The DePaulia 5/17/2021

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Volume #105 | Issue #9 | May 17, 2021 | depauliaonline.com

SGA election: Watfae Zayed elected president

By Rebecca Meluch News Editor

GRADUATION GRIFT Sections of an email from DePaul’s bookstore sent out to DePaul seniors who may be impacted by the security breach.

GINA RICARDS | THE DEPAULIA

Seniors report fraudulent charges after buying regalia

By Sonal Soni Asst. News Editor

On May 13, DePaul’s book stores sent an email to graduating seniors informing them that Herff Jones — the vendor that provides DePaul’s graduation regalia — experienced a cyber attack, and as a result, some students’ bank information may be compromised.

“I went and checked my account that I had used to buy my regalia and found two separate fraudulent purchases adding up to almost $500 spanning May 11-13,” graduating senior Elizabeth Becker said. “I had a bad feeling when buying my regalia — which I thought it was weird in the first place that we still had to buy our own regalia during a pandemic — because the site seemed really sketchy and not well-made.

I’m so lucky that I paid my bills a few days ago because otherwise I’d be completely screwed over on top of everything else.” “...It is so inconvenient as a graduating senior to get locked out of my bank account for a week all because of DePaul and their actions regarding regalia,” Becker added.

Becker and other DePaul seniors noticed fraudulent purchases made from their bank accounts after having recently

paid Herff Jones for graduation regalia, with charges ranging from as low as a few dollars to upwards of $500.

Prior to the data breach, students expressed concern with the graduation cap and gown vendor and their customer service team.

“I initially ordered my regalia around March 15th, including an international stole that was never delivered, though I was charged around $30 for it,” said graduating senior Deyana Atanasova. “I contacted customer service multiple times, was on hold for over 50 minutes, and got an email that it would be resolved over — but it wasn’t since they sent another generic stole, clearly ignoring my explicit requests.”

“This was frustrating in itself, but then my roommate mentioned the whole fraud situation on May 7th,” Atanasova added. “I checked my Chase account information and noticed seven fraudulent charges occurring on May 7th and one on May 8th. So, all in all, definitely a stressful experience and I’m truly not expecting any response or redemption from Herff Jones considering my experiences with their customer service.”

Many of the affected seniors expressed how stressful the data breach was as some

students already have lower incomes, not to mention upcoming graduation in midst of the ongoing pandemic. DePaul senior Sophie Harriss was paying for groceries when her card declined.

“It was also embarrassing… but now it’s mostly just upsetting that it wasn’t something I could have necessarily avoided,” Harriss said.

Students also voiced concerns about their personal information being further compromised.

Herrf Jones services school’s nationwide, and the data breach has also jeopardized the information of students across the country. Students across the country have reported similar accounts of fraudulent charges after purchasing the company’s graduation regalia. Other Illinois universities also recount instances of payment theft including the University of Illinois.

An investigation is currently underway led by a national consumer right law firm.

According to the investigation website, students who incurred fraudulent charges may have their personal and banking information sold on the dark web.

Students voted in DePaul junior Watfae Zayed and sophomore Kevin Holechko as President and Vice President of the university’s Student Government Association. SGA’s 2020-2021 election outcomes were released on Friday evening.

Zayed and Holechko ran on four key initiatives, according to their official campaign Instagram page: Defunding the DePaul FOP tuition discount Creating a new scholarship to help students purchase/rent their textbooks Increasing communication between university administration & students Free university counseling services after the pandemic.

Zayed previously held the position of SGA’s Vice President, and Holechko was previously the senator for the College of Education.

The pair ran against Wesley Janicki and Keith Norward, who previously held the roles as Executive Vice President of Facility Operations and the Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Zayed and Holechko won by an 18 percent margin; they received 58 percent of votes, while Janicki and Norward received 40 percent.

Other unnamed candidates received 12 percent of the total vote. In total, there were 595 voters in the election for President and Vice President.

Adora Catherine Alava was elected as Executive Vice President of Diversity and Equity, defeating Magoli Garcia.

All other announced positions were uncontested elections. Elected candidates who ran unopposed are as follows: Cindy Rocha was elected Executive Vice President of Student

See CYBER ATTACK, page 6

See SGA, page 4

General Iron win just the beginning for South Side climate justice

By Jackson Healy Contributing Writer

For about as long as Reserve Management Group has attempted to move metal-scrapping facility General Iron from Lincoln Park to the Southeast Side, activists and commonfolk near the proposed location have vehemently opposed their efforts.

On May 7, after the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “strongly recommended” Mayor Lightfoot halt the permitting process to allow for a thorough analysis on potential health impacts to the community, Light-

foot immediately agreed, indefinitely delaying the permit.

“My initial reaction was surprise, because we didn’t expect that kind of involvement from the EPA,” said Peggy Salazar, director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force. “But once you get past that, then you’re wondering, ‘Okay, what’s going on? Is this just an attempt to stall, or to placate the community? Or are they serious about stepping in and making sure that the right thing is done?’”

Environmental justice advocates, like Salazar, have highlighted General Iron’s proposed move as a brazen example of environmental racism, noting a pattern of

“They’re revitalizing the North Side. What are they doing on the South Side? The South Side, apparently, was to accommodate the revitalization but not participate in it.”

Peggy Salazar

Director, Southeast Environmental Task Force industrial facilities being moved from whiter, wealthier communities to more impoverished Black and Brown communities.

“They’re revitalizing the North Side,” Salazar said. “What are they doing on the South Side?

The South Side, apparently, was to accommodate the revitalization but not participate in it. So, we felt like, how unjust is that? We’re a post-industrial area, and if anybody needs revitalization, it’s our community.”

Mark Potosnak, chair of DePaul’s Department of Environmental Science and Studies, said that because of Chicago’s history as an industrial city, many of these

See GENERAL IRON, page 4

2 | News. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

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News

News. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 3

Chicago public health commissioner talks future

By Emma Oxnevad Online Managing Editor

Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), discussed the city’s progress against fighting the Covid-19 pandemic in a press conference with local student media Wednesday.

Arwady stated that one of the city’s top concerns is increasing the number of young adults receiving vaccinations as university’s prepare to incorporate more in-person learning.

“We’re concerned, especially where we’re thinking about students who are at colleges, at universities — especially if there are people who are living on-campus and in close settings — but even if you’re not, there’s obviously a lot of opportunity for the potential of Covid to spread,” she said.

In discussing local universities resuming in-person learning for the upcoming academic year, Arwady said that CDPH cannot force universities to implement vaccine mandates, but sees them as a viable tool to reduce the spread of Covid-19 on campuses. “[Vaccine mandates] certainly [are] something that I am supportive of, given that we have seen — particularly in congregate living settings like dormitories — we have seen a lot of potential for Covid spread and have had to use a lot of public health resources in universities to help try and control Covid,” she said. “... the Chicago Department of Public Health is never going to say, you know, ‘you must be vaccinated,’ but we know that institutions will make those decisions.”

She went on to say that she predicts universities will likely implement more testing in order to help reduce the spread of the virus on campus.

“I do think what we’ll see is probably a combination — not just in colleges and universities, but more broadly — I think we’ll probably see a combination of vaccination and even more testing coming into play,” she said. “So I could imagine settings where if people are not vaccinated, there may be more testing required, particularly if people are going to be living in the dorm.”

Arwady said another primary concern is increasing vaccination rates among the city’s Black and Latinx communities, both of which have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

“Right from the very beginning, we saw that Covid hit predominantly Black Chicago neighborhoods hardest at first,” she said. “And throughout this whole pandemic, we’ve seen the most severe outcomes among Black Chicagoans, meaning the most hospitalizations and the most deaths. We’ve seen the most cases diagnosed among Latinix Chicagoans ... And now that we’re in full vaccine mode, we are seeing less vaccine uptake among those harder-hit communities by race and ethnicity.”

Arwady said that CDPH is hoping to dispel misinformation about the vac-

AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

Information about COVID-19 testing and vaccination outside of the American Airlines Conference Center at Gallagher Way cine spread on social media to increase vaccination rates among young people in the city’s Black and Latinx communities, who are receiving vaccines at a lower rate. According to Arwady, “more than half ” of both white and Asian Chicagoans between the ages of 18-29 have received at least their first dose of the vaccine, with Black and Latinx Chicagonas of the same age range showing lower percentages of 39 and 15, respecitvely.

“We are very interested and thinking about ways to reach out not just to younger Chicagoans, but younger Black and Latinx Chicagoans around increasing that confidence and really thinking about, you know, what can we do to improve some of those vaccination rates,” she said. “...We’re seeing more and more, our Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths here in Chicago being concentrated in the neighborhoods that are the least vaccinated ... Over the last couple of weeks, by far, the most new cases have been on the far south sides, which is some of our very least vaccinated areas.”

Arwady added that “more available and inexpensive testing,” alongside continuing vaccinations will be key components of diminishing spread of the virus, and that conversations around mask mandates are “very much ongoing.”

“I think we’re going to see that be a part of long-term Covid control along with vaccination, and then kind of a plus/minus on masks, I think depending where we are, you know, as a community and what’s happening with variants,” she said.

Mask mandates have been a point of discussion and contention throughout the pandemic, with the Center for Dis-

“We’re concerned, especially where we’re thinking about students who are at colleges, at universities — especially if there are people who are living on-campus and in close settings — but even if you’re not, there’s obviously a lot of opportunity for the potential of Covid to spread.”

Dr. Allison Arwady ease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcing eased indoor mask guidelines for vaccinated people on Thursday. In a previous Facebook Live session, Arwady said that the city would potentially discuss mask mandates in a “number of months,” depending on vaccination rates.

The conversation around potentially loosening mask restrictions coincides with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s recent declaration that the city is on track to “fully reopen” by July 4, with the goal of eliminating all capacity restrictions on businesses.

“At the moment I’d say we are at a point where we’re broadly moving towards some pretty significant reopening,” Arwady said. ‘We’re at a point now different from earlier in the pandemic where we don’t have a concern right now

that the healthcare system is going to be overwhelmed ... With this more recent increase that we’ve seen, it’s been much more tempered because we’re seeing the effects of [the] vaccine on there.”

When asked how a potential surge in cases or variants of the virus will impact the planned reopening, she stated that all vaccines used in the city offer protection against all known variants.

“I don’t foresee a variant emerging really in the next couple of months that for which [vaccinated people would not be protected],” she said. “That said, when we look over the next year, I think it is possible.”

According to CDPH data, approximately 36.16 percent of the city’s population is fully vaccinated, with over 4 million Chicagoans having received completed doses.

4 | News. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

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SONAL SONI | THE DEPAULIA

The General Iron facility’s relocation site at 11600 S. Burley Ave.

GENERAL IRON continued from front facilities were located in communities on both North and South Sides. However, as more North Side communities grew wealthier, industry was pushed out for redevelopment as the South Side was left out.

“The clincher is when there’s this process, like with General Iron, where they stay in the city because the city wants these industries — they want the jobs to remain — so they actually work out deals like, ‘You can’t stay in Lincoln Park — where are you going to go?’” Potosnak said. “They end up in Black and Brown communities more often than not.

It’s not just Chicagoans that have taken notice, however — two separate federal investigations, conducted by the EPA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, are currently looking into whether Chicago’s zoning and land use practices violate Southeast Side residents’ civil rights under the Fair Housing Act after a series of community activists petitioned for greater scrutiny of the city’s actions.

Still, activists say sufficiently addressing environmental racism must go beyond one scrapping facility.

Sandwiching the Southeast side are two separate Superfund sites containing toxic waste such as lead, arsenic and slag that contaminates surrounding soil and groundwater. Within the Southeast side, a plethora of industrial plants continue to pump particulate matter into the region’s air. And on the West Side, Little Village residents have alleged that environmental racism played a role in city officials approving permits for Hilco contractors to demolish a smokestack in the region — a decision that ultimately blanketed several blocks of the neighborhood in dust amidst the Covid-19 respiratory pandemic.

There’s also one growing issue expected to disproportionately impact both neighborhoods in a variety of damaging ways: climate change.

“We’re already seeing the impact,” said Heather Smith, an adjunct geography professor at DePaul. “For example, flooding. When you map out flooding insurance claims, it’s primarily in Black and Brown communities.”

The Center for Neighborhood Technology, a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable develop-

SGA continued from front Affairs; Mason Decker, Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs; Zoie Daughtery, Senator for the College of Education; Zoe Soteres, Senator for the Theatre School; Alik Schier, Senator for Second Year Students; Colin Steele, Senator for Third Year Students; Gema Tinoco, Senator for the College of Communication; Carolina Aveces, Senator for Intercultural Awareness; Javier Lozano, Senator for Mission and Ministry; Kellen Brown, Senator for Community and Government

SONAL SONI | THE DEPAULIA

A yard sign on the Southeast side that reads “Stop General Iron.” ment in Chicago, did exactly that. The results are striking: 87 percent of all claims used in the dataset were in communities of color.

Another critical issue of climate change expected to particularly impact Black and Brown neighborhoods not just in Chicago, but across the United States, is heat.

A 2019 study of 108 urban areas in the U.S. highlighted that on average, neighborhoods that once fell victim to redlining are now five degrees hotter in the summer than areas that were viewed as optimal for housing loans.

Larger amounts of open asphalt and far fewer trees greatly contribute to these “heat islands.” As these neighborhoods still tend to house lower-class Black and Brown individuals at high rates, and as climate change creates both hotter and longer summers — with a recent study suggesting summers may last as long as six months by 2100 — the

Relations; Hamza Khakwani, Senator for Graduate Students; Cole Kitchens, Senator for the College of Business; Riley Reed, Senator for LGBTQ+ Students; David Hupp, Senator for Disabled Students.

SGA announced in an Instagram post that there is a protest pertaining to an unnamed candidate’s campaign.

“For full transparency: A protest regarding a candidate’s campaign has been filed and is under review of SGA’s Judicial Board,” the post reads. “The Judicial Board is still meeting and figuring out

brunt of these longer and stronger heat waves will likely be thrown onto already marginalized communities of color.

Salazar notes that while awareness of environmental racism has grown, change must follow.

“It’s taken many years to call attention to it, but it’s starting to [be recognized],” Salazar said. “It’s about us being overburdened versus others who don’t have to be bothered with it at all. All these things exist, but only a few people have to deal with the burden.”

Still, she adds that the fight goes on.

“We’re not going away,” she said. “Our organization’s definitely not going away.”

proceedings on this matter. There are no further comments at this time.”

Two referendums were also voted on during the election: whether students support the university’s relationship with FOP, and whether students would support a $5 quarterly sustainability fee.

The first referendum’s results show that 83 percent of 642 voters do not support DePaul University offering a 25 percent tuition discount for members of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).

About 83 percent of 622 voters would

support the second referendum, paying a $5 sustainability fee. According to the referendum, most universities charge a fee specifically designed to fund environmental and sustainable initiatives on campus; DePaul does not. “[We are] focused on helping all students and fostering an inclusive environment on campus,” Zayed and Holechko wrote on their Instagram. “We hope you join us in creating a better DePaul and creating an institution that works for everyone.”

News. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 5

ART BY ALICIA GOLUSZKA

DePaul will still require masks, despite CDC guidelines

By Rebecca Meluch News Editor

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on May 13 that fully vaccinated people can ease mask wearing, allowing them to safely forgo wearing masks inside at most places.

The guidelines still recommend wearing masks in crowded indoor settings but works towards reopening workplaces, schools and other settings as well as removing social distancing guidelines for those who are fully vaccinated.

The CDC first recommended that people wear masks in April of 2020 and on May 1, the Illinois government ordered a statewide mask mandate.

The university has required the DePaul community to wear face coverings on both campuses, since June of 2020.

Despite the CDC’s easing of mitigations, DePaul’s Covid-19 vaccine page –– last updated on May 13 –– encourages students who do receive the vaccine to continue following Covid-19 safety protocols.

“Keep in mind that the vaccine is only one part of preventing the spread of Covid-19,” the website reads. “Please continue to wear a face mask and practice social distancing–even if you have been vaccinated–to help Take Care DePaul (sic).”

Most of DePaul’s student population became eligible for vaccination a few weeks ago when the city of Chicago entered Phase 2 of the vaccination distribution process on April 19.

Phase 2 increased vaccine eligibility to Chicagoans ages 16 and up without any specifications related to employment or underlying medical conditions.

Craig Klugman, a health sciences professor and member of DePaul’s Covid-19 task force, said that given when most students became eligible for the vaccine, the two-shot regimen and the time it takes to reach immunity, DePaul will most likely keep mask mandates throughout the spring quarter.

Russell Dorn, a spokesperson for the university, told The DePaulia that DePaul will not make any changes to their facial covering requirements until closer to the 2021-2022 fall quarter.

“As we have done since the start of the pandemic, DePaul will follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, the Chicago Department of Public Health, and our medical advisor from AMITA Health as we continue making plans for fall,” Dorn said. “Since a lot can change between now and then, we are waiting until closer to the start of fall quarter to make decisions on specific mask, physical distancing and event guidelines.”

As most DePaul students continue their courses until June, Illinois and the city of Chicago have both entered the Bridge Phase this past weekend –– a transitioning period before the fifth and final phase of fully reopening in which all areas of the economy can reopen with normal operations and large scale events can take place.

