Iowa and the fact that they have started 5-0, the best start for the Blue Demons since the 1986-87 season. The schedule has been kind to DePaul to begin the year, with four of their five games coming at home. But like the first week of college basketball has shown, there are no more easy games in the sport. Former No. 1 ranked Kentucky lost to Evansville (who?) at home on Tuesday. Northwestern opened their season with a loss to Merrimack , a new addition to Division I basketball, and Loyola-Chicago lost to Coppin State at home. DePaul has not only managed to win their first five games, they have done it in dominant fashion, winning each game by an average of 18.8 points. But the big win came on Nov. 11 at Iowa in the Gavitt Tipoff Game when the Blue Demons sent a message to the country: this is a different DePaul team. The dominant performance by the Blue Demons, which began with a 13-0 run to start the game, had people on Twitter asking “is DePaul basketball back?” Well,
See BASKETBALL, page 27
By Shane René Editor-in-Chief
the kind of all-in-one experience that one might expect. The building can serve your desire for food, coffee, cocktails, merchandise and more. “I have spent more than I thought I would already, and I still don’t have all of the things that I really want,” Frank Riter said. “I feel like I could spend a whole paycheck here and still want more.” The bread baked for this location was delicious, well-crafted and traditional. The coffee meets and exceeds the quality of the
DePaul University College of Law (COL) has gone five years under the command of Dean Jennifer Rosato Perea, over which time the school’s national ranking has fallen, distinguished professors have exited and its students have graduated less and less prepared to practice law. Now Rosato Perea, who stepped into her roll in 2015 as the COL was recovering from the 2008 financial crash, is taking her track record to the university for an extension of her contract. An extension would likely make her the longest serving COL Dean in recent memory and the fourth since 2010. In a memorandum addressed to Interim Provost Salma Gahnem obtained by The DePaulia, Rosato Perea, who is in her late 50s, made her case to be retained, highlighting her victories since she took the reigns of the college in 2015. Among them she sites the “student trifecta,” an improved academic program, financial sustainability, mission focused initiatives and leveraging DePaul’s COL alumni network. “My commitment to the DePaul community and our students’ success is unwavering,” Rosato Perea wrote. “We know where we need to go, and we are well on the path. I would be honored to lead our community for the next five years and experience the law school’s and university’s successes together.” According to the memo, Rosato Perea said she hopes DePaul
See STARBUCKS, page 16
See LAW SCHOOL, page 4
RYAN GILROY | THE DEPAULIA
The largest Starbucks in the world opened on Michigan Avenue on Friday. It has 5 floors with a top-floor terrace.
Record-breaking Starbucks opens By Hank Mitchell Contributing Writer
There’s something contagious about the excitement surrounding an attraction that people deem worth lining up for. The opening of the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Friday at Michigan Avenue and Erie Street has drawn huge crowds lining up for hours to see inside. Many of those who passed by the large line outside wondered if it was worth the wait. “I am so ready to be inside, but it’s cold and I kind of regret this decision already,” said Jack
Arledge, a River North resident. The requirement for entry is not insignificant, and probably discouraged many from participating. Even once inside, the lines and waiting still delay the gratification of this experience. Waits to sit at the bar seemed to be over an hour throughout the day. David Blake, 35, said he and his party waited an hour and twenty minutes before being seated. “It was a long wait, but worth it,” he said. From the special Reserve Roast coffee beans to the unique coffee-themed mixology bar on the fourth floor, this is certainly
Diversity among professors at DePaul is often criticized as limited. But among tenured professors on campus, the lack of diversity is even more significant. Of the 528 total tenured professors at DePaul, The DePaulia was able to find 469 through DePaul’s website. The data collected by The DePaulia, though incomplete, shows that out of those 469 professors, 323 are white, 35 Asian, 28 African American and 83 unknown. Faculty and staff statistics for DePaul are not available for this year and only numbers were given when The DePaulia reached out trying to find out who had tenure, making it difficult to obtain all of the correct data. At 68 percent, white full professors or associate professors represent the largest
.97% Black, 5 6% 7.4
Asst. Arts & Life Editor
portion of tenured faculty. “I think there are several reasons for that,” said Chernoh Sesay, one of the few African American professors at DePaul with tenure. “One of those is that the numbers at DePaul to some degree reflect general patterns of diversity in high[er] education. But I don’t think that that’s an excuse. I think that DePaul has a big enough name, it’s an impressive enough institution that and it’s in a wonderfully diverse urban area that it would be a major attraction for people of diverse groups.” Although Chicago is one of the most diverse cities in the U.S., diversity among faculty at DePaul offers a stark contrast. In 2017, there were 916 full-time faculty and out of that, only 332 were not white. That is only 36 percent of DePaul faculty. In the Institutional Research & Market Analytics (IRMA) data, the lack of diversity on campus is apparent. It shows that from
n,
By Keira Wingate
ia As
Tenured faculty highlights diversity issues
1996 to 2017, DePaul has only seen an increase of 6.26 percent to 7.3 percent of African American full-time faculty. Other/Not The IRMA data shows that if it conListed, 17.7% tinues at a rate of a 1 percent increase every two decades, African Americans White, 68.87% would not constitute 10 percent of DePaul’s full-time faculty until sometime in the 2030s. “Not only is it kind of more difficult for concerned faculty of color to become full professor, in the last five years and even decades, DePaul has lost significant numbers This chart represents incomplete data collected of faculty of color that include women at by The DePaulia based on research and publicly the full professor level,” Sesay said. “So, the available information from DePaul. The DePaulia question becomes outside of bringing in was able to confirm tenure status for 469 faculty members across all colleges and from that, new faculty, what is the university doing to determine the racial breakdown therein. support faculty of color?” Data from IRMA shows that from sors to leave during that time was white, 2013-2017, there was a decrease in facul- they still have the highest percentage of ty, going from 975 in 2013 to 916 in 2017. See TENURE, page 6 Even though the largest group of profes-
2 | News. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
First Look 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 | Shane René eic@depauliaonline.com MANAGING EDITOR | Lacey Latch managing@depauliaonline.com ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR | Bianca Cseke online@depauliaonline.com NEWS EDITOR | Mackenzie Murtaugh news@depauliaonline.com ASST. NEWS EDITOR | Patsy Newitt news@depauliaonline.com NATION & WORLD EDITOR | Brian Pearlman nation@depauliaonline.com OPINIONS EDITOR | Emma Oxnevad opinion@depauliaonline.com FOCUS EDITOR | Cailey Gleeson focus@depauliaonline.com ARTS & LIFE EDITOR | Ella Lee artslife@depauliaonline.com ASST. ARTS & LIFE EDITOR | Keira Wingate artslife@depauliaonline.com SPORTS EDITOR | Lawrence Kreymer sports@depauliaonline.com ASST. SPORTS EDITOR | Nate Burleyson sports@depauliaonline.com
Interested in writing for The DePaulia? Contact our Editor-in-Chief, Shane Rene, to see your name in print and get real journalistic experience. Email eic@depauliaonline.com to get started.
THIS WEEK
Check out our campus crime database, Crime Watch. This map is updated on a weekly basis with data made available to The DePaulia from the City of Chicago data portal and DePaul’s Office of Crime Prevention.
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Monday - 11/18
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DePaul Jazz Workshop
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News
News. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 3
LSP changes could bring program around By Patsy Newitt Asst. News Editor
It’s generally understood that LSP121 isn’t anyone’s first choice. Many students harp on the required course’s perceived lack of utility and the fact that the course tries to fit too much into a small time frame. Zoaib Mirza, an adjunct professor who teaches Quantitative Reasoning and Technological Literacy II, LSP 121, calls his students “brave spartans” for taking the course. “It’s nebulous,” said junior Liam Cahill-Kurtz. A task force is working to change the Quantitative Reasoning and Internet Literacy (QRTL) domain, as well as Scientific Inquiry (SI), in efforts to improve the math, science and computing skills of DePaul non-STEM students. “The QRTL requirement has been subject to review several times since its creation,” said John Shanahan, the associate dean and director of liberal studies, “largely because LSP121 isn’t a very popular class.” The prerequisite, LSP120, is the quantitative reasoning part of QRTL, 10 weeks of baseline gen-ed math, spreadsheets and calculations, and is generally accepted by faculty, Shanahan said. Both classes are requirements for those in the College of Liberal Arts and Science and the College of Communication. LSP 121 is technological literacy portion of the requirement. It was designed as a mashup of various skills, including algorithms, databases and statistics. “I call it a buffet of computer science,” Mirza said. “Which means that you’re going to have a taste of three different segments.” But while the Excel, basic statistics and concepts applied in databases like SPSS and Microsoft Access are useful and still relevant, Mirza said, the software itself is older — dating back to the creation of the course in 1998. “What technological literacy meant in 1998 is different than in 2019,” Shanahan said. Mirza notes the intention was for students to become familiar with the material rather than experts, but for many students, the structure of the class, which entails fitting three large-scale concepts into nine weeks, isn’t useful long-term. “Anything I did learn in that class that would be applicable in a professional setting, I wouldn’t even be able to use because I have no recollection
PROPOSED CHANGE
of it whatsoever,” said Olivia Prichard, a senior majoring in women and gender studies. Rand Kelly, a senior studying anthropology, said the spread-out nature of the class made it easy not to pay attention. He would just go over powerpoints before the exam and received an A. “I do remember it was a continuation of LSP 120,” Cahill-Kurtz said. “We had to use some sort of software? I don’t even remember the name of it.” The course has been subject to review several times since its creation. “It’s not doing as much as we want it to do, is a nice way to put it,” Shanahan said. This recurring dissatisfaction amongst students and faculty led to a task force in the 2018-2019 school year that proposed to split the requirement into two — one course on computational reasoning and another on statistical reasoning. These courses might also have different topics, Shanahan said, like a statistics class with a sociological approach. “To revise [the course I think is in the interest of the students, because this way you can dive more into the content,” Mirza said.”For students who are not comfortable with the content or the modality, you know, it’s a lot to take in.” This change will also Graphic made with Infogram. helps transfer students get credit. It’s often difficult to get LSP 121 covered because it covers so many different topics, and the placement test is comprehensive. The proposed change will help abate this. The task force ended with a proposal in March 2019, recommending that students should be able to choose between taking the new classes after LSP 120. After that report, however, the scientific inquiry domain brought up concerns about how the new computing course overlapping with 100-level SI courses. science portion. Two-thirds of This is where the those taking the SI elective are communication between taking business calculus class, scientific inquiry and a product of the domain being quantitative reasoning began, formulated when the CDM and the task force is now school was just being created. working in tandem with the two New required SI courses would groups. be science-exclusive. The new proposal is While it looks like there’s less that both statistics and science, it’s more that the classes computational reasoning that were considered science are courses would be required and being reorganized the scientific inquiry domain “It’s a truth in advertising will be condensed from three to approach,” Shanahan said. two. While many students The bargain is specifying the dislike the requirement because
BREAKDOWN
“To revise [the course] I think is in the interest of the students, because this way, you can dive more into the content. For students who are not comfortable with the content or the modality, you know, it’s a lot to take in.”
Zoaib Mirza
Adjunct professor of LSP 121
they don’t feel like math applies to their liberal arts or communication majors, both Shanahan and Mirza emphasize the importance and applicability of STEM groundwork. “I understand that people have this idea that ‘I go into humanities because I don’t want to do math,’” Shanahan said, “but the fields have changed so much that if you go into a Ph.D. in the humanities, you’re probably going to see statistics.” The proposed changes would create comprehensive
and specified courses that aim to improve student’s STEM skills, giving students access to a more in-depth look and promoting ease of transfer credits. “Right now, we’re just slowing students down,” Shanahan said. The recommendations will be released in a report at the end of winter quarter, which will go to liberal studies council and then faculty council for approval with a projected acceptance by 2020.
4 | News. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 LAW SCHOOL continued from front will re-enter the U.S. News and World Report’s ranking of the top 100 Law Schools in the nation. In order to do that, she will need to lean heavily on the “student trifecta” numbers — which includes admissions statistics like median GPA and LSAT scores, job placement figures and the school’s bar passage rate — things she says she has improved. Bringing the COL back into the top100 of national law school ranking would require a reversal of some current trends. Over Perea Rosato’s first term as Dean between 2015 and 2018, DePaul has fallen from 111 in the US. News and World Report Rankings to 132. The Internet Legal Research Group (ILRG) currently ranks DePaul 147th among the top-200 law schools, 158th in median GPA (data from Fall 2018), and 147th in first-time bar passage. With DePaul’s position in the largest employment market for lawyers outside of New York City and Washington, D.C., the COL sits just inside the top half (93rd) of all 200 ranked programs for employment at the time of graduating. For employment within 10 months of graduation the COL falls to 139th in the national rankings. When you account for the 4 percent increase Rosato Perea boasts in a promotional graphic Rosato Perea shared with The DePaulia, the COL would jump into the high 120s. Among all law schools in Illinois, the ILRG has DePaul ranked second-to-last, just above Southern Illinois University. Bar passage rates, and how they compare to the statewide bar passage rate, are a key element in evaluating how effective the COL is in educating its students. For DePaul, first-time bar passage rates have taken a sharp dive since Rosato Perea’s deanship began. Prior to Rosato Perea’s arrival, the COL saw its students pass the Illinois Bar Exam at a moderately higher rate than the state average. Between 2012 and 2014, a steady
86-87 percent of DePaul COL graduates who sat for the exam passed, according to DePaul’s 509 Information Report to the American Bar Association (ABA). Following the 2015 bar exam where bar passage for both the COL and the state average saw a roughly six-point slip, DePaul’s first-time pass rate cratered to 71 percent in 2016 and continued to fall. By 2018, just 60 percent of DePaul COL graduates passed the bar exam on their first attempt. Rosato Perea said the COL has seen improvement with the class of students who sat for the exam in July of 2019, as an extra 7.5 percent of test takers passed. The 2019 bar passage data has not yet been released by the ABA and The DePaulia was unable to confirm that number. “The prior decreases are attributable to some extent to the national decline in bar passage rates between 2015-2018, corresponding to significant changes in the bar exam itself,” Rosato Perea told the DePaulia in an email. She did not acknowledge The DePaulia’s request for an interview. Other universities have seen some declines in bar passage rates, too. NIU, where Rosato Perea formerly served as dean from 2009-2015, currently has a bar passage rate of 59 percent, down from the mid 70’s just two years earlier. In 2018, Loyola Chicago and the University of Illinois had first-time passage rates of roughly 80 percent or better. John Marshall Law School just edged out DePaul’s 2018 figure with 61 percent. Rosato Perea says the recent increase at DePaul is due to new programs to help students pass the bar exam and a new Bar Director, Professor Jamie Kleppetch, who was hired in July of 2018. She says it will take a few years for these programs to realize their full value. COL professor Donald Hermann says adding bar-prep courses to the curriculum isn’t a fool proof strategy and doesn’t address the underlying problem.
“[Bar Preparation Courses] may help a few students in mastering exam taking, but the problem is the mass of students, they don’t really have the background in terms of the substance of the law,”Hermann said. Terrie Sullivan, 2017 COL graduate, said she didn’t feel that the bar preparation courses she took while at DePaul proved to be particularly helpful on the exam itself. The state average for first-time bar passage did fall over 2015-18, however, DePaul’s significant decline has outpaced the statewide attrition by a healthy margin. Each year, beginning in 2016, the college’s differential with the state average grew closer and closer to double-digits. In 2018, DePaul’s COL was more than 15 points behind the state average. Assuming the program did add 7.5 percent to their pass rate in 2019 — and students from other law schools adjust to the new bar exam — that differential is likely to stay around 10 percent. Fixing that gap will be a priority in the short term as the American Bar Association tightened its regulations on law schools last year. In May 2017, the ABA passed measures requiring all law schools to have 75% of the schools test takers pass
the exam within two years and will no longer allow exceptions for schools within 15 percent of their state average. DePaul has also lost some of its distinguished professors from the COL. A 2015 study of scholarly impact among law faculties around the country ranked DePaul in the top third of U.S. law schools, measuring the number of law journal citations by tenured faculty. “DePaul faculty continue to be distinctive in the breadth and quality of their scholarship,” Dean Jennifer Rosato Perea said in a blog post to the COL Website, just a few months after taking the job. “It’s great to see that distinction recognized nationally!” Nationally distinguished professors like Brian Havel, Andrew Gold and Terry Smith have all left the university since Perea’s arrival. Smith’s exit came on the heels of a civil rights lawsuit he filed against the COL and Perea and ultimately settled out of court. For students like Terrie Sullivan, she says it was distinguished professors like Terrie Smith who had a nationally renowned expertise that made her feel prepared for life after law school.