Both the city and the state have moved forward with mitigating Covid-19 protocols and decreased capacity limits and business operations until public health experts confirm that transitioning into Phase 5 –– fully reopening –– is safe.

On May 12, the CDC recommended the use of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 12 and up, following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authorization on May 10.

Prior to beginning the Bridge Phase, Chicago’s Department of Public Health announced on May 11 that Covid-19 vaccination sites will be open to children ages 12 to 15 beginning May 13 to receive the Pfizer vaccine.

As of May 14, all Chicago businesses have the option of adopting the new vaccine exemption policy, whereas fully vaccinated individuals do not have to count towards Covid-19 capacity limits across all industries.

The policy allows bars, restaurants and other establishments to increase table or party size above the 10-person limit if all members within the party are at least 16 and are fully vaccinated. Also, establishments with a late-hour liquor license can operate without hour restrictions if fully-vaccinated guests are allowed on the premises during late-hour operations.

If businesses do not adopt the new policy, then they have to adhere to the Chicago Bridge Phase guidelines.

Some members of the DePaul commu-

nity are weary of the CDC’s latest guidance.

“There are some studies that show that vaccinated people are unlikely to become seriously ill and also are unlikely to pass on the virus to others, and that’s part of the reason behind the CDC statements,” Klugman said. “So while there may be scientific evidence, I do not think that enough of the population has been vaccinated yet to justify completely eliminating masks.”

The CDC’s Covid-19 data tracker shows that as of May 15, 46.6 percent of people ages 18 and older in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, while 59.4 percent have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Overall, 36.7 percent of the U.S. total population are fully vaccinated while 47.1 percent have received one dose.

“One problem is that this new guidance depends on the honor system — that everyone who is not vaccinated wears a mask and we know that’s not the case,” Klugman said. “I fear that everyone will abandon masks, whether vaccinated or not, and act like the pandemic is over.”

DePaul will require students to be fully vaccinated prior to returning to campus in-person in the fall, but there are still a few exemptions to immunization requirements pertaining to medical and religious reasons that students can qualify for.

“One of the reasons for masking is to protect others — those who have chosen to be unvaccinated and those whom for medical or religious reasons cannot be vaccinated or children who do not have an approved vaccine or people who are immunocompromised and do not develop an immune response to the vaccines,” Klugman said. “... Suddenly we are doing nothing to help keep those people safe. So two factors concern me: that we are now relying on everyone being honest about their vaccine status and masking and that we are putting vulnerable people at risk.”

Klugman believes that after over a year of wearing masks, the CDC’s rate of relaxation is too quick.

“Walking around, I see that most people are not wearing the mask,” Klugman said. “We have spent 14 months wearing masks and distancing, and I think we should be relaxing our behaviors at a slower rate than the CDC announcement.

I am certainly more cautious and conver-

sative in my approach to behavior in the pandemic, but it seems to me that this is too relaxing, too soon.”

Despite the CDC’s advice, the Chicago and Illinois Department of Public Health have yet to adjust their mask guidelines.

In the Chicago Bridge Phase guidelines, the city’s statement reads that establishments should reference the industry-specific Gradually Resume guidelines, all of which still include strict adherence to physical distancing, masking, health screening and sanitation protocols.

America’s public health system is a decentralized network, meaning the CDC does not dictate or overrule local and state public health departments; it only provides support, research and guidelines. Public health governance structures differ state to state.

“Remember that the CDC issues guidelines, not rules,” Klugman said. “It is up to state and city departments of public health to create rules for their communities. DePaul falls under the Chicago Department of Public Health and so that’s who we listen to.”

Although the CDC has released updated guidelines in regards to fully vaccinated people the organization has not updated their Considerations for Institutions of Higher Education page since April 27 at the time of publication.

Klugman said the CDC plans to release updated guidelines for schools, but not for several weeks.

DePaul hosted a Moderna vaccine clinic from April 27-30 and plans to host another in May for members of the DePaul community to receive their second dose.

“What you do at home and away from campus is your own choice,” Klugman said in regards to whether fully vaccinated DePaul students should abide by the CDC’s latest guidelines. “It’s only been two weeks since most DePaul students became eligible for the vaccine and literally days since people over 12 became eligible. With the two-shot regimen, that means we are still at least a month from our student population in general being vaccinated.”

Dorn told The DePaulia more mask and Covid-19 information should be made available in the summer.

6| News. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

DePaul celebrates annual APIDA heritage month

By Lucas Madlangbayan Contributing Writer

May marks Asian, Pacific Islander and Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month, a time to commemorate and celebrate APIDA culture and history in the United States.

To commemorate APIDA Heritage Month, DePaul’s Office of Multicultural Student Success (OMSS), APIDA Cultural Center and Asian Cultural Exchange have scheduled a variety of virtual programs, including a three part YouTube Live series. A full list of virtual programs can be found on the OMSS’ Facebook or Instagram.

Additionally, the fourth annual Grace Lee Boggs APIDA heritage event will be held on May 21. Various groups, such as DePaul’s Asian and Asian-American professional community ELEVATE, DePaul’s Women’s Network, and the Global Asian Studies program, are sponsoring this event.

Since its inception as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week in 1979, APIDA Heritage Month has expanded after Congress passed a bill in 1992 to designate May as “Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month.”

May was chosen as APIDA Heritage Month for its historical importance.

The first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States on May 7, 1843.

Twenty-six years later, on May 10, 1869, the first transcontinental railroad was completed with the help of over 10,000 Chinese workers.

“When we look at Asian American history and the role of Asian Americans in the United States, we are instantly tied to a range of different kinds of issues: whether they are related to immigration, to racial issues in the United States, civil rights issues and more, our community has played an important role in shaping the United States since our arrival,” said Ryan Yokota, critical ethnic studies professor DePaul.

Yokota mentioned Supreme Court cases such as United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which established the guidelines of birthright citizenship, and figures like Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz, Filipino-American farmworkers who organized with Cesar Chavez and other Mexican farm workers to improve working conditions.

“These are important parts of what it means to be American that we take for granted, and a lot of people don’t recognize or understand the ways in which Asian Americans had a role in ensuring that these kinds of civil rights are applicable to anyone regardless of their citizenship or nationality,” Yokota said.

DePaul’s Director of Chinese Studies and Global Asian Studies, Li Jin, also stresses the important role that members of the APIDA community have in history.

STEVEN SENNE | AP

In this March 12, 2020 file photo, Jessica Wong, front left, Jenny Chiang, center, and Sheila Vo, from the state’s Asian American Commission, stand together during a protest on the steps of the Statehouse in Boston. With a virtual event scheduled for Tuesday, May 4, 2021, Asian American business leaders in the United States are coming together to challenge discrimination against Asian Americans through a historical philanthropic donation.

“The history of North America is shaped by the stories of immigrants from Asia and the Pacific as well as indigenous people of the Pacific Islands,” Jin said. “The development of the U.S. is inseparable from numerous contributions and sacrifices made by the AAPI community members. Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S. However, Asian American history has rarely been taught in our school system.”

“The AAPI Heritage Month is a dedicated time to both celebrate Asian and Pacific Island American culture and learn more of their history,” she continued.

According to the Pew Research Center, the Asian American population reached a record 18.9 million in 2019.

Of the 21,922 total students enrolled at DePaul, 2,331 of students reported their race as Asian, according to DePaul’s 2020 enrollment summary.

“We would like to use this special month to help people of various backgrounds learn more about the contributions the AAPI community members have been making to the U.S. society as well as perpetual and new sufferings they are facing,” Jin said.

DePaul hosted its annual Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month Colloquium on May 14, dedicated to educating and discussing one of these

CYBER ATTACK continued from front According to the company’s website, “Herff Jones is one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of recognition, education and motivation products.” In addition to selling products to thousands of high schools and colleges, the company also works with churches, sports teams and corporations — most notably manufacturing championship rings for the Indianapolis 500, among other athletic conferences.

The Indiana-based company, which has operated for over 100 years, has faced criticism for high-cost graduation products and a lawsuit for selling class rings that did not contain the stated gold content.

DePaul spokespersons did not provide additional

new sufferings.

The colloquium, titled “Healing and Reuniting in the Era of COVID-19: Facing Anti-Asian Hate Crimes and Xenophobia in the U.S.,” featured four Asian American community leaders discussing the increase of anti-Asian hate crimes and providing advice for Asian Americans and allies.

The pandemic has impacted students of all backgrounds at DePaul, including the APIDA community. Many facets of university life have been forced to transition to an online format, from classes to club and organization events — such as the ones held by the OMSS. In response to an increase in anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, a group of Asian and Asian American leaders at DePaul, including Jin, recently released a statement calling for an end to Asian hate.

“The APIDA communities here at DePaul have been severely impacted as a result of Covid, just like everybody else,” said Yokota, who acted as the moderator for the colloquium. “But we bear a special burden because of the way in which anti-Asian sentiment has been stoked during the last presidency, both in terms of anti-China sentiment, as well as in terms of labeling the Covid pandemic as things like the ‘China flu’ or the ‘Kung Flu.’” One of the speakers of the colloquium was Grace Chan McKibben, the

comment on the data breach situation and referred to the email sent to DePaul seniors. HerffJones did not respond to The DePaulia’s request for comment by time of publication.

“We regret that this situation has occurred and want you to be aware,” the email from DePaul book stores reads. “Out of an abundance of caution, DePaul is notifying our graduates to encourage them to monitor their payment card account statements and credit reports for instances of unauthorized activity. If any suspicious or unusual activity is discovered, please report it immediately to your financial institution, as major payment card companies have rules that restrict them from requiring payment for fraudulent charges that are promptly report-

ed.”

director of the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community in Chicago. The CBCAC works alongside other groups such as the Chinese American Association of Greater Chicago to empower and develop Chinese communities in the Chicago area.

“It is important while we celebrate APIDA Heritage Month by celebrating Asian American accomplishments, our culture, and highlighting the positives, we should also note that it’s in the midst of this struggle and the challenge of discrimination and even violent incidents against Asian Americans,” McKibben said.

While anti-Asian hate incidents in the United States have increased significantly from 3,795 to 6,603 during March 2021, according to reports from Stop AAPI Hate, McKibben stresses the importance of “cross-group solidarity”: working together to make sure that every group is treated with respect.

“I believe that despite the number of incidents, there are way more people who believe in equality and inclusion than people that don’t,” McKibben said.

“It’s just that folks need to stand up and show up and be there for each other, and only with that will we be able to overcome some of these challenges.”

Students who fell victimƒ to the cyber security attack are encouraged to call the Herff Jones contact line dedicated to the nation wide data breach.

“I think stuff with bank information and important numbers is stressful regardless, but everything is 10 times harder to take care of because of Covid and now that I’m graduating finances are always on my mind and a stressor,” said DePaul senior Grace Ulch in a message to The DePaulia. “I know it was no fault of DePaul’s or anything, but I would think there would be a vetting process to ensure that a company they’re telling their students to give their information to is safe and trust worthy (sic).”

News. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021| 7

‘No-match’ letters no more

SUSAN WALSH | AP

Michelle Lainez, 17, originally from El Salvador but now living in Gaithersburg, Md., speaks during a rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Nov. 8, 2019. The Supreme Court on Tuesday takes up the Trump administration’s plan to end legal protections that shield nearly 700,000 immigrants from deportation, in a case with strong political overtones amid the 2020 presidential election campaign.

By Erika Perez La DePaulia Managing Editor

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has ended the use of “No-Match” letters that target immigrant workers.

No match letters come from the SSA whenever there might be inconsistency in a worker’s personal information on their W-2 form. Mistakes include misspellings and incorrect date of birth or Social Security number. Such corrections are needed in order to receive Social Security benefits.

“The letters point out to be an issue that is between SSA and the worker,” said Shelly Ruzicka, communications and development director at Arise Chicago, an organization that advocates for workers’ rights. “But unfortunately SSA was sending these to employers which never made sense to us in the beginning because this is not an employer issue.”

The agency sent 791,000 notices for the 2019 tax year, a decrease from the 803,000 notices sent for the 2018 tax year.

Oftentimes there is confusion about the purpose of no-match letters, leading immigrant workers to think it has to do with their immigration status. As a result, many quit their jobs out of fear to avoid federal officials learning about their immigration status.

“They thought they were in trouble,” Ruzicka said.

“We saw them use this intentionally against their workers whether that was to hold on to the letters and whenever asked for a raise or some kind of change — employers would pull out the letters that threaten to fire them.”

When employers receive a no-match letter, they often think it has to do with work authorization due to their employee’s immigration status. To avoid any problems with federal officials, employers sometimes fire these employees with no explanation, when in reality there could have just been a simple typo.

The website for Arise Chicago, an immigration coalition, explains that these letters do not contain any information on workers’ immigrant status. Employers cannot use the letter to retaliate or discipline an employee.

Additionally, immigrant employees may lose their jobs when employers grant their workers a 60 day period to fix any mistakes on their W-2 forms. According to SSA, such corrections can take up much longer than that timeframe.

The 60 day period to correct Social Security information was given by employers because failure of addressing mistakes meant employers could face serious immigration

“We saw them use this intentionally against their workers whether that was to hold on to the letters and whenever asked for a raise or some kind of change — employers would pull out the letters that threaten to fire them,” Shelly Ruzicka

Communications and development director at Arise Chicago

compliance issues. Immigrant workers feared that employers would fire them if they did not meet the deadline insinuating that they might lack work authorization.

Arise Chicago, along with other immigrant coalitions, ended the 60 day period in 2019.

According to an article from the leadership organization, The Society for Human Resource Management, “The former Immigration and Naturalization Service and its successor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have historically told employers that receipt of no-match letters actually creates an affirmative duty to investigate the reason for the discrepancy,” said John Fay, president of the LawLogix division of Hyland Software, a company that specializes in immigration compliance services.

In a press release U.S Rep. Jesus “Chuy” García, U.S Rep. Jim Costa, and U.S Rep. Raúl Grijalva called on the Biden administration and the SSA to end the practice of no-match letters that target immigrants.

“Businesses in my district are struggling to stay open during the pandemic, and the last thing they need is to be targeted using anti-immigrant policies and practices,” Rep. García said in a press release. “This politically-motivated tactic needs to end. The resources spent on the ‘No-Match’ letter program should instead be used to strengthen SSA’s already strained workforce to better serve millions of American Social Security beneficiaries.”

SSA’s decision to discontinue mailing employers no-match letters attempts to offer a more convenient experience for employers to report and correct wages electronically.

“There were no no-match letters during 2020 until December, and they began to be felt this year,” said Jorge Mujica, the strategic campaigns organizer at Arise Chicago. “Some people think it was the Trump administration’s

decision to “free up” jobs for the newly unemployed.”

In 2007, under President George W. Bush, the practice of sending no-match letters was halted. No-match letters were reinstated by the former Trump Administration in 2019.

The SSA mailed more than 570,000 no-match letters to employers during March 2019 alone.

Ruzicka says that the letters that came under the Trump Administration were “not surprising considering anti-immigrant rhetoric and actions that the White House took...we saw this as an attack against immigrant workers.”

Mujica said that many people lost their jobs after being exposed to the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020.

Illinois’ unemployment rate was 16.4 percent in April 2020, according to the state’s Department of Employment Security.

Those most affected by the pandemic have been immigrant workers, who make up the majority of essential workers.

According to the Immigrants, the Economy and the Covid-19 Outbreak report by the Joint Economic Committee, the number of employed immigrants decreased from 27.6 million to 21.9 million between February 2020 to April 2020. One-in-five in the workforce lost their jobs.

Ruzika said that Arise Chicago received the most calls from workers in manufacturing, food production and warehouse jobs when there were outbreaks of Covid-19 or employers were not following health and safety guidelines. No-match letters added extra stress on top of the ongoing pandemic.

“The letters are not needed,” Ruzika said. “If these letters were supposed to help fix errors in the system they didn’t do that. They are a loss for everyone, these letters are done and they will not be used anymore.”

8 | Politics. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

Politics

STEVE HELBER | AP

In this Nov. 3, 2020, file photo voters cast their ballots under a giant mural at Robious Elementary school on Election Day, in Midlothian, Va.

As GOP restricts voting, Democrats try to expand access

By Anthony Izaguirre Associated Press Last year, for the first time in more than a quarter-century, Democrats in Virginia took control of the statehouse and the governor’s mansion. Since then, one priority has become clear: expanding voting rights.

Once home to the capital of the Confederacy, Virginia has made Election Day a state holiday, repealed a voter identification law and allowed no-excuse absentee voting. Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam approved a sweeping voting rights act, reinstating election rules once required by federal law to prevent racial discrimination.

Other Democratic states also are acting to remove restrictions to the ballot — in marked contrast to many Republican-controlled states that are moving in the opposite direction. Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Iowa have already passed restrictive voting laws; Ohio and Texas are considering their own.

“It was kind of surreal to know that we had the power to change something in 2021 that we had been working on for my entire lifetime,” said Del. Marcia Price, a Virginia Democrat who sponsored the Voting Rights Act of Virginia. “I think the contrast is becoming so clear of what democracy looks like and what impeding democracy looks like.”

More than 800 bills have been filed in 47 states this year with provisions that would expand voting rights, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy group that advocates for voting access. A majority of the proposals focus on absentee voting, while others are meant to make it easier to register to vote or restore voting rights for those with prior criminal convictions.

At the same time, congressional Dem-

ocrats in Washington are pushing an overhaul of elections through a proposal that would compel states to offer no-excuse absentee voting, require 15 days of early voting, mandate greater disclosure from political donors and more.

The Voting Rights Act of Virginia requires local election officials to get public feedback or approval from the attorney general before making changes to voting procedures. It also empowers voters and the state to sue in cases of voter suppression at the local level and forbids discrimination in election administration.

The law mirrors parts of the federal Voting Rights Act, in which states and counties with a history of discrimination in voting, including Virginia and some other Southern states, had to receive federal approval before making changes to election law. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 threw out that requirement, known as preclearance, effectively gutting the Voting Rights Act. Democratic states also are introducing legislation to make permanent or build upon procedures that were expanded in 2020, when officials relaxed rules to make voting easier and safer during the pandemic. Elections officials of both parties have said the election ran smoothly, and former President Donald Trump’s attorney general said the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread fraud that would have altered the results.

Similar to Virginia, Connecticut is considering a proposal to create its own voting rights act. A separate bill would make ballot drop boxes a permanent fixture of elections. In Colorado, Democrats are pushing numerous elections bills, including measures to expand ranked-choice voting, encourage colleges and universities to inform students about registering to vote, and put polling centers in low-turnout areas.

The Vermont Legislature is moving a

JOHN LOCHER | AP

In this Oct. 29, 2020, file photo, a person places a mail-in ballot in a drop box. bill that would send general election ballots to all active voters, making permanent a policy used last year during the pandemic. Nevada Democrats are trying to do the same for all elections, with state Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson saying mailed ballots made voting more convenient and accessible.

“The more options that we give our voters, the better off we are as states and the more we’re advancing democracy,” he said.

Democrats in Maryland have passed several bills aimed at making voting easier this year. One wide-ranging bill created a permanent list that any voter can join to automatically get an absentee ballot before each election. It also requires election officials to send absentee ballot applications to all eligible voters before the state’s primary elections in 2022 and 2024 and approve ballot drop box locations.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan did not act on the bill, instead letting it become law without his signature. He said it would result in ballots being incorrectly mailed to

ineligible voters.

“I think the 2020 election was really a game-changer,” said Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, a Democrat who sponsored the bill. “We had vote-by-mail in unprecedented numbers in 2020, and I think also the climate of the 2020 election really showed us how important it is to expand this fundamental aspect of our democracy and to protect the right to vote and reduce any barriers that might be present in terms of freedom to vote.”

Dale Ho, who oversees voting rights for the American Civil Liberties Union, said states should be trying to come up with ways to facilitate voting, not diminish it.

“A lot of the analysis and conversation is, ‘Is this going to help Republicans, is this going to help Democrats?’ Why aren’t we talking about what’s going to help voters?

What’s better for voters?” he said. “That’s what we should be talking about as a country. That’s what these politicians should be talking about.”

Politics. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 9

Progressives call for resignation of SC Justice Breyer

By Nadia Hernandez Opinions Editor Progressives are encouraging Justice Stephen Breyer to resign in hopes of President Biden appointing the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Justice Breyer, 82, is known for his progressive rulings and opposing the originalist approach to the Constitution.

He politically aligned with the Democrats and often agreed with former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Elena Kagan.

During the previous administration, Former President Trump nominated three judges to the court which created a conservative majority.

After the controversy of confirming Justice Amy Coney Barret within weeks of the 2020 general election, politicians wondered whether President Biden would “pack the court” to outweigh the new conservative majority.

However, activists are now encouraging Breyer to retire in order to open up a new seat.

Biden said in his campaign that he would appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court during his presidency.

Demand Justice, an organization dedicated to court reform, created a list of potential candidates Biden could appoint.

On their list they have Michelle Alexander, Cheri Beasley, Ketanji Brown Johnson and Sherrilyn Ifill. Biden recently appointed Johnson to fill a seat in the D.C. Court of Appeals which is creating a buzz about a Supreme Court nomination later in her career. “[Our] Supreme Court shortlist illustrates the breadth of progressive talent available to a president committed to nominating a diverse group of justices who have spent their careers fighting to uphold the values of equal justice under the law,” according to Demand Justice’s website.

In the Supreme Court’s history, 96.5 percent of all justices have been men. While only 5.3 percent of justices have been women or minorities according to CNN. Although Justice Clarence Thomas is the only Black active justice, his ruling history leans towards the conservative side. He is the second Black man to serve on the court following former Justice Thurgood Marshall.

There has yet to be a Black woman on the Supreme Court. After Vice President Kamala Harris being the first Black and South Asian woman to be elected to office, ac-

PATRICK SEMANSKY | AP

In this June 29, 2020 file photo, the Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. tivists are demanding to expand that diversity into the judicial branch.

Activist organizations such as Women’s March are promoting Breyer’s retirement as well.

“The time has come for Justice Breyer to retire and pass on the mantle of protecting women’s rights,” the group’s CEO Rachel O’Leary Carmona said in a statement. “The stakes are too high to wait a moment more. The longer Breyer stays on the Court, the more he risks leaving everything we care about in the hands of Mitch McConnell.”

Now that the court is majority conservative leaning, Carmona wrote how she fears about women’s healthcare and LGBTQ+ rights. People speculated whether Roe vs.

Wade, a case granting women access to abortion, could be overturned.

“In his 27 years on the Court, Justice Breyer has built a legacy of securing and defending women’s rights by enforcing equal justice under the law,” Carmona wrote. “Now,

Justice Breyer can cement that legacy by allowing President Biden to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.”

Several congressmen are in agreement that Breyer should be replaced with someone aligning with his political ideology, according to NPR. This would not change the majority, but could add a more liberal ideology.

“If Justice Breyer is to be committed to his judicial ideology, he is going to want to be replaced on the bench by someone who is going to vote to uphold the fundamental right to vote in this country and to protect the rights of the most marginalized members of our society,”’ said Rep. Mondaire Jones from New York to NPR. Despite the efforts, Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said it’s Breyer’s choice whether he will retire from the court.

Biden has not indicated any Supreme Court nominations in the near future.

Vetoed AZ sex education bill returning with changes

By Bob Christie Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — A contentious sex education bill that was vetoed by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey last month is being revived, with the sponsor keeping what she called “the heart” of the proposal, increased parental notifications, but stripping out provisions that specifically targeted discussion of LGBTQ issues.

Republican Sen. Nancy Barto said she worked with Ducey’s office to identify and remove the parts he considered problematic, especially a provision that would have prevented young students from being taught how to avoid or report sexual abuse.

The revised bill still bans sex education classes before 5th grade, but allows age and grade appropriate instruction on child assault awareness and abuse prevention.

Also stripped out of the vetoed legislation are specific references to any discussion of sexual orientation, gender identity HIV/AIDS issues, which required a double parental opt-in under the original proposal. But a requirement that schools get permission from parents to discuss sexual issues in any other class remains. That would bar discussions of historic events like the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York, considered the genesis of the modern gay rights movement, without parental approval.

“HB 2035 implements the transparency and accountability provisions from SB 1456 while addressing his concerns with the bill — including that the language could be interpreted to ‘stand in the way of important child abuse prevention education in the

PHOTO FROM FLICKR

State flags flying outside of Yavapai County Courthouse in Prescott, Arizona. early grades for at risk and vulnerable children,’” Barto said in an emailed response to a request for comment. ”That was certainly not my intention.”

The proposal is set for a hearing before a Senate committee Barto chairs on Thursday. The previous version that was vetoed by the Republican governor last month passed the state House and Senate along party lines, with all Democrats opposed.

In his veto message, the governor called the legislation overly broad and vague and said it would have unintended consequences. He also said he was concerned the ban on sex education before 5th grade could put vulnerable children at risk by limiting

sexual abuse prevention education.

At the same time, the Republican issued an executive order adopting some of the transparency portions of the measure, including requiring schools to post sex ed curricula online and provide extensive notice of school board meetings where sex ed is to be discussed. Barto’s new version puts those parental notifications provisions into law.

Democratic Sen. Tony Navarette of Phoenix, who sits on the committee that will hear the bill and is openly gay, said the revamped proposal is still troubling. He said the workaround for teaching young children about sexual abuse is fraught with

potential problems and the ban on talking about issues outside of sex ed classes without parental permission is especially concerning.

“It’s problematic because it literally erases an entire section of history or an entire section of current events from our classrooms,” Navarette said Wednesday.

“Even discussing the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, folks will have to have a permission slip.”

Arizona already has some of the most restrictive sex education laws in the country, with no requirement that schools teach the subject. It is one of just five states that require schools to get parents’ approval to take a sex ed class; most allow parents to opt out of instruction, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The legislation came two years after the Republican governor signed a repeal of a 1991 law banning HIV/AIDS instruction that “promotes a homosexual lifestyle.”

That bill emerged as the state faced a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law that the Republican attorney general and Democratic schools chief refused to fight.

Arizona is among several Republican-led states where lawmakers considered similar changes to sex education this year.

It comes amid other efforts pushing back on social changes, including legislation in some states to ban transgender athletes from competing on school teams of their identified sex, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights group that tracks such legislation.

10 | Nation & World. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

Nation & World

West Bank erupts MAHMOUD ILLEAN | AP

Israeli border police swing their batons at Muslim worshippers to prevent them from gathering for Friday prayers at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, May 14, 2021.

Deaths rise as Palestinians flee heavy Israeli fire in Gaza

By Fares Akram and Joseph Krauss Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of Palestinians grabbed children and belongings and fled their homes Friday as Israel barraged the northern Gaza Strip with tank fire and airstrikes, killing a family of six in their house and heavily damaging other neighborhoods in what it said was an operation to clear militant tunnels.

As international efforts at a cease-fire stepped up, Israel appeared to be looking to inflict intensified damage on the Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.

The Gaza violence increasingly spilled over into turmoil elsewhere.

Across the West Bank, Palestinians held their most widespread protests since 2017, with hundreds in at least nine towns burning tires and throwing stones at Israeli troops. Soldiers opening fire killed six, according to Palestinian health officials, while a seventh Palestinian was killed as he tried to stab an Israeli soldier.

Within Israel, communal violence erupted for a fourth night. Jewish and Arab mobs clashed in the flashpoint town of Lod, even after additional security forces were deployed.

In Gaza, the toll from the fighting rose to 122 killed, including 31 children and 20 women, with 900 wounded, according to the Health Ministry. The Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups have confirmed 20 deaths in their ranks, though Israel says that number is much higher. Seven people have been killed in Israel, including a 6-year-old boy and a soldier.

Israel called up 9,000 reservists Thursday to join its troops massed at the Gaza border, and an army spokesman spoke of a possible ground assault into the densely populated territory, though he gave no timetable. A day later, there was no sign of an incursion.

But before dawn Friday, tanks deployed on the border and warplanes carried out an intense barrage on the northern end of the Gaza Strip.

Houda Ouda said she and her extended family ran frantically into their home in the town of Beit Hanoun, seeking safety as the earth shook for two and half hours in the darkness.

“We even did not dare to look from the window to know what is being hit,” she said. When daylight came, she saw the swath of destruction: streets cratered, buildings crushed or with facades blown off, an olive tree burned bare, dust covering everything.

Rafat Tanani, his pregnant wife and four children, aged

7 and under, were killed after an Israeli warplane reduced their four-story apartment building to rubble in the neighboring town of Beit Lahia, residents said. Four strikes hit the building at 11 p.m., just before the family went to sleep, Rafat’s brother Fadi said. The building’s owner and his wife also were killed.

“It was a massacre,” said Sadallah Tanani, another relative. “My feelings are indescribable.”

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said the operation involved tank fire and airstrikes, aimed at destroying a tunnel network beneath Gaza City that the military refers to as “the Metro,” used by militants to evade surveillance and airstrikes.

“As always, the aim is to strike military targets and to minimize collateral damage and civilian casualties,” he said.

“Unlike our very elaborate efforts to clear civilian areas before we strike high-rise or large buildings inside Gaza, that wasn’t feasible this time.”

When the sun rose, residents streamed out of the area in pickup trucks, on donkeys and on foot, taking pillows, blankets, pots and pans and bread. “We were terrified for our children, who were screaming and shaking,” said Hedaia Maarouf, who fled with her extended family of 19 people, including 13 children.

Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for UNRWA, said thousands broke into 16 schools run by the relief agency, which he said was scrambling to find a way to shelter them, given movement restrictions on its staff amid the fighting and COVID-19 worries.

Mohammed Ghabayen, who took refuge in a school with his family, said his children had eaten nothing since the day before, and they had no mattresses to sleep on. “And this is in the shadow of the coronavirus crisis,” he said. “We don’t know whether to take precautions for the coronavirus or the rockets or what to do exactly.

Hamas showed no signs of backing down. So far, it has fired some 1,800 rockets toward Israel, some targeting the seaside metropolis of Tel Aviv, although more than a quarter of them have fallen short inside Gaza and most of the rest have been intercepted by missile defense systems.

Still, the rockets have brought life in parts of southern Israel to a standstill and caused disruptions at airports.

A spokesman for Hamas’ military wing said the group was not afraid of a ground invasion, which would be a chance “to increase our catch” of Israeli soldiers.

The strikes came after Egyptian mediators rushed to Israel for cease-fire talks that showed no signs of progress.

Egypt, Qatar and the U.N. were leading truce efforts.

An Egyptian intelligence official with knowledge of the

talks said Israel rejected an Egyptian proposal for a yearlong truce with Hamas and other Gaza militants, which would have started at midnight Thursday had Israel agreed. He said Hamas had accepted the proposal.

The official said Israel wants to delay a cease-fire to give time to destroy more of Hamas’ and Islamic Jihad’s military capabilities. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Hamas would “pay a very heavy price” for its rocket attacks.

U.S. President Joe Biden said he spoke with Netanyahu about calming the fighting but also backed the Israeli leader by saying “there has not been a significant overreaction.”

He said the goal now is to “get to a point where there is a significant reduction in attacks, particularly rocket attacks.”

He called the effort “a work in progress.”

The fighting has, for the moment, disrupted efforts by Netanyahu’s political opponents to form a new government coalition, prolonging his effort to stay in office after inconclusive elections. His rivals have three weeks to agree on a coalition but need the support of an Arab party, whose leader has said he cannot negotiate while Israel is fighting in Gaza.

Israel has come under heavy international criticism for civilian casualties during three previous wars in Gaza, home to more than 2 million Palestinians. It says Hamas is responsible for endangering civilians by placing military infrastructure in civilian areas and launching rockets from them.

The fighting broke out late Monday when Hamas fired a long-range rocket at Jerusalem in support of Palestinian protests there against the policing of a flashpoint holy site and efforts by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families from their homes.

The violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem and other mixed cities across Israel has added a layer of volatility to the conflict not seen in more than two decades.

The violence continued overnight. A Jewish man was shot and seriously wounded in Lod, the epicenter of the troubles, and Israeli media said a second Jewish man was shot. In the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Jaffa, an Israeli soldier was attacked by a group of Arabs and hospitalized in serious condition.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said some 750 suspects have been arrested since the communal violence began this week.

Krauss reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.

Nation & World. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 11

Israeli military accused of using media to trick Hamas

By Josef Federman Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Just after midnight Friday, the Israeli military put out an ominous statement to the media: “IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip.”

The terse statement set off frenzied speculation that Israel had launched a ground invasion of Gaza -- a muchfeared scenario that would mark a bloody escalation of this week’s operation against Hamas militants. Some reporters were even told outright the incursion had begun.

Hours later, the military issued a “clarification.” There were no troops inside Gaza. But by then, several major news outlets had erroneously reported the ground offensive was under way.

While the army attempted to play down the incident as a misunderstanding, well-placed Israeli military commentators said the media had been used as part of an elaborate ruse to lure Hamas militants into a deadly trap that may have killed dozens of fighters.

“They didn’t lie,” said Or Heller, a veteran military correspondent on Israel’s Channel 13 TV. “It was a manipulation. It was smart and it was successful.”

This is how it unfolded: Late Thursday, after days of airstrikes, Israel announced it was calling up thousands of reservists and amassing troops along the border ahead of a possible ground invasion. In another sign of escalation, Israeli tanks stationed along the border opened fire at targets inside Gaza.

In previous rounds of fighting, ground incursions have resulted in widespread destruction in Gaza and heavy casualties on both sides.

That set the stage for the late-night deception. According to Heller, Israel began scrambling forces along the border in what appeared to be final preparations for an invasion. Then came the announcement to the media, issued simultaneously in Hebrew and Arabic on Twitter. There followed alerts in major outlets that the invasion was under way.

The Israeli moves sent Hamas fighters rushing into defensive positions in an underground network of tunnels known as the Metro, according to Heller and other Israeli reports.

KHALIL HAMRA | AP

Palestinians inspect their destroyed houses following overnight Israeli airstrikes in town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 14, 2021.

Israel called in 160 warplanes and led them or even lied when asked to clar- enemies. Two years ago, the Israeli milibombarded the tunnels for 40 minutes, ify, turning the foreign media into an ac- tary reportedly faked the injuries of solthe military said. Heller said it was his cessory of sorts. diers at the scene of a Hezbollah missile understanding that scores of militants Felicia Schwartz, correspondent for strike, going so far as to evacuate them to had been killed, though he said it was The Wall Street Journal, said she alerted a hospital in a helicopter. impossible to say. news of a ground offensive after receiving According to reports at the time, the “What we saw tonight was a very so- explicit confirmation from Lt. Col. Jona- army staged the injuries to trick Hezbolphisticated operation that had a media than Conricus, a military spokesman. lah into thinking it had inflicted casualaspect to it,” Heller said.