Tribune shuts down Spanish-language media Hoy Lee este artículo a través de nuestra edición digital en depauliaonline.com
By Maria Guerrero Contributing Writer
The Chicago Tribune Guild, an organization of journalists, announced on Twitter the shut down of Hoy Media, the city’s leading Spanish-language newspaper, by Tribune Publishing last Tuesday. “We’re deeply disappointed that Tribune Publishing is shutting down Hoy, which has gone beyond stereotypes and provide meaningful news to the vast body of Spanish-speakers in our region,” the Chicago Tribune Guild tweeted. Laura Rodriguez, a bilingual multimedia journalist and DePaul alumnus, worked at Hoy for four years reporting, photographing and editing stories of Spanish-speaking communities. “I’m seriously so angry and frustrated at the fact that the company decided to get rid of such an important platform for the Spanish-speaking community in Chicago,” Rodríguez said in a tweet. “I wrote so many stories no one else did — we had our space! Our Latino, Spanish-speaking community counted on us to tell their stories. Those that are often not told.” Hoy Media has been serving as a voice for the Latinx community for 16 years since launching in 2003. The Tribune Publishing Co. obtained Hoy in 2000 to replace the Chicago Tri-
bune’s Exito publication. Since then, the Spanish-language paper ran daily until becoming a weekly publication in 2017. The shutdown will end Hoy’s publication both in print and online on Dec. 13. Sandra Guy, a Sun-Times journalist and journalism instructor at DePaul, said she’s saddened about Hoy’s shutdown as it’s silencing the vital voice of the Latinx audience. “Nearly 30 percent of Chicagoans are Latinx; it’s another blow to the Latinx community in this political environment,” Guy said. “It’s also a loss of opportunity for Latinx journalism students to jump-start their careers with a published story in ‘Voice It.’ ‘Voice it,’ Hoy’s English-language publication aimed at millennial and college-age readers, had a partnership with Guy’s journalism class, allowing 13 DePaul students’ bylines and biographies to be published in Hoy. The Latinx community now makes up about one-third of the total population in the city and about 58.9 million live in the United States, according to the Census Bureau. But this year, publications like the New York Times en Español, BuzzFeed News Mexico and Huffpost Mexico have closed their Spanish-language news division. “I truly valued Hoy Media because it
served an important part of the Chicago population, of the Chicago Tribune audience – I never left because I truly believed in the service it did our Spanish-speaing community,” Rodríguez tweeted. Richard Requena, a former Hoy intern and junior journalism student at DePaul, said he’s in disbelief as no other publication cover stories like Hoy does. “What makes Hoy unique are their reporters,” Requena said. “They’re very invested into their communities and catering to their niche audience.” Requena said reporting the stories of the Latinx communities was a great experience for his journalism career. He interned at Hoy last summer as a multimedia journalist, reporting, producing and translating stories on the West and South Sides for Hoy’s publications, ‘Voice it’ and ‘Fin de Semana.’ “Print is dying off but it was unexpected to hear its termination; it was out of the blue,” Requena said. The publication has experienced a shortage of staff to about half a dozen of employees, said Tilden Katz, spokesman for Tribune Publishing. “For the past four years, I’ve poured my heart and soul into not only reporting – but also photographing and editing video stories – of our Spanish-speaking community in Chicago for Hoy,” Rodríguez tweeted.
A statement released last Wednesday from the Latino Policy Forum said Hoy Media has been a symbol and a source of pride for Chicago’s Latino community. “Tribune Publishing’s decision to cease operations, creates an enormous void at a time when Illinois’ 2.2 million Latinos constitute the largest and one of the fastest growing minority groups in the state,” Latino Policy Forum said. Guy said as the third-largest media market of the nation, she hopes Chicago will find a way to serve the city’s vibrant and diverse communities. “I hope Chicago’s growing entrepreneurial business community might lead to a new way of sharing news stories important to the Latinx community,” Guy said. Requena hopes the Chicago Tribune keeps a section of their local news in Spanish or that the loss of Hoy will inspire journalists to launch their own independent Spanish-language media. “I’m committed to continue doing just that: ‘To continue to showcase the essence of the Latino community, lifting the Spanish-speaking voices, and our immigrant community beyond stereotypes and negative coverage,’ whether it be with the Chicago Tribune or any other company,” Rodríguez tweeted.
News. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 5
‘In the very beginning, writing was existing’ Immigrant organization founder spoke about misconception of undocumented citizens. By Veronica Schoonover Contributing Writer
Define American, a nonprofit media organization, seeks to use storytelling to shift the conversation on immigration and citizenship. Jose Antonio Vargas, founder of the organization, appeared to speak at DePaul’s third annual President’s Lecture Series on his life and experience as an undocumented immigrant in the United States. The event was moderated by Chris Tirres, an associate professor of religious studies at DePaul University. “We wanted to bring people with very diverse backgrounds to speak on issues which typically are important to the public,” said A. Gabriel Esteban, DePaul University president. Vargas immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in 1992, when he was 12 years old. He graduated from Mountain View High School in Mountain View, California, and San Francisco State University. Vargas founded Define American in 2011, after officially coming out as an undocumented immigrant in a New York Times Magazine article the same year. The organization recognizes the importance of storytelling to shift the dominant narrative of undocumented citizens. Define American has consulted on 70 television programs including “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Superstore” to include storylines of their experiences in the United States. Vargas emphasized how misunderstood the experiences of undocumented people are in the United States. “Conservative sources have created this anti-immigrant virus that has spread so wide it elected a President into office,” he said. He acknowledged a misconception that undocumented workers do not pay taxes to Social Security. A report from the Social Security Administration, however, reveals that unauthorized citizens contributed $12 billion dollars to the Social Security fund for 2010. Vargas found out he was undocumented after he attempted to receive his driver’s license at the
XAVIER ORTEGA | THE DEPAULIA
DePaul’s third annual President’s Lecture series featured Jose Antonio Vargas, an immigrant from the Phillippines and founder of the nonprofit Define America.
“To make the decision to stay and to water plants, to be rooted somewhere, is the best thing I could have done for myself.”
Jose Antonio Vargas
Founder of Define America California Department of Motor Vehicles when he was 16 years old and the worker told him that his Green Card was fake. His grandfather then explained to him that he had been smuggled into the country in 1992. After this realization, Vargas began to write for his school newspaper because he could get a byline. Vargas explained that he thought if he could not have the proper paperwork, at least his name was on some sort of documentation. “In the very beginning,” Vargas said. “Writing was existing.” Vargas started at the Mountain View Voice, a local paper in his hometown of Mountain View, California. He continued on to write for the San
Francisco Chronicle, the Philadelphia Daily News, the Washington Post and the New Yorker. Vargas is a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, best-selling author, Emmy-nominated filmmaker and a Tony-nominated producer. He acknowledged these successes, but also emphasized that these accomplishments contributed to his internalization of “earned citizenship.” In his memoir published in 2018, “Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen,” his goal was to capture his state of mind and the impact of his experience as an undocumented citizen. The book was available for purchase and signing at the event. Before finishing the book, Vargas had
thought he would use the money to leave the United States, but changed his mind once it was finished. He recalled a significant line in the book that helped him to overcome his personal belief in “earned citizenship.” Vargas proceeded to ask the crowd, “How many of you are documented citizens?” After nearly everyone in the crowd raised their hands, he asked, “And what did you do to earn it?” The line in Vargas’ book helped him realize how he got to where he is today and how he hopes to continue with his work. “Since I’m staying, my work has to be borderless,” Vargas said. “I want my work to be as fluid as possible.” Vargas noted that since his work is free, he is able to handle the legal and physical limitations that come with his citizenship status. Through Define American, Vargas seeks to ask the question, “How do you define being American?” Jocelyn Martinez, a graduate student assistant at the Office of Multicultural Student Success, attended the event and described how she views being American.“It’s the values we hold,” Martinez said. “Our values are interlocked with each other for the humanity of all.” Vargas has struggled with mental health and, often, the way it has been stigmatized. In the final Q&A portion of the event, a staff attorney at the DePaul Law School asked Vargas how he handles mental health in the face of stigma in the Filipino community. Vargas answered by discussing the importance of art and the benefits of plants in his home. “To make the decision to stay and to water plants, to be rooted somewhere,” he said. “Is the best thing I could have done for myself.” Vargas now believes his journey has given him a reason to stay in the United States and he will continue to fight for his right to be here. “I’m fighting for my existence and I get power from it,” Vargas said. “Something that used to make me so vulnerable is actually now something that makes me strong.”
Hill under fire after letter to Thunberg By Mackenzie Murtaugh News Editor
Philosophy professor Jason D. Hill wrote an open letter to environmental activist Greta Thunberg last week, calling her morals misaligned with the natural path of climate. The open letter was published in FrontPage Magazine, an online magazine funded by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a conservative foundation that the Southern Poverty Law Center deems “anti-immigrant” and “anti-Muslim.” Thunberg, a Swedish teenager, made headlines last month when she spoke at the UN Climate Action Summit. In Hill’s letter, he criticizes Thunberg for misunderstanding the civilized and technological era she lives in, which he notes was created by his generation and generations before him. Hill then comments on a young person’s inherent inability to produce because of their age, all the while assuming Thunberg is an adult. “Here is a hard truth to ponder, Greta: if the great producers of this world whom you excoriate were to withdraw their productivity, wealth and talents—
in short—their minds from the world today, your generation would simply perish,” Hill wrote. “Why? Because as children you have done nothing as yet, with your lives besides being born.” Hill came under fire in Spring Quarter of 2019 because of an article he penned in The Federalist that many alleged was hurtful and Islamophobic. The DePaulia reported in April 2019 that Hill’s article called for the “moral right of Israel” to annex the West Bank, which the campus Students for Justice in Palestine called “ethnic cleansing of the region.” The university’s Faculty Council voted to condemn the contents of Hill’s article in The Federalist but supported his academic freedom. This received mixed reactions from students, with some praising how the Faculty Council reacted while others thought the decision was not enough. Hill is not employed by the David Horowitz Freedom Center — but “an independent journalist, scholar, philosopher,” in his own words. He was also named the Center’s Shillman Journalism Fellow of FrontPage. The position has “expanded and deepened and the coverage
of current events” in the magazine, according to its website. In the FrontPage article, Hill stirred up enough controversy to land an article about the topic in the Chicago Sun-Times. The reporters spoke with youth climate change activists, many who idolize Thunberg, and they have condemned him for the article’s contents. “I wrote the article because, one, I am concerned at the degree to which adults are ceding moral responsibility to children,” Hill told The DePaulia. “It’s the age of deference to children when children are in need of moral guidance and leaders from adults.” Regardless of the controversy, Hill hopes that with more nuanced and deeper understanding of industrial growth and its benefits, the younger generation can see and appreciate what has been given to them by their elders. “Do not demonize the very means of your survival,” Hill said. “Change takes time, concession [...] occur not by arrogantly telling off world leaders — but working with them — not some revolution as Greta claims but [reform].
6| News. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
The uphill climb of internship search By Joey Cahue Contributing Writer
Finding yourself dry-eyed, slumped over your laptop with cramping fingers while you’re making your way through your fourth cup of coffee is usually what the internship hunt consists of. Students are often preached at that internships are the gateway to full-time jobs or the building blocks for their resume. Unless you’re one of the lucky ones with connections, finding an internship and even a full-time job after paying an outrageous amount of money for a piece of paper saying, “You did it” is usually the struggle for every college student. The hard part for most students when finding an internship is not being sure where to look, competing with other students and getting ghosted by employers. No one wants to spend 45 minutes on an application with a detailed resume listing every professional project they’ve done since high school all to get completely curved by a potential employer. Forbes suggests that the best places to look for internships are LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Google, a school’s job listing site (such as Handshake), Internships. com, Internmatch.com, YouTern, Idealist, Global Experiences and CoolWorks. The issue with big sites like LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Google is that students are competing against thousands of other students who also thought to use those sites. Don’t feel too bad about it; great minds think alike and we’re all going for a similar end goal. Michael Elias is the director of internships in the College of Communication at DePaul. Elias said he believes that the first step in finding an internship is to set a goal around the job functions you want to gain experience in. He also recommends meeting with an internship adviser to help articulate your goals. While LinkedIn and Glassdoor are reputable, Elias suggests websites like Handshake that aim for smaller pools of applicants. Handshake also lets you connect with alumni who have worked at the company you’re applying to. “Handshake is a great starting point for DePaul students, since many of the employers who post there are specifically targeting DePaul applicants,”
TENURE continued from front professors at DePaul. Sesay has been at DePaul since 2006 and since then, the African and Black Diaspora Studies at DePaul has not gotten a new tenured track line. This would be an obvious place to increase diversity and put money into the program so they can hire more people of color. Sesay said at least three professors of color who were tenured or tenure tracked left DePaul because they were so disillusioned with how the School of New Learning was handled. Many faculty and students at the School of New Learning were of color and with the way the situation was handled, they decided to leave DePaul instead of staying on at a different school. “If there was a true commitment to diversity there, the way [in] which that situation was handled would’ve been different,” Sesay said. Due to the low percentages of diversity on campus, the few that are of color are asked to do things involving diversity that white professors are not. “I’m asked to do a lot of diversity work
he said. “Additionally, many academic departments have internship programs.” The application process and waiting game after that are tough, but landing an internship is arguably the hardest part of getting your foot in the door of the professional world. Elias said the difficulty of landing one depends on what you’re applying for. “This largely depends on how competitive a particular industry or company may be,” he said. “If your goal is to intern with the Chicago Cubs, you’re going to face greater competition than if you were targeting a smaller sports team or organization.” Sometimes, you’ll stumble across the perfect internship description and everything in the world suddenly makes sense – until you see “unpaid” in bold letters at the bottom of the page. Elias said most students prefer paid internships, but to not close yourself off to unpaid ones either. “One perk of applying to unpaid roles is that the applicant pool is likely smaller, so you could be facing less competition,” he said. No matter what the scenario is, no one likes to get ghosted. Getting ghosted by a potential employer might be the most painful form of ghosting. There are ways to deal with that. “I always recommend following-up with employers via email, both to check the status of a position you’ve applied for and to restate your interest,” he said. Elias also said some companies will only reach out to applicants they want to move forward with and to never hesitate to visit the Career Center at DePaul for help and advice. Maha Bokhary is a sophomore at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is doing pre-law and she gets notified for internships through her school’s server. Bokhary said the hardest part of applying for internships within the last year was her age. “The hardest part was that I was applying to internships as a little freshman and they usually favor sophomores and above,” she said. Bokhary also stresses that students shouldn’t take unpaid internships unless they have the time for them. If they don’t, it could be a lot to add onto their plate. “Don’t worry about getting an internship ASAP; wait till the right one comes along,” she said. and this is true of a lot of my colleagues who are of color or are allies,” Sesay said. Sesay has been asked to be part of diverse panels along with professors who are Asian, Hispanic and others. Even though Sesay said he is happy to do that for the students and for the university itself, he still has mixed feelings regarding why he is the one asked. “The fact that I’m asked to do certain types of service that I see other faculties not being asked to do creates an additional problem,” he said. Diversity amongst professors will need to make massive changes in hiring to even slightly increase the percentage on campus now. While white professors break the 300 mark of who have tenure and over 500 of who is on campus, every other group has not made it over 70, tenure or not.
INFOGRAPHIC BY MACKENZIE MURTAUGH WITH INFOGRAM
Where to find internships, according to the experts. Jack Warnik is a junior at Indiana University and he is in the Kelley School of Business. Warnik worked hard for his current internship and past internships, but he said the hard part of finding them is making sure you find the right mix of location and industry.
He has advice for students seeking internships. “Separate the emotion from the internship search,” he said. “It’s easier said than done but you have to know there are so many amazing companies out there. Just because they say no now doesn’t mean it’s no forever.”
This is our final print issue of the quarter.
Follow our reporting online over winter break at DePauliaonline.com and on all of our social media accounts. Look for our coverage of all men’s and women’s basketball games, breaking news on campus and more!
News. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 7
The teacher fighting for inner city success PHOTO COURTESY OF TRENTON SAPP
Trenton Sapp (middle) poses with two of his students, (left) Jivontae Price and (right) Courtney William. Sapp teaches that success can come from any part of the city.
By Maria Guerrero Contributing Writer
A South Side teacher fights for the future of inner city kids within his classroom. Trenton Sapp, a Roseland resident, is a teacher at Corliss High School serving as a voice for his students since he started teaching in 2015. “We need more people to step up and fight for our inner city youth,” Sapp said. “I’m fighting for them.” Sapp inspires his students to rise above the circumstances and struggles found within their neighborhoods. “I feel some type of way when I see how inner city youth are treated just because they are inner city youth,” Sapp said. “I’m tired of hearing excuses. I tell my students, ‘Just because you’re from the inner city doesn’t mean you have to act like it.” Branetta Ferguson, 21, a former student of Sapp at George Westinghouse College Prep, said students at her school always had excuses. “He made us recite the definition and even put it in a test for us in class,” Ferguson said. “Since then I will never forget the definition of excuses. I no longer come up with excuses because of Trent.” Ferguson said Sapp helped her receive academic opportunities throughout her high school career. Sapp utilizes his passion for broadcast technology to equip students at Corliss with transferable skills they can continue using beyond their high school education. He treats his classroom as a job to begin implementing a sense of work ethic with the youth. “Several students don’t want to go to college, although it’s something we often preach about,” Sapp said. “Chicago Public School is bringing skillful classes like broadcast to help students either attend college or pursue the trade.” Chicago Public School has seen a 21 percent increase in its high school graduation rate since 2011, reaching a record-breaking high in 2018 with 78.2 percent of CPS students graduating high school. CPS investments in programs like the International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math has caused an increase in high school graduation. Sapp strives to provide his students with opportunities that were not provided to him when he was young. Shikenda Washington, a teacher at Corliss High School, said students at Corl-
iss view Sapp as a mentor. “He helps them understand the importance of getting an education and that they can achieve anything they set their minds to,” Washington said. “It’s time they recognize his hard work and efforts toward so much time put into serving the students at Corliss. He has truly changed the culture of learning technology here.” Washington referred to Sapp’s 2019 nomination as Chicago’s Teacher of the Year. Sapp’s nomination came from his students at Corliss, who placed an ad. He later received news of making the Chicago Sky Teacher of the Year nomination list. “For me to be considered as Teacher of the Year so early within my career is an honor,” Sapp said. “I don’t get into the field for the recognition. It means a lot that they nominated me.” He began his teaching career as a mentor at George Westinghouse College Prep by creating academic curriculums as he wanted to see students succeed. “Teaching is just who I am,” Sapp said. “It’s not only teaching them skills, but teaching them life skills. You are becoming a second parent. I try to let them know that I do care about them and that is the reason why I am on them.” Sapp instills a feeling of hope toward his high school students as his parents once did to him as a youth. “They just believed in me more than I believed in myself,” Sapp said. “I guess they saw something in me that I had not yet seen in myself.” Ferguson said Sapp still encourages her to “conquer the world,” to strive for excellence and nothing else. “His still a mentor, a figure, an educator and a father figure to me,” Ferguson said. “I’m so happy to know him.” Sapp hopes to continue using his talent in broadcast technology to work with future generations. “I want to start my own production company with the youth and I want to use them as employees,” Sapp said. “I want to provide more chances for them.” He said most of his aspiration and motivation for the youth and his community come from Malcolm X. “Malcom taught me that we have to come together first if we want to take on the world,” Sapp said. “I install that in my classroom. I tell them that they are a crew and a family. They need to come together first if they want to have an impact.”