In a statement posted on Twitter, she ties and therefore would agree to a ceaseHamas has not commented on the in- said Conricus “told me directly, `There fire. cident, and it was impossible to confirm are ground troops in Gaza.’ That was Friday’s misleading statement further the Israeli reports. the basis for a first story saying so. He strained what has often been a rocky relaHeller said veteran Israeli correspon- retracted that statement two hours later tionship between the IDF and the foreign dents, who have close ties to the military and I changed the story to reflect that, media. and in many cases have served them- and that is noted in the text and will be Peter Lerner, a former military selves, knew that there was no way Israel corrected.” spokesman to the foreign media, said the was sending troops across enemy lines at Speaking to reporters on Friday Israeli public in general has long felt the this stage. Heller and other military cor- morning, Conricus blamed an “internal international media focus too heavily on respondents even put out statements on miscommunication.” the Palestinian side of the story while Twitter assuring the jittery public that “These things can sometimes happen minimizing Israeli concerns and sufferthere was no ground operation. in the midst of a complex operation with ing -- and the army is similarly inclined.

The Associated Press, based on its many moving parts and with an unclear Lerner said he felt it was unlikely the analysis of the army’s statement, phone picture of what was happening,” he said. military intentionally lied, but damage calls to military officials and on the “As soon as I understood that I had the was done regardless. ground reporting in Gaza, concluded wrong information, I updated the rele“Your currency is credibility,” he said. there was no ground incursion and did vant people with a clarification.”

“I think this is a crisis of that credibility not report there was one.

Militaries around the world have long in the way it’s being portrayed.”

But others said the military had mis- used deception and trickery against their

California budget has $35 million for basic income programs

By Adam Beam Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to use a sliver of the state’s massive budget surplus to give poor people money each month with no rules on how they spend it.

Newsom’s budget proposal, announced Friday, includes $35 million over five years to pay for “universal basic income pilot programs.” The idea is to give poor people money each month to help ease the stresses of poverty that can make it harder to find full-time jobs and stay healthy.

It’s believed to be the first statewide funding for such programs, which are gaining traction in cities across the country.

Newsom said his goal is to support these local programs so they can produce data to help policy makers decide if the idea will work at a larger scale. He says he

wants California to be a catalyst “for conversations all across the country.”

The idea has been around since at least the 18th century. Even the U.S. government experimented with it in the 1960s and 1970s under President Richard Nixon.

It’s gotten new life in recent years thanks to former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, who launched a privately funded guaranteed income program in his Northern California city in 2019.

Since then, mayors across the country have started their own programs, including one in Oakland earlier this year that pledges to give up to 600 families $500 each month. Last month, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the city would spend $24 million to provide $1,000 per month to 2,000 households a year with “no questions asked.”

Newsom’s proposal would not create

a statewide guaranteed income program.

Instead, it would help pay for local governments to start their own programs. Local governments would have to help pay for it — either using local taxpayer money or finding private donors — and the programs must target low-income families.

Critics of these programs say they offer a disincentive for people to work. That narrative has played out over the past year as the federal government has increased the amount of monthly unemployment benefits during the pandemic. Employers have reported labor shortages as the economy reopens, blaming the increased benefits for preventing people from seeking work.

But an independent review of the guaranteed income program in Stockton found full-time employment increased among people who got the money during the first year of the project. At the start, 28% of peo-

ple who got the money had full-time jobs.

After one year, 40% did.

The state proposal is a milestone for Tubbs, who has said guaranteed income programs will only work long-term if they are run by the federal government. His goal has been to demonstrate that these programs work in the hopes of convincing Congress to pay for one nationwide.

Getting state funding to commit to those programs is a big step toward that goal, as until now most of these local programs have been privately funded.

“This support from (Newsom) for local governments to test ideas to strengthen our safety net, provide economic security, and end poverty is needed to truly make the golden state golden for all,” said Tubbs, who lost his reelection bid last year and joined the Newsom administration in March as an unpaid special advisor.

12 | Opinions. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

Opinions

Immunity Immunity issues community

AP PHOTO/JAE C. HONG, FILE

In this April 29, 2021, file photo, people check in to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a mobile clinic set up in the parking lot of a shopping center in Orange, Calif. States across the country are dramatically scaling back their COVID-19 vaccine orders as interest in the shots wanes, putting the goal of herd immunity further out of reach.

Not reaching herd immunity isn’t surprising given America’s lack of unity

By Erik Uebelacker Contributing Writer

Herd immunity from Covid-19 is looking increasingly unlikely in the United States. According to The New York Times, declining vaccination rates throughout the country caused by vaccine hesitancy are leading public health experts to suspect that herd immunity from the virus may never be achieved in the United States.

Skepticism surrounding Covid-19 vaccines have been made worse by political polarization and Americans’ growing mistrust in civic institutions. According to an April poll from NPR, about one in four Americans said that they would refuse a Covid-19 vaccine if they were offered one. This is problematic considering herd immunity would require over 80 percent of Americans to get immunized.

As a result of this national vaccine hesitancy, scientists are concluding that Covid-19 may never be fully eradicated. Instead, it will likely become a more manageable threat that will stick around and circulate nationwide for the foreseeable future.

While this conclusion may be disappointing and frightening for many, it isn’t too surprising given the recent history of our nation. If there is one thing that Covid-19 has exposed about the United States, it’s our glaring inability to come together and make sacrifices to tackle largescale societal issues. Look no further than America’s climate change inaction for more proof of this. Or what about our cultural resistance to higher taxation to combat poverty?

Additionally, there was a remarkable amount of skepticism surrounding the legitimacy of the entirety of the Covid-19 pandemic. While this wasn’t a uniquely American issue, it was certainly more normalized in the U.S. due to former President Donald Trump’s consistent downplaying of the coronavirus. This, too, makes Americans’ reluctance to get vaccinated not particularly shocking.

However, it is important to realize that Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy doesn’t fall neatly in line with one political party or demographic. While Republican men and residents of rural areas are still most likely to refuse the vaccine, there are still a significant number of people across ages, genders, races and ethnicities who are hesitant to get their shot.

Cameron, a recent DePaul graduate who requested that we only use his first name, was hesitant about getting his first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for health reasons, rather than political ones.

“I was skeptical because of the speed at which they made the vaccine, produced the vaccine and approved the vaccine,” Cameron told The DePaulia. “I wasn’t necessarily a fan of the emergency approval.”

Despite these initial concerns, Cameron decided to go ahead and get vaccinated anyway. He said he made this decision mostly because of social pressure, as he knew he would be protecting friends and family around him by getting the vaccine.

He also cited his concerns about being unable to travel internationally if he was unvaccinated.

“A lot of why I didn’t want to get it was because I felt that I, personally, did not need

it,” Cameron said. “But I knew I should protect other people that might be more at risk if they got Covid … I just want to be out of this Covid mess. I felt if getting the vaccine was one step closer, then so be it.”

Ultimately, it seemed that Cameron’s desire to end the pandemic made getting the vaccine more palatable to him. But for the millions of Americans who haven’t been taking Covid-19 seriously in the first place, this motivation simply doesn’t exist.

Roberta Garner, professor of political sociology at DePaul University, explained how political polarization has made it more difficult for Americans to unite around the common goal of ending the pandemic.

“People are allowing their political loyalties to confuse their response to public health measures,” Garner wrote in an email.

“This distrust and confusion have been amplified and exploited by individuals in politics, some media and the anti-vaxxer movement.”

Garner did detail some measures that should be taken to ease the divisiveness on the vaccination issue. These included detaching public health measures from politics, stressing the personal responsibility for vaccinations, making the vaccine as accessible as possible and even promoting the role of the Trump administration in the vaccine’s development.

“What’s weird is that the Trump administration launched the development of the vaccine—Operation Warp Speed was successful and brilliant,” Garner wrote. “And yet Mr. Trump seems reluctant to encourage everyone in his base to get vaccinated.”

Trump did encourage Americans to get vaccinated in an April interview with The

New York Post, but was quick to include a caveat.

“The vaccine is a great thing and people should take advantage of it,” Trump said, while adding that “nobody should be forced. We have our freedoms.”

Skepticism of the coronavirus vaccines is just the latest symptom of our nation’s political polarization and declining trust in American institutions. Unfortunately, it’s also deeply unsurprising considering our management of the pandemic as a whole.

Countries such as South Korea and New Zealand received global praise for their citizens’ vigilance and unity, which prevented thousands of coronavirus deaths.

New Zealand, in particular, has remained virtually Covid-19 free for months due to its stellar handling of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the United States has lost over 580,000 people and counting.

Living in America this past year has highlighted just how damaging our nation’s social and political polarization can be to our everyday lives. Our lack of unity made Covid-19 needlessly deadly, and is now needlessly prolonging the pandemic due to vaccine skepticism.

At this point, I’m not entirely sure what can be done to depolarize these important societal matters. Even if enough Americans get vaccinated, this lack of unity will continue to affect how we deal with problems going forward.

Frankly, it has made me terrified to have to tackle significant issues like this in the future.

Opinions. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 |13

PHOTO BY THE DEPAULIA

We need to prioritize environmental sustainability at DePaul

By Wesley Janicki & Virginia Head DePaul Sustainability Group

It's 2021, and large and historic learning institutions like DePaul need to be making every effort they can to become more sustainable. The DePaul Sustainability group created a petition to encourage DePaul to further its efforts.

Did you know that 90 percent of the S&P 500 Index companies have published corporate sustainability reports?

Or that competing institutions, like Loyola University, acknowledge their commitment to sustainability is actually a strategic recruiting tool and is one reason why 52 percent of incoming freshmen picked their university? Or that the United States has rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement? It's an exciting time for sustainable efforts because people are finally acknowledging how much value they create.

In its new mission statement, DePaul has committed to "promoting peaceful, just and equitable solutions to social and environmental challenges," an admirable goal which we fully support and want to see happen. Yet, did you know that DePaul is the only major university in Chicago that still does not have a

sustainability plan, does not have a paid staff member dedicated to setting related goals and tracking efforts across departments in order to ensure DePaul continues to become more and more holistic in its operations and is not committed to any large sustainability agreements?

That’s not to say that the University has done nothing; it's developed a strong curriculum in both undergraduate and graduate degrees to prepare students to work in the sector and has invested in other smaller efforts like solar power generation on certain buildings, a composting program and several water bottle refill stations. However, the actual impact of these efforts is not communicated very well, or in some cases at all, to the DePaul community or the public. This means that little is known about the university's overall impact on the surrounding communities and its stakeholder groups, the environment or DePaul's bottom line.

As you likely know, climate change is already here and is impacting the most vulnerable populations in our city; Chicago had record flooding in each of the last three springs. For example, due to increased precipitation in the coming years, Chicago is predicted to be at

greater risk of flooding than both New York City and Los Angeles (Chicago is 600 miles from the nearest oceanic coastline and roughly 600 feet above sea level) — most of that will occur in low income neighborhoods.

To date, the unfortunate fact of the matter is that a vast majority of DePaul’s efforts to become more sustainable have consistently fallen on students and faculty, who must lead them on their own free time with no compensation.

DePaul is rooted in its Vincentian values and guided by its new mission, but more needs to be done, and we need DePaul to commit resources to ensure these efforts have substance and longevity.

Such important work should not rely on volunteer time from students and faculty; it should receive serious investment and commitment from the University.

Aside from benefitting the surrounding communities, students, faculty, staff and the ecosystems in DePaul's value chain, these efforts can also save DePaul money and even create new revenue channels.

The primary reason given for why DePaul has taken such little action on sustainability to date is that there has been no demand from students; we

know that's not true. We even conducted four DePaul Pulse Surveys in Q4 2020, which received 9,978 total responses: 94.61 percent said sustainability was important to them, 19.79 percent were aware of DePaul’s current sustainability efforts, 93.54 percent said DePaul should be more sustainable and 95.35 percent agreed that DePaul should have a sustainability plan. But that has still not been enough, so the DePaul Sustainability group created this petition.

As is the case in every problem presented by climate change, no one entity can solve it alone, but if we all take action, we can together. With DePaul being such an important stakeholder in Chicago, it needs to do its part. By signing this petition before June 1, you agree that DePaul needs to prioritize sustainability from here on out. The university should start by creating a new sustainability plan and implementing it across DePaul, and then hire a permanent and full-time coordinator to lead DePaul's sustainability efforts to ensure that we live up to our mission and demonstrate DePaul's commitment that "Here, we do."

Column: The industry needs to reexamine the journalist lifestyle

By Josephine Stratman Staff Writer

In what is usually their first journalism class, young reporters are taught early on of the power of communication and the dangers of plagiarism, defamation and libel. Intro to Journalism instructs students on how journalism is a public service to be taken seriously and worth the painstaking time to ensure every detail is right.

Students are then thrown into a world of deadlines, long hours and high pressure. Even on a student journalist level, there’s a constant pressure to work faster, smarter and harder, to take on positions at student media outlets, apply for internships, collect clips and be oncall at all hours — at least if they ever want to be successful in the industry.

In many ways, journalism is my “dream job.” I want to enact change in the world, and I see journalism as a tool to do that. Journalism provides people with fair and impartial information that helps them make decisions about their lives, communities and governments.

Being a gatekeeper of that, even on a small level, is something I don’t take lightly. That might be part of the problem.

Many student media outlets take themselves very seriously, and rightfully so; they’re often doing important work to hold their

universities accountable and amplify student voices. However, feeling that your work in the newsroom is more important than anything else makes it easy to neglect schoolwork or even basic needs. Dedicating too much time to journalism work means students are far more likely to skip meals or lose touch with friends and family.

In student newsrooms, other staff and students are dependent on each other. Every published piece of work is touched by many people. Recognizing this, students at The Daily Gamecock, the University of South Carolina’s student newspaper, made the decision last October to take a week off from publishing in order to prioritize the mental health of its staff.

Describing a “structureless blur” of breaking news, meetings, quarantines and classes, the paper’s editorial staff said “fighting burnout and practicing self-care ensures that we will be able to continue to serve this community to the best of our ability.”

The Daily Gamecock’s decision highlights how journalism is often an “all or nothing” endeavor with many barriers to entry. While many DePaul-specific student media opportunities are paid (more or less), students who need to work other jobs or aren’t available at odd hours may find it difficult to get involved.

Besides the opportunity cost, high

demands in journalism have other tangible repercussions. One study, published by Insider, shows how journalists are more likely to consume more alcohol, caffeine and high-sugar foods and less water than the average person.

Sure, these might be typical food groups of the average college student. But do we want to set students up for a career that de-emphasizes self care, inadvertently pushing young journalists toward unhealthy coping mechanisms?

Moreover, the 24-hour news cycle can lead to cutting corners. According to a study by Stanford economics professor John Pencavel, productivity declines sharply when working more than 50 hours per week.

Between journalism and a full course load, this threshold is easily passed by many student journalists.

Between my own job at Radio DePaul, position at The DePaulia, current 18-credit workload and the weekend hours I log as an ice skating coach, I often feel stretched beyond my ability. It’s hard for me to feel like I’m doing my best work, and it’s often when I’m pushing myself the hardest that I feel myself falling back and making mistakes, forgetting deadlines or flaking on plans.

For construction workers, overtime can result in safety mishaps and structural mistakes; for nurses and doctors it can result in misdiagnosis; for lab workers, it could

result in cross-contamination. For journalists, overtime can lead to poor reporting and small mistakes that wreck careers and ruin reputations, and yet, in an impossible Catch-22, the job demands it.

It’s time we stop holding the journalism industry to an impossible standard and take a serious look at working conditions. Rather than priming students for a career in a quickly declining print industry, schools should be critically examining the use of communication and journalism, and how we can push forward for equity and fairness — in more than just the articles we produce.

Journalism has a labor problem. Undoing the idea that this is a “dream job” is one step we can take to fix it. For student journalists to produce their best work, they have to put their mental and physical well-being first. As students, we’re building the foundations of our careers, making it even more important that we establish a healthy relationship with journalism early on.

As other labor issues come to light in other industries, it’s time to turn an eye to the very industry that supposedly holds the others accountable. If journalism can’t ethically employ workers, how can it truly hold other industries accountable?

14 | Focus. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

Focus

By Alayne Trinko

F

Staff Writer

reedom of the press is a quintessential part of our democracy.

In 1892, journalist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells investigated and reported on lynchings in the South, making data on racial discrimination and lynching accessible to the public for the first time in the U.S., which led to the publishing of her 1895 piece called, “The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States.”

Fast forward 100 years: Bob Woodward and Carl Berstein of the Washington Post uncovered former President Richard Nixon’s attempted cover-up of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. The investigation led to Nixon’s resignation and the expansion of Congressional power.

And in 2016, Marisa Kwiatkowski, Mark Alesia and Tim Evans of the IndyStar investigated USA Gymnastics’ failure to report sexual assault cases, which led to the conviction of serial rapist and sex offender Larry Nassar who has been sentenced to life in prison.

But from laying off entire photo staffs to hedge fund buyouts to political leaders inciting distrust in reporters at large, the news industry has never been more vulnerable, especially in the wake of Covid-19.

According to Jacob Nelson, assistant professor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, news organizations are mere shells of what they once were, which underscores the economic strain and oftentimes lack of quality in the news we see today.

“Because news organizations are so strapped for cash, they’ve had to cut back in really serious ways,” Nelson said. “So, we’re seeing a lot less coverage than we ever did before. And we’re seeing difficult decisions being made, such as which

Freedom of the pre Who’s going to beats do newsrooms get rid of? Which stories can we afford to not tell? And that means communities are not getting the coverage that they deserve.”

The economic strain on newsrooms comes from the evolution of the news business. But the rate that the business is evolving is too fast for publishers to keep up.

Tim Franklin, senior associate dean of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, said the news business model is “completely broken” because digital ad revenue once allotted to news publishers has shifted over to monoliths such as Google and Facebook. This has cost newsrooms their financial stability as well as their readership since the dawn of the digital age.

According to a 2020 Pew Research Center data analysis, newspaper advertising revenue fell from $37.8 billion in 2008 to $14.3 billion in 2018, and the circulation of U.S. daily newspapers — the number of copies distributed on an average day — both digital and print has declined by 8 percent.

As publications lose money from the redistribution of digital ad revenue, readers and newsrooms disappear with it.

According to a University of North Carolina study on the increasing number of news deserts — an uncovered geographical area that has few or no news outlets and receives little coverage — nearly one in five U.S. newspapers have closed, leaving hundreds of journalists unemployed and dozens of communities forgotten.

Some argue the news industry is dying, but it can be saved if with appropriate, effective action.

In order to ensure the news industry’s survival, Franklin said it’s up to publishers to reshape their news business model in favor of monetizing the news; this way, newsrooms can refocus news gathering back on community trust-building and engagement.

“I think the key for all news organizations these days is transparency,” Franklin said. “To

be open and honest with the public about the news reporting, about errors that are committed, about, in some cases, the process of how stories were gathered in a way gives the public trust. But if you’re not transparent and you’re not engaged with your community or your audience, that’s where trust really erodes.”

Franklin said the news business model is “completely shattered,” and it’s time newsrooms reinvent their approach to ensure they stay afloat.

“The one concern I have with government support of local news, or any news, is that it could compromise the independence of a local news outlet,” Franklin said. “Obviously, we don’t want that to happen.”

Newsrooms and their publishers can only work so quickly to reshape their entire business models to gain more profit in a timely manner, which makes consumer support that much more valuable.

According to Josh Stearns, the program director of Democracy Fund — an independent foundation which aims to improve the democratic process in the U.S. — there are three easy steps the average news consumer can take to play a role in protecting their right to information.

By easing the news industry’s financial strain through support from the average citizen to the billionaires, it can help newsrooms focus on other key issues. From improving the quality of the content produced to interacting with communities to dismantling systemic racism and patriarchal structures in the industry, monetary aid can help newsrooms get back to the original mission of the job — to find, report and defend the truth with excellence and integrity.

According to Chicago Sun-Times high school sports editor Michael O’Brien, he used to have what he called an “army” of reporters covering the high school sports beat. He estimated 46 full-timers, 60 freelancers and 30 photographers.

But in 2014, when the Sun-Times suburban newspapers were sold to the Chicago Tribune,

O’Brien said one day he came int and his colleagues were packing up goodbye. Now, O’Brien is the only fu school sports reporter for the public Because so many of his cowor faced layoffs, it forced O’Brien to foc ership. And he said the numbers wer “90 percent of our traffic was b ball and football,” O’Brien said. “An incredible amount of money that we ing on things like track and soccer other stuff, and even baseball didn kind of an audience. So it just becam — when you’re looking at those num what was left — what we would do.”

Now, hundreds of young women the Chicago area are being excluded equal news coverage in their own ho cause football and high school boys’ more in-demand, and the newsroom ey by not having as many reporters c breadth of high school sports.

“For me, I think the most disapp of it was the numbers kind of hel readers’ response,” O’Brien said. “Th outcry.”

Smaller newsrooms that are mo coming and free of decades of baggage such as Block Club Chicag Bureau have the money and the peo strides to ensure more communiti cially those that are underrepresent enfranchised — are covered by jour consistent attention.

Even though Block Club Chic quarters is located in the Loop, re placed by the publication to cover s cago neighborhoods, which allows c to have a relationship with reporters City Bureau’s director of grow Andrew Herrera said journalists’ pri to lie in transparency and building trust through their reporting.

“People are beginning to feel the

How new can p freedom pre

Focus. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 15

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good media,” Herrera said. “The hope and the optimism is that we can push back against this kind of oppressive, monolithic, corporate-driven media culture where there’s only a set number of approved perspectives, and we can find our voice again [sic] around shared interests and around shared beliefs.”

When it comes to saving the industry, journalists are the first line of defense.

Last summer, a special team of editors from the Wall Street Journal completed an audit of what the publication is doing right and getting wrong. They called it “The Content Review.”

Addressing issues such as news gathering strategies to institutional racism in journalism, Wall Street Journal’s special team created a blueprint for how the paper should remake itself to ensure its future, but most people in the newsroom haven’t yet seen the report and its content hasn’t been completely addressed by higher-ups.

Journalists are listening to the public — and themselves — and trying to make meaningful change. But running things up the flagpole in a system in shambles makes it harder for newsrooms to evolve quickly.

According to Wall Street Journal assistant managing editor for talent Sarah Rabil, the future of quality, fair and accessible news coverage is in the hands of budding reporters.

“I get to spend a lot of time with student journalists, a lot of time with interns, and it makes me increasingly optimistic about the future of journalism,” Rabil said. “I think the fact that this generation also cares about the policies of newsrooms, the practices, their peers and that relationship, that also gives me a lot of hope.”

Ensuring the survival of the news industry starts with the publishers. But it depends on everyone. Between publishers bargaining with Google and Facebook and consumers donating to their local news outlet, everyone can play a role in creating and demanding access to quality news now and for the future.

It’s an unalienable right, after all.

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AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

16 | La DePaulia, The DePaulia. el 17 de mayo de 2021

La DePaulia

De La Habana a Chicago @OFFICIAL90MILESCUBANCAFE | INSTAGRAM

Alberto Gonzalez, dueño de 90 Miles Cuban Cafe, está trayendo el sabor de La Habana,Cuba a Chicago a través de su restaurante.

Dueño de 90 Miles Cuban Café logra su ‘sueño americano’ sirviendo comidas inspiradas por su país

By María Marta Guzmán La DePaulia Editor-in-Chief

Alberto Gonzalez, dueño de 90 Miles Cuban Cafe, no solo está trayendo el sabor de su país a Chicago a través de su restaurante, sino que también está logrando lo que él cree que es el sueño americano.

Establecido en 2008, 90 Miles Cuban Cafe cuenta la historia migratoria de Gonzalez, cuyo viaje a los Estados Unidos comienza a 90 millas de la costa de Florida en La Habana, Cuba en 1980.

Gonzalez y su familia estaban entre los miles de cubanos que formaron parte del Mariel Boatlift — la emigración masiva de cubanos que viajaron desde el puerto Mariel de Cuba a los Estados Unidos en 1980.

El embarcadero consistió en cientos de pequeños barcos pesqueros que trajeron a unos 125, 000 cubanos en el transcurso de cinco meses a las costas de Florida en busca de nuevas oportunidades.

Por dos días, Gonzalez y su familia viajaron en un barco de pesca a través del océano por 90 millas en busca de una vida mejor llena de esperanza y oportunidades.

Fue la decisión de su padre la que impactaría el futuro de lo que Gonzalez dice es su éxito.

“Mi padre dijo, me voy a sentar en este lado del barco y ustedes se sientan en el otro lado”, dijo Gonzalez. “Si vienen a buscarme, me levantaré y me iré, pero ustedes no mencionen que están conmigo. Estoy agradecido de que mi papá haya tomado la decisión de traernos a los Estados Unidos. Fue una decisión que cambió la vida de mi familia, definitivamente fue el sueño americano”.

Al llegar a los Estados Unidos a los 11 años en medio de una guerra contra las

FOTO | MARÍA MARTA GUZMÁN, LA DEPAULIA

Alberto Gonzalez y su familia fueron uno de los miles de cubanos que formaron parte del Mariel Boatlift - la emigración masiva de cubanos que viajaron desde el puerto Mariel de Cuba a los Estados Unidos en 1980. drogas en Miami como ‘marielito’ — el nombre dado a los inmigrantes cubanos que salieron de la isla desde el Puerto de Mariel — Gonzalez aprendió a una edad temprana los valores del trabajo mientras vendía pescado en las calles junto a su padre.

“Cuando tenía 13 años, agarraba una langosta en una mano y un pescado en la otra e iba de un carro a otro diciendo ‘pescado fresco, pescado fresco’, y ahí fue cuando me di cuenta de que todo el mundo tiene pulso’’, dijo Gonzalez. “Si usas ese pulso para bien, en realidad tienes la capacidad de vivir ese sueño americano.

Fue entonces cuando me di cuenta de que los Estados Unidos es la tierra de las oportunidades”.

Fue su pulso y su determinación lo que llevaría a Gonzalez a abrir su propio restaurante inspirado por su infancia y país 28 años después de llegar.

“Lo que quería hacer era crear algo

que fuera mis recuerdos de la infancia y con un menú limitado, pero con los platos típicos cubanos, y así fue como empezó 90 Miles en Clybourn”.

Al establecer y diseñar 90 Miles, Gonzalez dijo que quería que su restaurante fuera diferente del resto y realmente capturara la esencia de la cultura cubana.

“Cuando vas a diferentes ciudades, encuentras muchos lugares pequeños, pero todos tienen el mismo ambiente”, dijo.

“Todo el mundo se ve igual, y es como la idea estadounidense de un restaurante cubano”.

Ahora, 12 años después de su lanzamiento, 90 Miles ha expandido su sabor cubano a los vecindarios de Logan Square, Roscoe Village y el centro de Chicago.

El restaurante sirve bocados auténticos como los que Gonzalez disfrutaba de niño en Cuba.

“Mi padre llevó las recetas, son de mi abuela, pero mi padre fue el que realmente

trajo la receta a los Estados Unidos”, dijo Gonzalez. “Cuando abrí 90 Miles, mi padre vino al restaurante por dos meses y colaboramos en las recetas. Es como una combinación, son las recetas de mi abuela, pero mi padre es como el vehículo de transporte”.

Los sabores y aromas de los restaurantes de Gonzalez han atraído la atención de toda la ciudad.

“A veces tengo que cruzar la calle y mirar mi restaurante, vibrante, lleno de gente divirtiéndose y tengo que pellizcarme”, dijo. “Nunca en un millón de años pensé que este sueño se haría realidad. Me despierto como, dónde estoy, qué estoy haciendo, y no quiero que este sueño termine nunca”.

Para otros inmigrantes como Gonzalez en busca del sueño americano, dijo que el mejor consejo que puede dar a otros en el mismo viaje que él, es mirar más allá de los desafíos y barreras y seguir avanzando.

Gonzalez dijo que fue esta mentalidad la que lo ayudó a tener éxito para su familia y lo ayudó a cambiar su trayectoria.

“El mundo está en tus manos y pies, así que aprovecha eso”, dijo. “Si entras en una entrevista y te sientes discriminado, no te detengas en eso y sigue adelante.

Tienes que tocar una puerta diferente y una nueva oportunidad”.

Ahora, a los 52 años y 41 años después de llegar a los Estados Unidos en un barco de pesca, Gonzalez ha podido lograr su sueño americano mientras representa sus raíces.

“Haz cambios y sé la mejor influencia para las personas que te rodean”, dijo Gonzalez. “Mantente concentrado y vive el sueño americano, no dejes que los americanos vivan de ti.”

La DePaulia, The DePaulia. el 17 de mayo de 2021 | 17

OPINIÓN: La crisis del feminicidio en Latinoamérica necesita un remedio inmediato

By Bryan Matthew López La DePaulia Opinions Editor

La situación de los feminicidios en Latinoamérica es una epidemia que necesita un remedio inmediato. La epidemia de feminicidios en Latinoamérica hace que la región sea insegura para las mujeres.

El feminicidio es el asesinato intencional de niñas y mujeres por razón de su género. La violencia hacia las mujeres incluye acoso verbal, agresión sexual, manipulación emocional e incluso asesinato.

Latinoamérica tiene una tasa de feminicidios particularmente alta. Según las Naciones Unidas, de los 25 países del mundo con las tasas más altas de feminicidio, 14 de esos países pertenecen a Latinoamérica y el Caribe. Al menos 12 mujeres son asesinadas todos los días en la región a causa de los feminicidios.

Centroamérica, particularmente los países del Triángulo Norte que son El Salvador, Guatemala y Honduras, cuentan con las tasas más altas de feminicidios en el mundo. Según el Centro de Estudios de Género y Refugiados, El Salvador tiene la tasa más alta de feminicidios del mundo, mientras que Guatemala ocupa el tercer lugar y Honduras el sexto.

Muchas mujeres enfrentan violencia en el hogar por parte de sus esposos y toman la difícil decisión de emigrar al norte. Saben que si se van, nunca podrán regresar o podrían ser asesinadas.

Viajar al norte es trágicamente conocido por ser una pesadilla para las mujeres migrantes, especialmente aquellas de Centroamérica que tienen que pasar FOTO: NATHAN TINAJERO por México. Un estudio del Instituto de Globalización Universidad de las Na- Un muro etiquetado con mensajes contra el feminicidio se muestra en el barrio Roma Norte de la Ciudad de México. ciones Unidas, Cultura y Movilidad enAunque mucha gente todavía usa el contró que el 80 por ciento de las niñas y machismo para discriminar a las mumujeres que emigran a los Estados Uni“La raíz del feminicidio es la creencia de que los cuerpos jeres, Di Bella quiere que otros sepan dos sufren agresión sexual. Muchas orque hay gente trabajando actualmente de las mujeres son desechables. Hay impunidad hacia ganizaciones de derechos humanos ayupara combatir este problema. dan a que las mujeres migrantes tienen los delitos cometidos contra las mujeres y existe la “Creo que la gente debe ser conacceso a los anticonceptivos debido a la sensación de que esta violencia está justificada por sciente de que hay organizaciones que violencia sexual que probablemente enintentan combatir este problema, al mujeres que se atreven a involucrarse en la esfera contrarán en su viaje. menos aquí en São Paulo. Tenemos la Para comprender mejor la situación pública” .

Lei da Maria da Penha, que es una ley actual de Latinoamérica, se debe invesque ayuda a proteger los derechos de las tigar las causas fundamentales de la dismujeres”, dijo Di Bella.

“Sin embargo, criminación contra la mujer. también es importante tener en cuenta La Dra. Ester Trujillo, profesora del que ninguna de estas medidas programa de estudios latinoamericanos Profesora del programa de estudios latinoamericanos de la a las mujeres directamente antesprotege de un de la Universidad DePaul, cree que la Universidad DePaul acto de feminicidio”. violencia hacia las mujeres es una extenCosta Rica es un país que ocupa el sión de las actitudes coloniales que ven tercer lugar entre los países en desarrlos cuerpos de las mujeres como desechollar la igualdad del género y ha puesto crimen continúe porque los perpetra- veces no proceden o los culpables salen ables. un gran énfasis en la igualdad de género.

“La raíz del feminicidio es la creen- dores creen que se saldrán con la suya. libres sin tipo de repercusión”, dijo AlLas mujeres también tienen más oporcia de que los cuerpos de las mujeres son También es necesario que haya un cam- calá Sandoval. tunidades en Costa Rica y no tienen que Giulia Di Bella, estudiante internadesechables”, dijo Trujillo. “Hay impuni- bio cultural y una transformación de la participar en los roles tradicionales de cional de la Universidad DePaul de Bradad hacia los delitos cometidos contra ideología hacia las mujeres”. género.

Muchas mujeres en Latinoamérica se sil, dice que el feminicidio sigue siendo las mujeres y existe la sensación de que Es decir que se están realizando esesta violencia está justificada por mu- sienten frustradas porque sus voces no un tema tabú en su país. fuerzos para combatir el feminicidio y “Aunque las tasas son alarmantes y jeres que se atreven a involucrarse en la son escuchadas. No se responsabiliza a la discriminación de género en Latinolos hombres de sus acciones contra las los medios de comunicaciones intentan esfera pública”. américa.

Si desafiamos los roles tradimostrar algunas de las historias en un La forma en que los gobiernos re- mujeres. cionales de género, ofrecemos más oporDiana Alcalá Sandoval, estudiante esfuerzo para empoderar a las familias sponden a los crímenes contra las mutunidades a las mujeres y eliminamos la jeres también es realmente importante en el Centro Universitario de Ciencias de las víctimas y sus historias, la retórica impunidad de los crímenes contra las para encontrar una solución a este prob- Económico Administrativas en Guada- que se ve entre amigos o en la calle o en lajara, México, dice que la situación en los bares es sin embargo muy antifem- mujeres, podemos disminuir las tasas lema. inista”, dijo Di Bella.“Es común seguir de feminicidio y ver un cambio efectivo “Una solución concreta es que la su- su país es muy lamentable.