8 | News. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
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News. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 9
Can Chicago support Rodney Reed? By Ebony Ellis Contributing Writer
Innocent until proven guilty is a wellknown phrase in the American legal system. This phrase spearheaded the argument to push back Rodney Reed’s execution date, originally set for Nov. 20. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled on Friday, Nov. 5 to stop Reed’s execution on Friday, Nov. 15. According to the New York Times, the court that he was originally tried in has been ordered to consider the new evidence in the case. Reed, 51, was convicted in the 1996 murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. According to the Texas Tribune, he has served time in prison for 21 years. Stites was raped according to prosecutors, murdered by strangulation and her partially clothed body left on the side of a road in Bastrop County, Texas. According to CNN, Stites left for an early morning shift at a local grocery store. Her fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, claimed that he was still asleep. Her pickup truck was found abandoned in a high school parking lot. Reed is a black man and Stites was a white woman, preparing to marry a man who was a police officer at the time. There was an all-white jury involved. Students Against Incarceration (SAI) is an organization at DePaul aiming to educate students about the issues in the U.S. criminal justice system while serving and fighting for the incarcerated population. There are students who work
with various organizations that work to reform the prison industrial complex. Katrina Phidd, a junior studying sociology at DePaul, is the co-president of SAI. She expresses the importance of support from as many people as possible, specifically residents of Texas. “It’s really easy to execute someone when no one [is] watching,” Phidd said, “But when the whole world is watching, that’s a little more pressure to do the right thing.” Despite Reed being linked to the DNA found in Stites body, many believe there is evidence pointing to his innocence. The weapon used in Stites’ murder was never tested for DNA evidence with forensic experts admitting to their error, and there are two testimonies of Fennell admitting that he killed her. Audrey Kerba, a sophomore studying communication and media at DePaul is also a member of SAI. She says that students can also support by donating to Reed’s family, who have “spent decades advocating for his innocence.” This case has been gaining attention around the country. Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian West, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and others have utilized their social media platforms to speak out in support of Reed. Organizers have traveled to Texas in order to support Reed and his family. One of those people is Mark Clements, an organizer from the Chicago Torture Justice Center. He was present at the vigil held in front of Gov. Abbott’s mansion in
RICARDO BRAZZIELL | ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this Oct. 13, 2017, file photo, death row inmate Rodney Reed waves to his family in the Bastrop County District Court in Bastrop, Texas. Austin on Thursday night. Clements has been supporting Reed’s case for over 10 years. “I got involved to bring attention to this case,” Clements said. “I wanted to be one of many that would stand up for him.” SAI and other people around the country believe that this case is racially charged. And it’s important to note that Reed and Stites were involved in a consensual relationship — according to the Washington Post, witnesses have voiced their knowledge on Reed and
CAMPUS CRIME REPORT:
Stites’ relationship. Susan Dumbleton was formerly a professor at DePaul in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. She talks about how students can help with delaying Reed’s execution. “They should write to or call the [Texas] governor’s office,” Dumbleton said. “Saying that they are not from the state but they know that the people of Texas do not want to execute an innocent person any more than the citizens of Illinois would, or something like that.”
Nov. 8, 2019 - Nov. 13, 2019
LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS
LOOP CAMPUS
1200 W. Block 3
Sanctuary Townhomes 2
Clifton Parking Garage 6
Corcoran Hall 1
Sullivan Athletic Center
Daley Building 10
5 9
Munroe Hall
CDM Building 15
11
Sheffield & Belden
DePaul Center
8
10
Lewis Center 12
13 14
2
Byrne Hall 9
1
Ray Meyer Fitness Center 4
LINCOLN PARK CAMPUS
Assault & Theft
Drug & Alcohol
NOV. 8 NOV. 10 1) An Illegal Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor 7) An Illegal Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor report was filed for a person at Corcoran Hall. Person was transported to Illinois Masonic by Chicago EMT. 2) A Non-Forcible Burglary was reported at Sanctuary Townhomes. 3) A Theft Report was filed regarding an incident that occurred on the 1200 W. Block of Fullerton 4) A Criminal Damage to Property report was filed regarding damage to a window in the Ray Meyer Fitness Center.
NOV. 9 5) A Criminal Trespass arning was issued to a
person behind the Sullivan Athletic Center. 6) A Marijuana Smell was reported at the Clifton Parking Garage.
report was reported near Webster & Sheffield. Subject was transported to Illinois Masonic by Chicago EMT.
NOV. 11 8) A Battery
report was filed regarding an incident that occurred near Sheffield & Belden.
NOV. 13 9) A Harassment by Byrne Hall
Phone report was filed in
Other
LOOP CAMPUS NOV. 8 10) An Assault
report was filed regarding an incident at the DePaul Center
NOV. 11 11) A Theft was reported at the Daley Building NOV. 12 12) A Theft was reported at the Lewis Center 13) A Criminal Damage report was filed regarding graffiti at the Lewis Center 14) A Criminal Damage report was filed regarding damage in a Lewis Center restroom
NOV. 13 15) A Criminal Damage report was filed in the CDM Building
Nation &World Regulators in spotlight amid vaping illness outbreak 10 | Nation & World. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
By Jonathan Lee Contributing Writer
Lawmakers on Wednesday heard from a top FDA official that there was no timeline set for a proposed ban on non-tobacco flavored vaping products. The comments came at a hearing for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The plan to remove all non-tobacco flavored vaping products from the U.S. market was announced in September. “This would include mint and menthol flavoring, as well as candy flavors, bubblegum flavor, fruit flavor, alcohol flavor,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Sept. 11. “You get the drift.” But, two months later, Mitch Zeller, director of the Food and Drug Association’s Center for Tobacco Products, said there was still no set timeline on this new policy, showing potential hesitation and reconsideration from Donald Trump’s administration and the FDA. This delay falls suit to many previous ones made by the FDA. According to Emily Nink, a policy associate at the Public Health and Tobacco Policy Center, the
COURTESY OF U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, LABOR AND PENSIONS Mitch Zeller, of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, testifies at a Senate Health, Labor and Pensions committee hearing, Wednesday Nov. 13, 2019.
FDA has a history of delaying regulations on the tobacco industry. Nink was not a participant in the hearing Wednesday. She said it can be traced at least to 2009, when the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was passed. The act gave the FDA the power to regulate tobacco products and, later on, e-cigarettes. But Nink said the FDA has yet to implement procedures for pre-market review, which requires manufacturers to submit an application before
they can put their products on the market. “So that’s kind of why we’re in the situation we are in now with these acute illnesses and [increasing] rates among youth,” she said. Another key topic at Wednesday’s hearing was the general rise of e-cigarette use among youth. Zeller cited recent research from the FDA and CDC, saying that 27.5 percent of high school students and 10.5 percent of middle schoolers use e-cigarettes. The same survey found that more
impeachment inquiry weekly recap
than five million middle and high school students are current e-cigarette users. That’s a 700 percent increase in teenage vaping since 2013. Some of the reasons for this increase relate to how the products are marketed, as well as their relatively cheap price, wide availability and kid-friendly flavor options, according to Nink. “Also, the design of the products themselves, especially the cartridge products, are really appealing,” she said. “They’re discrete, easy to use, even in school they’re easy to hide.” A lack of effective regulations has also created a pathway for young people to be exposed to nicotine while their brains are still developing. “If vaping products include nicotine, then particularly for youth, we’re really concerned because adolescent and even young adults are still developing their brains,” said Anne Saw, a psychology professor who studies tobacco prevention efforts.“Nicotine can really harm brain development all the way up to [a person’s] mid-20s.” On Tuesday, doctors at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit an-
nounced that a teenager received a double lung transplant for the first time due to a vaping-related lung disease. At a telephone briefing with reporters Nov. 8, the CDC said it was “closer to finding a very strong culprit” after finding Vitamin E acetate in every lung fluid sample it examined since late October from patients across the country with vaping-related lung illnesses. The vitamin is used in a variety of products and foods, but can cause injury when inhaled, the CDC said. As of Nov. 13, the outbreak of e-cigarette and vaping-related lung injuries had affected over 2,000 Americans and killed 42 people. Nink, of the Public Health and Tobacco Policy Center, said not enough is known about vaping and e-cigarette products. “These products are newer, we haven’t had enough research, we don’t have long term health data and, most importantly, we don’t have that [regulation] in place by FDA where they’re reviewing product ingredients or testing them before they go to market,” she said. “Instead we’re seeing that youth are really guinea pigs for these newer products.”
Trump pardons soldiers accused of war crimes By Brian Pearlman Nation & World Editor
ANDREW HARNIK | AP; ALEX BRANDON | AP
COUNTERCLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: Former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testifies before Congress Friday, Nov. 15, 2019; diplomat George Kent testifies Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019; diplomat Bill Taylor testifies Wednesday. By Brian Pearlman Nation & World Editor
The first public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump took place Wednesday and Friday, with the testimony largely reiterating what the witnesses had previously told House investigators behind closed doors and in transcripts released over the last few weeks. Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, testified alongside Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent on Wednesday. Kent said that over the course of 2018 to 2019, he “became increasingly aware of an effort by Rudy Giuliani and others, including his associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, to run a campaign to smear Ambassador [Marie] Yovanovitch
and other officials at the U.S. embassy in Kiyev.” Parnas and Fruman were charged in early October with campaign finance violations related to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Media outlets quickly seized on what appeared to be one of the only new pieces of information from Taylor’s testimony: the fact that a member of Taylor’s staff told him less than a week prior to Wednesday’s hearing that he had overheard Trump ask about “the investigations” on a phone call with Sondland, at a Kiyev restaurant in July. According to Taylor, Sondland told his staff member that “President Trump cares more about the investigation of Biden” than Ukraine. That staffer was later reported to be David Holmes. Holmes testified before House investigators behind closed doors
on Friday. In public Friday, former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch defended her record and sought to dispel debunked conspiracy theories, including one that she told Ukrainian officials who they should prosecute. Yovanovitch, who was fired from the Trump administration in May, said lawmakers should be concerned about the foreign and private interests driving a smear campaign against her. “Individuals, who apparently felt stymied by our efforts to promote stated U.S. policy against corruption — that is, to do the mission — were able to successfully conduct a campaign of disinformation against a sitting ambassador, using unofficial back channels,” she said.
President Donald Trump on Friday issued two pardons for soldiers convicted of war crimes and issued an order reversing the demotion of acquitted Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher. Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance was convicted in August 2013 of killing three unarmed Afghan civilians in Helmand Province in 2012. According to a court filing, Lorance ordered a member of his platoon to shoot three men who were walking back to their motorcycles. Two were killed instantly and a third fled to a nearby village. At trial, two soldiers under Lorance’s command testified that the men posed no threat, but Lorance ordered them to fire their weapons anyway. Fox News published a photograph of Lorance reuniting with family members after his release from a prison in Kansas, where he was serving a 19-year sentence. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham in a statement cited at least 20 members of Congress who have called for executive clemency for Lorance, including Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger. Mathew Golsteyn, a Green Beret, was accused of killing a suspected bomb maker in 2010. Trump tweeted last year that he was considering Golsteyn’s case. “After nearly a decadelong inquiry and multiple
ANDREW CRAFT In this June 27, 2019, file photo. Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, a former Army Special Forces soldier, leaves an arraignment hearing with his lawyer.
investigations, a swift resolution to the case of Major Golsteyn is in the interests of justice,” Grisham said. And Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Edward Gallagher was convicted in 2017 of killing and posing for a photo with a captured Islamic State fighter. He was acquitted on six of the seven charges he was facing earlier this year, and he was demoted to the rank of Petty Officer Class. “Though ultimately acquitted on all of the most serious charges, he was stripped of these honors as he awaited his trial and its outcome,” Grisham said. “Given his service to our Nation, a promotion back to the rank and pay grade of Chief Petty Officer is justified.” “The President, as Commander-in-Chief, is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the law is enforced and when appropriate, that mercy is granted,” Grisham said. Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, said on Twitter that “Trump has sent a clear message of disrespect for law, morality, the military justice system and those in the military who abide by the
Nation & World. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 11
Sessions swears loyalty to Trump with Senate By Joey Cahue Contributing Writer
Jeff Sessions, former attorney general and an early supporter of President Donald Trump, is gunning once again for the former Senate seat that he held for 20 years. Sessions, an Alabama native, previously held the position from 1997 until 2017. He left to serve as Trump’s attorney general, a position he held for a little over a year-and-a-half before being asked to resign by the president about a year ago. Sessions’s empty Senate seat was ultimately won in 2017 by Democrat Doug Jones amid a fierce contest with the Republican candidate, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore. During the race, a number of sexual misconduct allegations were made against Moore, including by women claiming he pursued relationships with them while they were underage. Jones ultimately became the first Democrat to represent Alabama in the U.S. Senate in 21 years. His term ends in January 2021, and he is seeking reelection. Yulissa Izaguirre, a DePaul student and political science major, said she believes Sessions “played it smart” by refraining from publicly criticizing the president. But she thinks Republican voters will likely be influenced by Trump’s animosity toward him. “There is a strong chance voters will react to the negative rhetoric Trump has toward Sessions, and most definitely [other] Republican candidates are going to maximize the damage,” she said.
GAGE SKIDMORE VIA FLICKR Then-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., speaks at an event hosed by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in Phoenix, Arizona. on August 31, 2016.
The Associated Press cited a cabinet official and a Republican close to the White House who said the president was irritated by Sessions’ campaign announcement. The sources told the AP Trump “has still been known to disparage the former attorney general in private conversations.” Some Republicans are concerned about the possibility of a domino effect, as Sessions running again could help Moore reach a runoff election. Many Republicans are afraid of having Moore take the seat rather than Sessions, or to have Moore be the Republican candidate because of his previous
scandals. Sessions could win the seat back, but it might be difficult for him since Trump is unsure if he’ll endorse him. Lacking the support of other Republicans who are loyal to Trump could also be a difficulty for Sessions. Wayne Steger, a DePaul political science professor, believes it’s still too early to tell how Republicans, especially in Alabama, will react if Sessions is chosen for the spot. “On [the] one hand, they know and generally trust and approve of Sessions in the past,” he said. “On the other hand, there is a possibility that Trump will trash
him. But I do not think Trump will do that because Roy Moore is probably the main beneficiary of that.” Will Sessions be able to court Trump supporters? It depends, Steger said. “I do not think Sessions will speak ill of Trump, regardless of how he feels about Trump on a personal level,” he said. He would gain nothing, and doing so could cost him.” Aimen Shah, an international relations student at Boston University who follows politics closely, said she thinks Republicans will probably vote on party lines and stick with Sessions.
“This is because supporting your party in this polarized climate has become vital politics,” she said. “I think that there are some Republicans who would even respect his past decisions as attorney general.” On the other hand, Izaguirre said she believes the votersof Alabama will defend Trump. “The other part would be that Trump’s opinion has proven to make an impact on voters and it is clear other Republican candidates will not back down because the current Democrat holding the seat has a weak hold on his seat,” she said.