“En general, diciendo que se están viendo a la gente culpando a las vícti- para la igualdad de género. pervisión del gobierno responsabilice a la policía local de cerrar sus investi- siguiendo los protocolos de una inves- mas, especialmente por cómo visten, en gaciones y producir tasas de resolución tigación para encontrar los culpables, lugar de centrarse en los hombres que más altas. La impunidad permite que el pero en la realidad la mayoría de las las mataron”.

Ester Trujillo

Arts & Life

18 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

Art museum reopens with in-person exhibits

XAVIER ORTEGA | THE DEPAULIA

The DePaul Art Museum located at 935 East Fullerton right underneath the Fullerton CTA stop. They opened up in-person for the first time in 14 months, with two exhibits.

By Sofia Leal Contributing Writer

More than a year after its closure due to Covid-19, DePaul Art Museum reopened its doors for in-person viewings on May 14. Two exhibitions — “LatinXAmerican” and “Claudia Peña Salinas: Quetzalli” — are currently on display.

“We are actually really one of the last museums to open in the city during Covid,” said Laura-Caroline de Lara, interim director of the museum. “We were wanting to make sure that we could [reopen] in a really safe, careful and considerate way.”

Apart from the careful preparation involved with safety precautions, the two Latinx-based exhibits are what prompted the museum to resume in-person viewings.

“They’re such sort of critical shows for us that it felt really important to try and get as much time for visitors to come in and see them in person,” de Lara said.

“There’s just nothing that compares to being able to see work in-person and being able to interact with it face to face.”

Both exhibits were installed between January and February 2021. Until recently, the only way to view them was through video highlights and virtual tours.

These exhibits are a part of the Latinx initiative DPAM launched in the spring of 2020. This is an effort that focuses collections, exhibitions and programs on the work of Latinx and Latin American artists.

“The lack of representation in museums by Latinx and Latin American artists is really just abysmal,” said de Lara.

“DePaul Art Museum has always kind of focused on those underrepresented artists.”

The “LatinXAmerican” exhibit reflects the museum’s efforts to assess the presence and absence of Latinx artists

DEPAUL ART MUSEUM

Untitled (Portrait of a Woman with Glasses), 1970, part of “LatinXAmerican” exhibit.

“The lack of representation in museums by Latinx and Latin American Artists is really just abysmal. DePaul Art Museum has always kind of focused on those underrepresented artists.”

Laura-Caroline de Lara

Interim Director, DePaul Art Museum in collections and galleries. It is a group exhibition featuring a collection of intergenerational works by 38 Latinx artists, 25 of whom have some kind of link to Chicago.

“The show reflects one of the mandates of the museum to collect and show the work of Chicago and local artists with a focus in Latin American, Latinx

artists,” said Dianna Frid, a mixed-media artist exhibited in the show.

Frid is also a part of the museum’s concurrent summer programming that includes a hybrid of in-person and virtual events. The program events consist of discussion and lecture panels, game nights, musical performances and much more.

The collaborative panel Frid is hosting will be a virtual event. “It’s not going to be in person in the museum, but it’s a way of being connected to the show too,” she said.

As for the type of artwork exhibited in the “LatinXAmerican” show, there is a wide range of mediums including, but not limited to, photographs, paintings, sculptures, installations, textiles and video work, all of which make for a diverse and conversational show.

“I think that the show does a really good job in not flattening out the kind of work that we make,” Frid said.

“Part of the focus for both of [these] shows, and for our Latinx initiative in general, is to really be promoting the voices and the work and the themes found in these works done by Latinx and Latin American artists,” de Lara said.

“It’s important for these artists to be represented.”

From topics of immigration to cultural appropriation to ceremony and ritual, artists and themes included in the “LatinXAmerican” exhibit increase the visibility and voices of Latinx and Latin American artists everywhere, especially those working in Chicago.

“I am glad and excited that DPAM is doing important work in bringing awareness to these issues,” said Yvette Mayorga, a multidisciplinary artist also included in the exhibit. “People should go see ‘LatinXAmerican’ because it is highlighting important issues that we are currently facing in the U.S. while in conversation with artists from Chicago and nationally from different generations.”

Both the “LatinXAmerican” and “Claudia Peña Salinas: Quetzalli” exhibits are open for in-person viewings until Aug. 15.

Admission is still free, but reservations are required through the museum’s website or the Tock app.

Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 19

‘Invincible’ rises in popularity

Amazon show is not just about superheroes, but the vulnerability of humanity

By Rebecca Meluch News Editor

Amazon Prime has done a great job of premiering shows that make me hate superheroes.

I am by no means a comic book expert — I just like movies. I’ve seen all of the Marvel movies plenty of times based on their chronological placements in the universe. Maybe it’s that Marvel is owned

by Disney— the heroes in it are just too good to be true and too happily-ever-after-like.

But I still sort of loved them. Loved as in past-tense. After watching “Invincible,” I never hope to coexist with a superhero or people with superpowers, good or bad.

How can society live peacefully among superheroes who can transform into two-ton monsters, can be billionaires, and can have the power to alter time and dimensions?

In reality, it can’t.

But often superhero movies make it seem as though a world with superheroes coexisting with humans is a world in harmony. “Captain America: Civil War” doesn’t count because in the end, were the Avengers actually held accountable for what they did in Lagos and Sokovia?

“The Boys” was released in 2019 and after I finished its two seasons, I looked to find a new show with that same specific theme of corrupt, undying superheros, human vulnerability, bloody battles and humor — it needed to be funny too.

Amazon Prime Video released “Invincible” on March 25. It’s an adult animated superhero television series based on the Image Comics serials created by Robert Kirkman — it was produced by Kirkman himself, too.

Kirkman also wrote and created the series “The Walking Dead.” His new project, “Invincible,” has been regarded so highly that it’s already approved for two more seasons. But for now, only season one is available with eight episodes, each between 40 and 50 minutes long.

“Invincible” is about Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) ­- or Invincible as he eponymously goes by. He’s a 17-year-old boy whose father is Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons). The series takes viewers through Mark’s process of becoming a superhero, being a high schooler, a boyfriend and a kid who gets his butt kicked a lot.

Mark was worried at first that he wouldn’t inherit the same powers his dad — an immortal, unbeatable, world-saving, Viltrumite-born hero — has. Until minutes later he takes out the trash at work, chucks the bag and it goes into

IMDB

Steven Yuen’s character in “Invincible,” a show that has taken off in popularity since it released this spring on Amazon Prime. space.

Eager to fly, save lives, meet other heroes and fight off villains, Mark takes to learning from other powerful beings like members of the Teen Team, his dad and the Global Defense Agency.

He could’ve learned from others, but that’s an episode one spoiler that no one would expect.

But his most important mentor is his mom, Debbie (Sandra Oh). Debbie is not a superhero. She is just a woman who happened to marry one and have a kid with him. Outnumbered by two superbeings in her own home, it’s odd to say that she’s the most powerful character in the series. But she is.

Nolan, or Omni-Man, was born on a planet called Viltrum, a place that breeds powerful beings and superheroes. After inheriting his powers, Mark was also deemed a Viltrumite.

Debbie is just a regular human. But because of her humanity, she was able to be more of a mentor and light in Mark’s life than his dad was. She expressed the vulnerability of human beings, she showed her immortal husband how life should be lived and ultimately conveyed how living in a world with superheroes isn’t as great as it seems to be.

Debbie doesn’t take orders from any other superbeings from different planets or from the Global Defense Agency.

She’s able to investigate and find answers on her own. She couldn’t care less if her husband is the world’s most powerful being; she is not afraid to forbid him from coming to bed, investigate his affairs and

be an accomplished realtor.

She is just so humanely human –– her human vulnerability is a weapon that no Viltrumite, no superhero or her husband could ever possess.

It’s not much of a spoiler because anyone interested in the show can watch the trailer to see just how much superheroes can suck, have hidden agendas and kill innocent people with no regard for humanity. The perveyance of human loss that Mark, his dad and other superheroes intentionally or unintentionally display shows how with any sort of power, there’s the powerless.

It’s not necessarily a superhero series that depicts superheroes needing to save the lives of human beings and earth, but how the superheroes themselves need saving.

The mechanical elements of the series aren’t extremely smooth like those of “The Boys.” Often an episode jumps scene to scene, and viewers may ask themselves, “what was the point of that?”

Ultimately the questions get answered throughout an episode or maybe even two or three later. The audience may not even realize the answer to their question was provided until after the fact.

Hint: The trash Mark launched into space when he discovered his powers eventually comes back, but you won’t know when or where until you watch it.

The format of the episodes itself is also unconventional. It seems Kirkman didn’t care if the intro of an episode was too long before it displayed the title card.

He also didn’t care if the title card inter-

rupted a scene ­­— the techniques were just very unpredictable. Also, when an episode’s credits come on screen, it doesn’t mean it’s over yet. It’s funny, annoying yet riveting all at once — the viewer doesn’t know if there is more or what more is to come.

Some episodes appear at first as bottle episodes, but truthfully almost every single scene is something to retain. Odds are if it’s not relevant at the time, it will be later in some way. There’s still some scenes I haven’t fully found the significance for, but I know they will appear somewhere in season two or three.

The animation and art is beautiful; Omni-Man has been used commonly as an example of the “animated dads are getting hotter” trope on Twitter. It’s gory and visualisitic but not overwhelmingly so like some have critiqued “The Boys” for being.

“Invincible” is real in a sense that it shows the reality and danger of what it could be like to live in a world coexisting with superheroes that have unearthed powers. It’s emotional and sincere about human vulnerability. It made me cry, made me laugh and made me scared to live in a world that is so susceptible to the abuse of power and the fear of not being able to control it in any way humanly possible.

Amazon Prime may have found its calling in producing shows that fit into the anti-superhero genre, but they won’t be able to top this one. It is just truthfully, invincible against all others.

20 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

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Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 21

Grant Park Music Festival sees return of classical music to city

By Corey Schmidt Copy Editor

As the grass gets greener and flowers start to bloom, many Chicagoans remember a time when they sat on the Great Lawn of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion listening to the music of the Grant Park Orchestra. These memories will soon be a reality once again.

The Grant Park Music Festival announced its 87th season that will begin July 2. The Grant Park Music Festival is free to attend — making classical music more accessible to people of all backgrounds. “[The Grant Park Music Festival] has been a staple in providing free, accessible music to the larger Chicago community for years,” DePaul senior music major Momoko Hasselbring said. “Reopening means that classical music will be available to all, not just the exclusive few who have been able to enjoy live performances during the pandemic.”

Many were deprived of classical music during the pandemic, due to the loss of in-person concerts for social distancing purposes, making the return of the festival all the more special. The pandemic has also put an emotional and financial burden on many families, which connects this season’s purpose to uplift the community back to the festival’s roots in the Great Depression.

“The way it was founded in 1935, it was a free festival for free concerts that was established during the Great Depression to really lift the spirits of Chicagoans that were out of work,” said Jill Hurwotz, chief marketing officer at the Grant Park Music Festival. “That’s been its mission throughout the years, to be a free festival, to have free music to be enjoyed by both Chicago residents and visitors that come

COREY SCHMIDT | THE DEPAULIA

The Great Lawn has been empty for over a year, until the Grant Park Music Festival announced its 2021 season. to the city as well.”

The 2020 season was the first time the Grant Park Music Festival was unable to hold the festival, a decision that Hurwotz said was made to keep the community safe. The season usually is 10 weeks long but due to the same desire to keep the audience members safe, the festival will be starting later in the summer along with other safety precautions.

“We’re thrilled that our musicians can be safe, the audience can be safe, and we look forward to being out there beginning July 2nd,” Hurwotz said.

The festival’s repertoire is a mixture

of a little bit of everything, including some audience favorites, such as Dvorak’s New World Symphony, some less common pieces and even a world premiere.

“We have a real mixture of wellknown pieces, beloved war horses, mixed up with some things that are not so well known,” Hurwotz said. “This year we have a little bit of a challenge. The number of musicians that will be playing will be smaller because of the social distancing of the musicians.”

Some highlights of the season include Dvorak’s New World Symphony, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 and the Sibelius

Violin Concerto. There will even be an acapella concert highlighting the Grant Park Chorus.

Reservations are needed to attend the concerts, which can be found on their website. The festival is still working out the capacity of the concerts and will continue to evaluate that as the pandemic progresses and July draws nearer.

‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ Season 2 Review

By Lauren Coates

“The Office” in terms of structure, the latest entry is instead taking a few more pages out of “Glee”’s book, with two dueling musical schools and teachers leading the charge. It’s a smart move to inject a little more life into the series, and the addition of Hough should certainly bring more energy and charisma to the adult cast of the series, which tends to get lost in the shadow of its younger half.

Staff Writer

With a loyal fan base holding over from season one, a starlet with three hit singles and a Saturday Night Live performance, along with a new appearance from Derek Hough, the stars have seemingly aligned to give “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” the energy needed for its season 2 premiere, which debuted this past Friday.

The first season didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel — opting instead to emulate a sort of Glee-meets-The-Office musical mockumentary feel — but it was certainly entertaining enough for anybody looking for a soapy teen drama or an ode to “High School Musical.” Now that the students of East High have made it through their fall production of “High School Musical,” they are setting their sights on the spring musical in a performance-packed season opener that promises plenty of singing, dancing and good old fashioned rivalries to come.

When we last left our intrepid gang of freakishly talented high school musical theatre performers, they’d just successfully(ish) completed their opening night of “High School Musical,” complete with a genderbent Sharpay, several mid-show casting swaps, and a music conservatory dean in the audience, waiting to give Nini (Olivia Rodrigo) her one-way ticket to a prestigious arts school in Denver. Now it’s New Years Eve, and as Nini is trying to figure out how to break the news to her now-steady boyfriend Ricky (Joshua Bassett), drama teacher Miss Jenn is deciding what show they’ll be putting on for the spring musical.

The episode opened with an appropriately festive holiday musical number, com-

Cast members of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” on Disney+ plete with a Gina (Sophia Wiley) dance break and an original song called “Something in the Air.” The premiere also featured Ricky’s rendition of the iconic “High School Musical 2” (HSM2) angst anthem “Bet On It,” which he intended to use as an audition song for the spring musical, in addition to a medley of “Fabulous,” “You Are the Music in Me” and “All For One.” The East High drama department was under the impression that spring show would, in fact, be High School Musical 2, but in the first major curveball of the season, everyone is shocked to learn that this isn’t the case.

While Miss Jenn (Kate Reinders) is out shopping for costumes for the musical — which she had planned to be HSM2 — she bumps into her ex-boyfriend/musi-

IDMB

cal co-star Zack, played by “Dancing With the Stars” alum Derek Hough. Zack is a big shot broadway performer who has returned to Salt Lake City to direct the rival North High School’s production of “The Little Mermaid,” a show for which he expects to win the Alan Menken award for high school theatre. In a moment of jealousy and competitive spark, Jenn makes the split second decision to change East High’s spring musical — from the predictable HSM2 to the Menken-penned “Beauty and the Beast.”

Though the cast is shocked — and initially dismayed — to learn of the sudden swap, Jenn tells her students that they will also be gunning for the Alan Menken award, thus laying the groundwork for the arc of season two. While season one stuck closer to

Of course, it won’t just be about Zack and Miss Jenn’s rivalry — the students all have their own drama to deal with. Ricky is reeling from the news of Nini’s sudden move, and to add insult to injury, his dad dropped the bomb that they’d be moving out of his childhood home. Gina, who should seem like a shoo-in for the lead of Belle with Nini out of the picture, looks to encounter some new competition in, if next week’s teaser is anything to go by. And, of course, there are the many romantic entanglements - Big Red and Ashlyn, Carlos and Seb, and there’s always the possibility that Gina and Ricky would rekindle their season one sparks — with Nini once again out of sight.

The premiere, like season one, wasn’t perfect — the costumes are still horrendous, the acting a little iffy, and the dialogue is as cringe-worthy as ever. But “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” isn’t trying to invent the wheel, and it’s clear that the writers understand the show’s strengths and weaknesses. While the season two opener may not attract any new fans to the show, there’s more than enough drama and musical numbers to keep fans of the first season satisfied.

22 | Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

NBC Cancels broadcast of The Golden Globes

By Hayley DeSilva Staff Writer

The Golden Globes will take a year off in 2022 due to ethical concerns and a lack of racial diversity on its voting panel.

NBC, the network that airs the awards show, announced earlier this month that it would be pulling the show for at least the next year. NBC plans to give the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in charge of the awards time to reexamine its ranks and ethics.

The decision came after the Los Angeles Times released an investigation in February detailing the makeup of the 90 members — none of whom are Black. It was also revealed that there have been no Black members in the past 20 years.

The investigation also found that the Golden Globes may be in violation of regulations of the Internal Revenue Services. It’s speculated that the tax exempt organization has purposely kept itself small in order to increase the income of current members as their general revenue grows. The concern is that members of the panel are being given and using the money unethically, leading to a biased panel and perpetuating the current lack of diversity within it.

The issue of diversity came to a head after the nominations were announced for this year’s ceremony. Acclaimed films like “Da 5 Bloods,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Judas and the Black Messiah” were all snubbed in the best picture category. The hashtag #TimesUpGlobes quickly blew up on social media with many celebrities weighing in with their criticism as well.

Some celebrities, like Tom Cruise, have gone so far as returning past awards in protest.

Since NBC’s announcement, Netflix, Amazon Studios and WarnerMedia have all said they will not work with the HFPA until necessary changes are made.

The Golden Globes is not the only award ceremony that has faced controversy for a lack of diversity. A few years ago, the Oscars had their own hashtag of controversy — #OscarsSoWhite. The decision to pull the ceremony may lead other programs to follow suit.

“NBC’s decision will definitely put other awards on notice to be more diverse,” said Fatou Samba, a cinema arts lecturer at DePaul. “Ultimately, it’s a business decision, and right now being exclusionary is bad for business.”

Along with the public outcry, there is speculation that a change in the executive board for NBC may have also pushed the decision along.

Susan Rovner, who has worked on diverse shows including “The Walking Dead,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “This Is Us,” recently became NBCUniversal’s chairman of entertainment content for television and streaming.

“Does it surprise me that one of Rovner’s first acts when she recently arrived at NBCU was to tell them to go find another network? Not one bit,” said Christopher Parrish, a professor of screenwriting at DePaul.

The Golden Globes have since announced their dedication to diversifying their panel — but there isn’t a collective confidence yet, nor clearly defined plans of action.

“I think they will make some superficial changes, but honestly any sort of meaningful change has to be systemic and I don’t know if they are going to be able to do something deep and meaningful,” said

JORDAN STRAUSS | AP

Signage promoting the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards and NBC appears in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Jan. 5, 2020.

Paul Booth, a media and cinema studies professor at DePaul. “But I suspect they’ll add some non-white members and require that a certain percentage of nominees have to be from minority groups.”

But Samba believes the fact remains that something will have to give for the sake of fairness and inclusivity.

“Diversity in these committees is crucial because the diversity of the voters affects the diversity of who gets nominated and ultimately who wins,” Samba said. “...

It often determines what gets made and whose stories get told.”

There is hope that NBC’s decision

will have a domino affect on other award shows and the industry in general.

“I believe NBCU’s decision can have a positive influence on prompting other awards shows to strive for greater diversity,” Parrish said. “Ultimately, money talks and it’s going to take more people than Tom Cruise and Susan Rovner to change Hollywood for the better.”

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Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 23

What the ‘soft era’ in pop music says about happiness after despair

By Lena Wegner Contributing Writer

On April 27, pop wunderkind Billie Eilish announced her much-anticipated second album, “Happier Than Ever.” The cover, also revealed, is a marked departure from that of Eilish’s previous work — the color palette is a tonal blend of beige, cream and Eilish’s newly blond hair, undeniably separating it from the high-contrast black and white of 2019’s “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?.”

The albums’ respective titles reflect a shift into a gentler, more optimistic headspace. Her debut’s all-caps, brazen question — itself a lyric from a song about Eilish’s sleep paralysis — is gone, replaced with a matter-of-fact statement. Along with the excitement, seemingly as much for the new direction as the new music, the reveal has also garnered comparisons to fellow pop icon Ariana Grande’s 2018 album “Sweetener.” Both covers feature the respective artists in an angelic, blushtoned environment, looking upward with shiny eyes; the titles hint at their creators’ feeling of buoyancy. But the similarity goes beyond the surface, revealing a trend toward lighter, sweeter and softer music and themes, ones that may be nods to a shift in the zeitgeist post-pandemic.

“Sweetener” doesn’t seem like a natural progression from its predecessor, 2016’s “Dangerous Woman,” with that album’s sleek, black and vintage-inspired aesthetic and lyrical references to Grande’s empowerment in her sexuality.

In many ways, it shouldn’t have been. The expected trajectory was likely interrupted by the fatal bombing in Manchester following Grande’s concert on May 22, 2017, which — to say nothing of the impact on the victims, the concertgoers and the music industry’s climate — affected Grande profoundly. “Sweetener” is a response, direct and indirect, to the aftermath and her phoenix-like emergence into hope after tragedy. This triumph is, maybe surprisingly, not embodied with bright pop anthems, but in lower-key,

vocal-focused R&B-pop fusions. The album’s opening track, “raindrops (an angel cried)” best embodies the ethos of the project: a 37-second a cappella clip paying homage to The Four Seasons’ “An Angel Cried.”

She’s all vocals and , all lyrics,; no affected production to twist or hide the rawness. She’s all emotion. The softness of this era in her career is notable because of the way she willingly exposes her soft spot — her happiness is fallible — and this fact is plain. She understands how fleeting the moment of bliss she’s in the midst of on “R.E.M.” is: “Before you speak, don’t move / ‘Cause I don’t want to wake up.” These moments are the ones that make the album distinctive. The magic lies in the subdued vulnerability, stripping away many electronic flourishes and much one-liner lyricism. “Sweetener” focuses on Grande, directly emotional and softly vulnerable.

Not as much is known about “Happier Than Ever.” But the smattering of singles, visuals, and snippets released so far point to a similar core. The title alludes to a turning point in Eilish’s public battle with her mental health. Excluding “Therefore I Am,” which feels at home with much of the rest of Eilish’s precocious, twitchy discography — a natural stone on the path of “COPYCAT” and “all the good girls go to hell” — the vibe is overall lighter and more direct. Recent single “Your Power” asks the subject, uncloaked in the metaphor and dreamscape of her past work, to “try not to abuse [their] power.”

This unwavering, unguarded request — which Eilish then revealed was derived from her own experience in an abusive relationship — is made over grounded acoustic guitar and little else. The simplicity makes the emotion the focal point, Eilish’s raw vocals and the sparseness of the track shows that she, like Grande, is exposing her Achilles’ heel. She shows it not as an open wound, but as a facet of the wholeness that she has accepted to become this new version of herself.

Grande and Eilish aren’t the only pop artists to transition into this soft era of their careers after a dark personal peri-

BILLIE EILISH ON YOUTUBE

A still from Billie Eilish’s new music video “Happier than Ever” on YouTube. od. Taylor Swift released “Lover” in 2019 (“all’s well that ends well to end up with you”) on the heels of widespread backlash against her in a conflict with Kanye West and her musical response, 2017’s “reputation.” Beyonce’s “Lemonade” in 2016 chronicles her healing from Jay-Z’s infidelity (“and true love never has to hide / I’ll trade your broken wings for mine”) through subdued hip-hop and blues-influenced instrumentals.

This phenomenon of happiness after adversity often involves smaller, softer moments of joy more than the euphoric highs that one might expect to balance a down time. However, after these deeply emotional, vulnerable times, again and again they embrace that soft spot and move forward with it, neither discarding nor obscuring it. This guiding philosophy, as the end of a global period of upheaval is in sight, may have a place outside of music as well.

In the U.S., vaccines are being rolled out and many are growing restless with the just-out-of-reach hope of life post-pandemic. Proclamations of enormous plans to make up for lost time and phrases like “hot girl summer” (or its 2021-specific variant, “vaxxed girl summer”) pepper the internet and the promise of a “return to normal” seems increasingly likelyfounded. This great comeback on the horizon, however, caches many of

the soft spots that Covid-19 has exposed over the last year and a half. From food insecurity more than doubling after the pandemic’s onset to an increase in violence against Asian-Americans, a variety of weaknesses have been brought to the surface.

These vulnerabilities of the national and global reality can’t be ignored now that they’ve been seen; many social media feeds have remained hubs of social awareness beyond the information about Covid-19OVID that they initially sought to spread. Though there may not be a shift in aesthetic or sound to point to as an indication of it, culturally, the new era is dawning with the shapes of these discrepancies still carved into it.

Strong as the temptation may be to run headlong into an anthemic return to the old way of doing things, the pattern within pop music has revealed that the truest recovery has to move forward with, not around, weakness and hardship. In order to really heal, that softness has to have space and to be engaged with head-on. Time and time again, the soft era has provided an important cue to follow: the only way out is through.

Disney+’s ‘The Bad Batch’ is just good enough

By Madeson Martin Contributing Writer

“Star Wars: The Bad Batch” isn’t a bad TV show. It’s hard to be in a post-“Mandalorian” world where every “Star Wars” property now lives in its shadow. And “The Bad Batch” isn’t quite as good as the animated “Clone Wars” TV show either. “The Bad Batch” obviously wants to carry on the previous show’s legacy, but it just isn’t as compelling. There are only three episodes, and there are allegedly supposed to be 14, so by the end of the series, the showrunners could prove me wrong.

The third episode was released on May 14 and came in at just under 28 minutes — which is much more reasonable than the premiere’s dragged-out hour and 15-minute runtime.

The series falls into the same trap that the live-action “Star Wars” prequels do. There’s a lot of political talk and exposition, with not enough lightsabers and blasters. Not that it would be bad for a “Star Wars” property to be narratively complex, but when I come into a “Star Wars” movie or TV show, I expect grand, tightly choreographed fights against fantastical backdrops.

“The Bad Batch” does have some of that.

The sweeping opening battle scene wouldn’t be out of place in a regular “Star Wars” movie.

IMDB

The Bad Batch premiered on Disney+ on May 4, a widely anticipated show by fans.

The world animation is amazing; one scene from Episode Two pops out in particular.

Omega, one of the main characters, sees a planet made of dirt for the first time, and she falls to her knees to touch it, exclaiming in delight. She’s framed in a patch of golden light, where you can see flecks of dust drift into and out of the beams. This is where the animation shines. The animators’ strength is in the natural elements of the planets, like leaves, dirt and downpours.

The characters seem meticulously handdrawn, yet computer animated at the same

time, which is a style I find visually gratifying — specifically in the close-ups, where the characters really come to life.

As far as character development goes, everyone so far is pretty one-dimensional. Our protagonist group plays like they were picked from a “spin-the-wheel of clichés.” A mysterious, quiet outsider of the group with a gnarly facial scar, a capricious and curious young girl with a troubled background, a nerdy stats guy with a British accent and a stoic male action lead who secretly has a heart of gold.

Character development and plot are

equally important in my eyes, so I wish they had chosen to flesh out the charters or make them feel less lazy. In these first few episodes it seems like the showrunners are focusing hard on pushing the plot at the detriment of other aspects of the show.

“The Bad Batch” might be too slow and exposition-heavy for kids, but too soft for adults. Even if they just sped up the dialogue, it could be more captivating. There were places where the dialogue could have been like banter, but instead moved at a near glacial pace — particularly in the first episode.

The show can’t decide if it wants to appeal to casual viewers or if you need to understand the lore of every single “Star Wars” spin-off. At the very least, watching “The Clone Wars” before this will probably enrich your experience.

If “The Bad Batch” could make up its mind about its intended audience, it could have made a thought-provoking statement on cloning and free will. At several points the script gets close but seems too afraid to push it there.

But I’m not mad at it. I think we’ve all been spoiled by recent Disney-owned spinoffs like “The Mandalorian” or “WandaVision.” Because of these spin-offs we now know that heavyweight media conglomerates don’t have to push out thin stories to keep us interested.

Arts & Life. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 24

St.Vincent’s

D e JAMZ “Spinning fresh beats since 1581”

By Emma Oxnevad Online Managing Editor

When I first began writing for The DePaulia as a freshman, I was eager not only to gain some valuable experience, but hopefully make friends with the editorial staff; when I started working as an editor my sophomore year, I wanted more than anything for my older, more experienced co-workers to think I was both good at my job and a cool person to hang around.

Lacey Latch, then serving as the paper’s Arts & Life Editor, was someone I had previously only communicated with over email (she originally thought I was an international student due to my last name). As I spent more time with her in those endless weekends in The DePaulia’s office — going to McDonald’s every other day, trading off jokes and self-deprecating stories, and being utterly befuddled by the 2020 Iowa caucus — she grew into one of my favorite people I’ve met while in college, and a true friend.

This week’s issue marks Lacey’s last time in The DePaulia’s office before she and her beloved dog Deuces head off to Arizona, to begin what will undoubtedly be an amazing career in

journalism. Seeing as I took over writing DeJamz from Lacey, I could not think of a more fitting way to express my gratitude to someone who has offered so much guidance, humor, support and authenticity over the years.

“Drummer Boy” — Justin Bieber & Busta Rhymes

I should’ve known from the minute I met Lacey that she could perfectly rap the verses to this update of the classic Christmas song.

In what can only be described as a deep cut, “Drummer Boy” is an incredibly bizarre interpretation of one of the more boring Christmas songs, but I can’t help but like it in spite of myself.

“kiss kiss” — Machine Gun Kelly

Some of my favorite memories with Lacey involve commuting back from the office with her, taking her car down Lake Shore Drive while the sun sets. While we usually listen to WBEZ or other news radio, we often played Machine Gun Kelly’s 2020 album “Tickets to my Downfall” during fall quarter. The second track off the album, “kiss kiss” has high energy and tempo made for perfect driving music and hopefully eased the sting of me being a habitual freeloader (thanks for all the rides!)

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“She Wolf” — Shakira

The 2019-2020 school year genuinely feels like a blur — for obvious reasons — but my association with this song is clear as day.

While all of the men on staff went to go record their podcast on men’s basketball, Lacey cranked this song as loud as her desktop computer could take and we all stopped working for three minutes and eight seconds. The look on our absent staff’s face was nothing short of priceless and it’s one of my favorite memories of being in The DePaulia’s office.

“Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” — 30 Rock

While writing a Halloween-themed DeJamz in 2018, Lacey began to play this song on Spotify in the office, one of the earliest instances of the two of us joking around. Having grown up watching “30 Rock,” I was beyond pleased that this classic was being included in an otherwise straightforward playlist. This song is a perfect representation of Lacey’s goofy sense of humor, and I’ll always think of her when I hear it.

“You’ve Got a Friend in Me” — Randy Newman

PHOTOS FROM WIKI

to do in her new role at The Arizona Republic, I can’t help but feel down that a friend I have gotten accustomed to seeing every weekend is moving away. But while new responsibilities, distance and the general unpredictable nature of life may complicate things, I am confident that Lacey is always going to be a part of my life. We are all so proud of you and cannot wait to see you soar!

I’m really sad to see Lacey go. While I am so excited for the amazing things she is going ACROSS

DOWN

1. Corner chesspiece 5. Bailiff ’s concern 9. Bled, like dye 12. Face form 13. Fabled runner-up 14. Good ___ boy 15. Soaks in sauce 17. Bill’s partner in love 18. Acrobat catcher 19. Reserved 21. Cavalry weapon 24. Simon ___ 26. “___ ideas?”

27. Goes head-to-head 29. Waste, as time 33. Base bed 34. ___ Island National Monument 36. Vamp’s accessory 37. Cap site 39. Just in case 40. Advantages 41. Minimalist’s goal?

43. Havens 45. Mine passage 48. Corn holder 49. Musician’s asset 50. Moves in waves 56. Glade shade 57. It may get into a jamb 58. Make a cake, e.g.

59. Opener 60. Competitive plus 61. Culminating point

1. Computer acronym 2. Female gametes 3. Sculler’s need 4. “Dave” star Kevin 5. “Come again?”

6. Teller 7. Tick off 8. Best left alone 9. “___ of Ages” 10. Cream additive 11. Bright light on Broadway 16. Chutzpah 20. It can’t hurt to do this 21. Type of race 22. In a bit 23. Memory unit 24. Tennis champ Monica 25. Tag sale tag 28. Misery causes 30. Nile bird 31. Individual 32. Aberdeen miss 35. “Cheers” prop 38. One with a pole position?

42. Practice piece 44. Addis ___ 45. Pursue 46. Robust 47. General assembly?

48. Pickle 51. Common consent 52. Cat hater, stereotypically 53. Kind of dance 54. Manage, with “out” 55. Census datum

Sports

Sports. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 25

Boom or bust

Bears draft Justin Fields to solve quarterback issue

By Jason Grapenthin Contributing Writer

The thrills of draft night weren’t supposed to commence so early in Chicago. Then again, the NFL draft seldom goes as planned for Bears fans. Despite some difficult past trials, bold moves gave 2021 a glimmer of hope for a future of success for the Monsters of the Midway.

It wasn’t apparent until the Bears traded up from the 20th spot to the 11th, and Chicago’s own Carlos Nelson announced the pick, that the state of Ohio, which held the draft would also be the state where the franchise’s new face set numerous collegiate records.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, a 2019 Heisman trophy finalist who led the Buckeyes to a 20-2 overall record and backto-back College Football Playoff semifinal appearances in two seasons in Columbus, was snatched at the right moment by the Chicago Bears.

Adam Rittenberg, an ESPN college football reporter, believed that when the Denver Broncos left the highly touted quarterback on the table with the 9th overall pick, the Bears had to do all they could to land the huge prospect.

“It was absolutely the right moment to strike,” Rittenberg said. “What this team needs is an upgrade on offense, and they got potentially the guy at quarterback who can turn the franchise’s fortunes around.”

Some overzealous and quarterbackstarved Bears fans felt that a post on Fields’ social media, showing him at a Cubs-Braves game in Atlanta just two days before the draft, was a sign that the Bears would be trading up for him, according to Heavy News. It turns out their premonition was right on the money.

The flurry of excitement around the idea of a potential franchise quarterback illustrates how much this city has wanted to see an impactful player reign at that position.