Plastics not the only scourge polluting world’s oceans By Keira Wingate Arts & Life Editor
Climate change is an ongoing issue and the world’s oceans, coastlines and coastal communities are being disproportionately impacted by increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, according to The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In recent years, ocean cleanup efforts have been on the rise in order to help get rid of the millions of tons of plastic that enter the ocean each year. When plastic enters the ocean currents, it begins to break down into smaller pieces called microplastics, which cause tremendous harm to marine life. Plastic pollution in the ocean kills sea turtles, whales, seabirds, fish, coral reefs, and countless other marine species and habitats, according to San Franciscobased environmental nonprofit Oceanic Society. Another reason plastic is such a problem: It doesn’t go
away. “Plastic in our oceans not only harms marine life and their ecosystems, but it has been known to accumulate pollutants and transport them throughout the ocean,” said a spokesperson for 4ocean, a nonprofit company that sells bracelets made out of recycled materials. For each bracelet purchased, the company says they remove a pound of trash from the ocean. Although plastics are an ongoing problem when it comes to ocean pollution, it is far from the only issue. “It is a much bigger issue than just plastics,” said Kelly Tzoumis, a professor of public policy studies at DePaul University. “In fact, plastics is a smaller issue — important, but smaller.” Tzoumis said bigger issues are algae accumulation, caused by common man-made pollutants like pesticides, detergents, oil, sewage and other industrial chemicals seeping into the ocean. These chemicals, byproducts of human activities such as farming, trigger massive blooms of algae that rob the water of oxygen, leaving
dead zones where few marine organisms can live, such as what happened and is still happening at the Great Barrier Reef. “I actually swam at the Barrier Reef,” Tzoumis said. “I saw it with my own eyes, I snorkeled it and it’s dissolving — it is literally dissolving.” There are many laws that forbid dumping of harmful materials into the ocean, but large concentrations of pollutants still persist in the environment and it is difficult to fully remove them. Pollutants can take a long time to break down, with plastic often taking up to hundreds of years to decompose. “It’s not even a question if we can’t go back, because we are accelerating it,” Tzoumis said. We withdrew from the Paris Agreement.” President Donald Trump announced in June 2017 that the U.S. would be officially withdrawing from the Paris climate accord next fall. This will leave the world’s secondlargest emitter of greenhouse gases as the only nation to abandon efforts to fight climate change. The Paris Agreement requires each
country to determine, plan, and regularly r e p o r t on the
RASANDE TYSKAR VIA FLICKR This April 6, 2018 photo shows an anti-pollution message in Fuerteventura, the second-largest of the seven Canary Islands. Experts say chemical pollution from farming and industrial runoff poses an even greater threat than plastics.
contribution that it undertakes to mitigate global warming. According to some reports, the damage done to the earth may be irreversible, with only limited time to fix it. According to NASA, it could take decades, if not centuries, for our oceans to respond to efforts because carbon dioxide lingers in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. “A lot of scientists say that we have crossed that line,”
Tzoumis said. And in Oct. 2018, a landmark study from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that if the global temperature rises 1.5 degrees Celsius, there may be irreversible change to the ocean’s “marine biodiversity, fisheries, and ecosystems, and their functions and services to humans,” as well as oceanic temperature, oxygen content and acidity. “We got to fix the bigger problem,” Tzoumis said. “And that’s climate change,
12 | Opinions. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
Opinions
Reading between the lines
The Daily Northwestern’s editorial was well-intentioned, but set a chilling precedent By The DePaulia Editorial Board When the Daily Northwestern published its editorial last week apologizing to students for publishing photos of them protesting former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ visit to campus, journalists from across the country took aim at the student newspaper. Alumni of Northwestern’s famed Medill School of Journalism couldn’t wrap their heads around why their old student paper would apologize for doing their jobs. It seemed antithetical to everything they remember being taught. To most journalists, the apology didn’t look like the display of empathy that the editors had intended; it looked like a blatant forfeiture of their essential rights as journalists. And despite The Daily’s best intentions, that’s exactly what it was. In bending to the public outcry, The Daily set a dangerous precedent in blurring the lines between what is private, what is public and how journalists are allowed to interact with those spaces. Without those privileges, the pursuit of truth is futile. “One of the biggest problems US journalists face in this day and age is how few people understand what standard news-gathering process looks like,” New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote on Twitter. “A student newspaper saying normal process is somehow a bad thing is incredibly troubling.” As fellow student editor, we must say: Our heart goes out to the editors at The Daily. When the criticism rains down from your student body, it can be hard to know how to react — and it hurts to know you’ve caused harm. To then be subject to a tidal wave of hate (including Twitter-verified journalism big-wigs) upon trying to address the problem only feels worse. At The DePaulia, we know this first hand. What we have learned from our own experience with issues like this is something that has been largely missing from this week’s discourse: If someone claims to be harmed by our reporting, they deserve to be taken seriously. Who are we to say they weren’t? So instead of saying how worried we are about what our readers don’t understand about our jobs, The DePaulia will make efforts to be more transparent with what we do and how we do it. Last spring, The DePaulia found itself embroiled in a remarkably similar controversy with a student who was unhappy with a photo we published of them speaking at DePaul’s annual “Take Back the Night,” event, which serves as a call to action and awareness of sexual assault on campus. As this was a public event, we did not seek permission to bring a photographer; it was well within our right to attend. However, due to the sensitivity of the subject matter, we reached out to the event organizers with advanced notice that we would be bringing a photographer. The or-
GRAPHIC BY ANNALISA BARANOWSKI
“Your job is not to make your readers hapy. Sometimes you will upset your readers. That’s just the way it works.”
Dean Baquet
Executive Editor, The New York Times ganizers embraced our presence and took it upon themselves to print flyers notifying attendees and speakers that they may be photographed. Seldom will you find more transparent coverage of a public event. Within just a couple hours of our story hitting the newsstands the following Monday, the backlash ensued. Issues of that week’s paper were stolen from newsstands and the Twitterverse put our ethics on trial. In a hot panic, feeling that we had somehow wronged an innocent member of our community, we replaced the photo on our website. We were concerned that we may cause more damage. Luckily for us, DePaul’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence was hosting a journalism icon who offered some advice on how to navigate the situation. “If I had gotten that call, I would be empathetic, but firm,” New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet, who is no stranger to high-profile controversy at his own publication, told The DePaulia. “I would say, ‘I get it, I get that it’s painful.
But you were in a public forum, and there’s no way we could have not covered it.’” “The first thing I would do is write an editorial,” he said. So we did. In our editorial, which ran the following Monday, we took a strong, perhaps arrogant, stance — we’re right, you’re wrong. And as journalism professors praised our response on social media, the chorus of students unhappy with our conduct grew louder. And we grew more reflective. Today, The DePaulia would do two things differently. First, we should have never removed the photo from our website as our initial, frightened instinct told us to do. We had done nothing wrong, so we should have never acted like we did. And if we could do things over again, we would borrow from the spirit The Daily showed last week by showing a little empathy for those we harmed, and stop short of pointing the finger in the other direction. In the coming months, The DePaulia will take the time to produce content discussing our role as student journalists,
This editorial reflects the opinuion of the majority of The DePaulia staff.
your rights as the potential subjects we cover and the ethics that govern our industry in an effort to be more transparent and build back any trust we may have lost over the last couple years. Our inboxes are open to any and all suggestions for how that might look. Of course, we cannot promise to eliminate upsetting content entirely from future coverage. Some harm is easy to identify and simple to avoid. But other times, it’s far more abstract and impossible to predict. Restricting our coverage from what may upset some of our readers is not a solution we can accept. In The Daily’s apology, they wrote that in the pursuit of “documenting history and spreading information, nothing is more important than ensuring that our fellow students feel safe...” While we hope to accomplish both of those things at the same time, this policy is misguided, and we urge The Daily to reconsider. We all must recognize that being safe and feeling safe are two very different things. Keeping students safety in mind should always be a priority. For example, publishing an innocent person’s name in a way that could bear negative consequences on their economic, social or physical well being is a threat to student safety. Most newspapers would avoid publishing a private address. But feelings aren’t the same thing — they are messy and subjective, a reflection of one’s own personal perspective. Do you feel safe on a plane? It’s more than likely that you don’t, despite it being the single safest way to travel. Do you feel safe when you read a story about a series of violent crimes in your neighborhood? Probably not, but would you rather not know? The Daily is right, however, to consider how their students feel. We can all learn from and employ that kind of empathy. But when our feelings and empathy sit at odds with what is in the public interest writ large, the public interest must always come first. Regardless of how some readers may feel. “Your job is not to make your readers happy,” Baquet said. “Sometimes you will upset your readers. That’s just the way it works. Sometimes you will say things your readers will not like and you have to deal with it. You just have to own up to the fact that it comes with the job.” This discussion will continue at student newspapers across the country as we wade into a more sensitive, for better or worse, world. We should continue to be frank with mistakes that are made, but above all, encourage the next generation of journalists emerge from the turmoil stronger and more motivated than ever before. “Don’t make judgments about them or their mettle until you’ve walked in their shoes,” Medill School Dean Charles Whitaker wrote following The Daily editorial. “What they need at this moment is our support and encouragement to stay the course.” Errors in judgement deserve fair and honest criticism, but more than that, they deserve forgiveness.
Opinions. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 13
Remaining thankful when it feels impossible
When facing extreme hardship, it’s crucial to acknowledge moments of happiness By Emma Oxnevad Opinions Editor
ly.
It’s been a rough year, to put it light-
My 2019 was riddled with highs and lows, including relationships dissolving, signing on my first apartment, securing a great internship and existential stress about what I want to do with my life. All of these typical young adult milestones and their symbolic importance faded when my life came to a screeching halt in June, following the death of my father. Losing a parent is never easy, or so I’ve been told. Losing a parent at 19, however, feels downright cruel. It’s a pain that seems endless and is something that I carry with me all day, every day. There were many times this year where I felt that the universe was actively working against me. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, the prospect of acknowledging what I’m grateful for feels more important and stressful than ever. I’m very fortunate to say that there is much to report on. I’m thankful for my family, who have remained fiercely loving and supportive while we have all tried to piece our
lives back together. I’m thankful for the countless times they’ve picked up the phone and talked me through whatever stress or worry I’m going through (trust me, it happens a lot). I’m thankful for my friends, who fill my life with laughter, while allowing me to feel sad and angry. It doesn’t matter how far away we may be from each other because I always know that they will be in my corner if I need them to be. I’m thankful for the city I live in, especially when the Christmas-light lined streets make cold nights feel more cozy. I’m thankful for Christmas music on Lite FM, which satisfies my insaitable need to hear Christmas music in November. I’m thankful for the ways I am attempting to care for myself when it feels impossible or useless. I’m thankful for my weekly therapy sessions, which have given me bravery when I feel small. And, yes, I’m thankful for The DePaulia. Before you roll your eyes and turn the page, hear me out. This job—stressful, time-consuming, and sometimes thankless— has allowed me to continue to feel normal in an overwhelmingly confusing time in my life. The hours spent in the office enabled me to not only improve
my journalistic skills, but helped me be productive in times when it would be much easier to remain in darkness. More importantly, I’m thankful for my co-workers. When I first started at The DePaulia, I felt awkward and as if I didn’t belong with such a crop of talented student journalists. In the year that has passed since my first day, I feel not only that I deserve my seat in the newsroom but also supported and accepted by my fellow editors, all of whom I consider my friends. I’m thankful for the guidance and advice they offer in relation to how to craft this section each week, and the ways in which we lift each other up when we land big stories or internships. I’m thankful for all the times they’ve laughed at my stupid jokes or listened to some meandering story I’ve told that has little to no relevance to the topic at hand, which is, again, a daily occurence. In times of extreme hardship, it can be hard to feel that there are silver linings amidst the gray that so often paints the world. I have had—and will continue to have—many bad days this year. While these tough times will undoubtedly shape the person I grow to be, the people who fill my life with joy are absolutely essential and need to be
acknowledged. It’s not always easy to reflect on the good in your life when it feels so colored by the bad, but it is one of the most freeing experiences when going through adversity. This holiday season, the loss of my father will feel ever more poignant, but so will the love I had and continue to have for him. If this year has been unkind to you, it does not mean that your life will be. Pain is one of the realest, most powerful things in the world and it deserves to be felt. Happiness is, too. This Thanksgiving, it is important to not only give thanks to the pockets of happiness found during hard times, but also to yourself. You are still here, and you deserve appreciation for keeping on in spite of the hardships thrown your way. To everyone who has continued to support me—whether it be sending me a funny text to cheer me up or listening to me emotionally unload for hours—I am thankful for you and I hold you close to my heart. I want to extend a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers, and I hope you all have a wonderful winter break. GRAPHICS BY GINA RICARDS
Jason Hill does not speak for DePaul Controversial remarks on Generation Z directly attack the student body he teaches
By Maya Baker Contributing Writer
I’ve been debating whether or not to respond to Jason Hill’s recent article. It seems everything he publishes is specifically written to provoke outrage and gain him some publicity. However, it’s important that someone call him out for his behavior. His words are damaging, and as a member of the DePaul community, he has a responsibility to consider the effects of his statements. The article, published on Nov. 8, is an open letter to climate activist Greta Thunberg published through the rightwing site Front Page magazine. Though I do want to stay serious in this piece, if you don’t feel like reading any further, my opinion could probably be summed up as, “Ok, boomer.” What is initially presented as a piece criticizing young climate activists quickly becomes a tirade against Thunberg’s entire generation, Gen Z, widely agreed to be people ages 7-25. Halfway through, he switches into a general degradation of all young people. He makes snide remarks about trans and nonbinary people. He does not hold back his opinion that the generation is full of intellectually bankrupt, oversensitive, insular children. He repeatedly insults young people for not being curious or innovative while simultaneously dismissing so many movements supported by youth activists. This is insulting to the student body of DePaul, so many of whom engage in activism and community service, and who care to change our world for the better. “College students during Vietnam were the ones working to stop that unjust war,” said Brandon Tejeras, president of the DePaul Democrats. “The DePaul Democrats will stand with Greta and with those who value our planet and who continue to fight against climate injustice.”
XAVIER ORTEGA | THE DEPAULIA Students protest Professor Jason Hill last spring in response to his controversial statements on Palestine.
This spring, when Hill first came under fire for Islamaphobic comments in another article, DePaul’s Office of the President sent out an email stating that the university “will not censure professors for making unpopular statements.” But his articles have exceeded the severity of “unpopular.” Since last spring, Hill has published several articles on various right-wing sites that express Islamophobic, ethno-centrist and transphobic ideas. Whether or not these statements fall under the umbrella of ‘free speech’ is unclear, but DePaul has no constitutional obligation to keep Hill on the faculty. The mission statement of DePaul University states: “We form and educate students dedicated to the common good and the service of others, especially to people and communities who suffer from poverty and marginalization … this service [includes] an advocacy for systemic change and social justice.” When I decided to go to DePaul, I genuinely appreciated this statement. It made me expect respect from the faculty and staff at the school as an LGBTQ student, and that other historically marginalized students would be treated warmly and respectfully. It also clearly advocates
for student activism and addresses the need for systemic change to counteract inequality. Despite this, Hill has repeatedly expressed, in his writing and his interviews on Fox News and other right-wing media sources, that he does not share this mission. It would be one thing if Hill was sharing these thoughts completely independently, but in interviews and articles he is almost always introduced as a “professor at DePaul University,” immediately associating his work with our school. The university encourages and often rewards professors for being active in public discourse, but this should not be without discretion. Hill’s latest article is simply a summarization of his disdain for social justice and those who stand for it. I don’t know that, at a university that advertises itself as a diverse and supportive community, Hill should continue to be supported by DePaul. “We don’t believe that Professor Hill’s statements in his articles are reflective of the Vincentian Mission that the university aligns itself with,” said Gisselle Cervantes, president of DePaul’s Student Government Association. “The DePaul Student Government Association stands by the resolution we passed in the spring
condemning Jason Hill’s hateful remarks.” What is the point of our community if professors are free to vilify students instead of fostering innovation and open minds? What is the value of a professor who seems to have such contempt for so many of his students? Hill is going to continue to write essays that he knows quite well will offend historically marginalized communities, which DePaul University claims to support. “Professor Hill’s article is weird, poorly written, poorly argued and totally dishonest, which I’ve come to learn is about par for the course for his writing,” said Scott Paeth, a professor of religious studies specializing in ethics and moral theory. “I’m flummoxed as to how someone producing sub-Limbaugh quality arguments for a rag like Front Page magazine imagines he deserves the respect of anyone at DePaul.” Stop telling DePaul students, who pay to come to this school, that they should ignore that a professor with national presence who continues to tear them down. Hill is insisting that nearly all of his students — mostly Gen Z at this point — need to sit down and shut up. Freedom of speech is supposed to allow people to share their political and religious views without being persecuted by the government; it does not allow professors to unabashedly hate on their students. Why do we continue to include Jason Hill in our community when he seems to be actively antagonizing its members? I ask only that we consider this when thinking about who we as an institution employ. I do not believe we should silence all faculty who people disagree with; we wouldn’t have much of a university if that were the case. I am asking that we take a critical look at whether or not certain voices are more damaging than constructive.
14 | Focus. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
It’s been 50 years since 1969, what’s changed an By Emma Oxnevad Opinions Editor
As 2019 comes to an end, the decade leaves with it. The 2010s were a period of progress and innovation, with the legalization of gay marriage and the advent of smartphones ushering in optimism and pride on a national scale. While there was much to celebrate over the last nine years, some of the most defining moments of the decade had far more negative implications. The election of Donald Trump into the White House in 2016 and the subsequent polarization of politics have led to a more divided country, the ramifications of which are felt daily. The America of the 2010s was as inspirational as it was tumultuous. The epic highs and lows of the decade mirror a period in history celebrating its 50th anniversary: the 1960s. While the decade began in a place of progress with the Civil Rights and Women’s Liberation movement, traumatic moments like the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Vietnam War served as fractures to the veneer the decade began with. Despite the shaky undercurrent sweeping over the nation throughout the decade, pop culture at the end of the decade was, by and large, staying within the pre-established lines set from previous decades. “The top rated TV shows of 1969 and the top rated show in ‘69 was [Rowan and Martin’s] ‘Laugh-In’, which was a little vaguely counterculture,” said Kevin Boyle, a professor of history at Northwestern University. “I mean, it really was a funny show for the late ‘60s, a lot of of gentle sexual humor. But the number two and number three shows were Westerns and they were long standing Westerns. So, the truth is that a lot of pop culture wasn’t the kind of edgy thing you would expect it to be. It was actually pretty tame and mainstream.” 1969 was a monumental year for music, with bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and King Crimson releasing some of the most popular and influential albums of their discography. “It’s always easier to look back on a time period and identify that period as important compared with trying to assess what could be historically important amidst current music releases,” said Daniel Makagon, an associate professor in DePaul’s College of Communication. “Given that qualifier, it is hard to identify music releases that happened in 2019 that will be considered culture-changing in the future. In 1969, releases by The Rolling Stones, The Stooges, MC5, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the Velvet
GRAPHICS BY ANNALISA BARANOWSKI | THE DEPAULIA
Underground helped solidify album oriented rock, vers gles driven artists. Some of those releases and others se genres of music that would develop in the years that fo [like] punk and funk.” In regards to fashion, the latter half of the decade re more relaxed sartorial identity than that of previous de “For the ‘60s, it was all about patterns and prints,” sa Shah, a journalism major with an interest in fashion. “I funky shirts and pants were all the rage and they allowe a lot more self expression as compared to the 50s, whic more subdued and adhering to the kind of nuclear fam aesthetic.” Popular elements from the decade can be found in s like Urban Outfitters and Free People, attempting to ca free-spirited ease of the late aesthetic of the late 1960s. “Today, you can see hints of ‘60s fashion if you look reemergence of big puffy sleeves and bell bottom pants as everyone’s favorite sandal: the Birkenstock,” Shah sai ‘60s were also known for their retro tinted sunglasses, w something fast fashion is currently big on. You can’t wa Forever 21 or Zara without seeing at least five different funky ‘60s-inspired glasses.” Despite being remembered as a time of free-spirited tion, Boyle argued that the end of the 1960s is romantic being far more radical than it necessarily was. “I think that people have the late 1960s as a period o protest, as a period of cultural rebellion,” Boyle said. “A fair enough for me. I think there is a lot of truth to that the truth is that pop culture in the late ‘60s was not as r and traumatic and transgressive as the cliche view of th holds up. “ While mainstream culture may have abided by tame norms, the late 1960s in America is perhaps best remem for its countercultural movement, personified by Wood 1969. The counterculture of the late 60s were in part defin experimental musicians like Jimi Hendrix, The Gratefu and Janis Joplin, less restricitive attitudes surrounding drug usage and an overall aversion to the brutality infli the Vietnam War. While these hallmarks have endured the decades, Bo tributed an increase in mass communication to helping the countercultural movement. “In 1965, TV for most Americans was about 10 year Boyle said. ‘Most people didn’t have TVs in their home early 1950s. By the mid ‘50s, they did so. That’s a new t ogy. That’s the equivalent of your generation with cell p And then there was a huge burst of radio programming
Focus. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 15
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What’s the most iconic moment of the end of each decade? As we enter 2020, we take a look at the defining moment of the end of the last five decades.
1969: Woodstock
When people think of the late 1960s, Woodstock sticks out as an iconic cultural moment. The festival, which took place from Aug. 15 through 18, attracted an audience of over 400,000 people. Countercultural musicians like Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane took to the stage and Woodstock has remained one of the most enduring pop culture events of the decade.
1979: Iran Hostage Crisis
The Iran hostage crisis began on Nov. 4, 1979, in which 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group supporting the Iranian Revolution took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The hostages were held for 444 days, being released in 1981. The hostages’ rescue was depicted in the 2012 film “Argo.”
1989: The Berlin Wall comes down
On Nov. 9, The Berlin Wall was brought down, after 28 years of dividing the modern capital of Germany. President Ronald Reagan was heavily intertwined with the demolition of the wall, urging Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to “tear down [this] wall” in 1987.
1999: President Clinton’s impeachment trial
President Bill Clinton’s Senate impeachment trial begins on Jan. 7, amid the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Clinton had previously been impeached by the House of Representatives on Dec. 19, and was ultimately acquitted by the Senate.
2009: President Obama begins term
On Jan. 20, Barack Obama is inaugurated into the White House, making him the first African-American President of the United States. President Obama was re-elected in 2012, and was a cultural icon of both decades.
2019: President Trump’s impeachment inquiry
An impeachment inquiry begins against President Donald Trump after it was revealed Trump pressured leaders of the Ukraine to publicly announced investigations of former U.S. vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter, among other claims. The inquiry is ongoing, with the first public hearings taking place on Nov. 13. GRAPHIC BY GINA RICARDS | THE DEPAULIA
Arts & Life
16 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
GRAPHICS BY GINA RICARDS
DePaul celebrates annual tree lighting By Aaron Somo Contributing Writer
DePaul University officially ushered in XAVIER ORTEGA | THE DEPAULIA the holiday season with its second annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Nov. A choral group at DePaul sang to onlookers after the tree was lit up. 13. Another brisk November night didn’t stop the appearance of a sizeable crowd in St. Vincent’s Circle where the tree stands, all looking forward to the holidays. As students, staff and community members alike enjoyed complimentary hot chocolate, apple cider and s’mores, cheerful chatter gave way to featured speeches from student body president Gisselle Cervantes, university president A. Gabriel Esteban and 43rd ward Ald. Michelle Smith. Attendees were also treated to a rendition of “The 12 Nights of Christmas” by the DePaul choir and a performance from DePaul a capella group The Fullertones. Although a Christmas tree is inherently Christian in origin, Esteban emphasized in his speech that, “this tree is for everyone at DePaul,” regardless of religion, race or any other background. A commendable thought in light of increasing controversies surrounding the inclusivity of Christmas, especially when it is celebrated at public institutions. As a private Catholic university, DePaul is not legally bound concerning expression of religion. However, an inclusive culture may help to bring students together and create a warm, welcoming environment. Events like this one are essential to DePaul’s efforts toward increasing the sense of community at the school. Many students showed up for the hot chocolate and free scarves, but getting them to come is the first step of the process. “Students are really busy this time of year with finals coming up,” said Lydia Stazen, director of DePaul’s Institute of Global Homelessness. “I think it’s really beneficial to hold an event like this where everyone can step back and take a moment to just connect with one another.” DePaul freshman Wyatt Hettel shared a similar outlook on the young event. “I think that it really just shows a togetherness here that is growing,” he said, XAVIER ORTEGA | THE DEPAULIA “and that’s what the holiday spirit is really DePaul rang in the holiday season by lighting up a Christmas tree on Nov. 13. about.”
Despite the cold, the students who attended couldn’t help but have a good time as they laughed among friends and listened to classic Christmas jams. “I just really love Christmas so much,” said DePaul junior Danielle Cherry. Of course, she is far from alone with those feelings, as 90 percent of Americans celebrate the holiday, according to the Pew Research Center. But what is it about the Christmas tree itself that is so special? That depends on who you ask. “The ornaments make the tree for me,” said DePaul junior Megan Evans. “I love putting them up and seeing each all the unique ways people can decorate their own trees.” Hettel liked the ornaments as well but said, “I think what really makes [a Christmas tree] special is the people around it.” He continued to say that the real value isn’t in the lights themselves, although they are beautiful. Instead, it is in the sense of belonging that they create and what they represent to the people that they bring together. Stazen also looked to the warmth of the lights saying, “[the tree] is a light in the darkness. It really is one of the only things pushing me through the long, cold, and dark winters here in Chicago.” She said that looking at the lights wrapped around the tree reminds her that winter doesn’t last forever. The ceremony was paired with DePaul’s annual Ugly Sweater Party, which held activities before and after the tree lighting and handed out free DePaul themed ugly Christmas sweaters to the first 500 attendees. Honoring another young but cheerful holiday tradition. “I think it’s a little silly,” said Annette Wilson, Deputy Chief of Staff at DePaul. “But if the kids find it fun and they have a good time, then that’s what matters.” When the time finally came to turn on the lights, the crowd was prompted to count down from 10. Ten, nine, eight. Each successive number brought more anticipation as the crowd volume increased. Seven, six, five. Any wandering eyes turned and became fixated on the tree standing tall. Four, three. Those who had been hiding in the warmth of the SAC or Richardson Library quickly filed out to the square. Two, one. The colorful array of lights lit up the night, creating shimmering reflections in the eyes of each person there and filling the air with joy. The tree will remain lit until students return for the Winter quarter in January and will serve, as Esteban said, “hopefully as a beacon to light your way back.”
Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 17
The best Thanksgiving foods, ranked By Dan McDaid Contributing Writer
Thank the unthanked RYAN GILROY | THE DEPAULIA
Jerry Lucas, a public safety officer, points students and others in the right direction — a common occurance — in the DePaul Center.
Show appreciation for DePaul’s staff this holiday season By Nicholas Moreano Contributing Writer
As each student hurriedly passes through the revolving doors of the College of Law Building to get out of the frigid Chicago temperatures, custodian Clarence Hort patiently waits off to the side with his vacuum. Once there is an opportunity to clean up the dirt trail that is left unknowingly by each bypasser, Hort takes his vacuum, moving it across the DePaul crest and making the lobby clean for the next set of people. With the end of the fall quarter drawing to an end, the focus for DePaul students goes almost entirely to preparing for finals. Still, Hort, like many of the other staff members at DePaul, appreciates those students who do take a moment out of their day to wave “hi” or engage in a conversation as he completes tasks. In the year that Hort has been a custodian at DePaul, he usually finds himself completing his job with a smile. “I’m always smiling,” Hort said. “They [DePaul students] are nice kids, and they ask me a lot of questions. I love it here.” Fellow custodian Robert Centeno works primarily at the DePaul Center, and his central responsibility is to help maintain the entire building. One of the first things Centeno does to start his Tuesday morning is to clean the entrance of the center. Like Hort, Centeno is accompanied by a tool that will help him complete his job: a leaf-collecting lawn sweeper. His goal – to make sure the outside of the center is as presentable as possible. “I have so much pride in doing the job because the first thing I want the students to see is that it’s clean here,” Centeno said. “I want them to come in. I want them to feel good. I want them to go to class, and I want them to come back out, making sure that everything is good.” Centeno has only been part of DePaul’s facility operations staff for seven months. He is also a student at Morton College, but
RYAN GILROY | THE DEPAULIA
Jerry Lucas, public safety officer. that has not affected the dedication he has to his work. Centeno and Hort are just two of over 100 employees that make up the facility operations staff at both the Loop and Lincoln Park campuses. Regardless of the position and what their day-to-day assignments require, the entire staff revolves around the same objective. “The key – and they all know it – is to make this place look and function as good as possible,” Director of Facility Operations Richard Wiltse said. “Our job is to put DePaul’s best foot forward every day and to make [the university] function for the students.” Another individual who knows how to make things function for the DePaul community is Genius Squad Technician and current graduate student Jonathan Anderson. Inside of the DePaul Center, in room 1128, is where Anderson and the other technicians can be found. Each day requires a different form of troubleshooting. Throughout the quarter, it’s common for the Genius Squad members to help users to connect to the eduroam network. Then there are days where the team has to try and
distinguish why there are ambiguous error messages appearing on a person’s electronic device. Those are a bit more challenging. There’s one aspect of the job that Anderson enjoys more than the rest. “Helping people out and solving their issues as quickly as possible and just having people satisfied with the end result is the best part about it,” Anderson said. An elevator ride down from the Genius Squad office to the main floor of the DePaul Center is where, at times, Public Safety Officer Jerry Lucas can be found. The shift that Lucas is given will determine his responsibilities. Sometimes he is at the front desk across from the elevators, surveying and watching over the people who make their way through the center. Other times, Lucas can be helping a student find a lost item while trying to listen to another officer on the radio and at the same time helping another individual with directions. “As staff you can wear different hats,” Lucas said. “Custodians can help us out. You never know. It’s not just us … You guys too [students] are public safety when you’re reporting stuff. It’s a very involved process.” With DePaul being an open university, Lucas also helps provide aid to a lot of the local Chicago community. “Outside of being in the DePaul Center and working for the university, you got to be that community liaison as well,” Lucas said. “People come up to us with good and bad, so you have to respond accordingly and know how to handle different situations.” For many of the DePaul staff members, their roles are never narrowed down to one specific duty, and it’s the commitment of these individuals that help make the university operate efficiently. Even though they may not always get the credit they deserve, their work doesn’t go unnoticed. “I always want to help staff feel valued and appreciated at the university,” Staff Council President Erin Berkowitz said. “I have the opportunity to talk with the president of the university, and I will make sure to acknowledge the work that all staff are doing.”
When you hear the word Thanksgiving, the first thing that usually comes to mind is food — and lots of it. When Nov. 28 rolls around, what will be the best food on the table? 1. Turkey “The turkey is what I look forward to most,” said Tim Leonard, a former culinary student at College of DuPage. “It’s really the only time of year where we get the chance to eat turkey, and I make sure to eat a lot of it.” The versatility of turkey makes it a dish that can be recreated in new ways every year. “I love how many options there are when it comes to making a turkey,” said Jack Thomas, a 28-year-old Berkeley resident. “Personally, every year we have two turkeys, one gets deep fried in a massive bucket of oil, and the other gets roasted in the oven.” 2. Mashed potatoes For some people, mashed potatoes are part of everyday life, but on Thanksgiving they are the perfect complement to the turkey. “Potatoes can be made in so many different types of ways,” said Mike Wagner, a 58-year-old Elmhurst resident. “It’s known to be one of the most versatile foods there is. When it comes to mashing them the key is a little bit of milk and a lot of butter, that’s how you get them creamy, and ready to eat with the Thanksgiving turkey.” 3. Stuffing This is a food that is not made enough, considering we eat it one day out of the year. “The only time I ever have stuffing is on Thanksgiving,” said Sarah Jones, a 23-yearold Chicago resident. “Honestly, that kind of disappoints me because it’s my favorite food to eat on that day. The combo of stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, and a lot of gravy, just makes my mouth water. “After this year’s Thanksgiving, I might just have to start making stuffing once a month, because I need more of it in my life,” she added. 4. Sweet potatoes There are many ways this food can be prepared but on Thanksgiving, it seems like the preparation is taken to a whole other level. “Regular mashed potatoes don’t do the job for me,” said Anna Buckley, a former DePaul student. “I need some more flavor and sweetness, that’s what makes sweet potatoes the thing to eat on Thanksgiving. A melted marshmallow sweet potato casserole is the way to go, it’s hard to pass up whipped sweet potatoes with a layer of marshmallows on top.” 5. Pumpkin pie After a meat and carb overload, what better way is there to top it off than a nice slice of fresh pumpkin pie? “Pumpkin pie goes hand in hand with Thanksgiving and this time of year,” said Lauren Shepherd, a pastry chef at Whole Foods. “During this season, it feels like I’m constantly making pumpkin pies and other pumpkin pastries. It’s definitely one of our top selling desserts in the month of November. Thanksgiving is a great day to be thankful for everything you have around you, whether its family or friends or food.
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Big bucks RYAN GILROY | THE DEPAULIA
The opening night, Nov. 15, of the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Michigan Ave. brought a line that wrapped around the hotel adjacent to it. People stood in the cold for hours.
World’s largest Starbucks opens downtown on Michigan Ave. STARBUCKS continued from front Starbucks name, offering a nice selection of options. The highlights of the food options, though, were the desserts and bakery goods. The tiramisu showcased almost everything that this attraction has to offer: wonderful pastry, delicious espresso and high quality, rich mascarpone cheese. The cocktails served on the fourth floor are high-priced, but feature quality ingredients, are creative, delicious and many highlight the coffee that Starbucks is famous for. You can order pizza, beer and wine while you are on this floor. The barrel-aged coffee beans are also located on the fourth level. The space in the Roastery is clean, warm and open. Hardwood and low-rising countertops and furniture give it a modern feel and make the rooms feel larger and more comfortable. Floor-toceiling windows make the building feel less closed-off from the city. The staff is friendly and excited, welcoming every guest with enthusiasm. The entire group seems dedicated to making the experience as fun and rewarding as it can be. They were attentive and helpful, even seeming grateful to have so many excited patrons. Overall, despite the ordeal of getting into the building, many enjoyable rewards await inside. The experience goes well beyond coffee and scones, turning the idea of a coffee shop into a fully developed space, where one could essentially spend the entire day, albeit not without spending a whole lot of money. This shrine to American consumerism is loaded with all that Starbucks could think to offer, some things not being available at any other Chicago location. So, do we need a five-story coffee shop? No, I can’t think of a reason anyone would. Having said that, the place is a lot of fun and a unique experience.
RYAN GILROY | THE DEPAULIA
RYAN GILROY | THE DEPAULIA
A barista makes a pour-over cup of coffee.
The new Starbucks Reserve Roastery is five stories tall with a terrace at the top.
RYAN GILROY | THE DEPAULIA
The third floor is the experiential bar, where customers are encouraged to be creative.
JONATHAN AGUILAR | THE DEPAULIA RYAN GILROY | THE DEPAULIA
Brand-new reserve expresso machines are not offered at most reserve bars.
A barista mixes drinks on the fourth floor.