Fred Mitchell, a former award-winning sportswriter and columnist for The Chicago Tribune, said he feels that the Bears franchise has fallen flat in securing that role for far too long.

“The fact that some of the passing records are still held by Sid Luckman from the 1940s tells you that the Bears have not prioritized that position enough,” said Mitchell.

Consistency for the Bears’ signal callers has been almost nonexistent. Since 1993, the Bears have had 14 different starting quarterbacks while their bitter rival, the Green Bay Packers, have had just two.

Nick Moreano, a DePaul graduate student and editor-in-chief of The Chicago Audible, said that Justin Fields has the intangible assets that the last Bears quarterback lacked.

“It’s a guy that is proven, but what he brings is that ‘it’ factor,” Moreano said. “Pocket presence, ability to hit passes and explosive plays down the field were nonexistent in the Bears’ offense when [Mitchell] Trubisky was here.”

Chicago Bears management is certainly hoping this is the case. The last time that general manager Ryan Pace took a risk to trade up for a quarterback, his intuition was wrong, and the Bears lost a lot of potential future talent for a guy that couldn’t deliver.

“Certainly, Ryan Pace took a lot of abuse and rightfully so for giving up so much to get

AP PHOTO/DAVID BANKS

Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields looks to hand off the ball during the NFL football team’s rookie minicamp Friday, May, 14.

Mitch Trubisky a few years ago,” Mitchell said.

“Also, to see a couple of young quarterbacks in that draft that the Bears passed up on do so well wasn’t good.”

The trade damage this year was similar to that of the 2017 draft. When Pace infamously traded up from the third spot to the second spot overall, the Bears gave up their thirdround and fourth-round picks and their 2018 third-round pick.

For Fields, Pace gave up their fifthround pick and their 2022 first-round and fourth-round picks. It only emphasizes the importance that history doesn’t repeat itself and Fields becomes the risk-turned-reward that Trubisky didn’t.

No matter how compelling and impactful a selection is, there is always more to the draft than the first round. The Fields pick was the first of many with great potential such as Oklahoma State offensive tackle Tevin Jenkins who was selected 39th overall in the second round.

“His nastiness and physical mentality can translate to this Bears offensive line,” Moreano said. “That’s a guy that I think should be out there starting week one.”

As the draft progressed forward, the Bears capitalized on an offense-focused draft plan.

Following the pick of Jenkins, the Bears selected Missouri offensive tackle Larry Borom in the fifth round alongside Virginia Tech running back Khalil Herbert and North

Carolina wide receiver Dazz Newsome in the sixth round to fill out the offense.

The Bears closed out the draft by adding Oregon cornerback Thomas Graham Jr., who Moreano said he thinks was a big steal, and BYU defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga to an already solid returning defensive squad.

Defense hasn’t been a problem for the Bears in recent years. Last season, their defense especially had to carry the load as the Bears offense ranked 30th while their defense ranked 12th, according to Lineups.

“Their defense has been their strength yet towards the end of the season, they wear down because they’ve been on the field so much,” Mitchell said.

The balance of satisfying the blaring offensive needs while securing some late round potential on areas needing improvement on the defense left many satisfied with this draft.

“It’s the Bears that showed out in this division,” Moreano said. “It sounds really weird saying the Bears did a good job drafting and now we just have to see how it plays out.”

The apparent success with these selections is just a stepping stone for the franchise that still has big questions to answer in the remainder of the offseason. Pace reassured quarterback Andy Dalton that he will start despite the selection of Fields, according to CBS Sports.

This has some wondering what the game plan is moving forward at that key position

and whether a Dalton-Fields offseason battle may ensue. Moreano, however, said he thinks head coach Matt Nagy is mimicking the move the Kansas City Chiefs made with Patrick Mahomes in 2017.

“I think Matt Nagy, who idolizes Andy Reid so much, is looking at that situation and thinking, well I can do that same thing for my young quarterback that we moved up to get,” Moreano said.

Pace, who many thought was heading into a make-or-break season regarding job security, may catch a break because of time needed to test their new offensive rookies.

“I think he’s bought himself more time,” said Mitchell.

With the NFL’s 17-game schedule released on May 12, it’s hard to predict how the Bears will fare in the upcoming season. What’s certain is that the Bears made aggressive moves to change the franchise’s future trajectory and fans seem to be enthusiastic about it for now.

Whether that optimism is crushed or supported will be determined on the field in the future, but Bears fans can at least be content with the logic behind their picks in 2021.

“The Bears were one of the big stories of the draft for the right reasons rather than the surprising ones,” Rittenberg said.

26 | Sports. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS

DePaul sophomore Olivia Borowiak broke the school’s 500-meter record during a track and field meet this season. The Blue Demons have broken seven records this season.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUL ATHLETICS

DePaul senior Kyle Mastrangeli broke the school’s 100-meter record and set a new record in the men’s 4x 100-meter dash with three other DePaul athletes.

DePaul track and field breaks records amidst Covid-19 season

By Amber Stoutenborough Contribuiting Writer

Five weeks into the track season, DePaul has already broken seven school records. The team continues to make up for the absence of last season and goes above and beyond, pushing their limits.

Head coach David Dopek discussed the struggles of competing during a pandemic and how his athletes have overcome barriers and reached a whole new level of success.

“It speaks to me, the resiliency of the people we have on the team,” Dopek said.

“We spend a lot of time trying to recruit not just athletic and academic talent, but trying to recruit character. That character helps them get through some of the obstacles that come in life and I don’t know if I’ve experienced a bigger obstacle than what we’ve had to deal with for the past 15 to 16 months.”

Olivia Borowiak, a sophomore at DePaul majoring in writing and rhetoric, broke the school record in the 500-meter run. Borowiak believes a lot of her accomplishments have come from her work ethic during Covid-19.

“Since I was training alone, because of quarantine, I was growing from my training focusing on myself and how I can improve and feel like that has helped my success,” Borowiak said.

Including Borowiak breaking the school record in the 5000m run with 16:53.09, there were three other females who broke school records. Tori Carroll set a new school record in the long jump with a mark of 6.15 meters. Kiersten Walk-

“We’re fortunate that a lot of [the seniors] have put in so much that they want to end their career on their terms, not Covid’s.”

David Dopek

DePaul track and field head coach er won the 400m with a season-best time of 55.02 seconds and Mackenna Orie set a school record in the discus, with a winning distance of 50.54 meters and proceeded to break another record in shot-put with 15.76 meters, ranking her first in the Big East.

Kyle Mastrangeli, a first-year graduate student majoring in computer science, broke the school record for 100-meter dash as well as a new school record in the men’s 4x100-meter dash with Brendan Van Voorhis, Ashton Calorie and Adam Nelson. Mastrangeli came back after his senior season was canceled last year.

“It’s actually a blessing in disguise because I don’t think I would have ran nearly as fast as I am now,” Mastrangeli said.

“It took me over a year to train and I just trained through everything and came back and wanted to do my best.”

Mastrangeli is one of the many seniors who came back with an extra year of eligibility after DePaul’s track season unexpectedly shut down last year on March 13, 2020 because of growing Covid-19 concerns.

Dopek said the department reached out to its past seniors to give them another season.

“I think the seniors who felt like they had unfinished business were very quick to express their interest and to the department’s credit and the university’s credit, they were able to provide that opportunity for the experience they’re having right now,” Dopek said. “We’re fortunate that a lot of them have put in so much work that they want to end their career on their terms, not Covid’s.”

While this year has held a lot of success, the struggles every sport is going through during this pandemic has affected the team’s atmosphere and experience.

Borowiak has yet to experience a normal collegiate track season but is glad the school is taking the necessary precautions to protect their athletes.

“There are a lot of restrictions like how many people can be in the weight room, traveling socially distanced and there’s no spectators, so the atmosphere can be kind of dry,” Borowiak said. “I feel that experi-

ence is missing but they do a good job with following guidelines and keeping us safe.”

Mastrangeli also believes this year has been hard connecting with the team compared to years before.

“I feel like the team’s really separated this year,” Mastrangeli said. “I feel like there’s, like, certain people on the distance team I’ve never even talked to who [I] don’t know their name, and [that] probably will never change because we’re never able to hang out.”

While these struggles have made for a different season, DePaul’s track team’s precautions have helped them with avoiding any Covid-19 cases thus far.

“We made it very clear in the first couple of weeks that if you put yourself in danger with Covid and something happened, that really condensed season could be it for you,” Dopek said. “If you have to quarantine for 10 days, and test your way out of quarantine, that’s two weeks of training that you missed and two meets that you’ve missed.”

The DePaul track team will prepare for the Big East Outdoor Championship, which will take place on May 14-15 in Geneva, Ohio. Dopek is expecting DePaul to come out strong and have many people make it to nationals.

“There’s a lot of talent on the team and there are a good number of people who have exceptional talent who haven’t broken a school record yet, and we hope that changes in the next couple of weeks with the last of the meets that we have,” Dopek said. “It’s been a rewarding first five weeks of the season.”

Sports. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 27 SOFTBALL, continued from back page when the conference tournament began on Thursday. DePaul came into the tournament near the top in the Big East in various offensive categories: batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored and total hits.

But the Blue Demons’ offense struggled in their first game against Butler, resulting in a 8-1 loss. With the new conference tournament format being double elimination, DePaul then had to face the loser of the UConn-Villanova game.

UConn took down Villanova, 4-3, after scoring the game-winning run in the seventh inning. DePaul and Villanova split the season series, 1-1, which is also the only time that the Blue Demons lost a conference game this season.

DePaul senior pitcher Krista Dalgarn, who struggled in the first game against Butler, gave up seven runs in the top of the seventh inning in game two against Villanova. After getting the first two outs, Dalgarn proceeded to walk the next two batters. The next Villanova batter managed to reach on an error, setting up a bases loaded situation.

Junior Megan Kern was the next hitter for the Wildcats. She launched the next pitch from Dalgarn out of the fence, giving Villanova a 6-1 lead. The next two batters hit singles to give the Wildcats two on base with two outs.

Junior Ryan Henry also took Dalgarn deep to give Villanova an eight-run lead heading into the final three outs of the game.

DePaul senior Angela Scalzitti singled with two outs, but she was left stranded on first base after senior Kate Polucha recorded the final out with a fly ball. The Blue Demons left a total of seven runners on base against Villanova.

Villanova took an early 1-0 lead before DePaul tied the game in the bottom of the

WINTRUST, continued from back page 19-21, according to the Rookie Wire of USA Today.

Wintrust Arena is no stranger to hosting basketball games or events, as the stadium is the home of the DePaul Blue Demons and the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. In the 2020 draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 overall pick. The Golden State Warriors and Charlotte Hornets had the second and third picks and took James Wiseman and LaMelo Ball, respectively. The Chicago Bulls had the fourth pick and selected Patrick Williams.

The consensus for the 2021 NBA Draft, on July 29, is that Oklahoma’s Cade Cunningham, USC’s Evan Mobley, Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs and the G League’s Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga are all in the No. 1 pick conversation.

In addition to not being strangers to hosting basketball games, DePaul also has priors in their own players making it to the pros.

Former DePaul power forward Paul Reed was selected in last year’s draft.

He was the Philadelphia 76ers second round pick — 58th overall.

Being taken in the draft was a culmination of Reed’s collegiate career and determination to make it.

“I have always been overlooked my whole life,” Reed said. “I always have been underrated. People don’t always see my full potential or how good I can be, or how good I am. It’s normal for me, they don’t owe me anything. I know

Season by the numbers W/L

25-11

Conference 13-1

Batting avg. .272

Slugging % .426

Home runs AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

DePaul freshman Romeo Weems celebrates after a dunk in overtime against Texas Tech on Dec. 4 at Wintrust Arena. The Blue Demons won the game at 65-60. first inning. DePaul had multiple opportunities to take a lead in the game before the Wildcats grabbed a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning.

The Wildcats went onto win the Big East Tournament over UConn on Saturday.

I got a chip on my shoulder because I feel like I got to prove to a lot of people that I can actually play, and I can compete on the highest level. Before the games, I would always tell myself they got me messed up because nobody knew who I was and still don’t know who I am. I still feel the same way.”

Another Blue Demon making his mark in the NBA is former forward Max Strus.

Despite going undrafted in 2019, he was named to the Boston Celtics Summer League roster before signing a two-way contract with the team. He was ultimately cut by the Celtics and signed with the Bulls.

He signed a two-way contract with the Bulls and made his debut against the Miami Heat on Nov. 22, 2019 and later joined Miami on Dec. 19, 2020.

Earlier this year, on Feb. 11, Strus had a career-high 21 points against the Houston Rockets.

DePaul sophomore forward Romeo Weems recently declared for this year’s draft. He will try to become second DePaul player to get drafted in as many years.

The Bulls are not expected to have a first-round draft pick this year after trading their pick to the Orlando Magic. If the Bulls’ pick lands inside the top 4, then they will be able to keep the pick.

Attendance issues have been an issue for Wintrust Arena. The numbers have yet to reach the ones seen during its debut season. The combine should be a good publicity both for the facility and the university.

DePaul, on the other hand, will not be able to repeat as Big East Tournament champions after winning in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The Blue Demons finish their season with a 25-11 overall record and 13-3 in conference play.

30

ERA 3.03

RYAN GILROY | THE DEPAULIA

Former DePaul forward Paul Reed dunks the ball during a game against Texas Tech at Wintrust Arena on Dec. 4, 2019. Reed was taken with the 57th pick in the 2020 draft.

Sports

Sports. The DePaulia. May 17, 2021 | 28

Wintrust Arena to host 2021 NBA Draft combine

SHANE RENE | THE DEPAULIA

Wintrust Arena wil host this year’s NBA Draft combine.

By Ernesto Hernendez Asst. Sports Editor

Chicago is set to once again play host to the NBA draft combine, the event set to take place June 21-27 at Wintrust Arena.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania broke the news that the event will be held after it was canceled last season due to Covid-19.

The NBA had to improvise when it came to last season’s draft, which began in late September with interviews between players and team organizations. The players then worked out at team facilities before taking part in a version of Pro Day. According to CBS Sports, the combine this year will feature team interviews, five-on-five games, drills, measurements and medical exams. A total number of six members of each organization will be allowed to attend the in-game interviews, while 10 will be allowed to attend the on-court portions.

In essence, the combine is a prelude to the draft where those expected to go early can try out for teams and make a good impression.

The NBA draft lottery will take place during the middle of the combine on June 22. The lottery is where the teams who did not make the playoffs the season prior participate in a process to determine the order as well as who gets the first overall pick. Alongside the lottery, the NBA G League Elite Camp is set for June

See WINTRUST, page 27

AUDREY CHAMPELLI | THE DEPAULIA

DePaul senior Krista Dalgarn gets ready to deliver a pitch against Butler on May 8. The Blue Demons swept the Bulldogs.

Softball upset in Big East Tournament

By Ernesto Hernendez Contribuiting writer

The DePaul women’s softball team went into the Big East Tournament as the No.1 seed and outright favorites.

The Blue Demons were on a three-game winning streak before entering the tournament as defending champions.

But the Butler Bulldogs pulled off the upset in the opening game as DePaul crumbled to an 8-1 defeat.

The lone bright spot for the Blue Demons was in the first inning when catcher Jessica Cothern launched a home run to right center to give DePaul a 1-0 lead.

After that, it went downhill very quickly.

Cothern’s counterpart, Christina Candotti, responded immediately for Butler and homered to center off Natalie Halvorson to tie the game.

DePaul was not without their chances. In their half of the second inning, they had runners on second and third with two outs. Grace Frazier battled in her at-bat, fouling off a number of pitches before eventually lining out to left to end the threat.

In the third, the Blue Demons had

the first two batters reach base after a walk to Angela Scalzitti and a bunt by Kate Polucha that was mishandled by the Butler pitcher Karli Ricketts. Once again, they failed to take advantage as Ricketts sat down the next three hitters in a row.

Ricketts was getting it done on both sides of the game, as she gave Butler the lead with a home run to right in the top of the fourth. All of the runs scored up to that point were courtesy of the long ball.

The top of the sixth proved to be the decider and an inning that DePaul would rather soon forget.

Krista Dalgarn had replaced Halvorson earlier in the game. She and Halvorson had been DePaul’s one-two punch all season.

However, Dalgarn, with a poor throw on a comebacker, allowed the batter to reach base. She then hit the next batter to put runners on first and second. Ricketts, already with a home run, bunted to move the runners over.

With runners on second and third, Mackenzie Griman pulled off the safety squeeze to knock in Butler’s third run.

The Bulldogs weren’t done as Candotti,

the next batter, bunted in another run.

Back-to-back safety squeezes resulted in two runs.

Butler was playing small ball to perfection. In keeping with the theme of the first few innings, however, Madi Christiansen belted a three-run blast to put a bow on the proceedings.

When all was said and done in the sixth, Butler had batted around and scored six runs.

DePaul was unable to muster much of anything with their last six outs and lost as Ricketts finished off the complete game.

The offense for the Blue Demons picked a bad time to go cold, as they only had four hits in the game and stranded six runners. Anything that could go wrong ultimately did go wrong for the defending champion.

In the regular season, DePaul didn’t face many challenges leading to its seventh Big East regular season title. The Blue Demons posted a 13-1 conference record and secured the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament.

The story, however, was different

See SOFTBALL, page 27