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All I want for Christmas is
MARIAH
Even 25 years later, Mariah Carey’s rendition is still not old — and never will be By Jenna Ranieri Contributing Writer
No presents to be had, just that one special someone. That’s what Mariah Carey has been telling us to wish for every Christmas for the last 25 years. This classic Christmas song stole America’s back in 1994, so why do we still love hearing it today? “The song is just so powerful and relatable,” UIC alumnus and Mariah Carey fan, Brandon Lukas said. “I think we all have one person we want for Christmas.” Lukas, 22, has been listening to Mariah Carey for most of his life. There was even a two-year period where Carey was the only artist he listened to. Not just for Christmas, but all year long. “I had her music going 24/7, I knew all her songs, and all the lyrics, like I was obsessed,” Lukas said. “When I listen to her now, it makes me feel like a child again.” This nostalgic connection to Carey’s music isn’t singular to Lukas. DePaul student Micaela Sanders remembers a childhood full of Carey. But unlike other songs, Carey’s songs continue to be relevant as people get older. “‘Rudolf ’ is great but it’s not the kind of song that once I get past the age of 13, I want to continue singing,” Sanders said. “Whereas Mariah Carey’s song sounds like the kind of song I would want to listen to outside of the Christmas season.” But is there more than just relatability that keeps this song at the top of the charts? Daniel Makagon, a professor in the College of Communications at DePaul began to answer this. “I am sure there are a lot of Christmas songs that are written that just don’t stick, so songs that people have accepted are small in quantity,” Makagon said. “Those songs will feature in Christmas TV shows and movies, play on the radio, and play in stores.” To Makagon’s point, there were many songs on Carey’s Christmas album that didn’t “stick.” Lukas’ favorite song on the album is “Oh Holy Night,” but this is not one of the better known songs.” This is not normally people’s favorite. In fact, many don’t even know it’s on the album. “I honestly have only listened to ‘All I Want for Christmas is You,’” Sanders said. “I’m sure I’ve heard the other songs, but for me, that’s the only one that counts.” The other songs on the album are just covers of traditional Christmas songs whereas “All I Want for Christmas is You” has a pop flair that gets the people going. “It’s such a sing-able chorus, and for a Christmas song, it’s really pop-y,” Sanders said. “It feels more like a song you can dance to and have fun with than a lot of the traditional ‘Joy to the World’ and ‘Little Drummer Boy’ kind of songs.” These slow songs appeal to some, but as a whole, the upbeat nature of “All I Want for Christmas is You” has kept the attention of Americans since it was released. , maybe because we are taught to care more about these songs, or maybe just because we can relate to them more. With that said, there are a lot of Christmas songs that seem to annoy various
groups of people. “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and “Dominick the Donkey” are played less often than “All I Want for Christmas is You.” “The song was catchy, she was already famous, and there probably weren’t any other Christmas songs released in the two or three years preceding or following Carey’s song that excited the music listening public,” Makagon said. Being famous may have had a greater impact on the album than people may think. But something people don’t think about as often is her personal connection to the music industry. “Mariah was around her peak at the time she released that song; she was the biggest pop star the world has ever seen,” Lukas said. “Plus, her husband at the time was Tommy Mottola, head of Sony Music and, not to take away from her own talent and hard work, but I guess it is known that her marriage to him helped promote her music and success in general.” Her marriage may have helped cement her into the mainstream but it doesn’t explain why the song has continued to thrive in pop culture. Makagon explained that Christmas songs are only played for about a month per year. That really isn’t long enough to get sick of a single song. “That one-month time period coincides with other feel-good factors,” Makagon said. “Such as getting together with family, time off from work and school, and a general excitement about a season of giving.” The season of giving has turned into the season of Mariah Carey, and it may have gone to her head. Carey re-released the 1994 Christmas Album, now called “Merry Christmas II You.” It includes several new covers, and a couple live tracks. It excludes “Miss You Most at Christmas Time” and “Jesus Born on This Day,” which were the other two original pieces on the 1994 album. The release has made many wonder if it was done to celebrate 25 years of the Christmas album, or more as a way for Carey to enter the spotlight again. Sanders brought up the point that in her original “All I Want for Christmas is You” music video, she is being filmed candidly, but it doesn’t come off the way she intended. “It just feels very ‘this is Mariah Carey and she likes to have fun’ and it doesn’t feel very genuine,” Sanders said. There has been a lot of Carey related drama since the album came out, like when the lip sync at the 2016-2017 New Year’s Eve ball drop didn’t quite sync up as planned. But, when it comes to “All I Want for Christmas is You,” it doesn’t matter what Carey has done, the song is ingrained into America’s heart whether it’s because of her talent, the upbeat tune, and its singability. The song has been top of the charts for 25 years and it could stay at the top for the foreseeable future. “Mariah Carey is the queen of Christmas music and I think it’s no coincidence that she shares the same initials as Merry Christmas,” Lukas said.
PHOTO FROM ALAMY
20| Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
‘It’s our turn now’
‘Ok boomer’ unites younger generations against older ones, stirs controversy between them By Becca Meluch Contributing Writer
An older, graying man walks up to you, a man whose college tuition probably cost less than $1,000 a year, and has the audacity to say, “I worked hard on my own to pay off my student debt, you should be able to do it too,” “You’re not special because you’re young” or even, “I didn’t get free handouts, why do you deserve to?” What would your response be to theirs – being a Gen Z student – most would probably be, “Ok boomer.” “Ok boomer” began when TikTok users and younger generations across the global internet used the expression to disband and acknowledge the outdated politics and beliefs of conversative Baby Boomers. Millennials and Gen Z-ers decided they had enough of the older generation’s input comparing their experiences to theirs in a different period, when college tuition costs, the economy, climate quality and national situations were vastly different. The term evolved from a playful meme to now a viral debate; many different talkshow hosts, newspapers and blogs have strongly discussed the phrase and its true meaning since it sparked about a month ago. Although this new term or response is viewed across all ages of people as playfully hilarious or as a clap-back toward older generations that may “not get it” – there is a debate about whether it’s an ageist slur or a harmless, yet defensible, meme created by younger generations. Father Christopher Robinson, who specializes in religion and popular culture and in generational theory at DePaul, said he believes this whole “Ok boomer” phrase is just a way of “generations distinguishing themselves.” Robinson said Millenials and more Gen Zs are catching onto the ways the boomer generation likes to go on about, “‘well in my day’ and they have responded with “Ok boomer” as a means of saying, “‘All right,
GRAPHIC BY GINA RICARDS
well, you have already had your say’” and “Ok, but you know it’s our turn now.’” He also said that although the phrase does seem dismissive and that boomers find it to be an attack of ageism, he finds it to be a term of endearment. “It’s almost like saying, ‘Ok Grandpa. Life has moved on.’” But not everyone seems to think this “Ok boomer” phrase is an innocent endearment. Many find it to be an ageism issue, especially in the workplace. DePaul professor Jaclyn Jensen shared her thoughts on the phrase being considered an issue in the workplace and how it arose “My understanding is that it has emerged out of a belief that there are big differences between the generations in the workplace and that in response to beliefs that people in the older generations are behind the times.” Jensen focuses her research interests on employee mistreatment, workplace harassment and employee attitudes and behaviors. She also continued to share that she considers the phrase to be an unkind
response. “This idea of ‘Ok boomer’ is a sort of – for a lack of better words – an unkind acknowledgement of that levied against them [boomers] by younger employees.” She also said she believes the differences between generations in the workplace are perpetuated by the popular press and that management research looks at generational differences in the workplace and actually finds there aren’t any dramatic differences. Although she found the phrase to be considered an unkind acknowledgment, she felt she could not specifically comment on if it should be considered as a denigrative slur or not. Whether it’s used to depict generational conflicts in the workplace or casual twitter feuds, “Ok boomer” seems to be a popular phrase circulating among all social media. Instagram influencer and model Christina Welky didn’t gain her 61.3K followers by staying in the dark with trendy memes, she was also curious about the debate with “Ok boomer”. Welky said she believes it’s harder for
older generations to sympathize with the younger generations because times are different from when they grew up and that she doesn’t particularly see the harm in the phrase. “For somebody to use the term ‘Ok boomer’ – it’s not really aggressive, it’s more passive,” she said. “I would say it’s more normalized and more of a joke to say it because it doesn’t really seem super aggressive. You’re not really attacking someone with just saying, ‘Ok.’” Whether people see “Ok boomer” as an insult to the older generation, much of the millennial and Generation Z’s population find it to be an endless response to the problem and issue that sometimes – older people just don’t get – and kids are fed up. People use this phrase to reply back to outdated political beliefs, and basically anyone older than 40 that says something particularly patronizing toward younger people. People are even selling merch with “Ok boomer” as their own act of protest, spreading the phrase to show that even if the boomers take the term personally, it’s still a response they stand by and a point they want to make – kids want to be heard and understood about their future. Robinson said he believes the world is in a crisis from older generations and that the younger generations are the ones that have to fix it. “We may be – I think we are – in a crisis again and your generation is the one that has to pull us out. You’re the hero generation, but the problem is the boomers think they saved the world, but in fact they created most of the mess.” Although the term “Ok boomer” leaves room for the debate on ageism and perhaps begins a feud of generational relations, it’s a small step viewed by younger generations as means to take hold of their future while giving a little eye roll toward older generations and their outdated political beliefs. “Ok boomer” isn’t going to be going away anytime soon – the memes are too good and far too trendy.
‘Jojo Rabbit’ examines Nazi Germany through comedic lens By Joe Roman Jr. Contributing Writer
Who would have ever thought there would be a movie about a boy having Adolf Hitler as his imaginary friend? “Jojo Rabbit” is that film. The film is directed by Taika Waititi, who is no stranger to making films relying heavily on comedy. One of his best films includes “What We Do in the Shadow,” which is a horror-comedy about a trio of vampire roommates, ‘mockumentary’ style. One of his other successful films is “Thor: Ragnarok,” the third entry in the God of Thunder’s solo outings. Ragnarok is regarded as one of the funniest Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, and the best solo “Thor” film. What makes “Jojo Rabbit” interesting besides in story and plot is the connection Waititi has with the subject. Waititi is half Jewish and plays the imaginary Hitler in the film. As reported on forward.com, a Jewish American news site, Waititi was skeptical about playing Hitler. “It was very strange for me to have to put on the suit and put the mustache on…,” Waititi said during an interview with a reporter at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic.
IMDB
Taika Waititi (Hitler) hides with Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Betzler). Waititi defended making a comedy about a boy in Nazi Germany. “The snobbery of filmmaking is this ludicrous idea that comedy isn’t art or that comedy can’t change the world or that comedy can’t change people – that you basically have to depress an audience in order for it to be meaningful,” he told USA Today.
The film itself can be described as a war story that a family could enjoy. Compared to other World War II films, this is on the other end of the spectrum. The film is about Jojo and his goal to become the best Nazi possible, hoping to become part of Hitler’s private guard’s staff. After an accident during a retreat,
Jojo slowly falls back and sees that being a Nazi is not what it’s cracked out to be. Not to mention his mother, played by Scarlett Johansson, is also hiding a Jewish girl in his sister’s room. Besides Waititi playing a cartoonish yet historically accurate Hitler, the entire cast plays its roles with a sense of enjoyment. The actors not only show a wide range of emotions, but that they’re having fun. Archie Yates stands out in his first credited film role. Yates plays Yorki, the best friend to Roman Griffin Davis’s Jojo. Yates plays the character showing how, at the time, children in the Hitler Youth program were taught to hate and taught how to become soldiers. He appears later in the film in a full uniform and is enjoying his time, but sees it more as an activity than a life or death situation. That is what makes “Jojo Rabbit” so funny. The kids in the Hitler Youth program are seeing this as a summer camp when it’s really them selling their lives in support of Hitler’s vision. Overall, “Jojo Rabbit” is a unique take on an important time in history. It’s a more sophisticated parody of what really happened and shows the harsh realities some Germans faced during World War II. It’s funny, serious and worth checking out.
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Still watching? As streaming expands, some services stand out among others ‘Disney+’ competitive in streaming service battle By Brian Gilbert Contributing Writer
After years of announcements and preparations, Disney’s streaming service is finally here and ready to compete with Netflix, Apple TV+ and HBO Max. Disney+ made its debut on Tuesday, Nov. 12 and, while it had some technical difficulties in its launch, many viewers are feeling satisfied and nostalgic. One of the strengths of Disney+ is its price, as it offers a monthly subscription for $6.99, or $69.99 if you decide to pay for a whole year, giving it the higher ground when compared to most of its competitors. It ends up being cheaper if you decide to pay the yearly price of $69.99, as that comes out to $5.83 a month. Another of its strengths is all the content you will get for that price, as Disney+ offers films and TV shows from Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, 20th Century Fox and National Geographic. In the first 24 hours, the Disney+ app was downloaded 3.2 million times, according to Apptopia. While most people were generally satisfied with the service, it wasn’t smooth sailing for everyone who downloaded it. As eager new subscribers tried to sign up for the streaming service Tuesday morning, complaints spread about glitches and service outages on social media, but the disruptions declined after the first day, according to Downdetector. “The consumer demand for Disney+ has exceeded our highest expectations,” Disney said in a statement on Tuesday. “While we are pleased by this incredible response, we are aware of the current user issues and are working to swiftly resolve them. We appreciate your patience.” Sean McNealy, a graduate journalism student at DePaul, said he was eager to download the service on the first day, but also experienced some technical difficulties that were eventually fixed. “I couldn’t log in and an image of WreckIt Ralph and Vanellope appeared and said it couldn’t connect,” McNealy said. “It started working around noon for me. I signed up for Disney+ because it seemed like a really great streaming option. I like it so far despite the lag in service that occurred at its launch. I also like the number of options on the platform because there’s tons of nostalgic content.” Other students, however, weren’t as eager to subscribe on the day of because they feel there are already too many streaming services that are adding up. “If Disney+ somehow was a free add on to Netflix or Hulu, which I already have, then I would be more interested,” said Rachel Kennaugh, a political science student at DePaul. “I understand the nostalgia of Dis-
ney since we grew up with those films and $7 is pretty cheap, but that’s still an extra $7 getting added to my monthly bills.” Disney+ offers classic entertainment from its wide variety of new and old options including those animated films we grew up with. Disney also is ramping up a slate of original shows and movies, the most anticipated among them being the big-budget “Star Wars” spinoff, “The Mandalorian.” Instead of having all the episodes available to stream immediately, Disney decided to release “The Mandalorian” episodes weekly. The second episode will be available to stream Friday, Nov. 15 and then from there episodes will come out every Friday. Disney also has seven live action series featuring some of the stars of the “Avengers” movies in their own shows coming out in 2020 and 2021. While some are frustrated with having to wait week-to-week for each episode, others think it’s a good idea to have this kind of format, especially for streaming services. “I think certainly when they’re starting the streaming service, they’re going to want something that’s going to keep people coming back,” said Paul Booth, a media and cinema studies professor at DePaul. “If you imagine your ‘Star Wars’ fans, they just want to see the next new thing, if it all came out in the same day, they’d sign up for their seven-day free trial, watch ‘The Mandalorian’ and then shut it off. This formula will at least keep people coming back and keeps people hooked.” Disney+ is also offering a bundle deal with Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99 a month, but it’s important to note that the bundle includes Hulu with ads. If you were to sign up for all three separately you would be paying a total of $17.97 a month. This is the only bundle available for now, and just like the monthly subscription to Disney+, the price might change in the future. Disney also made a deal with Verizon to give the carrier’s unlimited wireless customers a free year of Disney+. So, is Disney+ worth paying for? Basically, if you love ”Star Wars” or Marvel or “The Simpsons,” or if you have kids, you may find yourself considering yet another streaming service subscription. Luckily for you, Disney+ is one of the cheapest streaming options out there and offers over 500 films and 7,500 episodes of television.
‘Apple TV+’ launch elicits lukewarm reviews By Luke Murphy Contributing Writer
In an entertainment world dominated by Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video and HBO, tech giant Apple made its first foray into the streaming wars earlier this month, when Apple TV+ launched Nov. 2 to lukewarm reviews. The service, which carries a price tag of $4.99 a month (unless you purchase a piece of Apple hardware, in which case you get a free year of Apple TV+), is made up exclusively of new, original content. Their library, at the moment, is headlined by four original series, “See” (starring Jason Momoa), “The Morning Show” (starring Jennifer Anniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell), “Dickinson” (starring Hailee Steinfeld) and “For All Mankind” (starring Joel Kinnaman), while also including “The Elephant Queen,” an hour-and-a-half nature documentary, “Oprah’s Book Club” and a collection of children’s shows. The service does not include any content not created by Apple, unless you choose to purchase it separately to add to your library. Nearly two weeks after the launch of the streaming service, reviews have been mixed at best. “The Elephant Queen” carries a strong 90 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the scores for “See” (40 percent), “The Morning Show” (63 percent), “Dickinson” (71 percent) and “For All Mankind” (72 percent) range from solid to downright poor. Perhaps more importantly, none of their four shows has created much discussion in pop culture, with even “The Morning Show,” their most star studded offering, inspiring little conversation. Still, if Apple’s history with products and services like AirPods, Apple Music, laptops sans DVD slots and iPods has taught us anything, it’s that you can never count Apple out, even if their launch gets off to a shaky start. “I think so [that I disagree with the idea that first impressions are everything] because you’re dealing with Apple,” said Robert Steel, a professor in DePaul’s film school. “That’s the difference. We talked about all the controversial things that they have done and they keep growing and getting bigger and getting into all of these businesses…. I would never discount Apple.” However, as it currently stands, Apple TV+ does not inspire excitement in the same way newly launched Disney+ is. In fact, of all the people The
DePaulia spoke to for this story, not one, despite them all being self-professed film and TV lovers, had signed up for Apple TV+. For Wesley Crawford, a film student at Temple University, there just weren’t any titles that screamed ‘must watch TV’ to him. “‘For All Mankind’ is the only one that looks good to me, but that just might be because I am a 20-year-old guy and that kind of stuff is cool to me,” Crawford said. “‘See’ just looks, even from the first trailer, like the most obvious ‘Game of Thrones’ copy that you can see. Just from the trailers it felt so, and I know people worked really hard on it, but it felt pretty uninspired. It felt like a really expensive CW show and from the reviews that is kind of the vibe I’m getting. I feel like ‘The Morning Show’ looked good on paper, but it’s getting the definition of ‘just okay’ reviews.” For others, like Paul Booth, a professor of media and cinema studies at DePaul, the main issue with Apple TV+ is the lack of recognizable titles in a world where there is already too much TV to keep up with. “I actually kind of have less interest in Apple TV+ then I do in Disney+, which is only because there is less content on Apple TV+,” Booth said. “I think the interesting thing about Apple is that it’s never really been known as a content producer so there’s kind of questions about what is actually going to go on [the service], and they’ve got some original programming which may or may not be good, but to me it’s not worth it to get them both [Apple TV+ and Disney+]. I can’t keep up with the TV and entertainment that I already subscribe to and that’s not even counting the movies that I want to see in the theatre, or the books I want to read.” While it’s much too early to close the book on Apple TV+, no matter who you ask, it’s almost certainly not the start they were hoping to get off to. There is still plenty of time, but until Apple is able to produce a true water cooler show, many potential consumers will be unwilling to fork over their hard-earned money. “While $4.99 means nothing, in the context of everything else, [it’s] becoming just like cable: The more you buy, the more expensive it is and by the end of the month you go, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a lot of money,’” Steel said. “The reviews of the shows have been tepid. They haven’t really interested me and for me it’s all about content. And if there is something that I’m just really, really wanting to see I’ll consider it, but not until then.”
GRAPHIC BY ANNALISA BARANOWSKI
22 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
Living in the moment
Jason Mraz spoke with The DePaulia on intimate tours, social activism By Lauren Coates Contributing Writer
A Grammy award-winning artist as well as an activist and philanthropist, Jason Mraz is a multi-talented musician whose decade-long career has resulted in hits such as “I’m Yours,” “I Won’t Give Up” and “Lucky”. Following his most recent worldwide “GOOD VIBES” tour, Mraz is once again touring, but this time in a series of more intimate venues with his longtime collaborator Raining Jane. In addition to a successful music career, Mraz also devotes his time to the Jason Mraz Foundation, whose mission is to “shine for inclusive arts education and the advancement of equality.” Ahead of his closing performances at the Chicago Theatre on Nov. 23 and 24, The DePaulia had the opportunity to speak with Mraz about his political activism, philanthropy and, of course, his music. What made you decide to choose Chicago to close out your show? I have some friends and family in the area, plus it’s the week of Thanksgiving. Also, it’s a short tour, so I knew we didn’t want to tour much, I wasn’t sure if we’d even make it out to the Midwest. Because we’re working on new material, we like to realign ourselves on the live scene before we go back into the studio. Touring helps us understand the potential or the value of a song, or the lack thereof. What is it about playing intimate venues that has more appeal as opposed to a stadium tour? It’s easier to tell a story in a theater, since theaters are designed for conversation, and some of our show involves conversation with the audience and each other. The buzz is still the same; you’re still getting the honor of people’s time and attention. That’s where the buzz comes from, not the size of the crowd. Playing a smaller venue is like teaching a yoga class – you have two hours to guide them on a
journey, and it’s more intimate that way. When touring, it seems like many artists prefer to focus on their more recent material as opposed to maybe their older and more well-known hits. What’s your approach to making a setlist when you have such an expansive catalogue? I have to resonate with the songs with who I am today. When it comes to some of my older material, I had a different attitude then. I don’t connect with that young man anymore who wrote those songs. This current tour is one of many that features your collaboration and longtime friendship with Raining Jane. What is it about them and their music that has kept you so close for so long? When I first saw them, they were playing positive at a festival, they had a positive attitude and I was drawn to that. Also, I’m a solo act and I need a band – I thought of how great would it be to work with a band with a pre-existing flow and an attitude. We connected in 2000 and realized it worked. To be back together as a five-piece in an intimate experience is a thrill. We’re all the same age, we’re all married to each other. We want to make music first, it’s what we love to do. We want to dance and delight on people’s time and attention. Your organization, the Jason Mraz Foundation, has a pair of upcoming performances of an original musical called Shine, which features performances by non-profit groups that help bring the arts to underserved communities. Can you talk about the inspiration behind such an ambitious project? We give grants to arts education programs that have an emphasis on inclusion and the advancement of equality. SHINE musical adventure is intended to spotlight the talent of the organizations we’re giving grants to. The throughline is that everyone in these
Jason Mraz performs on an acoustic guitar in March 2011. organizations loves the arts. It’s one thing to write a check, but we want to give them a big stage and a big experience so that they know what it’s like to perform on a bigger scale. In addition to music, you’re also a big activist. In a political climate where some believe that artists and entertainers should stay in their field and keep quiet about politics, why do you feel it’s important to speak up? It’s important for every citizen to be vocal. Telling an artist to stay in their lane is like telling a plumber to only fix toilets. They only say stay in your lane when they don’t agree with an artist’s views. Artists, in particular, have an ability to make an impact because artists are
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already canvassing the country when we tour state to state. We need to vote louder, be vocal about the issues we care about. When we vote, we’re not voting about the people, but the issues we care about. My views are for people. I could hang on to my success, but that doesn’t benefit everyone. This past season had some really significant elections; Trump’s election shows that people need to be more engaged than ever. You can find Jason Mraz and Raining Jane live in concert at the Chicago Theatre when they perform Nov. 23 and 24 as the closing dates of their tour, “Ladies and Gentleman, An Evening with Jason Mraz & Raining Jane.”
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Arts & Life. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 23
‘Race is the child of racism, not the father’ Netflix’s ‘American Son’ examines race, breaks down tropes
PHOTO FROM IMDB
Kendra Ellis-Connor (Kerry Washington) sits in the waiting area of a Miami Police station, hoping to hear about her 18-year-old son, Jamal, who has gone missing.
By Chinyere Ibeh Contributing Writer
“American Son” is the new Netflix movie on the block and it has its own hot take on race in the United States. “American Son” is one of the many movies that deals with race in this country and it tries to give a fresh perspective on the subject. The movie may be lost in the crowd of movies about race as it shares many themes that we have seen before. This Netflix movie set the tone within the first 30 seconds with a quote from Ta-Nehisi Coates, one where he states, “Race is the child of racism, not the father.” Coates is an author and journalist who wrote for The Atlantic about social, cultural and political issues. He focused on these issues regarding African Americans and white supremacy. The movie follows the stressful situation of an estranged, interracial couple whose son has gone missing. The mother, Kendra, played by Kerry Washington, is
shown at a police station throughout the movie. She relentlessly tries to get information out of this police officer named Paul, but with no avail. Throughout the movie, there are various conversations between the characters about how race affects the situation at hand. One instance would be when Kendra’s husband, Scott, finally arrives and Paul the police officer was willing to give more information to him than he did to Kendra. When Paul eventually leaves the room, Kendra begs the question of why she couldn’t get information in the half-hour that she was there while Scott, a white man, was able to get the information within two minutes of walking in. The scene doesn’t change too much as the movie is set in the one room at the police station; the only scene change would be when Washington’s character went to the station’s water fountain. Interestingly enough, there were two fountains as a result of the building being built during segregation.
For the bulk of the movie, Scott and Kendra are alone in the room together and the dynamic is interesting. They go through this lengthy conversation of their marriage, why and how their son could’ve gotten into this situation, and how race is connected to all of this. I would describe their dynamic as an electric rollercoaster. Their conversations are charged so much with emotion. They each are so passionate about what they believe is true. Then there are some moments in between these long bursts of emotion, but they don’t last long as the argument comes back up. There are many themes that I have seen in many other films about race. There’s the white person who doesn’t fully grasp the concept of racism as they don’t understand its subtle ways. Then, we have the black person who is trying their hardest to get the white people around them to understand the complexities of race and how they live through life because of it. We also see what many would call the
“Uncle Tom:” the black person who just turns the other cheek. They give into the subtle racism. One character in “American Son,” named Lieutenant Stokes, states that he has jumped out of planes and has been to Vietnam, but he’s most scared of making a stop on a “ghetto street.” Another trope that we see is the white cop who is too clouded with his own racial biases to understand the inherent dismissiveness toward the black person in distress. The cop who isn’t outright racist, but acts on subtle prejudices. “American Son” is among the many movies and shows that tackle the issue of race within this country. The film can easily be lost in the crowd of films that deal with race as it doesn’t jump out with anything new or anything that the general public hasn’t heard. Viewers shouldn’t expect a groundbreaking revelation in the debate on race. In fact, viewers should look forward to the theatrical feel of the film as it’s based on a Broadway play by Christopher Demos-Brown of the same name.
Instagram to eliminate likes, ‘depressurize’ experience on app By Kelly Garcia Contributing Writer
Imagine a world where people care less about popularity and more about authenticity. A world where people don’t care about how many likes you get on an Instagram post, but instead they care about the content in your post. As of this week, Instagram will begin to make that a reality. On Friday, Nov. 8, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced at WIRED25 that the platform will begin testing select user accounts in the U.S. that will no longer be able to view the amount of likes on another person’s post. Users, however, will still be able to see the amount of likes on their own posts. It’s a feature that’s already been tested in seven other countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand. “This is about young people,” Mosseri said during the panel. “The idea is to try to ‘depressurize’ Instagram, make it less of a competition and give people more space to focus on connecting with people that they love, things that inspire them.” Juan Mundel, an associate professor in the College of Communication at DePaul, was one of the social researchers invited to
provide insight for Instagram about this feature. “It’s finally time for this to start happening,” he said. “For many years now, we’ve noticed that users really pay attention to popularity. It not only reduces the desire to be original, but it can also trigger negative effects on someone’s self-esteem.” Mundel also touched on the concept
ety of functions, such as fulfilling affiliation needs, evaluating the self, making decisions, being inspired and regulating emotions and well-being,” the report said. While it’s easy to acknowledge the positive effects of getting rid of like counts, many argue that it hurts small businesses. “What this also does is take away the markers of effectiveness,” Mundel said. “A
of social comparison, which the American Psychological Association defined in a 2014 report about social comparison, social media and self-esteem. “Humans are thought to possess a fundamental drive to compare themselves with others, which serves a vari-
lot of small businesses, such as influencers, depend on the amount of likes on their posts to properly advertise their product or image. Bigger businesses don’t necessarily have much to worry about because their budgets are much larger, thus giving them more
room to market their product.” In a study done by HyperAuditor, an Instagram and YouTube analytics company, influencers located in one of the seven countries where the test began saw their like count fall between 3 to 15 percent. Influencers saw the biggest loss of likes in the Brazilian market, where influencers with more than 5,000 followers saw a decrease of 15 percent in like counts. “As a user, I think it’s really cool that they’re getting rid of likes because Instagram can really affect self-esteem,” said Aranxta Reyes, a junior at DePaul who actively uses Instagram. “But I think it’s important to also acknowledge that this harms our ability to measure engagement.” Lavonn Ackerman, a senior PRAD major at DePaul, agrees. “It’s hard to believe that Instagram is doing this to help boost self-esteem,” he said. “People will compare themselves to others regardless. In general, the cons outweigh the pros because small business will be negatively impacted the most.” Facebook, Instagram’s parent company, also began experimenting with removing like counts on posts in September. GRAPHIC BY GINA RICARDS
24 | Arts &Life. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
St.Vincent’s D e JAMZ “Spinning fresh beats since 1581” By Emma Oxnevad Opinions Editor
You may be looking at the album covers and be thinking that it’s too early for Christmas music. Well, to that I say: too bad. I will field no hatred for me listing my favorite Christmas songs before Thanksgiving, because what am I supposed to do? List my favorite Thanksgiving songs? Don’t make me laugh. All I Want For Christmas Is You Mariah Carey This is arguably the most popular Christmas song of all time, and I’ve listened to this song around 10,000 times since Oct. 1st. This is the kind of song that everyone knows the lyrics to and tries to sing along and fails miserably (and by everyone, I mean me). Long live Mariah, the
Queen of Christmas. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town Bruce Springsteen In all honesty, I’m quite indifferent to to this particular Christmas song, until The Boss covered it. He took a standard tune about behaving yourself and turned it into a beer-in-the-air anthem. This cover gets me hyped and ready to go, no matter what season I’m in, and you can’t beat Clarence Clemons’ sax work. Have a Holly Jolly Christmas Lady Antebellum I enjoy quite a bit of country music and this cover incorporates genre conventions with a big-band feel. Every holiday season, I listen to this cover on repeat. Maybe it’s the bright lead vocals or the overall warm feeling it gives me, but rest assured I will always bump this when driving around looking at Christmas lights.
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Blue Christmas Elvis Presley This song is a staple of my childhood, with my mom blasting it whenever it was time to decorate the house for the holidays. The King’s voice on this song is remarkably hammy, but that’s what gives the number its charm. This is the definitive version of this song, in my opinion, and no one else can do it better. Do They Know It’s Christmas? Band Aid This may be one of the cheesiest songs of all time, but damn if it doesn’t make me want to throw my fist in the air. This song comprises several legends of the 1980s, including Bono, George Michael and Phil Collins and the whole thing feels huge. There may not be snow in Africa (whatever that’s supposed to mean), but this is a guaranteed bop.
ACROSS 1. Cribbage piece 4. Clear the field 8. Real howler 12. “Golden” time 13. Between assignments 14. Atlas stat 15. Overhaul, as a website 17. Battle remnant 18. Casino game 19. Vampire bane 20. Aircraft prefix 23. Lock horns 25. Shouldered 27. Barber’s obstacle 28. Comic bit 31. Conundrum 33. First name in 60’s pop 35. Pro ___ (for now) 36. Computers burn them 38. From out of town 39. Bowler’s button 41. Diversion 42. Crow’s home 45. Decree ender 47. It takes the cake? 48. Some sacraments 52. Fortify for action 53. Biblical book 54. Beech relative 55. Charity of a sort 56. Hamper heap 57. Broker’s advice
DOWN 1. “As ___ your instructions” 2. Bard’s “before” 3. Travel aimlessly 4. Swell 5. Patsy’s “AbFab” pal 6. 2000 presidential candidate 7. Stock holder 8. Basket type 9. Sea predator 10. Pipe problem 11. Cab charge 16. ___ out a living 19. Less skeptical 20. Aid in crime 21. All’s opposite 22. Tinsel, e.g. 24. Mountain pass 26. Roast host 28. Mentor 29. “Oh, woe!” 30. 7-10, on the Beaufort Scale 32. Airtime filler 34. City on the Po 37. Nero’s tutor 39. Pulls apart 40. Salon treatments 42. Senate cover-up, once 43. Good competitor? 44. Short wave? 46. Band for Miss America 48. Boxer’s foot 49. Corn refuse 50. ___ de Cologne 51. It may be the limit
Sports
Sports. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 25
Open environment, relaxed competition defines Dodgeball club By Jenna Ranieri Contribuiting Writer
Eye contact, elevated heartbeats, a dribble of sweat dripping down their faces. Then, an avalanche of rubber balls rains down on the Dodgeball Club as the game begins. DePaul’s Dodgeball Club meets every Monday and Thursday night to play with friends and have fun. The organization has no commitment policy, so students can drop by whenever they have time. You don’t have to know anything about dodgeball to come and play; the members will teach you what you need to know. “I haven’t played dodgeball since grade school; it’s fun,” DePaul freshman Michael Milano said. “It brings back memories of being a kid.” Milano joined the club after seeing its booth at the Involvement Fair back in September. He only has time to go on Mondays but has made a lot of friends in his short time there. The current president of the club, Joel Luciano, remembers joining back in his freshman year. “I used to come once a week and it was just a good way to de-stress, but the more I came, the more involved I would become,” Luciano said. “I came from Puerto Rico, so having this dodgeball family was a really big thing for going through this journey.” The club makes sure the atmosphere remains friendly and fun. However, the members are known to get serious when the game gets down to the last few survivors. “I will literally throw hard enough that I hurt my arm,” DePaul student Gavin Swardz said. Swardz is the safety officer for the club. He is in charge of making sure serious hits, especially headshots, are cared for. Some members have a history of concussions, and those students are especially looked after. Safety is a top priority for the club. “If you get hit in the head, I’m pretty much like, ‘Hi, how are you doing, do you know what year it is,’ that kind of thing,” Swardz said.
CORNELL, continued from back page something we can always do.” The Blue Demons came out in the second half, maintaining their double-digit lead by continuing to attack Cornell inside the paint. Coleman-Lands, who only scored eight points in the first three games of the season, had back-to-back games in double figures on Saturday. “Honestly, it’s just getting back to being myself, playing relaxed and my teammates trusting me,” Coleman-Lands said. “Everyday in practice, do the same thing I do in practice and executing that on the floor. Just holding myself to that standard everyday.” DePaul also managed to limit their turnovers to only 14 in the game after committing 21 turnovers against Iowa. They also dominated the glass for a second consecutive game by outrebounding the Big Red 42-29. “The first half we were lacking a little bit, giving them second chances and that’s what I feel keeps teams in the game with us,” freshman forward Romeo Weems said. “So, we tried to get all the loose balls, get rebounds, get out in transition.” The Blue Demons had their most time off this season between games after the Iowa
XAVIER ORTEGA | THE DEPAULIA
Casey Crowe, a sophomore computer engineer and computer science major, throws a rubber dodgeball during a scrimmage at the Ray-Meyer Fitness Center in Lincoln Park. Headshots are a big deal on the court. When someone gets hit in the head, the game halts. The safety officer steps in if needed, but the most important part is the player who threw the ball must hug or somehow apologize to the person who was hit to promote good sportsmanship. “That way there’s no bad blood between players,” Dodgeball Club Treasurer Casey Crowe said. “Like, ‘Oh, he specifically tried to hit me in the head, I’m pissed, I’m gonna try to hit him in the head back,’ and then there’s fighting and match, with Leitao saying that the team needed this extra time off to prepare both emotionally and physically. “Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s challenging,” Leitao said. “After four games in seven days we needed a break both emotionally and physically. But once we got to work, we actually took two days off which we hardly do, it was important to keep them fresh. This is a really difficult time because we are coming to the tail end of the quarter, and we want to make sure we finish off the right way academically. I want to make sure we have an opportunity from my vantage point to put the best group of guys on the floor emotionally and physically.” DePaul will get another lengthy break before their next game when they travel on Nov. 23 to face Boston College. “We are completely different, they are completely different,” Leitao said. “We were heavy on the three seniors, they had [Ky] Bowman and other guys. So, taking a brief glance at them they look really different. They are kind of like us, they spread the ball out, there’s no one guy that they go to all the time, they are really energetic on defense. So, it will be a really good test but it will be different from last year because the personal on both teams is completely different.”
feuding.” The members of the eBoard understand that this is a club, not a professional team. They don’t want members injured or feuding; they want everyone having a good time. To further emphasize the fun of the game, they are more lax with some of the rules. This mentality changes when the team travels for tournaments. DePaul’s Dodgeball Club is part of the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association. This is the governing body
of dodgeball organizations within North America. The NCDA divides colleges, typically by region, for tournaments and has a standard set of rules that are followed at these tournaments. “We add emphasis to the terms we teach at tournaments because people can actually see them in action and it helps,” Luciano said. The Dodgeball Club headed to their first tournament of this year on Nov. 16. They competed at University of Wisconsin-Platteville along with Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They played one game against each of the teams. “We just have fun at practice, but a lot of universities are super serious about this sport,” Luciano said. “They have their own techniques and have no mercy.” The number of tournaments the club attends in a year depends on participation, budget and distance to the tournament. If someone wants to get involved in that tournament life, they just have to tell the eBoard. “There are no requirements for who can attend,” Luciano said. “If you’re interested, you can come.” In addition to traveling, DePaul’s Dodgeball Club also has the opportunity to host tournaments. There is normally a tournament in May as well as one over St. Patrick’s Day weekend. “A lot of universities come and hang out, participate, then usually the St. Patty’s day parade is happening so, after dodgeball, we all go,” Luciano said. These types of events help members form bonds. There’s nothing like a little competition to get the people going. The club lasts all year, so members are able to form tight bonds with each other for the entire year. “Dodgeball is a very inclusive club,” Luciano said. “We are our own little family, like our little community.” As the movie “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” taught us: If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.
ALEXA SANDLER | THE DEPAULIA
DePaul junior guard Charlie Moore drives to the basket in the second half against Cornell on Saturday at Wintrust Arena. Moore finished the game with eight points.
26 | Sports. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019
New dance captain set for top role in junior year By Bella Michaels Contribuiting Writer
Beyond boosting school spirit and entertaining the crowds at games, being a dancer demands strength, leadership, self-discipline and dedication – qualities that DePaul junior dancer Sabrina DiPrizio identifies with. DiPrizio became a captain of the DePaul Dance Team for the 2019-2020 season, alongside senior Ally Hursh. Both of them arrived at DePaul their freshman year and have been on the dance team since. “I’m actually really excited to be a captain,” DiPrizio said. “When I found out, I was jumping up and down.” Spirit Director of DePaul Dance and Cheer Shanon Lersch is excited to see DiPrizio earn her position as captain and continue to lead the new generation of the team. “She strives not only to entertain but also to give back and support the community with her many talents,” Lersch said. “Her infectious personality always brings warmth and heightened spirit to all her actions and is one that does not just show up, but gives her whole self while there.” This is something that DiPrizio has been working for her whole life. She started dancing at just 3 years old, and competitive dancing at 5 years old. Her older sisters danced, so she wanted to follow in their footsteps. Her older sister, Angelica DiPrizio, danced for the Loyola Ramblers for four years until she graduated after the 20172018 season. This sparked a fun-loving rivalry between the sisters, as they danced for two different Catholic universities. “We both went against each other at Nationals, but we were so supportive of the other team,” “But basketball is a different story, Angelica DiPrizio said. “We killed it my senior year and I rubbed it in her face when we made the Final Four.” The sisters have eternal memories together. “It was so much fun growing up together,” Angelica DiPrizio said. “She is still constantly making us laugh with her quirky personality. She is our baby, so it’s amazing to see the beautiful woman she grew into.” S a b r i n a DiPrizio chose DePaul over Loyola as her school because she loved being in the city from the moment she visited campus. The business program also attracted her since she is in the finance honors program. Being in the honors program and a dancer leaves her limited free time, because when she’s not dancing, she studies toward her plans to work in wealth management or private equity. Beyond the physically demanding work that goes into dancing, Sabrina DiPrizio struggles with a herniated disc, which she goes to physical therapy for. She has her good and bad days — which
PHOTO COURTESY OF RON MCKINNEY
Sabrina DiPrizio pumping up the crowd during a timeout in a men’s basketball game last season. require her to do extra dance-work on the good days, and keep it at a minimum on the bad days. “It’s difficult for dancing because it hits a nerve and I get into a lot of pain,” DiPrizio said. “I just have to know my limits and push myself towards healthy dancing instead of pushing.” Sabr ina DiPrizio ties her strong, loving personality in with her pride in being Italian. Both her parents, Angelo and Domenica DePaul junior D i P r i z i o , are Italianimmigrants from Bari, the capital of Italy’s Puglia region in the south. “I love being Italian,” Sabrina DiPrizio said. “I feel like if I wasn’t Italian – that just plays a huge role in my identity. Because I’m very family oriented. I care about all of our superstitions, our traditions. I can’t picture not being Italian; that would be weird for me.”
“I am a very hard worker, so I feel like people will look up to me. I gained a lot of trust with the girls, so if they ever need anything, they could come up to me and ask me.”
Sabrina DiPrizio
Going forward as a captain, DiPrizio has a clear idea of what she will do for her team. “I am a very hard worker, so I feel like people will look up to me,” DiPrizio said. “I gained a lot of trust with the girls, so if they ever need anything, they could come up to me and ask me.” DePaul sophomore Sam Wrobel is one of DiPrizio’s teammates and her close friend outside of dance. Last year, DiPrizio became one of her first friends when Wrobel arrived at DePaul her freshman year. “Sabrina will make a great team
captain because she’s very personable and makes everyone around her feel comfortable,” Wrobel said. “You can always count on her for help.” DiPrizio has advice for the younger girls who aspire to become a dancer like her. “My advice would be to just never stop working,” she said. “Always give your 110 percent, and always be motivated and positive. You always want the best for everyone.”
Sports. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 27 NCAA, continued from back page harmful in the short term and, in the end, unnecessary,” the letter read. Barring changes in NCAA policies, the proposed bill would render Illinois schools ineligible by NCAA standards. This, coupled with the concern of athlete exploitation, is key for athletic directors. The bill doesn’t have language regarding how athletes will be protected from outside revenue sources. “It’s very risky for a major corporate company that typically sponsors professional athletes,” Lenti Ponsetto said. “They’re very cautious about the professional athletes that they sponsor, and I think student-athletes at the collegiate level, their talent is so unproven in most cases that you’re making an investment into an unknown entity. And so I don’t know that there would be that many of them but I do think that there could potentially be the impression or a statement made to prospective student-athletes and their parents about what the value of their son or daughter might be. And then they signed with an agent and then that value doesn’t come to fruition.” Newsom’s actions were the first of many to follow, yet the problem for athletic departments is the speed of the whole ordeal. The bills being signed in various states are contributing to the NCAA’s decision-making process. The Illinois athletic departments come together every now and then when a bill is being passed that would affect the way their institutions are run. Yet the California bill sparked something in the NCAA that would bring in an unforeseen statement by the NCAA board of governors. The process seems to be speeding along a little quicker than many would think. “I think it’s damage control on [the NCAA’s] part,” DePaul professor Robert Kallen said. “The California legislation was not going to go-away and they were trying to be a little bit preemptive and see if they could hold it off for a little bit.”
TALENT, continued from front page the answer to that question depends on what people perceive being “back” is. For some, that will mean making a run to the NCAA Tournament, something the program hasn’t done since 2004. For others, the answer is pretty simple: there is real talent on this roster. There is still a long time before finding out if the DePaul will make the NCAA Tournament, but if they do, it’s going to be because the talent on this roster is the greatest it’s been for over a decade. In the first three games of the season it was hard to judge how good the roster is because the opponents weren’t the strongest, but against Iowa the disparity in talent was clear from the tip. “Approaching it like we’ve tried to approach it since the summertime is that we have to have an inner-confidence anyway, and what this does is just fortifies that,” Head Coach Dave Leitao said. “You have to be careful because just like you have to teach when they don’t win, you have to teach when you win, and you don’t want to get ahead of yourself because that would be a major mistake. So, the confidence has to be tampered with understanding that the things we need to do continually and a lot of things we need to do better.” Last season, the team relied on three seniors, Max Strus, Eli Cain, Femi Olujobi, to produce most of the offense and anchor the team on defense. This season, however, there is no go-to-guy the team relies on each game. In the first three games of the season, it was junior guard Charlie Moore who led the offense, but against Iowa he only played 17 minutes because of foul trouble. So, the team turned to another junior: Paul Reed. Reed had 25 points and 12 rebounds against Iowa. The Hawkeyes tried throwing different players at Reed to find a matchup
The NCAA will be forced to adapt, and even change their rules that have been under scrutiny in recent years, mainly about amateurism. The NCAA Eligibility Center states on their website that “After student-athletes enroll at an NCAA school, they may no longer promote or endorse a product or allow their name, image or likeness to be used for commercial or promotional purposes.” Not only does this prevent college athletes from appearing in commercials and sponsorships, but it also will keep them from making money from other sources such as writing a book. “I’m a believer that in that if you’re a student-athletes and you go to the DePaul CDM program and you develop a video game like your other classmates who are going to be compensated or paid for that, you should be entitled to receive remuneration for that,” Lenti Ponsetto said. The NCAA has tried to define the harsh line between amateurs and professionals. Professional athletes and college athletes have distinct differences in terms of autonomy. NCAA athletes have never been able to legally use their fame for their own fortune. “I’m not a big fan of and I would be disappointed if we went down the path of student-athletes, for example, being paid to give their autograph to a little kid who came to one of their games,” Lenti Ponsetto said. “I’m not a fan of that, I’m not in favor of that. I don’t think it benefits the student-athlete and I certainly don’t think that anybody who’s on the potential receiving end thinks of college athletics in that way that they would pay a college student-athlete for their autograph.” The NCAA is facing pressure from all around to reform its amateurism rules, and a big part of it is starting to come from state governments and legislators. I think if we’re going to get change, change is going to have to come via government,” Kallen said. “It’s not going to come via the NCAA or the university presidents or the athletic department.” that would contain him, but each time Reed’s size, athleticism and talent outweighed any adjustment the Hawkeyes made. “It felt good to win, that’s always the goal,” Reed said. “Personally, I just do whatever I got to help us win. In the game, I guess it was just me, I just had a good game.” Reed has elevated his game this season after being named the Big East’s Most Improved Player last season, averaging 15.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. “I feel like can’t nobody really guard me,” Reed said. “You put anyone in front of me, I feel like scoring. Maybe I was just in that zone [against Iowa].” The play on the court hasn’t been perfect throughout the entire 40 minutes of each game. Against Iowa, the team committed 21 turnovers, missed 10 free-throws and got outscored in the second half 48-40. “So, that’s a lot of my message, as much as anybody thinks that you played well, there’s still so much room for improvement,” Leitao said. “Execute a whole lot better, we turned the ball over, we didn’t break pressure very well, shoot free-throws very well, I’m not happy with our rebounding. So, there’s a lot of room for improvement like any team is at. So, we got to keep our mind on that more than anything else.” It will take some time before everyone can truly find out how good the team is. Visiting Minnesota and hosting Texas Tech will be good barometers of how far this team can go this season. But one thing has been established from the first five games: this is the deepest and most talented Blue Demons team in over a decade. While DePaul continues to fine-tune their game before they begin conference play, they are letting their talent do all the talking right now. For a program that hasn’t much to cheer about recently, that is as good as they could have asked for to begin the season.
Key dates and events in NIL debate California Senate Bill introduced - Feb. 4, 2019 California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs Bill 206 into law. - Sept. 30, 2019 Illinois Rep. Emmanuel Welch introduces Illinois House Bill 3904 - Sept. 30, 2019 NCAA Board of Governors release statement to further talks - Oct. 29, 2019 Illinois Athletic Directors release statement opposing House Bill 3904 - Oct. 29, 2019 California Bill 206 becomes official law Jan. 1, 2023
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Sports. The DePaulia. Nov. 18, 2019 | 28
GRAPHIC BY ANNALISA BARANOWSKI
State bills pressure NCAA to change ways By Nate Burleyson Asst. Sports Editor
The discourse around paying college athletes has been growing more and more in recent months. The name, image and likeness argument based around athletes not being able to profit from their image has started to move in an unprecedented direction for the NCAA. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill in September, opening the possibility for the state to pass a law in the near future that would allow its athletes to be paid for the use of their name, image, and likeness in the form of sponsorships or promotional appearances. California was not alone with this bill, other states are beginning to put their own bills into place. Illinois is one of the states that has begun to take action, with house bill 3904 being introduced on Sept. 30. These bills are a part of the biggest push in recent memory for the NCAA to take its own action towards letting
“I think if we’re going to get change, change is going to have to come via government.” Robert Kallen
DePaul professor
athletes profit off of their name, image and likeness. And they did, or at least they made it look like they might. On Oct. 29, the NCAA Board of Governors released a statement furthering their interests in the name, image and likeness talks. They expressed their potential interest in a letter sent to athletic directors across all three divisions. “The Board of Governors today adopted a new policy that sets in motion the process to allow name, image and likeness opportunities for student-
athletes,” NCAA president Mark Emmert wrote. “The board directed the three divisions to immediately consider modifying and modernizing relevant bylaws and policies consistent with our values and principles.” This was huge news at first, but at a closer glance, one notices that people are a little further away from getting all of the parts in order, including a solid agreement between the NCAA, athletic directors, and government. Getting all three divisions to find a uniform decision
on this will be a tall task. DePaul athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto has been vocal about this debate over the past couple of months. Per a tweet by The Athletic’s Darren Rovell at the Chicago Sports Summit in September, Lenti Ponsetto said that having to negotiate salaries with college athletes would be “the demise of intercollegiate athletics as we know it.” Paying salaries to student-athletes places a lot more financial stress on universities than letting them use their name, image, and likeness. The concern with NIL comes with the possible exploitation of student-athletes by agents and organizations. This concern prompted a letter from many athletic directors of top Division I schools in Illinois in response to the proposed bill. “We share the sponsors’ interests in supporting the welfare of studentathletes, but we find this bill to be
See NCAA, page 27
Men’s basketball dominates Cornell 75-54, improves to 5-0 By Lawrence Kreymer Sports Editor
Coming off their first road win of the season on Monday at Iowa, DePaul made sure there was no letdown against Cornell on Saturday. The Blue Demons took care of business against the Big Red, defeating the visitors 75-54 at Wintrust Arena. After dominating Iowa in the Gavitt Tipoff Games, 93-78, the Blue Demons carried over that form against Cornell to win their fifth game of the season. DePaul got off to a quick start against Cornell, taking a 17-7 lead within the first eight minutes of the game. Junior forward Paul Reed scored eight of his game-high 18 points in that span, while also having three rebounds, two blocks and one steal. But after the Blue Demons’ hot start cooled off in the following few minutes, Cornell was able to go on their run to take their first and only lead of the game. The Big Red, led by Jimmy Boeheim,
ALEXA SANDLER | THE DEPAULIA
DePaul junior forward Paul Reed dunks the ball in the first half against Cornell on Saturday at Wintrust Arena. The Blue Demons won the game 75-54. went on a 14-3 run to take a 21-20 lead, which prompted head coach Dave Leitao to take a timeout. “We just wanted to keep playing, I wasn’t in any panic mode,” Leitao said. “It
wasn’t like we were playing really badly. I thought we just had a few possessions in a row, as opposed to one here and one there, that we didn’t do what we were supposed to do. We gave up some open
shots and a couple of easy baskets. So, once we caught our rhythm back, and once we started subbing, and either the starters came back in or the guys that came off the bench came back in the second time they raised the level and allowed us to get the lead that we had in halftime.” After Cornell took a 21-20 lead, the Blue Demons followed that up by closing the first half on a 23-7 run to take a 4328 lead into the break. DePaul’s defense improved in the final 10 minutes of the half by pressuring and forcing Cornell to take shots. Junior guard Devin Gage came off the bench to ignite the Blue Demons on both ends of the floor, he had seven points and three steals in the first half. “Honestly, that’s what we try to play off of our defense first and let everything else follow,” senior guard Jalen ColemanLands said. “So, that’s first and foremost, that’s within our control and that’s
See CORNELL, page 25